http://indianjews.tumblr.com/

jayaprada: Lighted candles during ceremony at Jewish Museum and...

jayaprada — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:32:43 -0400

jayaprada:

Lighted candles during ceremony at Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow.

did-you-kno: Source

jayaprada — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:56:00 -0400

did-you-kno:

Source

artinparsi: Shelemo Tar Player and his persian jewish bride...

jayaprada — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:31:23 -0400

artinparsi:

Shelemo Tar Player and his persian jewish bride -1846

Chag Pesach Kasher v'Sameach!

jayaprada — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 21:54:23 -0400

whoweretheqajars: Another reason why Qajar Iran is my...

jayaprada — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:14:44 -0400

whoweretheqajars:

Another reason why Qajar Iran is my favorite—beautiful documents like these.

This document is two-page Jewish marriage contract (ketubah) in Arabic and Hebrew. The first page, in Arabic, is indistinguishable from Muslim marriage contracts from Qajar Iran. It starts with “bismillah irrahman irrahim” (In the name of God, Most Merciful, Most Kind). The next line praises God for allowing the marriage—literally thanking God for “halal-ifying” the marriage. The second page is in Hebrew, which I suspect expresses the same beautiful sentiments.

1902, Iran.

(source)

touba: Kāhen family. The mahalleh in Golpaygan, 1941. Rabbi...

jayaprada — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:21:50 -0400

touba:

Kāhen family. The mahalleh in Golpaygan, 1941. Rabbi Shemu’il Kāhen (third person from left) was educated in Iraq. He was the head rabbi in Golpaygan. The photograph was taken in his personal library, which is only partially visible here. The books, all in Hebrew, were brought to Iran from Iraq on camel back. The men’s hand gesture — a gesture used by the Cohanim during the priestly benediction in the synagogue in front of the arc — signifies their status as Cohanim. The men on either side of Rabbi Shemu’il are his sons. The child is his grandson.

Photograph from Esther’s Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews, edited by Houman Sarshar.

auzubillah: Iranian Jewish men pray during Hanukkah...

jayaprada — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:21:35 -0400

auzubillah:

Iranian Jewish men pray during Hanukkah celebrations at the Yousefabad Synagogue, in Tehran, Iran on Dec. 27, 2011.

badesaba: Pahlavi era Judeo-Persian communities. Boy’s school...

jayaprada — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:19:26 -0400

badesaba:

Pahlavi era Judeo-Persian communities.

Boy’s school Gym class, Jewish students with school uniform and Pahlavi cap, Yazd, 1931

Students, teachers, and school directors, Hamadan, 1927.

Chag purim sameach! Have a festive Purim!

jayaprada — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:55:02 -0500

Chag purim sameach! Have a festive Purim!

tajdeedofthesoul: ffirouzeh: Two faiths which have undergone...

jayaprada — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:17:44 -0500

tajdeedofthesoul:

ffirouzeh:

Two faiths which have undergone much oppression

Judaism, and Shi’ah Islam. :)

personaljournalism: Jewish community of Karachi, Pakistan,...

jayaprada — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:58:46 -0500

personaljournalism:

Jewish community of Karachi, Pakistan, outside the Karachi synagogue, early in the 20th century. (imgur.com)

The Lost Jews of Karachi

"In both cases the destruction of the old values in the cataclysm of redemption leads to an outburst..."

jayaprada — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 21:52:45 -0500

“In both cases the destruction of the old values in the cataclysm of redemption leads to an outburst of antinomian tendencies, partly moderate and veiled and partly radical and violent; in both cases you get a new conception of “belief” as the realization of the new world of Salvation, and in both this “belief” involves that latent polarity of even more startling paradoxes. In both cases, finally, you get in the end a theology of some kind of Trinity and of God’s incarnation in the person of the Savior.”

- Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (via jayaprada)

Jo Amar With Mizmor Shir Choir - Barcelona

jayaprada — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:34:48 -0500

Jo Amar With Mizmor Shir Choir - Barcelona

The Maccabeats - Candlelight - Hanukkah

jayaprada — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:31:24 -0500

The Maccabeats - Candlelight - Hanukkah

Gupta’s portrait of the Bene Israel Family is a thoroughly...

jayaprada — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:06:37 -0400

Gupta’s portrait of the Bene Israel Family is a thoroughly engaging examination of the past. The Bene Israel were a group of Jewish emigrants, who settled in Cochin, in the southern part of the Indian sub continent, at the turn of the century. Research indicates that the Bene Israeli community soon rose to prominence and thrived in the Indian sub continent, at a time when Jewish communities faced persecution in Europe. In Gupta’s painting, the distorted background draws on the history of the Holocaust whilst the Bene Israel Family emerges from this background in indigenous attire, as native Indians of the subcontinent. This work displays the artist’s ongoing examination of identity and social history.

Humanistic Judaism

jayaprada — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 23:45:57 -0400

Humanistic Judaism:

queer-bolshevik:

This may be what I’ve been looking for since December of last year.

I’ve talked about this before, and definitely last December I posted about this, but I’ve struggled with my Jewish identity. It’s something that not only can’t I deny on a genetic and socialization basis, but a culture that I’ve felt I’ve lacked. It’s a personal narrative that has been consciously cut off by my grandparents and an identity I attacked out of an anti-theism that denied the possibility of a Jewish cultural identity without a Jewish religious identity.

But in December I was in Washing DC and went to the Natural History Museum, where they had an exhibit on race and ethnicity. The two were practically used as synonyms, and there was mixed in an element of culture and socialization. I enjoyed the exhibit but felt out of touch with it - they did not talk at all about Jews. Understandable in a sense because Jews are not really a race. But we are a distinct ethnicity, a distinct culture, which left me feeling distant from the discourse about whites in this exhibit. Yes I have white privilege. But I do not have a white cultural upbringing.

So since then I’ve been thinking about how I can keep the culture without the religion. I have no desire for religion, I am hostile to the idea of organized religion (though not going to oppress anyone who is religious or whatever I just disagree with the practice of religion), and I certainly don’t believe in any god. But Judaism as a culture is historically tied to the religion and it’s been very difficult in finding a way to sever the tie.

Humanistic Judaism might be the key. It’s a “nontheistic alternative in contemporary Jewish life. It defines Judaism as the cultural and historical experience of the Jewish people and encourages humanistic and secular Jews to celebrate their Jewish identity by participating in Jewish holidays and life cycle events (such as weddings and bar and bat mitzvah) with inspirational ceremonies that draw upon but go beyond traditional literature.” (according to wikipedia)

Humanistic Jews Affirm That…

…A Jew is someone who identifies with the history, culture and future of the Jewish people.

…Jewish identity is best preserved in a free, pluralistic environment

…Jewish history is a human saga, a testament to the significance of human power and human responsibility.

..Judaism is the historic culture of the Jewish people.

…We possess the power and responsibility to shape our own lives independent of supernatural authority.

…Ethics and morality should serve human needs.

…The freedom and dignity of the Jewish people must go hand in hand with the freedom and dignity of every human being.

I agree. Now that I have found this I am not sure what to do with it. But at least I have found it.

Photo

jayaprada — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:49:05 -0400

"I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a..."

jayaprada — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:02:26 -0400

““I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own.””

- Chaim Potok, The Chosen (via jayaprada)

Photo

jayaprada — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:22:34 -0400

The word 'Jew'

jayaprada — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:12:51 -0400

ludmirermoyd:

hotpotatohobbies:

ludmirermoyd:

[snip]

I know none of you know me from Adam, but can I just jump in and say that, as a Jew, I absolutely hate that people pussyfoot around the word like it’s a bad thing?

Yes, in some contexts, some people can use it pejoratively, but you can do that with anything.

I am a Jew. This is a wonderful thing, to be a Jew; it’s not offensive.

To me. I’ve heard that older people don’t like it and, like people said above me, don’t call people things they don’t want to be called, but it’s not a bad word.

Anyway, I appreciate people asking and wanting to do the best thing, that’s very admirable.

^^ Yeah, there you go. That’s what I meant, that he word “Jew” in and of itself is not offensive — I mean, it’s only the English form of the Latin Iudaeus and Greek Iudaios. But I’ve heard it used derogatorily so often that I prefer to avoid it unless someone tells me otherwise. But basically it’s like any other ethonym or indicator of identity: respect how that person describes hirself. And yeah, you’re probably right about older generations’ attitudes toward it as a descriptor, kind of like older LGBTQ people’s attitude toward the word “queer.”

And being a convert probably affects how I see things… I don’t know, I find that we tend to be more sensitive to the use of language, which can be a good or a bad thing.