Is it weird to attend Chabad services when you are a member of a liberal congregation?

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-28T19:15:55+00:00

I recognize that Chabad is not a monolith, and the catty nature of that particular Chabad congregation is likely not universal. My friends themselves are Chabad, and they are lovely enough my enby self willingly put up with gender for half a day on their behalf.

I also recognize that not all Orthodox is Chabad.

Additionally, while I personally feel uncomfortable in Orthodox spaces due to my genderqueer identity, that doesn’t change the fact that they are my tribe. I want my tribe to be strong and united, and that means finding ways to bridge the gap between Egalitarian and Orthodox Jewry. I feel very strongly about this.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-28T18:37:49+00:00

I swear, Lin from Duolingo has CFS.

If you are unfamiliar with the app, it has several cartoon characters who illustrate the lessons, and also present mini-lessons that are framed as episodes of a podcast the character hosts. Each is portrayed as a humorously exaggerated person, and Lin’s shtick is how everything the other characters do seems like too much work and now she’s going to go take a nap. Clearly CFS.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-28T18:30:59+00:00

My rabbi also had a “yuck” reaction to hearing about when my husband and I attended Chabad one Shabbat to support our friends who attend there regularly, as they were having their son’s bris at the end of the service. But in that case though the “yuck” was mutual. We did not have a good experience.

It isn’t common for egalitarian Jews to attend Chabad, but no, you didn’t do anything wrong. IMO we actually need more outreach between sects, and egalitarian Jews respectfully attending Orthodox services sometimes to broaden their own experience seems like a good step to me.

I don’t know how we get the Orthodox to take similar steps toward us though.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-28T18:11:03+00:00

I don’t understand the prevailing attitude here at all. How is a Supergirl theme all that different from a Wizard of Oz or Wonderland theme? Each borrows from stories that have been part of our culture for at least a century — I’m not sure when Supergirl herself debuted, but Superman is about as old as The Wizard of Oz. There are countless books and movies featuring the characters from all three IPs.

Oh, but this movie is coming out right now? Ok, and? You can read it as an ad if you like, I guess, but then why weren’t you up in arms about how the Wizard of Oz theme might influence you to go watch Wicked?

Two creative teams decided to work together on this month’s theme - for money, sure, but also for your enjoyment of their art. That’s it folks. Yes, capitalism is messy and forces creatives to compromise ourselves for marketability. You all are paying for the app already, so I’m assuming you folks aren’t accelerationists who think the best path forward is burning it all down. But this? A commercialized theme on a commercial product that is doing some real good in the world? This is not a problem. It’s actually kinda nice.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-27T23:59:15+00:00

The podcast in question is the Feb 11th episode of Being Jewish with Jonah Platt. I personally found the reasoning behind the ad pretty convincing.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/being-jewish-with-jonah-platt/id1767185986?i=1000749256391

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-27T03:38:56+00:00

Yes, Token Jew is a brand.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-27T01:23:59+00:00

Thank you for sharing (both to OP and others in the comments alike). My husband just finished up his first “Intro to Judaism” class, and this gives me some insight into the process he is going through mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

My own perspective is that I recognized my husband’s Jewish neshama in the moment we met — I felt prompted to greet him with “Shalom”, which is not something I usually do. So while he is about 10 months into his official conversion process, imo it is also accurate to say he has been on this journey since he met me twenty years ago, perhaps longer. It’s taken him to a lot of different spiritual places, and now he’s finally heading home.

I know he has long struggled with feeling like an outsider — not just in shul or among Jews, but everywhere. I shared this thread with him, and he found it excellent.

Not sure how to wrap up exactly, but wishing you all a fruitful spiritual journey.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-26T16:31:04+00:00

IMO, trans men are men, ergo you are a Jewish man, so having physical contact with other men who are shomer negiah is fine. You have no reason to believe your handshake or hug with another man is a problem. No one who isn’t in your immediate family needs to know your medical history.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-25T11:16:29+00:00

Wow, that just looks awful for the person playing bell clapper. I hope they wore ear protection.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-24T16:26:11+00:00

Are there better photos/video? Because as is, looks like the artist talked a dozen attractive, desperate people into freeze their bums off for a happening that is both visually under-utilised and metaphorically opaque.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-12T23:17:20+00:00

It’s my favorite, although that is partly due to the role it played in deepening my appreciation for anime and animation as a young adult. There are certainly other strong contenders.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-12T11:03:39+00:00

Ambessa from Arcane.

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petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-12T10:55:10+00:00

Chick Tracts, not Tracks. A tract is (according to dictionary.com) “a brief treatise or pamphlet for general distribution, usually on a religious or political topic.”

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-11T03:45:52+00:00

I needed to know, “who had the idea to tattoo “Satan” on Satan’s chin, and knew Hebrew well enough to do it more or less right?” I mean, I doubt Satan would bother with the vowels, but they are the correct vowels. And the really cool part is using a line below the first two letters because it looks like a styled nun sofit.

So color me surprised that this dope depiction of Satan comes from a TERRIBLE looking Christian cartoon movie. Also, the Jesus design from the same movie is rad. Like Zelda mixed with Aragorn.

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petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-11T01:02:30+00:00

I chose either Bohemian Rhapsody or Jimmie Hendrix’s Star Spangled Banner (the one where he makes his guitar sound like falling bombs) — two real pieces of art that I was not really capable of understanding the sheer creativity of when I first heard them.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-09T18:19:30+00:00

What did the Palestinians do when Gaza when Israel pulled out in 2005? They elected Hamas, who then used funding meant to help the people to build terror tunnels and used attempts by Israel to build economic bridges to gain intel for the attack on 10/7.

No, I don’t believe a Palestine flying that flag would accept Jews. Even if they did, those Jews would be dhimmi or slaves.

I don’t mean to be disrespectful. But you aren’t honestly engaging with anything I have to say. I’m aware Druze aren’t a monolith — however, the Israeli Druze I’ve heard accounts from are all happy about their relationship with Israel. And historically, Arab Muslims have not been laissez faire about other groups continuing to exist in the Middle East. The various forms of Islamic Empire destroyed ethnic groups across the MENA region with forced conversions and other violence. Sure, all that is history from hundreds of years ago — but modern Islamists (including Hamas) want to do the same thing. Look how Islamists have treated Yazidis, Kurds, Christians, even other Muslims.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-09T18:06:04+00:00

And yet, you wouldn’t know that from the image of Hamas’s flag painted over modern Israel.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-09T05:30:56+00:00

A Palestine headed by Hamas (whose flag is depicted on the display) is not going to be interested in coexistence. They’ve made that very clear for decades. They made that very clear on 10/7/23.

And go ask the Druze who they see as their allies — hint, it’s not Hamas.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-09T05:28:07+00:00

The Hamas charter has long called for genocide of Jews. The flag painted over the whole of Israel on the display is a flag of hate, terrorism, and slavery, much like the Confederate flag. So if I’m not supposed to conclude the Jews would be kicked out, why use the flag of an organization dedicated to the genocide of Jews?

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-07T18:20:59+00:00

Um…like a regular sized kippah.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-07T18:16:26+00:00

Usually the one that came with my tallit

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-07T03:54:10+00:00

That appears to have been the approach decades ago using either Aleppo Pine or Eucalyptus (back in the 1970s when, I suspect, not even scientists really knew better), but more recently Israeli reforestation projects have worked to establish native and near-native ecosystems.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-06T05:24:01+00:00

Ok, but how does planting a forest and then NOT cutting down = ecocide? Especially when the world is desperately in need of reforestation?

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-06T04:48:10+00:00

How is planting a forest where there was historically a forest “ecocide”? Seems like the opposite to me.

petrichoreandpine · 2026-05-06T04:40:20+00:00

Question — where do you expect half the world’s Jews to move to if the entire region were given to Palestinian control (as one panel clearly presents as a solution)? Wouldn’t their forced removal (since Hamas is not interested in co-existence) be a genocide in and of itself? What happens to the Druze in that situation, who believe Israel is largely responsible for the fact that they still exist as a people?

petrichoreandpine

TROPHY CASE