reminder that jack black is One Of Us.
Pesach sameach!
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her

Kiana Khansmith

blake kathryn
Sade Olutola
dirt enthusiast
todays bird
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@theartofmadeline

oozey mess
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
DEAR READER
Peter Solarz
cherry valley forever

tannertan36
h

shark vs the universe
NASA
YOU ARE THE REASON

titsay
styofa doing anything

seen from Thailand
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@nershalomva
reminder that jack black is One Of Us.
Pesach sameach!
eleventh plague. emails.
Pharoah, I hope this email finds you letting my people go
as per my last plague,
these plagues could’ve been an email
This is Congregation Ner Shalom.
We are the only synagogue in Prince William County.
We are a congregation that supports a wide range of programs and activities for members of all ages.
We are dedicated to preserving the traditions of the past, pledged to serving the spiritual, cultural, educational and social needs of our congregation and the community in the present, and committed to providing innovative and progressive ideas to meet the challenges of the future.
We are a diverse congregation reaching out to all people and making a conscious effort to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome. We welcome everyone who is interested in participating in the lively, vibrant world of Reform Judaism. Judaism stresses community. Ner Shalom is your Jewish community, as well as your extended family in Prince William County, Virginia.
We STRIVE to build a community based on inclusiveness, where everyone is welcome, regardless of race, age, ability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, a Jew by birth or by choice, to seek religious learning and experiences, life cycle rituals, and spiritual guidance.
Still here, still true!
Learning that in Judaism I was allowed to argue with G-d was such a liberating experience.
Like, finally… A worthy opponent.
This post is deeply amusing, but I see a lot of confused people in the notes. So let me explain.
Arguing with g-d has been a tradition for us more or less since day one. One of the earliest examples comes from the story of Sodom and Gommorah (and no, we’re not getting into that debate right now).
Basically G-d said to Avraham, “hey, the people in these cities are major assholes, I’m gonna kill em.” and Avraham was like “but won’t that kill innocent people as well? What if there’s 50 whole good people there?”
And G-d decided that was a reasonable point, and agreed not to destroy the cities if Avraham could find 50 righteous men. “But what about 40? What if there are 40 righteous men? Will you still destroy the cities?” And Avraham this haggled with the Most High until the two agreed on a minimum of 10 righteous.
However, apparently the cities didn’t even have that so all of them died and Lot’s family ended up salty about it.
This was something of a family tradition. Jacob, Abe’s grandson, and the man widely regarded as the progenitor of our people, was literally given the name Israel (“wrestles with G-d”) because he spent an entire night wrestling with a figure called alternatively either an angel or just G-d, and DIDN’T LOSE. The true name for the jews is Am Yisrael, the people of Israel (Jacob), but it also means “the people who wrestle with G-d,” and it’s pretty much been our thing ever since.
“Lot’s family ended up salty about it”
Yeah, looking back at that, not a great idea.
Congregation Ner Shalom turned 3 today!
I feel like I have forgotten to post in the last year, but we’re still here in Northern Virginia!
no but like there’s something so special about when ur studying with conversion students and they’re very polite and a little bit bashful because they don’t want to impose or anything, a completely normal impulse. but like deep down you can just TELL that they have so much interesting shit to say under the initial hesitance, so you keep poking around torah topics until you strike gold and find the one that they’re very personally interested and suddenly they’re incredibly loud and intense and articulate and sound like a bonified torah scholar and you’re like AHA! my devious plan has worked! i triggered the super Jewish Passion Gene that has lain dormant within! i knew it was there all along!!! rise, young padawan!!!! rise and become tHE MACHLOKET MASTER YOU WERE ALWAYS DESTINED TO BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Honestly, as a conversion student, I needed to hear this. Thank you, OP <3
I’ve been so scared of imposing or coming across as laughably uninformed on a topic (despite studying very hard) and taking up space in a discussion. I’ve been holding back, thinking I would be getting in the way.
Reading this really helped change my mindset. Thank you!
love shabbos. jews were like what if i just chilled and g-d said dude. you are SO right.
Nah, even better: G-d said Dudes, go chill; Jews said Do we have to?; and G-d said Yes, you do, this is not up for debate.
G-d said You guys need to chill and I know that you’re Jews and you don’t know how to just relax so I need y’all to make a BUNCH of rules to make sure you don’t even THINK about not chilling.
This is Congregation Ner Shalom.
We are the only synagogue in Prince William County.
We are a congregation that supports a wide range of programs and activities for members of all ages.
We are dedicated to preserving the traditions of the past, pledged to serving the spiritual, cultural, educational and social needs of our congregation and the community in the present, and committed to providing innovative and progressive ideas to meet the challenges of the future.
We are a diverse congregation reaching out to all people and making a conscious effort to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome. We welcome everyone who is interested in participating in the lively, vibrant world of Reform Judaism. Judaism stresses community. Ner Shalom is your Jewish community, as well as your extended family in Prince William County, Virginia.
We STRIVE to build a community based on inclusiveness, where everyone is welcome, regardless of race, age, ability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, a Jew by birth or by choice, to seek religious learning and experiences, life cycle rituals, and spiritual guidance.
Reblogging our origin story in honor of our birthday
Congregation Ner Shalom’s Tumblr turned 2 today!
Maybe by Year 3 I’ll figure out how to use it more effectively.
when you’re saying the bracha on shabbos candles
Judaism and Life
I’m thinking about one of the rallying cries of the Jewish people. Our slogan, if you will. We speak it, we shout it, we sing it: עם ישראל חי. Am Yisrael Chai. The people of Israel live.
It says a lot, I think, that this of all phrases is among our defining anthems. Out of all the possibilities, this is our motto, our catchphrase, our affirmation: a simple, defiant declaration of our own continued existence against the odds.
I’m also thinking of our traditional exclamation of celebration. The classic, quintessential, go-to Jewish toast, so characteristic as to have reached popular culture through a Broadway musical: לחיים. L’chaim. To life.
One of our primary “good luck” symbols, found on medallions and amulets: the single word, חי. Chai. Life. Our “lucky number” is 18, the number with the gematria value of life. We give momentary gifts and make donations in multiples of 18: giving chai, giving life.
It’s pretty straightforward, really. We just want to live. As people, as Jews, as a community.
I’m thinking about how many ways our culture and traditions repeatedly highlight the centrality of life — both the preservation of individual lives, and the continuation of our collective life. Thinking how terrifyingly often both categories of life fall under threat. And how we still keep going.
מיר וועלן זיי איבערלעבן. Mir veln zey iberlebn. We will outlive them, sung in a field with soldiers and no escape, worst come to worst but singing out defiance anyway.
… and they didn’t survive, those singers, physically they did not outlive their attackers, and too many others didn’t either. But they were still right: we, we as a collective, we did outlive. Barely, and with indescribable and lasting loss… but we did. We’re still here. Existent. Alive. Affirming that and hanging on for dear life, as individual people and as a people.
Am Yisrael Chai. Mir veln zey iberlebn. L’chaim.
Some Shabbats are just felt more deeply, you know?
I reblogged that tongs made from tongs post hours ago and only just now realized something. I've heard that Gd also made sheydim just before the first Shabbat and didn't quite finish before the sun started to go down, hence why they're like that. So the question is: was Gd procrastinating on sheydim by making miracle items instead? Did Gd get distracted clicking the very first pair of tongs?
anything and everything is valid when it comes to sheydim. gd gets distracted easily, see the flying oven and abraham. but im gonna take this opportunity to maintain and justify my belief in ghosts and demons. if we look at the Rabbis (capital R for a reason) as forces of order and control then it only makes sense that there's some force of chaos and entropy at work in the universe. that, dear reader, is demons. and ghosts. trouble makers and tricksters designed to throw a wrench into the order and maintenance at work by the Rabbis. anyway this is how i justify my scary and eerie beliefs