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Oy, Revolt! Channukah and the Story of the First Punks by Joedah Maccabi

November 25, 2013 by Patrick Beaulier

oy revolt! cover photo

Hello all, sorry about the delay in writing but I’ve been quite busy with university. So without further ado, let’s get to my theory of Jews being the first punks.

If we look at all the various cultures that Judaism has encountered throughout its history, Pagan, Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman, 21st century secularism. Yet throughout it all, Jews, for the most part. resisted any changes or demands.

Unless it was Halakhah (Jewish Law) or was necessary for their survival and continuation, it was simply rejected and the tribe rolled on.

So how does this fit in with Chanukah? The Maccabees were a group of Jews, that could see that Hellenistic culture was attempting to “socially airbrush” Jewish culture out of existence.

This social airbrushing would have made sense as a war tactic, because given the fact that this was a people that had made it past so many adversaries they knew that oppression and combat alone wouldn’t have won.

Instead, they combined oppressive laws such as the forbidding of Jewish worship and keeping kosher under penalty of death, with the second option of assimilation as a Greek citizen, thus giving the Jews an ultimatum: to end 1000’s of years of practice and tradition and risking their life, in return for a relatively comfortable existence.

But, just as many Jews had done throughout the history, the Maccabees said no and rebelled against this. The reason they did this is because they knew long before the Magna Carta and long before the declaration of human rights, that the right for future generations to be different was something that couldn’t just be discarded.

So to everyone on Punk Torah I say, keep being different, be proud of being different and keep fighting to be different!

Chanukah Sameach/happy Chanukah !

Filed Under: Chanukah, Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants, Shabbat & Holidays Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, joedah maccabi, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, StuckInArk

No Blood No bones: why for me, vegetarianism is the best way to keep kosher

July 25, 2013 by Patrick Beaulier

 

lisa-simpson-vegetarian

I am writing this a week after accidently consuming a vegetarian stir-fry that mistakenly had oyster sauce in it. As a result of this I became ill over the next few days as my body tried to rid itself of the foreign body it had encountered, the less said about that the better.

Let me remove that mental picture, with an altogether better one, one of a world where food is plentiful. One of a world where both animal and man live peacefully and at last there is no need to suffer or lack, and where man feels no need to fight against those that have because he doesn’t suffer or lack and has just as much as him.

Ah, it sounds like Isaiah’s vision doesn’t it, or communist literature, or a quote from Bill Hicks – either way G-d wants us to bring the world just that little bit closer to the description I’ve provided above in our own way.

In this article I intend to show how we can try and bring the world that bit closer, just by the food we eat.

So just how does vegetarianism fit into all of this? Well let me lay down four key points:

1. The grain and water used to feed and quench animals each year in this world could feed and quench the third world.

2. Type 2 diabetes, allergies, weight gain, zits, difficulty with mobility, a significantly higher risk of food poisoning and the fact that non kosher meat and even horsemeat has been found in some meat products in the UK and Europe. Plus whatever that animal ingests, you too ingest via its bloodstream, yeah – not a nice thought at all and even though kosher meat minimizes there could be a slight chance.

3. Why should a living being be killed just to provide sustenance that can be gained already? A vegetable is an edible chemical plant that turns its food into our food via photosynthesis.

4. The first two human beings on earth were vegetarian. Meat eating was an emergency measure to keep humanity alive and healthy, no emergency now though and if it was good enough for them it’s good enough for us.

I believe that vegetarianism, not only helps Jews who have no kosher facilities in their area or in their countries even (Switzerland and Norway being prime examples). But it also serves as a reminder of our commitment to faith, g-d and the wider world, sort of like an edible forget-me-not.

To those who eat meat or don’t keep kosher at all, remember what I said at the start, G-d wants us to bring the world a little bit closer to his vision in our own way. If this is not the way you want to go, no sweat, but make sure to find your own, but if you’ve been considering do this my best advice is give it a shot, there is nothing to lose and possibly a lot to be gained.

Stay healthy, Stay wise, Stay torah,

Stuckinark

Filed Under: Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, StuckInArk, vegan, vegetarian

Cap or Keppel: Fear of a Jewish convert in a small town

July 17, 2013 by Patrick Beaulier

cap or keppel graphic

I practiced my Hebrew on Shabbat, as I waited with my yarmulke on the desk I was waiting for it to dry after I washed it carefully ready for synagogue next Friday.

As I learned intensely my mum took the Keppel away and put it on the washing line, at that moment a sudden fear gripped me as the patio door shut, alarm bells rang as my mind raced in panic thinking “WHAT IF THE NEIGHBOURS SEE?”

You see, being a convert in a non-Jewish family in a working class, blue collar non-Jewish town I was very fearful especially as my neighbours are for one nosey and two are very non diplomatic: not a good combination I think you’ll agree.

It is this fear that made me hide from everybody who knew me, way back when, even my parents didn’t know I was Jewish and I even had to sneak away to synagogue one week saying I had gone to a “study club”.
Fast forward to now and most of my family know and are incredibly kind and accepting, with my parents buying me vegetarian food (as kosher food is not available in my town). However the community at large does not know about my change in faith.

This is due to the negative attitudes of a considerable minority towards difference in my town. Even though there are some incredibly good, kind and friendly people, I believe it would not be wise and would be bringing trouble to me and my family’s door if people outside of my support network of friends and family members knew about this, hence why I type using my pseudonym on PunkTorah.

There is a Dutch film about the subject of hidden identity amongst young modern Jewry (Cap or Keppel) after which this article title is named, as I can speak Dutch I view a lot of Dutch TV and viewed it online. The story revolves around a young Jewish boy called Bram who lives in Amsterdam and feels he has to hides his Jewish identity because of his fear of discrimination from his classmates. However there is one place Bram feels he can express his identity: The Amsterdam Arena, home of real life football team Ajax, the Amsterdam football team is associated with Judaism much in the same way Tottenham is in England, fans chant “SuperJoden” or “Super Jews”.

Instead of his yarmulke or Keppel as it is known Bram wears his Ajax baseball cap outside of shul, the film ends with him finally accepting this Identity saying “Ik ben Bram, Ik ben wie ik ben” (I am Bram, I am what I am.)

In the film we see the character go full cycle from a fearful child hiding his identity to making a very brave choice to step out and show who he is. Thinking about this I silently meditate and pray for the day when I and other converts can be like Bram and not be afraid to be who we are, as I grow in confidence I go even further past caring what others think, but there are still time when fear grips me and the need to hide raises its ugly, ugly head.

P.S: That being said converts should bear in mind they should only tell others when they feel it is appropriate to do so, if you are struggling with identity issues please discuss this with a trusted friend, family member and/or contact Punktorah

Filed Under: Converting To Judaism, Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, StuckInArk

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