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is anyone jewish / read hebrew?
- Thread starter BP
- Start date
The character on the outside appears to be ש shin (pronounced similarly to 'sheen'). On the mezuzah, it likely stands in for Shaddai, a common Hebrew divine name for God.
You are holding it upside down. I have rotated it for you :) One way you can tell is that the ש character is rightside up.
I cannot read Hebrew. However, using Google translate's image translate suggests to me that it recites from the Torah book of Devarim (its counterpart for Christians is Deuteronomy), 6:4-15.
Sourced here from chabad.org. The link provides the full chapter and commentary as well.
Here is the translation from Google translate. There are many similarities but some differences. A Hebrew reader may know more.
Apologies if I made any mistakes.
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Adeleine a friend of mine used AI to do this and found it translated to something incredibly different.
***To Lina,***
Never forget the endless love you are surrounded by.
Your smile, your laugh, your light has touched so many lives, including ours.
You are strong, you are brave, and you are never alone.
Even in the darkest moments, you are loved beyond measure.
We hope this letter reminds you of the beauty you bring into the world,
and the joy you share with everyone around you.
Keep shining, keep fighting, and know we are always here with you—
in spirit, in love, and in hope.
With all our hearts,
Signature unclear
"This isn’t Hebrew, isn’t Ashuri script, and isn’t from Sefer Devarim. Torah scrolls are written in a square Hebrew script with no vowels or punctuation, right-to-left on parchment in justified columns. This? It looks more like Daedric from Skyrim."
Ftr im waiting for my girlfriend's friend to come back with pizza and ask her what the previous tenants name was. She passed away in the apartment and was an old women who was definitely Jewish as her calender is from her local congregation.
***To Lina,***
Never forget the endless love you are surrounded by.
Your smile, your laugh, your light has touched so many lives, including ours.
You are strong, you are brave, and you are never alone.
Even in the darkest moments, you are loved beyond measure.
We hope this letter reminds you of the beauty you bring into the world,
and the joy you share with everyone around you.
Keep shining, keep fighting, and know we are always here with you—
in spirit, in love, and in hope.
With all our hearts,
Signature unclear
"This isn’t Hebrew, isn’t Ashuri script, and isn’t from Sefer Devarim. Torah scrolls are written in a square Hebrew script with no vowels or punctuation, right-to-left on parchment in justified columns. This? It looks more like Daedric from Skyrim."
Ftr im waiting for my girlfriend's friend to come back with pizza and ask her what the previous tenants name was. She passed away in the apartment and was an old women who was definitely Jewish as her calender is from her local congregation.
this is a mezuzah and the text translation is super consistent in orthodox jewish spaces.
Hi, resident Orthodox Jew here! (thank you for the tag Bughouse I can finally put this to good use LOL)
As others have said, that’s a Mezuzah, something which is put on all the doorways of Jewish homes in order to act as a “sign” or a reminder of one’s commitment to their faith and tradition. The text here that one finds in a Mezuzah is a part of the prayer/verses known as the “Shema” which loosely translates to “listen” and comes from the first word of this text itself.
The prayer here for those interested is split into three main sections:
1) The statement of “Shema” (starting with the first large letter and ending with the other large letter) which is all about reaffirming faith and one of the most important lines in Judaism. It comes from the end of Genesis where the brothers sit with their father Jacob on his death bed and they say this line to comfort him when he seems concerned with their faith and their future. Jews have traditionally said this line when about to pass away as one last declaration of faith for thousands of years now and we say it multiple times a day in prayer as well. In short, a very powerful and moving line to us Jews with a lot of history behind it.
2) The traditional first paragraph of the Shema derived from a collection of verses in Deuteronomy and which starts right after the big letter. In that paragraph from the Torah (the og name for the 5 Books of Moses), it outlines that one should put a reminder on their doorway to show their relationship with God and Judaism alongside a few other things. Our first source for a Mezuzah which is why it’s included inside here as part of that same “reminder”.
3) Starting from the next chunk of text, the second traditional paragraph in the Shema is added here for the same reasons as above. It’s a second source about putting a reminder on one’s doorpost. Not added here is the third traditional paragraph for this prayer because it doesn’t have a reference to this doorpost reminder.
I hope this gives a brief and easy to understand, but thorough, overview of what’s going on here! If possible, it would mean a lot if you could find a way to drop that off at a local Chabad or something. Besides that it’s a holy document to us and not something that we throw out, I can tell from case itself and from the situation you’re describing that it probably came from a local Chabad who gave it to a traditional but not so religious Jew who then forgot to return it LOL. If you’re willing to go the extra step with it and need help lmk I’ll happily help you set that up. Oh and it’s being held upside down as others have said :)
Also, if anyone has any questions about Judaism, Jews, etc etc, PLEASE dm me. Stories and Bughouse will attest that being a religious Jew on this site is like half my personality and I love literally nothing more than sharing about who we are, what we do, and why. Zero questions are off limits, even if you think it’ll be controversial or stupid. Seriously, dm me on discord (I’m all over the NU discord but I can’t remember my tag rn) or I guess ask in this thread. Also if there are any other religious Jewish smogonites out there, hit me up as well because right now I feel like I’m the only one on the site :sob:
As others have said, that’s a Mezuzah, something which is put on all the doorways of Jewish homes in order to act as a “sign” or a reminder of one’s commitment to their faith and tradition. The text here that one finds in a Mezuzah is a part of the prayer/verses known as the “Shema” which loosely translates to “listen” and comes from the first word of this text itself.
The prayer here for those interested is split into three main sections:
1) The statement of “Shema” (starting with the first large letter and ending with the other large letter) which is all about reaffirming faith and one of the most important lines in Judaism. It comes from the end of Genesis where the brothers sit with their father Jacob on his death bed and they say this line to comfort him when he seems concerned with their faith and their future. Jews have traditionally said this line when about to pass away as one last declaration of faith for thousands of years now and we say it multiple times a day in prayer as well. In short, a very powerful and moving line to us Jews with a lot of history behind it.
2) The traditional first paragraph of the Shema derived from a collection of verses in Deuteronomy and which starts right after the big letter. In that paragraph from the Torah (the og name for the 5 Books of Moses), it outlines that one should put a reminder on their doorway to show their relationship with God and Judaism alongside a few other things. Our first source for a Mezuzah which is why it’s included inside here as part of that same “reminder”.
3) Starting from the next chunk of text, the second traditional paragraph in the Shema is added here for the same reasons as above. It’s a second source about putting a reminder on one’s doorpost. Not added here is the third traditional paragraph for this prayer because it doesn’t have a reference to this doorpost reminder.
I hope this gives a brief and easy to understand, but thorough, overview of what’s going on here! If possible, it would mean a lot if you could find a way to drop that off at a local Chabad or something. Besides that it’s a holy document to us and not something that we throw out, I can tell from case itself and from the situation you’re describing that it probably came from a local Chabad who gave it to a traditional but not so religious Jew who then forgot to return it LOL. If you’re willing to go the extra step with it and need help lmk I’ll happily help you set that up. Oh and it’s being held upside down as others have said :)
Also, if anyone has any questions about Judaism, Jews, etc etc, PLEASE dm me. Stories and Bughouse will attest that being a religious Jew on this site is like half my personality and I love literally nothing more than sharing about who we are, what we do, and why. Zero questions are off limits, even if you think it’ll be controversial or stupid. Seriously, dm me on discord (I’m all over the NU discord but I can’t remember my tag rn) or I guess ask in this thread. Also if there are any other religious Jewish smogonites out there, hit me up as well because right now I feel like I’m the only one on the site :sob:
I don't mean any offense by this, but "is anyone jewish" is one of the most sus names for a thread I've seen.
Nope. Hope this helps!
she didn't forget to return it she just died in the apartment lol
I love a good SincerePost :)
Thanks for sharing! It's always nice to see the Internet being used for good lol, this was very insightful and a good resolution to the thread
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