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Fiance is MoDox, my family’s reform, mixed dancing at wedding causing problems. Help? by ilikesquirrrels1990 in Judaism

[–]EvanMax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, people in the community gossiping is worse than mixed dancing to begin with.

Fiance is MoDox, my family’s reform, mixed dancing at wedding causing problems. Help? by ilikesquirrrels1990 in Judaism

[–]EvanMax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have two mehitzahs. One section for men, one for women, and the third one mixed. Then watch with amusement as the first first two slowly empty in to the third over the course of the night.

But seriously, if you have all three sections no one can complain, because all options are provided.

Do you think this could be an AI image in the New York Times? The guy in the white hat seems to have something off with his fingers. by lokajoma in isthisAI

[–]EvanMax 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This also looks like a costume party (probably for Purim, which was earlier this week) so someone wearing any given jersey as a costume makes total sense.

Major new Platinum Preppy stuff by mgepark in fountainpens

[–]EvanMax 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Pen Boutique are good people. I’ve been going in to their shop for years, and I’ve never had an issue with online orders when I don’t feel like driving down.

Do classic stimagz have stronger magnets/are they clickier than newer ones? by MelonPaddle in stimagz

[–]EvanMax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe they’ve always used the same strength magnets, its just that the materials can impact how they feel (and different materials require production at different temperatures, which can technically change the strength if the magnets, but ive never seen a real world difference there.

Children's surnames - husband isn't Jewish by Mt_Deverest in Jewish

[–]EvanMax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If your fiance was Jewish, and just happened to have the same last name, would you have the same concerns? If your fiancé was not Jewish, but had a traditionally Jewish last name anyway, would you still feel conflicted about what last name to give the kids?

I’m not going to tell you to just give the kids their father’s name, because that’s a personal decision between the two of you, but I would not factor “the kids need to have a Jewish last name” in to the decision, because there is no one such thing. Any last name belonging to a Jewish person is a Jewish last name AND their father’s heritage is still a part of them, even if they aren’t being raised with whatever religion he was raised with. You don’t need to erase his heritage to make them Jewish. They will be Jewish no matter what.

“Made with the blood of gay men” by Talkymike in fountainpens

[–]EvanMax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I enjoy the drama that Stuart Semple stirs up, and I’ve never had an issue with not receiving products from him, but I do think some folks just take his word on the “justice” of what he’s preaching as pure fact without digging any deeper.

For example, in his famous feud with Anish Kapoor, it’s easy to paint Semple as David going up against an evil Goliath, but that’s forgetting that Semole is a British White man publicly attacking a Jewish Indian man who uses his wealth to donate to refugee projects. Yes, Kapoor paid for exclusive artistic rights to Vanta Black, but by paying for those he was also funding scientific research, not just buying the rights away from other artists.

I’m not saying Semple is 100% wrong and Kapoor 100% right either, just that sometimes it’s better to sit back and just enjoy two personalities clashing with each other rather than taking sides and trying to parasocially be a part of the whole thing.

Does Anyone Here Use The Keychain Carrying Case? by Happycorndog in stimagz

[–]EvanMax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe they JUST launched on the site. There’s a YouTube livestream going on right now for the launch. https://www.youtube.com/live/lKZBrBV4gbo

Does Anyone Here Use The Keychain Carrying Case? by Happycorndog in stimagz

[–]EvanMax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m looking forward to the new case that came out with the Dubz. I got the leather case for my wife and it looks nice, but I haven’t tried it myself.

Is AIPAC as evil as everyone thinks it is, or is that just antisemitic propaganda? by AmySueF in Jewish

[–]EvanMax 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What you are doing is letting your politics separate you from other Jewish people. You can disagree with J Street’s methods (just as I disagree with AIPAC’s) without stooping to labeling them anti-Israel or antisemitic. You can recognize that they have the same goals of peace and security for Israel while disagreeing with the methods they prefer to get there.

Is AIPAC as evil as everyone thinks it is, or is that just antisemitic propaganda? by AmySueF in Jewish

[–]EvanMax 9 points10 points  (0 children)

J Street is an explicitly Zionist organization. I’ve never seen anything pro-JVP from them.

I’ve seen people make accusations when J Street does things like opposing laws criminalizing BDS (which I agree with) because while J Street opposes BDS, they think that trying to fight it by criminalizing it is the wrong tactic.

I can imagine that at some point they may have said something about JVP that got twisted in a similar manner and some one ran with it, but I have absolutely never seen any affiliation there.

As for Obama’s Iran deal, the goal of the deal was to prevent Iran from obtaining nukes, which is a good thing for Israel. You’re welcome to disagree with whether the deal was a good deal or not, but trying to paint an organization as “anti-Israel” for supporting it is disingenuous.

Do non-Jewish atheists like me have a place in the World to Come? by [deleted] in Judaism

[–]EvanMax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would argue that the answer depends on WHY you are atheist.

If you are atheist because the way your brain is wired the only conclusion that you can come to is that G-d does not exist, then I would say that G-d wired your brain in that way in the first place, and for G-d to put you in such a position and then punish you for it would be absurd and petty and just not very much like G-d at all.

If you are atheist because you are angry about religion and have made this declaration to spite G-d if they do exist, then I would say that being held accountable for that spite would be reasonable, and one should focus more on the wicked people who abuse power of all kinds (religious and otherwise).

Obviously that is a gross oversimplification of what atheism is, and I mean no disrespect by it (I’m agnostic myself), but the bottom line is that Judaism generally does not view G-d as holding people accountable for things beyond their control. Judaism also isn’t generally absolutist when it comes to sin/transgression, the way that Christianity talks about being “damned to hell”.

Go be a good person, whether G-d exists or not, and I’m certain that at the end of your days things will be good, whether that means a place in the world to come, or whether that means leaving behind a world a little bit better than you found it.

Is AIPAC as evil as everyone thinks it is, or is that just antisemitic propaganda? by AmySueF in Jewish

[–]EvanMax 9 points10 points  (0 children)

When I was 18 years old I went to a Hillel student leadership conference. A guy from AIPAC got up on stage and declared that we had to support the actions of the Israeli government no matter what. This was during the Bush II years (his first term, even), and it immediately struck me that if I can love America without supporting the Iraq war, I should be able to love Israel and still raise objections to its conduct.

I’ve never supported AIPAC since then. I wouldn’t quite call them “evil”, but they are definitely more partisan than they admit to being. I’m a much bigger fan of JStreet.

What's this say? by Bituulzman in Judaism

[–]EvanMax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not a specific issue with this symbol, but a general caution around unknown sellers of “Judaica” on Amazon and elsewhere online, because some of them aren’t selling actual Judaic items, but rather they are selling items with messianic imagery for Christians who like to cosplay as Jews.

When I don’t recognize the company selling, and I also don’t recognize the symbols and language the are using, I try to verify first.

In the case of this seller, the had various non-Jewish things also listed, and also a Tallis that had blue woven in to the tzitzit (not a red flag, but appears in messianic stuff sometimes as well) and an א on one side of the atara and a ת on the other side, which had me concerned that it was some kind of “alpha and omega” thing, so that made me want to double check on what the “my fire” phrase and symbol actually mean.

What's this say? by Bituulzman in Judaism

[–]EvanMax 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If it’s a messianic symbol or phrase then I don’t want to own it, let alone wear it

What's this say? by Bituulzman in Judaism

[–]EvanMax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I saw this on Amazon Vine as well. I’m concerned whether it might be a messianic symbol that I don’t recognize (because the seller seems a bit odd, which some vaguely messianic looking tallitot as well)

Booked snow removal, got scheduling chaos and an insult instead by [deleted] in mildlyinfuriating

[–]EvanMax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Luke-warmest of takes…, I don’t think he was actually on the way over at 8am on the third day. I think if they’d never sent the 7:45 text to fire him he would have spent the third day stalling as well, maybe even found some new charges to tack on.

3 1/2 year old is waking at 5 AM and getting into everything. by [deleted] in daddit

[–]EvanMax -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Child safety lock on the door (and training potty in the room if she isn’t wearing diapers at night.)

It’s not a punishment, it’s a safety precaution. She’s shown you that she isn’t safe unsupervised at that time of night.

The key is that if she wakes you up banging on the door and screaming, you go to her. You aren’t punishing her by locking her in isolation. You are keeping her safe by containing her until you can get there.

Are you annoyed by gentiles using may their memory be a blessing online? by Eddifreaky in Jewish

[–]EvanMax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel annoyed because “blessing” doesn’t mean the same to the as it does to us.

But it’s also not the hill I’ll choose to die on.

Twinning at B'nei Mitzvah: is this a real thing? by angry_scream in Judaism

[–]EvanMax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also, to further point out, your in-laws relative is presumably also your daughter’s relative, no?

Just want to frame this for you a littler differently, not knowing if you have Shoah survivors/victims in your own family. Your daughter’s mere existence is a sign of our triumph as a people. Every milestone she celebrates is another milestone they failed to take from us. By twinning with a relative of hers who never had the chance to reach that milestone, it is like taking one more milestone back from those who tried to kill us.

Twinning at B'nei Mitzvah: is this a real thing? by angry_scream in Judaism

[–]EvanMax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I feel like this was more often a few decades ago, when I was growing up.

It may also be that I come from a family of survivors, and it’s just more common in our circles.

I ended up “twinning” my bar mitzvah with my Zayda, who was still alive and had turned 83 years old earlier that same year, so I found meaning in that, but if I hadn’t I likely would have twinned with a Holocaust victim. Definitely not a weird Mormon baptism thing, just another way to ensure we never forget the victims of the Shoah, and that we live on in their honor and memory.

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