#rivkah reads | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

romanarose · 1 year

Text

Seattle: Chapter 8

Marc Spector x Jewish!OC

Seattle Masterlist

Previous chapter

Summary: Months latter, it's Hanukkah and Rebecca had been acting strange.

WARNINGS: Usual for this fic, references to dv, miscarriage, trauma, lots of crying, sad and happy. There's one more warning buuuuut its a HUGE spoiler so scroll to he bottom if you want to see it before you read, but know it's nothing bad!! this is a v happy chapter but im putting the warning there incase. OH potentially bulimia, marc briefly suspects it but that’s not what it is. Mentions of weight gain and body insecurity

THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER!!! Say goodbye to Rebecca and Marc <3

*********

She had been acting strange for months..

Like right now, Rebecca was wearing a baggy sweater as she prepped dinner for the last night of Hanukkah. That wasn’t strange, she wore a lot of baggy clothes. She almost never wore tight clothes. But all month, it was baggy, things that hid her body.

Sex was less and less. They hadn’t done it in a month. That was perfectly fine of course, completely up to her. She had given him blowjobs while she touched herself, bringing them both to their climax, and once or twice she got herself off riding his thigh while they made out, but nothing that involved taking off clothes.

She wouldn’t change in front of him. She seemed distracted.

Marc worried she was in a bad place. She had gained weight back in the almost a year since she moved in with Marc, and frankly, Marc had gained weight too. He spent less time working out, more time with her. He had felt a little self-conscious himself, he wondered if she felt insecure about her body. It all started when he heard her throwing up a few months ago, he confronted her about potentially having an eating disorder, but she promised she was just sick. The lack of evidence on her knuckles made Marc believe her, but he was still worried, insisting she go to the doctor after the nausea persisted. That visit was when she started acting strange.

He asked if she got bad news, if they were running tests, if it was long covid, anything, but she insisted she was fine.

She wasn’t.

In another life, another version of himself, he would have worried she was seeing someone else, or had fallen out of love with him, but he couldn’t find that in himself to doubt her love for him, not after everything. She continued to prove her love again and again and again, even if she wouldn’t let him touch her. Late night cuddles were traded for staying up giggling over info-mercials at 2 am, no sex but there were afternoon walks, walking hand in hand. If she didn’t want to have sex for whatever reason, he’d be okay with that

But he was worried about her too. Steven and Jake saw it too. Both had asked her about it, but when Rebecca gave them nothing, they dropped it. Marc planned on sitting her down, but he was going to wait until after Hanukkah for that.

But as he watched her shaky hands try to light the candles, voice cracking as she held back tears, he had to step in. Marc took the candles, saying the rest of the prayer as she silently began crying. “kideshanu be-mitzvotav, ve-tzivanu le-hadlik ner shel Hanukah.” Once the last candle was lit, he returned the middle one to the Minorah, he turned to try and take the crying love of his life in his arms, but she held out her hands. “Rivkah” He pleaded, about ready to cry just from the sight of her like this. “Please talk to me, what’s going on” He wanted so badly to hold her, to comfort her, but he respected her desire not to be touched.

She held her head in her hands crying.

Marc could tell she didn’t want to talk, but he couldn’t just drop it. “Is it something I can fix? Because I’ll do it, whatever it is”

She shook her head.

“Did I do something?”

She shook her head again.

Marc waited, watching her cry, shaking shoulders, feeling helpless. “Please baby, can I hold you?”

She steadied herself, removing her hands to reveal red and puffy eyes. She didn’t look broken, just sad, frustrated and emotional. She’d been very emotional these days. Rebecca held her hands out, not for a hug, but requesting his own, which he readily gave. “Marc, I’m going to show you something, okay?” She sniffled.

“Yeah” he breathed out. “Yeah, of course”

Rebecca looked into his large and concerned eyes, taking a deep breath before sliding his cold hands under her sweater to settle over her stomach.

It took a second for his short-circuiting brain to process that his hands were on a bump.

Mate…

Holy shit

“Beccs…” he stared at where her sweater draped over his hands, a round belly forming.

“I’m pregnant Marc” She began crying again.

Marc’s mind yelled at him to hold her, but his body was frozen. “Becca… How long… why… what?” He couldn’t form a coherent thought if he tried.

“Are you happy? Wait, no let me explain first.”

Marc looked up at her. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did you… do you not want this? Do you not want this with me?” She had to be keeping it if she was this far along.

It was her turn to comfort him. With a step forward, Rebecca took Marc’s perfect face in her hands. “Let me explain, okay? It’s not that I didn’t want this with you… I didn’t even know if you wanted it, which was part of my nervousness. You said you didn’t want kids, years ago… but you also knew I wanted them, but we didn’t really talk about it,” she realized she was rambling, his face not betraying any emotion besides confusion. She figured the news probably fried his brain a bit. With a steadying breath, she continued. “I when they told me I was pregnant, I was in shock… we were so careful and… And I think in a lot of ways I was mourning my miscarriage still, I guess I thought since I wasn’t ready, my body couldn’t be ready…”

“Why didn’t you tell me” He asked

Fresh came pouring down her face. “I was so scared Marc”

A flicker of hurt across his face. “Of what? Of how I’d react?”

“Of losing it!” Rebecca burst into tears, and this time allowed Marc’s comforting hold to take her in, safe and ground, ever present. She mumbled into his brown long sleeve. “I couldn’t bare it if I lost another pregnancy and I had to tell you”

“Oh metukah” He kissed the side of her face as his fingers warmed in the messy expanse of her hair. “I’d want to be there for you, I wouldn’t want you to go through this alone”

“I know, I just… it would be yours this time. I know having a kid isn’t what you wanted, I didn’t want… I didn’t want you to warm up to the idea only for it to be taken away. It was already two months in by the time I found out so I…. I just kept waiting, and waiting, every day expecting to wake up to pain and blood again… and the next thing I knew, it was the 18 week check up…”

18 weeks? What happens at 18 weeks? Is this check up bad? Did she miscarry? No, she’s still pregnant. Wait it doesn’t just disappear… at this stage… is that whats going on? Does she need to go in for-

Marc. Steven Marc out of his mental spiral. 18 weeks is when you can tell the sex

She knows what you’re having…

“You… you know what we’re having?”

He said we.

Does he want this? Is he okay with this?

“That’s the other thing…” She took a nervous step back, wanting to see his face.

“There's more?”

A pause. A long, long pause. “We’re having twins.”

A sacred silence enveloped them as Marc processed everything she had said to him the last 10 minutes. He spoke softly. “I’m gonna be a dad” A small, short, nervous laugh and a hint of a smile gleaned on his face.

She nodded rapidly and Marc swoop in, picking her up in a hug and spinning her sound. “I’m gonna be a dad!”

Happy tears this time. “You’re gonna be dad Marc Spector.”

Marc peppered kisses all over her giggling and tear streaked face. “I love you, I love, I love you”

“So… you want this? I thought you didn’t-”

“I never thought I would, but with you…” a big, wet kiss. “Wait,” he pulled away, hand still on her cheek that still held the scar, but much lighter now. “do you know what we’re having?”

Rebecca nodded rapidly. “Boy and a girl”

“Oh my god” he laughed out. A son and a daughter. “Oh shit you should be resting!” Marc guided her to the couch, feeling more like Steven with the giddiness that flowed through him. He knelt at her side, hands gently at her waist. “I’m so sorry you went through the first half alone, Beccs, but I promise you, I am here for you, for the babies, every step of the way, for the rest of our lives.”

Her fingers found is beautiful thick hair. “Rest of our lives?”

“Yeah, my love, the rest of our lives, I promise I’ll properly propose to you, but baby, you have to know I’m with you forever.”

“Marc, I don’t want you to propose just because I got knocked up”

“Hey” He sat up on the couch, caressing her face. “You didn’t get knocked up, you’re pregnant. And I’ve wanted to propose to you since we were 15, when Tony Sutten grabbed your ass and you punched him.”

Rebecca laughed.”Yeah, you were a little busy beating the shit out of him”

“You were so fucking mad at me”

“Yeah!” She giggled. “‘Cause you got suspended!”

“Wasn’t the first time, wasn’t the last”

With a tsk, she shook her head. “How did you ever graduate, Spector”

“All thanks to you, baby” Marc kissed her deeply, then his face lit up again. “Oh my god! Can I call dad?”

It thoroughly moved Rebecca to see that Marc and Elias’s relationship had progressed so far that sharing these moments with his dad came as second nature to him. “Of course my love, you can call everyone”

Marc stood up to get his phone. “Dad’s going to lose his mind, I bet he never thought he’d get grandkids” It occurred to Marc that Elias was the only grandparent this baby would have, and Asa would be the only- “Oh I gotta call Asa! Wait, no, you should call Asa” Marc grinned. “He’s gonna be an uncle, Beccs”

She nodded, smiling widely. “He’s gonna be an uncle”

Marc thought of Randall, wondering if he could see this, if he knew…

It was like Rebecca could read his mind. He supposed she could, after all this time. Grabbed his hand. “Those babies will have two uncles who love them so, so much”

Marc knelt down between her legs, kissing her stomach. “May God bless you and keep you, May God make you like Ephraim and Menashe, Sarah,” He stood up to kiss Becca’s head. “And Rebecca” Pulling out his phone, he started dialing Elias. “God, I gotta call Dad, and Asa, Matt, Layla, Foggy, Frank, Peter…” He mumbled off the names of friends he had to call. As he anxiously waited for his dad to answer, he wondered how he got here, how much he had changed. He went to shabbat regularly, and always celebrated with Rebecca, he had the prettiest woman he’d ever seen as his girlfriend and hopefully fiance soon, he talked to his dad regularly, loved and was loved in return by Steven and Jake, and had a group of friends that started out as partners to protect the streets of New York but had ended up being close friends he spend time with outside of Khonshu’s work… Since when did he have friends other than Rebecca and Steven? Since when did he have a group of friends?

Since when was he… happy.

‘Marc? Everything alright?’

“Yeah dad” Marc laughed, looking over to his beautiful girlfriend, smiling and heavily pregnant with his children. ”Everything is great”

***********

SPOILER WARNING: Pregnancy <3

I cried writing this, and cried finishing it. This fic, Sunshine, Starlight, Sweetheart, Brightside, and Leather and Lace are two other series I have going, both finishing up but i wanted to get this last chapter done for Hanukkah. This si the first fic ive ever finished and im emo about it. It's been such a journey exploring Marc and Rebecca through present day and flashbacks, watching Rebecca come back to her regular self, and watching Marc grow as a person, from who he is in the midst of Moon Knight, to who he is at the end of this story, in love, lots of friends, reconnected to his religion, has his dad, his brother in law who is like a younger brother to him, and a group of friends in New York. It's been really nice to watch, because Marc and Rebecca deserve happiness.

I hope no one is disappointed in the lack of Jake and Steven. Unfortunetly, my focus on this was Marc, and his journey but I have plenty of fics with both. If you love steven, i suggest you check out sunshine!!

@my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @ninebluehearts @sofi786 @myfandomlikesandstories @tippycakes26 @ahookedheroespureheart @arsonfrogger

#marc spector #marc spector fluff #marc spector fanfic #marc spector moon knight #moon night fanfiction #moon knight thoughts #marc spector jewish reader #jewish reader #jewish marc spector #hanukkah special #moon knight hanukkah fic #moon knight fanfiction #jake lockley #steven grant #moon knight #seattle moon knight fic

37 notes · View notes

eretzyisrael · 6 months

Text

Parashat Vayishlach

by Meir Anolick

Written for Shabbat, Parashat Vayishlach, י”ג בכסלו תשע”ד:

Thank you to Rabbi Geller for teaching me many of the concepts presented here. Unfortunately, I could not quote exact sources.

In the memory of Yeshayahu ben Yitchak and Rivka z”l, who passed away last Shabbat. May his N’shama have an Aliyah.

In this week’s Parsha, Yitzchak Avinu passes away and is buried by his two sons, as it says, 35:29, “his sons, Eisav and Yaakov, buried him”. Chazal teach from this verse that even at the end, Eisav never did T’shuva, as he placed himself before Yaakov. Contrast this to Yishma’el when he and Yitzchak buried their father, Avraham Avinu. There it says (25:9), “His sons Yitzchak and Yishmael buried him”. From here we see that Yishmaeldid do T’shuvah by the end of his life. Furthermore, at the end of the Parshah this week, we are given Eisav’s family tree and taught, through interepretations of the verses, that their was a lot of immoral behavior in his family.

The question is, why the difference between them? When a carpenter sets out to construct an item, the quality of the item is largely dependent on the quality of the materials used; if poor materials are used, then the quality is poor, but if excellent materials are used, then the quality is excellent. So, too, is it with children. When a very spiritual person has a child, then that child is very spiritually as well, and vice-versa. Therefore, why is it that when Yitzchak Avinu and Rivkah Imeinu, two righteous individuals, had their children, one of them became so much worse than a child born to just one righteous parent (Yishmael, who’s father was Avraham Avinu and mother was a Mitzri handmaid)?

Something Chazal teaches us is that everyone has a certain amount of spiritual strength, but this strength does not lean in the direction of good or bad. Rather a person can take their spiritual strength and put their efforts in either direction, thus giving them equal potential for good and for evil. However, how their spend their strength is entirely up to them, and can be subject to various external influences, such as nature and upbringing.

It seems to me that righteous people don’t necessarily have righteous children, but they have children with a lot of spiritual strength. Therefore, a child of two righteous people, as opposed to a child of just one righteous person, has much greater capacity for evil, and the further one steeps himself in evil, the harder it is to come back out of it.

#Parashat Vayishlach #Judaism #Jewish

3 notes · View notes

meonlyred · 2 years

Note

I miss Rossa ! Share something with us? A snippet? A headcanon? Anything? 🥺

Ask and you shall receive!!

I have been working on this forever and I'm still not happy with it so I can't promise when I will have it ready to be published. But how about when Rossa reunites with her father!?

“After all this time! Now you show up!” Rivkah was yelling as Rossa hurried into the hangar, Theron at her heel.

The rest of the personnel in the hangar had gathered to gawk at the near brawl that was playing out. Aygo had Rivkah held from behind, hooking his arms around hers to keep her from lunging forward. Hylo was standing in front of a light haired man wearing a long dark coat. Her hand kept him away as she nervously glanced between the two. Rivkah’s face was flushed with anger as she thrashed trying to free herself from Aygo’s hold on her.

“What is going on here?” Rossa said loud enough for her voice to carry over the yelling.

The man turned to face her, “Why hello there, Sunshine.”

She knew that voice. It echoed from long ago, from fields of gold and bright days. Of someone picking her up and spinning her over his head. Now before her stood a man; a masculine patchwork of her and her sisters’ features, but aged and weathered by time. Deep laughing lines divided his face and his hair was so pale she couldn't tell if it was platinum like hers or white. In his stance and the smirk, he wore smugness with the ease of a seasoned maverick. She knew this man. Before her was her father, Enoch Skyfall.

Rossa had only read about what had happened to her family second hand from a file in the Jedi archive. Not a unique story of yet another broken family. The galaxy was full of those. It was still a tragedy every time it happened.

Shortly after Rossa had been sent to the Jedi, Enoch had abandoned her sisters and mother to a life of poverty. Etched in anger and resentment, her sisters had filled her in on the rest. The fighting between their parents had gotten worse until Enoch had left in the middle of the night without bothering to say goodbye. It had become extremely hard on their mother to support them. Rivkah had left home at a very young age to find work and Billi had done the same shortly after. Desperation had made both sisters turn to jobs that weren't entirely legal.

“Don’t you dare call her that, mother fucker,” Rivkah growled.

There was a smirk at the corner of his mouth, “You’re not wrong about that.”

Rivkah's face twisted in rage. She threw Aygo off her right arm and drew her blaster. Whether she was actually going to fire or not didn’t matter; the blaster was sharply pulled from her hand across the room to Enoch’s outstretched hand. He did a flourish twirl of the blaster before holding in front of him in folded hands. A shocked silence blanketed those gathered as everyone held their breaths waiting to see what happened next.

It was Rivkah who broke the silent first, her voice an angry hiss, “You're a Jedi?”

Enoch’s laugh was humorless as he made himself comfortable again leaning against a nearby crate still idly fiddling with her blaster as if it was an amusing toy. “No one's mistaken me for one of them for a long time.”

“Did you know?” Rivkah’s shout shook Rossa’s attention back to her eldest sister.

Dumbfounded, Rossa could only shake her head. She hadn't felt his connection to the Force when she entered the room, but then she really hadn't been looking for one. Her father was Force Sensitive? How come she had never been told? Did the Jedi know? She vaguely recalled her parents arguing about her last night before being sent to the Jedi, had that been the reason?

“You can still look surprised. The Jedi didn’t completely drill all emotions outta ya, did they?” Enoch said with an edge to his voice.

Steadying herself she lifted her chin, “It is a great misunderstanding of the Code to believe that a Jedi is not allowed to feel anything.”

“Is that so?” He pushed himself off from the crate and took a couple steps towards Rossa.

Perhaps he didn't mean for it to look threatening but it was interpreted as such. Rossa didn't have to look to know Theron's hand had dropped to his blaster holster. She heard the faint click of him thumping the safety off, but not the sound of him drawing, not yet. He was ready to protect her, it didn't matter who it was against or at what cost.

Hylo had followed his lead. Her hand went to hover over her belt, a bit closer to her own holster.

Enoch didn’t fail to notice the very real threat on his life. His eyes flicked off Rossa long enough to glance around the room before coming back to her. It made him hold his ground and lay Rivkah's blast down on the crate that had been his leaning post.

“Your Order didn't much care for me for being with your ma. When they found out we had a youngin on the way, I was shown the door. So no, I don't have a high opinion of them or their damn Code.”

Rossa regarded him silently for a moment, trying to understand what angle he was playing. He was a stranger to her just as much as any new arrival to Odessen. The difference being that most ventured all the way into Wild Space looking for purpose with the Alliance. They didn't come to antagonize its members. Not if they ever hoped to leave again not as a prisoner or in a body bag.

"Why are you here?" Rossa asked softly.

Enoch gave a big smile and opened his arms out wide, "Why to see my baby girls, of course!"

Rossa took her eyes off only long enough to glance over to Rivkah. The tension in every muscle in her body hadn’t eased, her suspicions very clear.

Turning back to Enoch she said, "We have a cantina upstairs with rooms. I would like you to please explain your presents here in more detail." She paused and looked at the audience they had earned. "Somewhere more private."

Everyone had different options all at once, but at least when she raised her hand her people quieted and Rivkah and Enoch fell silent a moment later. The authority she had sometimes came in handy.

#Rossa Skyfall #Red Writing #I really need to get my ass in gear and finish something

10 notes · View notes

mr-magreen · 1 month

Text

What does R.I.V. stand for? My first thought is to the lovely movie I watched last weekend on cable, called School of Rock. Very silly movie, but I enjoyed how kindly the teacher treated the students, even though he did not have training through the proper channels. One of the young actors was named Rivkah Reyes. I thought that was a lovely name.

I'm not certain why that's the first thing that came to mind, though. It's too specific. This must be something I was missing from actuarial school, yes? I will have to consult my old college notes. They're likely quite yellowed by now... I'm sure my handwriting will be a terrible bother to read. I was such a nervous little seed. Ah. Well.

0 notes

liorah-in-the-bronx · 11 months

Note

just reading liorah's bio. do you have fcs for her parents and sisters? what is her relationship like with her family?

|| Hiiii! I do have faceclaims for her parents and her uncle, who makes an appearance in the fic I'm writing.

Faceclaim for her father, Yefrem, is Liev Schreiber.

Faceclaim for her mother, Yafet, is Fran Drescher.

Faceclaim for her uncle, Pavel, is Paul Reubens.

Faceclaim for her older sister, Malkah, is Mayim Bialik (who was inspiration for Liorah's middle name!).

And last, but not least, faceclaim for her younger sister, Rivkah, is Lilly James.

Liorah's relationship with her parents is surprisingly good. She didn't run away from home due to issues with them, but due to issues with a cousin. Liorah has always been prone to running away, so her family never really gave it much thought when she took off.

Her parents are protective and loving. Liorah is very close with Malkah, and has a love/hate relationship with Rivkah.

#headcanons #ooc #fandomless oc #ooc / misc.#indie oc rp

0 notes

the-shoemaker-report · 2 years

Text

Length Contraction, Place and Prayer

In our last issue, we explored the Torah of time dilation, not only as a consequence of special relativity but more importantly, as a consequence of expanded consciousness or intellect [seichal]. In this issue, we will look at the Torah of length contraction, another major consequence of special relativity.

Avraham sent his servant Eliezer on a journey from Canaan to Mesopotamia (Aram Naharaim) to find a suitable wife for Yitzchak. Although the journey was ostensibly very lengthy and arduous, we read something rather amazing from Eliezer himself after he arrived at the home of Betuel, the father of Rivkah (Bereshit 24:42): וָאָבֹא הַיּוֹם אֶל־הָעָיִן (And I came today to the spring). On the surface, this doesn’t seem too unusual, but if we turn to our sages, we realize that their perception was much sharper than ours is today. Rashi comments: הַיּוֹם יָצָאתִי וְהַיּוֹם בָּאתִי מִכָּאן שֶׁקָּפְצָה לוֹ הָאָרֶץ (Today I left [Canaan] and today I came [here], from this, we learn that the earth contracted for him). What an astonishing statement! From where does Rashi learn this? It says so explicitly in the Gemara (see Sanhedrin 95a). It is also brought down in the Midrash (Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer 16:6): מקרית ארבע עד חרן מהלך שבעה עשר יום ובג' שעות בא העבד לחרן והיה העבד תמה בלבו ואמר היום יצאתי והיום באתי שנ' ואבא היום אל העין (From Kiryat Arba [Chevron] to Charan is a 17 day journey, and yet it took the servant [Eliezer] only three hours to get to Charan. He was astonished in his heart, and he said, ‘Today I left and today I came’, as it says [Bereshit 24:42], ‘And I came today to the spring’). We see that our Sages new about the reality of length contraction at least 2000 years before it was shown to be a consequence of special relativity by Einstein and verified experimentally by many in the following decades.

But there is another example in the Torah (Bereshit 28:10-11). וַיֵּצֵא יַעֲקֹב מִבְּאֵר שָׁבַע וַיֵּלֶךְ חָרָנָה׃ וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם וַיָּלֶן שָׁם (And Yaakov departed from Beer-Sheva and he went to Charan. And he met in the place and lodged there). Later in the story, we learn that the place Yaakov lodged was Beit-El (not the current Beit-El, but the Temple Mount). So we see an apparent contradiction here. On the one hand, Yaakov came to Charan, yet immediately afterward he was back in Eretz Yisrael at the site of the future Temple, and that’s where he spent the night. The Gemara resolves the contradiction by stating that Yaakov did, in fact, make it to Charan, but then he realized that he was negligent in not stopping to pray at the place where his fathers, Avraham and Yitzchak, prayed (Chullin 91b): כד יהיב דעתיה למיהדר קפצה ליה ארעא מיד ויפגע במקום (As soon as he set his mind to return, the land contracted for him, immediately, ‘and he met in the place’). Not only this, but in spending the night there, we read what Hashem said to him in his prophetic dream (Bereshit 28:13): וְהִנֵּה יְיָ נִצָּב עָלָיו וַיֹּאמַר אֲנִי יְיָ אֱלֹקֵי אַבְרָהָם אָבִיךָ וֵאלֹקֵי יִצְחָק הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה שֹׁכֵב עָלֶיהָ לְךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה וּלְזַרְעֶךָ (And behold, Hashem was standing over him, and he said, ‘I am Hashem, the G-d of Avraham your father and the G-d of Yitzchak, I will give the land upon which you are lying to you and to your descendants’). Again, there doesn’t appear to be anything unusual with these words at first glance; however, Rashi points out that this is another example of length contraction: קִפֵּל הַקָּבָּ"ה כָּל אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל תַּחְתָּיו (The Holy One, blessed be He, contracted all of Eretz Yisrael under him). The original source for this may be found in the Gemara (Chullin 91b): אמר רבי יצחק מלמד שקפלה הקב"ה לכל ארץ ישראל והניחה תחת יעקב אבינו שתהא נוחה ליכבש לבניו (R' Yitzchak said, This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, contracted all of Eretz Yisrael and put it underneath our Patriarch Yaakov, [to teach] that it would be easy for his descendants to conquer).

But what is length (the one dimensional building block of space) anyway? We have no idea, but it’s clearly not absolute, whatever it is. But length contraction is a natural consequence of the special theory of relativity which states that a moving object’s length is measured to be shorter than its actual length when the object is at rest. The effect of length contraction is not noticeable at all for standard objects traveling at speeds much below the speed of light; however, when an object travels at a significant fraction of the speed of light, length contraction becomes a real issue and its effects can no longer be ignored.

In last week’s issue, we learned that an increase in intellect or consciousness [seichal] leads to time dilation, but what leads to length contraction? If we examine these examples from the Torah carefully, we will see something remarkable. Both of them involve heartfelt prayer. When Eliezer left to go to Aram Naharaim, he prayed (Bereshit 24:12-13): וַיֹּאמַר יְיָ אֱלֹקֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם הַקְרֵה־נָא לְפָנַי הַיּוֹם וַעֲשֵׂה־חֶסֶד עִם אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם׃ הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי נִצָּב עַל־עֵין הַמָּיִם וּבְנוֹת אַנְשֵׁי הָעִיר יֹצְאֹת לִשְׁאֹב מָיִם (And he said, ‘Hashem, the G-d of my master Avraham, please let things work out well for me today, and may You do loving kindness with my master Avraham. Behold, I stand upon the spring of water and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water, etc.’). And why did Yaakov want to return to Eretz Yisrael before he completed his journey to Lavan? As we mentioned already, he wanted to pray on the site of the future Temple. As it is written (Bereshit 28:11): וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם (And he met [vayifga] in the place). About this unusual wording, the Gemara teaches (Sanhedrin 95b): אין פגיעה אלא תפלה שנאמר ואתה אל תתפלל בעד העם הזה ואל תשא בעדם רנה ותפלה ואל תפגע בי (The word pegi’ah [meeting] only means prayer, as it says [Yirmeyahu 7:16], ‘And you, do not pray for this nation, and do not lift up song or prayer for their sake, and do not tifga [meet] me [in prayer for I will not listen to you]’). In fact, this is the moment when Yaakov instituted the evening prayer, Arvit/Maariv (see Rashi there and Berachot 26b).

So we merit a remarkable insight. Prayer is connected to length contraction. But how does it work? R' Nachman explains (Likutei Moharan II:56): כְּשֶׁיֵּשׁ לְהָאָדָם לֵב אֵין שַׁיָּךְ אֶצְלוֹ מָקוֹם כְּלָל כִּי אַדְּרַבָּא הוּא מְקוֹמוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם וְכוּ' כִּי הָאֱלֹקוּת הוּא בַּלֵּב כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב צוּר לְבָבִי וְאֵצֶל הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ נֶאֱמַר הִנֵּה מָקוֹם אִתִּי – שֶׁהוּא מְקוֹמוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם וְאֵין הָעוֹלָם מְקוֹמוֹ (When a person has heart, makom has no more relevance to him at all, on the contrary, he is the makom of the world, etc., for godliness is in the heart, as it is written [Tehillim 73:26]: ‘The Rock of my heart’. And about Hashem, may He be blessed, it is written [Shemot 33:21]: ‘Behold, a makom with me’ – that He is the makom of the world and the world is not His makom). Therefore, as R' Nachman continues to teach, it is just inappropriate for someone with a Jewish heart to say, “Such and such a place isn’t suitable for me” or “Such and such place is suitable for me.” To someone with a real Jewish heart, makom, i.e., the place where we live or the place where we go to work, etc., doesn’t really matter, not if godliness truly expresses itself from his heart.

But what R' Nachman teaches is that just prayer is insufficient. We have to pray with heart. It is written in Likutei Moharan 49:4: כִּי כָּל אֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל הוּא חֵלֶק אֱלוֹקַּ מִמַּעַל וְעִקַּר הָאֱלֹקוּת בַּלֵּב וְהָאֱלֹקוּת שֶׁבְּלֵב אִישׁ הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִי הוּא בְּחִינַת אֵין סוֹף (For every Jew is a portion of G-d above [chelek Eloka mima’al], and the essence of godliness is in the heart, and godliness that is in the heart of a Jew is an aspect of the Infinite [Ein Sof]). And since we have within us, i.e. we are literally, a chelek Eloka mima’al, our hearts are infinite, somewhat like Hashem, the Ein Sof Himself; and therefore, we should be ‘above’ makom just as He is ‘above’ it. It should be irrelevant to us. And it is this infiniteness that we tap into during prayer, and this is the source of length contraction. So we understand now that Eliezer and Yaakov both had a tremendous heart, and they both prayed with such kavanah [concentration/intent/focus] that space itself contracted for them.

Although we tend to see ourselves as being in a specific place at a specific time, this is really not true at all. It’s an illusion—and a distraction. The more we act like Hashem, the more we are included in Him literally, and the more we find ourselves as the makom of the world, where the world is in us and not the other way around. Admittedly, this is very difficult for our intellects to grasp, but in the future, those things that are impossible for us to grasp now will become as clear to us as what we understand so easily today. May we merit to pour out our hearts to Hashem in real prayer and rise above makom, as it is written (Tehillim 62:9): בִּטְחוּ בוֹ בְכׇל־עֵת עָם שִׁפְכוּ־לְפָנָיו לְבַבְכֶם אֱלֹקִים מַחֲסֶה־לָּנוּ סֶלָה (Trust in Him at all times, O nation, pour out your hearts before Him, G-d is our refuge forever).

For those who want to explore this subject further, herein lies the secret of the tallit gadol, the prayer shawl that we wrap ourselves in during prayer, a makom which can literally transport us anywhere, and where everywhere is contracted within it, much like the holy of holies in the Temple, a place where the known laws of our universe broke down. Bli neder, we should write an article about that in the future.

0 notes

rivkahstudies · 3 years

Text

This morning's article: Ijeoma Oluo's book review of "Floating in a Most Peculiar Way" by Louis Chude-Sokei

#the line about 'its so american to want a mans life tied up neatly with a bow at the end' hit me hard #articles #rivkah reads #book review #nonfiction #black nonfiction #black memoir #identity #racial identity #ethnic identity

7 notes · View notes

torahgalus · 3 years

Text

Vayetzei

one night for your son’s mandrakes, a tent for this jasmine bloom, I will bargain the clothes off my back and the man off my bed and sister, can’t you see that I want just to be rooted, can’t you see that I am unmoored & unwhole & I know, if I cried out loud enough, she would answer, but I still hope foolishly, fervently, that this body alone can make life.

#poem #poetry #torah #jumblr #parsha #Parshat HaShavuah #Poem HaShavuah #Vayetzei #Rivkah #Leah #this time I really meant to write about something different #maybe God was in this place and I didn't know it #but it's just impossible for me to read this parsha and not be gripped and heartbroken and confused by the saga of sisters and childbirth #reading this parsha my heart breaks at first most instinctively for Leah #so unloved and so hopeful #and then upon further glance for Bilhah and Zilpah who don't even get to name their own children #but there's also a lot of heartache for Rachel #Rachel whose husband is supposed to love her so fervently but refuses to pray on her behalf #Rachel who watches her sister and handmaids birth eleven children to her husband #who sells her nights with him for fertility plans that don't work #who knows that just being loved won't be enough

5 notes · View notes

dear-indies · 2 years

Note

hey!! another anon here, but since you were in the topic, can you, or anyone that sees this ask, name some nonbinary celebrities/public figures??? i would love to add some to my to-do list to make them resources

Hey anon! It's really cool people are wanting to make resources for / play non-binary faceclaims. I actually have a masterlist HERE which notes who has resources. If a masterlist is too overwhelming then there's a faceclaim tag HERE. ✨

EDITED: Here are some people without resources at time of answering because I read this ask the wrong the fist time I’m so sorry!

Randolph West (1976) - non-binary - they/them.

Bunny Michael (1982/1983) Mexican / Samoan - non-binary - they/them.

Erika Ishii (1987) Japanese - genderfluid - she/they/any.

Nico Tortorella (1988) - non-binary, genderfluid, queer, pansexual, and polyamorous - they/them - has resources but none from their role in The Walking Dead: World Beyond which surprises me!

Lio Tipton (1988) - non-binary - they/them - no resources from material after coming out!

Kat Cunning (1989) - non-binary and queer - they/them.

Dom Provost-Chalkley (1990) - non-binary and queer - they/them - no resources from material after coming out!

Jayr Tinaco (1991) Filipino - non-binary - he/they.

E.R. Fightmaster (1992) - non-binary - they/them.

Rivkah Reyes (1992) Filipino / Jewish - non-binary and queer - they/she - has bipolar disorder.

Oska Melina Borcherding (1993) - non-binary - they/them in English, no pronouns or er/ihm in German.

Bobbi Salvör Menuez (1993) - non-binary - they/them.

Mason Alexander Park (1995) - non-binary - they/them.

Matt Pasini (1997) Venezuelan - non-binary - they/them - is autistic.

Zoe Stuckless (1999) - non-binary - they/them.

Calhoun Koenig (2002) Chinese - non-binary - they/them.

Ess Hödlmoser (?) - non-binary - they/them.

Brandon Kyle Goodman (?) African-American - non-binary - they/he.

Vico Ortiz (?) Puerto Rican - non-binary - they/them.

Amanda Cordner (?) Black Canadian - non-binary - she/him/they.

Bilal Baig (?) Pakistani - genderqueer - they/them.

Jesse Leigh (?) Chinese - non-binary - he/they/she.

Ashley Mandanas (?) Filipino - non-binary.

Garcia / whatisgarcia on IG (?) Unspecified - non-binary - they/them.

Stacey Raymond (?) - non-binary - any pronouns.

Kyoko Takenaka (?) Japanese - non-binary - they/them.

Em Grosland (?) - non-binary - he/they.

#fc help #rph #rpc #nonbinary fc #nonbinary fcs

19 notes · View notes

shkspr · 2 years

Text

tagged by @karkatraejepsen thank you my love

the last book i…

bought: devil house by john darnielle. i have not read it yet

borrowed: i genuinely cannot remember a single book that i have borrowed since like, high school. im like 70% sure i have done but i just cant remember

was gifted: my brother got me o pioneers! and richard iii for my bday. but i dont wanna give this win to jordan just bc his gift took the longest to get here. ethan got me the ari and dante sequel and my daddy got me a Bunch of books including a little life and maus and jews don't count. and ofc @karkatraejepsen got me a really old copy of l'homme qui rit in the original french when we went to the bookstore. which was sort of iconic of her imo

gave/lent to someone else: um the earthsea collection i got for rivkah i think. i bought it before some other gift books i got for my brothers but i gave those books to my brothers before i sent her that one, so. it was the last book i gifted someone if we base it on when the gift was opened.

started: hamnet.... my beloved i will finish reading you i prommy....

finished: the comedy of errors which is kind of a cop out bc not only is it super easy to read a shakespeare in a few hours but also the comedy of errors is the shortest one so really im a fraud

gave 5 stars: the comedy of errors. literally whats there not to love about it.

gave 2 stars: ive literally never done that. if i think a book is anything less than three stars then i probably will stop reading it. and ive only given three stars to like. maybe four or five books, ever.

didn’t finish: i took another crack at house of leaves last year but i just cant do it. im not strong enough.

uhh idk who reads. if you read books im tagging you

#tag games #lit

6 notes · View notes

thehollowsoldat · 3 years

Text

Becca

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐓 ―― Repost, don’t reblog;

tagged by @/griim

tagging:

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒 ――

FULL NAME. Rebecca Barnes [Married name is Cassidy]

NICKNAMES. Becca, Rivy.

HEBREW NAME: רִבְקָה "Rivkah"

ALIAS(ES). Black Widow, Rebekka Ilyinichna Balabanova, Rebecca Balabanoff

SEX. Female

SIZE. 5'8"

AGE. Appears mid-20s, can look like a teenager. age dependent on verse

ZODIAC. Libra

SPOKEN LANGUAGES. Speaks without an accent, Moscow, or American (Midwest) English, Yiddish, Hebrew (modern).

Programming filled in the gaps to make her fluent in languages other than English, Yiddish, and Hebrew and gave her: German, Russian, French, Arabic, Spanish, Farsi, Dari, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese.

𝐏𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒 ――

HAIR COLOUR. Brown, sometimes to her waist. Wavy/curls/frizzy. Usually, keeps it shoulder length and in (a) braid(s). Covers her hair after marriage.

EYE COLOUR. Dark Brown

SKIN TONE. Pale, tans

BODY TYPE. Athletic/muscular. Dancer type.

VOICE. Polite, friendly, cheerful. Giggly as a kid. Singer, though very rare that anybody will hear it.

DOMINANT HAND. Right hand

POSTURE. Stands up straight.

SCARS. one slash on her upper left thigh. A long curve with a line through the middle.

TATTOOS. None

PIERCINGS. One in each earlobe

BIRTHMARKS. None

MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURES. The ones that make people scream "Jew!"

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃 ――

PLACE OF BIRTH. Shelbyville, Indiana (616). Brooklyn, New York (MCU)

HOMETOWN. Shelbyville, Indiana (616). Brooklyn, New York (MCU)

SIBLINGS. Bucky Barnes (Brother), JL (Brother/Bucky’s clone)

PARENTS. Winifred Barnes (Mother), James Barnes, Sr. (Father) - deceased

A𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 ――

OCCUPATION. Nurse. Black Widow.

CURRENT RESIDENCE(S). House in Shelbyville, Indiana. In Black Widow verse, she has safe houses and the like everywhere.

CLOSE FRIENDS. "Normal people~" in main verse. Steve. Natasha and Logan in Black Widow verse.

FINANCIAL STATUS. Fair.

DRIVER’S LICENSE. Yes, plus motorcycle. (Black Widow - aircraft, and boat training for traditional and combat roles).

CRIMINAL RECORD. None

VICES. Comics and soaps. Chocolate. I know this all seems very girly but I swear it's because she has a mostly normal life. She can knock back whiskey, beer, or wine but skipped the Barnes smoking habit

𝐒𝐄𝐗 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 ――

SEXUAL ORIENTATION. Bisexual.

PREFERRED EMOTIONAL ROLE. Girl next door + someone who will tear you to shreds with a smile.

PREFERRED SEXUAL ROLE. Switch

LIBIDO. Medium.

TURN-OFFS. Controlling, dominating types.

LOVE LANGUAGE. Words, Gestures, Cuddles. Someone who will stick up for her and reassure her when she's stuck.

RELATIONSHIP TENDENCIES. Passivity, in a bad one. Pickiness. Goes with the flow. Will pop and smack her siblings when they’re being idiots. This applies to Steve. She calls him a skyscraper when she sees him for this first time post-Serum (MCU).

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒 ――

CHARACTER’S THEME SONG. Deliver Us - Prince of Egypt

HOBBIES TO PASS TIME. Knitting, reading, singing

MENTAL ILLNESSES. PTSD from War/Piano Boy/Red Room, Depression, Anxiety Depersonalization (Red Room).

LEFT OR RIGHT-BRAINED. Irrelevant

SELF-CONFIDENCE LEVEL. High (as far as skills go).

#oy becca #piano boy #girls and wolves have sharp teeth | widow #headcanons

3 notes · View notes