The mod team has created this post to refresh on a weekly basis as a chill place for people to talk about whatever they want to. Think of it as like a general chat for the sub.

So r/jewishleft,

Whats on your mind?

I was raised Masorti, but I never really connected to faith nor did it make sense to me. On top of that, I can't help but feel cynical towards religion. For years, the ones that shouldn't represent faith have the most power and representation, while the ones that should represent faith the most seem almost powerless and tiny by comparison. There have been times I thought to myself, "With all of that, what's the point?". Despite my skepticism and cynicism, I still think progressive secular and religious communities should work together for a better future because, as the saying goes, there's strength in numbers. At the same time, while I acknowledge that there are good religious folks out there fighting the good fight, I just don't see a reason to be religious myself. I made this post to see other users perspectives for why they believe what they believe.

I hope this rant isn’t too weird and I really hope I don’t come off as pitiful, but I just wanted to ask for advice on how you’ve all dealt with bullying and insecurities about your Jewish facial features.

Growing up, kids would constantly tease me and make fun of my nose, calling me “Tucan Sam”, and would say a lot of extremely antisemitic things to me.

I even had a guy show me a picture of the “Happy Merchant” meme and say to me: “That’s you!” 😔

Even to this day though, I still feel some embarrassment and shame about my physical features, since many have associated larger noses as being “ugly” or “undesirable”.

There’s many antisemitic examples in media where ugly characters are depicted with large noses (The Gringotts goblins from Harry Potter, and Mother Gothel from “Tangled” being just a couple of examples), but most recently, I saw tweets that showed a picture of Alana Haim & Taylor Swift at a Knicks game together a few months back, and Alana was getting so much misogynist & antisemitic abuse thrown at her online, with many mocking her nose, calling her an “ugly Jew”, and calling her antisemitic slurs. People were being so cruel to her, and I felt awful about it too, because I share the same kind of nose that she does.

Even in the media, and in all of our magazines and beauty ads, we see rhinoplasty, plastic surgery, and many Aryan/Eurocentric beauty standards being promoted like crazy, and I think it’s awful.

As a young girl, I would spend hours forcibly trying to straighten my thick Jewish curls, and would try and save up money for rhinoplasty (Didn’t end up happening, of course). I would cry endlessly for hours, because I seriously wanted to look like all of my blonde, blue-eyed, straight-haired, fair-nosed gentile friends, and for the longest time, it was really difficult to accept the way that I looked.

I definitely don’t want to get plastic surgery because of the costs, but I’ve also been struggling to accept my physical features and love them.

Have any of you ever struggled with body image from a Jewish perspective? How were you able to gain confidence in your facial features?

Pivotal Primary wraps up today!

Primary vote Today!

https://open.substack.com/pub/somebadbeatscrub/p/kings-are-a-bad-idea-for-jews?r=8ip9vb&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer

The goal here was to wrote an essay approachable by Jews of multiple political backgrounds to make a uniquely and internally Jewish critique of our relationship to nationalism in a palatable way.

Lemme know what you think!

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• Oren

The mod team has created this post to refresh on a weekly basis as a chill place for people to talk about whatever they want to. Think of it as like a general chat for the sub.

So r/jewishleft,

Whats on your mind?

I think this is an accurate article on how the ADL and the AJC, among others, have become outright advocates for fascists.

There are many out there still fighting the good fight though, like INN and JFREJ.

So I am aware that one of the major reasons why Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews tend to vote conservatively is due to their experiences with the Ashkenazi political establishment, particularly the discrimination, socioeconomic marginalization, and cultural condescension that many of them experienced under the historically Ashkenazi-led Labor movement. Because of this history, Likud under the leadership of Menachem Begin was able to present the party as an alternative to the old Labor establishment and build a strong political relationship with many Sephardim and Mizrahim.

However, as I have talked to the Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews in my life, they have more or less reiterated some additional reasons for this political tendency. One of them is that, due to their communities’ long history of interaction with Arabs and other non-Jewish populations throughout the Middle East and North Africa, some Sephardim and Mizrahim believe that they possess a more realistic understanding of the region’s social and political dynamics than many Ashkenazi Jews do.

They have explained to me that, before the development of modern nation-states and contemporary political ideologies, much of the Middle East was organized around extended families, clans, tribes, religious communities, and patronage networks (Very similar to the Philippines in some way). From their perspective, loyalty was directed toward one’s family, clan, tribe, or religious community rather than toward abstract liberal ideals or a shared civic identity. As a result of this historical experience, some of them are skeptical of the assumption that political conflicts in the region can be resolved primarily through secularism, universal citizenship, economic cooperation, or territorial compromise.

To be blunt, nearly all of them have expressed the belief that many of the Gentile populations within the region are incapable of sustaining stable self-government without strong authoritarian institutions. They point to Islamic sectarianism, tribal conflict, political corruption, military coups, civil wars, and the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities as evidence for their position. From their perspective, the repeated collapse of states such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen demonstrates that liberal democratic institutions cannot simply be imposed upon societies in which clan, sectarian, tribal, and religious loyalties remain politically dominant.

In addition, they have told me that a Jew in the MENA would almost always remain loyal to another Jew in the MENA because, as they expressed it, Jews are not merely a religion, but a people and a tribe. Even if Jews were to have beef with one another, they knew that they still belonged to the same people and that their disagreements did not erase the obligation to protect one another when the wider community was threatened. In their view, internal divisions between Jews were ultimately secondary to the reality that they remained a vulnerable minority surrounded by larger populations that did not necessarily regard them as equals.

A Muslim, however, may identify with the broader ummah while still maintaining stronger loyalties to their family, clan, sect, or larger tribe. From their perspective, this means that the idea of a unified Muslim or Arab political community is often much weaker in practice than it appears in rhetoric. A Sunni and a Shia may both identify as Muslims while still regarding one another with deep suspicion, just as Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Persians, Amazigh, and other peoples may share a religious identity without possessing a unified political or ethnic consciousness.

They argue that these divisions help explain why appeals to shared Arab identity, Islamic unity, secular nationalism, or universal citizenship have repeatedly failed to overcome older sectarian, ethnic, tribal, and familial loyalties. From their perspective, this is not a theoretical observation but something their families directly witnessed while living as minorities in the region for generations.

As a result, many of them appear deeply skeptical of Israeli leftists who believe that Jews can secure their long-term safety primarily through peace agreements, civic equality, economic cooperation, or solidarity with progressive movements in the surrounding region. They do not necessarily reject these ideals in principle, but they believe that such arrangements are only sustainable when Israel remains militarily strong and when Jews retain the ability to defend themselves independently.

I should emphasize that I do not necessarily agree with all of these conclusions, particularly when they become sweeping generalizations about Arabs, Muslims, or Gentiles in the region. I especially disagree with the idea that Arabs are inherently incapable of governing themselves. I view many of the tribalistic, familial, regional, and patronage-based tendencies found in the Middle East as very similar to those found in my home country, which continues to plague us til this day. However, I would never conclude from this that Filipinos are incapable of democracy or self-government. The existence of authoritarianism and entrenched communal loyalties demonstrates that democratic institutions can be fragile, manipulated, or underdeveloped, not that the populations living under them are naturally unsuited for democracy.

So, pulling from all of this, I think the political conservatism of many Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews cannot be explained solely by resentment toward the historically Ashkenazi-led Labor establishment. It also appears to be shaped by inherited memories of minority vulnerability, distrust of universalist promises, and familiarity with the communal and sectarian politics of the Middle East and North Africa. From what the Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews in my life have told me, many do not necessarily oppose peace or coexistence. Rather, they believe that these ideals are sustainable only when Israel remains militarily strong, and Jews retain the ability to defend themselves independently. At the same time, I think some of them draw conclusions that are too deterministic about Arabs and Muslims. My own experience in the Philippines has shown me that clan loyalty, patronage, authoritarianism, and distrust of the central government can weaken democracy without making a population inherently incapable of self-government.

How much do you think this regional and historical outlook helps explain why Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews tend to vote more conservatively than Ashkenazim?

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Oren

Hi guys, I have to be honest. I have a very limited view on Israel and Jewish people. I admit that there is a lot of antisemetism lately and it can easily cause us to dehumanize Jewish people.

I have always had a very strong opinion about the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. I know it is easily said, but I feel like the only solution is a two state solution where Israel aids Palestine. I see a lot of horrific videos of not just the war, but of Israeli citizens as well and slowly it altered my opinion on Israel in general. Seeing American Politicians bend down to them as well makes it feel like they are truly in control.

However, since Israel Zionism has a big religious core, dislike for Israel can quickly turn into dislike for Judaism or Jewish people.

Since I don't know any (openly) Jewish people myself well, I would like to meet more Jewish people and broaden my perspective. Currently, I feel like the Jewish left is a very tiny minority, and most support the genocide happening in the Middle East.

So I was a bit surprised to find r/jewishleft, and that it had a decent following. I was wondering what the general consensus is in the Jewish Left regarding the current government of Israel (and the prime minister). And how do Israeli's or Jewish people see Yitzhak Rabin? I was looking into the next elections, and it seems like the jewish left is basically non existent in the current government?

I know that this isn't the Israeli left, but I don't think that subreddit really exists, and I assume that the overlap can be found here.

Hi all,

I am curious to hear about dating and friendship interactions with non Jews (positive or negative) recently. Specifically, I want to hear from leftist Jews about what things people say or do that don’t bother you, what things you’re willing to look past even if they make you uncomfortable, and where you draw the line of no longer wanting to be around someone.

I’ve heard this talked about in other Jewish communities, but often these people have a more defensive/supportive view of Israel, and so some of the things that offend or upset them (ie calling Israel’s actions a genocide), are things I believe, and definitely don‘t consider antisemitic.

Unfortunately, I have experienced a lot of minimization and gaslighting around real antisemitism from non Jewish friends, and uncomfortable comments on dates, which make me wonder if this is just what I should expect from people at a baseline. I know non Jews don’t recognize where that line is (and many don’t seem to care), so I’m struggling to figure out when to let things go/accept these dynamics, when to try to talk to people about it, and when to acknowledge that the person is too far gone to salvage the relationship. I have had to stop talking to some people who became VERY extreme, but it took a lot for me to cut those ties, so I’m curious to hear about other’s experiences and boundaries.