Discover Top Posts Tagged with #kiji converts

It lasted a grand total of thirty seconds. He loves me very much but you do not put a hat on this cat.

I told him he can’t have any of my Challah if he’s not wearing his yarmulke. I don’t think he believed me.

#jumblr #kiji converts #judaism #jewblr #cats in hats #feline yarmulke

Kiji Writes

So, a few months ago, I read this article regarding Jason Isaacs's history with substance abuse and some of the roots of the moving around his family did when he was a kid. I had never really realized (yes, American goyim alert) how bad the antisemitism is in countries other than the US. I sat down and started reading more articles, studies published about the prevalence at various times and in various areas.

Around the same time, a character popped up and started poking around the inside of my head. His name was Nathan Pryor and I ended up putting him into an AI chatbot on Character.ai, just for shits and giggles. The whole time I was chatting with Nathan, I kept getting this overwhelming feeling like there was something I was personally missing about my own character.

Something eventually clicked and I realized there was a novel brewing in the back of my head with Nathan at the center of it. Because I had always planned Nathan as being a British Jew. It wasn't until I was doing more research that I started getting ideas for how he was Jewish, what that looked like for his family and history. I did more research and messed with story ideas, threw things at the chatbot to see what bits stuck and what didn't.

I ended up with a story that spans generations. It explores antisemitism in England and Wales going back to the 1100s (at least). It explores how that kind of persecution echoes through time. And it explores a man's relationship with his son and his relationship with his father. It explores his self-identity and how he processes things he doesn't understand.

Nathan's story got very big on me. That's not unusual for me, but this is the first time it's happened in a way that I think I actually have something to say that's worth saying. I know I need to research a hell of a lot and I don't even know a quarter of what I need to know to pull this off.

But I think I'm finally ready to start. This weekend at GalaxyCon, I had an opportunity to talk to Jason Isaacs. Not long, but I did manage to put my brain together enough to tell him that I was working on a novel that had been inspired by his interviews and descriptions of antisemitism. I asked him if he was okay with my dedicating it to him when it's finished. He said it would be an honor and, especially impactful for me, "If it helps you write it," it was fine with him.

Maybe he'll never see it. Maybe I'll never write it. But I think I'm ready to actually start putting words into a document marked 'Nathan's Story'.

#kiji fics #personal #kiji speaks #jason isaacs #antisemitism #kiji converts

A long-time patron at the library noticed my Magen David necklace today. She stopped, looked at me and said, “Your necklace is pretty. Does it… mean something?”

I got nervous, thought of a million things to say and then just… told the truth: “I’m converting to Judaism.”

Her whole face lit up. “I’m…” she tapped her chest and gave me a significant look.

We talked about my journey, her grandson who lives in Jerusalem now, all kinds of things. For half an hour. I think she would have hugged me if there hadn’t been a desk in the way.

#jumblr #judaism #kiji converts #jewblr #personal

Talking with my mom about Jewish rights recently, I said “us.” I said “we” and “our” when talking about the Jewish community.

I counted myself as a Jew and it felt right. Even to my mom, she who birthed me into a Swedish/Finnish family and raised me in a Baptist household.

I may still have a lot of learning to do and practical application and living to do before standing before a beit din, but it feels good to speak my heart’s nature. I’m a Jew.

#jumblr #kiji converts #judaism #personal #jewblr