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#review with a jew
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It's Mar Cheshvan, the most "bitter" of all the months of the year, so to cheer everyone up I'm going to do a short review of what happens when you search for Judaica on Aliexpress. I'm gonna got with only the first four results.
So let's start:
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Alright so the first out of the first four results:
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Alright. So, no obvious Messianic symbols on this one. I like the colours, and there's no Christian words in the title. It also has the right number of branches for a proper Chanukiyah, and it looks like something I'd like to own if it was actually good quality, which I doubt.
10/10 for this one.
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Well, obviously this one is glaringly obvious. That's seven branches, not nine, even though it claims to be for "Hanukkah". The 12 Tribes motifs are nice, it's just too bad that it can't actually be used for Chanukah. No Messianic symbols or language on this one though, so that's at least the bare minimum.
6/10. You may think that's a little high, but for Aliexpress this isn't too bad.
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Well. Well. First of all, this Challah cover isn't my personal taste, but it's actually a Breslover Challah cover. The fire symbol and the phrase "תוקד עד ביאת משיח", which means "My fire burns until the coming of Mashiach" is a Breslover motto. Which of course makes it all the more offensive that the title of this product has the phrase "Church Souvenirs". This is gross, and also shows blatent plagierism which Aliexpress is notorious for.
0/10
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Hm. Well, I mean it's obvious this is Messianic even without looking at the title. The plus side is that it's made out of cheap metal, which means that whoever buys this garbage will get green tarnish stains all over their neck from wearing it. And, maybe I'll give this one a point just for making me giggle thinking of people wasting their money on this product and just ruining their skin with the cheap metal.
1/10, just for the thought of these people getting those annoying green tarnish stains.
Anyway.....don't buy judaica from aliexpress or any cheap novelty website. Support other Jews and get your Judaica ware from verified Jewish artists and sellers. But this was fun.
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hebrewbyinbal · 3 months
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Wow, it's 2024 already, and looking back at 2023, it's incredible to see Hebrew 1 and 2 workbooks not just thrive but keep their best seller's badge throughout the year.
Every time I think about it, and with every review you leave, I'm filled with gratitude to the point of almost disbelief - it never gets old!
So, I thought now's the perfect time to dedicate a video to what makes these workbooks like no other, and why they've become favorites for so many of you.
This one is all about getting the most out of Hebrew 1 and 2, whether they're already a part of your learning toolkit or you're considering adding them to your collection.
And for those curious about Hebrew 3, don't worry, I'll be dedicating a separate video to that.
Both workbooks are packed with a long list of unique features – linguistic tidbits, memory hacks, and exercises that are not just about learning Hebrew but understanding it. They're your companions in a journey that covers the basics of writing as well as mastering the letters.
So, whether you're reconnecting with your heritage, preparing for a trip to Israel, or simply passionate about languages, these workbooks are crafted for you.
Stay tuned for a separate video dedicated to Hebrew 3, where we take things to the next level.
Here’s to another year of reading and writing in Hebrew!
#writehebrew #learnhebrew #alephbet #hebrew #books #hebrewbook
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annasellheim · 5 months
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Book review
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angrybell · 5 months
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This appears to the Golden Globe Diner in Huntington, Long Island. The original poster didn’t put the name in the original post but others in the responses identified it. Its a little ways away from me, but maybe someone might be hungry.
Have not confirmed if Door Dash did de-list it over the owner’s decision to put the posters up in the window. If anyone has better info, please let me know and I will adjust.
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thequeeranachronism · 8 months
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I like horror even if I don’t watch it much and my friend was raving about Midnight Mass so I decided to give it a try. It was very triggering to say the least. I’m sure it was also triggering for a lot of ex Christians but it was maybe uniquely triggering to me as not just a Jew but a queer Jew.
I will say the writers did a good job showing it go down from two different outside perspectives. One from Riley who is an ex catholic and one from sherif Hassan a Muslim who’s treated as a complete outsider on the island.
While it seems there were no Muslim writers (unless I missed them) it still did a good job showing the horror of your kid being swayed to join the very force that has oppressed you for millennia. You don’t even need the monsters for that to be a horror.
And while it’s poetic and ironic that the monsters come out to terrorize the town on Easter it’s just too mired in history of pogroms for it to be anything other than horrifically triggering as a Jew.
Jews in particular were targets of murder and harassment around Easter as we’ve been blamed for killing Jesus (It was the fucking Romans). I wasn’t able to watch the last episode and I probably shouldn’t have even watched that far. It’s got amazing writing and acting but it still I couldn’t finish it. There was something missing to me and I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Maybe it was that I couldn’t find it in myself to feel sympathy for any of the church goers even those that saw how the priest was misleading them. Not with the history of Catholicism. The murders and pogroms and the fact that Catholicism were the ones to spread some of the more insidious antisemitic lies such as blood libel.
I felt for Hassan and I felt for Riley but there just was too much of a disconnect to truly enjoy the show. Rahul deserves the accolades as do the others but it wasn’t for me.
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readingbooksinisrael · 8 months
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Book Review: Jews Don’t Count/David Baddiel
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[image id: the cover of the book Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel]
This was pretty much what I was expecting, coming into this as a Jew who knows all about this topic, but it is still an important book because it really does outline the way Jews are often ignored in modern leftist culture.
It isn't academic: it doesn't go further than what David Baddiel can see as a Jew in leftist online and some offline spaces, and it is very much centered in DB's experience as a non-religious Jew, which he mentions at the beginning of the book that it will be.
I have two criticisms with the book:
1. I understand that it is centered in DB's experience as a non-Orthodox Jew but the nearly complete absence of how the left sees religious Jews (there was one sentence about the left dismissing religion as a whole), especially Orthodox Jews who are obviously Jews felt lacking. I feel that there should have been at least a long paragraph about it.
2. At one point he falls into the trap that this whole book is about, and declares Israeli Jews to not really be Jewish (because they're not nebbish enough). As an immigrant to Israel, I understand why he's saying this, but it is, actually part of the trap of #JewsDon'tCount in an #OnlySomeJewsCount way. Israeli Jews do not experience the antisemitism that non-Israeli Jews do in offline spaces, it is true, but we are still part of the same nation. As he himself puts it so succinctly, the Nazis still want to kill us. But, more than that, we share a history and traditions.
3.5 stars because of not being deep enough, rounded up because of the importance of the topic
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mywifeleftme · 3 months
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270: Purple Mountains // Purple Mountains
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Purple Mountains Purple Mountains 2019, Drag City (Bandcamp)
At times David Berman’s final album Purple Mountains feels like it’s from a rock mockumentary: specifically, the album an exaggeratedly burned-out artist would release just before taking a bath with his amplifier or finding religion. I imagine the talking heads saying things like, “It came out of nowhere, nobody could’ve known how Dave was feeling,” while a song literally called “All My Happiness is Gone” plays in the background. Here’s how the record opens:
“Well, I don’t like talking to myself but someone’s got to say it—hell, I mean things have not been going well— this time I think I’ve finally fucked myself.”
And, later on in the same song (“That’s Just the Way That I Feel”):
“A setback can be a setup for a comeback if you don’t let up, but this kind of hurting won’t heal. The end of all wanting is all I’ve been wanting, and that’s just the way that I feel.”
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Attentive listeners to Berman’s previous project Silver Jews certainly got plenty of Dave’s biography from his lyrics, but on Purple Mountains he writes like a man who’s been suffering alone for so long he’s lost the habits of social adroitness. Eliding his despair must’ve seemed to him like trying to disguise the spurting stump of a hacked off wrist by holding it behind his back, so he allows his struggles to be the subject of the evening. Even if you don’t know the broad details of his years outside the spotlight (his separation, his monumental credit card debt, his treatment-resistant depression), most of it’s stated quite baldly in the lyrics. “I Loved Being My Mother’s Son” in particular is crushing to listen to on headphones, his slurred voice in your ear seemingly holding in a sob, the lyrics simple and devastating: “I wasn’t done being my mother’s son / only now am I seeing that being’s done.”
This newfound directness shouldn’t be mistaken for a diminution of his gifts as a lyricist. The verses of “Nights That Won’t Happen” use a villanelle-like structure with alternating refrains (“the dead know what they’re doing when they leave this world behind” and “all the suffering gets done by the ones we leave behind”) that give his words a sense of somber inevitability. Meanwhile, “Margaritas at the Mall” hearkens back to the Apocalyptic existentialism of Tanglewood Numbers’s “There is a Place,” only reversed—where on that 2005 song Berman spoke of reaching the bottom of despair and finding there the shadow of God looming over the world, here the presence of God is so subtle as to render life as trivial as drinking sugary booze in a food court.
Still, as gloomy as its subject matter often is, Purple Mountains is never a drag to listen to. It combines the countrified indie rock Berman mastered long ago with the cosmopolitan psych of Woods, who serve as his producers and backing band. The production is warm and richly detailed, and the band has a protean groove (especially on “Storyline Fever”) that makes what otherwise might be a funereal set of songs feel limber and amiable. On “Snow is Falling on Manhattan,” Woods take the lyrical note and turn the tune into a snow globe of organ, twinkling vibraphone, and festive trumpets. Berman’s guitar basically quotes the verse of “Imagine” as he delivers the album’s fondest words, its imagery of wanderers finding respite from the cold embracing the listener: “Snow is falling on Manhattan / Inside I’ve got a fire crackling / And on the couch beneath an afghan / You’re the old friend I just took in.”
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I’ve heard Purple Mountains described as an auditory suicide note (and in lazy moments called it that myself), but its real message might be that a person can remain himself despite his illness wracking him toward the point of no return, able to see the world’s strangeness and charm even as the borders of his vision begin to darken. On the catchy “She’s Making Friends, I’m Turning Stranger” and “Maybe I’m the Only One for Me,” Berman delivers priceless jokes with practically his last breaths (“into my mind the thought begins to seep / if no one’s fond of fucking me / maybe no one’s fucking fond of me”). It’s one final bow from the guy that gave us “Honk if You’re Lonely,” like the portion of the wake where the grief has been spent for the moment and everyone’s swapping memories of the good times—and suddenly the departed’s there in the space between, sharing the kind of laughter that purges as it heals.
270/365
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lonniecomics · 1 month
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Very excited to say I have a new website to promote my new graphic novel! Big thanks to Teresa and Chris at Hand Design Co. for transforming my wireframe into graphics and code!!
It's got preview chapters, reviews, and other info, so check it out and feel free to share. 😊
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tinyreviews · 1 year
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I think the second half is lackluster because it doesn’t give any personal agency or goals to any of the main characters, the plot just happens to them. They don’t get to decide or fight for anything.
The Chosen is a 1981 American drama film directed by Jeremy Kagan, based on the best-selling book of the same name by Chaim Potok, published in 1967. It stars Maximilian Schell and Rod Steiger.
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So there is a messianic place of worship in the city I'm moving into soon and somebody on Google suggested changing their categorization from synagogue to a "Christian Church" 💀💀💀💀💀💀
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yekoc · 2 years
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thinking about how if there’s no spiral ham at my boyfriend’s family’s Easter brunch tomorrow I’ll scream
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Alright so you asked for me reviewing the results for "Jewish" on Wish.com, so I delivered. I picked the first ten most horrible ones.
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Why the Christmas themes? Why the Christmas colours? Like c'mon at least do the stereotypical blue and silver.....
7/10 because this is a lot better than what's coming.
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I mean you know what I'm gonna say.
0/10
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My first reaction was "wtf Jews don't have Chanukah trees". And I'm gonna stand by it. Chanukah isn't Jewish Christmas. However...I could see an interfaith family enjoying this, especially if they have kids.
3/10
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Wow! Pagan appropriation instead of Messianic appropriation for a change! Gross. Nasty. Uncreative. Unoriginal.
0/10
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Yeahhhhh I don't think an actual black hat would be $6. First of all, they're not usually made with wool, they're made with suade, and are very expensive. Second, wool black hats are at least in the $25-70 range. I don't see why anyone would buy this unless it's for a costume, and yeah dressing up as Jews is uh...bad.
0/10
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I don't see how this is 12 Tribes of Israel, and yeah it looks way too small to hold any candles other than birthday candles. It's not the right number of branches, but it's not labeled as "Chanukah", so my guess is that it's Messianic. Also the design is ugly no offense.
1/10
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I love this because I can't tell if it's Messianic appropriation or Pagan appropriation. The Hebrew text is too tiny and illegible to read, but it's not actually "72 names of the god Moses" because of course all those names aren't known and also Moses isn't a god.
0/10
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That's not how Tzizit work.......The commandment for Tzizit is to specifically tie them to the corners of a four cornered garment and wear them, not to make them into a keychain. The strings in this photo look more like embroidery floss than proper wool tzizit strings, and tchelet dye is more expensive than that. Obviously this is Messianic too.
-1/10
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So the text on this is gibberish. It looks like a combination of Pheonician, Runic, and Latin script, typical of pagan appropriation. Like man it looks like someone looked up "Ancient text" and then just scribbled whatever.
0/10
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Lol
-10/10
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hebrewbyinbal · 3 months
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I understand, starting to learn a new language, especially one as unique as Hebrew, can bring up a lot of fears and doubts.
You might be wondering, "Will it take months to get the hang of this? Will I even be able to grasp it?"
Let me reassure you, with my best-selling Hebrew 1, 2, and 3 series, these worries can be put to rest.
Let's start with Hebrew 1. This workbook is designed to give you, or your little one, a confidence-boosting start.
Using words you already know in Hebrew and English, it makes the process relatable and straightforward.
You'll complete all your writing skills in Hebrew, learning to write the entire alphabet in Print letters.
Hebrew 2 then takes you further, focusing on Cursive/ Script writing.
Together with Hebrew 1, these workbooks cover all the writing skills you need in Hebrew. They're structured to be completed back-to-back for the best results.
The approach is hands-on and practical, simplifying complex Hebrew concepts, making it fun for kids and straightforward for adults.
Hebrew 3 is the textbook that completes your reading skills. It introduces you to the vowel Nikud system, an essential part of reading Hebrew proficiently. This stage of learning might sound complex, but it's presented in a way that's digestible and engaging.
Each workbook is filled with unique features to enhance your learning experience. You'll form the habit of writing from right to left, learn each letter with familiar words, and have access to videos where I sound out and write the letters, and practice to perfection.
The workbooks are designed not just to teach you the alphabet and writing skills but also to instill an understanding of practical Hebrew basics needed for reading and writing.
Grab your copy locally on my website hebrewbyinbal.com
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azazel-dreams · 1 year
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Nintendo DS Game: Jewels of the Ages
gameplay ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤
aesthetics ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤
story ❤️❤️❤️❤❤
Replayable ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤
Overall Review: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤
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dadyomi · 1 year
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Daf Yomi Week 143: One Who Writes
Shabbat Shalom and welcome! As has been documented, I love “meanwhile back at the ranch” passages from Daf Yomi, but also I think “One Who Writes To His Wife” would be a great book title. Possibly for some Jewish-flavored poetry? Or maybe it’ll be book three in my seven-book series about dimension-hopping scifi Jews. 
In any case, I hope everyone had a meaningful fast, if you fasted, and that we’re all ready to face the new year kveching and arguing just as we did the last. Sukkot is coming: do you have citronella candles? 
I didn’t honestly think I’d get to write a Week In Review this week, because work has me hopping, but I got a surprise message from my boss that they really have nothing for me to do today. A lot of my work is extremely dependent on other people getting theirs done, and theirs ground to a halt for reasons much too boring to go into, so mine has as well. And so voila! I both had a passage to share and had the time to share it. 
We are so close to the end of Ketubot I can taste it. We’ll be done with it before the month is through! I’ve been thinking a lot about Berachot, and wondering if it was so much easier and so much more engaging because it was all new, because I hadn’t really figured out the cadence of the language, something like that. I also wonder if that’s not true, if Berachot just is a much more engaging tractate, and it’s first in the Talmud in order to draw people in, so that when you punch them in the face with Yevamot and Ketubot, they fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy. Latest scholarship indicates that Stockholm Syndrome isn’t a real thing, or if it is, it’s vastly different from what happened during the event that inspired the creation of the term, but at the same time I definitely have Talmudic Stockholm Syndrome. I’ve got three years invested now! I can’t give up! 
I definitely can give up, actually, but I am trying not to. Because of the Stockholm Syndrome. 
Fortunately, one thing I like about doing the week in review is that it gives me time to sit back, look at the week, reflect on my feelings about daf yomi...and then gives me permission to go back to my life and not think about it anymore. I’m off to take a healthful walk, which is a terrible proposition on the face of things, but what else can one do? The nice weather won’t hold much longer, and it will make me all the more grateful for warm rooms and heavy blankets once the cold finally comes.
243 weeks to go! Let’s spend at least some of those weeks having healthful walks even if that sounds like a terrible idea.
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chicago-geniza · 2 years
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half of my so-called research is just [slaps the roof of interwar poland] this baby can fit so much Gender inside it
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