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writingwithcolor · 3 years

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(1/2) In a story about an MC who rebels against a subjugating empire, forms a kingdom of her own, and then proceeds to go to war to liberate and form alliances with other subjugated kingdoms and peoples, I want to add a Jewish man to the supporting cast as a trusted advisor and friend who grounds her more aggressive political and military strategies. I realized as I wrote his inclusion into the plot, that I was assuming the Jewish people in this setting would be in a diaspora wanting to be...

(2/2) ...united again, since the unjust empire is inspired by the Roman one. What are some things that I, as a Latino Christian, should be aware of about modern Jewish thoughts and opinions on this time? Is this a story that you would want told, or would certain aspects of Jewish tradition/culture/religion make it an arc that I should avoid? If that's the case, what are some arcs that you would like to see this character go through? Would a deposed king reclaiming his throne be better?

Jewish advisor during a rebellion

I'm laughing at myself because I'm already attracted to your Jewish trusted advisor man character because I am predictable, oh no -- but anyway I really love this question. The main thing that jumps out at me, and it sounds like this is definitely already on your mind, is to make sure this man is part of the rest of us instead of being isolated with no other Jewish people in his life (after all, even someone who's the only Jewish person in the room has memories of their upbringing and/or opinions about Jewish celebrities and historical figures.)

So if he has even one family member to go home to or another Jewish man that he plays a made-up board game with, that will contribute to making sure he's a fleshed-out character rather than "I needed someone to be smart and talking in a gentile leader's ear but who has nothing else going on in his own life" (which no matter how flattering of a portrayal you make it, has Grima Wormtongue overtones and it's probably best to veer away from that.)

Some things I can see happening to this character:

As a result of all the turmoil, he ends up taking care of a child or two who are Jewish and lost their family/families in the rebellion, providing them a safe place to feel nurtured and stay in the community

He's helping the (presumably gentile?) queen but also does stuff to make sure his own community is rebuilt like maybe if they weren't allowed to have a real synagogue under the empire, he helps organize getting one built finally. Or maybe if it was destroyed in the war, etc. etc. insert same.

--Shira

I love this idea and all of Shira’s suggestions! Giving him a way to be part of the wider Jewish community would be perfect.

I agree the main trope to avoid would be string-pulling, i.e. the character covertly and self-interestedly controlling political outcomes. But I think this will be easy to avoid in the context of your story just by making sure his suggestions are a net positive for both Jewish and non-Jewish people.

There was another ask recently where I wrote (fangirled) about the history of Jewish social activists, so that might be relevant for you as well:

Writing a secret cult controlling the government without reminding the audience of antisemitic conspiracy theories

Also, not sure what the others think but this character kind of reminds me of Mordechai from Megillat Esther? He was kind of an advisor to Queen Esther in stopping the genocide of the Jewish people, often by bringing her information which, as queen, she wouldn’t normally have had access to. I feel like this could potentially strike a similar chord if it’s hard for your MC to know what people on the street are really saying due to her being the literal leader of the revolution, so that’s someone for you to potentially look into (although I’m not sure what that means for your crush as Mordechai is about 100 in the story – sorry, Shira!).

Character Arc

I just noticed that you also asked about what arcs this character would go through. I think it’s really cool that you want your Jewish character to have an arc rather than simply be there in the background for the growth of your MC! Any arc that best fits your narrative and drives home your message would be fine. The only thing I can think to watch out for is an arc that could be construed as ‘finding Jesus,’ which is not what we need in any Jewish character.

Obviously, an arc that involves him giving up Torah commandments or discovering that Christmas is what makes us human wouldn’t be ideal, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what you were going for anyway! I’d say it is possible to give someone a Christian-centred arc more subtly and without meaning to. If he starts as someone who is fastidious and hard-line about obeying rules and ends on an ‘all you need is love’ note, that could also be read as a shift towards a Christian mindset – probably more so by anti-Semites than by Jewish people, who usually understand that there is plenty of love in our beliefs (fun fact: ‘Jesus replaced the Torah with the concept of love’ was an actual line from my high school Religious Studies textbook).

If his arc involves a change in his understanding of anything remotely spiritual, such as death or why there are good and evil in the world, I would recommend doing research to ensure that that change is in line with his culture and religion. Christian ideas about these matters are so ubiquitous that it’s easy to think you’ve written from a neutral standpoint, when actually whoops – your character has found Jesus.

Good luck with your story 😊

-Shoshi

#big-boss-bob-ross #Jewish #Jewish men #characterization #asks

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thegnosticdread · 4 years

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The Gnostic FAQ

Originally posted on: https://thegnosticdread.com/the-gnostic-faq/

I want to start off by stating that these are my personal thoughts and interpretations. Some may agree, some may disagree, and that’s fine. After reading this FAQ however, one will have an entry level understanding of Gnosticism and some of it’s concepts within a modern practical context.

The Gnostic FAQ

What is “Gnosticism” and what does it mean to be a “Gnostic”?

Contrary to what one may think, a “Gnostic” is NOT someone who follows a religion called “Gnosticism”. In fact, “Gnosticism” is NOT a religion at all. “Gnosticism” is a modern term to describe the MANY schools of thought that are centered around the concept of “gnosis”. What then is “gnosis”? “Gnosis” is a feminine Greek noun that means “knowledge”. This knowledge however is not referring to intellectual knowledge like something you would read in a book. Rather it is referring to personal experiential knowledge that one gains through direct experience. Within the schools of thought that are labelled “Gnosticism”, “gnosis” refers to personal spiritual knowledge that is obtained through your direct experience with the Divine. To experience the Divine is to come into an understanding that the Divine spark – which is the origin of all things – exists within yourself, and to know then that you are an avatar of this Divine source. As Rumi (A Sufi mystic) poetically put it, “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” This is the proper context and understanding of having “Knowledge of Self”.

A “Gnostic” then is simply one who has this Knowledge of Self and acts on it. Throughout history there have been Eastern “Gnostics”, Jewish “Gnostics” (which are referred to as Kabbalist), Christian “Gnostics” (who are among the most popular groups when referring to “Gnosticism”), Muslim “Gnostics” (which are referred to as Sufis), and even Pagan “Gnostics” (who would be initiates into the Mystery Schools). In the modern day, there exist a few self claiming “Gnostic” congregations throughout the world. Whether these groups are authentic or not is up to one’s own judgement, but it is not required to be apart of any organization or follow any one person’s school of thought in order to be considered a “Gnostic”. It is your personal relationship with the Divine.

What is the “Monad”?

The “Monad” (Greek for “the One”) is the Source of ALL things, the very Divine spark that exists within you. It’s what Christ called “The Father”, what one may call “The Most High” or “God”, yet in It’s most proper context It is above being what we even think of as a god. It’s ineffable, meaning It can’t accurately be described in words, only felt and understood by your personal experience with It. From the “Monad” all things emanate and to the “Monad” all things return. Within Hermetic thought, It is The ALL. This should not however be confused with the god of the Old Testament who is called “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”, whom many Gnostics refer to as Yaldabaoth or the Demiurge.

See: The Personalities of the Monad

What is the “Demiurge”?

The “Demiurge” (Greek for “skilled worker”) is what many Gnostics call the god of the Old Testament. Other names that are given to him are Yaldabaoth, Samael (blind god), and Saklas (the foolish one). Within the gnostic myths, he is a false god seen as being evil or simply ignorant, yet in either case he is imperfect. It is he who is responsible for creating the imperfect material universe and trapping the Divine Spirit and Soul (Mind) into flesh and blood. I have written a few articles that go more into detail about these myths, but for this FAQ I wish to focus on the practical aspect of the “Demiurge”.

See: What If The Devil Convinced The World That He Was God? Yahweh: Son of Chaos, God of War

In the modern day the Demiurge can be seen as any false idea of a god or an authority that exist outside of and separated from Self. It can also be seen as anything that’s trying to strip you of your Self identity, sovereignty, and independent thought. This often times manifests itself as religious institutions, governments, media, or any other external self claiming authority. In an occult sense, the “Demiurge” can be thought of as an egregore or thought-form.

See: Yaldabaoth Is A Thought Form

Who are the “Archons”?

The “Archons” are those who serve the Demiurge. In the modern practical sense, they can be seen as those who willingly or unwillingly serve this false authority, whether it be for the Church or the State. Where the Demiurge is more of an intangible thought-form or idea, the “Archons” are the actual people carrying out the will of this thought-form.

See: Deification of the State

Is the material world evil?

As previously mentioned, the gnostic myths refer to the Demiurge as being either evil or ignorant yet in both cases imperfect. Therefore if he is the creator of the material universe, then the creation would reflect its creator. Being that these are myths however, be reminded to not take them literally. However, one can observe the universe and see that it is indeed imperfect and unbalanced. Many may see the seasonal cycles as well as life and death as some sort of universal balance in motion, but what they are actually witnessing is a universe that is always working towards balance, but never quite achieving it. I personally don’t see this as evil, rather I see it as necessary for evolution and growth, for a true “perfect” and “balanced” universe would be inactive and still. It would basically be non-existent, for when balance and perfection are achieved, changes and movement cease. Where else is there to go from perfection? I’ll go more into detail about this concept in my upcoming series about the nature of the Cosmos.

Do Gnostics believe in Christ?

Christian Gnostics do, but not in the same way that Mainstream Christianity does. Where Mainstream Christianity puts more emphasis on Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection for their salvation and forgiveness of sins, Gnostics put more emphasis on his life, teachings, and living examples. Another major difference is how the gospels and the life of Christ are interpreted. Mainstream Christianity believes that Christ literally existed and that the events within the gospels are historical. Gnostics on the other hand are not really concerned with whether Christ really existed or not, for they don’t believe he died as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. A Gnostic would argue that it is immoral for any good god to demand a blood sacrifice. Christian Gnostics believe it is through understanding the message Christ taught in the gospels, whether they be historical fact or simply myth, you’ll be brought to gnosis, which is salvation.

Though the Christian Gnostic texts like those found in the Nag Hammadi Library dominate a large portion of the Gnostic mythos, it should be noted that Christ is only important within Christian Gnostic groups. Other Gnostic sects may see Christ as being yet another among many messengers who revealed gnosis along with the Buddha and Zoroaster. In some Gnostic sects, Christ may not be relevant at all.

See: Who Was Christ Part One Who Was Christ Part Two

You mentioned salvation through gnosis?

Yes. For the Gnostic, the achievement of gnosis is the goal. By achieving gnosis or what I described earlier as Knowledge of Self, you free yourself from the illusions and false ideas society has created all around you. Not only does it free you from these false beliefs about the world around you, it also most importantly frees you from the false perceptions you have about yourself, your own power, and ability. Ultimately gnosis frees your Soul (Mind) and Spirit from being tied to the flesh and the mundane things of the material, elevating your Self to the higher planes of consciousness.

There is much more to be learned about Gnosticism, but I wanted to present an entry level crash course on the subject as well as give my readers context for my articles I’ve written and will write going forward. If you would like to learn more about Gnosticism then I encourage you all to subscribe to The Gnostic Dread, check out other articles I’ve written and linked to within this article, and pick yourself up a copy of both The Gnostic Bible and The Nag Hammadi Scriptures where you can read the myths and writings of the Gnostics of old for yourself.

Also feel free to comment with your thoughts and questions, and based on the feedback I can address more FAQs in future articles.

Peace, Love, & Balance

#gnosticism #hermeticism #spirituality #knowledgeofself #lefthandpath #thegnosticdread #alchemy #astrology #theurgy #magick #divination #tarot #tantra #yoga

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ayearinfaith · 4 years

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𝗔 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟭: 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗺 Syncretism is a process by which two or more belief systems fuse into either an extension of one or both or into something entirely new. The practice was very common historically and is a crucial aspect of the development of almost all modern major world religions. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 Some of the most obvious examples we have of purposeful syncretism come from historical empires or kingdoms with a powerful central and ethnically aligned government. Nowadays most people consider Greek and Roman gods to be basically identical, but this is only true because the Romans identified every Greek god as one of theirs. Some gods were similar enough; Jupiter and Zeus are both storm kings with a troubled relationship to their father. Others barely line up; the Roman war god Mars is one of their most important and revered deities, whereas the Greek Aries was relatively minor and often viewed poorly. The Greeks themselves were keen to interpret Egyptian gods as their own, sometimes leading to syncretic figures like Hermanubis, a blending of Hermes and Anubis whose image is the title card of this entry. The impact of Roman syncretism can be seen in the English names for days of the week. Romans named the days after gods, and when the Roman week was adopted by Germanic peoples the names were chosen based on the Roman perceived equivalent deity. Thus Spanish “Martes, Miercoles, and Jueves”, named for Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter (Jove), respectively, become English “Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday”, named for Tyr, Odin (Wotan), and Thor. Though not always tied to a single government, Christianity and Buddhism utilized syncretism to expedite their expansion across Europe and Asia. Many local deities never had to be ousted in favor of Christianity, but could instead have their stories and traditions brought into the fold with one alteration: instead of a god they were a saint. Buddhism, similarly, has many Bodhisattvas (compassionate beings who purposefully forego Nirvana in order to help people reach enlightenment) who were once local gods. The power of Syncretism for both the Greek and Roman empires (as well as many more besides) and in the spread of Christianity and Buddhism is that it removes the need for direct subversion or conflict. Pagans do not need to be weeded out or be forcefully reeducated, they can simply be incorporated. 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼-𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗼-𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀 It’s important to understand that the syncretism of the past should not be viewed through the modern lens. The modern concept of “cultural appropriation”, while perhaps having some relevance, is too far removed from the context and perception of ancient religion and trying to use it here should best be avoided. This is not to say that all historical syncretism was benign or without political motivation. As mentioned above, we now perceive the religions and even cultures of Greece and Rome as being so similar we have a word for it: Greco-Roman. However, they were actually quite different. During the early days of the Roman empire, Classical Greece was seen then, as it is still seen now, as the birthplace of western civilization. Romans were very aware of this and adored Greek culture to the extent that they basically took it as their own. The Roman national epic, the Aeneid, purposefully ties Roman heritage to Greeks via the battle of Troy. Roman syncretism was so fervent, it is sometimes difficult to determine what aspects of their mythology predate syncretism. For example, its possible Jupiter’s relationship to his father, Saturn, was not quite so stormy as Zeus’ relationship to Kronus, but it definitely became more similar as the Empire grew. The concept of “Greco-Romanism” is the result of a very successful propaganda campaign started over 2,000 years ago. A more modern syncretic term that is often used is “Judeo-Christian”, obviously blending Judaism and Christianity. This is not a stretch, as Christianity is literally a development of a messianic Jewish sect. However, there are many issues with this term. For one, Islam is notably excluded, despite the fact that most things that persist across the Jewish/Christian divide also exist in Islam. For another, despite common origins Christianity and Judaism are really quite different, with radically different ethic and moral philosophies, views on God and scripture, which stories are valued, etc. Like “Greco-Roman”, “Judeo-Christian” is a concept with a marketing campaign it, and its origins can be traced back to still extant movements among some Christians to perceive Jews a part of the Christian fold. 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘀 Faiths are very much based on tradition, and when peoples merge so too can traditions. West African slaves in the American South and Caribbean found themselves mingling with other West Africans with similar but distinct traditions within a very Christian dominated society. From these, religions like Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo were born, both getting their names from Vodun, an indigenous religion of Benin. The introduction of Buddhism and Hinduism were incredibly influential in Japan, and the native Shinto faith incorporated much. Of the “7 Lucky Gods”, some of Japan’s most recognizable deities, only 1, Ebisu, is not a syncretized Buddhist or Hindu figure. Syncretism also is incredibly common, to the point of being arguably a defining shared feature, of Esoteric traditions. These more secretive faiths in both modern and historical times have often based themselves on the concept that there is a single truth that makes itself visible, if enshrouded, in all worldly beliefs. Ancient Roman mystery religions, such as the cults of Mithras, Orpheus, or Isis had such themes. The great Western Esoteric tradition of Hermeticism is explicitly based on this, and its Eponymous figure Hermes Trismegistus is a syncretic form of Hermes, Thoth, and Enoch. Image Credit: Marble Statue of Hermanubis in the Vatican Museum, carved in the 1st or 2nd century CE

#A Year in Faith #Syncretism #AYIF #Religion #Mythology #day 11

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prairie-fires · 4 years

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As I am writing this post and as you are reading it, the far-right Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of India under the leadership of Narendra Modi is continuing their efforts to commit genocide against the Muslim population of India.

For those who do not know, Modi's government is doing this with brutal efficiency. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed in late 2019, amended the long-standing Citizenship Act of 1955 ostensibly to provide "illegal immigrants" -- and those descended from "illegal immigrants" -- in India who are Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian a path to citizenship. I say "ostensibly" because the exclusion of Muslims from this act makes the grim intentions of the CAA, and of the BJP itself, quite clear.

This is where India's National Register of Citizens (NRC) comes into play. In August of 2019 the NRC was published for the province of Assam, with Modi's government stating a desire to extend the NRC across the country. When it was published, nearly 2,000,000 people living in the province of Assam discovered that they were not considered legal citizens, and more than half of these people are Muslims.

For those who were of practically any religion or religious descent other than Islamic, the CAA provided a way for them to be granted citizenship. Those who could not prove citizenship or gain it through the CAA, regardless of whether or not they were born there or lived there for decades, are now facing the reality of being rounded up and held in one of the many """detention centers""" that are either already in operation or being rapidly built across the country to hold non-citizens until they can be deported to their country of origin.

The most important part of what I wrote above was "regardless of whether or not they were born [in India]." Because if you're a Muslim who was born there but can't prove citizenship and aren't eligible to gain it through the CAA... Where exactly are you going to be deported to? You cannot become an Indian citizen, nor are you a citizen of any other country, so you face being held in one of these "detention centers" indefinitely. The same can be said of Muslims who have lived in India for decades after they fled their country of origin due to persecution. They cannot become Indian citizens, but it's also not as if they're about to enthusiastically declare their citizenship of countries that they fled from because they were, and still would be, in danger. And so, their reality is now shaping up to be indefinite detention in concentration camps. And nothing I've said so far has mentioned the other aspects of social and political ostracization faced by Muslims under Modi's government, nor have I mentioned the many violent assaults and outright murders of Indian Muslims at the hands of extremist Hindu nationalists such as those in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, literal translation being "National Volunteer Organisation"). All of this amounts to what is undeniably genocide in motion.

When I used the words "brutal efficiency" above, I meant them. When the fascists in Germany gradually ostracized Jewish people from society, and eventually stripped them of their citizenship, it would still be some time before the camps came. The fascists in India, however, are doing all of this at the same time, with horrifying speed. I do not use this comparison lightly, nor am I using it for simple shock value. It is apt and relevant not only because of what is happening to the Muslim population of India, but because of the global attitude towards Muslims in general. In 1939, around 900 Jewish refugees aboard the M.S. St. Louis were denied asylum by the United States and Canada, and they had no other choice but to return to Europe. Why? Because they were Jewish, and many of the people in North America were either passively or aggressively antisemitic regardless of their own class or social status. Tell me, if a ship carrying hundreds if not thousands of Muslims seeking asylum from persecution in India were to show up on the shores of the United States or Canada, would these governments open their doors with warmth and let them in? Under the Trump administration certainly not, but neither is there a certainty of acceptance by any other American or Canadian administration. Furthermore, arguably more important than the question of government response is the question of whether or not we, the people of Canada and the United States, would embrace these refugees with open arms. Your compassion and optimism likely encourages you to say that we would, but the reality is that studies conducted with regards to Syrian refugees have shown that the average U.S. and Canadian citizen are even more hostile to the idea of accepting Muslim refugees now than they were of accepting Jewish refugees in the 1930's, but you shouldn't need these sorts of studies to see the violent racism faced daily by Muslims in Canada and the United States.

Of the nearly 900 Jewish passengers who had to return to Europe, more than half of them ended up in concentration camps, and a third of them died in the Holocaust.

Marx remarks somewhere that "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." But it is, as Engels said, a rotten farce. Rotten, because it is never performed by itself, nor does it occur only twice. It is tragedy after tragedy after tragedy, farce after farce after farce, time and time again, taking place not only on the stage, but amongst the audience as well. All that we may find farcical is in the audience, in ourselves. For those who sit idly by are not doing so on a stage, we are sitting on a slaughter-bench. It is a slaughter-bench upon which sits all of our virtues, all of our accumulated knowledge, all of our wisdom, and we ourselves.

“But even regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized -- the question involuntarily arises -- to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered." - Hegel

To what final aim indeed.

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bougainvilea · 6 years

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I’m becoming more and more aware that people online don’t really know what it means to be Jewish, so I’m making a helpful list!

Under the cut, I deal with the following things:

the difference between Judaism and Christianity

the streams in Judaism and why they’re not denominations

Judaism as a culture

why Judaism is not an ethnicity (and why you can’t be half Jewish)

the word ‘goy’

historical antisemitism

Jewish rebellion

feel free to reblog, especially if you are not Jewish

To start off with, some definitions:

observant = the extent to which one considers themselves religiously Jewish as opposed to culturally/socially/historically/etc Jewish

to keep Shabbat = according to religious law, from Friday night to Saturday night you have to keep the sabbath holy, by following a bunch of rules like no starting a spark (which means no electricity or cars or anything), no picking up a pen, and a bunch of other things you can read about here.

It does not mean christianity without the new testament. We have our own traditions, laws, and an extra book known as the Mishnah. Our traditions center around different things, our sabbath day is different, our days start in the evenings.

On this note, I’ve seen a post going around saying that Judaism is inherently different to xtianity, and it is 100% accurate. By which I mean, our laws are debatable. Even if you are 10000% observant, you could differ in tradition to someone else who is equally observant. You might be in different streams (see next dot point), or different cultural groups. This is beacause the words are interpreted differently by different Rabbis, and consensus is not wanted or needed.

Judaism has streams. These are not similar to christian denominations. These streams are within similar communities and interact quite frequently. The difference between this and denominations is that Judaism is a culture (as I’ll get to later), which means that those who are “secular” (like me!) are not ‘just Jews not doing all the things they should be doing’ or ‘ignoring some of the laws’ - they have their own Judaism that is expressed through different practises and traditions, but they remain a community. Of course there are still people who consider themselves orthodox but only go to shul/synagogue on the High Holidays. But there are also communities of people who have interpreted Judaism’s multifaceted nature into their own unique brand of Judaism.

some examples are:

Ultra Orthodox - Usually what you see when you picture a Jewish person. Streimel (this hat so expensive), suit, study torah all day, pray very often, keeps Shabbat, etc. They are NOT NECESSARILY EUROPEAN.

Reform - usually centered around the idea of ‘tikkun olam’ - which means repairing the earth - this stream is known in the Australian Jewish community for singing prayers to unusual tunes - my personal favourite is Adon Olam to ‘I Want It That Way’ by the Backstreet Boys (0:52 is when it gets Jewish lmaoooo). They differ from ultra-orthodox and orthodox because they “emphasize the evolving nature of the faith, the superiority of its ethical aspects to the ceremonial ones, and a belief in a continuous revelation not centered on the theophany at Mount Sinai.”

Secular Humanist - that’s me! I am atheist, but I am a part of the Jewish people and identify with the history and people within it. I feel a connection to the Jewish people’s struggles, revolutions, and liberations throughout time. I believe that Jewish people can create change and that we can use Jewish values and traditions to better the world without a focus on god.

Judaism is a culture. This is the big one, and I feel that most people have heard this if nothing else. But let me specify; Judaism is also a religion. Judaism is associated with centurys worth of traditions and values and texts. And by texts I don’t just mean the Torah and the Mishnah - I mean every single Jewish philosopher or scholar or professor that has ever lived. Did you know that the famous 14th Century Spanish philosopher, Maimonedes, is known in the Jewish community as the Rambam (aka the Rabbi Moses ben Maimon = Rabbi Moses, son of Maimon) and wrote many a commentary on the holy books? Throughout the centuries, Judaism has gained an incredible collection of information and written arguments that have contributed to Jewish lives today. Synagogues, like churches, are great places of worship whilst also housing communities. Jewish people have stuck together throughout the years mostly out of necessity and safety and now have thriving communities of knowledge and culture!

Judaism is NOT an ethnicity. This post started as a response to a post I saw calling someone “half Jewish, half Irish”. I tagged that you “can’t be half Jewish” and two people asked my why. This is why;

Before I continue this point, I received an anonymous message from another Jewish person saying the following;

“we ARE an ethnicity (where do you think the curly jewish hair and aquiline nose on many jews - not all, but many - comes from?) but the reason we are considered 100% jewish if we are jewish at all is because we are a tribe and therefore if you are jewish you are considered 100% wholly part of the tribe to keep from any gatekeeping. but it is absolutely an ethnicity with an inherent religion, similar to native americans.”

this is a fair point, so maybe we are an ethnicity, but you can’t be “half Jewish” for the following reasons:

Part 1: Nuremberg Laws in Nazi Germany

Jews were outlawed from a lot of things in Nazi Germany, obviously. This started in 1933, but by 1935 the Nuremberg Laws passed. These (a) defined what it meant to be Jewish and (b) further separated them from society.

The image below defined a fully German person (a Deutschblütiger), a half Jew (a Mischling - “In German, the word has the general denotation of hybrid, mongrel, or half-breed.”), and a Jew (Jude). Essentially, if you were anywhere from 1/8 -1/4 Jewish, you could have Reich citizenship but still were at risk, whereas Jews (more than 1/4 Jewish) were obviously much more at risk.

this is still today used to distinguish a Jewish person, but not in an antisemitic context. It is in fact used by Israel, so that all those who were targeted by Nazis are welcome to seek refuge and live in the intended state for the Jewish people, Israel. Anyone with 1/8 or more Jewish descent can very easily get Israeli citizenship.

Part 2: Jewish Religious Law

according to Jewish Religious law, anyone with a Jewish mother is inherently Jewish. (also, anyone who converts - which is a 7 year process, by the way)

The reason these are relevant is because my point is that you can be ANY nationality, any ethnicity, and still be 100% Jewish.

There are Jews of all nationalities - German Jews, Polish Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Latinx Jews, Israeli Jews, American Jews, Indian Jews, and many more! There are Jews of all ethnicities too - Asian Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, Roman Jews, Black Jews, and many many more.

You cannot be “half Jewish, half Irish” because Irish people can and are Jews. Judaism isn’t a racial or ethnic or cultural group - it is a community that transcends all these things.

A Goy is not a derogatory term, and you shouldn’t be offended by it. Honestly, I don’t think it’s fair for any non Jew to be offended by a word that Jews call them (see the next point), but regardless, goy is a normal word that I use a lot to refer to non jews. See this post for more information. I know some Jews still don’t use it because they know it makes people uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t. (plural is goyim)

We do carry the weight of one fucked up history. There’s a classic joke told at most Jewish Holidays - “They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat!”. It tends to accurately represent Jewish history. I honestly don’t know how much goyim know about Jewish history. I’m sure you have at least heard abut the Holocaust, because it was so systemic and systematic, but there are many other instances. If not, please read some online articles. Antisemitism is sometimes referred to as “the oldest hatred”, so here are some examples: (I apologise, this is mostly Europe centric)

destruction of both the first and second temple in biblical times by the Romans and the Babylonians

the spanish inquisition and the explusion from spain in the 1400s

Pogroms (especially in Europe, check out Fiddler on the Roof for an excellent representation)

an insane history of being shut off in our own communities - the first ghetto was created in Venice in 1516 and was seen as a positive thing because Jews had never had their own land before (that’s fucked up????)

blame for Jesus’ death evolved into the idea of a Blood Libel, which was the rumour that Jews liked to kidnap christian children and drink their blood or used it for ritual purposes (?????????) resulting in many christians lynching Jewish people

blame for the Black Death in Europe (because Jewish tradition cites that they have to be clean for Shabbat, so every Friday they bathed and therefore didn’t catch the plague??)

on a non-European note, Ethiopian Jews were in such danger as recently as 1980 that Israel carried out a rescue mission which took 10,000 Ethiopian Jews through the desert of North Africa so they could live safely in Israel

We have never been quiet. Jewish revolution and rebellion has always existed. Examples are:

The literal story of Hanukkah

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (led by young people from the youth movement I attend to! this! day!)

on this note: Jewish people have many youth movements made specifically for political purposes, and have historically always been very well educated and passionate. I won’t talk about Zionism here, though I want to. That’s for another post.

(note: Jewish bolshevism is antisemitic and just untrue)

refusing to convert to Christianity or any other religion the many, many times that we have been captured/the leadership in charge of us has changed (this is a big rebellious act in the spanish exile/the exile to babylon/etc)

the current head of the Jewish Agency (Natan Sharansky) was a rebel in the Soviet Union, fighting for freedom and democracy.

We were LITERALLY so sick of antisemitism that 18-25 year olds went to Palestine and built a nation based on the idea of a socially just society (and kibbutzim)????? how it went after is another story but you understand what I mean when I say that we did not sit silently in Europe.

So, there you have it - some Jewish facts and figures. I hope I taught you something new. If anyone has anything they’d like me to add, feel free to send me an ask!

#judaism tag #jewish things #jewish #jumblr

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morallygreywarden · 7 years

Text

A few days ago, I was perusing the Dragon Age wiki (as one does) looking for info on Shale when I came across this archived thread from the now taken down Bioware forums. Dragon Age fans were posting their “random Dragon Age question(s)”, and for the first few pages of the thread, David Gaider would respond to some of them. Then I came across this question and answer:

[Image: David Gaider quotes a post by poster Alistairlover94:

“@Mr. Gaider: Was the Tome of Koslun based on the Qu'ran, the Qun on Islam, and Koslun on the prophet Muhammad?”

David Gaider responds:

“Not really, no. The Qun has nothing functionally in common with Islam, and the existence of a prophet or a book is hardly unique. The Qunari play a role in Thedas similar to Arabic cultures in Medieval Europe (combined with the Golden Horde, for good measure), which is where their Middle Eastern "flavor" comes from... but beyond that any similarities are unintentional.”]

Being a Middle Eastern Muslim person myself (specifically, I’m Palestinian diaspora currently living in Canada), this post caught my eye. And... not really in a positive way.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen the Qunari connected to Arabs. That was back on some Reddit thread or another, where someone suggested that the Qunari are comparable to Arabs/the Moors/the Turks because they are a “foreign race” with a “strange religion” who’d once enforced that religion across a wide stretch of land before being forcibly pushed back.

My reaction at the time was “nah”. Maybe not a totally certain or comfortable “nah,” as I understood it’s possible that was what Bioware was going for, but more of a “nah, I don’t want to think about that, and I’m not gonna take that into consideration in my understanding of Thedas.” Fair enough, I thought, but having seen what Gaider said on the matter, I can’t really just write it off at my own leisure anymore.

I’m not the first person to talk about this. A quick search got me results like this in which people have expressed anger at this parallel before, as well as several threads questioning if the Qunari are meant to represent Muslims that make no reference to Gaider’s response in the thread I quoted at the start of this post. That said, though, I’d like to offer my own take on it here.

I think the first and most obvious thing to point out here is that Qunari are grey, horned giants. While their obvious coding as POC in relation to their designs and the fact they are non-human characters have been criticized before, I think it’s an important thing to mention here as well. Gaider clearly states that the Qunari possess a “Middle Eastern flavour”, i.e. they’re not meant to be a direct representation of Middle Eastern people but rather have cherry-picked parts of Middle Eastern history to use as an allegory. Regardless of their intentions, clearly many people have picked up on the connection, and when you’re a person of colour desperate for representation, the knowledge that something that’s loosely meant to represent you or “play a similar role” to you comes in the form of-- well, grey, horned giants, isn’t particularly fun knowledge to have.

Now let’s unpack what Gaider actually said.

First, he states that any similarities between the Qun as a philosophy and Islam are unintentional. I’m going to take him at his word for it; I don’t have any interest in trying to draw parallels between the Qun and Islam, except perhaps to mention that “Qunari” is only one letter and two rearrangements away from being the word “Quran,” which, yeah, real subtle. Reading too much into it? Maybe. I wasn’t originally going to bring it up here at all, but I find it kind of funny, so there it is anyway.

However, I do want to look at what the implications of that are. While there’s differing opinions on the actual subject of “Arabic cultures in Medieval Europe” (I think he’s referring to what’s popularly known as the “Islamic Golden Age”) that I’m not interested in getting into here (because while I do have some knowledge of the time period I think there are still things that I’m ignorant about due to only having heard the story from particular perspectives, and because during that time and in those regions Arabs/Arab Muslims were in the most positions of power, I don’t think it’s for me to try to assess the period with my limited knowledge), I think it’s safe to say that the actual religion of Islam was a major factor in it. And by that I mean Islam, specifically, for what it is. It played a particular role, and to look at it as simply a placeholder where any philosophy, no matter how disconnected, can be readily and thoughtlessly filled in is reductive of the religion itself. No, the Qun isn’t meant as an allegory for Islam, but it is meant to be an allegory of the role Islam played as being a central factor to the people who the Qunari are meant to be allegorical to, and I find the careless substitution here questionable. I get that this issue isn’t a unique one even within Dragon Age let alone outside of it, but it’s worth mentioning.

Now I think it’s worth it to look at the Qunari themselves and the role that they play in Thedas as it pertains to this allegory. One of the central tenets of the Qunari is that they are, as the Dragon Age wiki phrases it, “fanatical in [...] devotion, [and] prepared to wage war throughout their entire lives as part of their attempts to "enlighten" all other races in regards to their philosophy.” The Qun may have “nothing functionally in common with Islam” according to Gaider, but if the Qunari truly play a “similar role” to that of historical Arabs/Muslims, then we can’t overlook this element. (Particularly because this isn’t the first time Thedosian history has overlapped with Middle Eastern and Islamic history: the term “templar” references the Knights Templar, which was the name of the Catholic military order that fought the Crusades, of whom Middle Eastern Jewish and Muslim people were the primary victims, particularly in Jerusalem. Another example is in the name “Inquisition” itself, a reference to a group of Catholic institutions whose goal was to combat “heresy”. One of the most famous examples of the inquisiton was the Spanish Inquisition, that was formed around the decline of the Islamic Golden Age and specifically targeted Muslim and Jewish people. Several of the other inquisitions targeted Muslims as well).

The way the Islamic Golden Age has largely been depicted in the West involves the Orientalist idea of Muslims as barbarians who’d taken control of large regions with their “heretical” religion before their rightful defeat. The Qunari aren’t portrayed that much differently: they took control of sweeping regions of Thedas for a long period of time, forcibly converting masses of people to their philosophy, before being defeated by the Tevinter Imperium. The important difference here is that in real life, the details of the Islamic Golden Age were far more nuanced than that, and the labelling of Muslims as “barbaric” and Islam as “heretical” was a deliberate tactic to justify waging a war against them on the basis of their religion. In the Dragon Age universe, with respect to the Qunari, things are what they seem. While the notion of the Qunari being “barbaric” is specifically challenged, the Qunari really did convert people forcibly to their philosophy, and this is an undebated fact.

This is a problem because this view of Muslims and Middle Eastern people still affects us today. One of the major justifications that white supremacists use for their islamophobia is the conspiracy theory of “Islamization”-- that Muslims have a master plan to convert the entire world to Islam and conquer. For the Qunari, this is literally true-- they actually do plan to conquer and convert the entire world to the Qun. The islamophobic caricature of a Muslim screaming “infidel!” to anyone who isn’t Muslim is still very much relevant today-- and the idea that Qunari view anyone who doesn’t follow their way derogatorily is a fact. The characterization of the Qunari, as far as it is allegorical to Middle Eastern people and specifically Muslims, could be more accurately described as an allegory to islamophobic and racist portrayals of Middle Eastern and Muslim people.The existence of Qunari as a fictional entity does not challenge stereotypes, or offer a new perspective. It instead reinforces those harmful sentiments, the same ones that are echoed by those who commit hate crimes against us, and those who target us in politics and legislation.

Like any other marginalized group, Muslim and Middle Eastern people don’t get a lot of representation. The Dragon Age series is one of my all-time favourites, and being able to see myself reflected in the Dragon Age series would be thrilling. But “representation” like this does more harm than good. While it wasn’t the intention of the developers to represent Muslims or Middle Eastern people by the Qunari except to give them a Middle Eastern “flavour,” that “flavour” is deeply embedded with a history of racism and islamophobia. It hurts twice: first, because it’s reductive of Muslims and Middle Eastern people, turning our history into something that can be cherrypicked from at the writers’ leisure without making any respectful effort to actually represent a marginalized group, and second, because that cherrypicking is imbued with stereotypes that have been and still are used to hurt us.

I hope that these concerns are considered in future work done with the game. While I’m not sure how this problem with the Qunari could be specifically addressed in the future, I think one suggestion that could help would be to make a better effort to represent Middle Eastern people in other areas of the game. @dalishious pointed out that we still don’t know much about a lot of the human cultures, such as the people of the Anderfels, and a sincere effort to write more positive and nuanced representations of marginalized people that the series has previously snubbed with human characters could help even things out more and potentially even do a lot of good.

Note: Thank you so much to @dalishious for letting me ramble about this and for looking the post over for me before publishing it! I really appreciate it :)

#ramblings #Qunari #analysis #my writing #Bioware critical #islamophobia #racism #if there's anything I should've warned for feel free to lmk and I'll add a tag for it #Thank you for reading !!#long post #I probably should put a cut somewhere but I can't think of where & also I'm obnoxious

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interfaithconnect · 7 years

Note

All mods: what works make up are your religious texts/scriptures?

Mod Jasper:

Though Hellenistic (and most other forms of) polytheism doesn’t have any official scriptures, both the ancient Greeks and Egyptians had several unofficial ‘rulebooks’ on how to lead an ideal, moral life - for the former, we have the Delphic Maxims and the Golden Verses, and for the latter the Negative Confessions. It can be difficult to know how seriously the ancients actually took these, or how widespread the texts themselves were, but they basically boil down to the concepts of arete (virtue/excellence, which is also intertwined with the concepts of eusebia [piety] and xenia [hospitality]) and ma’at (justice/balance), respectively. These concepts were absolutely essential to religious and social life and would have been understood by everyone, even if they were illiterate and/or unaware of the formal texts. Personally I also ascribe to the beliefs of Orphism, a specifically Hellenistic sect which has its own set of taboos and funerary traditions, a hymnal containing a slightly different understanding of the Greek pantheon, and a Theogony which differs from Hesiod’s description of the origins of the gods (the ‘mainstream’ version most of us are probably familiar with).

The myths, of course, while important for teaching us about the nature of the gods and about what constitutes goodness and right action, have many different versions depending on the writer and they’re not exactly standardized scriptures - nor are they meant to be taken literally, in my opinion; they’re parables which impart knowledge and lessons to the reader, but I generally don’t think they happened exactly as described, if at all. Other practitioners may feel differently, of course, and it’s again hard to know how the ancients felt on the matter of literalism. Similarly, the Egyptians had The Book of Coming Forth By Day (also called The Book of the Dead) as well as a number of other funerary and magical texts from at least the time of the New Kingdom which described the afterlife and outlined what a person must do to join the gods in the Duat (underworld). However there’s no single canonical version of it which every person absolutely ascribed to, and throughout the Old and Middle Kingdoms beliefs regarding the gods and the afterlife changed quite drastically (the unification of Egypt in the Early Dynastic Period is the point at which ancient Egyptian religion is described as becoming ‘democratized’, because in earlier generations it was believed that the average person had little chance of travelling to the Duat and an afterlife was guaranteed only for royalty; from the New Kingdom on, though, beliefs changed relatively little).

Ancient texts and understandings of the gods changed over time and place and politics, and we really have no way of knowing whether the version(s) that survived are the ‘true’ or most popular ones. That’s certainly not to say that what has survived is unimportant, but I wouldn’t describe my religion as really having scripture - it’s primarily based upon mythic and historical research, things which can be interpreted differently by different people.

Mod Kira:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have a few texts that are collectively called Scriptures. These are the standard works of the church.

The Holy Bible:

King James Version, featuring the Old Testament and New Testament.

The Book of Mormon:

Another testament of Jesus Christ.

Doctrine & Covenants:

Contains revelations given to the prophet Joseph Smith in the early years of the restoration of the church. Also contains some additions by later prophets.

Pearl of Great Price:

Further revelations, translations and narrations of the prophet Joseph Smith.

In addition, the words of prophets delivered through the Spirit during General Conference (a worldwide church event where the prophet, apostles and many church leaders address church members to teach, inspire and deliver prophecy) are considered Latter-Day Scripture.

Mod Lydia:

The United Church of Christ considers the Old Testament and the New Testament as its scripture, though are quite liberal when it comes to application. The UCC typically approaches its holy text with the phrase “Take the Bible seriously, not literally.”

Within my family structure, we include various Apocrypha (mostly rejected “Gnostic” writings) as relevant religious texts alongside the canonical Christian scriptures. Personally, my faith mostly derives from the The Gospel of Mary, The Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Philip, respectively.

Mod Sarah:

Hey! Most Protestants consider the Old and New Testaments of the Bible authoritative, as do I, and Anglicans, like Catholics, also include the Apocrypha in the scriptures. I consider those authoritative as well. Like Lydia, I take the Bible “‘seriously but not literally” and think it is good, useful, and true in a broad sense, but I don’t think it’s God’s Official Opinion or a faultless treatise on world history.

Mod Elana:

Hey there! First off, Judaism’s big book is the Torah, or, as it is sometimes called by Christians, the Old Testament. The Torah, which is a part of the Tanakh, is accompanied by the Nevi’im and Ketuvim. The name Mikra, meaning “that which is read,” is another word for the Tanakh.

The Nevi’im consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, and the Latter Prophets, the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi).

The Ketuvim consists of poetic books, called Sifrei Emet collectively and consisting of the Psalms, Book of Proverbs, and Book of Job, and the five scrolls consisting of the Song of Songs, the Book of Ruth, the Book of Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and the Book of Esther.

There is also a lot of rabbinic literature that has added to our understanding and interpretation of what is written in our texts. The Midrash is the early interpretations and commentaries on the written Torah and Torah as it was orally told. There’s also some commentary on halakha, or Jewish Law. All these different interpretations form a running commentary on specific passages found in the Tanakh.

Similar to the Midrash is the Targumim, which were spoken paraphrases, explanations, and expansions of the Tanakh that a rabbi would give in Aramaic. As translations, they largely reflect midrashic interpretation of the Tanakh.

Now, Halakha is the collection of Jewish laws derived from written and oral Torah, including the 613 mitzvot, Talmundic and rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions compiled in the Code of Jewish Law. Halakha can be interpreted as by the book or as loosely as possible, which is responsible for some of the divisions in the sects of Judaism. Halakha is not only a guide to religious practices, but to everyday life as well.

The Mishnah was written to teach the oral traditions by example, presenting cases brought to judgment with a debate on the matter and the judgment given by a rabbi based on Halakha, mitzvot, and Torah that guided the final decision. Basically, it’s sort of a legal tool but gives great insight as to how the different teachings can cross over from page to real life.

Mod Neha:

The most importantholy book in Islam is the Qu’ran, which also contains portions ofthe Gospel (al-Injil), Bookof Psalms, (Zabur),and Torah (Tawrat). This is followed in importance by the sayings of the Prophet, the hadith.

Worksthat chronicle the life of the Prophet and explanations of the Quran(called tasfir) areconsidered very important, although not holy in of themselves. There a lot of tasfir, so it depends on who you like!

Additionally,for ShiaMuslims the collectedsermons/sayings of the familyof the Prophet, ahl al-bayt, such as Ali ibn Abi Talib’s Nahj-ulBalāghah or The Peak of Eloquence, and Book of Fatima are central guidelines to faith and theology, more here.

There are many morebooks that are important to the specific beliefs and practices of various Islamic sects –for instance, the Mevlevi Order, based around the works of Rumi wouldnaturally consider Rumi’s works as central to their faith, whilethe Ahmadiyya Muslim community would consider their founder, MirzaGhulam Ahmad’s works central to theirs.

Mod Lily:

There is only one source of scripture for Sikhs, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, which can be shortened to SGGS or just “the Granth” (Granth = book). To call the Granth simply our “scripture” or “holy book” doesn’t quite do it justice. The Granth is treated and revered as if it were a living, breathing person. Every Gurdwara (Sikh temple) is simply anywhere where a copy of the Granth is found. We sit the Guru on a bed, leave flowers and decorations, bow at its “feet” when we meet it, talk to it about our problems and lives, fan it during the day and carry it to bed in its own room at night. We cover our heads, remove our shoes, and wash our hands in its presence as a sign of respect, and we never turn our backs to it. The Granth’s presence sanctifies Sikh ceremonies and rites of passage like birth, marriage, death, and the giving of a child’s name. It’s a lot more than just a holy book, it’s also our Eleventh Eternal Guru, and we respect and care for it the same way Sikhs used to respect the ten human Gurus before the Granth. It’s made of 1,430 pages of hymns (shabads) which are meant to be sung in a devotional style called kirtan in order to bring the reader closer to the Divine through music. Most of the Granth contains the compositions of six of the ten human Gurus, but the latter sections include the writings of some Sikh saints and a number of Hindu and Muslim poets and saints who lived and wrote before the time of the Gurus. Because of the intense respect afforded the Granth and how central it is to every aspect of Sikhi, you can’t just buy a copy of the Granth like you can the Bible or Qur’an, unless you plan to open a Gurdwara of your own in your house (which some Sikhs actually do, if they are able). You can read it online, though, but it’s still best to cover your head before you do and offer even digital renditions of the Granth the same respect as you would a physical copy.

There are a couple ancillary texts which aren’t considered “sacred” but which are important to the Sikh literary canon. The Dasam Granth (“tenth book”) includes the writings of the tenth and final human Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, but it also includes many writings by Hindus and its overall authorship is contested. We don’t consider the Dasam Granth as a whole to be a holy text because of its controversial authorship, but select portions of the Dasam Granth which are known to have been written by Guru Gobind Singh are among the most important Sikh shabads and we recite several such shabads daily. There’s also controversy over certain themes found in the Dasam Granth which are sometimes claimed to be incompatible with Sikh teachings, particularly its references to Hindu polytheism (as opposed to Sikh monotheism) and certain sections which are interpreted by some as sexually explicit. A few Sikhs do still honor and respect the Dasam Granth, however, and in two of the five Takhts (Thrones, important places of Sikh authority) the Dasam Granth is displayed next to Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

The Janam Sakhis (birth stories) are hagiographic stories by various authors which retell the life and history of Guru Nanak and the Gurus who succeeded him, similar in nature to the Muslim Hadiths or the Christian Gospels. They’re extremely ahistorical and again not sacred texts, and contain many contradictions, exaggerations, and factually inaccurate or questionable claims. (The B40 Janam Sakhi, for example, recounts a meeting in Baghdad between Guru Nanak and Sheikh Sharaf, who died centuries before the Guru was even born! It’s still my personal favorite of the Janam Sakhis but that’s for another post.) But they’re still important from a religious and historical perspective in that they inform us what life was probably like for the earliest Sikhs and they form the basis for the cultural mythology surrounding the lives and deeds of the Gurus. There are a handful of other important historical texts, most famously Guru Gobind Singh’s Zafarnama, a letter written to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (who had carried out a mass genocide against the Sikhs and nearly eliminated the entire Sikh population).

Finally, the Rehat Maryada (Code of Discipline) is a recent document codified in the 1947 which formalizes the principles of Sikh discipline and code of conduct, especially for Amritdhari (baptized) Sikhs. The Granth is a purely devotional text and doesn’t proscribe any laws or mandates for Sikhs, so the Rehat Maryada was written to formalize what is expected of Sikhs by other Sikhs. Most Sikh sects respect and adhere to the Rehat Maryada, but it’s not a sacred because it was written by ordinary Sikhs, not by any saints or Gurus.

Mod Lakshman:

For most contemporary Hindus, the sacred text is the Bhagavad Gita; it’s widely regarded as the culmination of all spiritual knowledge found in the four Vedas, the first and arguably even more revered texts than the Gita.However, in conjunction with the Gita, I also use the Vedas themselves, and the Upanishads, specifically the Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads. These are commentaries on the Vedas. I do also try to incorporate the truths found in other texts as well, such as the Bible and the Qur’an.

#mod jasper #mod kira #mod lydia #mod sarah #mod elana #mod neha #mod lily #mod lakshman

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ruminativerabbi · 5 years

Text

Loyalty and Patriotism

The President’s series of comments and tweets about the questionable loyalty— both towards our own nation and towards Israel—of American Jews who do not support the Republican party came as a shock to many. This was not, however, because the President hasn’t made outrageous comments before or because his lack of personal restraint hasn’t surfaced in more contexts that I could list in just one letter, but because the specific nature of the charge was so overlaid with so many disconcerting overtones at once that it was hard to separate them one from the other even just for the sake of discussing them discretely.

When we lived in Germany in the mid-1980s, Joan and I were part of the Jewish community in Heidelberg. In those days, it was a small operation: a series of rooms rented on a busy shopping street near the center of town with windows only facing the inner courtyard of the house in which the community had both its offices and its modest worship space. This specific arrangement, I was told, had been set in place years earlier for security reasons: by choosing a building housing only stores and offices that were closed on Friday evenings and on Saturday mornings, no one other than members of the community or their guests would have any reason to enter the property when services were underway. And that, in turn, was intended to make it as simple as possible for the police officers guarding the building to do their work successfully. (This European model of a back courtyard leading to a building without its own address and all but invisible from the street—like the Achterhuis in which the Franks hid out in Amsterdam—will be unfamiliar to most North Americans. But it’s the way most of Heidelberg’s buildings were built—and also most older buildings throughout Germany and elsewhere in Europe—and the seclusion suited the community’s needs to a tee.) Even though this concept of being both in full view and yet somehow also invisible, thus simultaneously present and absent, was peculiar in the extreme to me as a new arrival used to our American ways. In time, I got used to it. Even the irony of being guarded during worship by German policeman faded and eventually became just part of how things were. By the time we were ready to leave, I hardly noticed the officers other than to wish them a good day on the way out and to thank them for watching over us.

Nor was any of this viewed as excessive by anyone at all, including not by myself or Joan: on our way to shul on Shabbat, we never failed to notice the granite monument marking the spot on the Rathausstrasse where the Rohrbach synagogue stood before the neighbors burnt it to the ground on Kristallnacht. (Now part of Heidelberg, Rohrbach was then its own little village with its own tiny Jewish community and that is where we lived during our years in Germany.) Nor were we alone: people to shul coming from the other direction just had a different marker to pass by—the one on the Grosse Mantelgasse marking the spot on which the synagogue of Heidelberg itself was burnt to the ground in 1938. (Click here for a photo montage connected with that site and its terrible history.) And that experience of walking by those sites provided more than enough historical background for anyone to feel entirely secure about having maximal security arrangements in place when the community met for prayer or for study, or in communal fellowship.

One of the interesting features of life in Germany in those days was the fact that the expression “German Jews” was not ever used to describe the Jews we met in Germany. At first, this struck me as odd: referencing myself as an American Jew seemed entirely natural to me, but that was not at all how things were in Germany, where the members of the community referenced themselves solely as “Jews in Germany,” reserving the title “German Jews” for the pre-war community that was either murdered or hounded into exile. Those people, the usage seemed to me to be saying, they were the ones who were insane enough to think of themselves as some version (i.e., the Jewish version) of German, who were oblivious to the degree to which they were despised, resented, and disliked by their neighbors and colleagues in the bank or in the academy or in the workplace…and who paid an unimaginably huge price for their own naiveté. (The reverse usage, “Jewish Germans,” was also in use in the pre-war period, although mostly as part of the strange expression deutsche Staatsbürger jüdischer Herkunft, meaning literally “German citizens of Jewish origin.” That expression, though, I only read in history books and never heard anyone use in normal discourse other than ironically.) Nor was this a mere local usage: even the national association representing Jewish interests to the public and to the German government referenced itself that way, calling itself the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland (that is, The Central Council of Jews in Germany), a title weirdly reminiscent of the name of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (meaning something like “The Reich-wide Union of Jews in Germany), the umbrella organization that represented Germany Jewry during the Nazi years until its final members were deported to their deaths in the course of the war and the organization stopped existing.

So that’s the baggage I bring to this conversation: years among people who couldn’t even begin to describe themselves as Jewish Germans, even though many of them were born in Germany, had German passports, spoke only German to each other or to anyone, and had no other nationality to claim other than their theoretical right to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return. Except that they all (or mostly) had German citizenship, these people were truly stateless, the human version of flotsam adrift in a world that somehow had room for them but couldn’t quite figure out where they belonged. I myself, of course, didn’t feel that way at all: in those days I felt as unambiguously American as I do today. As noted, I got used to how things were in Germany. But I came from an entirely different world, one in which it would be unthinkable for a leading academic to publish a book presenting an analysis of the place of Jewish Americans in the national fabric of the United States as being about the relationship in the U.S. of Americans and Jews. But even Jews in Germany spoke that way in those days: unselfconsciously talking about “Jews and Germans” without suggesting even obliquely that the Jews in questions were themselves also Germans…or at least citizens of what was then called the Federal Republic of Germany.

Here, things are supposed to be different. And, by and large, they are different. And yet, there is apparently still enough self-doubt underlying the whole Jewish enterprise in America for the President’s comment to have struck a nerve in a way that some equally inane comment that didn’t call into question the American-ness of American Jews never would or could have.

The notion that American Jews are being disloyal to Israel by supporting the Democratic Party, after all, is one thing. Among the Democratic leaders of things in the Congress are people like Chuck Schumer, Nita Lowey, Hakeem Jeffries, and Nancy Pelosi—all of whom have very strong pro-Israel voting records. And, indeed, a group of forty freshmen Democrats visited Israel a few weeks ago and came away, judging from their own post-trip comments, both impressed and encouraged in their pro-Israel orientation. Yes, there are the odious Rashida Tlaib and Ilan Omar, about whom I wrote last week and whose statements about Israel, as I said then, fall in my estimation somewhere between bizarrely naïve and wholly dishonest. But to condemn any Jewish American who is a member of the Democratic Party or who votes Democratic as disloyal to Israel because of a tiny handful of backbenchers whose views are specifically not shared by the vast majority of their Democratic colleagues—that really does suggest a level of willful invidiousness hard to square with reality.

But the other part of the President’s comment—that by not supporting his bid for re-election, American Jews are being disloyal to their own country—that is, and by far, the larger and more serious accusation. (For my comments from last January when Congresswoman Tlaib raised the same dual loyalty issue, click here.) It’s hardly a new canard. Indeed, words spoken by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis more than a century ago are suddenly eerily relevant: “Multiple loyalties,” he wrote in 1915, “are objectionable only if they are inconsistent. Every Irish American who contributed towards advancing home rule [i.e., in an Ireland then fighting for its own independence from Britain] was a better man and a better American for the sacrifice he made. Every American Jew who aids in advancing the Jewish settlement in Palestine, though he feels that neither he nor his descendants will ever live there, will likewise be a better man and a better American for doing so.” In other words, Justice Brandeis was saying simply that feeling a deep sense of interest in the wellbeing of people to whom one is tied by bonds of ethnicity, culture, or religion is not inimical with being a patriotic citizen of one’s own country. And, really, why should it be?

To wave away the President’s remark as just another over-the-top comment reflective solely of an idea that momentarily popped into his head and thus nothing to take too seriously is an extremely tempting way to respond. And, indeed, the fact that no one at all appears to have taken that approach could itself be waved away as an example of extreme over-sensitivity on the part of our American Jewish leadership. But I would like to think that the tidal wave of angry responses to the President’s remarks were and are indicative, not of a lack of self-confidence, but rather of the willingness of the Jewish community to speak out against bigoted canards questioning our loyalty even when given voice by the President himself.

I lived among people so unsure of themselves that they couldn’t even bring themselves to self-define as citizens of their own country, of the country they actually were citizens of. I understand the historical circumstances that led, not at all unreasonably, to that extreme level of insecurity. But our American Jewish community is nothing like that, nor should it be. The across-the-board responses to the President’s remarks were universally condemnatory. Even in the right-wing press, I didn’t see anyone—and certainly no one of stature—eager to walk along with President Trump on this one or even to appear mildly supportive. That, in and of itself, is more buoying and encouraging than the remark itself was disconcerting. We live in a vibrant, dynamic American state. That Jewish Americans have no need to disguise their feelings or hide their true sentiments about Israel—or about anything at all—is a sign of the health of the republic and one of which all Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, should be proud.

#Donald Trump #American Jewry #patriotism #loyalty #Rohrbach #Heidelberg

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