Ooh, Yeah Ive Been In A Similar Area Before. Always Fun Times. I Wish You Luck In Your Search For An

Help a Jewish Community Buy Back Its Own Damn Synagogue!

Firsty, thank you for reading this, and I hope you’ll get through it and give us the honor of a donation, firstly, and a reblog, secondly. Maybe even a note to any friends you have outside of tumblr! 

If you don’t care about the history, skip to the bold at the end! 

This is Temple Emanu-El, in Helena, Montana. At the time it was built, it was the only synagogue between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon. It was built with the hard work of the Jewish community that had come west to seek their fortune and stability, having heard that people were more willing to do business with Jews in the West, a place where social strictures were slightly relaxed. This turned out to be true, and the community thrived. 

This picture resolves small on tumblr, but you can see the love and care they put into it. It’s modeled after the great synagogues of Europe, with heavy stonework, onion domes, and intricate stained glass. The president of the congregation cried at its opening and dedication. 

As the years went on, the West became more settled, and for a series of socio-political reasons of which my History of the American West major ass is well aware but are ultimately unimportant to the issue at hand, Jewish communities left much of the interior west for metropolitan areas. By the 1930s, the Jewish community was so small that they could not justify the large and lavish worship center. 

They sold it to the city for one dollar. 

The promise made to them was that it would be used for the public good. The state readied the former temple for its new function as offices for Social and Rehabilitation Services, sandblasting of the Hebrew inscription, “Gate to the Eternal,” above the entry and removing the star-studded, painted domes.. The copper was stripped from the building and likely reused to re-clad the State Capitol’s dome at about the same time. 

That lasted all of 40 years, when the State of Montana decided to let it sit idle and decay, so they could justify the sale of the building, sold for a pittance to the public good, to the Helena Catholic Diocese for $83,000  (this is an opinion of mine, though it is not an uneducated one, and I do firmly believe it. I do not, however, represent that they allowed it to fall into disrepair to justify the sale as objective fact.) 

This is the building now

In a twist of fate, the diocese can no longer afford to maintain the building. They are selling it, and the Jewish community of Helena is trying to buy it. 

The Montana Jewish Project is being far far far nicer and more politic about this than I would be, but in fairness, they actually how to get Nice Goyim to donate, and I don’t, so. The Diocese is spinning this as selling the building for much less than its worth, which may be true, but if you bought it for $83,000, that would be $280,000 now. 

They are selling it for $925,000. And we have to have 70% of the purchase price by February 28th. Easy terms, right? 

Here’s where you come in! If the idea of Montana’s Jews getting back the building that was sold to the Diocese in spite of the original agreement appeals to you, you can and should donate to their capital campaign. They even have an option for your donation where if we don’t get Emanu-El back, your money will be returned to you instead of being used for other MJP protects and repairs. 

This place won’t just be used for the Jewish community, though I think that would be enough. They want it to be used as a museum and center for the community as well, to teach about Jewish life in Montana, with Jewish cooking classes, and social programs, and teaching non-Jews about Jewish customs and culture. 

I just want to get the cross off the top.

Donate here

Text ID:

Twitter user @/lenapalestena - “settlers have started to descend on Sheikh Jarrah as part of a violent campaign to displace yet another Palestinian family, the Salems. Muna El Kurd is calling on people around the world, not just in Jerusalem, to protest in person or on social media. "Our cause is not a trend"”

Twitter user @/m7mdkurd - “ Right now in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, Israeli occupation forces assault the local residents. The Salim family, who have been the subject of abuses by settlers and settler officials, are facing imminent expulsion in March. #SaveSheikhJarrah #EthnicCleansing”

Text ID:

Twitter user @/lenapalestena - “Hundreds of settlers from settlements across the WB and 48 are now in Sheikh Jarrah, the Salem family home could be demolished at any moment, and members of the family have been sprayed with gasoline, beaten, and harassed in the last few days and tonight will be more of the same”

Settler violence in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood has not ended or calmed, what’s happening in occupied Palestine must not be ignored. More Palestinian families are facing eviction by Israeli settlers and the settlers are protected by the Israeli occupation forces - please don’t wait to speak up about Palestine.

my mom says she’s not a hugger. but when i put my arms around her on a gloomy day or after bad news she’s the last to let go. my dad says he doesn’t want gifts on his birthday, but i see the way his face lights up when i get him a card with a nice message and a box full of chocolate anyway. he’s just a kid inside, still. it makes him giddy. my brother never says i love you. but when i tell him “i just need to finish the dishes before i vacuum!” he wordlessly goes to vacuum the entire house before i can, and if he sees me struggle with a wrapper or a jar or a bottle he mutters ‘c’mere’ and opens it for me without even sparing me a glance. the thing is, people love you quietly, and you love them quietly, and the air is buzzing with tiny but grand gestures & once you look for them, you find them everywhere. i think that’s really beautiful.

we out here livin

im curious. put in the tags if you have siblings, how many and if you’re an only child, oldest, middle, or youngest. i feel like this tells a ton about you

Indigenous Land Dispute Dogs Amazon's Africa Expansion

Amazon's new African HQ, a $300 million development is set to be built on historical South African indigenous land.

“The area, at the confluence of two rivers, is the ancestral home to the earliest Khoi and San inhabitants in Southern Africa.

It carries cosmological, spiritual and environmental significance to these indigenous groups.

Following the victory against the Portuguese, the Khoi later battled against the Dutch in 1659.

After the Dutch prevailed, it is where colonial administrator Jan Van Riebeek launched a campaign of land dispossession, an event that researchers and activist say laid the bedrock for what would become apartheid white minority rule years later.

It is also where the Dutch East India Company, a colonial mega-corporation made up of Dutch trading companies in the 17th century, first brought in slaves to farm the land from countries including Malaysia, Madagascar and India.

Plans include turning the 15-hectare riverside area into a mixed-use development made up of offices, shops, a hotel, a gym, restaurants and conferencing space as well as affordable housing.

Amazon is set to become the development’s main tenant, with plans to build a 70,000-square metre Africa headquarters.

LLTP have proposed honouring the Khoi and San history by constructing a heritage garden, a media centre, an ampitheatre and naming internal roads after indigenous leaders.”

Italics mine, bc you  have got to be shitting me.

Question: How does the company Amazon die? How does their expansion end and crumble?

thanks for the tag!

favorite color: dark green

lipstick or chapstick: chapstick my lips are dry as fuck

last movie: murder by death (no its not a horror movie)

last song: guilt by mountain man

top three ships: aziraphale/crowley, merlin/arthur, luna/ginny

currently reading: outlander

tagging: anyone who wants to lol idk

get to know you better tag

tagged by: @aelingalathyniux tysm!! I’m sorry this took me so long!

tag 9 people- @theblackbooknerd @rainintothesea @shadowaddiction @thelaxthourx @kitherondaleandminacarstairs @lightwormanna @clockwork-baroness @fair-but-wilde-child @lantsovs-nikolai

favourite colour: maroon! navy blue! yellow! and green (I’m so indecisive…I’m sorry)

lipstick or chapstick: both

top 3 ships (atm): herongraystairs, malec and clace (only did within tsc bc god help me if I have to pick too 3 of all fandoms…I don’t know if I could)

last movie: ummm…aladdin I think? I honestly don’t remember

last song: mother - florence and the machine (I’ve been on a florence kick lately but then again when am I not?)

currently reading: a court of frost and starlight by sarah j maas

Reasons why I am a glowstick:

1: My skin turns weird colors

2: When I move everything cracks and pops

3: Bendy

thanks for being so chill! basically, it is great that she (im gonna use she for now because its convenient and thats most common for her) is so confident in her gender identity, but the first thing is that a lot of genderfluid people use the pronouns they/them some of the time (i do all the time because i am too tired to constantly be telling people what pronouns to use) and she talks about the they/them pronouns kinda disdainfully, like she says that if other people want to use they/them thats fine "but i change a lot. thats sort of the point." which completely ignores the possibility of people like me, who are tired of correcting people daily, or fluid people who move between boy, girl and agender, etc. and implies that no fluid ppl use they bc we "change a lot". if she had said "for me personally, i only use he and she, because i flip between girl and boy, so i will let you know when i want you to call me what." that leaves it open for people like me to still exist

also she talks as if rickald copied and pasted a wikipedia definition of genderfluid and then tried and failed to finesse it into being actual dialogue. and then she talks completely differently for the rest of her time when shes not talking abt fluidity. there was also definitely an easier way of mentioning her fluidity and slipping it in there, the way he did it was really awkward and stilted. she occasionally would announce to the room how fluidity works and what pronouns she was using, and obviously yes she has weapons and she fierce and blah blah blah but people dont do that. people get tired of explaining time after time after time, thats why people dont want to explain in the first place, because it takes so much energy and its so frustrating to be expected to educate everyone on your gender.

then there is how people are written as percieving her. halfborn, since he no comprendo her gender, calls her an "argr", and she reacts as if that is a comment on her gender but in norse it just means bad or angry. its not even a noun, its an adjective, wtf rick can u not google things? and when she reacts, she again turns into a teacher to everyone, which wouldnt be how someone reacts, especially if, as its implied she has, they have repeatedly said that a term is offensive or incorrect. they would react with way more annoyance, and they would not try to reiterate, unless theyre extremely patient, which, from how shes written, she isnt! shes all over the place for no fuckin reason. and mallory tried to protest calling alex she the first time they met, and alex becomes a teacher, which actually isnt that bad since they just met but shes still not really a teacher-type for the rest of her interactions.

and then we have magnus. fucking magnus. who can magically tell when alex is a he and when alex is a she. no. stop. stop it now rickald. stop please. yes, when i am a boi i walk a little different than when im a girl, but people do not notice because they dont notice, or they dont have enough information. we act a little differently based on our current pronouns but for fucks sake, you cant magically tell by looking at us, no matter how woke you want magnus to be. this is especially annoying because magnus literally says he doesnt get the genderfluidity, but can still magically tell when alex's gender changes, something that usually doesnt happen suddenly, at a snap of the fingers and something that the person themselves will sometimes not notice. so stop, rickald, because you are going to give kids the impression that they too will be magically able to tell what their nb friends' gender is, and that leads to conflict, and relearning everything.

tl:dr, alex is a caricature of a genderfluid person and obviously rank did a quick google search, didnt do any deeper research, definitely didnt talk to any genderfluid people or ask a genderfluid person to look over alex's scenes, but still thought he could write her correctly, but failed and refuses to admit it. as per usual.

no research, no conversations with real people, just rick assuming hes perfectly correct, as always. (sorry this was so long i really went off oh boi)

im actually not a big fan of alex fierro, or at least how dear old rickald wrote her. im genderfluid, and i have some other nb and genderfluid friends, and shes such a caricature of how an actual genderfluid person acts. i like her as a concept, but as with everything rickald does, the execution was absolutely terrible. just thought i would put that out there (not trying to be rude, if im being rude im sorry)

oh! no you’re not being rude don’t worry!!! i’m not trans myself, and i don’t know the extent of how badly trans folks are treated, but i do know that y’all face a lot of hardships and discrimination. i was so happy when rick introduced a genderfluid character, it actually helped me learn a little more about trans issues and identities and stuff cuz i did some research after reading. i didn’t know she was written like a caricature, likely because of my own ignorance as to what it’s like to be genderfluid. thank you for telling me this. i do think that rick did a good thing in introducing a genderfluid character, but if the way he did it is offensive to trans folks, i won’t talk over y’all. would you mind telling me specifically what’s wrong with alex’s character portrayal? not trying to sound like an idiot, but i don’t particularly understand your stance. but i want to!! you don’t have to explain but it’d be cool if you did, i’d like to know more so i can identify stuff like this in the future !! (also thank you so much for this ask, i really appreciate it!!!)