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Abby Stein

@AbbyChavaStein

30 Dec 21

#NewYears is on Shabbos - aka, as Jews we have rich traditions on how to celebrate at home.

One of the most beautiful parts of Jewish year-cycle rituals and celebrations, is the "do at home" parts.

This year, let's #StayHome and put it to use celebrating New Year's as well 🎉

Some traditions to put to use:

- if you can, prepare foods that "set the mood" for you. Whether historically traditional, or just traditional for you.

- set the table. Traditionally on Shabbat that means a white tablecloth, candles, etc. Use what sets the table for you.
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- structure the meal. If that helps (it does me) start the meal with some reflections or song (religious, spiritual, or secular). And wrap up with something similar.

- dress up! My favorite part of every Shabbos. Wherever I am, the power of dressing up can't be overstated.

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Abby Stein

@AbbyChavaStein

2 Dec 21

Never going to forget this:

When I was doing my post-Rabbinical ordination in a Hasidic school, there was a woman who was told SHE IS REQUIRED by Jewish law to have a 3rd trimester abortion/induce labor (with almost no chance of fetus survival).

Many states now outlaw it.

1/4

The husband got really upset, and didn't wanna go through with it (sadly, he had that control), till we asked the Rebbe (my former community's Supreme Leader).

He and the Rabbi (I was shadowing at the time) went to ask the Rebbe.

The Rebbe's response: if the doctors say >

2/4

> there is even a chance of danger to the mom, "it's a Mitzvah (good deed) to do it."

The husband tried to say that there is also a chance they will both survive.
The Rebbe just repeated himself. It's a Mitzvah.

Yup, that's right. One of the most radical, strict >

3/4

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Abby Stein

@AbbyChavaStein

1 Dec 21

@TheRaDR

Let's talk about cheese latkes, #Chanukah, and powerful women ✊

Cheese latkes are a traditional Ashkenazi #Hanukkah dish that combines two holiday foods, oil and cheese.

While the cheese might be less known, it has IMO a far cooler story: Judith.

(See @TheRaDR thread below).

The story of Judith, a mythological tale from the Book of Judith, a book of the Biblical Apocrypha (my favorite part of the Bible, in some ways), is the story of a Jewish woman heroine.

A woman who uses her power to sacrifice, seduce, help her community, and destroy patriarchy >

> literally.

She befriends an evil general who is out to kill - and rape.
Serves him some salty cheese 🧀
He gets thirsty.
She offers him wine to quench his sleep 🍷
He gets drunk, the drunkest he has ever been.
She cuts his head off.
And places it HER FOOD BAG!

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Abby Stein

@AbbyChavaStein

28 Nov 21

I hate all the "#Chanukah is just a minor holiday" and "historically #Hanukkah wasn't a big deal holiday" talk.

Hasidic Jews, and others following Kabbalistic teachings, have made a huge deal out of it for centuries.

Big enough to call it (Day 8) a High Holidays extension!

1/6

I get that we hate the comparisons to Kratzmach (the Yiddish nickname for Christmas), and the commercialization of #Hanukka. Yes, it's not one of the 3 biblical festivals, but after that, it's undoubtedly the biggest holiday - albeit in many ways even bigger.

Some details:

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- #Chanukah is seen as in some ways even higher than "big" holidays, exactly because it's weekdays. It makes it's spiritual/cultural significance even better.

- the food: latkes, donuts, oil food, festive meals, etc. predate commercialization.

- gifts, in form of money >

3/6

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Abby Stein

@AbbyChavaStein

9 Nov 21

Another visit to an ancestral grave, in Mannheim, Deutschland.

2 years ago I tracked down my paternal grandfather's great-grandfather's grave: Yosef Stein my closest ancestor (and last in a long line - Stein name is German and originated there) buried in Germany.

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While I knew a bit about him growing up, including that he is buried in Mannheim, as far as family stories and traditions go I didn't know much

Yosef was also the Zaide (grandfather) who I share with the closest non-Hasidic (multi-generational) family I have >

2/5

> 2nd and 3rd cousins whose existence my family has ignored since WWII, including his second wife.

I don't know why so much of his history (he only passed away in 1915 - I was raised with far more details of ancestors who lived a lot earlier than that) wasn't talked about >

3/5

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Abby Stein

@AbbyChavaStein

9 Oct 21

A favorite Hasidic teachings:
Noah* utterly failed. He failed his mission, and life.

He was supposed to argue with the Divine, and to do more to save the people of his generation.

Creating your own surviving arc is failure 🤦‍♀️

* of Biblical Arc fame - this week's Torah portion

The source of the idea is Zohar (3:15a):

"And he didn't ask mercy for the world, and the water came, and all the people died. That's why it's called Noah's waters. Noah's water of course, because it was his fault. For he didn't ask mercy for the world."

sefaria.org/Zohar.3.15a.1

*Ark

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