neta-ilan

[neta-ilan]

To be jewish is to be angry and tired and defiant

To be jewish is to be proud and loyal and so so full of warmth and love

[neta-ilan]

I was rereading Braiding Sweetgrass and got to the part where Kimmerer talks about finding out that the coffee offering ceremony that meant so much to her almost definitely started as a way to pour out grounds stuck in the spout and it got me thinking about how the mundane and practical are given meaning through repetition and connection to each other.

Specifically, it got me thinking about braids. I've seen Native people give a lot of different meanings to braids, from comparing it to the ceremony of braiding sweetgrass to saying that it's about binding together parts of who you are (specifically the body, mind, and spirit), but it's pretty universally acknowledged that braids are a spiritual and cultural symbol in a lot of Native cultures.

They're also very practical. Braids are great for keeping your hair neat and out of the way; resistant to wind, working, and sleeping in ways that most hairstyles aren't. Your hair isn't getting in your eyes or getting tangled in branches or turning into a giant knotted mess. They're also easy to learn and teach (at least, three-strand braids are) and can be customized a lot, wrapping them in crowns or braiding in hairpieces or whatever.

So my guess is that braiding, for Native people, started out practical, just a way to keep hair tidy. The repetition and the communal nature of it, because the neatest braids are done by someone else's hands and someone has to teach you to do them, were what turned the practical into the ritual, what gave it meaning.

I don't know where I'm going with this. I just think people tend to see practical and spiritual as inherently contradictory when that isn't the case at all and it makes it very hard to see how many spiritual and religious practices came from just daily life.

[neta-ilan]

As a disabled and chronically ill person "Thank You G-d, who has made me in Your image." is infinitely more affirming and comforting for me than the variation that goes, "...who has made me according to Your will."

It's not that G-d intentionally gave me a body that causes me to suffer because They will it to fulfil some greater purpose.

It's that my body, even as sick and weathered as it is, is a living breathing reflection of the Divine.

Reminding me that my disabled and chronically ill body is sacred too.

#Judaism #disability #prayer #b'tzelem elohim

[neta-ilan]

I forgot the name of Maimonides-

So I searched up "Jewish philosopher with opinions" and he was the first result.

[neta-ilan]

"Which is more important, the sun or the moon?" a citizen of Chelm asked the rabbi.

"What a silly question!" snapped the cleric. "The moon, of course! It shines at night when we really need it. But who needs the sun to shine when it is already broad daylight?"*

* Like many other witticisms in Jewish folklore, this joke was attributed to Chelm in the course of generations of story-telling. [Henry D. Spalding's] father, a serious researcher into ancient Hebraic tales, traced it back to the second or third centuries, C.E. Genesis tells us that the sun was created on the fourth day, but on the first day God separated light from darkness. This gave rise to the believe, especially among Christians, that the "light of day" had no relationship to the sun, which merely illuminated natural daylight. In the fourth century, St. Ambrose wrote, "The light of day is one thing, but the light of the sun is another, adding luster to the daylight." The Jews could be condemned to torture or death on the Inquisitorial racks for disputing this silly assertion, hence a body of jokes on the subject. The above anecdote, only one of several, is a very early mockery of the inchoate Christian dogma.

From the Encyclopedia of Jewish Humor: From Biblical Times to the Modern Age, compiled and edited by Henry D. Spalding (Copyright © 1969); Chapter 12: The Sages of Chelm.

[neta-ilan]

Crochet Fruit // Beary Gerry

#pomegranate #these would make cute Tu B'Shevat decorations

[neta-ilan]

I recently learnt that the 39 things not permitted on Shabbat are exactly the tasks the Israelites performed as they were building the tabernacle at the base of Mount Sinai. Which, to me? Hilarious.

I’m getting the visual of the Israelites being really hype enthusiastic overachievers who are chewing on the time accurate equivalent of coffee beans to get their project in. They're getting the curtains ready, their gold, their dolphin skins (or ancient middle eastern marine mammal equivalent of )- they're going haywire with the preparations-

and G-D putting his hands up.

“Timeout! Timeout!”

everyone freezes-

"Hey- I really appreciate it. I do. Super grateful for the hard work. But I think I’m going to mandate a rest day for you from all this stuff. You know how you haven't been eating or sleeping? Okay here's 25 hours where that's all you can do. Don't even think about picking up that hammer, Mendel!"

One brave Israelite raises his hand from the crowd. "Can we still.. argue?"

"Yes."

then a moment of consideration.

"But only if snacks are provided."

(inspired by a conversation with @daughterofstories )

[neta-ilan]

New items in my shop! Two black acrylic hats with Stars of David -- one rainbow, and one in the transgender pride flag -- and a polyamory pride acrylic hat! These are all $25 each

Shipping is not included in prices. International shipping is not currently available through the store, but I can and do ship internationally – just message me about it and pay me directly through paypal once I can get you a shipping estimate!

[neta-ilan]

If you have no tallit, wrap yourself in the four corners of the earth and pray.

—Rabbi Menachem Mendel

[neta-ilan]

Torah ark curtain, Piatra-Neamţ, eastern Romania, 1901

[neta-ilan]

I just got some new listings up in my ko-fi shop!

The Magen David ornaments are $12 each, the doilies are $45 each, the hat is $25, and the kippah is $30.

Shipping is not included in prices. International shipping is not currently available through the store, but I can and do ship internationally -- just message me about it and pay me directly through paypal once I can get you a shipping estimate!

[neta-ilan]

✡︎ queen of shabbat moodboard ✡︎

🕯️🕯️🕯️/🕯️🕯️🕯️/🕯️🕯️🕯️

shabbat shalom to all my jews btw!

[neta-ilan]

These hand knitted cotton doilies in cream and sage green are both for sale! The spiral doily with crocheted edging is 13.5 inches across, and costs $45 plus shipping, and the Magen David doily is nearly 2 feet across and costs $50 plus shipping.

Message me to purchase, or buy them in my ko-fi shop!

[neta-ilan]

The challah covers are for sale in my ko-fi shop for $45 a piece, plus shipping and handling! Both are entirely my own designs, and entirely hand made. The first is knitted and reads "Shabbat Shalom," and the second is embroidered and has the hamotzi blessing. All text is in Hebrew. More detailed descriptions are available in the shop listings.

[neta-ilan]

These hand knitted cotton kippot are $30 each plus shipping, and available either by messaging me directly and paying through paypal (this is the only option where I currently offer shipping outside the USA) or in my ko-fi shop.

[neta-ilan]

I asked you to pray in the synagogue of your city but if you cannot pray in the synagogue, pray outdoors in an open field; and if you cannot pray in the field, pray in the shelter of your home; and if you cannot pray in your home, pray in the dark on your bed; and if you cannot pray on your bed, meditate in your heart without words.

– Based on Midrash T’hilim on Psalm 4:9. 

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mark your calendars! 4/16/24, 12:30PM EST: new stuff coming to my Etsy shop for the first time in over a year - thank you very much for being so patient! other zines & stickers will also be restocked in various quantities, some fairly limited, & there are only 7 golems & these 5 incantation bowl pendants this time around. if you don't manage to snag one, rest assured i'm still planning to continue to make them as i'm able!

the B'TZELEM ELOHIM lino prints are 8x10" (hand-done & signed!) while FEYGELE is a cute little 5x7" & THORN PANSY is only 3x5" (this is a bizarre size for a print, i know, but you can fit in anywhere & it comes with a pin). excited to stock my poetry chapbook for the first time ever as a zine! ♥