Cindy: Hey… can I be a Jew?
Rabbi: No.
Cindy: Can I be a Jew?
Rabbi: No.
Cindy: Can I be a Jew?
Rabbi: You really want this? Sincerely? Not ‘cause this one’s trying to blackmail me for something stupid when I was 19 or for broccoli with your dinner? What is this for you?
Cindy: Honestly, I think I found my people. I was raised in a church where I was told to believe and pray. And if I was bad, I’d go to hell. And if I was good, I’d go to heaven. And if I’d ask Jesus, he’d forgive me and that was that. And here y’all are sayin’ ain’t no hell. Ain’t sure about heaven. And if you do something wrong, you got to figure it out yourself. And as far as God’s concerned, it’s your job to keep asking questions and to keep learning and to keep arguing. It’s like a verb. It’s like … you do God. And that’s a lot of work, but I think I’m in, as least as far as I can see it. I mean, maybe I’ll learn more and say fuck the whole thing, I mean, but I wanna learn more, and I think I gotta be in it to do that. You know… Does that make sense? Shit, did I just talk myself out of it?
Rabbi: Ask me again.
Cindy: Can I be a Jew?
Rabbi: Yes.
I cried so hard during this scene.
First of all, this is beautiful.
Second of all, as a contextual note, the rabbi said no for a reason. In Jewish conversion, one of the steps is that you must be discouraged at least three times. This comes from the story of Ruth, where Naomi told her not to follow her back to the Jewish tribe three times before giving in.
Third of all, this is beautiful.
Adrienne KILLED it in those scenes. I wept with her!
“It’s like a verb.” She wants to work on her faith continuously and that was gorgeous and so honest.
THIS WAS SO IMPORTANT DO U UNDERSTAND. We aren’t a people who actively convert people. You’ll never see a Jewish person try to convert you. We believe in everyone’s right to believe what they want. But it was so nice to see someone who wasn’t raised in it be able to see value in my faith. I have never seen anything like that on tv before
bringing this back, because it delights me.
Tag: judaism
Why Did God Create Atheists?
There is a famous story told in Chassidic literature that addresses this very question. The Master teaches the student that God created everything in the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson.
One clever student asks “What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?”
The Master responds “God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all — the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs and act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that god commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.”
“This means,” the Master continued “that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say ‘I pray that God will help you.’ Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say ‘I will help you.’”
ETA source: Tales of Hasidim Vol. 2 by Mar
I started reading this and was worried it would be something attacking atheists, or bashing religion, but this makes me really, really happy.
imagine that there is no God who can help, and say ‘I will help you.’”
Holy shit.
Holy shit.
Yes. YES.
This is lovely and precisely the thing I’ve been trying to explain to my family for ages.
This is a really good illustration of why so many Jewish philosophers are Kantians: they (we) really like the idea of acting purely from the motive of duty – because something is the right thing to do, not because some authority figure told you to, not because you hope for reward or fear punishment.
My sister’s obnoxious Christian husband was expressing puzzlement over why his Orthodox Jewish colleague follows all those demanding rules if he doesn’t believe in Heaven and Hell, and I tried, in vain, to explain to him the Kantian idea that an action that accords with morality has no moral worth unless it is performed from the motive of duty, not from fear or punishment or hope of reward.
A Jewish perspective on reproductive justice and birth control access from twitter user @lechatsavant.
IDK about other Jews, but I want all goyim who see this – especially American goyim from Christian backgrounds – feel free to keep this in your pocket the “freedom of religion” birth control argument comes up. In fact, I encourage you to use it.
If you’re a Non-Muslim and you see a Muslim praying in public, could you please not pass in front of them?
Go behind them, but not in front. 👍
Oh, signal boost! I didn’t know this.
Okay, but also: if you see a Muslim praying in public and they have something in front of them, like a purse or a bag or something like that, you can pass in front of them, but pass in front of that object.
it’s called a sutrah, and it’s meant to act as a physical barrier between the person praying and someone who might happen to pass in front.
Also, if you did this and didn’t know, please don’t beat yourself up over it. Now you know! Muslims aren’t supposed to pass in front of Muslims praying, either, because prayer is communication with God and you don’t want to break that connection.
Spread culture, respect customs, be good people. Simple as that.
Didn’t know this.
Reblogging again
THE AMOUNTS OF REBLOGS THIS HAS JUST MAKES ME SO HAPPY
S I G N A L B O O S T
Reblog forever !
Similarly, if a Jew is saying the Shemonah Esrei prayer (whispered, moving only the mouth, standing facing east with legs together) don’t go in front unless there’s a barrier.
Loki is the Philosopher King 