First of all, I'm not halakhically Jewish. I have Jewish ancestry from both sides of my family and an Ashkenazi surname, but I'm not Jewish per se, as I don't have an unbroken matrilineal bloodline and wasn't raised in Jewish culture nor near a community (in fact I was baptized as a catholic, even tho I lapsed when I was a teenager and don't believe in it since long time ago). However, for some reason I can't explain, I feel a huge connection to Jews. I would love to convert, even Orthodox, because I love the rules and the idea of strictly following halakha, but that's really not possible in my country (I'm from Argentina; about a century ago, there was a rabbinical boycott due to concerns that local Jews could be assimilated by marrying insincere converts so they banned conversions done in this territory). Plus, even if I lived in another country, it would be a huge issue because I'm trans (I pass perfectly and all, but I doubt that helps in this case).

So I apologize if this comes from an "outsider perspective," but damn… no matter where I go, I keep noticing antisemitism. Before, I wasn't very aware of it, but the more I studied Jewish history and theology (on my own), the more I started seeing it everywhere. Random people make antisemitic comments out of nowhere, and I literally never caught this before. And when I defend Jews, I'm always seen as aggressive or a "evil person who supports genocide" (note: I think Israel has the right to exist, and apparently that's super annoying for a lot of people).

It's crazy. In real life, it's mostly just eye-rolling dumb things, but what I read online stresses me out the most. I basically got banned from a Spanish-speaking forum run by Spaniards because I kept defending Jews and calling out their use of Nazi rhetoric. They joke about blood libels, world control conspiracy theories, call all Jews usurers, etc., and when I pushed back, I got banned. The same thing has happened in multiple online forums. It's exhausting. I'm seen as "problematic" or "evil" just for calling out blatant antisemitism.

Some people get especially antisemitic when they know my surname. It also doesn't help that my "complexion" has some stereotypically Jewish features (especially my hair and eyes), so when they see me defending Jews, they point that out and start calling me antisemitic slurs. I'm so stressed because I have nowhere to vent. If I post about this in non-Jewish spaces, people laugh at me and call me a crybaby.

I just don’t understand why antisemitism is so pervasive. It never gets better, only worse, and I feel so alone in this. Even in LGBT spaces, people are incredibly antisemitic, and I can't comprehend why. I thought people who have experienced horrible discrimination growing up would understand. I mean, I'm trans, and I transitioned a long time ago. I don't face transphobia now because I "pass" and am just seen as a woman by strangers, but when I was growing up, my classmates saw the process, so I know what it’s like. You’d think people who have been through something similar would get it.

It's so frustrating to feel like the only person who sees Jewish people as people. It almost feels like some supernatural force is making people hate Jews because it's the most nonsensical hatred I have ever seen. The weirdest conspiracies claim Jews control the climate, the world, it's insane.

Anyway, sorry for this rant. I don't know if this is accepted here from a non-Jew, and if not, I apologize.

In the city of Houston, our five or so Kosher restaurants are pretty bad. Only one is a sit-down, and the rest are counter service meaning near zero service, with dirty glasses, gross bathrooms and mediocre food, with the exception of the Chinese dishes, which are actually pretty good. I joked that it's because Jews especially love Chinese food so that particular cuisine must be at or above par.

The Middle Eastern food is merely fair to awful. Shashuka eggs are hard- boiled, while the eggs should be poached with a runny yolk.

Now there have been articles explaining why kosher restaurants are bad--that they don't have much competition, that because they are closed so many days out of the year that they have to make a profit somehow and this involves cutting corners.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, and one thing I DID observe dining out in kosher restaurants in my city with my chassidic brother and his large family (plus my parents and my other brother). All the food came out at the same time. This is a tremendous feat for any restaurant serving large parties, and I think kosher restaurants prioritize this because many patrons are families with a bunch of hangry kids. For food to come out at the same time for so many people, some items must be made in advance rather than made to order.

Which explains my sorry shashuka eggs! I've resigned myself to the fact that I will always have over-hard eggs because I just don't think they make them to order. It's just something they don't do, because then food will come out at different times.

Anyway, years and years ago we had this fantastic kosher restaurant that has since kicked the bucket and it was delicious. Amazing middle eastern food that put the Arab and the Persian places to shame. I don't quite know what happened.

In New York and Southern California it is a different ball game. Food is delicious and the restaurants are real restaurants, not places where they act like they are doing YOU a favor. I heard Miami has first class kosher restaurants too. Chicago is only okay.

What do you think? How do you feel about kosher restaurants in the U.S., or elsewhere?

In any event, the best Jewish food, the delis, are not kosher anymore, and most of their clientele are gentiles. Kosher has moved on to Italian, middle eastern, Chinese, sushi. But the (religious) Jews all over the country deserve better!

When will I finally just fall down and drop into his embrace. When. Can I pray for peace?

*forgive me for posting a religious question it was deleted from /r Judaism for some reason

Hello all!

My college classes are starting monday and ive ran into a problem

i have to wake up at 4:30am to make it to class on time (long story)(bus times are weird) and where i live the sun doesnt rise until 6:15-6:30 and by then ill be on public transport and while i do get to my college an hour early (the hour falls into the Sacharit time frame) i have no way of transporting my Tallit and the thought of putting it in my crusty backpack makes me cringe and as it it the classrooms remain locked until 20 minutes before so i cant duck into the classroom would it be permissable to wake up a little earlier to do Sacharit despite the sun being up?

Antisemites in another forum gave me a lead. (Love when that happens.) They are recruiting people to boycott Dynomyco products because it is an Israeli company. If you plan on using mycorrhizal inoculate in you garden, please consider Dynomyco products. I'm placing an order now.

There were discussions where was mentioned the specificity of the Jewish people history of persecution alongside the fact that, of course, we do not have a monopoly on persecution and genocide. So I thought about doing an (amateur) comparison table. I would be happy for your thoughts, and recommendations on the ethnic groups proposed and the different categories of comparison. For the OP not to be too long I will detail those in the first comments.

I myself am not Jewish, though my father is, and he is to be on holiday for the anniversary of my grandfather's death and will not be able to light the candle. While we were talking about this, the conversation shifted and left us wondering: is the custom, in itself, from the Torah, the Talmud, or a tradition that arose independently?

(If I got any terms wrong, please enlighten me. Gently.)

This is a long shot, but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

I'm named for my great-uncle, a holocaust survivor named Jack Moraff (originally Yakov Murawczyk, from Lachva in Belarus). Jack was born in 1903, married later in life and had a child. His wife and child were murdered in the holocaust, he was a partisan who eventually led the Lachva ghetto uprising. After the war he resettled in Sydney, Nova Scotia and lived with my great-grandfather Hymie, his only surviving sibling.

Jack never spoke about the war, never remarried and never had any other children. I have been searching for the name of his child for years. In all likelihood his wife's name was Chana, and his child was a boy, but I'm not sure. I've tried Yad Vashem, JewishGen, census listings from Belarus, even a facebook group of people with the same last name. My search has been fruitless so far.

I'd like to be able to name my future child after Jack's child one day. I'm the only person in my family named for Jack and I'd like to be able to honor his child and continue on his family name.

Does anyone have any idea where to look next? Does anyone have a family member who may have been from Lachva or known Jack? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I’m so upset about the plane crashes in the US, both DC and now Philly. As a mom my heart breaks especially for the dead children, but none of these victims should have lost their lives this week.

Is the mourners Kaddish reserved only for family members? And can one light a Yahrzeit candle for victims of tragic events or is it strictly done for the anniversary of a family members death?

And I know “nobody can stop me” from lighting a candle and saying a prayer but I am trying to learn more about Judaism so I’d like to know what most would do to honor these dead.

I’m 14 and live in West Yorkshire, England. The only synagogue near me is an hour away and I couldn’t go anyway because of an anxiety disorder (I wish I could so bad) I really want Jewish friends close to my age but idk how! I went to London recently and I wished I was like the other Jews there because they lived in a community:( I don’t know what to do and any advice is really appreciated !!

Hello, my name is Arthur, I'm a 15 year old Brazilian boy. I was not born Jewish, but I have a Sephardic surname (which is not uncommon in Brazilians of Portuguese descent) I discovered Judaism through a school friend when I was around 10 years old, and from then on I began to dedicate myself to studying the Torah, Judaism, and more recently I started learning Hebrew. When I tried to talk about it with my family, I was heavily reprimanded, and I was never able to talk openly about it with them again. Now that you have this context, I would like to add other things: I am a handball player, and I was invited to play in one of the biggest handball clubs in Brazil, and by coincidence it is also one of the biggest Jewish clubs in the world ("Clube Hebraica" - translated to "Hebrew Club") And there is both a sports and religious area. This would be my first and perhaps only chance to pray in a synagogue and practice mitzvots. However, I'm very afraid if I would even be allowed to enter there, since I don't have a kippah or anything like that, can anyone help me with how I should behave inside a synagogue, I'm very afraid of doing something wrong because of nervousness and be seen as a "goy", All help will be welcome, Todah rabá v'Shabbat Shalom.

Hey everyone, I’m working on a book about antisemitism on the left and would love to hear your experiences.

Have you ever been in a progressive space and suddenly felt like your Jewish identity didn’t belong? Like the same people fighting for justice and equality somehow saw you as the exception?

I’m looking for those frustrating one-liners that sound righteous on the surface but erase Jewish identity, deny history, or hold Jews to impossible standards.

Some that come to mind:

• “Anti-Zionism isn’t antisemitism.”
• “Jews are white, so they have privilege.”
• “Israel is a European settler-colony, just like South Africa.”
• “Jews lived fine in the Middle East before Israel existed.”
• “Zionism is just another form of white supremacy.”

What’s a comment that made you think, “No, you’re wrong, and here’s why,” but required way too much explaining?

If you’ve got a story, I’d love to hear it. No judgment, just a space to share what’s been hard to say out loud.

And even if you don’t have a specific one-liner, have you ever felt like your Jewish identity wasn’t seen as part of the broader fight for justice—like it didn’t ‘count’ as something that also deserves allyship? Or have you ever felt that you had to distance yourself from Israel just to be accepted in progressive spaces?

EDIT:

Thank you all for the responses so far. I want to clarify that I’m not ignoring right-wing antisemitism. The far right openly hates Jews—they don’t pretend otherwise, and their antisemitism is well-documented.

But that’s exactly why antisemitism on the left is harder to fight. It comes from people who claim to care about justice, equity, and marginalized communities—but often exclude Jews or hold us to impossible standards. It’s more subtle, often well-intentioned, and wrapped in progressive language, which makes it easier to dismiss.

Jews have been at the forefront of social justice movements, yet today, many of the very spaces we helped build are pushing us out. While there are countless books and discussions on neo-Nazis, antisemitism in progressive spaces is often ignored or excused.

This isn’t about politics—it’s about real experiences. Have you ever felt unwelcome, erased, or held to a different standard in spaces that claim to fight for justice?

I’m just wondering if they’ll grow up, realize the actual definition of Zionism and then feel dumb

How do you go about explaining it to them now in real time? What’s a good one liner

I'm looking for a silver golem necklace, preferably with the אמת that costs less than 100 dollars.

The only one I could find that wasn't 300 dollars was a tag style pendant on Etsy and the golem is holding something, idk what, and the אמת isn't there.

Earrings are also acceptable.

I have seen a number of different posts about whether or not certain actions are considered antisemitic, but my biggest problem is that most of antisemitism goes “unchecked” because some people say that being anti-Zionist does not mean antisemitic. Demonizing and attacking Jews for being “Zionists” is antisemitism, particularly because it’s akin to saying “we don’t have a problem with you being Jewish, we just don’t like that type of Jew.” Try changing Jew/Jewish for black and tell me if that doesn’t sound racist as h3ll.

Hello Fellow Jews,

I’m reaching out to the community today to understand the growing wave of anti-Semitism we're witnessing. It feels like, once again, we are being scapegoated amidst global turmoil. I’ve observed an unsettling increase in hate, from people openly praising Hitler to Holocaust denial, and even claims that Ashkenazi Jews aren’t "real" Jews. It seems that, for some, everything going wrong in the world is being attributed to us.

On a more personal note, I've even encountered some of my friends making casual anti-Semitic remarks in front of me, which is both troubling and confusing. I’m curious to hear how everyone else is feeling about these developments. I try to stay calm and grounded, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the sense that we are being targeted.

I hope all of you are staying safe, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee Topic Bans 8 Editors from Israel-Palestine Area.

This is also the first time I'm featured in the media where you can see me endorsing Justapedia as a Wikipedia alternative if you scroll down the article.

Just a thought I'd like to share. There has been a deafening silence in my Facebook feed when it comes to Anti-Semitism. I think it's espcially interesting as most of my "friends" are progressive and many are Jewish. I myself am Jewish but not a progressive, I consider myself a moderate. Do you feel that the progressive/democratic crowd has been bullied into silence or is afraid of being cancelled if they support Israel or speak out against anti-semitism? That is how I feel. I guess we shouldn't read too much into Facebook scrolling, but I think it matters. For example, people take the time to bitch about Trump, and I'm no fan either, but say nothing about the hostages being released, or not, and how they are being paraded around, and the behavior of the Palestinian mobs that encircle them. I have a feeling if they weren't Jews, these same people would be disgusted. But because we are considered "white oppressors" now, we don't deserve empathy. Anyway, I would really like to hear some of your thoughts..

I've just discovered that Keter Plastics who make the garden furniture are Israeli, after seeing the country of origin on the Amazon listing for an item. This has helped me narrow down my choice to their range.

After seeing a tirade on another sub about how awful Sabra hummus was (if you're politicising that, you really need to take a hard look at yourself) and hearing a friend pleased to find knock-off CO² for her Soda Stream (note she did not replace the machine itself) I'm wondering if I can do the opposite and seek out Israeli products to buy, but I'm something in me really doesn't want to search Google for a list compiled by antisemites

Just to add I never even knew soda steam were Israeli, although I have no intention of carbonating my drinks at home.

My boyfriend runs in leftist circles and while he acknowledges that Israel has a right to exist and believes in a two state solution, he has a friend group of staunch anti-zionists that frequently make inflammatory comments about Israel. He expresses that he wants to learn more about Judaism and appreciates that part of my identity/wants me to feel safe, yet I find him excusing some of his friends gross comments about Israel because of the “genocide”. I feel super morally conflicted because I don’t agree with the Israeli government, but I feel these comments are threatening to my safety and identity as a Jewish person in this relationship. We both want to feel morally secure and safe. What do I do/how can I communicate this to him? It feels uncomfortable because I am an American Jew with no direct connection to Israel by family, but I still feel really defensive and isolated surrounding this topic.

I asked a question about British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, only to be told he wasn’t a native Brit but instead a Sephardic Jew. Are these two populations genetically similar, like the British are to the Irish and Norman French?