r/Jewish • u/aliska3434 Reform • 9d ago
Jewish Joy! 😊 Star Trek community didn't let me down
Edit: Someone was asking but I can't see their full comment - The trivia was in the same city AFTER the museum not at the museum. We booked it to attend to unwind AFTER.
Recently my family and I went to an Auschwitz showcase at our local museum. Knowing it would be heavy we booked ourselves a table at a Star Trek Trivia event. We wore our hostage pins and my brother and mother wore shirts with the word 'Shalom' on them. On the way to the trivia we got an email that its a costume event (obviously we had nothing with us) so I ran to the dollar store to pick up materials for some very very very creative and funny costumes (for Trekkies: 4 lights for my brother and 2 spoons one on each forehead of myself and my mother). Naturally I was super proud of our funny costume so I got a family pic and put it on a Trekkie facebook page. The response was amazing and a lot of people complimented not only our 'costumes' but our pins and shirts. The anti semitic comments that did occur (of which there were about 3 out of 100) got deleted very quickly by the mods and were not welcome by the community. First time in a long time I was not afraid to be visibly Jewish online. Thank you Trekkies!
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u/bh4th 9d ago
Which group was it? Back when I was still on Facebook, I had largely switched from Star Trek Wholesomeposting to Star Trek Jewposting because the former had become too hostile.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 9d ago
I am on both and it did get shared to Jewposting with my consent but this was originally on Shitposting
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u/Silamy 9d ago
I saw those, and I was cackling at the spoons. Currently watching DS9 with my partner who's never seen it.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 9d ago
I am so glad it made you crack up! We were cackling as we were taping them to each others foreheads too 🤣
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u/hot8brassballs 8d ago
Oooh, enjoy!! I wish I could watch it for the first time again. Where are you up to?
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u/Silamy 8d ago
Just about to start Way of the Warrior. My partner knows Worf shows up at some point and is getting increasingly eager for it.
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u/hot8brassballs 8d ago
Have a blast! The last two seasons are some of the best Trek out there. I wish I could say Worf acquits himself well, but his character does some Not Great things.
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u/Silamy 8d ago
Worf is worst dad. Sisko is best dad. The combination is very funny.
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u/hot8brassballs 8d ago
Sisko is the hug your dad gives you when you total the family car and he's just set fire to your driver's license. He smells like cinnamon rolls that are just the other side of spicy. He stays late at work because he knows there are people who depend on him but he always manages to cook dinner. And you never touch his peppers.
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u/hot8brassballs 8d ago
I'm pleased to hear of the good reception on Star Trek Shitposting! I once got a yelling at for comparing some cursed text to the Black Speech from LOTR. Anyhoo, excellent costumes!
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u/sludgebjorn 9d ago
Amazing to hear. The trek subs have been some of my only respites on the internet, not every posts comments getting taken over by everyone needing to give an opinion on Israel. Glad it’s the same irl 💙 live long and prosper! 🖖
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u/aliska3434 Reform 9d ago
Trek has been such a place of emotional and mental safety for me and likewise im so glad its not been stolen from us.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
Also Peace and long life 🖖!
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u/NoTopic4906 8d ago
Are you a Trekkie or a Cohen? Jk but I assume all Trekkies know that. And would that affect the antisemitism?
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u/blueeeyeddl 9d ago
As a lifelong Trekkie, this brings me such joy. (The costumes sound amazing btw, nicely played 😂)
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u/Coyangi 8d ago
That's beautiful, I'm so glad you had such a positive experience.
...This is making me want to get into Star Trek.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
Its the best thing you can do for yourself in these times, the stories , lessons and charechters speak to so much of our communities experience and the fandom is amazing. I strongly suggest starting with The Next Generation or Deep Space 9. TNG comes before DS9 so it helps to do it first but its not a requirement.
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u/Coyangi 8d ago
That's incredibly uplifting to hear. And thank you so much for the recommendation, I really appreciate that. I'd only seen parts of Voyager when I was growing up, and I wasn't sure where to start with the rest of the series. I'm excited to check it out now :)
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
It's on Canadian Netflix that I know for sure, personally I don't connect with voyager but my mum loves it. You can start there too!
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u/belfman 8d ago
You could also jump straight into Strange New Worlds and work your way back. It's great, and it's made with new viewers in mind, plus you get to share in the joy and the agony of watching new episodes with the rest of the fans as they come out. (Season 3 is on now, and the show will run for two more seasons).
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u/abriel1978 Progressive 8d ago
Considering the actors who played two of the biggest Star Trek characters of all time (Kirk and Spock) were/are Jewish, it's no surprise that Trekkies aren't going to jibe with antisemitism.
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u/FlakyPineapple2843 8d ago
Love this for you (and me, a fellow trekkie). With that said, the star trek reddit communities have been very hostile. The reddit community for my favorite show, DS9, is particularly bad. They all are utterly convinced Bajorans are a stand-in for Palestinians.
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u/Kingsdaughter613 Torah im Derekh Eretz 8d ago
Ironically, the creators are on record that the Bajorans are Israelis.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
I haven't dipped in there so thankfully ill keep out of it. It's sad to hear though and I am sorry.
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u/sludgebjorn 8d ago
I’m in the same subreddit. I don’t see that expressed much at all. It’s mostly meme posts. No space is completely “clean” but that sub is better than most of Reddit imo.
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u/ArtificialSatellites Conservative 8d ago
I've heard this and gotten into it with people about it before. DS9 is my favorite, too - I'm actually wearing one of my two DS9 t-shirts as I write this, lol. If I'm being honest, I think at least part of it comes from people being unable to put themselves in the time of the show - the conflict and rhetoric around it looked a bit different in the mid-90s vs. now - but also an unfamiliarity with the history of the conflict, and an immediate mental connection between Palestine and the word "occupation," as well as an immediate mental connection between Palestine and terrorism, the latter of which is... Well, I'll leave that to itself, but it's pretty unfortunate.
Regardless, it feels like a shallow reading to me. People are entitled to their interpretations and I can see why they read it this way but it doesn't resonate with me in that way. I've heard that the writers allegedly claimed they meant that to be the reading, and I've never seen the quotes people have referenced for this but even if that is the case, they didn't do a very good job of it imo. The Bajorans read as space Israelis to me more than Palestinians, which I realize is a very unpopular reading nowadays, but it's where I'm at.
The Cardassians have very little in common with Israel unless you believe an extremely skewed narrative about the conflict that has no basis in reality, which I guess explains something, too. Certain specific things are so clearly a metaphor for nazi Germany that it almost beats you over the head with it.
Another Israel-related DS9 opinion I've seen that's gained popularity is that Odo and the Founders/Dominion are an allegory for Zionism and I legitimately hate this one. Like, I get genuinely pissed off by this one. I have a (Jewish) friend who subscribes to this one and finds it really interesting and I have to change the subject when it comes up, I can't deal with this one, lmao. (Also again, if there's allegories for real life at play here, the Dominion seems much more obviously a metaphor for the Soviet Union?? Idk, that's just me.)
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
I got into this with my brother and we were debating the Palestinian read. I agree with you a lot of the modern read esp by younger folks is a total inability to consume media within its historical context, consume vocabulary within its historical context, and a lack of understanding of complex histories + a heavy dose of anti semitic narratives regarding Israelis and Jews. To my understanding Bajor and Cardassia are meant to explore the British occupation of Ireland and ask questions abut the IRA, its efficacy, its ethics and where people should be willing to draw the line for a cause. When I look at it through that lens it all adds up nicely not to mention it was writen during the troubles. As for Odo and the founders I never even stopped to consider what they were a metaphor for but that makes sense I am gonna mull that over for a while when I next re watch it - thankyou!
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u/tempuramores Eastern Ashkenazi 8d ago
The whole point about Bajor was that you could see them as Palestinians, Jews, First Nations/Native Americans, and probably other groups as well. I think this is actually Word of God. They were never supposed to be expies for any one group alone.
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u/dont_thr0w_me_away_ 8d ago
I saw that picture!
Infinite diversity in infinite combinations
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
Dang it really went around! Im so surprised people on here have seen it! ❤️🖖
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u/DinBeit 8d ago
Weird there would be antisemitism on a Trekkie site since at least 3 cast members i know of were Jewish. One of them even started his career at the Yiddish theater. So there’s that
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
Eh lots of different trek lots of starting points lots of opinions so its unsurprising. But what was surprising is how unwelcome antisemitism was on that specific page. I am used to getting a lot of shit for wearing a hostage pin - they didn't stand for it.
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u/Oni_Shinobi 8d ago
I think that you would have to be profoundly moronic to be a Trekkie and antisemitic or against Israel, given all the thinking and messaging in that franchise's writing.
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u/MovieENT1 8d ago
Kirk and Spock were both played by Jews too, hard to hate Jewish people and love the 2 core characters of the OG show
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u/ArtificialSatellites Conservative 8d ago
This is wonderful, I'm so glad to hear it! I'm a latecomer to Star Trek fandom but I'm glad I got here eventually.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
All are welcome!
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u/ElkGood1637 8d ago
As a Fandom, Star Trek was always at the front of welcoming everyone.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
I think because the stories are all about interfacing with true diversity and nuance.
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u/ElkGood1637 7d ago
All for the sake of a better and brighter tommarrow. Live long and prosper my friend.
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u/GeneralBid7234 8d ago
Baruch HaShem. If this were on Facebook I'd post a link to This Makes Me a Happy Jew.
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u/belfman 8d ago
I'm very glad to hear!
The trek subs seem to be ok overall, there was an absolutely exhausting and unfriendly shitposting community on FB but I've blocked them years ago. But there's always Jewposting and the Hebrew מסע בין כוכבים group for those who speak that language with all the guttural stops that isn't Klingon :)
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
Ah it was actually on shitpost that this happened so I am surprised! Maybe they shifted the mods?
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u/belfman 8d ago
It's possible. Used to be very bad. A lot of stale Gal Gadot/Dukat jokes.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
Ya that was one of the 3 antisemitic comments that got deleted but ya so far so calm
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u/Apprehensive-Cat-421 8d ago
I grew up watching TOS with my dad, he fed me trivia, including which actors were Jewish. Then Leonard Nimoy gave us Lights, when there weren't any Chanukah movies on TV then, and he made the film about Mel Mermelstein. I literally sobbed at Ben and Jerry's in front of my son when I got a news alert that Leonard Nimoy died.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
Oh god thats heartwrenching may you live long and prosper and cary on the legacy with your kiddo BH!
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u/Apprehensive-Cat-421 8d ago
And you as well!
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
we are running the treck legacy in reverse, first I got my brother into it, he got my mom into it, my mom got our holocaust survivor grandparents into it, i think at this point the next rank is the spirits of my ancestors lol (as none of us have kids)
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u/Apprehensive-Cat-421 8d ago
I rewatch the entire series and the movies back to back at least once a year. It was really an amazing show in context of when it was made, and an incredible cast for any time.
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
We re watch them every year as we inevitably bring some poor fresh soul onto the bridge of the USS Enterprise NCC1701D (right now its brothers partner for him, and for me my best friends little brother) and every single time I have rewatched DS9 and TNG (and now strange new worlds) I find myself noticing new relationships between the stories and my life experiences, or questions of values etc. Its a show you grow with and always can come back to for learning.
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u/SchnitzelEnjoyer94 8d ago
Jews to Star Trek are like bees to honey, we just can't get enough of the stuff!
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u/FrumyThe2nd 8d ago
What was the joke?
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
the costume itself was a gag referring to a famous line from a well known episode ( chain of command 'THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!') and the racial slur for space nazis (spoonheads)
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u/FlowerofBeitMaroun 8d ago
Hold on, a Star Trek trivia table at an Auschwitz event? Could someone please kindly tell me the connection I’m clearly missing?
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u/rupertalderson 7d ago
I think the Star Trek trivia event was *after* the Auschwitz showcase at the museum, at a different venue.
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u/tracystraussI 5d ago
It was easy to find the post, I went there to see and I love how the community was so welcoming and supportive! 🖤
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u/LGonthego Jewish atheist 8d ago
Trekker, not Trekkie. I'm grievously insulted /s
Also, I can't picture the costumes. Can I have an explanation or better yet, a photo?
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u/aliska3434 Reform 8d ago
lemme try sharing that properly this time https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=24472909805661773&set=gm.3876811569289814&idorvanity=1477972915840370
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u/LGonthego Jewish atheist 7d ago
Didn't remember the head design of Cardassians--now it makes sense, and cute picture!
Haven't watched in so long. Am I guessing right--there are 4 lights?
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u/aliska3434 Reform 7d ago
Thankyou! yeeeep! we had very very very short notice to put this together lol so we were counting on peoples imagination to cary the message
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u/YudayakaFromEarth 1d ago
My favorite TV show since childhood (I’m young I swear XD)
You don’t know my happiness in read your post. I’m pretty sure that Mr Nimoy is very proud of him fans.
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u/Familiar-Memory-943 9d ago
I saw this picture online but didn't see the context for it. This is great to hear!