This one's just not about asexuality at all

I'm 99% sure I've mentioned this before, but I'm jewish and I was just like doing a midnight youtube dive thing and watched this video

https://youtu.be/UT7iITNuBZI

It was mostly very fun and all, but there was one part where one of the girls is talking about how a guy sent her a shirtless pic and on his shoulder was a swastika, and she asked him why he had a swastika and he said it was a Hindu symbol of peace, and everyone else was like ooooh no that's bullshit. Then there were a lot of comments about how it was rude of them not to believe him or that they'd all be TrIgGeReD if they walked into a majority Hindu country.

I know the swastika was originally used in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. I can't say all Jews know that, but most do. 

But it was also used as the prominent symbol of the Nazi regime that killed 6 million jews. Nearly all people with jewish heritage are related to at least one person who died in a concentration camp. EVERYONE knows that.

I understand the swastika or an upside-down swastika has to some people, and I respect that. However, it has nonetheless been the face of extraordinary pain and inhumanity against so many minorities. 

So if it's used in any context outside of strictly religious context, it is offensive.

And if you "feel like the meaning really resonates with you," that's still offensive because that symbol also carries meanings of hatred, discrimination, and genocide. There are countless other symbols that have similar meanings that can resonate with you that don't also come with such horrific connotations, so when you choose a swastika as your "symbolic mantra" or whatever, what we see is that you chose, out of the probably hundreds of other possible symbols, one that also carries extreme bigotry. You did not choose the swastika because it represents divinity. You chose it because it's the one that also has a twisted and horrible history.

Also since I guess this is the jewish chapter, I'm gonna just talk about a few more things. Since most people here are writers, I figure this could be helpful, or if you just want to know more, but it's gonna be really long, so it's completely fine if you don't read it

I am one of millions of people, and my experiences are very different than a lot of other Jews, so don't take what I say as blanket statements.

1) The idea about Jews and money. We're literally just people. Some Jews have a lot of money, some have barely any. I have (Jewish) friends that will make some jakes like if they have a lot of coins in their pocket and it jingles, they be like "lol it's because I'm Jewish," and I don't think it's particularly funny, but I don't mind it that much. If you aren't Jewish though, just like fuck off. I think in general you can make jokes about a minority you're a part of and that's fine, but never a minority that you're not part of.

2) The idea that Jews "run the world?" So um we totally don't at all, like why would you even think that????? By the way, the Rabbi said I get to have Australia next month, so that's pretty exciting. 

But in all seriousness, this one is does make me sort of laugh. Like I WISH I was part of the illuminati or something, but unfortunately no :( There is also an idea that Jews all have connections? Let's think of it like this. For centuries, jews have been discriminated against all over the world, so in the past, we've had to stick together. There isn't like an extreme favoritism that jews have for each other.

Also like???????? Who looks at someone and is like, *much disdain* "ohhh I bet your people,,,, have a lot of political influence." Generally these are the same people that support the NRA and oil companies and whatnot? Like my dude, do you have a problem with influencing the government or not??????

3) The physical stereotypes. I'm gonna write them out here because I'll forget them, and also for y'all. A "hooked" nose, curly hair, beady eyes, etc. So first off, "hooked" is a weird word to describe it. It's just like that your nose bridge goes up instead of flat or down. I know a bunch of jews who have it; I know a bunch of jews who don't. I have it, and I'm hella self-conscious about it so that's fun, but that's more of a personal thing. It was just a common genetic trait from where a lot of Eastern European jews originated.

Curly hair. I don't think this is like a bad stereotype? My brother had a jewfro for a bit, but then he cut it shorter. I definitely know more jews who don't have curly hair than those who do.

Beady eyes. I had to google beady, and the definition is "small, round, and gleaming" so I don't really think that's accurate. I know genetically some jews have sort of genetic eye circles sort of? But they don't have "beady" eyes.

4) For keeping kosher and stuff, I personally don't, but I'm also reform (I feel like this is awkward to describe, but like that's the denomination that is least focused on ceremonial aspects). I have friends who are conservative who do.

OKAY QUICK VOCAB: Judaism has different denominations. Reform is the least "religious" I guess, and Orthodox is the most. Conservative is in the middle. Conservative jews do Not mean the same as conservative republicans.

Anyway, continuing, the jews where I live are generally reform or conservative, and I don't think I've really talked to any Orthodox Jews. I have friends have seders every Friday night, but I don't. My family celebrates more of the major holidays like Rosh Hashanah (the new year), Yom Kippur (the holiest day of the year which focuses on atonement), Passover (celebrating when the Jews fled Egypt), and Channukah (celebrating when the jews defeated Syrians). I'm kind of tired, so we may celebrate one that I'm somehow forgetting. We make hamentaschen for purim, which celebrates when the jews were saved from a Persian ruler, but not much else.

5) Holidays. As I said, Rosh Hashanah is the new year. People eat apples and honey because apples symbolize the world and honey symbolizes sweetness. At least that's how it was explained to me when I was little. 

A week after comes Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, you're supposed to fast from sundown the previous night to sundown that night. Pregnant people, sick people, elderly people, and children (anyone who hasn't had their bar or bat mitzvah yet) don't have to fast. Also if you're caring for young kids, you don't have to. Fasting is important of course, but it can be broken. Some people say that you can drink water during that fast, some people say you can't. I know other people who say that you can eat about an almond sized amount of food for the entire day, so like a raisin or something. My family goes with that you can't eat anything, but you can drink water. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year, and you think about and atone for the sins you've committed in the past year, and you better yourself in the new year. After sunset, everyone has a break-fast, and the traditional food to eat is bagels and lox because it's easy, but you can eat any food that's easy to make.

Channukah is actually a minor holiday, but it's made to be so grand because it's around when Christmas is. Also, there's no exact correct spelling of it. I'm going to use Hanukah from now on because that's the one wattpad says is right. The story of Hanukah goes that the Jews defeated the Syrians (nothing to do really with the current Syria) and took back an extremely important temple. As the story goes, they only had enough oil for one night's worth of light, but by a miracle, it lasted eight nights. On Hanukah, you eat a lot of fried food. Hanukah food slaps to be honest. We have latkes, which you should definitely try making at some point, jelly donuts, brisket (but not fried), kugel (also not fried), and other stuff. Also gelt, which are chocolate coins, and there's a game you play with dreidels and gelt, but I never actually learned how to play it.

Purim is the happiest holiday. The story of it is that in Persia, there was a jewish girl named Esther. The King of Persia banished his wife for reasons, and was searching for a new wife. He met Esther, and she never told him she was jewish, but they fell in love and she became the new queen. The king's royal advisor was named Haman, and Haman hated the jews, so he convinced the king to have them all killed. Also, Haman wore a triangle shaped hat. The king was going to have all the jews killed, and then Esther told him she was jewish and then she would die too, and long story short, the king had Haman killed instead. Now we eat filled triangle cookies called hamantaschen on Purim after Haman's hat

Passover is one of the most important holidays. The story behind it is very long, but it celebrates the Jews being freed from Egypt. It lasts 8 days, and the special meal you have on the first night of Passover is called a seder, and you read about the Jews being freed from Egypt. Through the reading, adults drink four glasses of wine, but the wine has a super low alcohol content. You traditionally eat matzah ball soup, which is another thing you should try even if you're not Jewish, gefilte fish (most people hate it, but I really like it), matzah (unleavened bread), and other foods that are usually traditionally jewish, but not always. For the next eight days (but only seven if you're in Israel), you don't eat anything that's leavened.

6) When girls or 12 and 1/2 and when boys are 13, they become viewed as adults. Not in all ways of course, but ceremoniously and stuff. By turning those ages, you become a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah (bar is for boys, bat is for girls. I think for non-binary, it would be b'nei). A lot of the time (at least for reform jews) there's a big party to celebrate.

Those parties were Fun. Parents would spend thousands of dollars on them. You invite all your friends and relatives, and send out these  b e a u t i f u l  invitations, and then everyone comes, and the parties are usually on hotels, but they can be anywhere with a big room. 

That Friday night, you (the bar, bat, or b'nei mitzvah) say a prayer over the candles and wine at your temples shabbat service, and only your relatives watch that. Then you have dinner with all your relatives (this is usually catered in a room, but it can also be cooked by the host and at their house). Oh also, you're the guest of honor. Your parents are the hosts. The next day is your ceremony. This is usually in the morning, and it's always on a Saturday. Everyone is at the ceremony. You read from the torah and chant prayers. Your parents come up and say nice things about you, the rabbis say nice things about you, sometimes they have been more people come up and say nice things about you. It lasts for hours, and if you know the prayers, it's more interesting, but overall, it can be a bit boring to watch, and everyone's hungry by the end. You have lunch for all of your friends and family (the Friday night dinner and this meal are always kosher). It takes a while for everyone to leave and there's lots of hugging and hellos and whatnot, and then you go home if your party is at night like most are.

The party is very fun, and it's centered more for your friends, but your relatives are there too. There's usually assigned tables, and family is put on a different side of the room or even a different room than your friends. As I said, parties are really fun. They're always catered, and the food ranges from mediocre to pretty good. There's a lot of dancing, and at one point everyone dances the Hora, which is when the guest of honor is lifted on a chair. You should watch a video to get a better idea, but that's fun. It's all fun. At the end, usually people give out party favors. The favors can be really anything, and they have your name and the date on them. If you're really rich, you give out sweatshirts because everyone loves them, but they're ridiculously expensive. Usually more than 20 dollars per sweatshirt for hundreds of guests.

The next morning you have (kosher) brunch with your relatives and say goodbye. You're 13 and you haven't gotten a ton of sleep all weekend. You're tired but you act all nice and friendly. Then you have a massive stack of thank you notes to write out. If you don't write them out by hand then you're a Bad Person

Also did you know Timothy Chalamet was jewish? Because I learned that today

It's nearly three am and this is past 2200 words, so um yeah... remember not to draw swastikas and goodnight!!

~Also I'm happy to answer any questions you have, so like comment or slide into my dms or whatever if you have any. Don't worry about them sounding offensive~