I Don't Think People On This Website Understand What "you Should Love Jewish People More Than You Hate

shabbat is for nervous system recovery it doesn’t matter if you’re not religious it still has so much meaning and importance!!! why do secular people not understand this!!! reducing it to ‘silly’ or ‘pedantic’ rules about not driving or shopping or using electricity is so patronising and ignorant. I don’t want to drive 3 hours on shabbat for a hike because it’s exhausting and this is a day about recovering from exhaustion. I don’t want to go shopping because the lights are bright and the crowds are noisy. I don’t want to cook or do laundry because it’s loud and/or messy and because this is one time in my week I allow myself to just Not Do Things!!!

I am literally sitting here on my phone. I was reading from my kindle earlier and I’m about to drive to a little hike about 25 minutes away. maybe my shabbat would be even more relaxing if I followed jewish law more closely, I don’t know. but this is something that works for me and so I’m strict about keeping it because it adds something positive to my life, not simply because it’s a religious law. why is it so hard for secular people, jewish or not, to consider judaism with even just the tiniest bit of nuance

Let's write about Jewish characters in dynamic ways- that make it clear "Yes this is us. Yes, we are living our lives with this happiness and ritual, and we love it. "

Like it's so easy to write about, to have casual observances of Judaism and cultural practices be in the background of stories. I'll write of the few examples I can think of in my frame of reference as a college student-

there's a mezuza in the doorway of a college kid's apartment. Whenever his friends come over, it's a reach for some of them to touch it because both he and the rabbi who installed it are 6 foot three. The others feel like a middle school boy slapping the ceiling as they try and reach for the damn thing.

Characters rush on public transport to get to a rabbi's house on shabbat. The train is due. There's a flurry of regrouping, then trying to call a missing friend to get there, and then the process of methodically hiding Magen davids and jewish objects because getting to shabbat dinner without a situation was an order from college Hillel staff.

A character is half-drunk at 2 AM at the convenience store but has to scan the list of ingredients on their chemically disgusting snack for gelatin.

Said character is prevented by her friends from only sustaining herself on 7/11 slushees "even though it's all kosher!"

There are references to the Purim incident constantly- it is never clarified what happened on Purim.

the hypothetical gang of characters are in the middle of nowhere on a grand magical adventure. The main character notices a mezuza on a door of a cabin, knocks on it, and has an in-depth conversation with the resident. Then, he waves his friends over. "Hey, guys! We have a place to stay tonight!" Because through the magic of Jewish geography, it was discovered that the grumpy old Jewish man in the woods is the grand uncle of one of his Jewish Day school teachers

A character who eats cheesy bacon bagels regularly on passover has a deep respect for jewish ritual items. He kisses the siddurim as they're handed back into a pile, he always kisses his kippah that he wears for ritual purposes of shabbats and minions. He's very careful with these objects and keeps on claiming dropping something He is observant, and he cares so much, but not in the "typical" way. Just... please show the nuance in practice.

The big "going out night" for our fearless college student isn't Friday but saturday night because of shabbat.

The stain on the rabbi's couch is not to be mentioned

A character keeps on mentioning the stain anyway.

Jewish goodbyes after any event take a minimum of two hours and that's why the gang is delayed on their journey to save the world .

I want more representation than characters in novels saying "haha I'm jewish but eat bacon and love Christmas!" in such flat ways. Please feel free to add more hypothetical ways of representation in the comments !!! About or inspired by your own life and experiences ! Let's make this post vibrant!

If I say "Israelis are human beings" and you hear "I think Palestinians are subhuman and should die," that's a problem you should work on.

saw this in tel-aviv yesterday

my little cousin called my kippah a helmet and i said “yeah it’s to protect me from the ayin hara” and he said “what?” and i said “the evil eye” and he said “oh like the death star” so we’ve established the following:

the death star is the ayin hara

we wear kippot to protect us from the ayin hara, i.e. the death star

Someone shared this in my conversion groupchat and I thought y'all would appreciate it too.

"you should be at the club" incorrect "you should be at pirate weekend at the renn fair" well this we cannot refute.

Woke up wide awake for no reason. Did Hebrew lessons on Drops until my brain could settle again. I love getting to learn and grow even if it’s the middle of the night

Pre-chopped fruits and veggies make it possible for so many people with various disabilities to prepare healthy meals and maintain their energy.

Jewish culture is Sunday morning challah French toast :)

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