your fave is Jewish

say goodbye to Jewish erasure

[yourfaveisjewish]

on your Jesus post you tagged it 'messianics don't reblog' but is it okay for christians to reblog?

Yeah, of course. The reason I tagged it as that was mostly so people would know we were not endorsing Messianic Judaism and didn’t want Messianics to take it as an endorsement.

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Jesus

As one of the most influential historical figures over the past several hundred years, Jesus (Yehoshua ben Yosef) life and teachings has inspired many movements in the world, for better and for worse. Debates over Jesus’s true intentions and his life and death will surely continue, but one thing is for certain: Jesus was a Jew, and a mensch at that. Here are a few facts:

-Jesus’s lineage is said to trace back to Abraham, the very first Jew and the man responsible for establishing the covenant between the Jewish people and G-d. [x]

-According to the Bible, Jesus and his disciples took part in the Jewish holiday Pesach (Passover). Known as “The Last Supper” in Christian tradition, the famous meal that Jesus and his disciples took part in was a seder which included unleavened bread and wine. [x]

-According to the Bible, following his death, Jesus was buried in accordance with the Jewish burial customs of the time, which included the dressing of his body in a linen shroud. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Jesus

As one of the most influential historical figures over the past several hundred years, Jesus (Yehoshua ben Yosef) life and teachings has inspired many movements in the world, for better and for worse. Debates over Jesus’s true intentions and his life and death will surely continue, but one thing is for certain: Jesus was a Jew, and a mensch at that. Here are a few facts:

-Jesus’s lineage is said to trace back to Abraham, the very first Jew and the man responsible for establishing the covenant between the Jewish people and G-d. [x]

-According to the Bible, Jesus and his disciples took part in the Jewish holiday Pesach (Passover). Known as “The Last Supper” in Christian tradition, the famous meal that Jesus and his disciples took part in was a seder which included unleavened bread and wine. [x]

-According to the Bible, following his death, Jesus was buried in accordance with the Jewish burial customs of the time, which included the dressing of his body in a linen shroud. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Mayim Bialik

Neuroscientist and Emmy Award-nominated actress Mayim Bialik is best known for her roles as Amy Farrah Fowler on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory and the eponymous character of the NBC television series Blossom. She is also the current host of the revival of Candid Camera. In addition to being a talented actress and neuroscientist, Mayim is a proud Jew. Here's how we know:

-Mayim was born to first-generation Jewish American parents in San Diego. She was raised in Reform Judaism, but now says she aligns more closely with Modern Orthodox Judaism. Her name is the Hebrew word for "water." [x] [x]

-Mayim minored in Hebrew and Jewish Studies while at college studying neuroscience at UCLA. While at UCLA, she was an active member of the university's Hillel, started a women's Rosh Chodesh group, and composed and conducted music for a Jewish a cappella group. [x]

-Mayim does speaking events around the United States for multiple Jewish organizations, and writes regularly for the Jewish parenting website Kveller.com. She is also a founding member of the Shamayim V'Aretz Institute, a Jewish animal welfare organization. [x] [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Arthur Miller

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and essayist Arthur Miller, best known for plays such as The Crucible and Death of a Salesman and films such as The Misfits, had a writing career that spanned seven decades and left a lasting impression on American theater and public consciousness. This amazing dramatist was Jewish, and here's how we know:

-Arthur Miller was born to a family of Austrian Jewish descent in New York, New York. [x]

-Prior to his marriage to Marilyn Monroe, the Hollywood star reportedly converted to Judaism to establish a deeper connection to Arthur and his parents. The pair had a Jewish wedding ceremony after having a civil ceremony. [x]

-Many of Arthur Miller's literary works deal with Jewish themes, and some of these works, including Broken Glass, do so explicitly. The name of this work is a reference to Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass), a major event often cited as the beginning of the Holocaust in full force. Thousands of synagogues, Jewish businesses, homes, and schools were burned or ransacked, and hundreds of Jews were killed and thousands more were transported to concentration camps. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

Your fave is Jewish: HAIM

Best known as the American pop rock trio HAIM, sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim have won the spotlight with hit songs such as “The Wire,” “My Song 5,” and “Pray to God.” Not only are they an extremely talented band and buddies with Taylor Swift, but the sisters are Jewish! Here’s how we know:

- The Haim sisters were born in Los Angeles, California, to Jewish parents Mordechai and Donna Haim. Mordechai, nicknamed “Moti,” was born in Israel, and Donna was born in the United States and is of Polish Jewish descent. The family name is the Hebrew word for “life.“ [x]

-Both of the Haim parents were musicians, and the Haim sisters grew up playing in a family band called Rockinhaim. One of their gigs involved playing at a Jewish deli, and the Haim family was compensated for their efforts in matzah ball soup. [x]

- The girls grew up celebrating Jewish holidays and listening to their grandmother’s collection of Israeli Jewish singer and recording artist Ofra Haza cassettes, and many of their musical influences come from her music. [x]

-The Haim sisters considered many different band names before deciding to go with their own surname. One major contender was “The Bagel Bitches,” referring to the common food of Polish Ashkenazi Jewish origin. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

someone told me the actor who plays pietro in the new avengers movie is jewish!!! is that true? :o

This is true.

The actor who plays Pietro Maximoff, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, is Jewish. This is not true of Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Wanda Maximoff, and neither of them are known to have any Romani ancestry.

Aaron is of Russian Jewish descent and has openly said that he is Jewish. He even said that he likes when people say he has a bit of a Hassidic look out of costume, but little else is known about his personal connection to his Jewish background. [x]

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Wanda and Pietro Maximoff

Twin superheroes Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, known by the names Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver respectively, are comic book characters with a history going back over sixty years. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the twins have a number of interesting powers between them, including superspeed and reality-warping. Wanda and Pietro recently starred in Avengers: Age of Ultron. These twins, in addition to being amazing Avengers, are Jewish! Here's how we know:

-Wanda and Pietro are the children of German Jewish Holocaust survivor Max Eisenhardt (Erik Lehnsherr), better known as Magneto, and Romani Holocaust survivor Magda Eisenhardt, who fell in love and escaped Auschwitz together. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

I really like this blog, but I'm not Jewish. I'm Catholic. Would it be alright if I started a similar blog to this one, except called "yourfaveiscatholic" or something similar to that?

Ultimately, I have no control over what you do or do not do. It’s your decision.

But consider a few things:

This blog’s goal is to increase Jewish visibility and to celebrate Jewishness in a world where out of over 7 billion people, only about 14 million people are Jewish. That’s about 0.2% of the world’s population. 0.2%, a tiny sliver of the world’s population, is Jewish. There are only two countries where the population of Jews in that country amounts to over 2% of the country’s total population–Israel and the United States. [x] The truth is that Jews are very few and far between, and have been subject to persecution and mass murder for centuries, and at times these events have been so severe that they killed off large parts of the global Jewish population. People erase Jewish identities and demonize Jewish identities, and this blog is meant to serve as a way to let Jewish people feel pride in their background and identity, and to let Gentiles see just how many awesome people are Jewish and maybe even help dispel some of the negative stereotypes surrounding Jewishness.

Catholicism, however, has over one billion adherents worldwide. That’s about a seventh of the entire world population, which means that Catholicism is not exactly a rare thing. Catholicism is also the majority religion in many countries around the world, and the population of Catholics has tripled in the last century. [x] However, it is also true that Catholics have been subject to persecution and are even very misunderstood in certain places. You probably know the details better than I do.

If you think there’s a need for this type of blog for Catholics, that’s up to you. Just know exactly why this blog exists for the Jewish community, and why it’s important, and then make your decision.

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Regina Spektor

Best known for her songs from the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian soundtrack and the Orange is the New Black opening theme song “You’ve Got Time,“ Regina Spektor is not just an amazing singer-songwriter and pianist. She is also Jewish! Here’s how we know:

-Regina is a Russian Jew who immigrated with her family to the Bronx by way of Austria and Italy in 1989 when she was only nine years old, due to antisemitism in the USSR. After moving to the Bronx, Regina attended a Jewish day school and, later, a yeshiva. [x] [x]

-Regina has performed at a benefit concert for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society–the immigrant relief agency that helped resettle her family–and at the White House for Jewish American Heritage month. [x] [x] 

-Regina has performed Hannah Senesh’s “Eli, Eli” in Hebrew, her song “The Flowers” incorporates the traditional Jewish song “Hava Nagila,” and she wrote her song “Ink Stains” about Holocaust denial after visiting Anne Frank’s house. [x] [x] [x] [x]

-Regina’s “Begin to Hope” album cover features her wearing a Star of David necklace. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Drake

Canadian rapper and actor Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham, known for his role as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation, has a Grammy and a number of other awards under his belt to attest to his talent. He's also Jewish! Here's how we know:

-Drake was born to a Jewish Canadian woman and an African American man in Toronto. [x]

-Drake was raised in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Toronto and celebrated Jewish High Holidays and Chanukkah with his mother. At the age of thirteen, he had a bar mitzvah. [x]

-Drake has been very open about his Jewish background and identity, and even addressed his Jewish, black, and Canadian identity in his Saturday Night Live monologue while hosting an episode of the comedy show. He has also been seen wearing a necklace with the Hebrew characters for 'life' or 'living' (chai, חַי). [x] [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Amy Winehouse

Late English singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, known for her signature mix of musical genres, amazing vocals, and teased "beehive" hair, was Jewish! Here's how we know:

-Amy was born into a Jewish family, and her mother was of Russian Jewish descent. [x]

-Amy attended cheder classes and celebrated Jewish holidays such as Purim as a child and knew bits of Yiddish and Hebrew even into adulthood. [x]

-Amy was known to wear a Magen David around her neck, and attended services for Yom Kippur and Seders during Passover. [x] [x]

-After Amy's untimely death, her family interred her remains at Edgwarebury Jewish Cemetery in London. [x]

-Jewish Museum London created an exhibit about Amy's life, containing a collection of personal and other items detailing her early life and Jewish roots, as well as her rise to fame. The exhibit was created with the help of her brother, Alex. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: William Shatner

Best known for his role as the cultural icon Captain James T. Kirk, William Shatner is not simply an actor, author, director, singer, and comedian. This prolific entertainer is Jewish, and here’s how we know:

-William’s grandparents were Jewish immigrants hailing from countries in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Austria-Hungary, Poland, and the Ukraine.. [x]

-William was raised in Conservative Judaism, and his family held long seders during Passover. [x]

-William grew up attending a Canadian Jewish Federation camp during the summer. He also attended Hebrew school, and had the unfortunate experience of dealing with antisemitic bullies on the way there. [x]

-After the death of his third wife, William began planning to produce a film called "The Shiva Club," in which a group of people crash a shiva in the hopes of getting in the good graces of a Jewish Hollywood exec. This project appears to have fallen through. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Idina Menzel

Best known for her performances in the original Broadway run of Rent, the television series Glee, and the Disney animated film Frozen, Idina Menzel is an amazing actress and singer and Jewish to boot. Here's how we know:

-Idina's family is of Russian and Eastern European Jewish background. [x]

-Idina attended Hebrew school, but ultimately dropped out before she finished prepping for her bat mitzvah (but not before getting her haftarah down!). [x]

-Idina has been known to sing in Hebrew, often in the form of her haftarah portion, at her concerts. [x]

-On raising her son and any possible future children, Idina says that she plans on raising them Jewish and with an awareness of Jewish history. She says that she feels a strong connection to Jewish culture. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Stan Lee

Stan Lee, born Stanley Lieber, is one of the best known faces in comics, besides the characters themselves. Famous for his hand in co-creating numerous Marvel superheroes, Stan Lee has left a lasting mark on American culture. The father of the comic book characters so many of us have come to love is Jewish, and here's how we know:

-Stan Lee's parents were Jewish immigrants originally from Romania. [x]

-Stan Lee has said that he regrets never having had the chance to visit Israel, and fears that the trip would be too far for him in his advancing age. [x]

-Stan Lee narrated an episode of the motion-comic Holocaust education mini-series They Spoke Out: American Voices Against The Holocaust, and described the experience as both depressing and triumphant, as he was narrating a real-life hero. [x]

-Stan Lee describes himself as being proud to be part of Jewish culture and his Jewish heritage. He feels that Judaism ultimately means doing good unto others, and tried to show the good in humanity in his comics. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Marlee Matlin

Actress, activist, and author Marlee Matlin, best known for her roles in films and television series such as Children of a Lesser God, The L Word, and Switched at Birth, became the first deaf performer to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was 21 years old when she received the award, and holds the record for being the youngest person to receive this prestigious award. This amazing actress is also Jewish, and here's how we know:

-Marlee's family is of Russian and Polish Jewish background, and Marlee grew up attending the Jewish Temple for the Deaf, Bene Shalom, in Skokie, Illinois. [x]

-Marlee had a bat mitzvah and was later interviewed about her bat mitzvah experience for the book Mazel Tov: Celebrities' Bar and Bat Mitzvah Memories. [x]

-Marlee has said that her Jewish background has been part of the driving force for the large amount of charity work she has done, including her work for the Starkey Hearing Foundation, which gives free hearing aids to children who cannot afford them. [x]

-Marlee has participated in advertising for the Jewish Federations of North America, which does philanthropic work to benefit Jewish causes. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!

[yourfaveisjewish]

your fave is Jewish: Jason Isaacs

British actor Jason Isaacs, best known for his role as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films as well as his work in the film The Patriot and the television series Brotherhood, is Jewish. Here's how we know:

-Jason's parents are Jews of Eastern European background, and raised him in a tight-knit Jewish community in Liverpool, England. His parents later made aliyah to Israel. [x]

-Jason describes himself as not particularly religious, but very Jewish. During his childhood, he attended a cheder twice-weekly and had very strong cultural Jewish influences. [x]

-After his family moved to London, Jason witnessed antisemitic attacks on their synagogue and a wave of violence in the 1970s caused by the antisemitic rhetoric of the National Front, a white supremacist, fascist political party. [x]

-On raising his two children, Jason has stated he intends for them to be proud of their Jewish background and with Jewish some observances and customs, while also giving them an environment that allows them to question teachings instead of accepting them blindly. [x]

Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our ask or submit box!