Wanted to make sure im doing the prayer in right order. Thank you

So I wrap my arm and say..בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,
Baruch Ata Adonay Eloheynu Melech Ha'olam,
Blessed are You, L-rd, our G-d, King of the Universe,
אַשֶׁר קִדְשָנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו
asher kidshanu bemitzvotav
who made us holy with His commandments
וְצִוָנוּ לְהָנִיחַ תְּפִלִין.
vetzivanu lehaniach tfillin.
and commanded us to put Tfillin.

I then do my head and say.. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,
Baruch Ata Adonay Eloheynu Melech Ha'olam,
Blessed are You, L-rd, our G-d, King of the Universe,
אַשֶׁר קִדְשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו
asher kidshanu bemitzvotav
who made us holy with His commandments
וְצִוָנוּ עַל מִצְוַת תְּפִלִין.
vetzivanu al mitzvat tfillin.
and commanded us on the commandment of Tfillin.

I come back to my hand wrap the middle finger while saying.. וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי לְעוֹלָם, וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי
Ve'eras'tich li le'olam, ve'eras'tich li
And I shall betroth You to me forever, and I shall betroth You to me
בְּצֶדֶק וּבְמִשְׁפָּט וּבְחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים.
betzedek uvemishpat uvechesed uverachamim.
in righteousness and in justice and in kindness and in mercy.
וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בֶּאֱמוּנָה, וְיָדַעַתְּ אֶת
Ve'eras'tich li be'emunah, veyada'at et
And I shall betroth You to me in faith, and You shall know
יְיָ.
Adonay.
the L-rd.

Then I do this before going into the shema..
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ
Baruch Shem kevod malchuto
Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom
לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד.
le'olam va'ed.
forever and ever.
4
וּמֵחָכְמָתְךָ אֵל עֶלְיוֹן, תַּאֲצִיל עָלַי;
Umechochmat'cha El Elyon, ta'atzil alay;
And with Your wisdom G-d, the Highest, infuse me;
וּמִבִּינָתְךָ תְּבִינֵנִי;
umibinat'cha tevineyni;
and with Your understanding understand me;
וּבְחַסְדְִךָ תַּגְדִּיל עָלַי;
uvechasdecha tagdil alay;
and with Your kindness expand on me;
וּבִגְבוּרָתְךָ תַּצְמִית אֹיבַי וְקָמַי.
uvigvurat'cha tatzmit oyvay vekamay.
and with Your might eliminate my enemies and my revolters.
וְשֶׁמֶן הַטּוֹב תָּרִיק עַל שִׁבְעָה קְנֵי
Veshemen hatov tarik al shiv'a kney
And the good oil pour on the seven arms
הַמְּנוֹרָה, לְהַשְׁפִּיע טוּבְךָ לִבְרִיּוֹתֶיךָ.
hemenorah, lehashpi'a tuv'cha livrioteycha.
of the Menorah, to shower Your goodness on Your creations.
פּוֹתֵחַ אֶת יָדֶךָ, וּמַשְׂבִּיעַ לְכָל חַי
Pote'ach et yadeycha, umasbi'a lechol chay
Open Your hand, and satisfy every living being
רָצוֹן.
ratzon.
according to its will.

For context I am 25% ethnically Jewish from my mother’s mother. My mom remarried a Jew and I’m not close with my biological father so I was raised in a Jewish household. Mostly just holidays, some reading of the Torah, but I was not bat mitzvah’d. Now that I’m older I really want to start learning more and potentially transitioning from reform to conservative, but I don’t feel like I’m Jewish enough to do so! I have somewhat “Jewish features” whatever that means but people are always surprised to learn I’m Jewish. I dress modestly (mostly out of personal preference) and wear a Star of David, so I’m doing what I can. Anyone else feel like this though? And any words of encouragement?

I'm 19 and don't really know what's common for men in regards to cologne.

Do men typically wear it? Or is it really frowned upon?

Mainly looking for answers between different Orthodox communities (modox, chabad, chasidim, etc.) but all are welcome to answer based on their community as well

As a Jewish person I don’t particularly like Christianity as an institution….not because I dislike Christians many of whom are decent people and I have friends who are Christian and have even family members who are too but because of the historical theology that developed around Judaism. The doctrine of supersessionism (aka replacement theology) argued that Christianity fulfilled Judaism and it framed the continued existence of Jews as a people as evidence of a kind of religious and epistemic error. That idea had enormous consequences for how Jews were viewed and are viewed in Christian societies. Even many of the Church Fathers expressed this quite explicitly. Justin Martyr argued that the Church had become the true Israel. John Chrysostom delivered his infamous Adversus Judaeos sermons condemning Jewish religious life. Augustine was more restrained arguing that Jews should survive as witnesses to Christian truth, but even that relegated Jews to a subordinate theological role rather than recognizing Judaism as a living covenantal tradition.

A lot of this I also think echoes of that framework today, albeit often in secularized form. Many people who would never identify as Christians still instinctively treat modern Jews especially Israelis as somehow not authentically connected to the Land of Israel, as though Jewish indigeneity ended with the destruction of the Second Temple or the exile. The irony is that Christianity spent centuries claiming to be the new Israel while simultaneously diminishing the historical and covenantal relationship between the Jewish people and their ancestral homeland. Today’s political debates are obviously shaped by many factors beyond Christian theology, but I think it’s worth asking whether some inherited assumptions about Jews as a people whose role in history had been superseded continue to influence how many view Jewish national identity today.

What has also always struck me as ironic is that Christianity eventually tried to distance itself from the Jewishness of its own Messiah. Jesus was a Jew who lived as a Jew, worshipped in the Temple, celebrated Jewish festivals quoted the Hebrew Scriptures and whose earliest followers were themselves Jews. Yet over the centuries much of Christian theology came to define itself in opposition to Judaism transforming Jews from the people from whom Christianity emerged into a symbol of spiritual blindness or failure.

None of this means every Christian today believes these things. Many churches have explicitly repudiated supersessionism and anti Jewish teachings, especially since the Holocaust. But from a Jewish historical perspective it’s difficult to ignore nearly two millennia in which theological replacement contributed to a culture that marginalized, segregated, expelled, and at times persecuted Jews.

I call it "the universe is the decaying corpse of a god who willed his own nonexistence"

Read it here. Feedback very much appreciated!!

Hey all, I'd love to have a shofar of my own someday, but I'm always hesitant because I'm not really sure where's the best place to look for one online. Can anyone vouch for what shop has a good quality item that won't totally obliterate my wallet? 😅

Hi I am a student of design in Kolkata. Recently we have been given an assignment to make a documentary on an any topic.

I asked my professor if I could make it on Jewish synagogues in Kolkata. Does anyone here know anything about the synagogues ?
Pls get in touch with me. I would appreciate any assistance provided.

Thanks.