[ofshivelight]

interesting to realize that i qualify for a birthright trip now

[gay-jewish-bucky]

[captainlordauditor]

it renders them treyf bc then you can't be assured they'll burn for long enough to count

[slyandthefamilybook]

ואיו לנו רשות להשתמש בהם אלה לראותם בלבד

You can't do anything with them except look

[zonatcannibalism]

But thats about the fire, saying that you shouldnt use it for things like cooking. Its not about the actual candles. Also, the candles arent actually Hanukkah candles until they are put in the hanukkiya- there arent really anything making the candles holy or specifically hanukka related until they are used for that purposes.

So i think the real question is can you use candles in a hanukkiya AFTER you used them for bdsm purposes. And for that my take is no.

[slyandthefamilybook]

I mean we also say הנרות הללו קודש הם so I guess it depends on how you define "נר". Is it just a candle, or specifically a lit candle? They're already designated for the purpose, so I don't think you can make the argument that they're not menorah candles

[punxsutawneyphyllis]

This piqued my curiosity, so I looked a bunch of stuff up, and here's what I found: it depends on a lot of things. If they're the basic type of Chanukah candles, then, as captainlordauditor said, no you can't, because they're designed to burn for 30 minutes exactly, so if you drip some of the wax off of them before use in a chanukiya, then they won't burn long enough.

Once the candles have been lit, they can only be used as Chanukah candles, so if they blow out you can reuse them the next night (if they have enough wax left), but you can't reuse them for anything else, including BDSM play.

BUT! If your candles have definitely burnt for half an hour, and then you blow them out (or they get blown out by accident), and you stated before lighting that you are not designating the candles for the mitzvah, then you can reuse them for whatever you want. But it's not a specific mitzvah to do this, unless you count bal tashchis (not wasting), or the fact that sex and foreplay is a mitzvah.

Some opinions say the shamash can be used for anything, so if your rabbi says you can use your shamash to light your gas burner, then you can use it for wax play too. But as above, it's a neutral act, no extra mitzvah.

There are some opinions that candles that were specifically made for Chanukah have already been designated for the mitzvah and therefore cannot be used for any other purposes. So if your rabbi says that you can't turn three unused Chanukah candles into a havdalah candle, then you can't use them for wax play either, regardless of other factors.

What about using a candle for BDSM play and then reusing it as a Chanukah candle? I couldn't find anything about using partially burnt candles as Chanukah candles, but what I did find about the laws of lighting Chanukah candles in general was that you should use the best quality materials available to you. So based on this principle, the best option would be to use new candles. But if your only remaining candles are the ones you use for wax play, then yes, you can use them for lighting Chanukah candles.

As I recall, the best candles to use for wax play are the fat kind, so if you do this, make sure to state that you are not designating the candles for the mitzvah beyond whatever burns in 30 minutes, so that you don't make your fat candles forbidden to use for anything other than Chanukah.

[cantotallyeven]

Wax play candles are made of a specific wax that melts at a lower temperature and is unlikely to cause permanent harm. Typical Chanuka candles aren't, melt at a high temperature, and are likely to leave scars. So not only can you not use your Hanukiah for wax play, you can't even use Channuka candles for was play when it's not Hanukkah.

[gay-jewish-bucky]

what about waxplay candles as hanukkah candles?

[nonstandardrepertoire]

yeah, you can designate any kind of candle as a Ḥanukah candle. the source here is Shabbat 21b — the sages discuss a bunch of things you're not allowed to light for shabbat lights and then ask whether you can use those things for Ḥanukah lights, and the answer is that because you can't use the lights for anything, there's no concern that you'll adjust or relight them if they burn poorly, so you can use any kind of candle, oil, or wick on Ḥanukah and it's fine. this is affirmed in the Shulḥan Arukh (Oraḥ Ḥayim 673:1), which p much settles it in my book

so as long as your wax play candles are a) candles that b) burn, you can use them for Ḥanukah lights

[gay-jewish-bucky]

This is fantastic news, thank you, and thank you sages.

[jewish-microwave-laser]

i also want to note the principle of being able to raise the kodesh-ness of something but you can't lower it. for example you can't take a kiddush cup and start just drinking whatever you want out of it, but you can take a cute little mug you used to drink your morning teas out of and start using it as your kiddush cup

so this goes into kedusha, chanukah, and sex

one could argue (and i'm actually kinda working on a paper that touches on this?) that a scene is kadosh, set apart from the rest, in a way that is similar to a chag. (in my paper i'm comparing shabbat with submission, subspace/puppyspace with the soul of shabbat, etc.)

still, i'd say the majority decision would probably be that the kedusha of lighting chanukah candles outweighs that of a scene, so using this lens it would probably be preferable to use wax play candles for chanukah, rather than the other way around

i would say tho, it would be a pain in the ass to use wax play candles for chanukah bc they melt super quickly and create a bunch of wax, and it's already enough of a pain in the ass to have to clean the chanukiyah just with the amount of wax created by specific chanukah candles. also good luck finding wax play candles that are big enough to go through an entire scene and then still have enough to burn for thirty minutes, while also being narrow enough to fit into your standard chanukiyah

[biglawbear]

So. So holiness is a ratchet. You can crank up the holy but you can't turn it back down. Got it.

[ofshivelight]

“In a world where each man must be of use

and each thing useful, the rebellious Jews

light not one light but eight—

not to see by but to look at.”

— Notes on the Spring Holidays ["Hanukkah"], by Charles Reznikoff

[judeo-nomadism]

Chag sameach!!!!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Night one! Chag Chanukah Sameach!

[william-shatspeare]

day 1 🪐✨️💫🌟

[spoondrifts]

first night :]

[ofshivelight]

chanukah sameach everybody :]

[starlightomatic]

jews, do you celebrate chanukah?

yes

no

sometimes

nuance (this is not a goy button)

Voting ended onDec 29, 2024

[starlightomatic]

jews, do you celebrate purim?

yes

no

sometimes

nuance (this is not a goy button)

Voting ended onDec 29, 2024

[starlightomatic]

jews, do you celebrate passover?

yes

no

sometimes

nuance (this is not a goy button)

Voting ended onDec 29, 2024

[starlightomatic]

jews, do you celebrate shavuot?

yes

no

sometimes

nuance (this is not a goy button)

Voting ended onDec 29, 2024

[starlightomatic]

jews, do you celebrate rosh hashanah?

yes

no

sometimes

nuance (this is not a goy button)

Voting ended onDec 29, 2024

[starlightomatic]

jews, do you observe/mark yom kippur?

yes

no

sometimes

nuance (this is not a goy button)

Voting ended onDec 29, 2024

[ophelite]

art by @woz_art on ig

[ofshivelight]

whats daunting isn't my mikvah appointment in a little over an hour, but rather making small talk throughout the hour-long car ride with my rabbi and his wife that we will be taking since the nearest mikvah is sixty miles away

[david-goldrock]

How'd it go?

[ofshivelight]

really well!!! i'd never talked with the rabbi's wife in any detail before now but she was really lovely and charming, and they're very funny to listen to when they're together and lightly bickering in the front seat the whole way there. the actual mikvah was in and out, fairly quick, but it was very moving and i'm still mulling over my feelings about it and grappling with what it means to me. overall a wonderful experience and i'm very grateful to everyone who made it possible and supported me along the way :]

[david-goldrock]

I'm so happy to hear that!

Tell you what - every day before I go to sleep, I say I small prayer for someone I care about. What's your Hebrew name, so that I can say a prayer for you tonight?

[ofshivelight]

aw, that's so kind! it's meir b'nei avraham v'sarah :) thank you very much <3

[fromchaostocosmos]

You know what I just want to say that we Jews should be really impressed and proud of ourselves. Like look at all the history we preserved, look at the history and culture we kept alive and passed down. Look at the things we have loved, we have created, and we have made be it something for the benefit of one, a few, or many.

And we did while going through some of the most horrific, devastating, and world ending events. When you think about we as people have survived multiple apocalypses. We saw the world as we knew it end so many times. And survived and then replanted and regrew a whole new world. Over and over and over.

And we kept all that deeply rich history alive and passed it down from generation to generation.

It is not just that it is not easy, but it is actually really rare when you think about. Look at how much ancient history is lost and look at how much history and culture gets lost during devastations and wars.

Our people survived being culled many times over, we survived the literal shattering of us and we survived be scattered to the four corners of the world.

And yet we from community to community the Torah is the same. The roots still meet no matter how far.

Can we not be awe of this. Can we not be awe of the fact that we are a four thousand year old people. That we are here and we kept it all alive for all this time after everything.

Is that not amazing.

Am Yisrael Chai, we live we really really do.

[ofshivelight]

whats daunting isn't my mikvah appointment in a little over an hour, but rather making small talk throughout the hour-long car ride with my rabbi and his wife that we will be taking since the nearest mikvah is sixty miles away

[david-goldrock]

How'd it go?

[ofshivelight]

really well!!! i'd never talked with the rabbi's wife in any detail before now but she was really lovely and charming, and they're very funny to listen to when they're together and lightly bickering in the front seat the whole way there. the actual mikvah was in and out, fairly quick, but it was very moving and i'm still mulling over my feelings about it and grappling with what it means to me. overall a wonderful experience and i'm very grateful to everyone who made it possible and supported me along the way :]

[david-goldrock]

I'm so happy to hear that!

Tell you what - every day before I go to sleep, I say I small prayer for someone I care about. What's your Hebrew name, so that I can say a prayer for you tonight?

[ofshivelight]

aw, that's so kind! it's meir b'nei avraham v'sarah :) thank you very much <3

[ofshivelight]

whats daunting isn't my mikvah appointment in a little over an hour, but rather making small talk throughout the hour-long car ride with my rabbi and his wife that we will be taking since the nearest mikvah is sixty miles away

[david-goldrock]

How'd it go?

[ofshivelight]

really well!!! i'd never talked with the rabbi's wife in any detail before now but she was really lovely and charming, and they're very funny to listen to when they're together and lightly bickering in the front seat the whole way there. the actual mikvah was in and out, fairly quick, but it was very moving and i'm still mulling over my feelings about it and grappling with what it means to me. overall a wonderful experience and i'm very grateful to everyone who made it possible and supported me along the way :]

[hachama]

Morning, Tumblr. I made shakshouka.

[ofshivelight]

oh hey, me too! :]

[ofshivelight]

"Metaphysical dignity is not part of a numbers game; there is nothing in logic or philosophy that insists upon it being in inverse proportion to the number of beings who participate in it... Similarly, the claim by a race to spiritual dignity and intrinsic metaphysical value does not depend upon a "good" cosmic address. It depends only upon the ability of the members of that race to enter into a dialogue with the Creator of all races. God makes Himself available to His creatures wherever they are in His immense universe; He is not a social snob who will not be seen in the cosmic slums and alleys."

— The Religious Implications of Extraterrestrial Life, Norman Lamm

[ofshivelight]

going to services tonight and getting to say WE and US and OUR....... immbnhnhnh i am overjoyed

[ofshivelight]

GUESS WHO'S JEWISH

[indecisiveavocado]

mazel tov and welcome to the tribe!

by the way, uh...you chose an interesting time to become a jew.

[ofshivelight]

i did, didn't i?

i started my conversion in august of 2023. i'd been learning about and studying judaism for almost four years at that point and knew i was absolutely ready. three months later, the war broke out in israel, and i honestly wasn't prepared for the outpouring of vitriolic antisemitism i was suddenly seeing everywhere, and to say it didn't and doesn't bother me would be a lie. but i am a visibly queer and mixed filipino person, and i'm not unfamiliar with bigotry. as i told my beit din when they asked a similar question - why did you decide to stick it through when the state of the world is very dangerous for jews at the moment - i refuse to live my life in fear. i take precautions, of course, and i'm not ignorant as to what i'm getting into, that this is a permanent choice that i won't be able to walk away from, but this is still my life and i choose to live jewishly with joy and excitement rather than let the fear of antisemitism control me. it's vitally important to me. i love the jewish people and i'm honored to count myself among them, whatever that may mean.