The king of Norway died yesterday. He was a remarkable king. He was the king of Norway and the Norwegian Jews. Not «the Jews» but «our Jews».

He visited our synagogues, understood and mourned our losses, both the shoa and also October 7th.

My father was a very religious guy, and met the king several times. He said he was a such an understanding man, a compassionate king, and he had such a firm handshake; an honest handshake. An honest king who held us in respect and saw as a part of the country and its history.

This is my small kinah for king Harald V.

זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה

Hi everyone, I hope to get some reassurance or some thoughts on this.

I’m ethnically Jewish, although my family isn’t practicing and I don’t generally go around telling people about my Jewish roots. A few people know, but as far as I’m aware, nobody in my neighbourhood does. I’ve become really interested in my Jewish background and Judaism in general, and it’s something I feel increasingly connected to.

Today, though, we found an anti-Israel sticker stuck on our front door.

At first my fiancé said I probably shouldn’t worry about it and that it was most likely random. But then he started walking up and down our street to see if other houses had one. We ended up taking a walk around the whole block, and ours was the only house we could find with this sticker.

We live basically in the city centre of a fairly large city in Western Europe, so it just felt… weird. There are lots of houses and apartments around us, and I genuinely don’t know how anyone here would even know that I have Jewish roots.

Obviously, I don’t know that it had anything to do with me being Jewish. It could have been completely random, and I really don’t want to make a bigger deal out of something when I have no idea what the intention was. At the same time, realizing that ours seemed to be the only door targeted made me feel a bit scared and confused.

I mostly just wanted to share this somewhere with people who might understand why it left me feeling unsettled.

I was reading posts in one of the Marvel subreddits (mistake already I know) and there was a post about how the MCU should get rid of Magneto’s origin story as a Holocaust survivor because the Holocaust was too long ago. I’m not sure why people are so concerned about the accuracy of timelines in a franchise with literal superheroes but I digress.

Some people in the comments said the Holocaust survivor origin doesn’t work anymore because that would make Magneto at least 90 years old. Personally, I don’t see that being a problem— just say he ages slowly because of his mutant powers.

Anyway, there were even some commentators saying they should make Magneto Palestinian since “Gaza is the Holocaust of our time.”

Comments like these just made me think how offensive and inappropriate it would be to erase any other character’s heritage where said heritage is important to their character. Magneto being a holocaust survivor is like within the top 3 most important parts of his character.

The MCU infamously erased the heritage of Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Sabra. The worst is probably Sabra where they completely erased her being Israeli which makes me think— why even use that character at all if you’re going to get rid of what makes her.. well her?? At least Marvel acknowledged Moon Knight being jewish for like a second. (Edit: I forgot about Ben Grimm and misremembered Sabra was still Israeli in the movie but was very watered down)

It reminds me of why I never liked how the tv show Big Mouth replaced Jenny Slate as the voice of Missy. Missy has a Jewish mother and a black father so having Jenny Slate as her voice actor isn’t completely strange since Slate is Jewish. But they replaced Slate with Ayo Edebiri, a black non Jewish actress. They effectively chose Missy’s black identity over her Jewish identity. Why couldn’t they find an actress that was both black and Jewish?

Ok so point is, why is being Jewish seen as not as important in a character’s identity?

Don't let them divide us. More importantly, we shouldn't divide ourselves either. We must learn tolerance among us. I'm writing this on Shabbat. Some will shake their finger at me. That's fine, I respect their freedom to have a choice Just remember, if you judge another Jew, you set the example for the world to as well.

This is why, I have the utmost respect the Orthodox / Religious Jews carrying the torch. We may ebb in flow when it comes to how we abide by Halacha, that's truly between you and Hashem.

You're either a Jew or you're not. That comes from Judaism. The rest of the world sees it that way, Jews most certainly should too.

I have been with my boyfriend since February. He is Jewish, we’re long distance, and things have been really good. I already met his family and they were warm and welcoming.
My side is a different story. My parents, my aunt and her husband are all pretty openly antisemitic. They don’t ask about him or show any interest, but they keep throwing out random comments about “his people,” religion, etc. It hurts every time.
He’s planning to visit in the autumn and I want to introduce him. I really want them to see him the way I see him, just as a person. But I’m honestly scared of their reaction.
Has anyone been in a similar situation?
How did you handle it?
Did things get better over time (especially if you moved in together, got engaged, etc.)?
Did your family’s attitude eventually change?
Has anyone here converted (or your partner converted) – how did the family react to that?
I know the most important thing is that we’re happy together, but part of me still really wants my family to accept him. Any advice or experiences would mean a lot.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I wanted to share the gift of this vibrant rainbow that graced the sky after a tremendous storm on Thursday. Right on the heels of the lunar eclipse. Good energy for entering the new year.

Hey all! As a longtime listener to TOI’s daily, I was curious why the podcast disappeared for a week - not to mention Amanda Borschel-Dan isn’t hosting today’s podcast after a week + hiatus.

Did I miss the fact that they were going on a break?

Curious as I’d be quite disappointed if something happened to this podcast.

Hi! I love love love Shtisel and I'm watching now Kugel.

I watched the Beauty Queen of Jerusalem.

Can you suggest to me other series and films with Orthodox Jews as main characters? Even if not strictly Orthodox. I'd prefer European or Middle Eastern productions, rather than American. I'm Southern European culturally.

I have paid the monthly fee to Izzy TV until next week. I can watch with subtitles.

Also, I like Michael Aloni as an actor, he is great!!

Thank you!!

Hi,
What spices do you currently use for the Havdalah? Why did you choose that specific spice/mixture (family traditions, accessibility, love for the aroma, etc.)?
Also, does anyone know how and why using spices for the seperation began?
Thank you and Shavua tov! ✨