#sometimes I just think of all of the stupid things goyim have said to me just thinking it was okay | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

laineystein · 5 months

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I know that the media would have you believing that war is constant and ruthless but sometimes it’s a lot of sitting around and waiting for orders. And a lot of talking. Really introspective talking. And the things that people say when there’s a very real chance that they might die, are probably the most poignant and well said. So here’s a conversation my unit had in a million different ways with a million different words:

We love beings Jews. We love being Israeli. We can’t imagine being anything else or belonging to any other group. But this statistic that we are 0.2% of the worlds population has been so much more than a statistic lately. We all feel it. We feel how so much of the world has turned their backs on us — how the same people that posted those stupid blue squares on instagram are now using language that calls for our genocide and the destruction of our homeland. We know that for so many people we are pawns in their political game. We know that so many people think we are sub-human and therefore deserving of less respect than any other person. We don’t need anyone to tell us what they think of us because so many people are showing us by what they’re doing or not doing. And that’s okay. We’re used to it. We’ve always been alone. We’ve always fought (and won) our own battles. We’ll win this one without any of you. It’s fine. But it makes me think about how the same people that alienate us are the ones that critique how we live in insular communities (like the neighborhood I grew up in Crown Heights) and how our religion is closed and how we don’t need a place (read: Israel) where we all live together (assumedly because no other group has such a place — which is just a total lie). And there’s this thought amongst many Jews that communities like the one I grew up in in Brooklyn exist as a result of the persecution we faced. Just like there’s this thought that Israel exists because of the Holocaust. The survivors of the worst thing that can happen to a group decided to live together and close out the outside world. Now I’d argue that we certainly haven’t closed anyone out in Israel - I’m currently serving with Israelis that are Arab and Druze. But is our country very Jew-centric? Absolutely. Just like Crown Heights is very Jew-centric. Goyim can/do live and visit Crown Heights but it is a place that caters to what is otherwise considered a counter-culture in America. Just like Israel caters to Jews in an area of the world where all of us were expelled. We are fine living in these places. We have created these communities and curated them to our Jewish way of life. But people wonder why we close ourselves off and why we need special spaces - and that same ignorance is the answer. Sure, our diets are different and we have laws about how we go to school and work and pray that make it very difficult to live in a non-Jewish world but there’s a very real truth that so many people are scared to say aloud so I will: We don’t trust goyim. Goyim have never stood up for us or protected us. Only we can keep ourselves safe. Only we truly care about our wellbeing. We do not feel safe around goyim. And I think we have every right to be distrustful. We have every right to think that our survival and security rests solely in our fellow Jew. So while this has all proven that the Jewish people are amazing and loving and stronger than even we knew, it’s also only cemented this idea that we absolutely need our own world. And it’s clear that we’ve essentially lived in our own world all this time anyway - our world view is not your world view. Our experiences are so incredibly different than the goy experience. If you’re not Jewish and especially if you’re not an Israeli Jew, you can’t possibly understand any of this. And that’s fine! But don’t get angry when, in the absence of your support, we’ve figured it out. And don’t be upset when your Jewish friends - Israeli or not - have pushed you away because you didn’t show up in the way they’d hoped. You’ve merely proven us right. We do not need you. Our communities are enough. Our country is enough. Together, we will outlive you.

#let a girl kvetch #let a girl kvell #I really don’t know which one fits better here #⚔️🇮🇱#we will outlive you

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normal-thoughts-official · 4 years

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Ahh yes the Polycule all being polyglots too. Poly-everything. But in all seriousness, Mel is so... charmed by their partners speaking other languages. Especially Spanish. And ugh imagining them traveling together and all translating for each other and oh god the pet names and introducing each other to new places/cities/foods ahhh.

hdbdidnsidn well i mean it's kind of canon since obviously raphael grew up in méxico, simon is hinted to speak spanish since he understands when raphael speaks in it and also uses some words with him from time to time, and emeraude refused to say "rosa" with an US american accent (which. sexy of her) meaning it's heavily implied that izzy speaks spanish because her pronunciation is, obviously, perfect.

and yeah i just. look. meliorn loves hearing different languages and thinks they all sound beautiful (i kind of have a headcanon that seelies can speak all languages? like including tree and animal languages and shit. like some magical stuff? yeah) and they know it brings raphael in particular great joy to call them pet names in spanish. and well, if it brings them great joy to hear it too, that's just a bonus. but simon and izzy notice and start calling them bella and princesa and mi amor too and aaaaaaaaa

and simon also speaks yiddish as we know (i know that some ppl hc him as a Sephardi Jew and i dont mean to invalidate that hc, im just saying that because he calls his grandma bubbe. maybe he's both?). and.... okay i looked it up for several hours and maybe it’s just because i’m stupid but most endearment terms i found in yiddish were said to be for children? but also i do love the idea of simon calling mel/rapha/maia “oytser” (treasure) and even with petnames aside, yiddish just..... has so many beautiful words??* and meliorn (and also maia and rapha of course) love hearing him talk about it and learning all those great words, from insults to beautiful descriptions. and it feels so important for simon too because he already had very few opportunities to speak yiddish outside of his home, and he’d hate to feel like another part of being Jewish was being taken from him when he was already losing most of his family, you know? plus, it’s kind of one of his special interests and it’s nice that he can monologue about yiddish and everyone is genuinely interested. and raphael of course partially understands how he feels about the language (not fully, since it isn’t really simon’s first language, and there are particular complications with being Jewish and the fear of losing your Jewish identity/culture that just don’t apply for goyim, but still, as an immigrant, there’s solidarity there)

*a few of my faves that i came across researching yiddish for this: nakhes (”proud pleasure, special joy--particularly from the achievements of a child”), Kemfer (”a fighter… but one who fights for a cause; an activist”. lowkey obsessed with simon calling his partners that, because.... they are), mechayeh (”literally, something that has brought you back from death to life, and colloquially, something relieving or refreshing” - tbh i love how dramatic yiddish is, reminds me of brazilian portuguese lmao), balebus (”a gracious, welcoming, and considerate host”).

anyway! i just love the idea that simon and raphael can find some sort of comfort and understanding in each other, despite the fact that by all accounts simon should be (rightfully) wary of raphael’s religion, but raphael is genuinely interested and respectful towards simon’s culture and he understands the fear of straying too far from your roots and losing yourself, the feeling of having your culture shunned and kept to the indoors, the responsability of trying to keep it alive and the feeling of being completely lost when you’re apart from your community. again, it’s different, but... most goyim (for simon) and non-latinos (for raphael) don’t even come close, even among vampires, and it’s nice that they get that

also raphael has no illusions when it comes to catholicism/christianity and he understands why ppl, especially ppl like simon and magnus, would be wary of it, and he feels genuinely humbled and happy that the both of them understand what being catholic means to him and accept that part of him, even if from a distance. like, magnus canonically helped him find his faith again, you know? that’s really, really humbling and a show of love, because the shit catholics put him through - he was literally there to be prosecuted by witch hunters, he watched in real time as christian colonialism tried to tear his homeland (and did tear his family) apart, and still he found it in himself to help raphael find his way back to the religion because it did him good. raphael will never stop being thankful, and humbled, by that. and even if simon sometimes rolls his eyes at the goyishness of raphael’s whole punishment and sacrifice thing or fucking whatever and generally doesn’t get too close to it, he also trusts raphael, and raphael knows that it’s a big deal. and simon loves that raphael knows that it’s a big deal and doesn’t have illusions when it comes to his religion or the role christianity had in oppressing not only simon’s, but thousands of ppl historically. u kno?

hmmm that was a tangent. also as u (probably) know i’m not Jewish so please let me know if there was anything inaccurate or offensive in what i’ve written.

anyway! polyglotcule. and okay i think those are the languages i can think of (and well simon could also speak ladino if you hc him as a Sephardi Jew) other than the hc that meliorn just knows all languages, which...... i absolutely love and stan tbh??? like yes i know the logistics of that are complicated and that to truly know a language you have to understand its culture and so they’re not exactly fluent as much as they��re able to understand most of them, but look, look. i just love the idea of the polycule travelling around and meliorn talking to ppl for them and simon and maia being super excited and wanting to know, like, everything they can and asking them a billion questions and asking them to translate every sign they come across and every time they do (even as they have literally no way of knowing if meliorn is correct or not) they’re just like WOAAAA and generally being huge goofy nerds about it. and izzy and raphael have a more held back approach but they’re also clearly so impressed and proud of them, even if it’s literally just like, magic

like raphael is just in love and watching them with those soft eyes (especially when simon and maia get all wide eyed and excited about it because he loves them okay) and sometimes their eyes will cross and they share a little smile??? and hold hands???? and it’s super sweet??? and izzy is just smiling at them too, although with that more open, big smile of hers, head tilted to the side a little, while clary huffs because izzy is not paying attention to what she’s saying, even as she’s swishing their linked hands a bit because they’re That Couple. and then every once in a while izzy’ll ask a question of her own, except it’s always something like “how do you say ‘the most beautiful one’ in [language]?” and meliorn smiles and tells her and she’s like “yes, you are” and they laugh and make a joke about flattery and she just winks and smiles

(then she grabs maia’s hand and goes “you all are” and kisses her and clary too, just so they know she doesn’t play favorites. not that they need it, but it’s nice)

foajhsdoajda im just a slut for the polycule okay

#ask #anonymous #The Polycule™#meliorn #simon lewis #raphael santiago #maia roberts #izzy lightwood #clary fray #sh #shadowhunters #raphaeliorn #saiaphaeliorn #saia #clizzy #claiabelle #isabeliorn #this ship is such a mess and i love it tbh #q

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bilgisticallykosher · 4 years

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Selfishness vs. Selfishness Redux

Pre-episode thoughts. I don't think they're going to address the dark side Everybody-already-knew-that thing right away. I'm still thinking Deceit's gonna be Virgil, but I'm also not so certain that's going to wind up going down. Because there's a lot of other stuff to get into. We know from the first Asides that stuff between Virgil and Patton is growing, and simmering. It's coming, and while that's in the future, there's probably going to be more build-up here. Is it that Patton knew about Virgil's past? Is it something else entirely? This is going to be a two hour episode, geez.

Also, I can't believe he's actually going to the wedding. Idk. All those people saying he got the date wrong, though? First of all, Logan is in charge of the schedule, he'd never let that happen, how dare? And also, I always double check dates and invitations for stuff. I really doubt Virgil wouldn't have looked at the invitation and checked the information again. Watch me be totally wrong now.

I don't know who I think the cloaked figure is. Could be Deceit ("like a freaking Scooby Doo villain"), could be Thomas himself. Probably not Organization XIII, but I'm not completely eliminating the option, let me have this.

Things I'd like, but am 99% certain won't happen; Deceit's name (which I'm both hoping and expecting to not start with D), a new side, Remus and Deceit interacting on camera, or really Remus at all. Except for that green score of BOOBS, I maintain that's Remus's contribution.

ALRIGHT, LET'S GO, I'M NOT READY!!!!

First impression of the thumbnail. You vs. Yourself???? Oh my gosh. Ohhhh, I'm freaking out. Patton looks so apprehensive, and I don't know if that's on general, or because of Roman or in response to Roman, because Roman looks so annoyed at Patton! He's so angry oh my gosh. I mentioned I wasn't ready, right? Okay. Okay. So their sprites are different styles, which is cool. Patton's looks risk-based stroll around town type of RPG, Roman's looks fighting style.

The options for the character select???? Oh my gosh, that's. Hi, Remus. Anyway, uh, I don't know what this means, but there's three character options on top and- DARK SIDES ARE SEPARATE FROM LIGHT SIDES! Oh gosh, I was thinking maybe it was something to do with specifically Logan. Ooh, Deceit's in his lawyer outfit, nice touch. THERE'S AN EXTRA BLANK PLAYER OPTION. I don't know if that means he'll be revealed this episode, or just that he exists. I mean, we just had Deceit's logo, Remus's reveal and name reveal… here goes.

IT STARTS WITH THE VIDEO GAME??? THIS IS THE INTRO????? THE WEDDING??????!!!!!!! Oh hey word crush. Oh hey, it's the couple! Starting to think this is a dream or fantasy, btw. Also, Lee and Mary Lee sound like...Esteban and Valerie? Maybe? Idk. Omg, Life is pain.

This is awkward, beautiful. Pfft, hence the marriage. Photographer is great, no idea who he or the emcee are. Ooh. Crushed.

INTRO??? EXCUSE ME??? Oh was SvS originally on 3/31? Yeah, good, play a review like all of us haven't been obsessing over what happened last time. "APRIL 13" I'm just going thi pause forever now. Oh this is going to be the angry walk in that was previewed in the bloopers, I can tell. Oh no. OH NO! And it is at night and he seriously freaking actually went to the wedding????

Oh my gosh he's so angry. Ohhh, Patton rethinking his phrasing, nice. You should never→I'm surprised that you etc. Oh Roman! Oh, maybe we should… not review. Oh boy.

Oh there's Patton's avatar. In then guitar hero thing. Oh, Thomas is associated with the color white, confirmed??? I like how they did the notes there. So much detail. The talk sprites are great, but the expressions on the dancing sprites are worth paying attention to. Okay, Patton's still very, um, defensive, I guess is the word? Thomas is angry and bereft and confused and full of doubt, and Roman's heavily on the confused side (ha) about him aligning with Deceit. This is why he stole his hat. Great animation work, everyone, that was fantastic, artists!

"Why didn't I just talk to them before the wedding?" THOMAS. Also, because Deceit specifically prevented Logan from being too close to the courtroom scene by benching him and not asking him what his idea of a compromise was. "I brought that up," well, you did, but Deceit kinda made it seem like you were suggesting lying to them, so you got shut down. Sorry, Ro. Listen, I love Deceit, but the boy's a manipulator.

We learn to predict the future!!! Roman, no. Woah, Patton's just being completely dismissive. I mean he's been through some hard times the last few episodes, minus LNTAO, but damn. Oh. Roman's very much defending Patton. This forebodes very badly. This is going to explode terribly. Oh no.

Okay, so, the thing with the feral cats. Is Roman okay? Did someone do this to him? More importantly, did he do this to me? Also, on a serious note, I'm super shocked Deceit hasn't come in yet, because he (and Thomas, and arguably Patton) is obviously regretting going to the wedding. I mean, Virgil's not coming in right away because of the reveal at the end of DWIT, but- hey where's Logan?! Logan and Deceit should both totally be here! *gasp* Except in the one on one episodes (Heart vs. Mind, My Negative Thinking, Logince; the argument) it's always primarily been the two sides that are featured with the others either not there or off-screen or making small cameos. But Deceit was and is an important part of this decision past, present, and going forward!

Oooh, I like the Lee and Mary Lee backstory. Hm. Patton does bring good points, but. I still agree with- oh, Thomas just solidly saying no made me snort. Okay, so speaking of the coin bleeping, why the video games? I know there's more to come with it, how do they come into play? Oh okay metaphor.

That was clearly not the good ending, Roman. Bringing up Is Thomas A Good Person again. OOH xylophone, is he a-comin'? Oh he's directly blaming Patton. Wow, Roman.

A BAGEL?! Oh, game sssssssstore. Really? Frogger, Pat? 16 graphics. Oh there's the hotdogs. OH and there's the cloaked guy! Smashing our theories. That does not seem like Sondheim.

The puns, oh my gosh, brilliant. Getting to the meat of them here. Gosh these graphics are fantastic. 6AM dull.

Oh. Hm. Technically, he does not have to give him the 'dog. The building tension is fascinating.

HI, LOGAN! Patton looking real uncomfortable at "regret." I mean, they all know they regret it now, right? Roman making fun of behoove, that's so funny, I have no idea why. Seriously, whoever's doing the art, I'm dying at Logan's expressions. Woah good thing viewers have the pause button. I'm all for not buying X-mas decorations. I'm doing my part, goyim.

I'm counting "it's not like Kingdom Hearts" in lieu of that having been Organization XIII. Oh boy, Patton. Right thing vs. Feeling good vs. Feeling good about doing the right thing. This is falling apart. Patton's noise.

BOOBS omg Deceit is Bowser. I love that painting in the background! Scutes! Time went from limited to being lost to poorly spent to wasted! I'm standing by the purple being Virgil. Fyi, in Judaism, doing a good thing for the wrong reasons doesn't matter, because you're still doing the good thing, even if it's just for the reward. There's a thing about it with Avraham and a King.

Roman's getting close to breaking. Reptilian rapscallian guy. And who's to say he can't be doing it for the reward and to help people?

"... an individual's happiness and the amount of selfless acts…" that should be number, not amount, Logan! Can't judge good deeds only by how good you feel when you do them.

Okay, here we go. How do we know what's Right? Killing and stealing is illegal everywhere, yes, Thomas, what are you doing, Thomas???

Oh my gosh, not the trolley problem. They're referring to Deceit as Denial and Roman as Passion! Oh gosh, that looks like Joan, Talyn, Dot, Valerie, and Terrence, and Leo by himself, maybe? Oh geez, I jolted. Logan index carding for trolley problem.

Unus Annus is right, the trolley problem is stupid. Oh my gosh, Logan's giant wall of text physically pushing Patton back, I spit all over my screen. Skip All.

Roman's… blaming himself? Oh!!! Are we getting Roman's insecure arc???!!! This is a complex issue, and Patton's having a hard time backing down, and everyone's feeling bad.

Scared?! I hear music! NO. Why is he scared, oh my gosh?????? That's not a tired metaphor. Oh! I've heard of hypoxia! It was hypothesized (and disproven) to be the reason for a specific Bermuda Triangle incident.

Good point, Logan. Regarding theory and in the moment instincts. Remus mention with intrusive thoughts! Shocked that Logan is arguing for leisure time. Logan's self satisfied smirk at the self-sacrifice. GLITCHY! Oh he's a frog. Lilypadton.

Oh my gosh I'm getting so stressed. Yes, thank you, Logan for the scream. I… don't. The conscientious comment. No, it's not. This seems… Deceit-y. IT IS! SHARP SIDE OH MY GOSH! Oh, he didn't rise up, he popped out in the freaking dialogue box, NO, FRICK IT WAS RIGHT THERE! And the Nietzsche and the specific examples that he used!!! I'm so angry! I DIDN'T THINK HE'D TAKE LOGAN'S PLACE AGAIN! I MISSED THE SIGNS!

Hey guys, look, it's Deceit. Bull… frog. Lord of the lies. Oh! 8-bit Deceit theme. Okay, the first thing Deceit said about him not doing it on purpose was nice, but yeah, those words striking him is accurate. Yeesh, harsh.

Is Patton eating his own words? Oh, uh, is anyone going to acknowledge he hit Thomas? Is that telling of the situation instead of just being a funny background event?

The crick in Thomas's neck is so funny. SNAKES ON THE PLANE!!! ...Hm. Happy that he brought that up. Oh my gosh, Deceit's spluttering, he's like so bad at things sometimes, I love it.

Logan! No, don’t do that, everybody appreciates you! Double curse? Pffffft, Logan. Deceit…definitely smiling at Logan's logic. Deceit is interesting here. Oh wow, yikes. He's really fascinating here. Legitimately complimentary? Oh, no, kind of not, maybe. Roman looks distressed.

"...Trees?" Roman's super pumped up. Good for him! Ha, his imitation. Deceit looking confused? Patton looking all sorts of things, I really think that Deceit is being genuine here- NAME?! I'D THIS HAPPENING? Why is he stripping? His, no, what does his glove have to do with his name?

………. Janice? Did he say Jenus or Janice. It sounded like Janice. Deceit. No. Oh, burn, Roman. Damn, he almost got me. His name is not Janice. No. It's not. Don't even. Deceit was being so straight(ha)forward for the past couple of minutes. Awww, Roman. Insecurity addressing time? Wait, why is Deceit nodding at the hero thing? His lip is trembling, his voice is cracking and oh no! Roman just sank out.

Don't call him Janice, that's not his name. Oh he's being genuine again. Patton's talking about himself. WAIT WHAT. He had a five second cameo, omg.

Yeah, those are the easier questions. No, Deceit, bad Deceit. Man, his facial expressions in this episode. Fractionally fiendish fibber. Oh, I like the reasons for Deceit being a part of him! That's… cute? Oddly cute, maybe. So, freaking how far in the future is the Asides?

Stop calling him Janice, that's not his name. Oh, Deceit and Thomas bonding. That snort, oh my gosh. Oh, serious Deceit again! That reaction to "you're right" is oddly similar to that fake laugh at the end of Embarrassing Phases.

………. Virgil's not here yet. His reveal isn't being addressed. Accepting Deceit. That's why he's so pissed at Patton in Asides. The next episode proper they're going to reveal that Deceit's accepted, more or less, and Patton was a big part of that, hugely changing his mind, that's why he's so pissed at him!!!

April 30th? Oh is this Lee and Mary Lee? I was wrong on the voices. Door-yelling! Hm. I mean. It's nice that they're acknowledging him, but I really don't think that sways the situation one way or another. Cute more background, and Thomas being awkward. They. This could have been instead of the wedding. Kingdom Hearts again!

Oh hi, Patton and Deceit. He seems annoyed at the situation. Patton and Deceit bonding. Hi again, Leslie. Wild.

This video really didn't go at all how I thought it would. Roman was barely miffed at Patton. Oh man, this was intense. I. Oh man. I need to process a lot. But I think we're on the right path, here. Janice is not his name!

Okay, I went on tumblr and two seconds in, I saw Janus, which I looked up and that makes way more sense. Another, more condensed post to follow. And several thousand reblogs.

#roman sanders #ts spoilers #janus sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #svs redux #character!thomas #sanders sides #new video reaction

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theliterateape · 7 years

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A (Non-denominational) Recovering Jew Among Them

By David Himmel

Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement—the holiest of days for the Jewish People. In recognition of that, here is a gently edited version of a story published on himmelink.com in the April 2010.

If Sunday is the Holy Day, it’s a day late from what I had learned as a kid at Temple Anshe Sholom. As a Jewish boy, I learned that God needed an evening and a day to rest from all his hard work. And that’s when the Jews gather as a community and pray—on Shabbat. But that allows Him to be refreshed and ready for all the goyim to give Him their prayers on Sunday. Chosen people? Sounds like bad scheduling to me. But most Jews function on the Gregorian Calendar anyway, so what’s the big deal?

I went to church on Sunday. My weekend started with a nice leisurely drive home from work, a haircut on Saturday morning, which led into some kind of coffee, scotch-induced bender I was unable to tear myself out of until early Monday morning. During the liquid ride, I found myself at a delicious sushi dinner with an old friend, a strange photographer’s private art gallery party and another old friend’s condo for more booze and some NCAA action. That was Saturday.

Sunday, I was excited to go to church. I promised my friend, Tommy Beardmore I would visit his church a few weeks back and had yet to make the appointment. This day would be different. I needed God. I was feeling a little lost and desperate for prayer.

You see, I struggle with religion. The trite organization and rules attached to faith troubles me. But I grew up with a strong connection to the coordination of prayer so sometimes it’s comforting to me to be able to walk into a house of worship and pray. I know I can send my letters of hope to God in my bedroom or on the bus or in the bathroom of a whorehouse, but being in a building with stained glass and high arches makes me feel a little closer. And I realize that is more about the strange comforts we hold on to from our childhoods than anything having to do with my anxiety-riddled beliefs.

At church I felt OK. In sat next to Tommy who explained Catholic things to me. Ironically, I felt more comfortable in that Catholic church than I did in any Jewish temple I’d been in in the last 10 years. Maybe it’s because I feel betrayed by the Jewish people. Maybe it’s because I think Zionism is as evil as anti-Semitism. Maybe it’s because the rabbi at the temple where I grew up seems to have next to no concern for his dwindling congregation and the economic slide of his community so long as he keeps collecting his handsome salary—with benefits. I dunno, but I felt OK.

While I struggle with religion, I’m also fascinated with it. Not every true believer denies science or is too stupid to recognize that some biblical stories might not be entirely factual. So I want to know why people think and believe what they think and believe. I want to know why and how they do what they do. What strange ritual do you do that brings you close to God? And why do you need that? What effort or concessions do you have to make to cleanse you of your sins and make you OK to be you?

Tommy held the wine glass during the offering. “Come on,” he said. “You can make one.” I knelt with Tommy before a statue of Jesus and Mary and we prayed:

Dear God. May my mind be at ease. May there be peace for those I love and vengeance for those I loved who were too selfish to love me back. May your children who claim to serve you like the Catholic priests who molest, the evangelists who rob, the rabbis who think first and too much of themselves, and the Israelis and Palestinians who refuse to see reason and avoid forthright negotiation for peace experience their wrongs and suffer... May the rest of us who are more obviously good—or at least less obviously awful—ultimately have peace.

Then I lit a candle. Well, I pushed a button that lit an electric light that flickered like a candle. I found it silly. The church found it cost effective. I’m thinking God agreed with me and wondered if people should add more to their tithing. I gave five bucks hoping it would sort of curb some of the cheap Jew stereotype.

After mass, the young 20 and 30 somethings went down the street to a bar. We enjoyed the wing specials and watched Purdue win in overtime. I had a move made on me to be recruited by a nice young man named James.

“Are you planning on coming back to church?” James asked me. “It’s a great time. We have great social events.”

“Oh, I’m not sure,” I told him. “I’m here with Tommy and I’m a non-denominational recovering Jew. But I had a nice time.”

And that was no lie. Sometimes I need to feel close to God. Or, whatever I think God is. And it may be just that feeling of familiarity in structured faith from when I wasn’t non-denominational, when I wasn’t recovering. When I was just a regular Jew who wasn’t angry or anxious. One who was comfortable. On that Sunday, church made me comfortable.

Thank God for Tommy.

#Yom Kippur #Judaism #Catholocism #Tommy Beardmore

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literateape · 7 years

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A (Non-denominational) Recovering Jew Among Them

By David Himmel

Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement��the holiest of days for the Jewish People. In recognition of that, here is a gently edited version of a story published on himmelink.com in the April 2010.

Tommy held the wine glass during the offering. “Come on,” he said. “You can make one.” I knelt with Tommy before a statue of Jesus and Mary and we prayed:

“Are you planning on coming back to church?” James asked me. “It’s a great time. We have great social events.”

“Oh, I’m not sure,” I told him. “I’m here with Tommy and I’m a non-denominational recovering Jew. But I had a nice time.”

Thank God for Tommy.

#Yom Kippur #Judaism #Catholocism #Tommy Beardmore

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