celesteh

celesteh, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to random

I'm going to say a bunch of things.

1. Its possible to have conflicts where both armies / governments are just trying to murder people out of a desire for revenge and ethnic hatred. If we all look at our criticisms of the government of Israel from 3 weeks ago, I think we can admit that the people in charge have quite a lot of hatred.

2. The experience of the founding of Liberia, not to mention terms used by early Zionists, do show that colonisers can be colonial while also having ancestry in the place that they're colonising. Its a power relationship, ffs.

3. The "normal" so many folks want to get back to is the systemic humiliation and abuse of a disempowered group of people.

4. My siddur says that to be a Jew is to always stand up for the downtrodden. Israel is not a Jewish state under that definition.

I am feeling really angry and alienated from the left for ignoring Hamas's fascism but also from Jews who think that killing thousands of Gazans is a justified revenge

celesteh, 11 months ago to random

Me: You know how there are boxes of chocolate that say thank you on them? There should be sympathy biscuits.

Spouse: Maybe they exist?

Google search suggestion : sympathy biscuit self-tan

Spouse: Selection!!

Google: https://dearemilydesigns.com/products/sympathy-biscuits

Me: Send me that link for mastodon!

Spouse: Its a sweet old lady trying to make ends meet and responding to covid.

Me: These look printed.

Spouse: She's got some kind of biscuit printer.

Me: 3D printing just became passé

blacklight, 5 months ago to threads

deleted_by_author

celesteh, 6 months ago to random

Today on the mourner's minyan at My Jewish Learning, the leader shared teachings from the rebbe of the Warsaw ghetto. Some of his teachings centred on how to calm anxiety, which must have been desperately needed at the time.

These teachings survive because he and others buried their archives in a milk can, so they would endure past the liquidation of the ghetto. There were eventually found by a construction worker.

It feels . . . I'm not sure what it feels to benefit from teachings made for such a moment. My personal grief feels trivial in comparison. But he wanted these words to survive. He did not want them to remain only in that particular historical moment. He wanted to make something enduring for future generations.

He said the greatest thing one could do in difficult times was to do a favour for others. He did a favour for us. I hope we can do the favour for others of building a world where the only griefs are the personal griefs for people who died of natural causes.

celesteh, 6 months ago to random

Every time Wikipedia has some super long and detailed article about a first person shooter, I think about how when I tried to make pages about influential and acclaimed lesbian poets of the 1979s, they always got deleted for not being notable.

celesteh, 7 months ago to random

There was more than one pogrom in Russia. https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/90873

celesteh, 10 months ago to random

I am assembling a queer Jewish sticker pack for signal and am looking for good images. These could include historical Jewish AnCom symbols, pets wearing kippas (that fit them), Rainbow or trans flag coloured symbols, Jewish Queer memes etc.

If you've got anything you wouldn't mind sharing, I'd be grateful.

celesteh, 9 months ago to random

@SocialistStan @futurebird

I agree that kids should not be placed with foster or adoptive parents that are homophobic or are otherwise problematic.

I disagree that strongly held religious belief should be a consideration as long as the parents affirm they can support a child who does not come to share those beliefs. Please keep in mind that religious beliefs in general don't imply any particular political ideology.

Also, the pre-approval required for adoption and fostering would not be appropriate for natal parents.

celesteh, 8 months ago to random

Why do Reform Jews celebrate a second day of Rosh Hashana?

Well, you see, Orthodox diaspora Jews celebrate a second day of every holiday but Yom Kippur because of the Babylonian exile and an unwillingness to rely on the mathematically superior calendar technology of a conquerer and then when those Jews moved to Israel they kept the-

Let's get real. Its the same reason that for Maericans, the day after Thanksgiving is also a holiday or, for British Christians, the reason Boxing Day is a holiday. We do it because its fun. Because we're human. Because some things are too good to end in one day.

celesteh, 10 months ago to random

Hello my lovely friends on this account! All the servers we are on have moderators. If you run into a sealion or a fascist or somebody out to cause trouble, you can and should report them! Report them to your own admins! Forward the report on to their admins! Bad behaviour need not be entertained or tolerated.

Trolls enjoy arguments that frustrate you. Don't give them happiness. Get them banned instead, so they can't bother other people.

If your server won't act, migrate!
If their server won't act, defed!

We don't need to recreate the worst parts of corporate media.

celesteh, 10 months ago to random

Blessing for taking HRT / a morning blessing:

Baruch atah Adonai eloheinu melech ha-olam ha-ma’avir et ha-ovrim

Blessed are you G-d, Sovereign of the universe, the Transforming One who causes those who transition to cross over

Source: Siddur Sha’ar Zahav via my RL friend in Queer Yeshiva

celesteh, 8 months ago to random

Somebody at shul had four family members murdered by Hamas on a family trip to see their relatives. One of the victims was five years old.

Fucking harrowing.

celesteh, 7 months ago to random

As Netanyahu systemically destroys all western goodwill towards Israel, he risks a pyrrhic victory.

The US is fracking and has lost strategic interest in the middle east as an oil source. American military support will extend only so far, almost certainly not including soldiers.

Europe still needs oil, since the war in Ukraine has made Russian oil inaccessible, and most people with political power are of an age where they have sympathies with Israel stemming from the post war consensus. However, the very high number of dead is making this increasingly untenable.

Israel is a client state of the west and cannot survive without the support it is rapidly alienating. Their neighbours are increasingly enraged and there is a serious risk of regional war.

If every member of Hamas dies but the state of Israel collapses in the process, Hamas will have won. They are on track to win.

The only possible way forward to protect the state of Israel from utter ruin is a ceasefire.

celesteh, 6 months ago to random

Shavua tov!!

celesteh, 9 months ago to random

Looking for a synagogue or other minyan in or near Hastings, England.

#mazeldon

celesteh, 10 months ago to random

I went to the Sephardic morning service because they're near my hotel.

It was not western European Sephardic, but I think middle eastern.

It was very beautiful - a Torah service. I was very lost.

celesteh, 7 months ago to random

Abraham negotiates with G-d for Soddom. If just ten are righteous, then the city must be spared.

But when the messengers show up, the men of the city attack them. Not their government, not their police, but seemingly every adult man.

Soddom fails the test. Lot passes on a warning, but its not heeded. The city is destroyed.

These values are not the same as the ones we have now. Abraham does not seek mercy based on innocence. Surely there are more than ten children in the city! Abraham asks for mercy based on righteous adults.

celesteh, 6 months ago to random

Shabbat shalom, comrades

celesteh, 10 months ago to random

Once upon a time, only two guys showed up shul.

Saul: Looks like we don't have a minyan, with only two of us. We might as well go home.

Joe: Well, you know what they say - two Jews, three opinions. Between the two if us and our relationship, that's three.

Saul: Ok.

Joe: And a Torah scroll can count.

Saul: There's no scroll here, though.

Joe: But we all have Torah within us. So that's six.

Saul: We're so close! But its already late and I don't think anyone else is coming.

Joe: There's a mirror on the wall there, which doubles us.

Saul: We're twelve!

Joe: Since we're two over, maybe you and I could slip out quietly.

celesteh, 5 months ago to random

5784 is year of linux on desktop

celesteh, 6 months ago to random

Shavua tov chag semeach

celesteh, 7 months ago to random

Imagine being in the US and thinking your country has any kind of moral authority on human rights. It boggles the fucking mind.

celesteh, 6 months ago to random

This is a very good post about Hanukkah https://lifeisasacredtext.substack.com/p/bravely-facing-truth

celesteh, 8 months ago to random

I feel like if we value peace and we're praying for the dead, we need to pray for all the dead. On all sides.

Everyone was made in G-d's image. Everyone was unique and valuable. Everyone deserves prayers.

celesteh, 5 months ago to random

I was arguing in favour of being kosher at home and I still want to figure out what that would mean, but, like, after going through so very very very many sets of China my family just stored for 20-30 years, I never want to buy a new plate again.

I mean, obviously some plate patterns are currently unfashionable or were always ugly, but the sheer amount of plates both manufactured and binned every year is staggering to envision.

I think my goals might be irreconcilable.