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shevereshtus Profile picture
shevereshtus
@shevereshtus
Writer of the Rabbinic variety. Mostly about Jewish issues.
6 subscribers
Sep 30 • 29 tweets • 6 min read
As Yom Kippur approaches, it is time for two yearly religious rituals to take place:

Kapparot & and the protests against Kapparot.

A thread to demystify, explain, and give the history to this much-maligned practice. Image Yom Kippur means Day of Atonement. Kapparot, plural of Kapparah, means atonement as well. This ritual usually happens on the day before Yom Kippur, at dawn.

If you’re unfamiliar about Yom Kippur, this primer will help you before you continue on:

chabad.org/library/articl…
Sep 25 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
Explaining and demystifying the antisemite’s favorite Jewish ritual (which is not actually a ritual):

Metzitzah b’Peh

A thread. Metzitzah b’Peh (MBP from now on) is Hebrew for ‘Oral Suction.’ It has been integral to the circumcision process since time immemorial.

It has become a common tool for antisemites to attack Judaism due to how admittedly puzzling the practice seems from the outside.
Sep 15 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
A lot of people don't understand why so many people are mourning Charlie Kirk, it had such an impact on so many people, and why it will have a long term effect.

It has very little to do with politics, or religion, and everything to do with humanity.

A short thread. I never watched a single Charlie Kirk debate prior to his death. I never watched him speak on any topic for any amount of time. I never read what he wrote. The most I knew of him were parts of clips here and there. Yet, his death really affected me.

I'm far from alone.
Aug 20 • 34 tweets • 7 min read
"The Talmud says that 3 yea-"

Let me stop you there. Not it doesn't.

A thread on the Bible, Talmud, and Jewish view of marriage and consent. First, we need to understand what exactly the Mishna and the Talmud are. They exist to discuss the Oral Torah; more specifically, their main raison d'etre is to discuss what are considered fringe cases in Jewish law.

What does that mean? Let's me give you an example:
Aug 6 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Do people who reject Kabbalah not understand how fringe their position is?

99%+ of Rabbanim have accepted its validity. From Maran Beit Yosef in the Shulchan Aruch to the Mishnah Berurah, Hassidim to Modern Orthodox, literally all of the Torah giants of the last thousand years. I just don’t understand the mentality of people who see that literally everyone has accepted the validity of the Arizal & the Zohar, and somehow think that they are the ones who cracked the code and figured out that Kabbalah is actually false and that they know better than them
Aug 4 • 30 tweets • 6 min read
The historicity, sanctity, and utility of the Western Wall is under attack.

In this first of three threads, I'll answer the question of whether it is a remnant of the Temple itself, a retaining wall of the Herodian Temple compound, a Roman Fort or later pagan temple.

A thread. Herod the Great, in order to endear itself to the Jewish masses and prop up legitimacy to his rule due to the (right) perception that he was a Roman client and puppet instead to rule Judea, decided to embark on a grandiose renovation and expansion project of the Second Temple.
Aug 1 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
A Jew has many souls. They all subdivide in multiple parts. So, are there two? Five? Seven? Twenty-five? Even more? Just one?

A short thread on very deep concepts. Sefer HaTanya, the cornerstone of Chabad Chassidut, opens by telling us that man is made up of two “nefesh,” (in English, often translated as souls but not quite) which are: Nefesh HaBahamit (the Animal Soul), and Nefesh HaElokit (the G-dly soul).

Both are made up multiple parts
Jul 30 • 56 tweets • 8 min read
Jews were never kicked out of 109 countries over 1030 times throughout history.

To debunk that meme, and go through the What, When and Why of it all, we might need at least 109 posts, however.

A historical thread. The truth is that we could simply begin by pointing out that those lists are not accurate. Not only do they usually duplicate countries (France is often listed 3+ times) but they also list cities/locales as nations (Mainz by itself instead as a country instead of city in Germany)
Jul 30 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
People who have never studied the subject, who are completely oblivious to the history of American-Israeli relations, are fine with jettisoning a relationship that has favored America far more than Israel due to their ignorance.

A short thread. General George Keegan was the head of the US Air Force Intelligence. He claimed that Israel gave to America more intelligence on the Soviets and their weapons than he would have received if he had five CIAs.

And that’s not all he said:
Jul 23 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
On the current discourse surrounding starvation in Gaza and how the pro-Israel crowd is doing more damage than good.

A thread. Here’s the thing: there is some starvation in Gaza. It is possible that some people are dying from hunger. Making fun of it as if it’s not happening is absolutely the wrong way to go about it.

This is horrible messaging & makes everyone in Israel and Jews overall look horrible.
Jul 22 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Are you in the habit of calling such brush fires in empty lots of unknown origin a desecration in front of G-d, terrorism, and a crime against humanity whose authors must be punished to the full extent of the law?

Very disappointing.

An apology would have gone a long way. Eating crow is never pleasant, but it salvages your reputation far more than to pretend that you weren’t wrong to begin with.

It would have shown a great example of morality to the world to simply admit you were taken in by false informations & should have waited for the facts.
Jul 20 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Debunking the idea that Israel is a haven for Jewish criminals fleeing justice in their own home countries.

A thread. Let’s start from the beginning: Israel passed its Extradition Law in 1954.

To extradite someone, it required:

1 - A valid extradition treaty/reciprocity with the other country
2 - It must be a crime in both countries
3 - Enough evidence for a ‘prima facie’ case (ie, evidence)
Jul 18 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
What Jeffrey Epstein did was absolutely monstrous. If he was in fact a Mossad agent, or working directly for the Mossad, that would deserve the highest condemnation.

However, if you think that’s the case, please explain to me how the following makes sense: 1) If he was spying for Israel and the goal was to amass blackmail on American politicians and important figures…

Why didn’t he spend time with American politicians and important figures? He was hanging out with rich people, political has been, and celebrities.
Jul 18 • 25 tweets • 6 min read
Let's debunk this once and for all:

No, the Yeshu of the Talmud is not who you think he is.

A thread. Image The truth is that there are far more lies being peddled against the Talmud than those two, most originating in the Middle-Age Disputations.

I'm not going to be debunking all of them; I will deal with the two most common, and either add to this thread or make a longer one later.
Jun 29 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
I think as a Jewish community we have to reflect that the reason why many Jews end up being radicalized against Israel has very little to do with the actions of the State as much as it’s a question of status, acceptance in social circles, and likes on social media.

And money. That’s not to say that there are no true believers, some people who had very little to do with Jewishness in the first place and embraced ideology, there’s no erev Rav, etc. I’m not discussing those people. That’s another discussion.

I’m talking about a different phenomenon.
May 30 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
If you’re confused as to why almost all anti-LGBT white supremacists are coming out in support of a left-wing homosexual Jewish man with two adopted boys, it’s because their only uniting principle is antisemitism. Everything else falls by the wayside.

But it goes deeper: Before turning journalist, Greenwald was the high profile attorney of Matthew Hale of the World Church of the Creator (white supremacist church) and the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organization. He even broke Illinois law in defending Hale and was barred from representing him.
May 26 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
You have been lied to: the palestinians do not want peace, and the war has barely affected their desire to keep fighting Israel, much less destroy it.

A thread with receipts: We are now almost 600 days since October 7th. We keep hearing about how Gaza has been turned into rubble, starvation is imminent, and a genocide is happening.

Yet 59% of them still believe that 10/07 was the right thing to do. That’s only a 13% drop since December 2023. Image
May 21 • 35 tweets • 9 min read
Here we go again

Another debunking of anti-Talmudic nonsense. 1. The Talmud instructs Jews to burn the gospels while it speaks positively of Islam

Neither are the gospels or the quran mentioned at all in the Talmud. Off the bat, this is false. Let's dive a bit deeper:

May 1 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
Jews believe Non-Jews don’t have souls? We seethe about Catholics Kings on a daily basis?

Debunking an inane rant from the most Mexican of white nationalists: There’s a lot to unpack but let’s make this clear:

The vast majority of Jews absolutely do not care about the CIK slogan. We do realize that it’s said in a childish way to try to get at us, but it doesn’t bother us anymore than someone saying to you Mohammed is the last prophet.
Apr 18 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Judaism says that if you are forced to worship idols, have forbidden relations, or to murder someone, you have to give up your life instead.

If you are told in public to break even a minor custom or halacha, such as tying your shoes the wrong way, you give up your life instead. We do not seek out martyrdom, but martyrdom was foisted upon us many times throughout history, and to die sanctifying G-d’s name is literally considered the holiest sacrifice you can do (the holiest thing you can do being to live for Torah, not die for it)
chabad.org/library/articl…
Apr 17 • 26 tweets • 5 min read
Orthodox Leaders were not only not mistaken to tell their congregations to stay in Europe prior to the Holocaust, but they were justified and right to say so.

A thread to put things in perspective. Now I understand that this seems like a very provocative statement to make, but I hope that by the end of me making the argument, you will realize that there was no other way.

I am assuming most who will read this are not Orthodox, and will make two preambles prior to it: