"There is now a #Jewish debate about fighting #antisemitism. And we need to consider what exactly we are arguing about when we argue about it.

[Brett] #Stephens’s thesis might seem provocative now, but it wouldn’t shock medieval #Jews. #AvrahamGrossman points out that #Rashi often depicts the nations of the world as “lying in wait to attack and devour the #Jewish people.” #Grossman writes that this is not surprising, considering that the renowned medieval commentator’s community was massacred during the #FirstCrusade, and endured multiple #antiJewish edicts.

In his commentary on the #Torah, Rashi quotes the phrase from the #Midrash saying that “it is a rule that #Esau hates #Jacob.” This means that antisemitism is a metaphysical reality; the spiritual heirs of Esau will always hate the descendants of Jacob. Antisemitism will never end.

Rashi’s attitude to antisemitism remains influential today."

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-887432

From ALEPH:
Midrash is our subversive mythology. It speaks from the silence of the parchment that surrounds the black ink of the written words. Our lives are midrash. We carry the stories of our ancestors and we are rewriting them all the time, each moment. Please join us for a mix of study and practice. We'll open each session with an original chant from Ariel, and each session will also include some time for creative writing and/or guided meditation.

No prior experience necessary. Just an open heart and mind.

Register: https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/aJrSvRzFcLieb6ZVqRNRdg

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Torah #Midrash

The reason why
women don’t have a prescribed
daily prayer
to thank G-d for not making them
a man
is because Hashem knew
women would already be saying it
multiple times a day.

#NoJewanceJanuary
#MarnishMidrash
because we need more #midrash by womenfolk. #noJewance

Islamic Mythology

This is a body of myths that are associated with Islam & the Quran. These include a creation myth & a vision of the afterlife. The 2 types of myth & legends that make up Islamic mythology are cosmogony & eschatology.

The creation myths are based on the Quran, & expanded on in habits, Arabic & Persian writings, histories (Qisas al-anbiya), Muslim poetry, philosophical essays, & mystical writings.

There’s no 1 single story of creation, unlike in Christianity. It’s made clear that God is the 1 who created the world. The number of days in the creation story varies between 6-8 days.

In Islam, God created the angels as inhabitants of the heavens & jinn (& humans) as inhabitants of the earth. The 1st entities who lived on earth were the jinn. However, they fought each other until God sent an army of angels headed God sent an army of angels headed by Iblis (a.k.a. Satan), against them. Adam, a representative for mankind as a whole, was created as their successor.

In the Christian bible, God says He’s going to make mankind, in the plural: “…let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” It’s not clear to whom God is speaking to. In Jewish midrashism, it’s thought God is talking to the angels, maybe.

The Quran is explicit about it: “When your Lord said to the angels…” In an exegesis of the Quran, after the angels defeated the jinn, they settled on earth. It’s these angels whom God addressed when he announced to create Adam (mankind) as a deputy of God.

The angels, either only from the angels of the earth or from all angels oppose the creation of Adam for a variety of reasons. One major reason is due to the sins Adam’s successor will commit, which is explicitly mentioned in the Quran.

Another reason is that angels consider themselves superior to Adam, in terms of knowledge. The angelic opposition derives from a faulty analogy between Adam & the jinn. The angels don’t know that from among mankind, there will be saints & prophets. Despite the sinners among them. Eventually, the angels bow down, except for Iblis. Angels who remained in opposition to Adam became devils/demons.

According to Islam, Adam isn’t only the 1st human being, & man, but also the 1st prophet. The Quran says that Adam & Eve lives in the Garden of Eden. Adam & Eve both eat from the forbidden “Tree of Eternity.” According to the Quran, as punishment God declares the earth as a dwelling place for humans.

Only due to free will, humans are able to produce good. Although Adam’s disobedience created evil, only this made it possible to create good. The disobediences of Adam & Eve were already forgiven by God during their life.

According to a common narrative, God ordered the Archangels to collect a handful of soil from earth. But every time an archangel approached earth, the Earth sought refuge in God, that it might not be distorted.

All the archangels returned empty-handed. Except for Azrael, who succeeded because he sought refuge in God before, for that he’ll not return unsuccessful.

Another common tradition pictured the body of Adam lying on the ground for 40 years, whereupon Iblis became curious about the new creation. After investigating the lifeless body, he promised that, if he’ll gain authority over it, he’ll destroy it.

In another tradition, it’s not Azrael, but Iblis, included among the archangels, who succeeded in collecting soil from the earth. Thus he later declined to prostrate/bow himself before whose creation/formation he just helped.

The heavens span in a dome-like structure over the earths (yep, plural), arranged in horizontal layers 2 upon another. At the top sits Big G’s (or in this case, Big A’s) Throne (Al-‘Arsh) separated from the 7 heavens below.

The lowest heaven is often associated with a firmly-enclosed water of a celestial ocean. Below the heavens are the 7 earths. The Earth’s are also part of the supernatural cosmos & serve as gradual stages of hell.

The surface is inhabited by humans, the lower stages are abode of destructive winds & djinn, followed by brimstones of hell, scorpions, & vipers. With the devil, eventually, at the bottom.

According to Islamic mythology, God instructed Adam to construct a building (the Kaaba) to be the earthly counterpart of the House of Heaven & that Ibrahim (Abraham) & Ismail (Ishmael) later rebuilt it on its original foundations after it was destroyed in the flood of Nuh (Noah).

According to other versions, Ibrahim & his son, Ismail, were the 1st to build the Kaaba. As Ismail was searching for a stone to mark a corner with, he met with the angel Jibrail (Gabriel). Jibrail gave Ismail the Black Stone.

According to the Hadith, the Black Stone is reported to have milky white after being descended from Heaven but was made black due to the sins of the people, who had touched it. The Black Stone itself isn’t worshipped by Muslims.

The Kaaba was originally intended as a symbolic house for the 1 monotheistic God. After Ibrahim’s death, people started to fill the Kaaba with “pagan idols.” When Muhammad conquered Mecca after his exile, he removed the idols from the Kaaba.

The inside of the Kaaba is empty. It’s now an important pilgrimage site. All Muslims are supposed to visit at least 1 time, if they are able to (called the Hajj). Muslims are supposed to pray 5x a day while facing the Kaaba/Mecca’s direction.

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#Adam #AlArsh #Arabic #Archangel #BlackStone #ChristianBible #Djinn #Eve #Gabriel #GardenOfEden #Hajj #Iblis #Ibrahim #Ishmael #Islam #IslamicMythology #Ismail #Jibrail #Jinn #Kaaba #Midrash #Muslim #Noah #Nuh #Persian #QisasAlAnbiya #Quran #Satan #SevenHeavens #TreeOfEternity

The Legend of Lilith: The Night Demoness

The story of Lilith, especially as told in the medieval text the Alphabet of Ben Sira (circa 700-1000), shows a dark, rebellious female figure who becomes a menacing creature of the night, preying on the vulnerable.

In this version of the creation myth, before Eve was a thing, God made Lilith as Adam’s 1st wife. Lilith was NOT the same as Eve, she wasn’t made from any part of Adam’s body. Lilith was made from the same dust & earth that Adam was made from. Thus making Lilith Adam’s equal.

The conflict begins almost immediately in the legendary Garden of Eden. Adam insisted that Lilith should be the bottom during spicy adult time. Because Adam thought she should be submissive to him.

Lilith wasn’t having any of that. Not one bit. “Why should I lie beneath you? I also was made from dust. Therefore I’m your equal.” She insisted on being the top during spicy adult time.

When Adam tried to force her into submission, Lilith got super angry. She says the ineffable name of God (This is called the Shem-Ha-Meforash). After saying this, she grew wings & flew out of Eden & into the air.

This act of rebellion makes Lilith an outcast & a primal source of sin, not through temptation like Eve. But through defiance of patriarchal & divine order.

Lilith made her home by the Red Sea. This region is traditionally associated with evil spirits. When Adam complained to God about Lilith, God sent 3 angels, named Senoi, Sansenoi, & Sammangelof, to go bring Lilith back to Adam.

The angels found Lilith. They demanded she go back to Adam. The angels threatened to kill Lilith’s kids that would become demons, if she didn’t come back. And she would have 100 per day.

Lilith wasn’t hearing any of this. She refused to go back. Instead, she entered into a terrifying agreement. She accepted the curse of her kids being killed daily. In a devastating retaliation, she vowed to become a demon who would forever roam the world, seeking to harm the offspring of Adam & Eve.

Lilith’s main role in Jewish folklore became the quintessential night hag or succubus. She’s associated with some interesting themes:

• The Child-Snatcher: This is what she was most feared for. She stole & unalived newborn infants, especially boys during the first 8 days of life (before their circumcision) & girls during the first 20 days.
• The Seducer: Lilith was believed to visit sleeping men in the form of a beautiful demoness. She caused erotic dreams & involuntary emission of men’s love juice. With this “stolen seed,” she would procreate more demonic kids, the lilim.
• The Haunter of Solitude: Lilith is said to be particularly dangerous to men who sleep alone in a house, as she may seize them.

The only defense against Lilith’s power was to wear an amulet inscribed with the names of the 3 angels (Senoi, Sansenoi, & Sammangelof) on the arms of women in labor & around the cribs of newborns. This is an ancient tradition of protective magic against a deadly spirit that has clear echoes of the wards & superstitions associated with Halloween.

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#1000 #700 #Adam #AlphabetOfBenSira #Amulet #bible #circumcision #Demoness #Eden #Eve #Halloween #HebrewBible #Kabbalah #Lilim #Lilith #Midrash #NightHag #RedSea #Sammangelof #Sansenoi #Senoi #Succubus

Entering Heaven Alive

This is also called ascension, assumption, or translation. This is the belief that’s held in a variety of religions.

Sine death is the normal end to an individual’s life on Earth & the beginning of afterlife, entering Heaven without dying 1st is considered exceptional & usually a sign of a deity’s special recognition of a person’s piety.

In the Hebrew Bible, there are 2 people, Enoch & Elijah, who are to have entered Heaven alive. But both wordings are subject to debate. Genesis 5:24 says, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” But it doesn’t say whether he was alive or dead nor where God took him.

The Book of Kings describes the prophet Elijah being taken towards the Heavens in a whirlwind. But the word can mean can mean either Heaven as the home of God or the sky.

According to the post-biblical Midrash, 8 people went to, or will go to, Heaven alive. This is also referred to as the Garden of Eden & Paradise. The 8 people were: 1) Enoch, Noah’s great-grandpa (Genesis 5:22-24). 2) Elijah (II Kings 2:11). 3) Serah, the daughter of Asher, the son of Jacob. 4) Eliezer, the servant of Abraham who chose Rebecca to be Isaac’s wife. 5) Hiram I, King of Tyre, who helped Solomon build the First Temple. 6) Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian 7) Jaabez, the son of Judan ha-Nasi, who was the editor of Mishnah 8) Pharaoh’s daughter, sometimes called Bithiah

There were also 4 rabbis who visited Heaven. 4 entered the orchard: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (also known as Elisha Ben Avuya) & Rabbi Akiva. One looked & died. One looked & was harmed. One looked & cut down the trees. The last one went up in peace & went down in peace.

Jesus is considered by vast majority of Christians to have passed away before being resurrected & ascending to Heaven, bodily, to sit at the right hand of God with a promise to someday return to Earth.

There are some people who believe that Jesus didn’t die. These are known as the Swoon hypothesis & Docetism. The Virgin Mary is thought in Eastern Orthodoxy to have passed away before being translated into Heaven. Roman Catholicism believe this also.

Protestants generally believe that Mary died and passed away naturally like another mortal person. Then Mary entered Heaven in a pretty usual manner. But certain observers belonging to the Evangelical Catholic tradition of Lutheranism & the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism believe in the Assumption of Mary. Others in these traditions reject the Assumption of Mary.

With the adoption of the Nicene Creed in 325, the ascension of Jesus into Heaven has been officially taught by all Christian churches. It’s celebrated on Ascension Thursday. In the Roman Catholic Church, the ascension of the Lord is a Holy Day of Obligation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the ascension is 1 of 12 Great Feasts.

In the Reformed Churches, which teaches Calvinist theology, belief in the ascension of Christ is included in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, & the Second Helvetic Confession.

Dispensationalists believe in a “rapture.” The rapture is rejected by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, & most Protestants. The rapture comes from a reference to “being caught up” that’s found in I Thessalonians 4:17. This passage says that when the “dead in Christ” & “we who are alive and remain” will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord/God. Christians differ on the interpretation of this Bible passage.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church teach that Mary died a natural death like any other human being. She was buried by the Apostle, except for Thomas (of Doubting Thomas fame), who was late. 3 days later, after Thomas arrived, Mary was found to be missing from her tomb, just like her son Jesus.

They also teach that the Apostles got a revelation during which Mary appeared to them & told them that she’d been resurrected by Jesus & taken body & soul into Heaven. They teach of Heavenly bliss that other saints will experience only after the Last Judgment.

In Mandaeism, the Left Ginza (1 of their holy books) mentions that Shitil (Seth), the son of Adam, was taken alive to the World of Light without a masiqta or death mass.

In the Hellenistic religion, Apollonius of Tyana was said to have been “assumed” into Elysium by Philostratus.

In Hinduism, Yudhishthira, of the Mahabharata, & Lakshmana, of the Ramayana, are believed to be the only humans that were able to cross the plane between mortals & Heaven/Svarga while still in their mortal bodies. Nahusha was admitted to Heaven in his human body, as were several other kings. Tukaram is believed to have taken to Vaikuntha on Garuda. This event is reported to be seen by villagers.

In Islam, Muhammad was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to Al-Aqsa during the Night Journey. After he lead prayers at the mosque, Muhammad ascended into Heaven alive. In Heaven, he greets, individually, previous prophets. Later, he speaks to Allah. Allah gives Muhammad instructions regarding the details of prayer. Muhammad’s ascent into Heaven was temporary. He came back to Earth later. Islamic texts deny the idea of the crucifixion or death accredited to Jesus by the New Testament.

The Quran says that people (Jews & Romans) sought to kill Jesus. But they couldn’t crucify or kill him. Although “this was made to appear to them.” Muslims believe that Jesus wasn’t crucified but instead he was raised by God into the Heavens. This “raising” is often understood to mean through bodily ascension.

Some Islamic scholars have identified the prophet Idris to be the same person as Enoch from the Bible. This is because the Quran states that God “raised him to a lofty station,” & that has taken to be term for ascending, on which it’s concluded that Idris was Enoch.

Members of various Ascended Master Teachings, a group of New Age religions based on Theosophy. They believe that Francis Bacon underwent a physical ascension without experiencing death. He then became the deity St. Germain.

They believe that there were a lot of others that have undergone Ascension. They were called the Ascended Masters & act as spirit guides to human souls on their spiritual path. The leaders of these religions claim to be able to receive channeled messages from the Ascended Masters, which they then relay to their followers.

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#12GreatFeasts #325 #Abraham #Acher #Adam #alAqsa #Allah #AngloCatholic #Apollonius #Apostles #AscendedMasters #Ascension #AscensionDay #AscensionOfChrist #AscensionOfJesus #AscensionThursday #Asher #Assumption #AssumptionOfMary #BenAzzai #BenZoma #Bithiah #BooksOfKings #Calvinist #Christian #Christians #Crucifixion #DeathMass #Dispensationalists #Docetism #DoubtingThomas #EasternOrthodox #EasternOrthodoxChurch #EbedMelech #Eliezer #Elijah #ElishaBenAvuya #Elysium #Enoch #EvangelicalCatholics #FirstTemple #GardenOfEden #Garuda #Genesis52224 #Genesis524 #God #GreatMosqueOfMecca #Heaven #Heavens #HebrewBible #HeidelbergCatechism #Hellenistic #Hinduism #HolyDayOfObligation #IThessalonians417 #Idris #IIKings211 #Isaac #Islam #Jacob #Jesus #JudahHaNasi #KingHiramIOfTyre #KingSolomon #Lakshmana #LastJudgment #LeftGinza #Lutheranism #Mahabharata #Mandaeism #MaryMotherOfJesus #Masiqta #Midrash #mosque #Muhammad #Muslims #Nahusha #NewTestament #NiceneCreed #NightJourney #Noah #OldTestament #Paradise #Pharaoh #Philostratus #Prayer #Prophet #Protestants #Quran #RabbiAkiva #Ramayana #Rapture #Rebecca #ReformedChurches #RightGinza #RomanCatholicism #Saints #SecondHelveticConfession #Serah #Shitil #SpiritGuides #Svarga #SwoonHypothesis #TheMishnah #Thomas #translation #Tukaramis #Tyana #Vaikuntha #VirginMary #WestminsterConfession #WestminsterConfessionOfFaith #Whirlwind #WorldOfLight #Yudhishthira

“It is known that the letters of the Torah have the aspect of inner lights which are revealed according to the order of the emanation of the worlds. And the boundary of the white that encompasses the letters possesses the aspect of the encompassing lights, which are not revealed but are found in a hidden-ness, in the aspect of the encompassing light. From this we may understand that the white boundaries also possess the aspect of letters, but they are hidden letters, higher than the revealed letters.”

Read more: https://kabbalahexperience.com/white-fire/

#Mazeldon #Jewish #Judaism #Torah #Talmud #Midrash #Zohar

https://youtube.com/live/71tC5VS98aE?si=gYHDP1oFbo4Ijcqs

Rastafari Groundation

#Rastafari #Midrash #Mondays #Psalm15 #RSS#21
#KiTisa 2025-03-10 #lionofjudah

Tanchuma Teruma 6:1. The Tachash animal, according to one opinion had skin with 6 colors and one horn and was tahor (i.e. a mammal with cloven hoofs and which chewed its cud).

I conclude: rainbow unicorn!

That is, you can't have a temple without rainbow colors!

#Judaism #Midrash #Mazeldon #Jewdiverse #Jewniverse

We Christians memorize "In the beginning..." in Genesis.

But the rabbis say "Torah starts w/ beit (b) and not aleph (a). Why? Because beit starts berakhah (blessing), and aleph starts arur (cursed); Torah is given to us as a blessing, not a curse."

I'm falling in love with the Jewish way of reading the text.

#christianity #jewish #midrash #genesis #torah #rabbi #blessing #cursed

There's a midrash that says that when God created Adam, the angels could not tell which one was God, as Adam was created in God's image and likeness. It wasn't until God put Adam to sleep that the angels could tell who was who.

This is the most lovely image.

#theology #religion #genesis #creation #midrash #bible

Dennis Fischman's review of Mouth of the Donkey https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4073836323 #books #Jewish #midrash

Machloket in the #talmud about what day of the week G-d made bars. #MorganWallen with the modern #midrash #judaism

@baruch

At a national (Australian) solidarity and support Zoom for women earlier this week, one of the rabbis gave a beautiful drash about Na'ama.

The gist of it was sowing seeds and rebuilding after catastrophe...

#Torah #Midrash

The Ecole pratique des hautes études, PSL-University in Paris, France is hiring a #postdoc research associate in Hebrew Literature to work on the ERC Synergy project #MiDRASH (Migrations of Textual and Scribal Traditions via Large-Scale Computational Analysis of Medieval Manuscripts in Hebrew Script) for the team led by @d_stoekl

deadline for applications: 14th July 2023

#job #digitalhumanities @jewishstudies

https://www.eurojewishstudies.org/homepage-announcements/the-ecole-pratique-des-hautes-etudes-psl-university-in-paris-france-is-hiring-a-postdoctoral-research-associate-in-hebrew-literature-to-work-on-the-erc-synergy-project-midrash-deadline-for-applicat/

I'm really excited about this class and how it's an opportunity to look at how rich traditional texts combine with identity to create new and important interpretations. And this isn't my usual beat here in the Fediverse, but it's one of my favorite parts of my day job and, if you want to know more about #Midrash and #JewishWomen and even a little theology, come join me! https://www.yeshivatmaharat.org/summer-at-maharat

I want to to push back on the idea that art and storytelling is only universal when it comes from the general (aka white Christian) culture. I’m a life-long fantasy nerd, but so much if it is based around Christian ideas around good and evil, the chosen one, and the hero’s journey. I’m bored and tired. I need the specificity of my own Jewish culture to create new types of shared mythos with different core values. Values that are hard to explain to non-Jews who see Judaism as “just” a religion.

I want to create spaces for *everyone* where we address complex, often contradictory challenges and needs of marginalized communities and humanity in general. And in the great tradition about both #TTRPGs and #Midrash, help build Kahal, the small village of our setting, and its hopefully many parallel universes. 🧵​3/6

#ShavuotLive2023 is doing a session right now on the use of #AI for the purpose of creating new #midrash.

#Mazeldon #Jewdiverse #Shavuot

Great piece here! It's Only a Midrash - Exploring the value of Midrash to the modern Jew
By @bosheshabayis

https://bosheshabayis.com/posts/midrash/

#Midrash #Jewdiverse