An old Jewish man went to Buckingham Palace to collect his well-deserved knighthood. His head was full of things he wanted to ask the King, but when he knelt to receive his honour, his mind went totally blank. He struggled for words until he said the only thing that he could think of:
‘Mah nishtanah halaylah hazeh’
The King, looking puzzled, turned to one of his courtiers and asked
‘Why is this Knight different from all other Knights?’
BDh'E
Daniel Kahneman died Wednesday, age 90.
He was a Holocaust survivor, a professor of psychology known for his work in the irrationality of decision making, won a Noble prize in economics and wrote the popular book -Thinking, Fast and Slow-
Super special thanks this week to @peribotsarah for her help in figuring out a technical challenge we were having on the backend of the service.
While @serge does a lot, there are some absolutely incredible volunteers on the Community Team that keep the site running smoothly and well.
If you're looking to help support the site, we have our Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/BabkaNet ) but we could really use your help on the Community Team.
In addition, we have an exciting announcement from @raf and his company SunnyThinking, which provides Babka's translations. This includes Yiddish and Ladino translations, which lets our Babka Community connect more with its roots. More information at https://babka.social/@raf/112009792781159544
"Let us return to the question we asked at the beginning: Why was the most tragic of our ancestors named Isaac, a name which evokes and signifies laughter? Here is why. As the first survivor, he had to teach us, the future survivors of Jewish history, that it is possible to suffer and despair an entire lifetime and still not give up the art of laughter."
This video is probably the best summarization of the various Jewish denominations/branches, the history of Judaism, including the various geographic changes that lead to changes, belief structures, understanding of Judaism as different from Christianity, differences on observance, and more.
It's such a great explainer video, I highly recommend it!
I'm quite proud of this annotated bibliography I just wrote for my Society of Rafa ttrpg (@rafa). It represents way too many hours researching obscure Jewish folklore and beliefs: https://societyofrafa.com/bibliography/
Hey @mazeldon@bookstodon@annarbor check out this book by Ann Arbor resident David Nelson, a horror story that explores racism, COVID, and the personal nature of horror.
Very thankful for these staffers at ADL who are calling out their leadership for wrongfully conflating criticism of #Zionism with #antisemitism.
My own experiences of engaging with ADL at the regional level have been positive, helpful &nuanced (unlike the rhetoric pushed by the nat'l org.), so I am inclined to believe what these whistleblowers are saying.
Hey Talmud scholars out there. Does anyone know the passage this story refers to? Can't find it on Sefaria and it's bothering me... Probably because I keep finding the same "reproduction" recipe that claims to have a Talmudic source, but I can't find the source anywhere.
"Rabbi Issa, the story goes, went to visit Rabbi Yosei and brought him toasted lentils, ground and mixed with honey and fried. Presumably as he munches away, Rabbi Yosei states emphatically that these are the ashishot from the Song of Songs. Here is the recipe."
Please Help me save my life’s work from my former gallery in New York!
My former gallery is refusing to safely return my artwork to me here in Germany, after they stopped representing me. It’s almost all the artwork I have made through my entire life as an artist, 138 pieces of art that represent my artistic journey through the last 25 years. I have been desperately fighting to get my work back for over a year now.
the funding is stalling a bit at 2/3 of the way.
Received: €4,329
Needed: €2,371
Please Boost, it would be amazing and if you are able to afford it, that would be amazing too :-) any help would be much appreciated!
Thank you so so so much!
Hey everyone, PLEASE help @Yishay raise money to save her life’s work by boosting and if you can donating!! Thank you all and Chanukah Sameach :QueerCatHeart_Trans:
Please Boost
Received: €4,203
Needed: €2,497
Hoping for a bit of Holiday generosity if you can help. With lots and lots of help 2/3 of the way done. Unfortunately, I need the full amount to be able to save my life’s work by bringing it finally back home safely. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-yishay-save-her-lifes-work
A renew and reuse project that was an old wall ornament. It has been updated to a more mystical and colorful theme from the lame store bought design it had originally.
I'm proud to be one of the signers of this statement. I'm hoping many more of my colleagues and friends in #Jewish organizations will join in this important statement.
That said, this line from the story is inaccurate: "Most signed anonymously for fear of their jobs."
Actually, most of us signed our names. A significant number did sign anonymously, but not a majority.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin is still being held captive by Hamas. He is wounded and his situation is dire. It has been more than 60 days.
Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, an egalitarian yeshiva, is calling on everyone who can to contact the White House daily. Demand they make securing the release of Hersh and the other 137 hostages a priority.
White House comment line:
Tuesdays-Thursdays, from 11:00-3:00pm EST:
(202) 456-1111
Put aside a little time to watch these two videos on the origins of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They’re very very balanced (seriously, it’s not propaganda) and will give you a good basic knowledge to discuss with. Knowing these basic facts is the only way towards peace.
After seeing a fun post on facebook from the Jewish Langauge Project, I thought it would be fun to figure out to say Happy Hanukkah in Tsalagi (Cherokee).