#so i'm ashkenazi sephardic and mizrahi

[leroibobo]

sorry about all that. tbh i'm an -sraeli jew[ish-american] and i genuinely like going out of my way to argue with z-onists because i feel like i can understand how they think. part of the reason i started this blog was also because i wanted to make a database/"memorial" for all of these things i found out about palestine for myself to refer back to (and also bc i genuinely love looking stuff up about buildings and religious sites), so "inserting politics into my posts" is also probably a given in that sense, though i'm aware the issue those two people had was more with that they didn't "agree" with me than about my apparent lack of integrity. i run this blog for me, not to indoctrinate anyone into my belief system like i'm jim jones. i don't have enough "clout" to do that either even if i wanted to.

well, back to regular posts ig.

#if it matters to u where i'm 'really from'. well #my mom is iraqi and ''kurdish'' (not really kurdish but that's the name everyone uses. it's complicated) #my dad is ashkenazi but one side is from romania and he apparently had a sephardic grandparent (which i know is not a 1/16 cherokee sort of #thing bc ive looked into it) #so i'm ashkenazi sephardic and mizrahi #pretty much all my family went there from the 1880s to early 1950s so ive probably had relatives who participated in the thing that #happened in 1948 that was not good and i wont name because i dont want all of this to show up on the search function #but also i have relatives that were kicked out of their home countries/not allowed to be refugees in western countries so ended up there #so i see myself as the end-product of colonialism more than anything #something like only ~%10 of the -sraeli jewish population is of mixed ashkenazi/mizrahi heritage so i am definitely in the minority

[hindahoney]

My father is Jewish and so am I. I’ve been raised that way, was called to Torah 2 years ago. But since I’ve started entering Jewish spaces online, I’ve been told I’m not really Jewish because my mom is not. (She was casually Christian growing up, never converted but still participates in shabbos and keeping kashrut and holidays and things of that nature with us) so what is true? Am I a Jew despite my descent? Do I get to claim true Judaism or am i a “poser”?

Depends what movement you belong to. Reconstructionist and Reform Judaism accepts patralinial descent. The rest do not. So you have to determine for yourself how much it bothers you that there will be Jews who don't accept you. 70% of Israeli Jews don't consider patralinial to be valid, so if you ever see yourself wanting to make aliyah this could be a problem you may run into as well. Not just within Israeli society, but with the government.

I've been told that "movements" are more of an Ashkenazi invention, and as far as I know Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews do not accept it either. Individuals might but overall no.

There are plenty of patralinial Jews that live fulfilling and observant Jewish lives in communities that love and accept them. But I won't pretend that the majority of Jews haven't refused to make the same changes that the Reform and Reconstructionist movements have.

This will be the final time I'm answering a question like this. I've answered this question many times, so I'm just going to tag this as "patrilinial" in case someone wants to find it in the future.

#patrilineal #jumblr #ask hinda #im only moderately confident about sephardic and mizrahi jews not accepting it so if anyone knows for sure let me know and ill edit it

[penguicorns-are-cool]

I'm seeing a lot of stuff about people misunderstanding Jewish ethnic terms so here

Ashkenazi does not mean white or European. It refers to Jewish communities in Eastern and Central Europe and those who descended from them. I see where the misunderstanding comes from that all the white Jews are Ashkenazi cause it is often equated with Europe and especially if you may have heard the term ashkenormativity and don't know the full context (ashkenormativity refers to the dominant Jewish culture in many places being ashkenazi culture). Ashkenazi does not mean white there are in fact a lot of Ashkenazi Jews of color that you leave out when you equate ashkenazi with white

Sephardic Jews come from Spain and some surrounding areas. The word sephardic literally comes from an old word from Spain but it's more complicated than just Spain cause people moved around and all. These were the Jews who were expelled in the Spanish Inquisition and when talking about Jews in the Americas in the beginning of the colonization times, a lot of them were Sephardi Jews escaping Spain. Also, if you hear about Jewish pirates, chances are they're Sephardi. Again though, Sephardi does not line up with any race and cannot be simplified to Spain or even really Southern Europe

Mizrahi refers to a whole lot of Jewish sub-cultures all over the SWANA region and Central Asia. the term itself is more recent but the cultures it includes are not. I've seen Mizrahi used almost to refer to Jews of Color. This doesn't really work because not all Jews of Color are Mizrahi and not all Mizrahi are Jews of Color. A lot of Mizrahi communities in the SWANA region have been or are being forcibly displaced and the physical parts of the communities (synagogues and stuff) are being destroyed or are lost because of the Exodus from the Muslim World and major ongoing antisemitism.

These are the major three but there are definitely more they're just really small and many of them are sub-cultures of these three.

Also, keep in mind that the lines for who is what ethnicity are really blurry. Really, it's less so important where your family came from so much as what traditions they follow. Like it's completely possible that a Jewish family came to the US from Austria but are still Sephardi cause they follow Sephardi traditions and their family was likely in Spain at some point before getting to Austria. the Jews have moved around and our immigration paths are a bit scrambled, but most families have managed to hold on to one set of traditions or another and that's we're able to tell from those traditions the general area that your family probably lived in when they picked up those tradition and therefore ethnicity.

And please please stop using these terms to talk about race. It doesn't fit and if you try to do that you will fail every time.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

been meaning to ask this for a while, but this new Hey Alma article that came out (https://www.heyalma.com/should-non-jewish-actors-play-jewish-roles/) kinda kicked my ass into finally asking: for you as an actual Jewish person watching Maisel and being a fan, is it hard to watch non-Jewish actors play Jewish characters? or is it less complicated than it's made out to be? fully asking this as a gentile myself. hope you're doing good!

So like.

There is a long history of non-Jewish people playing Jewish characters, partially because when the Western world thinks "Jewish" they do think "White" and also "Christian adjacent." They don't take into account Jews of color, or the full diaspora. Which is intensely diverse, if small.

So you have things like Alison Hannigan playing Willow Rosenberg on Buffy and Emily Bet Rickards playing Felicity Smoak on Arrow. Neither of which were portrayed terribly Jewish, for a number of reasons:

Modern Ashkenazi Jewishness in America is very cultural and the religious aspects aren't as prominent as they once were. A lot of Jewish people like the food and ritual but the God and strict adherence to Jewish law fall by the wayside in favor of agnosticism or atheism. And that's partially because Judaism is about asking questions about the world around you and challenging things. If you do that a lot, the idea of an all powerful god who created the universe is hard to make sense of.

Jewishness isn't considered cool in Hollywood. The stereotypes for Jewish people are pretty rough, right? We're dweebs. Overbearing, hand-wringing, naggy, uptight hypochondriacs. And we see those kinds of portrayals in a lot of corners.

Not many people can figure out how to portray Judaism without fucking it up, because it largely remains mysterious to a lot of gentile content creators and audiences. The differences between Ashkenazi, Sephardic and Mizrahi, along with the separation between Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism, and understanding that Judaism IS NOT Christianity without Jesus, but it's own completely different thing, is about as confusing for gentiles as understanding all the different factions of Christianity (Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans, Southern Baptist, etc etc) is for Jews.

So keeping those things in mind, there aren't a lot of overtly Jewish characters on television and in movies to begin with. Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has a ton of Jewish characters, between the main cast and the background characters in settings like Synagogue and Steiner. And it's part of the appeal for Jewish people: That is a lot of Jewish people on my screen. That's really rare. That much Yiddish being spoken is really rare. Before this, the only thing that comes to mind are Sandy and Seth Cohen from The OC (because creator Josh Schwartz is Jewish and made that a minor focus on the show).

Do I wish more Jewish actors were hired to play Jewish characters? Totally. It'd be really nice if the actors portraying Jewish characters were also Jewish, because they, presumably, have the experience to inhabit a character of that religion.

And there are cases where I get a little grumpy about it. Chris Evans in Red Sea Diving Resort (a film whose only real value is seeing Chris Evans in very sparse clothing) feels wrong. Chris Evans is a Boston gentile. Did that film need star power to get made? Yes. Could they have found an equally hot Jewish man to portray that character? Probably.

Similarly, and Moon Knight fandom, don't come after me, Oscar Isaac is not Jewish, and is playing an Egyptian(? Comics fans help!) Jewish character. I haven't watched that show yet because I'm disappointed. They could have found a Jewish actor. To say nothing of how much Judaism they've erased from Moon Knight in general. They switched his Jewish parent from his father to his mother, and made her abusive, as far as I've heard, and that feels hurtful to Jewish characters as a whole on screen. The tug of war regarding faith between Moon Knight and his father (a rabbi in the comics) made for interesting content that now isn't there.

I'm not as harsh on Maisel's casting of Rachel Brosnahan, Tony Shalhoub and Marin Maisy as the Weissmans, because they all do such an incredible job at portraying Jewish Characters, but also, the fact that those characters are so overtly Jewish in the first place make it more palatable. And that those characters get to more multidimensional AND Jewish - that they get to be so many things, eases my judgy face quite a bit.

Because that's the real issue with Jewish characters in media: So often, they are not allowed to be overtly Jewish AND other things. They are just that ONE THING, and it's boring and frustrating.

So, the answer to your question is (like so many things in Judaism)...yes and no.

By and large, yes. Please cast Jewish actors to play Jewish characters. But if the gentile playing a Jewish character understands their character, has a good director who can guide their performance in regards to Judaism, as well as a script that treats Jewishness as one facet instead of the whole picture in a weird, gross way, it can be good.

#Jewish suff #just my opinion #I do not speak for all Jewish people #some people truly do not care and that's also cool

[littlemissghostshark]

I think you mentioned you're Jewish in that post about Lingering Echoes, so what are your thoughts on the Sarkaz as a counterpart to the Jewish people?

yep, i am jewish! and while i'm not a representation of every single jewish arknights player out there... personally, i really like it.

i sort of get why gentiles might raise their eyebrows because the sarkaz are aesthetically based off of devils or demons thanks to the horns, but the way they're written and presented as characters definitely manages to avert a lot of antisemitic tropes.

firstly: the sarkaz are not a monolith in spite of the shared memories of their species/race.

take, for instance, vigna. vigna was raised in columbia, who comes off as having a very sharp, witty sense of humor and loves rock music to the point of starting her own band. she's got a very outgoing personality and is clearly someone who's comfortable in her own skin. compare that to shining, who's very understatedly kind but also quiet and somber, very clearly struggling with some form of personal trauma that's implied to have caught up with her if the chapter 11 translations are anything to go by. though they are both sarkaz, their personalities and experiences in life are distinctly different just as is the truth for us real-life jews.

and while the kazdel government is presented as rather scummy thanks to theresis' actions, arknights is very careful in establishing that their actions are not a reflection of the sarkaz people as a whole.

the discrimination of sarkaz is presented as something that is bad; when rockrock makes some pretty scathing statements about the sarkaz she is called out for generalizing an entire race based on the government of their home country. and in lingering echoes, you feel uncomfortable when the leithanien residents make statements about how they wished someone as kind and sweet as hibiscus (when they weren't directly attacking her for her appearance) wasn't a sarkaz, and when you feel icky about it... you're supposed to feel icky.

i think what's also important in how the sarkaz are not treated as a monolith is simply in how many different varieties and subcategories of sarkaz we have. mudrock is a gargoyle, midnight and warfarin are vampire sarkaz (and again, while blood libel has antisemitic origins midnight is presented as more of a well-meaning comic relief character, and warfarin is very clearly an intelligent, caring doctor and her attraction to the doctor's blood is very much played for comedy as opposed to having us go "man, warfarin is so scary!") shining seems to resemble eastern-european elves as opposed to any demon or monster. real-life jewish people are not one large ethnoreligious group: outside of the most well-known ashkenazi, sephardic, and mizrahi jews you have ethiopian jews and chinese jews and argentine jews - all of who have very distinct cultures and traditions.

(personally, i see the different sarkaz subraces as representing either different jewish ethnic groups or, alternately, the twelve tribes of israel.)

so to speak as a jewish person, i'm pleasantly surprised at how arknights manages to neatly avert antisemitic tropes and do so very consciously. while not everything about this game is absolutely perfect, what they do well they do tremendously well and i'm glad that their portrayal of the sarkaz as a counterpart to the jewish people is one of them.

[real-shul-stories]

Antisemitism from inside the house

I'm reposting this one from my main, so if you follow me both places you've read this story before.

Major, major content warning for antisemitism, misogyny, racism, & homophobia

Call from a self described chasidic Polish man (and he had the accent so I assumed he was legit.). Says he recently moved to the area and is looking for a synagogue that aligns with his political views (never a good sign). he says, “i went to a synagogue around here, and they had female rabbi, they had homosexuals, they had sephardim, they had goyim. tell me you aren’t like that.”

and i said, trying not to grit my teeth, “well we are the synagogue with 2 female rabbis, a large lgbt community, and a bunch of sephardic folks, so uhhh I don’t think we’re what you’re looking for, but maybe try [orthodox shul down the road]?”

somehow this does not deter him! a normal person would have hung up, but not this guy! he goes on to kvetch about his struggles to find a shul here, and gets increasingly racist and homophobic as he goes. 

He tried talking to me in Yiddish and asked why I couldn’t understand what he said if I was Jewish. He then asked if I was Ashkenazi, and when I said yes, he blessed me in Hebrew, saying his father said to bless all Ashkenazim. He mentioned being of proud Ashkenazi heritage and said his father taught him that “third-world trash” shouldn’t be allowed in Judaism, or in Europe, or in America. “Ashkenazi are the real Jews,” he informed me, “Sephardi, mizrahi—they are fake. They are no better than slaves for us, the real Jews.” With each outrageous claim he was expecting me to agree with him as if it’s just “natural” for “real” jews to behave this way

I finally say to him “okay, so, I don’t think we, the local gay synagogue, can help you.” to which he responds “if you allow women rabbi and l-g-b-t you’re not real jews, you’re fake, you’re worse than goyim.” so i hung up on him

the kicker: he mentioned that everywhere he goes people are “mean to him” and “treat him like idiot for being dumb, because he’s not very smart” (his words) and i was sitting there like. is it maybe possible people are mean to you because you’re a racist asshole?

i know chasidim hate women and lgbt folk, that’s nothing new to me, but this was my first time hearing such raw hatred for non-ashkenazi (i.e. white european) jews. i was simply dumbfounded. i should’ve asked him if he knew that racist jews like him are the reason we don’t have a temple anymore

#cw antisemitism #cw homophobia #cw racism #cw misogyny

[emmafallsinlove]

for the jewish ask game, can i be selfish and request all of them?

yes you can <3

Hebrew Name

so my name is actually my hebrew name or i misread the question?? but anyways or in hebrew means light so...

Mizrahi, Sephardic, or Ashkenazi

mizrahi on both sides <3 i don't look like it but i am.

Denomination

okay so if i got it right... my family is from morocco & libya on both sides (my grandmother from my mom's side is from morrocco while my grandfather's family is from libya and on my father's side is the same just the opposite)

Did you have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah?

nope! but like, it's mostly because i didn't want any and i got an ipad for my bat mitzvah instead lol

Can you read or speak Hebrew?

i do!! it's my native language so i can read and speak hebrew :))

Do you keep Kosher?

i am AKSJKSDLKDLD

Do you observe Shabbat?

no lol

Favorite Holiday

it used to be passover because as a kid we used to get 2 weeks off from school but as an adult i don't know? i guess i love them all because i love being around my family.

Favorite Brachot

you asked the wrong person it, but i'll come back to you when my head won't be blank.

Favorite Food

ugh.... good question. i'm very picky when it's comes to food but i LOVE vegetarian stuffed with rice, usually my grandmother does it with peppers or potatoes which is delicious and like. i don't know couscous? again i'm suck at this but i am so picky when it's comes to food.

Favorite Song

anything by noa kirel lol

Manischewitz or Kede

??? sorry what

Raisin, Chocolate, or Regular Challah

regular challah but after you put it a bit in the oven so it's warm <3

Hamsa, Chai, or Magen David

hamsa lmao but usually none of it

Esther or Miriam

rachel & ruth <3

Moses or King David

none of them!! i LOVE LOVE LOVE shaul though he is my BABY i love him so much i can write a whole essay about him!!!!

Fiddler on the Roof or Prince of Egypt

never watched fiddler on the roof so i'll say prince of egypt even though i don't remember any of it

Barbara Streisand or Ofra Haza

yardena arazi KAJSKDKKJDKD and i made myself laugh out loud

The Nanny or Seinfeld

never watched any of them

Ilana Glazer or Abbi Jacobson

i am sorry i have no idea who these people are..........

#god it took me a while #judaism tag #ask*

[jellybeanium124]

I , being raised in a mostly stolen religion, have a question. If Passover crackers taste like butt, why not just eat the peanut butter with an apple or carrots? Are those safe for Passover?

first of all I wouldn't worry so much about Christianity being "stolen" or whatever. I don't think Christianity and Islam stole from us. religion is a part of culture and cultures interact and collide and take things from each other and that's fine.

Is peanut butter KP? Depends on who you're asking. Hardline Ashkenazi Jews say no. Chill Ashkenazi Jews (me and my family lol) and Sephardic Jews say yes. I'm not sure about Mizrahi Jews (These are different ethnicities within the Jewish people- Ashkenazi Jews are generally from Eastern Europe, Sephardic Jews are generally from northern Africa and Spain, and Mizrahi Jews are generally from the middle east). The reason for this is because even though peanut butter doesn't contain leavened wheat, barely, rye, oat, or spelt, it wasn't available to ancient Hebrews (since it is from the western hemisphere) and Ashkenazi Jews thinks that means it's not KP and Sephardic Jews think that means it is. Apples and carrots are KP.

I suppose one can simply skip the tam tams, but eating tam tams and kvetching about it is also part of passover to me 😂

#passover posting #nina rambles

[sins-of-the-sea]

So I am talking with my Chinese friend, who is a far bigger history nerd than I am. I am just giving you a general heads up--there may be massive rewrite to Ruixiong's history, which honestly, I am MORE THAN HAPPY to oblige. Part of why you don't see me do much background writing for Rashid, Abena, and Ruixiong is because, in comparison to the European half of the Seven, I have the least cultural/historical grasps of those settings, and thus, the historical links are weaker. But if I am to find something that links them stronger that may risk a personality rewrite or somesuch, I don't mind that. Personalities don't exist in a vaccuum. Much of Ruixiong (for example) is based on my current knowledge of Ming/Qing history and assorted Chinese literature, so of course his character is more literary inspired than not. But the more I learn, the more I may have to change. But I assure you, Ruixiong will still be a pompous braggart who gets his ass kicked more often than not but still come back and try to convince you he's the GOAT.

Meanwhile, I'm also learning more and more about how the black community really would like to see more stories that don't fetishize black trauma, so this is giving me direction on how I can build up Abena's story as an ex-Haitian slave-turned-conwoman--thus, she will be getting some rewrites as well. If anyone from the black community (especially in the Caribbean) is willing to give me advice on how to write her, feel to hmu. I write about people from all over the world because I love the world, I love the different histories, and I want to give everyone a fair shot of a story worth telling.

Now if only I can do the same for Rashid, but sadly, my Mughal Indian history is stronger than my Ottoman (Saudi) Arabia, so if I'm doing anything with Rashid, it's still probably going to be Sukhbir centered. Though @der-karibisch-heyder​ has a stronger grasp of his story than I do, so feel free to throw yourself at him too if you wanna help in his backstory rewrites. Especially when it comes to Muslim law at the time, and Rashid’s story is very Islam-themed.

#their profiles have been empty the longest and I am so sick of being unable to fill them out #it gives the impression that I only care about the Europeans of the Seven when is not the case #they just have much more readily available (and digestible) resources #and I'm also still struggling with Jewish Avignon during the 1500s #which doesn't help that I am still struggling to make sure my Jewish sources are specifically Ashkenazi #so I am GRASPING for anything Sephardic or even Mizrahi as I can #sigh #why did my high school only touch on the Italian renaissance as the earliest point of history 'of the world' before going to America #[OOC] #[About Ruixiong] #[About Abena] #[About Rashid]

[will-o-the-witch]

I have a question for you that I hope does not come off as disrespectful or offensive, apologies in advance if that is the case.

To my understanding (from what Jewish friends have explained to me) Judaism is an enthoreligion, meaning that it is... Well both an ethnic group and a religious group. Meaning that one is a Jew even when not religious if their parents/the family they were raised in are.

Case in point, a few of the aforementioned friends are atheists, and earnestly they participate in Jewish traditions and cultural practices (religious or otherwise) because it's still their culture, even if they do not believe in the religion in on itself.

But (and here's the part that may be offensive) doesn't "being a witch" actively oppose this? After all, I wouldn't call a man born Christan a Christian if he had converted to Islam and prayed in a mosque, even if he and his family still had a Christian heritage/background. So wouldn't the fact that you ascribe to a new/different set of explicitly religious and cultural practices also "break" this connection?

Howdy! :) I'm going to answer in bullet points for my own ease:

Like you said, there are many many ways to be a Jew! For some people it is more cultural than religious, and if you are part of the Jewish People you don't just Stop Being Jewish based on your behavior.

Judaism and witchcraft aren't inherently opposed, and many Jewish witches are very devout! Even if it's not the most Orthodox interpretation, someone's unique approach to their spirituality is by no means any less valid or any less Jewish. (The one exception being messianics, because that's a branch of Christianity. But even then a Jewish-born messie would still be considered Jewish, just not religiously.)

If one were to decide somehow a practice/behavior is decidedly un-Jewish, it still wouldn't take away someone's Jew Card. Murder is pretty un-Jewish but Jews have still murdered people. Jews can be any religion and still have their ethnicity/heritage/culture.

You literally described your friends as atheist Jews and they're still Jewish so how is this any different?

The comparison you've described doesn't hold up because Christianity and Islam are not ethnoreligions. They're not going to show up on a DNA test nor would you inherently be considered Automatically Christian at birth (you'd be baptized/taught as you grew up.) Religion is the ONLY entryway to membership. Judaism doesn't work like that.

Also, Judaism is already an extremely diverse group with a broad spectrum of traditions and beliefs! What standard are we using to measure what's "in" or "out?" If witchcraft is out, is kohenet? What about Jewish Buddhists? Rabbis that condone entheogens/psychedelics? Or Ashkenazi vs. Sephardic vs. Mizrahi traditions? Or Reform Jews? Or Jews that speak English and play music at synagogue? Or any Jew that isn't strictly Orthodox?

ETA- Also witchcraft is not intrinsically tied to any religion or religious practice.

So tldr; a Jew is a Jew is a Jew is a Jew, whether we fit your image of how a Jew "should" behave or not.

[the-ghost-king]

heeeeey so you’ve convinced me to embrace your Jewish Will agenda and I was wondering if you have any hc posts that you can link me to so I can steal your ideas take inspiration from you for my fic? Thank you 💛

Congrats! I'm glad I could convince you to join in, we have latkes with your choice of apple sauce or sour cream if you would like to partake in such <3

So I have my jewish will solace tag which should be a good jumping off point because it has all of my ideas but one long headcanon post I haven't been able to find... I'm not sure if anyone else has a Jewish Will tag? If they do feel free to leave it below because I also want it!

I've definitely been trying to add to it myself as well and I hope to (maybe) be able to turn out a fic for Purim soon but no promises ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@buoyantsaturn has written most of the Jewish Will fics on ao3 so feel free to check out Cj's work (I'm particularly fond of A World Alone, which I think fits a more secular Jewish perspective and is very sweet)

Not a headcanon but I think it might be helpful to mention anyhow(?) is that it's important to think about his minhag (ie. Is he Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi, etc? ) and whether or not you'll write him as secular or observant. If you chose to go with him being observant then you have to think about Reform vs Conservative vs Orthodox beliefs* and values each central branch holds.

My thoughts have changed a bit over time and will probably continue to, but as of right now I think Will would be observant yet I haven't personally decided if Reform or Conservative Judaism fits him more accurately as a character. Also Cecil has a Jewish last name which is something I enjoy because of the opening up there of community + personal hc that ties into community is that Will's grandfather is a rabbi. I also personally think of Naomi as either less observant than Will or more or less secular? There's something appealing to me personally about many different people across the spectrum of Jewish beliefs all interacting closely that tugs at my heart...

I can definitely do another more infodumpesque post just on my thoughts (like does Will keep kosher imo? Or do I think he would hang mezuzah?) if you're interested but I hope I was able to give a slightly more in depth starting off point to get your mind flowing?

*there are other subsections of Judaism and even subsections within these branches

#asks #gatesofember #jewish will solace #pjo

[sinnersandsaints-linwrites]

Yeah, Brazil is Latin American, but not Hispanic, so Morgan would probably call themself Latino, but they wouldn't call themself Hispanic. Also Brazil is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world*, so while that indicates the nationality of their ancestors, it says basically nothing about anything else

* Some fun facts about ethnicity in Brazil!!:

-Most people in Brazil are descended from some combination of European colonizers (particularly Portuguese colonizers), West African slaves (Brazil was a big name in the slave trade unfortunately :/), and the indigenous peoples of Brazil

-Because of this, Brazil tends to have a much more flexible view of race than other countries, with siblings not infrequently registering as entirely different races in the census, though racism is unfortunately very alive and well :/

-Brazil has the largest population of people with Japanese ancestry outside of Japan, including the US

-Indigenous Brazilians are the smallest ethnic group recognized in the census, despite over 60 million Brazilians having at least one Native ancestor

-Brazil also has a small but prominent Jewish population, with Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Mizrahi Jewish people all being present and tending to be concentrated in cities

I am first to admit when I'm out of my depth (I did not plan specifics beyond the immediate families of ROs, such as older generations, and that's on me), so I really appreciate all the input and corrections from you all.

I'll spend tomorrow digging deeper into particularly Morgan's family and researching more (now it's past 1 AM for me, so I apologise if I won't respond until tomorrow to further asks).

thank you so much for educating me, anon <3

would it be correct to of me to say Morgan's ethnicity is Brazilian Portuguese, then, or should I specify it further (as in; add if they have any roots from other ethnic groups as well, since they’d likely have many)? I am very much not educated enough on Japanese culture, or the many cultures of Indigenous groups of Brazil, and Morgan is both agnostic + psychic (magical in way because of it) and I wish to avoid any stereotypes or insensitivity in the story. as I've said, I want SaS to be as inclusive as possible (unfortunately I am not in a position where I could hire sensitivity readers) so I am open to any and all input all of you send my way.

[lgbtunis-moved]

this is maybe an incredibly stupid question but what are your thoughts on (largely american) jews insisting that modern political zionism can just mean any ideology that includes jewish self-determination/sovereignty? i'm 99% sure it's because a zionist "identity" is so ingrained in american jewry that ppl just won't give up the word but i was wondering your take on that

Hi! I think it's really complicated because overall, creating a single 'jewish identity' is really REALLY complicated, considering how different Jewish cultures are! I do think 'jewish self determination' as a vague idea among american jews is... ignorant, to say the least.

while it's important for jewish places like rabbinical courts, synagogues, yeshivas, burial companies etc to continue existing and validated, creating a "Jewish space" is really really tricky.

and I know this is ignorant as a jewish american ideology because the USA's Jewish communities are mostly ashkenazi and 90% reform, which makes them, by default more culturally similar than, for example, israel, where about half the Jewish population is fully or mixed mizrahi/sephardic, and the ruling branch (and I mean ruling every single aspect of our lives) is orthodox.

so yeah, every version of zionism (including 'judaism is an ethnicity' or worse 'judaism is a NATIONALITY' like are you listening to yourselves) is bad

[felinehypocritical]

hi hi i've got a question!! i'm writing a jewish character in to my story and i just wanted to know what things i should avoid and make sure to include?? they're a vv important character in the story and i just want to bring correct n accurate representation. thank you so much!!

ok so the general rules are:

-make sure that you know what KIND of judaism they practice– are they reform, conservative, or orthodox? this will change how they interact with others and their faith. look up the terms and, more importantly, talk to the ppl who practice the same kind of judaism as the character!

-less important, but still p good to add: are they a mizrahi, ashkenazi, sephardic, or another kind of jew? (although, this only counts if the character is not a convert, so keep that in mind!)

-the stereotypes to avoid are like, the character being greedy, or money hungry, the character being significantly less sexually attracted to people (unless theyre ace but that in itself can be a hurtful stereotype), being jewish but not “that jewish” (its a common thing writers do to avoid having to write jewish characters while “having” a jewish character), the character being rich just for the sake of being rich, or being forced to become a doctor/lawyer by their parents

-some stuff to include would be: their actual religion! like, going to synagogue and stuff! common sense, i know, but sometimes its not. or like, if theyre 12-13, a bar (masculine) or bat (feminine) or b'nei (gender neutral/plural) mitzvah!! a good relationship with their faith, some sort of mention/ inclusion of jewish holidays going on around the time of the book, and attention to detail in how they dress depending on subset of judaism are also recommended.

-some random other things: jews usually say “l'chaim” instead of “cheers” when clinking drinks. a lot of jewish ppl r uncomfy being called jews by goyim. goy/gentile= singular non-jewish person, and goyim/gentiles= multiple of them. GOY IS NOT A SLUR. jewish people face anti-semetism in many forms so that would be nice to include unless they live in a world where discrimination is now like actually obliterated

-if this is an alienish story, maybe dont make them a lizard or a green-skinned monster, thanks!!

theres more but i cant remember. basically uuuuuuuh make them connected to their faith and do lots and lots of research!!

[fabulesque]

Hi, I'm writing a story where one of the main characters is Jewish and I was wondering, if someone is ethnically Jewish, are they considered white? I'm sorry if this is a dumb question !! I really want to write her accurately :) Have a nice day, thank you

No it’s good that you’re asking! Please don’t ever feel bad for asking questions about things you legitimately don’t know. This is a debate within the Jewish community (though then again, we’re a group that debates whether to eat latkes with applesauce or sour cream, so we’ll pretty much debate anything. Side note: applesauce is better). Also, thank you for taking steps to educate yourself on the nuances of Jewish identity! Too many authors and creators just default to antisemitic stereotypes or beliefs about Jewish people, so it’s awesome that you want to make sure you’re writing an accurate portrayal of a Jewish person.

This is gonna be long, so I’ll put the rest under a read more. Also, I’m probably giving you more discourse than you asked for, because I love writing unnecessarily long answers (it’s a Jewish thing). If, after reading this, you still have questions, please feel free to message me some more; I’d be happy to talk about Jewish identity, both related to myself and in general.

Also, anyone can reblog this.

First, let’s recognize that Judaism is an ethnoreligion (that is, both a religion and an ethnic group). People can be Jews without being ethnically Jewish, and not all ethnically Jewish people are religious, but the Jewish community encompasses both these groups and many more besides. I’m not religious, but I am ethnically Jewish, and I know there are several converts on this site who are not ethnically Jewish, and many of them are probably better versed in Jewish theology and culture than I am (case in point: @brehaaorgana).

Applying contemporary concepts of race to Jewish ethnicity is tough. Let’s take me for example. I am ethnically Jewish. My parents are Jewish, their parents are Jewish, going all the way back to a rabbi in Eastern Europe (I think present-day Poland) in the 1600s. There may be bits and pieces of other groups in me, but my primary ethnicity is Jewish, and I think of myself as Jewish.

Now, if you’ve seen my selfies (which you should because I’m hella cute), it’s obvious I have white skin. While I have Jewish features (prominent nose, dark hair, etc), my skin is white, and this means that in a lot of social situations I am perceived as white. As such, I’m in a weird in-between spot where I reap the benefits of interpersonal white privilege without necessarily accessing the systemic aspects of it. My skin color and physical features are not treated as indicators of my abilities in the way that people of color are, but I also have to deal with what I and many Jews call “goyische bullshit” (goyische is a Yiddish word and it’s an intracommunity term, but basically it means non-Jews. Not just Christians, but all non-Jews). Western society is pretty Christian-normative, and that can cause problems for non-christians, even if we’re perceived as white. Just think of all the white politicians who openly invoke Jesus in their speeches. Am I really the same race as them? I’m not inclined to think so.  

So I’m in a strange in-between place. I’m not a person of color, but western definitions of whiteness almost universally have the subtext that whiteness requires christianity, or at least cultural christianity (other side note: lots of us get pissed at atheists for criticizing “abrahamic religions” when really they’re culturally christian and are projecting all the negative aspects of christianity onto Judaism and Islam). In essence, trying to categorize Jews as white or non-white is attempting to fit an old group of people into a new box. Usually I think of race as phenotypic presentation, and so I am white in that respect, but so much of western whiteness excludes me and others like me that it’s an ill-fitting label, which is why I view ethnicity as more important. I would find more community with a room full of Jewish people of color than a room of white goyim.

This does not mean that I don’t still access parts of white privilege. I am not likely to face increased rates of police violence, I do not have to worry that my name or my hair will be considered unprofessional, and I see people who generally look like me in media (though a frustratingly large number of Jewish characters or Jewish-coded characters are villains, so take from that what you will). But I don’t fully access white privilege as a result of christian hegemony.

The western world has a long history of antisemitism (for example, the SAT being created as a way to reduce the number of Jewish students getting into top universities). Neo-Nazi movements are making a resurgence, and the majority of religious-based hate crimes in the US target Jews. Furthermore, antisemitism exists on both sides of the political spectrum. For every right-winger who calls us greedy shylocks, there’s a leftist calling us Zionist colonizer scum.  

But I’ve gotten off track; going back to your original question, there is one place where I do need to correct you. Not all ethnic Jews are white-presenting. Jews are a varied ethnic group, with different subcategories of us everywhere in the Diaspora. I, for example, am Ashkenazi, which means I derive my heritage from Eastern Europe. There are also Sephardic Jews, who are of North African extraction, Mizrahi Jews, who are Middle Eastern, and many other groups. The first Jewish synagogue in the Western Hemisphere was in Recife, Brazil, and as more of us emigrated to avoid the pogroms in Europe, a larger Latino-Jewish population developed. And of course, I can’t leave out Kaifeng Jews, who are Chinese. Basically, the community is diverse, but not many people outside of it are aware of this diversity.

tl;dr, ethnic Jews might present as white, but no, you shouldn’t consider us white (we don’t all have white skin, and even those of us who do don’t fully fit into the social category of whiteness and have complete unconditional access to white privilege).

@tikkunolamorgtfo might have more to say on this, but here’s my take on this question.

#jumblr #judaism #long post #original #my commentary #ethnicity #white privilege #anon #ask

[will-o-the-witch]

hi I'm a little confused and would like some clarification. my jewish friend recently told me that Judaism is a religion and not an ethnicity and it was offensive to say otherwise. they said that Judaism is only considered an ethnicity because of white goys deciding it was. I have literally never heard that before and they didn't want to continue the conversation so im a little lost right now.

That’s... an interesting take they have. Most Jews I’ve known would agree that Judaism is an ethnoreligion, meanings it has elements of both.  Someone’s relationship to The Jewish People could be a purely religious one, or they could be ethnically/culturally Jewish but a different religion. Both people are Jews, albeit different flavors.  What’s more, the different types of Jewish that show up on a DNA test come with their own related health issues. Ashkenazi Jews are more likely to get certain rare genetic diseases than other ethnicities.  Not to mention Sephardic and Mizrahi also being distinct ethnic groups within Judaism.  What your friend might be thinking of is how white supremacists often mark Judaism as its own race. That is to say, they would consider a white Jewish person to be either “”impure”” or just not white at all. (Which doesn’t hold up under any Judaism 101 lesson, of course, because Jewish people can be any race and ethnicity and look like anything. Not that white supremacists are known for being anything other than shitbags.) That, to my knowledge, IS all defined by white goyim and most Jewish people I know resist it being used as a racial identifier.