Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 6d

Guess who guested on the latest @pjlibrary.org "Beyond the Bookcase" podcast? :)

"We had a chat with a real-life monster expert! Join Golem and producer Ali as they sit down with Jack Zaientz from JewishMonsterHunting.com"

It was super fun. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts.

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Reposted by Adne Sadeh

SelineSigil @selinesigil.bsky.social · 6d

The Tree of Knowledge (Ets ha-Da’at):magic spells from Jewish potion book.Journeys of the Written Word is a tiny little codex from 16C Italy.It has 125 magic spells for all sorts of purposes: curses, healing potions, love charms, amulets.
blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-af...

The Tree of Knowledge: magic spells from a Jewish potion book

A 16th-century collection of some 125 magic spells for all sorts of purposes: curses, healing potions, love charms, amulets.

blogs.bl.uk

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 7d

This is amazing

🎃Children of the Rokhl Korn🌽 @rokhl.bsky.social · 8d

If you've never heard the song, you're in for a treat youtu.be/UwL958ogSzg?...

Mene, Mene, Tekel

YouTube video by Harold Rome - Topic

youtu.be

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 8d

Read the story in context at www.sefaria.org/Daniel.5?lan...

Daniel 5

King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his thousand nobles, and in the presence of the thousand he drank...

www.sefaria.org

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 8d

But how was it written? "Steinsaltz noted "It is unclear whether these words appeared in the ancient Hebrew script, which is why Belshatzar…could not read them, or if they were written in some other script, or if they appeared as symbols, or in a particular order which only Daniel could decipher."

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 8d

MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN!

In Daniel 5, King Belshazzar is FREAKING OUT because a hand appears and writes some weird shit on the wall. So the prophet Daniel gets called to interpret. And yeah, it's a message saying "you suck and you dead." And that night Belshazzar died.

Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.blog · 10d

@adnesadeh.bsky.social

Cover of FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES Apr 1948. A green face of an old man with glowing yellow eyes arises from a red bottle, pointing out at the reader. A ghostly hand draws Hebrew letters on his forehead.

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Reposted by Adne Sadeh

פינחס יוסף מונד @pymundgenealogy.com · 8d

Remember the reason for the season!

Keep the Boo! in Hoyshane Raboo!

A scan of a woodcut depicting a man in 16th century dress holding a bunch of willow twigs (for ritual use on Hoshana Rabbah, the seventh day of Sukkot) under the crescent moon (with a face) facing a shadow form of himself, but headless - showing the folk belief that the night of Hoshana Rabbah predicts one's fate in the coming year, in one's moonlight shadow

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 9d

OH! LOL. You're totally right. I thought it was supposed to be actual Hebrew but it's stylized transliteration. Thanks!

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 9d

Here's the registration link www.templebethemeth.org/event/monste...

Monsters and Mulled Wine II - Event - Temple Beth Emeth

This HalloWeekend, join TBE in exploring things that go bump in the night. Resident Jewish monster expert Jack Zaientz is back, joined by a band of other spooky storytellers, with a new set of tales from our tradition about demons and magic. We will begin with havdalah, and there will be an indoor campfire, mulled wine, hot cider, and hors d'oeuvres. This event is great for adults and teens. Childcare will be provided on-site for younger children.

www.templebethemeth.org

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 9d

If you're local to Southeast Michigan, come to my Jewish monsters story telling at Temple Beth Emeth on Nov 1. I'll be telling stories supported by other storytellers from the congregation. Last year was a blast.

Poster for Monsters and Mulled Wine event at Temple Beth Emeth on November 1

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 9d

Oops. I meant November 1.

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 9d

I'm hosting a Jewish monster story telling on Nov 2 at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor. Starting to rehearse. Whew...I performed these stories 6 months ago but I'm mostly starting over to get them back.

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 9d

Huh. The description says Hebrew, but I don't think the illustrator knew any Hebrew. That's definitely not Hebrew in the cover art. Which story is this from?

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Reposted by Adne Sadeh

Oboista Alli @oboistaalli.bsky.social · 9d

Here's the link to purchase:
shop.ayinpress.org/products/tor...

The Torah in the Tarot Deck + Booklet (Preorder)

*PREORDER*Publication date: October 28th, 2025 A beautiful Tarot deck and booklet revealing the lost and forgotten Jewish origins of the Tarot—featuring a foreword by poet Ariana Reines.For hundreds o...

shop.ayinpress.org

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Reposted by Adne Sadeh

Miriam Anzovin @miriamanzovin.bsky.social · 9d

Shalom friends!
Did you know there are secret Jewish teachings hidden within the art of the #Tarot de Marseille cards, so that crypto-Jews could preserve knowledge of their traditions? Welcome to #JewishBookReactions: The Torah in the Tarot, by Stav Appel! ✨

youtu.be/EKuhg976Asg

Jewish Book Reactions: Torah in the Tarot by Stav Appel!

YouTube video by Miriam Anzovin

youtu.be

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Reposted by Adne Sadeh

Florence Ashley @floralashes.bsky.social · 14d

The Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva explains the shapes of all Hebrew letters. The explanations are cute and amusing, so allow me to share them:

Aleph א stands on two legs because it is the first letter of truth (אמת) and falsehoods have no leg to stand on. Its hand points to God, who is Truth.

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 15d

Hey Chabad folks, anyone have any connection to the “Lubavitch Archive” referred to in this photo of Rabbi Menachem Tzvi Rivkin? I’d like talk to them about permission to use the photo in a trading card that tells the story of his earring.

collive.com/the-top-hat-...

Two pictures of Rabbi Menachem Tzvi Rivkin

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 15d

Here's one version of the Kapparot text.

"Children of man who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, bound in misery and chains of iron --- He will bring them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and will sunder their bonds.…"

www.chabad.org/library/arti...

Text of Kapparot in Hebrew and English

At dawn or early in the morning before Yom Kippur, take a live chicken, fish or money which will then be given to charity and recite...

www.chabad.org

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 17d

Good question. No… that’s just a greeting. I’m not sure what would be said. I’ll see if I can find out.

Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 18d

G’mar chatima tovah means “a good final sealing.” It refers to the belief that our fates for the coming year are written on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur. Sometimes folks say "Gmar tov!" for short.

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 19d

G'mar chatima tovah!

Kapparot is a Yom Kippur atonement ritual where a chicken is passed over one’s head three times while reciting the appropriate text. The chicken (or it's value in $) is later donated to charity.

Lithography from Yeshiva University Museum. Late 19th / early 20th century

Lithography of a man holds fowl for Kapparot on Yom Kippur eve, late 19th / early 20th century, Yeshiva University Museum

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Reposted by Adne Sadeh

EZRA 🗝 ROSE @sheydgarden.bsky.social · 20d

Lucid: Sea of Dreams by @raphaelmfalk.bsky.social, & there's a few more i'm less familiar with here! itch.io/c/598389/the...

the jewish ttrpg collection - Collection by a. fell

A collection by a. fell

itch.io

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Reposted by Adne Sadeh

EZRA 🗝 ROSE @sheydgarden.bsky.social · 20d

for TTRPGS: Doikeyt Anthology (ed. @rileyrethal.bsky.social), Hanukkah Goblins & more by @hydroforge.itch.io; Beyond the Pale by @yochaigal.bsky.social; If I Were A Lich, Man by Lucian Kahn, Dream Apart by @benjaminrosenbaum.com, A Great Miracle Happened Here by @esther-alter.bsky.social

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 20d

Thanks!

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Adne Sadeh @adnesadeh.bsky.social · 21d

My Jewish Monster and Magic trading cards in the wild at Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland OR. My buddy Meg is a rad teacher and introduced the students to the cards. They loved them! Woot!

Photograph of students looking at Jewish monster and magic trading cards on a school table

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