my jewish community is so small that it is the only option with the nearest option being available nearly an hour and a half away.
my synagogue is so small it does not have a full time rabbi. and we are often excluded from larger jewish events due to our congregation being mainly led by volunteers. but its the only choice i have, and being able to go there and have a small amount of jews to interact with is something i value.
i have witnessed and experienced antisemitism and homophobia all my life and it has impacted me at numerous points of my life.
im not saying that its not worth advocating or arguing for things to be better, but so much of the way people talk about stuff here just feels extremely dismissive and privileged in so many gross ways.
like, the KKK is active in my state! and i have to be mindful of that quite a lot!
i cannot eat kosher due to being unable to afford it, and many aspects of jewish living i just cant participate in because it is just too expensive to.
i have to exist with the dynamics that people assume because im jewish im wealthy or have a lot of money, whilst dealing with many aspects of jewish worship having a "pay to pray" aspect to it due to the ritual nature of judaism.
kalayo