Rachel
@rachelneedsanap.bsky.social
Religious Studies & Hebrew Bible PhD student📚/Jewish✡️/ADHD & Autistic🎧/Mythology Nerd🏺/Recovering Attorney ⚖️/Perpetually Sleepy💤
(she/her)
(she/her)
Pinned
Rachel
@rachelneedsanap.bsky.social
· Oct 18
A little about me:
I’m an #Autistic #PhD student in #ReligiousStudies, researching myth & ritual in the Hebrew Bible. I was an attorney for 10yrs, until I hit autistic burnout & decided to build a new career around my special interests in myth & religion. Nice to meet you all!
I’m an #Autistic #PhD student in #ReligiousStudies, researching myth & ritual in the Hebrew Bible. I was an attorney for 10yrs, until I hit autistic burnout & decided to build a new career around my special interests in myth & religion. Nice to meet you all!
Reposted by Rachel
“You don’t seem autistic,” and “C’mon, that was funny. Lighten up,” coming from the same people is a trip.
I don’t understand at least why 50% of what you find funny is funny. Maybe as high as 75-80%. I just stopped acting like I thought it was funny to make you comfortable. 🤷♂️
I don’t understand at least why 50% of what you find funny is funny. Maybe as high as 75-80%. I just stopped acting like I thought it was funny to make you comfortable. 🤷♂️
December 6, 2025 at 9:23 PM
“You don’t seem autistic,” and “C’mon, that was funny. Lighten up,” coming from the same people is a trip.
I don’t understand at least why 50% of what you find funny is funny. Maybe as high as 75-80%. I just stopped acting like I thought it was funny to make you comfortable. 🤷♂️
I don’t understand at least why 50% of what you find funny is funny. Maybe as high as 75-80%. I just stopped acting like I thought it was funny to make you comfortable. 🤷♂️
Also: I’m very proud that my daughter knows her blessings in Hebrew.
I did it! I passed on a thing! I don’t care if she grows up religious, but I taught her, she knows it, & it’s there for her if she wants it. #Jewish
I did it! I passed on a thing! I don’t care if she grows up religious, but I taught her, she knows it, & it’s there for her if she wants it. #Jewish
My mother is visiting, & last night we got to bless the Shabbat candles together. My mother, my daughter, & me. Three generations of #Jewish women doing what Jewish women have done for centuries. It was really special. I wish we could see each other more often.
December 6, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Also: I’m very proud that my daughter knows her blessings in Hebrew.
I did it! I passed on a thing! I don’t care if she grows up religious, but I taught her, she knows it, & it’s there for her if she wants it. #Jewish
I did it! I passed on a thing! I don’t care if she grows up religious, but I taught her, she knows it, & it’s there for her if she wants it. #Jewish
My mother is visiting, & last night we got to bless the Shabbat candles together. My mother, my daughter, & me. Three generations of #Jewish women doing what Jewish women have done for centuries. It was really special. I wish we could see each other more often.
December 6, 2025 at 10:14 PM
My mother is visiting, & last night we got to bless the Shabbat candles together. My mother, my daughter, & me. Three generations of #Jewish women doing what Jewish women have done for centuries. It was really special. I wish we could see each other more often.
Reposted by Rachel
KitKat: "Nix, detect language."
Me, autism awakened: [moment to perceive] Spanish. Why?
KitKat: "I was just curious."
Me, aghast: Did you just use me like a Google function?
KitKat: "You kind of are."
Me, autism awakened: [moment to perceive] Spanish. Why?
KitKat: "I was just curious."
Me, aghast: Did you just use me like a Google function?
KitKat: "You kind of are."
December 6, 2025 at 6:04 PM
KitKat: "Nix, detect language."
Me, autism awakened: [moment to perceive] Spanish. Why?
KitKat: "I was just curious."
Me, aghast: Did you just use me like a Google function?
KitKat: "You kind of are."
Me, autism awakened: [moment to perceive] Spanish. Why?
KitKat: "I was just curious."
Me, aghast: Did you just use me like a Google function?
KitKat: "You kind of are."
Reposted by Rachel
December 6, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Reposted by Rachel
'Every Shabbat for the past 22 years, protesters have shown up to Beth Israel holding signs with slogans like “Jewish Power Corrupts” and “No More Holocaust Movies.”'
✡️ Synagogue protests have shocked NYC and LA. This Michigan congregation has faced them for 22 years
At Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor, protests have become a weekly reality
forward.com/news/787882/...
#StopAntisemitism
At Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor, protests have become a weekly reality
forward.com/news/787882/...
#StopAntisemitism
December 6, 2025 at 11:51 AM
'Every Shabbat for the past 22 years, protesters have shown up to Beth Israel holding signs with slogans like “Jewish Power Corrupts” and “No More Holocaust Movies.”'
Reposted by Rachel
Just say "ain't" to linguistic prescriptivism.
December 6, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Just say "ain't" to linguistic prescriptivism.
Reposted by Rachel
It would probably be better to protest at a church anyway, if you’re protesting Zionism. Just statistically speaking.
December 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM
It would probably be better to protest at a church anyway, if you’re protesting Zionism. Just statistically speaking.
Imagine you’re a little 6-year-old Jewish child going to pray, & your synagogue is surrounded by angry protesters. Do you think you’ll notice whether the signs say “Jew” or “zionist”? Do you think it matters?
Don’t protest synagogues. I don’t care if the signs say “zionists.” Word games don’t fix the problem. By choosing a synagogue as your location, you are villifying your entire local Jewish community.
December 6, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Imagine you’re a little 6-year-old Jewish child going to pray, & your synagogue is surrounded by angry protesters. Do you think you’ll notice whether the signs say “Jew” or “zionist”? Do you think it matters?
Don’t protest synagogues. I don’t care if the signs say “zionists.” Word games don’t fix the problem. By choosing a synagogue as your location, you are villifying your entire local Jewish community.
December 6, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Don’t protest synagogues. I don’t care if the signs say “zionists.” Word games don’t fix the problem. By choosing a synagogue as your location, you are villifying your entire local Jewish community.
Reposted by Rachel
Sth that always comes up about Lilith: Historically speaking Liliths mythological role as a demoness came before her role as Adams first wife. Religion didn't demonize her. Lilith as a singular demoness originates in Judaism but her roots lie deeper in sumerian mythology. She came to be by-
December 6, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Sth that always comes up about Lilith: Historically speaking Liliths mythological role as a demoness came before her role as Adams first wife. Religion didn't demonize her. Lilith as a singular demoness originates in Judaism but her roots lie deeper in sumerian mythology. She came to be by-
Reposted by Rachel
So if all mental health diagnoses are "overdiagnosis", can female-presenting autistics and ME patients get the personality disorder and "somatisation" diagnoses removed from our medical records? Oh no, of course not.
The fact that many GPs don't believe people with mental health conditions will not be news to those of us with mental health conditions who have had to deal with these cunts.
Kudos on the BBC for continuing to manufacture consent to take away our rights and healthcare though.
Kudos on the BBC for continuing to manufacture consent to take away our rights and healthcare though.
'Life being stressful is not an illness' - GPs on mental health over-diagnosis
Hundreds of GPs in England tell the BBC they are also worried about a lack of help for patients.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
So if all mental health diagnoses are "overdiagnosis", can female-presenting autistics and ME patients get the personality disorder and "somatisation" diagnoses removed from our medical records? Oh no, of course not.
Reposted by Rachel
The Honorable Choir knows that the NT contains a lot of problematic anti-Jewish material, some of which really can't be salvaged (same as any other collection of scripture). Some material that has acquired an antisemitic patina has more plausible neutral readings, but it is not... 1/2
December 5, 2025 at 9:28 PM
The Honorable Choir knows that the NT contains a lot of problematic anti-Jewish material, some of which really can't be salvaged (same as any other collection of scripture). Some material that has acquired an antisemitic patina has more plausible neutral readings, but it is not... 1/2
“My child, Hanukkah is the most important Jewish holiday, so important it happens eight times in a row! That’s why we call it “Long Blue Christmas.”
(Read the whole article, it’s perfection.)
(Read the whole article, it’s perfection.)
(RACHEL walks past children playing. Her biological clock ticks. She’s thirty, almost dead.)
LITTLE GIRL: Are you excited for the County Hanukkah Fair?
RACHEL: Not really. I’m not super into Hanukkah.
LITTLE GIRL: Are you excited for the County Hanukkah Fair?
RACHEL: Not really. I’m not super into Hanukkah.
Scenes from a Hallmark Hanukkah Movie Written by Someone Who Has Definitely Met a Jew
EXT. SMALL TOWN BUS STOP – DAY (A beautiful woman with slightly wavy brown hair steps off a bus. She’s RACHEL, a corporate lawyer from The Big Cit...
buff.ly
December 6, 2025 at 12:11 AM
“My child, Hanukkah is the most important Jewish holiday, so important it happens eight times in a row! That’s why we call it “Long Blue Christmas.”
(Read the whole article, it’s perfection.)
(Read the whole article, it’s perfection.)
Reposted by Rachel
Jewish problems
![Warning! Results for year 1752 C.E. and earlier may be inaccurate.
Hebcal does not take into account a correction of ten days that was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII known as the Gregorian Reformation. [1]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4eedw4y6ei2dqjgspjeskzlk/bafkreigmpf22pmquqper5g7vivaj55yoiekvodmctlqg3phylh3fl2sp5e@jpeg)
December 5, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Jewish problems
Reposted by Rachel
One of my most favourite glass vessels: A marvellous Roman vessel in the form of a pig, made of blue glass. It was used to hold ointment or perfume.
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
December 5, 2025 at 9:10 AM
One of my most favourite glass vessels: A marvellous Roman vessel in the form of a pig, made of blue glass. It was used to hold ointment or perfume.
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Reposted by Rachel
Reposted by Rachel
Grappling with the Torah and Talmud and thousands of years of other, very learned Jews grappling with the Torah, I am struck by the way Jews have consistently said "wait, this is cruel, G-d must not have meant this how it sounded" and argued and reasoned things to a more loving position.
December 5, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Grappling with the Torah and Talmud and thousands of years of other, very learned Jews grappling with the Torah, I am struck by the way Jews have consistently said "wait, this is cruel, G-d must not have meant this how it sounded" and argued and reasoned things to a more loving position.
Reposted by Rachel
Reposted by Rachel
But there's also been a major backlash to autism acceptance, and not just from RFK Jr. and Donald Trump. There's been a push to break up the spectrum and focus on "profound autism." There are still divides on which research receives priority funding.
December 5, 2025 at 3:08 PM
But there's also been a major backlash to autism acceptance, and not just from RFK Jr. and Donald Trump. There's been a push to break up the spectrum and focus on "profound autism." There are still divides on which research receives priority funding.
Reposted by Rachel
This is exactly how I’ve felt for the last 5 years, and what I’ve discovered about myself from being out of regular studio work and thinking about what is good for me and what isn’t.
December 5, 2025 at 4:00 PM
This is exactly how I’ve felt for the last 5 years, and what I’ve discovered about myself from being out of regular studio work and thinking about what is good for me and what isn’t.
Reposted by Rachel
Do you mean to tell me that I've been confusing neurodivergent burnout with depression all along??
December 4, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Do you mean to tell me that I've been confusing neurodivergent burnout with depression all along??
Reposted by Rachel
our superpower is knowing a whole bunch of unrelated things and being able to synthesize in ways that less-spicy folks find absolutely mindblowing, so you become The Go-To Person by gestalt fiat because "you see things nobody else does.*"
* especially things nobody wants to acknowledge or fix
* especially things nobody wants to acknowledge or fix
December 4, 2025 at 8:50 PM
our superpower is knowing a whole bunch of unrelated things and being able to synthesize in ways that less-spicy folks find absolutely mindblowing, so you become The Go-To Person by gestalt fiat because "you see things nobody else does.*"
* especially things nobody wants to acknowledge or fix
* especially things nobody wants to acknowledge or fix
Reposted by Rachel
8) Diagnosis also requires that traits be present from childhood. Adult diagnosis REQUIRES having a living parent/other caretaker who is willing to testify to your autisticness as a child. Given that those same parents didn’t think to get you diagnosed as a child, they likely didn’t notice.
January 29, 2024 at 6:56 PM
8) Diagnosis also requires that traits be present from childhood. Adult diagnosis REQUIRES having a living parent/other caretaker who is willing to testify to your autisticness as a child. Given that those same parents didn’t think to get you diagnosed as a child, they likely didn’t notice.
Reposted by Rachel
4 cont.) But autistic behaviors are caused by underlying autistic neurology, so massive parts of what it is to be autistic (our thoughts, our sensory perception) are simply inaccessible to doctors, & therefore ignored.
January 29, 2024 at 6:54 PM
4 cont.) But autistic behaviors are caused by underlying autistic neurology, so massive parts of what it is to be autistic (our thoughts, our sensory perception) are simply inaccessible to doctors, & therefore ignored.