I’m logging off all socials for tomorrow, so I just want to say to my fellow Jews:
I hope you are safe. I hope you are hugged. I hope nothing bad reaches you.
Please take care of yourselves. Not only in physical safety, but mentally too. If social media becomes too much, allow yourself to log off. Try to do something you like - I know it may come with a sense of guilt but I’ve found it helps while grieving.
Feel all you need to feel. Cry all you need to cry - and if that means not crying at all, that’s ok, too.
No October 7th will ever be the same for any of us. This is the first anniversary, hopefully the next one will be a little more bearable. עם ישראל חי
In the Jewish calendar, the anniversary of the Simchat Torah pogrom hasn't happened yet. Simchat Torah is in a few weeks. But if the rest of the world is going to desecrate the memories of those we lost on this day, we must commemorate the pogrom on the Gregorian calendar as well.
I will never be the same person I was before October 7th. We as a people will never be the same. But that's what has allowed us to survive all these millennia - we don't try to go back to how we were: we rebuild, we move forward. When the first Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, we began to set our calendar. When the second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, we began to record oral Torah. Through thousands of years of successive colonization, genocide, and exile, we have recontextualized and reiterated to ourselves and to the world what it means to be a Jew.
We are Ivrim- people from the "other side", never fully part of the dominant society, but proud of who we are.
עברי אנכי ואת ה' אלוקי השמים אני ירא
"I am an Ivri and I revere YHVH the Lord of the Heavens"
[Yonah 1:9]
We are Yehudim- descendents of the majesty of the united sovereignty of Malchut Yehudah, yearning to return to the time of peace and unity under David and Shlomo.
ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששן ויקר
"The Yehudim had light and joy and happiness and esteem"
[Esther 8:16]
We are Bnei Yisrael- all descendants of the man who wrestled an angel and conversed with G-d
ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת לעשות את השבת לדרתם ברית עולם
"And Bnei Yisrael shall observe the Shabbat to establish the Shabbat for their generations as a forever covenant"
[Shemot- Ki Tisa 31:16]
We are a small nation scattered across the globe, united time and time again by immense loss. But there will come a day when we are united with one heart and one soul not by tragedy, but by joy.
We will rebuild. We will survive. We will dance again.
✡️עם ישראל לעולם חי🎗️
"I'm scary! Fear me!"
My friend: "You nerd."
Spooky: Has a lot of energy, wants attention, oversized sweaters, drinks tea, always brings snacks - just in case! knows all the candy stores in the city, cries in stressful situations, needs a hug, is the master of pranks, steal others food, just wants validation, gives the best hugs, is both a dog and a cat person, wears onesies as often as possible.
Scary: Edgelord, “Then perish”, Goth, is a night person, sarcasm 24/7, challenges god to smite them, is done, dark colours, Wears high boots, likes basic things ~ironicly~, black eyeliner and eyeshadow, needs a nap but never sleeps, reads ghost stories in the dark, candles light up their room, wants to make people slightly scared by their presence.
Skeletons: Wants to socialise, is loud, dances in their room, dresses up for Halloween, cites poetry, always wear headphones, is easily exited, a big nerd, has no impulse control, wants to eat all the time but cant (Because they are a skeleton), predicts the plot-twists, extroverted, accidentally spoils things, knows everything about their favourite band.