A Nonbinary Hispanic's Journey Through Judaism

Noach. Nonbinary. They/Them. Queer. Jewish. Check the FAQ for more info. A place where I can ramble about a liberal, observant-ish Jew and navigating Progressive Judaism while being Hispanic.

[sandstonejourney]

Checked my tefillin for the first time in forever and found that bases of the batim are starting to crack, likely cos of how cold it's been in my barely-heated room. I'm low-key freaking out bout it cos idk what to do. They still appear kosher tho...

[jewblog]

Post the thoughts !

ah...why not. probably going to turn off anon for a bit after this though... 

before i say anything else, i want to make abundantly clear a couple of things: 

i do not care if you observe judaism in the reform tradition; my criticism is institutional 

despite the fact that the root of my problems is the reform movement, i’m opposed to the ashkenazi tradition of “denominations,” period 

i’ve decided to put this under a read more because it’s going to get long; warning for disorganized rambling 

okay--here’s the thing: the westernization and christianization of judaism by the reform movement is a problem. in part because they won’t admit that westernization is bad, and in part because they won’t admit that westernization is christianization. 

to understand the reform movement, one has to go back to the haskalah. 

the emancipation of jews in europe led to the haskalah--the “jewish enlightenment.” it was not...entirely bad, per se. it led to great advances in the education of jews and the revitalization of the hebrew language. however, the former was at the cost of religious education, and the latter was driven by a disdain for yiddish as a “corrupt” and “backwards” language. virtually everything it accomplished was done for the wrong reasons. 

it was fundamentally european in character; this is best illustrated by the fact that, when it became evident that even “civilizing” themselves would not make them european in the eyes of europeans, the move to nationalism by maskilim was not for the sake of the millenia-old jewish desire for a return to our homeland, but for a western state in which they would be free of antisemitism. the founders of the zionist movement sought not jewish autonomy, but for the freedom to become europeans.* 

*(here i just want to hype up the working title for my thesis, “the colonizer, the colonized, and the jews: how the zionist movement erased the jewish condition as a colonized people to become britain’s colonial other,” and welcome questions from genuinely curious people. i draw a lot on albert memmi’s decolonial theory, if that’s of any interest.) 

other than zionism, though, among the most lasting cultural institutions in the diaspora that the haskalah created was the reform movement. it came into being in part because of new, “enlightened” values, in part because jews were converting to christianity either to escape antisemitism or to retain citizenship after the defeat of napoleon, and in part simply because of the general disinterest in judaism of an increasingly assimilated population. in short, it was created to satisfy what was understood as a need. 

to move further, we must distinguish between two eras: that of the classical reform movement, and that of the new reform movement. (classical reform lasting from its formal founding in the 1810s-1820s--although it began to evolve as early as the 17th century--in germany until anywhere from the 1930s to the 1970s when it was all but replaced with new reform.) 

i’m more than comfortable with referring to the classical reform movement as unequivocally bad. it was, as people say, christianity without the christ. this is undeniable. among its new changes:

moving shabbat from saturday to sunday 

removing all prohibitions on shabbat, including work of any kind 

decrying circumcision as impermissible and barbaric 

the abolition of cohanim and levi’im 

replacing hebrew with german in the liturgy* 

the replacement of bnei mitzvah with “confirmation” ceremonies** 

the complete abandonment of halacha; the talmudic principle that “the law of the land is the law” (which there referred to “civil” laws only) was declared absolute 

the rejection of zionism in favor of an official declaration that germany was to be the new zion* 

*it is of note that, save for a few cases, reform judaism was a strictly german export to the rest of the diaspora 

**confirmation is still practiced, but after bnei mitzvah rather than as opposed to 

“orthodox” authorities, as they were newly being defined, reacted extremely. they declared that adherents to the reform movement should be regarded no differently than christians. (while, if they were still practicing as such, modern-day assertions by orthodox would be understandable...they are no longer practicing as such, save for a very small group. much of the modern concerns of orthodox authorities--as well as sephardi and mizrachi authorities--are halachic in nature, as their religion is defined by halacha completely.) it becomes clear, if you look at the evolution of orthodox judaism, that it defines itself in opposition to reform judaism.

(interestingly, it also sparked concern among christian missionaries, who knew that it would stall jewish conversion--and it did, because it offered the same thing as christianity with regard to lifestyle without cutting off a certain sense of identity that even the most assimilated of jews tend to retain, and without putting jews in a religious environment where they would still be subject to antisemitism.)

old reform lasted a good while, or at least a good portion of reform jewish history. there were two factors that pushed reform within the reform movement: the holocaust, and the trend of american citizens to embrace ethnic identity. 

as reform judaism was exported to the united states, it began to change against the backdrop of a diverse population. a proudly diverse population, no less, despite the desires of the ruling elite. though not expressly asked, the question now was what does it look like to become american? 

another factor was the new population of eastern european jews. largely considered “backwards” by central european jews and goyim alike, in america they became candidates for assimilation, especially as americans in general slowly stopped differentiating between german jews and ostjuden (eastern jews).*

*this came with its own pitfalls, of course; despite having coined and popularized the term, german jews themselves became “kikes” 

it was in large part the eastern ashkenazi opposition to dropping their traditions while still desiring to assimilate that drove the reform movement to re-adopting jewish customs. between 1881 and 1924, the former reform majority became a small minority of american jews. it was clear that concessions had to be made to appeal to this new population--for example, in 1910, reform rabbis were given ram’s horns fitted with trumpet mouthpieces to blow on rosh hashanah, after 70 years of not using shofars at all. 

by the 1950s, there was a new generation of reform rabbis, descended from eastern european jews, ready to make changes in the reform practice. they stressed the historical significance of halacha, advocating for its guidance rather than governance. bnei mitzvah took precedence over confirmation ceremonies. kippot and tallitot became commonplace. circumcision became the dominant practice. in part because of the five-day work week, saturday became reinstituted as the day of rest. 

all the while, jews were becoming successful americans. they were becoming middle class, even upper-middle class, at staggering rates. they were moving to the suburbs. military service had exposed them to the moderate, family-oriented religion of the middle class that they would join. the culture of white, middle-class americans would be among the motivating factors of the political ideology the reform movement would adopt. 

though not entirely the root of the problem itself, this led to the further religious and cultural disengagement of jewish men: 

In traditional pre-emancipation Jewish communities, men were primarily responsible for communal continuity through the transmission of religious tradition through textual learning. As Jewish men sought to become members of the dominant European society they were “forced” to disassociate themselves from their Jewishness. Thus, the responsibility for Jewish continuity shifted to Jewish women. Paula Hyman writes, “Western Jewish communities adopted the dominant middle-class view that women were responsible for inculcating moral and religious consciousness in their children and within the home more generally. According to this view, women were the primary factor in the formation of their children’s Jewish identity.” This shift of responsibility from men to women freed Jewish men to shed their Jewishness in favor of full male identities within the dominant society. Outside of Orthodox communities, traditional models of Jewish masculinity were widely abandoned in favor of assimilation. 

-jimmy taber, “masculine and jewish? a critical theory critique of male flight from the jewish community” 

egalitarianism is a positive achievement, obviously, and something to strive for. and i would applaud the reform movement for it if i thought that they had actually achieved it--but i don’t. what they have done instead is impose western gender roles on jews of all genders within both culture and religion. the root of the reason that more women are currently reform rabbinical students than men is not because of modern liberal values--although that is a factor--but primarily because the responsibility of transmitting jewish knowledge has become a female responsibility: the role of the mother. the moves that are being made to be made towards an egalitarian framework must be approached through the lens of the western gender binary, as does the reintegration of men into jewish life. from the article quoted above: 

Current efforts to attract Jewish men to the organized Jewish community have focused on appealing to men’s sense of dominant masculinity. There has been a proliferation of programs exemplified by the Lincoln Park Jewish Center’s Cigar, Scotch, and Torah Group that specifically target men with the implicit assumption that Jewishness itself is not enough of an attraction.[11] By infusing elements constructed as exclusively masculine, such as cigars and scotch, the Jewish community is attempting to create a synthesis of Jewishness and masculinity that will root men in Jewish communal life. The idea is that men will initially come for the masculine “fun” and then come back for the meaning that Jewishness offers. This approach is problematic as it fails to recognize the fundamental incongruence between Jewishness and dominant masculinity.

Similarly, Moving Traditions’ Campaign for Jewish Boys represents a national effort to engage young boys in Jewish life. In the pilot stage, the program “seeks to reverse boys’ mass exit from and dissatisfaction with Jewish life.” This program also utilizes dominant models of masculinity for engagement providing “content that…gives boys the opportunity to explore issues they care about, such as friendship, sex, power, money, and work.” This approach is bound to reap limited success due to the flawed assumption that the flight from Jewishness can be stemmed by infusing dominant masculinity. As long as masculinity is constructed in opposition to the femininity of Jewishness, the two identities are mostly mutually exclusive. 

i would go as far as to say that the reform movement was the nail in the coffin of ashkenazi jewish culture in america, in more ways than this--it legitimized assimilation by giving it a religious doctrine. (for more on this, i would recommend the book bad rabbi by eddy portnoy.)

the holocaust, additionally, had an effect on reform ideology: they formally embraced a liberal stream of zionism while maintaining that the diaspora was “necessary” for jews to be “a light unto the nations.” the latter sentiment, however, is indicative of the very obvious fact that reform judaism is incompatible with a sense of jewish peoplehood. something that i think of often when i think of this is an article i read by a reform rabbi about the observance of tisha b’av (which i can’t find right now but would really appreciate a link to) that describes their personal relationship with the day as an “extra” holocaust remembrance day--asserting that the end of our “barbaric” practices and our “civilization” by the nations of diaspora are things to be grateful for. 

most reform jews do not observe or even acknowledge tisha b’av; although there is a recent trend to “reclaim” it, so to speak, celebrating the diaspora--not different cultures in the diaspora, but our exile from our land itself--is too central a pillar of their religion. 

by and large, they simply do not understand it as a genocide, as a destruction of the people. according to reform authorities, the temple was a building--one that should not be rebuilt. further, to even give it meaning to most reform jews, congregations that do observe it have to link it to other jewish tragedies, namely the holocaust. the holocaust must be the central pillar--not the inquisition, not the crusades (whose influence on the diaspora is popularly erased, evidently, judging by the general response to my post about it), not to mention the farhud: the holocaust as it occured in europe. because that is the tragedy that a european jewish movement was affected by and is thus able to mourn. that is the direction in which they must travel to understand jewish history, but they can travel no further back. (i can’t help but think about the testimony of an israeli mizrachi teenager who, when she asked her american ashkenazi teacher why they didn’t learn about the jews in nazi-supporting arab countries, got the explanation that her teacher “didn’t know it happened there.”) 

the problem with the new reform movement is that it didn’t fundamentally change classical reform ideas. it became more palatable to jews seeking jewish tradition without any of the meaning or intentionality of those traditions. 

i was talking with a rabbi early this year and voiced my confusion about classical reform rabbis’ opposition to the readoption of jewish ritual objects--were they really so opposed to them? his explanation made a lot of sense, though; from a college professor he’d had who was also a classical reform rabbi: people were adopting the use of these items not because they believed they were a necessary part of their religious traditions, but because these items were part of “real” jewish observance. 

this drives home a point in another conversation i had a while back with a teacher (and librarian, and talmud scholar) that i know about leaving a job at a “pluralistic” jewish day school: when she asked repeatedly to add meaningful conversations to the curriculum, the administration refused. she wanted to talk about why we say brachot, why we blow the shofar, why we keep kosher, why we say certain tfilot at certain times; she was told that this was “not what parents were paying for.” 

another concern is that the reform movement not only openly advertises conversion services, but actively encourages and puts pressure on non-jewish spouses of jews to convert. i...can’t really articulate how truly physically nauseated this makes me to think about it. i have long held the belief that a mixed marriage is better than an insincere conversion--i also believe that these conversions (including the former, to an extent) hold disturbing similarities to conversions “by coercion,” which are formally prohibited by the talmud (regardless of who they are authorized by, of course). i have my own thoughts on resolving the issues of mixed marriages and patrilineage in halacha--this is not the place for them, however. 

the reform movement, i would argue, has failed in its adoption of traditional jewish customs. i would actually say that it has further alienated jews from judaism; in lacking a deep sense of meaning, being less connected to these traditions (that are understood to be the “right way” to have faith) creates a sense of having failed to be jewish. but the successful adoption of jewish customs would unfortunately require the successful readoption of traditional judaism. that is to say: this trend will continue unless fundamental changes are made. 

you would think, as a halacha-observant jew, i would be opposed to their confirmation ceremonies and their church organs and their robe-clad choirs, but i’m really not--what i’m opposed to is their historical revisionism, which i would argue has had a far greater impact on diaspora jewish life than that of orthodox movements. (non-chasidic ones, anyway. that’s for another time, though). what i am opposed to is the reformation of judaism that drove orthodoxy to reactionary extremes in the first place. keep your mosaic germanism, but call it by its name. 

i don’t think that the reform movement was made to last, though; it was created to fill a niche for people of a particular descent in a particular culture. when western christianity loses its iron grip, reform judaism will fade into obscurity. 

(i’m adding relevant sources in a reblog.)

[jewblog]

relevant sources: 

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/history-and-overview-of-reform-judaism 

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-origins-of-reform-judaism 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Judaism#Beginnings 

https://circle.org/jsource/masculine-jewish-critical-theory-critique-male-flight-jewish-community/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskalah 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_emancipation 

https://reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/tishah-bav 

https://jewishjournal.com/judaism/13410/ 

https://www.stljewishlight.com/opinion/commentaries/tisha-b-av-in-the-21st-century/article_4fa635d2-ea3d-11e2-8814-001a4bcf887a.html 

[jewblog]

if you want to reblog, please do so with the above sources 

[tikkunolamorgtfo]

This is a whole ass mood. Despite the fact that my family ideologically identifies as Reconstructionist, I grew up going to a Reform schul simply because it was the one and only option in my hometown, and so much of this tracks for me. I got unbelievable pushback from the rabbi for choosing to have a Conservative egal Bat Mitzvah. Like, he was borderline livid that I decided to have a cantor, and not the—wait for it—organ. Yes, you read that correctly.

My mother was also shocked—shocked—to discover that until my Bar and Bat Mitzvah classes started up, I hadn’t really learned any of the morning service prayers. “You’ve been going to Sunday school since age 4 and to Hebre school since age 9, What the fuck have they been teaching you?” Answer: Debbie Friedman sings and How to make graggers out of paper plates.

The thing about Jewish men and assimilation and misogyny just rings so true, too (there’s also a whole other thing on top of this that’s not Reform specific where some Jewish men don’t raise their kids Jewish, even though their non-Jewish wives actively want them to because the husbands think child rearing and cultural education is the wife’s job and they can’t be bothered, but I digress). Also, the coerced conversion thing. Until I met a bestie of mine who is a ger, I never realised that so many people convert for having a Jewish neshama, and not because they were forced to by unhappy family members? Like I know that sounds dumb AF but until then I’d only met reluctant parents of classmates who admitted it wasn’t a personal choice.

And that bestie practices Reform and loves it, and is one of the most passionately Jewish people I know (and one of the most knowledgeable) so I don’t want to demean the light it is for many people! And I do personally like having denominations because traditional strains leave a lot of people behind (If there’s nowhere for you to sit at a service with a mechitzah you can’t very well participate and find meaning can you? If you realise you love Judaism but are in a same sex marriage, they won’t exactly let you convert in a traditional strain will they?), but yeah... there’s so much about Reform (both US and UK - they’re different movements but have some similar issues re stylistic assimilation) that I have systematic issues with and this highlights a lot of them.

[sorekbekarmi-deactivated2022051]

I've had the opportunity to work for two Reform Hebrew schools (weekly religious school) and two Conservative ones. Well. More than two, but, for a long time at all four of those.

In my experience, the Reform schools have problems with students not wanting to participate, and their solution is basically to let madrichim sit and play and talk with the kids on the side of the activity. It doesn't matter what it is, they don't really enforce any type of structured education environment. As a result, its hard to manage classrooms, the kids don't speak Hebrew they only decode it, and school in general is more of a place one goes to socialize with other Jewish youth and be in a culturally Jewish environment.

The Conservative schools are different. First of all, I can always actually converse with the kids in Hebrew and give instructions in Hebrew without issues.

Let me say that again. Not only is classroom management not a problem, because they actually listen and participate, I can manage my classroom IN A SECOND LANGUAGE, because my students are actually there to learn and participate.

If I had kids, you can bet my money would go to the Conservative school. That's where I'd want them to be. I consistently see my students there have more pride and ownership of their Judaism younger, have more confidence and knowledge and MEANING behind their Judaism.

I would rather my kids go to a place where even at a kindergarten level, they are being taught to actively participate in Jewish ritual, than somewhere where the administration's response to "this student doesn't want to participate" is basically "okay, let them go sit down and talk then."

Now, I don't think thats a universal characterization of either movement. One of my Rabbis and my therapist are both Reform Jews from Toronto. They both say they feel more comfortable in Conservative spaces here in the US, though, because its more similar to how their Reform communities are back in Canada. So. Your mileage may vary.

As far as my community though, I think most of the Reform communities place a value on Jewish social identity, but the Conservative movement actually values experiential education and like. Creates a culture of actual hands on Judaism.

[ask-jumblr]

hi!! i’m a prospective convert (raised X-tian) and i was wondering if there are any songs that can be used to worship? i’ve always felt more spiritual with music and i was wondering where to start :) (looking for reform FOR but open to any)

Mod here. I’m unsure whether this question is about now, as a prospective convert, or is about Jewish practices if you were to convert. If we’re talking about as a prospective convert, jumblr will likely (rightly) tell you to engage with an off-the-internet Jewish community and talk about it with an associated rabbi. Since jumblr can’t be of much help there, I’m going to shift the question into that latter category:

Is music used in Jewish worship or other practices? Where can I learn about it as a curious non-Jew? (Particular interest in Reform communities)

Much thanks! (Todah rabah!)  !תּוֹדָה רַבָּה      

[sorekbekarmi-deactivated2022051]

Judaism uses music VERY differently to how Protestants use it. (Except sometimes Reform Jews, because the early Reform movement imitated Protestant culture QUITE closely.)

If you're Catholic or Orthodox, the way most of Judaism uses music will be more familiar.

Either way, Judaism is CRAMMED FULL of music, probably way more than what you've experienced in Xianity, but in a different way.

So, basically I'm going to proceed assuming you are Protestant because you said "worship" in the context of music. I'm assuming you mean the kind of songs that would be played in a 30-45 minute set at the beginning of a church service, before the sermon.

(Im also going to use you as an excuse to write about Jewish and Xian religious music, which I am OBBSESSED with. I hold my own with religious music grad students regularly.)

"Worship music" in that context is a Protestant Christian invention, specifically coined by Martin Luther. The Catholics use music more in the way Jews do - to memories and recite liturgy. But in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, it became a thing - a meme, basically - to mix the lyrics of traditional liturgical music with the tunes of secular songs about sex and alcohol, and present them in concerts. Basically, parody and mashup culture. Imaging singing the words of Amazing Grace or a Psalm to WAP. That's what it was. The Catholic Church eventually banned this practice at the Council of Trent in the mid 16th century. Luther, on the otherhand, saw that people LOVED this. It was basically THE MOST popular trend - imagine the vitality of Auto tune memes in the 2010s. Like. People COULDN'T GET ENOUGH.

So, Luther introduced the idea of a musical concert using pop tunes, folk tunes, raunchy tunes, etc - the people's music - before the sermon. And it was a huge success and got people packed into church. All of the "boring," "old-school" hymns, like Be Thou My Vision, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, What Child is This, and Come Thou Fount? Most of used to be about sex, adultery, alcoholism, etc.

Modern Christian worship music is often criticized for taking rock and pop and folk music influences and writing Jesus lyrics - but in fact that culture of Casting Crowns, Hillsong, Petra, Larry Norman and Jars of Clay, Rebecca St James and all them? Is the EXACT same culture as where hymns originally came from.

Anyway, although that is a very Christian and very Protestant idea, there IS sort of a modern Jewish equivalent to that culture of "worship music" and "contemporary Christian music." And it's because the Reform movement basically mixed Judaism with cultural (like musical) influences from German (and later American and Canadian) Protestants.

So, Reform services also include some "concert style" portion of the service, where there's a band and everyone is singing, and, many Jews of different denominations listen to Jewish music in daily life.

In that sense, what you may be looking for is music you can sing to, that can be enjoyed in a service or on your radio, and where the music feels accessible and catchy to you. You want the equivalent of "Christian radio" and "10:30am Sunday Worship Serivice."

I would say you want music like Debbie Friedman, Rick Recht, Josh Warshawsky, Craig Taubman, Neshama Carlebach, Nefesh Mountain, Dan Nichols, Moshav. Many of these will be in English, or Heblish, or some in Hebrew, but often, "easy" Hebrew.

However, there are MANY other types of Jewish music.

Brachot (blessings), and tefilot (prayers) almost all have traditional melodies to which they are sometimes or always sung or chanted. These melodies can can sometimes shift modaly, perhaps for a holiday or other observance, and some brachot and tfilot can have several or many different melodies, which can be chosen from at the singer's discretion. Because there are traditional brachot for every basic act and traditional tfilot for three daily prayer services, if you learn them, you could be singing ALL DAY LONG. Constant gratitude and thanksgiving for the daily joys in life and mourning and catharsis for the daily sorrows and guilts.

The Torah, and portions of the Tanakh (anything that's in the Haftarah, anything that's in a Megilah, etc) also have a traditional melody to which they can be sung. These are notated in a system called cantilation marks, Torah trope, or taamei hamiqra. It's an ancient system of melody notation before standard notation existed, and the system of singing is a melody type - the scale degrees of the melody are only loosely fixed, the mode can shift to convert emotion, the singer can ornament the melody according to their preference and culture in an improvisational way. The musical mode to recide a particular portion of sacred text can be changed to highlight an emotion, a theme, or a specific circumstance like a brit milah or a wedding. This is some of the most ancient form of Jewish music - the modes used by Ashkenazi Jews seem musically to be totally Middle Eastern in origin, and the modes used by Sefardi and Mizrahi Jews being basically identical to the maqam musical system of Andalusia, the MENA, and Turkey and Persia.

This type of Jewish religious music, cantilation, almost certainly developed during the Oral Transmission era, when books were largely handed down through perfect total memoralization, all orally, from teacher to student. The melody helps you remember the words, and serves basically as musical punctuation and emphasis - just like your voice probably goes up at the end of a question, ends firmly on a period, pauses on a comma, stresses certain words - the music of taamei hamikra is designed to do that with musical notes.

The Megillot (singular Megillah) are five books of the Tanakh that are read on specific holidays - Esther, Ruth, Lamentations (Eicha), Ecclesiasties (Kohelet), and Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim). These all have special traditional melodies that are used for their memorization and public recitation.

There's also niggunim - wordless melodies that are either played on an instrument or sung with syllables like "nai nai nai, lai lai lai, yai dai dai" etc. These are largely from the Hasidic tradition, but they affected a LOT of Jewish music. They're all about letting your emotions and spirituality out directly through notes, rather than translating into words. They can be ecstatically immersive in that state of spiritual joy, almost like a meditation state. (Which some people also achieve through Protestant worship music!) Niggunim are especially effective in the dark - almost like the Christian practice of praying with one's eyes closed to heighten ones spiritual focus. (Jews normally pray with our eyes open.)

Instead of hymns, Jews have Piyutim, singular Piyut. It's from the same root as poet - these songs are originally poems composed and set to music. Piyutim that are famous include Dror Yiqra, Adon Olam, El Adon, Lekha Dodi. Some of these are traditionally for certain times of day (morning, noon, or evening prayers) or for Erev Shabbat, Moetzi Shabbat, or somewhere in between. Others are for a specific holiday, like Maoz Tzur for Chanukah, or Yigdal Elokim Chai for Yom Kippur. Many are poetically symbolic of Kabbalah, like Ana Bekoach.

Theres a whole service of Piyutim created by Kabbalists called Kabbelat Shabbat - it's also like "worship music" in that it's a 30 minute sing-along of Piyutim that proceeds the Erev Shabbat prayer service of Mincha and Maariv, and the Shabbat kiddush and dinner blessings. It's a musical warm-up. There are similar traditional warm-ups and cool-down songs or sets of songs for MANY prayer services. This makes them more likely to have many tunes. Some piyutim are famous for the RIDICULOUS number of tunes you can sing them to, like Adon Olam or Lekha Dodi. Anything from Somewhere Over the Rainbow to the Pokémon theme.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Psalms - Tehilim. They're some of the most ancient Jewish music! Though we only have the lyrics, the poetic side, Jews have always sung the Psalms according to communal common tunes. Some are sung responsively, like Ashrei, which is Psalm 119, the long acrostic poem. Some have popular tunes and are sung often, like Hinei Ma Tov (Psalm 133) Ashrei HaIsh (Psalm 1) or KeAyal Taarog (Psalm 42). These will be familiar to you, because they're also famous favorites of Christians. Any psalm that begins "a song of David" (mizmor leDavid) or "a song of ascents" (shir lamaalot) is also likely to have many popular tunes and be sung often. Also, any of the "Halleluyah" Psalms, and particular poetically strong ones like "ki leolam chasdo" slash "for God's mercy endures forever."

There's also a specific group of psalms (Tehilim) that's called the Hallel (praise). It's Psams 113-118. It's sung for certain Shabbat and holiday services. The Hallel often has many options for tunes, because of being so frequently used. It can be quite beautiful.

Even some horribly sad and tragic psalms, like Psalm 137 or Al Naharot Bavel, are commonly sung!

Kol Nidre is one of the most famous pieces of Jewish music - it's the prayer recited on the evening of Yom Kippur, in which we ask G-d to release us from any vows made the previous year that were made under duress - basically, it developed so that if Jewish people were converted to Christianity by force, they could still be considered like they never converted. It's a very somber and stirring melody, its often played on a cello as well as sung by the Hazzan, the congregation, even a choir. Some Jews go to shul ONLY for this service in the entire year. It's a very important piece, musically and culturaly.

Jews have influenced the broader musical culture wherever we are, too - everything from classical to common music in the West AND in the MENA regions. One of the most obvious examples is Symphony No 3 by Leonard Bernstein, which is also called Kaddish, inspired by the Jewish doxological prayer used by mourners.

Many modern pieces of Jewish music (folk, rock, pop, etc) are lyrically inspired by the Tanakh. Folk songs tend to focus on agricultural themes, and love songs focus on romantic poetic Hebrew from the Song of Songs, Psalms, or elsewhere. In a sense, plenty of modern Israeli music is lyrically inspired by the Tanakh - anything from Idan Raichel to Ofra Haza to A-WA to Daklon to Shoshana Damari to HaGevatron to HaParvarim have lyrics that are often inspired by or direct quotations of the Jewish Bible.

So. Yes. We have that, and a whole lot more.

[queering-the-binary]

Shoutout to non binary Jews!!

Whether you wear tefillin, a kippah, a tallit, anything else or none of it, you are valid. Your observance of Judaism does not invalidate your gender.

Shoutout to non binary Jews who are part of a super accepting synagogue!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who are part of a queerphobic synagogue!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who aren’t part of a synagogue!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who wear gendered religious items!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who want to wear gendered religious items but can’t!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who wear gendered religious items but don’t really want to!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who don’t wear gendered religious items!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who are only out in jewish spaces!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who are nervous about coming out in jewish spaces!

Shoutout to non binary Jews whose coming out didn’t go well in a jewish space!

Shoutout to non binary Jews whose coming out went really well in jewish spaces!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who aren’t sure where their identity fits into their Judaism!

Shoutout to non binary Jews whose identity is tied to their Judaism!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who feel more distant from Judaism because of their identity.

Shoutout to non binary Jews who feel closer to Judaism because of their identity.

Shoutout to all non binary Jews, whether you fit into any of these or not. Navigating Judaism and being non binary is complicated, and I’m so happy that you are part of my community!

[progressivejudaism]

New to Jewish Prayer? Nine Tips for Beginners

Perhaps you’ve been to Shabbat services, and found them mystifying, or you've been invited to a bar mitzvah service and have no idea what to do. Here are some ways to get something out of the experience as a beginner.

[jewishconvertthings]

This is actually a really great article for people going to their first Shabbat services.

I will add: right now, a lot of congregations are still holding services online only. While this is not an ideal approach in the long run for those wanting to acclimate to Jewish spaces, it can be an easier entry point than services in person, especially if you have a lot of social anxiety.

[phoukanamedpookie]

What gentiles imagine vs. what Jews actually are

Culturally Christian Gentiles: The Judeo-Christian concept of original sin

Jews: Huh?

Culturally Christian Gentiles: The Abrahamic religions’ belief in heaven and hell

Jews: Say what now?

Culturally Christian Gentiles: The Judeo-Christian religions emphasize obedience over asking questions and debating ideas.

Jews: *spit coffee laughing*

[jewishdragon]

I’ve seen some people confused about this:

Judiasm has no concept of original sin, we have mitzvah and averah (good deeds and transgressions. You cannot be born with transgressions you must personally commit them, they are actions). No concept of heaven or hell, merely a world to come. “A” singular world to come. We do have a sort of, i guess “purgatory” the maximum time spent there before proceeding to the world to come is 11 months Judaism is founded on fist fighting G-D and debating every aspect of our scriptures (which we have been doing for millennia) 

[hachama]

Also! The purgatory concept/world to come are not central to Jewish life in the way that wanting heaven and fearing hell appear to be central to christianity.

Judaism: the purpose of life is to live a good life and perform mitzvot

Christianity: the purpose of life is to go to heaven when you die

Biiiiig difference.

[scallioncreamcheesebagel]

literally one time i saw someone say “christianity and judaism are both homophobic bc they say youll burn in hell for being gay” and when i informed them that jews do not believe in hell they didnt know what to say lol

[brunhiddensmusings]

realizing its a several thousand year argument with god is an important concept argument implies you have a say in it too, not that god yells at you and you just take it obediently without question this goes so far many modern jews questioning traditionally held statements now say that things like circumcision no longer have a place in today’s world as theyre a barbaric relic of the past, considering theyve long ago stopped animal sacrifices, and to be fair its not like combining meat and cheese on the same sandwich is an affront to god and god sayeth eat not the shellfish for they are icky and lo the jews did ask ‘why? what do you have against shrimp? you made them!’

[neophyte-no1]

It differs from sect to sect, too. According to a lot of Orthodox Jews, the only reason why we don’t still make sacrifices is that we don’t have a halachically (religiously legal) appropriate temple to do so in. I don’t know why we’re not building one, but I’m in no hurry. 

[keshetchai]

i mean none of us are making sacrifices because we don’t have a temple and we don’t have a temple because the al-aqsa compound is there currently 

which honestly saves us from the work of having to find a blemish free red heifer

[grimmtidings]

So, let me get this straight… the entire religion is built around legal loopholes? Is that what I’m gathering here? (Feel free to correct me!)

[keshetchai]

 the religion is built around living in an ethical society per our contract with G-d. but you can’t just have a bunch of words without putting them to use, & understanding them in practice. You know? the contract is a living discussion.

it’s not legal loopholes, because a loophole is often an inadequacy in the law that gets taken advantage of, but these are all built-in, part of our understanding. In this case, we have a contract (covenant), and we’re going to put it to use in every way possible, explore every inch of it, turn it inside out, and apply it to real life examples, define the parameters, argue those definitions, and then survey the conclusions. 

I can say “you need to say the evening shema (a prayer) in the evening” but we can’t just say that, we need to explore a bunch of things, like: 

when in the evening does this happen? is there a difference between twilight and evening? if we say the evening prayer can be said from the time the priests partake of teruma, then when is that? if it’s the first watch of the evening, how many watches are there? if you were out all night for a wedding, but it’s not yet dawn, is it too late to recite the evening prayer - IN SEVERAL THOUSAND YEARS, KESHA WILL WRITE TIK TOK AND WE’LL NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF PARTYING UNTIL YOU SEE SUNLIGHT. when do they (the priests) ritually bathe in preparation for this? what about when poor people who cannot afford extra candles - do we consider how early they eat an evening meal in order to make sure they can afford the light? 

why did we discuss evening prayer before morning prayer? why does torah give us night before day? when is bedtime for most people? can we say the evening prayer until dawn? if yes, people might put off the prayer until dawn, which could lead to laziness or mistakes. also, when is dawn? but more prudently at the moment, when is evening? evening is when the stars are visible, but…how many stars? also, if you are lying alone in a dark house and can’t see the sky, how do you determine if it is too early or too late for your evening shema?

and that is from Talmud, in its hyper-condensed form. That is what we do. It’s not a series of loopholes and ways to weasel out of doing something. nothing gets taken for granted, everything is questioned, debated, discussed until it is understood. and there may be lots of ways to understand. 

if someone sees this line of thinking and go “ah, loopholes to get out of it/wiggle away from it,” you are mistaking loopholes for lacework. 

….and if Kesha sees sunlight it is too late for her to say her bedtime shema. she should recite morning shema instead. 

[queering-the-binary]

Shoutout to non binary Jews!!

Whether you wear tefillin, a kippah, a tallit, anything else or none of it, you are valid. Your observance of Judaism does not invalidate your gender.

Shoutout to non binary Jews who are part of a super accepting synagogue!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who are part of a queerphobic synagogue!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who aren’t part of a synagogue!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who wear gendered religious items!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who want to wear gendered religious items but can’t!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who wear gendered religious items but don’t really want to!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who don’t wear gendered religious items!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who are only out in jewish spaces!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who are nervous about coming out in jewish spaces!

Shoutout to non binary Jews whose coming out didn’t go well in a jewish space!

Shoutout to non binary Jews whose coming out went really well in jewish spaces!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who aren’t sure where their identity fits into their Judaism!

Shoutout to non binary Jews whose identity is tied to their Judaism!

Shoutout to non binary Jews who feel more distant from Judaism because of their identity.

Shoutout to non binary Jews who feel closer to Judaism because of their identity.

Shoutout to all non binary Jews, whether you fit into any of these or not. Navigating Judaism and being non binary is complicated, and I’m so happy that you are part of my community!

[sandstonejourney]

I wrapped tefillin for the first time in forever and tbh, I missed it. I haven't been doing it much of late bc the pandemic means that none of the synagogues are open rn and while that's fine for, esp if it means we can keep the oldest and most vulnerable members around us safe and healthy, wrapping tefillin whilst being alone feels...different. I'm used to having the sounds of other people getting ready around me and now I don't have that because everyone is davening from home. As much as I like the silence and the chance to center myself and wrap refilling without distraction, I do miss having people physically around me. I might join in for a zoom minyan the next time I'm off work, but I'm an awkward noodle who hates zoom so idk for sure.

(you'd think nearly 8 months into the pandemic I'd get over that but nope!)

I'm definitely gonna get back into my routine of wrapping tefillin and at least praying the amidah on the days where I'm not scheduled to work the morning.

[jewitchry-deactivated20210721]

The witchcraze, Judaism & how Christianity created a dichotomy between Magic and Religoons.

[proudlyunicorn]

I wish lesbians were as easy to find in real life as they are on tumblr

[proudlyunicorn]

11 FUCKING THOUSAND NOTES ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME WHERE ARE YOU ALL COME DATE ME

[gleerant]

ok

[gleerant]

update: we are dating

[gleerant]

update: we are married

[proudlyunicorn]

update: we knocked up

[strugglingqueer]

This is the cutest story on the entirety of Tumblr, I swear to god!!!!!

[gleerant]

Update: had a baby together

[kingshaul]

“Blessed She who had made me proud” “Blessed He who had made me proud”

Font used: Stam Sefarad

Gay / Bisexual man / Trans man version Lesbian / Bisexual woman / Trans woman version

[kuttithevangu]

I wonder who started the use of the phrase “closed culture” on tumblr. I googled it because I wanted to see what the origin was and the top results are ALL paganism blogs. The wiki page of “closed communities” doesn’t have much to say about ethnoreligious groups, just acknowledges that some are considered “closed”. Would be interesting to see how this phrase spread to the point where you’ll see it in most posts about cultural appropriation 

[kuttithevangu]

There are at least three things implied by the phrase “closed culture” and I think the lack of a clear (or googleable) definition leads people to conflate them. They are, as I understand them from contexts I’ve encountered: 

1. “Closed culture” = a culture you are born into, and otherwise cannot become a part of (unclear what the implications are to this definition w/r/t culturally specific acts) 

2. “Closed culture” = a culture you can become a part of, but if you are not part of it, you should not perform certain acts that have significance within it 

3. “Closed culture” = a culture you can only be born into, AND that has traditions which are not meant even to be KNOWN about if you are not part of it 

So if you ask “is Judaism a closed culture” then depending on which of these definitions you’re using the answer could be “yes, absolutely” or “wtf? no” 

[gedeiht]

I frequently see Judaism described as a “partially closed culture” because you can learn about its traditions and customs without being Jewish, and you can become Jewish, but you generally shouldn’t participate in many of the things if you aren’t Jewish.

[kuttithevangu]

Judaism has walls but u can get in thru the window if u really try hard and believe in yourself

[queermachmir]

Shacharit: For the Twilight People by queermachmir

This is a booklet for the Jewish morning weekday prayers.

Shacharit Siddur

I created something! This is a Shacharit weekday siddur (with no minyan), trimmed down for ease of time. It features both original poetry and photography, and has transliterations for every part except the Amidah. It also has poetry, quotes, and meditations from other sources. This is completely free.

I took creative liberations with translation of liturgy, using pronouns to give a gender-expansive idea of G-d, for G-d uses all and no pronouns. Themes of liminality and the connection to transness and divinity was also a key feature to the poetry, and offering casual commentary on the topic of a section of liturgy.

I spent a lot of time on this (it’s all hand typed), and I really enjoyed doing it. I hope that someone will find it helpful in some way.

[tikkunolamorgtfo]

Hey, if your synagogue is live-streaming services or other events, reblog this with the information so we can start creating a thread for virtual Jewish life during social distancing measures.  

[sandstonejourney]

Reform livestream (also functions as an archive, so you can view past services): https://www.templerodefshalom.org/live/

Conservative livestream: https://www.facebook.com/adasisraeldc. Check out their website to see when they’ll go live. Adas also has an archive, so if you miss anything it should show up shortly after the broadcast.

[bezrat-ha-shem-deactivated20250]

So ya know

When we daven and we recite the Amidah?

That part about the righteous? It clearly includes converts.

Ya'all need to stop harrasing the converts.

Thier legitimacy is not up for debate.

[attackfish]

Esther and Vashti

It’s Purim tomorrow so it’s as good a time as any for me to sink my teeth into one of my favorite biblical stories, the story of Esther.  It’s a story with a lot going on in it, and it’s a story that pretty much always comes up when we talk about women in the Bible, since it stars one.  It’s also a story that attracts feminist readings, for exactly the same reason.  And there’s a trend in some of these feminist readings that I find unsettling as a Jewish woman and a feminist, and that is the tendency to pit Esther and Vashti against each other for the title of “female character we can admire” as if there can be only one.

I love Vashti.  I love that she refused to be denigrated, and told her husband and king to get lost when he got drunk and demanded she appear naked before him and his party guests.  Vashti is so cool in the original narrative, and her own desire not to be humiliated, to maintain her dignity, are so resonant that of course thousands of years of male Jewish scholars have done their best to find ways to paint her as a villain in her own right, lest she distract from Esther, since remember, when it comes to amazing women in a story, there can be only one.  They’ve tried to say that she was vain and cruel, and enslaved Jewish women, and that she had suddenly developed some kind of deformity that she didn’t want to display, and that she was a bad wife.  I’m so glad that feminists, especially Jewish feminists have taken a good hard look at her and stuck their tongues out at the men who have sought to diminish her.

I also love Esther, who took her place and risked her life to save her people.  Esther is nothing like Vashti, and that’s okay.  They have different motives, different goals, and different needs in the story.  Esther has a problem that Vashti doesn’t, she is Jewish, and there are lives depending upon her that are not dependent upon Vashti.  Vashti has a certain freedom because of that.  When she disobeys her husband the king, she is the only one punished.  The only thing she has to do is save herself.  She decides what that means, and how far she is willing to go.  She decides “not that far,” and it’s a brave and heroic decision.

Esther also disobeys her king and husband.  As his wife, she is expected to wait for him to go to her, but instead she risks her life, disobeys the law, and goes to him in order to intercede on behalf of her people.  Esther does not have the freedom Vashti has.  Her people are under a death sentence, and she is called upon to protect them.  She has to decide how far she is willing to go to do that.  She decides “yes that far,” and it’s a brave and heroic decision.

There’s a lovely parallel actually.  Vashti is disobedient by refusing to go to her husband when called, Esther by going to him when he doesn’t call.  The king demands Vashti come to him naked, with only her crown, while Esther dresses up in her royal robes for the occasion.  The king tries to drag Vashti to a banquet, while Esther invites the king to one.  Vashti refuses to be used, Esther charms, seduces, and invites herself to be used.  Vashti has to choose between her position and her dignity, and chooses dignity.  Esther has to choose between her dignity and her people and chooses her people.  They both have to work with the tools and the choices they have.

Ultimately that there are two traps that have to be avoided when examining the story of Esther through a feminist lens.  The first is the one I already mentioned, the highly unfeminist tendency to pit two women against each other for the title of acceptable woman, and the second is the tendency to ignore that different women have different circumstances and different limitations on their choices.

In conclusion, both Esther and Vashti are awesome, there are many ways to be an awesome woman, their husband was a shit, and I’m going to go make hamantashen, and write another post about Vashti, this time with Haman and genocide, because I am a person who knows how to have fun.

[profeminist]