{"id":5325,"date":"2025-06-01T19:33:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T19:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.takemeon.org\/dir\/?p=5325"},"modified":"2025-06-03T01:45:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T01:45:23","slug":"shavuot-and-anti-indigenous-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.takemeon.org\/dir\/2025\/06\/01\/shavuot-and-anti-indigenous-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"Shavuot and Anti-Indigenous Racism!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is vitally important for an Indigenous people such as the Jewish people, who are continuously being targeted for terrorist attacks and genocides, to stay focused on our Jewish indigenous teachings and lifeways. So, in the spirit of such atrocious targeting of our Jewish people these last two weeks, we begin with Shavuot and other native Jewish teachings, then address the targeted antisemitic acts that also occured during this time of Jewish festivals and teachings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rabbi<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shavuot \ud83c\udf3e\ud83c\udf49\ud83c\udf4c\ud83c\udf47 is a very ancient Jewish indigenous festival. For 3,325 years, Jews have come together as a Jewish people and as an Israeli nation on the 6th of the lunar month of Sivan to celebrate the harvesting of bikkurim, the \u201cfirst fruits\u201d of wheat and summer fruits. In ancient times, Jews made pilgrimage to the beit ha\u2019mikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem. Today, we Jews make pilgrimage to our native synagogue, community house for teaching and rituals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shavuot serves a dual purpose for the Jewish people of\/from our Canaan land of Israel. Not only is it a celebration of the first fruits of the agricultural season \ud83c\udf3e\ud83c\udf49\ud83c\udf4c\ud83c\udf47\ud83c\udf51\ud83c\udf48\ud83c\udf4d (not all native Israeli fruits are available as an emoji) upon the land of Israel, but Shavuot is also a special day of celebration that marks our Jewish people\u2019s receiving of the Torah. The Torah is the covenantal pact \u2013 \u201cvassal treaty\u201d \u2013 that was made between the Jewish people and our Canaan land\u2019s national god-King, Y-HWH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, we Jews stay up all night on Shavuot \ud83c\udf3e\ud83c\udf49\ud83c\udf4c\ud83c\udf47 \u2013 burning the all night candles \u2013 studying Torah, which is our Jewish people\u2019s sacred ancestral writings. And Jews of all types join together in making Shavuot and listening to the long wail of the shofar! From chiloni (\u201csecular\u201d, \u201catheist\u201d, \u201chumanist\u201d) to masorti (\u201ccultural\u201d ethno-religious) to dati (Rabbinic religious), we Jews partake in the mitzvah \u2013 obligation \u2013 to participate in the agrarian ethno-religious festivals of our native people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Note, just like with the native Mesopotamian fishnet shemagh \ud83e\uddd5\ud83c\udffc, kufiyah\/keffiyeh, Jews were wearing our sudra version of SWA headdress AND tithing watermelons \ud83c\udf49 at the Temple in Jerusalem 600 years before the invention of Islam in the Arabian south, and 1,919 years before the pan-Arab nationalist \u201cPalestinians\u201d \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 arrived to appropriate BOTH the fishnet kufiya \ud83e\uddd5\ud83c\udffc and the watermelon \ud83c\udf49 \u2013 in order to GASLIGHT the ENTIRE world that they are somehow the \u201cindigenous\u201d people of our sacred Canaan of Israel for having colonized, who are somehow being oppressed by our Jewish people\u2019s resistance \ud83d\udd4e\ud83e\udeac\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udf3f\u270a\ud83c\udffc to their settler Colonialism and terrorisms upon our native people\u2019s and our sacred lands. Note, no fishnet shemagh is available as an emoji, hence the closet resemblance \ud83e\uddd5\ud83c\udffc.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOW, because Shavuot \ud83c\udf3e\ud83c\udf49\ud83c\udf4c\ud83c\udf47 is an Indigenous holiday devoted to LEARNING about our Jewish people\u2019s Indigenous lifeways, let us jumpstart these teachings for our Jewish festival day that begins this evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this, we would like to honor Rabbi Ari Fuld z\u201dl, who was murdered on September 16, 2018 by an Arab \u201cPalestinian\u201d \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 terrorist, while standing in the parking lot of the Ramy Levi supermarket in Gush Etzion \u2013 for simply being a native Jew upon his ancestors\u2019 sacred Canaan land of Israel! Rabbi Ari Fuld returned to Israel on his own in 1991, where he studied at Yeshivat ha\u2019Kotel in the Old City of Jerusalem. Ari enlisted in the IDF\u2019s Golani Brigades, further joined an elite Paratrooper unit for his Miluim and served as a cornerstone in Efrat\u2019s counter-terrorist unit, AND who also achieved Semicha (rabbinic ordination) and taught in numerous Yeshivas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following is Rabbi Ari Fuld\u2019s d\u2019var Torah, \u201cwords of Torah\u201d teaching, for Shavuot \ud83c\udf3e\ud83c\udf49\ud83c\udf4c\ud83c\udf47 on May 12, 2017:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is an indigenous people? It\u2019s not about people who were [physically] born in a certain place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was born in America, but I am not an indigenous American. Indigenous Americans are the Native Americans, the Indians. I was a Jewish American, I was a Jew living in America, my nation is not \u201cAmerican\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I say I am indigenous to the land of Israel it doesn\u2019t mean I was born here. It means that my whole religion, history, laws and culture are dependent upon the Land of Israel. All our holidays are centered around the Land of Israel. All our prayers are centered around the Land of Israel. We pray towards Jerusalem. There is not another nation or religion in the world who sees Jerusalem as its only religious city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire Jewish religion has to do with the Land of Israel, and Jerusalem in particular. Our culture, our blessings, our prayers, our traditions, everything is about the Land of Israel. We cannot do this anywhere else. By definition, we are the people of this Land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an aside, the UN [the United Nations \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf3 of Arab-European Colonial nations \u262a\ufe0f\u271d\ufe0f\u262d] has a definition of indigenous people, and we Jews met that definition. So what did the UN do? They added two more clauses. One clause is that an indigenous people must be living under another people. Do you see how ridiculous that is? If an indigenous people actually win back their land, they are no longer indigenous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the UN will do what they do. Maybe that\u2019s their job, to keep keep us in check. To remind us that, now that we have come back to the Land of Israel, we have a responsibility to know how to act in the Land of Israel. If we don\u2019t, there are powers around us that are going to try to kick us out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So instead of worrying about the world and what they think about us [Jews and Israelis \ud83d\udd4e\ud83e\udeac\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udf3f\u270a\ud83c\udffc], let\u2019s start to worry about what we should be doing here in the Land of Israel and how we should be acting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What responsibilities should we be keeping up? What are we doing here? Who are we? And [how do we] realize the need to take care of ourselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chag Sameach. \u2026 Signing off from the beautiful hills of Judea, Israel\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link to full d\u2019var \u2013 https:\/\/arifuld.org\/2020\/05\/25\/ari-fuld-on-shavuot-on-the-indigenous-people-of-israel-and-why-there-is-a-shofar-on-yom-kippur-and-shavuot\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tikkun Leil Shavuot: A central custom of the Jewish wheat harvest festival of Shavuot involves staying up ALL night studying Torah on the first night of the festival, a practice rooted in the Zohar, said to rectify the Israelites\u2019 oversleeping before the giving of the Torah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u05e9\u05d1\u05ea \u05e9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd \u05d5\u05d7\u05d2 \u05e9\u05d1\u05d5\u05e2\u05d5\u05ea \u05e9\u05de\u05d7!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ruth<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chag shavuot sameach! Toda Rabbi Ysoscher Katz for this teaching!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRuth is a religious rebel, perhaps our first female OTD heroine. (Avraham is the first male.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to forge her own identity, she abandons her faith, her family and her community. Her journey isn\u2019t linear. At first, she\u2019s rejected, reviled and despised, but she heroically forges ahead, determined to create something new and revolutionary. Ultimately she triumphs, creating for herself an identity that\u2019s in consonance with her existential beliefs, and her personal desires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of her story her journey becomes the community\u2019s journey, and that very thing which the community disparaged, (her relationship with Boaz) becomes the source of their own relief and redemption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chazal (Bava Batra 14) call Ruth a composer. They say that the name Ruth means one who entertains God with her musical compositions. Like many a new song, it initially sounds discordant and unintelligible. Eventually, it becomes the hymn of a generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many Ruths in our midst today. We perhaps haven\u2019t identified them yet, but as time goes by we will. While we will initially be resistant, eventually we will come around, swayed by the beauty of their song and the esthetic of their melody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chag shavuot samaiach!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Behar<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Parshat Bechukotai we are introduced to the Hebrew word keri. G\u2011d warns the Jewish people that, \u201cIf you \u2026 behave towards me with keri, I will behave towards you with a fury of keri.\u201d In the entire Torah, the word appears only seven times \u2013 all seven are in this specific section. We\u2019re being given a crucial message, not to act with keri. What is keri?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can understand the idea of keri through a simple human experience. Suppose someone bought you a bouquet of flowers. In one scenario, the giver just puts the flowers on your kitchen table and walks away. In a different scenario, the giver enthusiastically presents the flowers to you, personally, accompanied by a heartfelt note of sincere gratitude. Which scenario would you prefer? Which is more indicative of a close relationship?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seriously, it DOESN\u2019T matter whether you believe that \u201cGod\u201d exists or not. The fundamental reality is that we NEFESH, \u201cliving breathing-creatures\u201d are the sentient-ly AWARE creatures (of all species kinds) upon our SHARED planet Earth \ud83c\udf0d\ud83c\udf0e. In all our capacities to perceive, we seek \u201cto be more sensitized\u201d to this world around us. That requires having a relationship with life as a whole. For our very survival!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, \u201cmy\u201d dogs and cats understand a good and healthy relationship with their human nefesh, despite being inherently \u201cat odds\u201d with other species for inherent survival. Yes, I \u2013 the dominant nefesh \u2013 must \u201cmanhandle\u201d them down, at times, and remind them of consequences, and this is why they give me \u201clovings\u201d for both my tough love and my heartfelt need to PROVIDE for them and their survival!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just because we Human primate species made the sudden (in universal time) leap to the top of the food and social chain of life, does NOT mean that we are above being divine-ly (universally) \u201cmanhandled\u201d into our place in this world \ud83c\udf0d\ud83c\udf0e of Creation (evolution, whatever). We need our \u201cgod\u201d, too, just like our pets who depend upon us! The worst thing in life is to be a \u201cgod\u201d without AWARENESS!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my dogs and cats behave towards me keri, I respond with \u201ca fury of keri\u201d! In love, of course. No harm intended \u2013 just education. Unfortunately, for us humans, the very life of the universe itself is our teacher (top of the food and social chain). So, \u201cgod\u201d is less merciful to us humans, because we SHOULD be more aware than our fellow species of planet Earth \ud83c\udf0d\ud83c\udf0e! Just a Jewish shabbat rambling here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about our native Jewish people of\/from the Canaan land of Israel! \u2013 https:\/\/www.chabad.org\/parshah\/article_cdo\/aid\/5941648\/jewish\/A-Mirror-Relationship-As-Man-Acts-G-d-Reacts.htm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel Forever Foundation shared, \u201cAs we go into another Shabbat, we carry the weight of a difficult week for Am Yisrael\u2014rising antisemitism, dangerous blood libels, and the tragic murder of two diplomats in the heart of Washington D.C. And yet, we continue. We light candles. We sing songs. We read the timeless words of our 3,000-year-old Torah, the same traditions our people have kept through every exile and every trial. That is our strength. That is our pride. Am Yisrael Chai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shabbat Shalom. #ShabbatShalom #AmYisraelChai #JewishPride #IsraelStrong #TorahEternal \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n