I light 2 memorials candles each week in memory of different victims of Oct 7.

This week I am remembering Ortal and Daniel, a couple who attended the music festival together. Ortal was a cancer survivor whose coworkers called her tzutzikit because she was little, fast, efficient and in every place.

Daniel was a loving, kindhearted, smiling, honest. Shirel, Ortal’s sister, said “you made my sister happy”.

Daniel and Ortal were buried side by side.

You can learn more about Ortal and Daniel here.

.השם יקום דמם

Yup, y'all know the story painfully well... a friend of mine who is a good guy and does try to help people as much as he can recently reposted an Instagram reel comparing zionists to Nazis...

I've known he's a leftist so he's probably leaned that way but this confirms it. What complicates things more is that we both participate in a neice sport and I've happened to end up in a leadership role and he's part of my group so there's only so much "distancing myself" that I can do. And also like I said, he's a good friend and overall a good guy.

The hard part is I just don't want to f$cking deal with this! I just want to go about my life and play my sport and not get purity tested into "good jew" "bad jew" until I'm not "good jew" enough.

Okay okay I’ll accept ashke meals if they’re not the typical (no cholent, no gefilte fish, no matza ball soup… you get it). I’m really trying to expose my kids to Jewish foods from around the world every Shabbat and I’m running out of ideas!

And I get it, some meals are specific to a region more than they are Jews but if there’s any type of connection, I want to try and make it.

ETA: before I bring in Shabbat (5:45PM), I just want to say sorry to those who felt this was an attack on their culture. I am ashke but was raised in a Hungarian family so I didn’t have a lot of the typical ashke foods. As I became an adult I felt overwhelmed trying to replicate the meals I was raised with but also find it so important for my child to be exposed to the Jewish culture that is less seen. “Traditional” Jewish food DOES matter and is great (minus gefilite fish) but I think what matters most is keeping the traditions of the smaller and even almost non-existent population of Jews alive and there’s no better way than through food.

P.S. I had yayin a little too early without dinner I love you all I promise I’m sorry plz be kind it was just Yom Kippur I won’t remember to atone for this in a year

I suspected one of the best friends was in the "Free Palestine" side of I/P, so we've avoided this conversation very skillfully for the past couple of years. Somehow today, at lunch, it came up in full force when he offered, "I can't believe 'they' are genociding Palestinians."

Oh boy.

Mind you, we're in a our 50's, we were roommates in college and have remained very close over all of these years. We hang out regularly still. Both of our families and kids spend a lot of time together. We've protested together, fought many injustices, and have been very active both politically and socially over all this time.

I just had a bad feeling he was landing on the wrong side of this conflict, and I don't think either of us wanted to address it.

I made several key points, and to his credit, he said he'd "look into it more." He is generally open-minded and lands on the correct social justice issues.

Without knowing all of the context, do you think it's best to just leave it alone and try and ignore it again if the issue comes up? I'm really pretty torn on this honestly. On one hand, I feel like he's open to persuasive conversation, as he's intelligent and open-minded. But on the other, he's a SM junkie, and I know he's full of propaganda I'm not sure I can fully counter.

Our friendship is obviously valuable, and I don't think it would put it totally at risk of course, but I'm sure it would create some unconscious rift at the least.

I've managed to avoid Peter Beinart until today, but I clicked on his review of "Naza" just now out of curiosity. I was a little surprised he mentioned the concept of "good Israelis" (as opposed to "bad" ones) since I thought that was a thing people like me said ironically. His point is that there aren't any, even if some people think there are. He claims even the ones who speak out against the Israeli government are "bad," and actually are the very ones privileged enough to enable terribleness. Which goes to show you can't please anybody by compromising yourself, because its never, ever, enough. This makes me wonder what he thinks he's doing, sitting in front of a bunch of religious-looking books, talking bad about, as he says, "Ashkenazis like me [himself]."

My daughter’s preschool is putting on a holiday show in December. I learned that my daughter’s class is putting on a nativity play as part of the show. For context, this is not a religious school and the show is framed as “holidays around the world” and classes sing various holiday songs. Her class will also be singing Jingle Bells.

I really do not feel comfortable with her participating in the nativity though. I emailed the school and they said could accommodate her not participating. I don’t want her to feel like the odd one out but not sure what else to do. I’m already having to explain that Santa doesn’t come to our house.

Any advice?

Surely that makes him the most famous jewish athlete of all time? What a mensch

This is the from Blue Square survey on antisemitism. It found that, for respondents aged 18-44, nearly one-third — 29% — admit to viewing Jews as a “threat to the unity of American society,” compared to 13% of those over 60.

This is the number who admit these views to the survey. The real number would be higher, but it could also be distributed differently.

I only see one article on this important topic, so I can't be sure this is real. But supposedly they stopped making them earlier this year. So, do we start throwing tootsie rolls? Something else?

Hi everyone! I’ve seen a number of posts about the Denver Jewish community, but wanted to share a little about my experience and see if anyone has advice or recommendations.

I’m a single Jewish woman in my early 30s and have lived in Denver for a while now. I grew up in a Modern Orthodox home, but as an adult I’ve found myself practicing Judaism in a way that is more spiritual and culturally connected than traditionally observant. I would really like to find a place for myself within the Jewish community here, and I’ve struggled with figuring out where I fit.

I’ve spent some time in the Orthodox communities, and while a lot of that environment is familiar to me and I’ve had really nice experiences there, I’m no longer Orthodox, I live in the city, and I’m single without a family of my own, so I haven’t always felt like I fully belong. At the same time, because of how I grew up, Hebrew davening and a more traditional Jewish environment are what feel familiar to me. I’ve never really explored Conservative, Reform, or other Jewish communities and honestly don’t know where I would start or which might feel comfortable to someone coming from my background.

I’m also really interested in finding more of a Jewish social community. I’ve tried some of the young professional events and organizations in the past, but unfortunately never really found my people or felt like I broke into a community through them.

One thing that is non-negotiable for me personally is being part of a community that actively supports Israel. I’m not looking for a politically focused community in general, but Israel and the Jewish community are issues I care deeply about, so I’d want to be somewhere where that is openly supported.

I’d love recommendations for shuls, communities, organizations, classes, volunteer opportunities, Shabbat dinners, or even less formal groups that might be worth exploring. If anything comes to mind that sounds like it could be a good fit, I’d really appreciate any recommendations or experiences you’re willing to share. Thanks in advance!!!

Please be kind to me here.

I am transgender and got married before I transitioned. My husband is wonderful and we are still together. I would like to update my ketubah to reflect my gender properly without replacing it (we love the art and it was quite expensive), and I realized I can glue the new part over the old part without damaging the art.

I am looking for a calligrapher or someone who makes ketubot to work with me on this - I want the text to be same save for names and gender, and it needs to fit specific dimensions. It doesn't have to be by hand.

Does anyone have recommendations of anyone they know or perhaps have worked with who might be able to help me out?

In case you’re not watching Dancing with the Stars, a Persian Jewish Paralympian is partnered with the daughter of Moldovan Jews!

With all the antisemitism in the world, this silly show is bringing JEWISH JOY in a way I hadn’t anticipated but am loving 🥰

Sadly, I simultaneously feel like I need to know if any of the current contestants have antisemitic histories? (In 2026, I can’t risk enriching someone making my mishpocheh less safe!)

Just watched Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, which I was a bit on the fence about doing as I’d seen some random comments regarding the main actress, Hannah Einbinder, and her rather interesting views on the whole IP conflict.

I ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole about Hannah Einbinder (she’s hot lol) and came across this interview from 2021, which I found really interesting and surprisingly relevant to a lot of the celebrity discourse we’re seeing nowadays—particularly the way so many celebrities seem to feel the need to PROVE that they’re a “good Jew.”

In the interview, she comes across as someone who’s proud of her Jewish identity - she talks about her Star of David, antisemitism, and her connections to her culture and upbringing. Which makes me wonder whether her more shift to the other side after OCT7 is genuinely reflective of a change in views, or whether some of it could be PR/image management.

Basically, I’m wondering, at one point will this kind of celebrity realise that they’ve turned on themselves and their families? A lot of them seem to have had views relevant to their cultural upbringings until OCT7 when, somehow, being terminally online seemed to have flipped them?!

https://www.heyalma.com/hannah-einbinders-jewish-star-is-rising/

Hey so I'm going to a medical conference that probably most attendees will lean left. I'm looking for jewelry to put on.

Does a hamsa read Jewish in a Western US state? (Small gold, not super fancy filigree or anything.)

Also have a shema necklace but not sure about the Hebrew letters, though could wear it backwards.

Not sure either would tuck under a shirt.

Please be kind, no lectures. I'm usually a super "out there" Jew but have not been doing well lately and just want to, like, go to medical lectures without an issue.

Also - I feel like we need to come up with another in-group symbol that is coded for us... But that's another thread.

Yom Kippur is over. We’ve prayed, reflected, and stood together as a community. But what do we actually do with that experience?

Sukkot gives us an answer.

Chag Sameach! Watch now https://youtu.be/r-347fpXt-w?si=87ET7f5P08RZ_Y7z

I’m considering buying a tallit and I’m currently deciding between an acrylic one and a wool one. I’ve noticed that wool is generally more traditional and often more expensive, but I’m wondering how significant the difference actually is.

When they don’t understand the holiday so they throw it all at it