r/JewsOfConscience • u/ContentChecker Jewish Anti-Zionist • Oct 27 '24

Discussion Cultural exchange with /r/Arabs!

Hi everyone,

Today we will be having a cultural exchange with r/Arabs - beginning at 8AM EST, but extending for about 2 days so feel free to post your questions/comments over the course of that time-frame.

The exchange will work similarly to an AMA, except users from their sub will be asking us questions in this thread for anyone to answer, and users from our sub can go to a thread there to ask questions and get answers from their users!

To participate in the exchange, see the following thread in /r/Arabs:

https://old.reddit.com/r/arabs/comments/1gd9eb3/cultural_exchange_rjewsofconscience/

Big thanks to the mods over at /r/Arabs for reaching out to us with this awesome idea! Thanks to MoC for posting the original post.

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u/tryingtokeepthefaith Middle Eastern Muslim Oct 27 '24

Shalom / Salam to all my Jewish brothers and sisters! :)

My q is: what are your favourite holidays in Judaism and what do they symbolise for you personally?

Much love ♥️✨

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u/sudo_apt-get_intrnet LGBTQ Jew Oct 28 '24

Purim, and it's not close.

Practice-wise its extremely fun. Think of it as Halloween with more drinking. We wear costumes, give & receive sweets and snacks, and are religiously commanded to be happy and get drunk.

To me, it symbolizes a microcosm of what Judaism is when contrasted with the cultures around us. Purim is not a celebration of really a miracle, but of Jewish ingenuity and intelligence being used to guide our people from a position of weakness to one of strength. The story of Purim contains no backing miracles or divine intervention, and even the tradition of wearing costumes is because "Gd was hidden in the story and did not reveal himself". And we celebrate by drinking, an act that all other Abrahamic religions looks down upon categorically if not outright prohibits. Jewish culture is using the tools around you to build a community to face your adversity with the tools you have, and become stronger for it; Purim's story exemplifies that. Judaism as a religion is about celebrating the world you live in and being happy for the culture passed down to you; Purim's practices exemplifies that.

I once heard it explained that Yom Kippur -- the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, and our Day of Atonement with a full no food/water fast for 25 hours -- was actually the other side to Purim's coin. "Yom KiPurim" -- the Day Like Purim. Yom Kippur is a lamentation of all the faults of the Jewish People, while Purim is a celebration of our strengths.

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u/tryingtokeepthefaith Middle Eastern Muslim Oct 30 '24

Thanks a lot for sharing - much appreciated. I don’t personally drink, but Purim sounds like a whole lot of fun w/ all the dressing up and celebrating bc you’re obligated to. Love that.

I especially like that description you mentioned; comparing Yom Kippur and Purim to two sides of a coin (where strengths and weaknesses are both reflected upon). That sounds like a healthy, enriching practice, and is something I believe we can all implement in our lives (for the religious and non-religious alike), to encourage us to engage in some regular introspection.