So I'm a big big fan of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov whose many wise quotes and anecdote I have often appreciated in books like This is Real and You are Not Prepared or in songs like Kol HaOlam Kulo. However, apparently, he also both believed it was aveira to ejaculate outside of a pussy but also that it's okay to do so so long as you recite psalms 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137, and then 150 in that order; which then makes it okay that you made yourself cum. The line "most Breslover Hasidim try to say the Tikkun HaKlali daily" is amazing to me immediately following this. Beslover Hasidim definitely jack it on the reg.
So in learning more about Nachman I have also learned about the Na Nach movement which is a subset of Breslov Hasidim who basically believe that being joyful and spreading joy is the best way to be close to HaShem and most of them (though not all of them) live in Israel and are basically seen as a public nuisance because they mostly spend their time driving around huge vans blasting loud hasidic-techno music and dancing on the roofs of vehicles and blocking traffic basically dancing in flash mobs in the street and trying to spread joy and encourage people to dance with them and have a fun time
and I just think that this is utterly delightful. I could easily imagine something like this existing in Philly or New York and being among those finding it to be incredibly annoying to deal with but also I think as far as obscure religious sects goes it is so simple and pure and delightful. Their favorite song seems to be a cover of the numa numa song changed to be "rabbi nachman me'uman" as the main lyric. It's very goofy. They post dance compilation videos on youtube with the worst windows movie maker effects.
I think that Zionism is idolatry and the occupation is genocide. I am remiss to say anything positive about Israel especially after they just, once again, re-elected Benjamin fucking Netanyahu of all people. But I can't help but appreciate the Na Nach movement from afar. The Breslov Hasidim were heavily targeted in the holocaust, being highly concentrated in the regions hit worst by the holocaust and the great purge. Nearly every single Breslov Hasid who moved to Palestine was a holocaust survivor; and yet despite their community being mostly made up of holocaust survivors for a couple generations, they managed to find meaning in life through the simple act of spreading joy in public throw song and dance? I think that's really beautiful. Their theological focus is on taking joy in the simple act of being alive as much as possible, which when set upon the backdrop of nearly every single one of them being killed, I think is incredibly meaningful.
I have no idea if the Na Nach group is like, actually healthy or good like it's a weird fringe religious movement following a dead guru whose big claim to fame was "convincing a president of Israel to become more religious." But idk, I haven't found anything online about them being controversial at all people just seem to think it's annoying when they interrupt the flow of traffic and play loud music in public. I even found a video where some Na Nach people like, went to a Palestinian village to just like throw an impromptu dance party? and people came and joined them and it looked like everyone had a fun time? Obviously that kind of thing isn't exactly going to end the occupation but I guess it's indicative that they aren't "kill all the palestinians and establish the greater kingdom of israel" types. Their ideology really does just seem to be "It's a mitzvah to be goofy in public and make people happy." They also seem to be pretty pan-diasporist? Like I've seen videos with beta yisrael, been yisrael, ashkenazi, mizrahi, sephardic, etc. jews all dancing together which i think is really nice and also very rare in a country as horribly racist and awful as israel.
