r/JewsOfConscience • u/AutoModerator • Nov 06 '24

AAJ "Ask A Jew" Wednesday

It's everyone's favorite day of the week, "Ask A (Anti-Zionist) Jew" Wednesday! Ask whatever you want to know, within the sub rules, notably that this is not a debate sub and do not import drama from other subreddits. That aside, have fun! We love to dialogue with our non-Jewish siblings.

Please remember to pick an appropriate user-flair in order to participate! Thanks!

19 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

51 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/Adorable_Victory1789 Palestinian Nov 06 '24

1) Can you be a practicing Jew without knowing/praying in Hebrew?

2) How do you deal with Zionist family members?

3) What is the thing you admire about Judaism?

4) Is there an emphasis on modesty in Judaism?

3

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '24 edited Nov 08 '24

  1. Yes you can, altho you really do need to learn Hebrew if you desire to live your life as an observant Jew. I’d say it’s not possible without doing so.

  2. It’s very very difficult 😔Especially for observant Jews like myself who really value family and community. I’m lucky that nearly all my family still live in Zionist occupied Palestine, and I don’t have to deal with them on a daily basis, but it still sucks. Especially because my anti-Zionism and pro-Palestinian liberation views come from my family values and my Jewish faith. There are few anti-Zionist observant Jews like myself, there are very few Arab Jewish anti-Zionists like myself, and there are very very few Jews with indigenous Palestinian ancestry like myself let alone also anti-Zionist… So it’s really lonely and Palestinians and Arabs are the few I’ve been able to consider good friends and family in this time. You guys have taken me in as a sibling, and I will forever stand firm and unflinching for Palestinian liberation because of it.

  3. I could go on forever about this. Not even sure when to start. But one thing I really love about Judaism, is that we are encouraged to question and debate even our most sacred ideals. We are commanded to battle and argue over everything and not just accept something because it was written in scripture. We are on a lifelong journey of questioning and searching, and so long as we hold true to the mitzvot and practice the oral law, this path we are on is a righteous one that can only lead to more beauty and grace coming down to earth.

  4. Absolutely, but depends on what kind of Judaism you follow. In many cases, it’s pretty similar to Islam.