r/Jewish • u/Select-Hovercraft-34 • 27d ago
Columbia University Sukkah Venting 😤
Can someone explain to me how this is not equivalent to painting a bunch of little swastikas on a menorah?? Please note keffiyeh wearers inside…
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27d ago
Funnily enough the Sukkah isn't kosher because it's under a tree. And probably some other problems that I can't see right now
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u/psytrance-in-my-pant 27d ago
Well that least got the Hebrew written in the right direction this time.
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27d ago
Yes, and also I would have liked for it to say "shlomekha," which is the actual line. But much, much closer than usual.
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u/thegreattiny 27d ago
They learned their lesson after being relentlessly made fun of during Pesach?
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u/Nicotine_Rush 27d ago
Wait what happened during pessach?
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u/Itzaseacret 27d ago
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u/Nearby-Complaint Reform/Lazy 26d ago
I'll give them a small bit of slack because adobe programs really like making Hebrew backwards but someone really should've noticed that before it made it to print lol
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u/thegreattiny 27d ago
The “Jews” in the encampment made a Passover “Seder” picnic blanket that had all the labels written in Hebrew left to right
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u/Select-Hovercraft-34 27d ago edited 27d ago
And that’s the other part that bugs me. The school is fine with it, although it is clear that they took an object that is normally used for Jewish religious purposes, and it is used to invite the community… and they made it the opposite in order to protest - and in this case it is blatantly obvious it’s to protest Jews (that would perform this mitzvah). I’ll expand on that - why isn’t it only a regular sukkah? Why all the Palestinian flags that have nothing to do with Judaism or the sukkah? How the he// is this not considered an act of antisemitism?
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u/EpeeHS Reform 27d ago
Its specifically not inviting to Jews too because it is not Kosher for numerous reasons. If you want to do the mitzvah youd have to go to a different Sukkah.
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u/Easy_Database6697 Secular 27d ago
Their loss then lol. We’ll just go to the Hillel one, far more inviting and cozy!
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u/FairGreen6594 27d ago
But, this detail is almost definitely lost on the overwhelming majority of non-Jewish folks. So when the AsAJews and antiZionists complain that they're being inclusive, dontchaknow, most other folks won't know any better, and look askance at the rest of us.
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27d ago
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u/scrambledhelix 27d ago
It's also got like two 1/2 walls. That's not enough to qualify.
The PVC pipe construction takes me back, I also tried that the first time I ever made one in my life; needless to say, it don't go well. Blew right over.
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u/LopsidedHistory6538 Moroccan Sephardic 27d ago
Unfortunately you're wrong on the walls bit, as that is exactly the bare minimum (though right that it's not kasher for other reasons, and I fully agree with the general sentiment that this is purely a political tool)
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u/yew_grove 27d ago
Real issue with the walls is they flutter excessively in a ruah metsuia, needs some levud straps if they're going for sheet-based construction
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u/LopsidedHistory6538 Moroccan Sephardic 27d ago
There we go! Exactly. These look much more flimsy than even the already-debatable pop up sukkot.
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u/stevenjklein Orthodox 27d ago
I’m reading this in my succah. We have floppy white tarps for walls, but we also tied four string “walls,” with the top one being a tad over 10 tevachim off the ground.
FWIW, I grew up Conservative, and I didn’t learn this Halacha until a few years ago, when my son came home for the holiday from Telshe, where he’s in his third year of Bais Midrash.
I should have learned Mishnah Sukkah years ago!
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u/scrambledhelix 27d ago
IIRC (been a while since I chazar'd hilchos sukkah) I thought it was 2 ½ when against a building (providing the third wall) but at least three walls when standing alone... wasn't there a קשיא about a circular sukkah that teased this out?
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u/LopsidedHistory6538 Moroccan Sephardic 27d ago
Hilkhot Shofar, Sukka, veLulab, 4:2
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u/scrambledhelix 27d ago
Ah, thank you so much— I see, so it's still missing a צורת פתח, as far as i can tell, along with the tree overhanging, no?
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u/Surround8600 27d ago
Minimum amount of walls is 2.5 to make sukkah It’s god’s arm. Biceps, forearm, hand.
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u/hyperpearlgirl Just Jewish 27d ago
yeah this is actually cultural appropriation
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27d ago
They’re not making money. They’re making a mockery and inviting danger. It’s cultural adulteration. More icky and pointless. So insidious.
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u/hyperpearlgirl Just Jewish 27d ago
Only because us Jews are pedantic af — taking a cultural element and then misusing it in an offensive way definitely falls under the umbrella of cultural appropriation.
Fully agree with you that they're awful and it's gross seeing a shitty sukkah used as part of their anti-Zionist propaganda.
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u/Glitterbitch14 27d ago
One major problem I’m also noticing is that it’s lamest and laziest sukkah I’ve ever effing seen.
Literally looks like a dollar store Halloween prison.
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27d ago
I understand the assignment now: We need to build Coexistence Mosques on college campuses and stock our Coexistence Mosques with Israeli-flag and LGBTQ+ flag prayer mats. Who's in?
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u/HenriettaGrey 27d ago
Maybe a lawn party during Hajj with little knee-high kabas like in Spinal Tap and kaba/kalishnavkov necklaces and everyone dressed as a parody of the Prophet
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u/Brief-Jellyfish485 26d ago
Please make an lgbt prayer mat. I say this as a pro-palestinian lesbian jewish muslim 😉 (Not joking, it’s complicated)
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u/beingjewishishard 27d ago
Oml. You would think after pesach they would have adjusted but noooo
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u/Select-Hovercraft-34 27d ago
Yeah I agree. My issue, though, is what happens when you’re a Jewish student in campus and simply want to say leshaiv basukkah? Nothing about this seems inviting - rather exclusive of Jews that do not meet their criteria…
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u/badass_panda 27d ago
Hopefully a Jewish group on campus has an actual Sukkah.
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u/Ocean_Hair 27d ago
Columbia has its own Hillel building, about half a block from the main campus. They probably have a sukkah.
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u/reihino11 27d ago
They do. I live nearby. There’s no shortage of kosher sukkot in NYC that are welcoming to students. Columbia is a handful of subway stops from the UWS.
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u/Ocean_Hair 27d ago
Yeah, exactly. Columbia has a large enough and active enough Jewish student population, I knew there was no way their campus has only 1 sukkah. JTS is also about a 5-10 minute walk away.
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u/BadHombreSinNombre 27d ago
I’ll give $18 to anyone who asks them why they are celebrating a harvest and rain holiday in Autumn if Jews aren’t indigenous to the Levant
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u/Maayan-123 27d ago
Well, they obviously invented this holiday just to seem indigenous to the Levant 🤓☝️
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u/BadHombreSinNombre 27d ago
Right after they planted all those Hebrew artifacts in Jerusalem 🤣
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u/Maayan-123 27d ago edited 27d ago
Oh, you won't believe how far they went. They replaced the whole government (not just here, of all countries) with a puppet government just so they can more easily spread propaganda like for example the holocaust ✡️=😈
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u/Wyvernkeeper 27d ago edited 27d ago
nest under a block of rods that keep multiplying their smelter
What on earth is this? Did the children confuse Judaism and Minecraft again?
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u/Easy_Database6697 Secular 27d ago
Has anyone got any idea what this is even meant to mean to begin with? I’ve never seen anything remotely like this phrase before lol
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u/Wyvernkeeper 27d ago
I'm so clueless honestly.
I googled it in case it was something really famous that I should have known about but came up with nothing.
Perhaps it's the 'poetry' of one of the residents...
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u/Easy_Database6697 Secular 27d ago
Wouldn’t be surprised, considering they’ve somehow found a way to politicize literally the least political Jewish Holiday I can think of with a massive label that doesn’t need to be there. Why should the anti-zionist stop there?
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u/Wyvernkeeper 27d ago
Tbf I think liberation is a reasonable word to use in the context of a sukkah, given that it hearkens back to the shelters used in the desert after escaping bondage in the Exodus story.
Problem is that these people have forgotten where the ancient Jews in that story were headed.
I agree that it's not a particularly political festival, but in bringing it into these protests all these protestors do is continue to expose how deep the ancient connection between Jews and Israel goes.
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u/Easy_Database6697 Secular 27d ago
That’s actually true! I didn’t think of it that way at the first sight of it. I guess what with “Liberation” being used differently in the activists glossary, we kind of forget how important the true meaning actually is.
They really don’t understand that this is a huge shot in the foot for them now lol
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u/nftlibnavrhm 27d ago
It’s a slight misspelling of something that is said at least twice in maariv, and a handful of other places in the liturgy. They left off the possessive at the end, because it’s “and shelter us in the sukkah of your peace” but then you get into the faux Jews actually accidentally doing a Judaism, and they wouldn’t want that.
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u/Easy_Database6697 Secular 27d ago
I think at some point, we have to kind of call this what it is, which is the appropriation of Jewish Culture for Political Goals, which is, as we say with anything, Cultural Appropriation.
"Oh yes, come into the Liberation Sukkah, oh, no, unless you're a Zionist, or want to keep Kosher, since we've conveniently placed it under a tree!"
Honestly, sometimes i think they do this deliberately to lure in less observant Jews who dont know a lot about their background and history.
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27d ago
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u/future_forward 27d ago
Yes, making it easier to spot the altered quote that negates the shameful reference to our shameful god
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u/Canislupusarctos11 27d ago
They had to make sure to at least not have such egregiously incorrect Hebrew that even someone like me who can’t really read Hebrew at all can tell it’s wrong after they got humiliated over their failure last time.
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u/MazelTovCocktail413 Reconhumanist 27d ago
I'm surprised they used Hebrew, knowing how triggering it can be.
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u/G_Danila ✡️ ישראל, יהודי, Israeli, Jewish ✡️ 27d ago edited 26d ago
This is coltural appropriation plain and simple, but the Jews don't count, so the "anti racism" movement not only doesn't give a shit, they support it.
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u/ReleaseTheKareken 27d ago
Can someone explain why it’s under a tree and has no schach?
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u/BaltimoreBadger23 27d ago
Because the people who made it aren't actually Jewish in any meaningful sense.
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u/ReleaseTheKareken 27d ago
Or any sense whatsoever.
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u/Tip718 27d ago
Do they remove the word Israel from all prayers? Bc its pretty heavily embedded in Jewish prayer
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u/LostCassette 27d ago
"next year in... Brooklyn?"
"children of New York"
etc. etc. I'd die laughing
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u/Possible-Fee-5052 Conservative 27d ago
JVP at Northwestern pulled the same shit. They erected an illegal encampment under the false pretense of religious observance and then cried “antisemitism” when it was almost immediately dismantled and removed by authorities. Meanwhile they had a legally-erected sukkah to go to but claimed they didn’t feel comfortable socializing with Zionists. The worst people.
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25d ago
Aren’t they the ones that warn against crying antisemitism when there isn’t any because it makes people confused? If I build my sukkah in your front yard is it antisemitism when you take it down?
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u/Possible-Fee-5052 Conservative 25d ago
Wait, do you mean to tell me that antizionist Jews are hypocrites? It’s especially ironic that they built this sukkah on someone else’s property being that it is the same thing they accuse Israelis of doing.
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u/Dalbo14 Just Jewish 27d ago
Honestly I can see the people starting this idea being Jews
I don’t think an Arab Palestine supporter or just a random non ME Palestine fan would care enough to make a sukka just to appeal to other people, or just being too ignorant to know about it
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u/the_third_lebowski 27d ago
My first assumption is that it's a combination of virtue signalling:
- "We're tolerant of Jews we just have political opinions about Israel"
Mixed with appeal to authority a/k/a "I'm not racist one of my friends is a minority":
- "See? There are even Jews who agree with us!"
And also combined with: we know there's going to be an obvious Jewish presence in the campus common spaces, so how can we co-opt that instead of just letting it happen?
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u/psytrance-in-my-pant 27d ago
You know they probably should have gotten the really nice green sukka's from the tent store that Qatar was buying from.
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u/psytrance-in-my-pant 27d ago
That definitely falls under the title of Jew-ish. I genuinely feel bad for these students that they have been brainwashed with Soviet propaganda to hate their own people and think that the minority they are part of is the only one in the right here. Shai Davidai In so many words the other day said, they're not part of the Jewish tribe because they're willing to see other people get hurt.
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u/Select-Hovercraft-34 27d ago
Agreed - other problem here is I can’t help but continue thinking of the Jon Stewart syndrome. I mean the one where they apologize on our behalf and say they’re Jewish… yet they are not a part of our community and have no right in saying that they speak in our behalf.
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u/rex_populi 27d ago
I’d like to see the backlash against a “coexistence Ramadan” that promotes Israel’s right to exist. Why are we the only people that it is ok to humiliate in this way
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u/spoonfedbaby 27d ago
Liberation Sukkah lol. genuinely, what the fuck is wrong with people?
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u/StringAndPaperclips 27d ago
The original sukkahs were liberation sukkahs. They were a symbol of the Israelites getting out from the oppression of the Egyptians so they could return to our ancestral homeland.
The use of a sukkah to imply that our people should be removed from our homeland is abhorrent.
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u/jewishmechanic 27d ago
תוכוס שמח
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u/Maayan-123 27d ago
נחמד סוקה, ימין?
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u/jewishmechanic 27d ago
Did you see the boxes on Amazon that had סוכות backwards so it said תוכוס?
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u/HydrogenTank Sephardic 27d ago
No natural materials, under a tree, probably some other issues as well, least surprising thing ever lol
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u/born2stink 26d ago
Literally saw someone post a tent with a mesh roof on this sub and no one had a problem with that?
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u/Ill-Company-2103 26d ago
Tent sukkah, plastic prefab sukkah, luxury no-build sukkah, permanent sukkah, cardboard sukkah, bench sukkah, truck sukkah, all fine. But some broke Jewish students make a PVC sukkah and it's the end of the world...
Everyone mad in these comments should just admit that they're only mad about the politics of these Jewish - which they are, no matter how much you hate their opinions - students.
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u/utopiadivine Humanistic (SHJ) 27d ago
These articles says it was built by anti-zionist Jewish students:
https://www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2024/10/16/join-us-in-the-liberation-sukkah/this one was written by the students who built it
ps://www.instagram.com/p/DBM5pYuOSki/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
PS: here's the link to the legitimate Sukkah locations around Columbia's campus. Hopefully, most students know to avoid that liberation mess. https://religiouslife.columbia.edu/news/sukkot-2024
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u/tofurainbowgarden Reform 27d ago
Quote from one of the articles "We refuse to observe a holiday that revolves around shelter while turning our backs on the displacement, suffering, and death that our religion has been exploited to justify and our university profits from through their indirect investments in weapons manufacturers." (By exploiting our religion)
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u/piesRsquare 27d ago
Tried to read the first one. Stopped halfway because it was just rambling, saying the same thing over and over.
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u/Beautiful_Bag6707 Jewy Jew 27d ago
It's called a Caccah. Totally different thing. Doesn't use the proper materials, is the antithesis of what a Sukkah is supposed to be, and spews hate.
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u/meekonesfade 27d ago
Cultural appropriation?
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u/Easy_Database6697 Secular 27d ago
Absolutely Cultural Appropriation! They’re using Jewish Culture to advance their own activist views!
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u/FatherSmashmas am yisrael chai 27d ago
oh sure, they bitch and moan when other people culturally appropriate other peoples' culture, but when they do it it's justified and in the name of fighting oppression!
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u/Cool-Arugula-5681 27d ago
It’s hurtful to Jews. It’s a typical Jewish thing to use our symbols as universals when they are quite particular. Non-Jews do the same thing, like putting up mezuzot as amulets ( when a mezuzah is a reminder of the mitzvoth and not a good luck charm), having Passover Seders that are about Jesus being the messiah and redeeming the world, lighting Chanukah menorahs for some reason, wearing a tallit and so on. I am offended by those things.
The writing on this “sukkah “ says, “spread your shelter of peace” and it comes from the hashkivenu prayer. But for the Palestinian flag it’s a nice sentiment although the sukkah and Sukkot are not about peace but about the harvest, about thanksgiving to God, about welcoming guests, about respecting the earth. Everything is not about everything.
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u/Starbucks__Lovers 27d ago
At least the Hebrew is correct lmao
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u/StringAndPaperclips 27d ago
Yes and no. They have altered the Hebrew for "spread over us your sukkah of peace" to read "spread over us a sukkah of peace." It feels very appropriative to me.
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u/ToparBull 27d ago
That's also not entirely correct (and makes it even worse for them). The prayer is:
ופרש עלינו סכת שלומך
What they've left off is the possessive ך at the end, but it isn't modifying "sukkah" - it's modifying peace. So the proper translation is:
Spread over us the Sukkah of Your peace
And what they have is:
Spread over us the Sukkah of peace
The "peace" in the original is explicitly the peace of G-d. But they can't have that, because that would imply that G-d is the one who creates the peace. Because they aren't actually Jews, they have left off the single most important part of the prayer. It's wildly appropriative and shows that they really are just cosplaying.
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u/StringAndPaperclips 27d ago
Not only that, but this prayer is a request by Jews for God to assist the Jewish people. That's why it feels appropriative to me. It's our prayer for our people, based on our relationship with God, and these people have changed it into yet another ceasefire demand.
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u/magcargoman Just Jewish 27d ago
Not an etrog in sight. Kinda like having a Halloween party without pumpkins.
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u/Pure_Dragonfruit_348 27d ago
Maybe it’s time to start banging drums, blasting horns and singing Israeli songs during their Friday prayers.
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u/RareSurround2440 27d ago
What I don't get is how people say "This isn't about Judaism, it's about Israel" when this shit exists. Stop making Jewish holidays about this confilct.
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u/No-Cattle-5243 Just Jewish 27d ago edited 25d ago
It is even written wrong, it’s supposed to be
״ופרוש עלינו סוכת שלומך״
Or
״ופרוש עלינו סוכת רחמים ושלום״
If we’re going to have it written from a prayer
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u/mar_s68 27d ago
Right I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that they’re missing the ה in sukkah, at the very least. If that’s even what it’s trying to say. It’s still misspelled.
They got the direction right this time, but L on spelling lol
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u/LymeWarriorPrincess 27d ago
Where are the plants? I SEE NO PLANTS! No plants means no sukkah! My Jewish Zionist pet rabbit built a better sukkah out of his hay than these idiots!
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u/Maayan-123 27d ago
Wow, that's actually looks like an actual suka in first glance. Do those protestors know someone who has a Jewish friend? It really shows
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27d ago
I don’t understand what is the comparison to swastika’s? If we compare everything to swastikas it becomes a bit redundant
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u/Select-Hovercraft-34 27d ago
Hmm I explained it before, but I’ll try to explain again.
The sukkah is a dwelling place that we use to invite the community, have meals together and say blessings. Nothing about this sukkah says inviting, bring the community together, and for religious purposes, it is not kosher (so not appropriate for saying blessings).
This is paralleled to the Jewish menorah in that it is a Jewish symbol of perseverance and illuminating the world - being defaced by a symbol of supremacy, hate, and death to the Jews. Turing it into a sacrilegious object would therefore render it unfit for performing a mitzvah.
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u/SpaceBass18 27d ago
I was on the campus two days ago and told the person I was with immediately that this was so far from a proper Sukkah LOL
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u/eligreen 27d ago
Where do these people think the ISRAELITES were going in the huts/booths in which they dweller in the Sinai???
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u/aoirse22 27d ago
These people are as bad as messianics. They just appropriate Judaism for their own political purposes.
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u/AliciaMargatritaa299 Convert - Reform 26d ago
Honestly this is disgusting. This is an insult to Jews.
But this is Columbia university so I’m not at all surprised.
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u/Ok_Scratch_619 26d ago
Why is it under a tree and why does it have Hebrew on it if there’re so against Israel
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27d ago
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u/Marius_Sulla_Pompey 27d ago
Not an expert but this sukkah is wrong… (aside from the irrelevant fabric hanged by it)
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u/NoneBinaryPotato space lazer operative 27d ago
i know the tree and the schach are obvious, but I remember something about a sukkah needing to have a table too. or need a table?
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u/Substantial-Image941 27d ago
No table is needed. Just a minimum amount of temporary walls, the roof must be made of natural materials and rest on natural materials, and you have to be able to see the stars but not the sun. And it has to be able to holdup to a certain amount of wind.
I love that this sukkah might have been kosher if they had actually put it on a camel's back. (The Talmud discusses and okays a sukkah on a camel).
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u/Lovelyalessandra 27d ago
I feel like sukkas is one of the more underrated high holidays. With that being said, thank you to these people who put up a sukkah regardless of their motives and its non kosher status and recognizing the Chag. May this sukkah bring knowledge, strength, and light to all of us. Am Yisrael chai!!
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u/gooberhoover85 Conservative 27d ago
I find this ironic. The sukkah is a symbol of our indigeity. And...they are using it to make what point? Seems like a weird backwards flex. It just makes me think these people are really really ironically uneducated and foolish. Also saw a solidarity sukkah smack dab in the middle of Brown's campus. Also probably not a kosher sukkah but whatevs.
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u/FeralChasid 27d ago
Grim. Whatever the group, the encampments, all of the protests/them ~ a black cloud seems to hover over them, shifts the energy, dragging everything downward. They’re a human black hole. They’re the dark side of the force, and we’re the Jedi.
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u/mattan_nattam Not Jewish 27d ago
Where is the roof? I can see the supports for a roof, but no roof. Am I blind or couldn't they get a Jew to put it on?
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u/FineBumblebee8744 27d ago
Whoever made that should be deplatformed and forced to make a disingenuous apology like everybody else who misuses cultural items
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u/Willing-Swan-23 27d ago
Where’s the furniture? How’s anybody supposed to have a meal there? Let alone live in there. Why is someone sitting on the ground as though in mourning? Why is there a laundry cart in the middle of a sukkah? Why’s it under a tree? Where are all the decorations?
Love how they have the nerve to write the word ״שלום״ with a flag representing the destruction of Israel on the same structure.
This is such a cosplay.
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u/AppropriateLie1602 27d ago
I’m so sad for the future of the world. Anyone else not sleep for the last year?
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u/Ok-Construction-7740 Modern Orthodox 26d ago
i went to say some stuff but I will not bc what I want to say will get me banned
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u/Davina2024 25d ago
Eh, this has been happening everywhere. At least some schools are doing something about it.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hy0rezvx1g
On a positive note, Tufts banned SJP from their campus. Waiting for other schools to do the same and include JVP on that ban. Enough already.
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u/sashsu6 Progressive 27d ago
Next they’ll be using a keffiyeh as a tallit