רבקה אלישבע

spanish sephardi jew, fil-am writer, shoegaze listener, & tea nerd. 18 shevat 5783

[climbingmountsinai]

Things people tell you about converting to Judaism:

You don't have to

It's a lifelong commitment

It takes years of studying, immersion, prayers, and rituals

Really, you don't have to

There will be circumcision involved

And a big swimming pool, and a panel of judges

Your life will be harder

People will look at you differently

If they deign to look at you at all

It never ends

Things people don't tell you about converting to Judaism:

It's actually really fucking hard to keep a kippah on your head

[jewishtwig]

Templo Beth Shalom - Gran Sinagoga de la Comunidad Hebrea de Cuba

Temple Beth Shalom - Great Synagogue of the Jewish Community of Cuba

Havana, Cuba

[iguanamouth]

people giggling is pretty cute by itself but when someone that youre attracted to starts giggling it could extinguish a million stars and topple nations with the force of the power unleashed

[hindahoney]

Re-doing the poll because I hate how the results are 65% goys who wanted to vote so the results were skewed. I also included more options. If you could reblog for a better sample size it would be appreciated! Goys can reblog too

Jews ONLY, do you keep kosher?

I keep strict kosher (waiting between meat and milk, kashered dishes, etc)

I mostly keep kosher, but I have small differences (such as no waiting, etc)

I keep kosher in the home but not outside the house

I'm vegan/vegetarian so I'm like mostly kosher

I follow kosher laws a bit (ex: no pork or no meat and cheese)

I don't keep kosher because dietary/health reasons

I don't keep kosher because I don't see the point

I don't keep kosher because my current resources

I don't keep kosher but I want to eventually

Voting ended onFeb 17, 2023

[psychophagus]

let’s make soup! just toss whatever you got in the pot and reblog to share it at the end :)

veggies (specify in tags)

water

mushrooms

meat (specify in tags)

tomatoes

potatoes

aromatics (specify in tags)

salt

stones

other (specify in tags)

Voting ended onFeb 16, 2023

[psychophagus]

to be clear I want you to reblog it when you see it. we share the SOUP at the end folks. the soup.

[hindahoney]

Jewish Patch Box, Ottoman Empire, 19th century

[batboyblog]

What would you usually call this head covering?

Kippah

Yarmulke

I regularly switch between Kippah and Yarmulke

skullcap

I've seen them before but didn't know what they're called (tell us in the tags)

I have no idea what that hat is, never seen it before.

Voting ended onFeb 17, 2023

please reblog to give a big sample size, also if you didn't know what these are called and if you have no idea what they are don't be shy, tell us your thoughts in the tags

[rivkahelisheva]

buen shabbat friends < 3 

[cornerfolks]

new persecuted group unlocked

[maelwife]

[ofskfe]

A survivor drags a former concentration camp guard by the hair while American troops look on at the newly liberated Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp, April 1945.

[klezmish]

Why do we never see these photos, only photos of helpless starving people? Why are Jews only depicted as helpless and sniveling? Why is despair the only Jewish emotion that gets shown, not anger or strength or determination or joy?

[tikkunolamorgtfo]

I want everyone to see this.

[strangelikenormal]

My grandfather was one of the American troops who “liberated” Buchenwald. In reality, the survivors found out the allied troops were on their way through a homemade radio. They had guns stored and ready when the time came. many of the guards who hadn’t fled yet were killed by the inmates. My grandpa was always adamant that, in part, “they liberated themselves”

[rivkahelisheva]

2/9 mikvah day!

i treated myself to a nice red sephardic koren sacks complete compact siddur with the flex cover and ribbon bookmarks

[bobemajses]

Hasidic man dances during Lag Ba'Omer in Safed, 1960

[rivkahelisheva]

I AM JEWISH!!!!! mikvah done heh

[rivkahelisheva]

i have decided i will absolutely be bringing up bi boy king david at my beit din in the morning

[magnetothemagnificent]

Thinking about how in Hebrew, the Star of David is called Magen David, which means Shield of David, because of the legend that it was the symbol on King David's shield.

But who was the real shield in David's life? The one who would constantly try to protect him from King Shaul and his army, who put his life and honour on the line defending him multiple times?

Yonatan.

The Magen David is Yonatan.

Yonatan gave David his weapons when he fell in love with him, but not his shield. Why would that be? Maybe it's because Yonatan was his shield.

When David sings a surge lamenting the deaths of Shaul and Yonatan, there's a line that goes as such:

"Behold in Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, or bountiful fields; for there the shield of warriors, the shield of Shaul were rejected, no longer anointed with oil."

It's interesting that Yonatan isn't mentioned in this stanza, but Shaul is.

But upon analysis of the context....David was a poet.

He wouldn't have to mention a person by name in order to mention them.

What if the "shield of warriors" wasn't a physical shield, but Yonatan?

David and Shaul were both warriors, Yonatan never was. He gave away his weapons to David, he was skilled with the bow but the only time we see him use it is to send a coded signal to David. Yonatan was called weak by his father for his lack of aggression- he was always the defender and never the offender.

Yonatan is the shield.

Perhaps when we wear our Magen David necklaces, or embroider and carve them into our Judaica, we are wearing a symbol of Yonatan- a man who chose love over war.

[monsterfxkr69420]

DAVID SWEEP

[rivkahelisheva]

update 2/8

i will be jewish tomorrow morning!!!!!! i will update : )))))