# Smapti, Kabbalah, And Cultural Appropriation **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 16, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724 "2025-06-16T21:26:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/161 "2025-06-19T10:57:42Z")
More a discussion of whether or not something he is doing is offensive to a particular religion, or offensive in general, or whether or not he knows what he’s doing. Smapti is free to do whatever he wants in regards to his relationship with the spiritual. Others are free to have their opinions about it. In general, Jews really _don’t care_ what others believe. Heck, most of them don’t even care what their fellow Jews _believe_. What they do care is that your actions don’t impact negatively on them, or make mockery of their culture/customs/traditions/beliefs. I believe DocCathode is concerned with the issue(s) brought up by the last sentence in the above paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/162 "2025-06-19T11:09:35Z")
A lot of Jews find stuff like this distasteful not because “you must believe exactly how we tell you” but because it sucks to see your culture reduced to a toy for religious dilettantes. If we’re perhaps especially sensitive to it, it’s because the unseriousification of culture is one square of many on the dehumanization game board that ends with pogroms. With all due respect to Doc, I think Kabbalah is absolute nonsense. But it’s **our** nonsense and I absolutely hate that it’s become this kind of trendy thing for people who say stuff like “I’m not religious, you know? But I’m, like, very spiritual.” People can do what they want. Judaism as a religion is more or less disinterested in what gentiles do or don’t do. But on a personal level I think what Smapti did is kind of uncool; not because he chose to go on this journey, but because he decided to use social media (here and YouTube) as a platform for aggrandizing it. It turns my culture, even a nonsense part of it, into a prop. And that’s _ew._ I’d feel similarly if he was appropriating a Native American or Voudon ritual, though that would certainly be more sympathetic _ewness_ than personal. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/163 "2025-06-19T11:17:52Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > If we’re perhaps especially sensitive to it, it’s because the unseriousification of culture is one square of many on the dehumanization game board that ends with pogroms. I’m having trouble with that connection. I think that treating a culture as a costume can have some terrible effects, but leading to genocide? Except when the culture is treated as already extinct, as is the case with Native Americans in many cases, I’m not sure that connection is there at all. But I’m willing to be educated. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/164 "2025-06-19T11:36:56Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I think that treating a culture as a costume can have some terrible effects, but leading to genocide? You said genocide, not me. History teaches us, unfortunately, that it’s appropriate to draw a distinction between a culture that encourages pogroms and one that is actively trying to commit a genocide. But yes, I think it’s easier to be dismissive of a culture if you’ve infantilized and devalued the things that make it unique. The bit you quoted is a broader point, anyway. Like I said later in the post, I _specifically_ feel that this is much more of an “ew” thing than a “you’re ruining my culture” thing. If It thought that I would have used stronger language than “kind of uncool.” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/165 "2025-06-19T12:57:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > So is Kabbalah _itself_ cultural appropriation? Or just sparkling syncretism. I guess i think most cultural appropriation is sparkling syncretism. That’s how I’d classify both kabbalah and what Smapti is doing, anyway. > [@Broomstick](#): > > What they do care is that your actions don’t impact negatively on them, or make mockery of their culture/customs/traditions/beliefs. Even before he changed the name of his thread, i didn’t think he was mocking anything. And i certainly don’t think his actions have a negative impact on anyone else. Unless it’s getting in the way of getting his work done or something. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > it sucks to see your culture reduced to a toy for religious dilettantes. Honestly, he seems pretty serious to me. If he was throwing a religious-themed game night and he picked kabbalah as his “costume”, i would be more inclined to find it offensive. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/166 "2025-06-19T13:24:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > people who say stuff like “I’m not religious, you know? But I’m, like, very spiritual.” I’m not religious, but I’ve had very spiritual experiences. Most on large does of LSD &/or MDMA. Sometimes it is fun to be a tourist into a religious mindset. Of course, having been there and done that, I am still firmly atheist. I still enjoy the occasional spriritual experience, a bit as much as I enjoy a funfare ride. Good while it lasts. Useful as something to look back on and consider. Worth paying a little bit for. Not a life-changing event, though. As far as cultural appropriation goes, “Suck it, Albert Hofmann!!!” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/167 "2025-06-19T13:49:17Z")
It might be relevant to my reaction to Smapti’s modifications that I’m a reform Jew. We believe in modifying the rules in ways that works for us. When i was pregnant, i ate one small meal on Yom Kippur. When i was nursing, i abstained from food, but i drank some water. Did i fast? I dunno, but i certainly modified my behavior because it was a fast day ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/168 "2025-06-19T13:55:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I guess i think most cultural appropriation is sparkling syncretism I guess I don’t see the same syncreticism in Coachella warbonnets. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/169 "2025-06-19T14:05:51Z")
Is cultural appropriation in part a matter of power and consequences? “The Irish” are no longer a group targeted for discrimination; leprechaun jokes and people taking on bits of Irish culture do little, perhaps no, harm to anyone of Irish descent. The same cannot be said regarding many other groups. Is that a distinction to consider? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/170 "2025-06-19T14:07:16Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Even before he changed the name of his thread, i didn’t think he was mocking anything. Eh, the Kabbalah was toyed with by celebrities a few years back which did genuinely offend some Jews, and given how our rituals, customs, traditions, and even texts have been used against us over the centuries some of our tribe are very sensitive to these things. I’ve already stated that from my viewpoint Smapti’s offense, if any, was minor but I do appreciate him requesting the change in thread title. What he is doing may have Jewish roots and influence but it is not a Jewish ritual and it is certainly not part of Kabbalah study or practice even if there is a link there. The thread title is now more accurate and I think that’s a good thing. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > And i certainly don’t think his actions have a negative impact on anyone else. Unless it’s getting in the way of getting his work done or something. I agree. This is between Smapti and his relationship with the divine (or possibly demonic if he screws up, but I’m quite skeptical about the whole thing myself). Since merely as a “side effect” there may be some benefit to Smapti in regards to his long-term health I have already stated that it should be allowed as such an outcome would be to the benefit of someone’s life, and that’s considered a good thing in Judaism (and in general). Judaism holds preservation of life above nearly all else, a principal referred to as _pikuah nefesh_, so in my view a bit of minor offense must be tolerated for the higher good. Perhaps the act should even be encouraged given the potential positive outcome, although preferably in a manner minimizing the potential negatives. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > It might be relevant to my reaction to Smapti’s modifications that I’m a reform Jew. We believe in modifying the rules in ways that works for us. When i was pregnant, i ate one small meal on Yom Kippur. When i was nursing, i abstained from food, but i drank some water. Did i fast? I dunno, but i certainly modified my behavior because it was a fast day The fast for Yom Kippur was never intended to be absolute. Children are not expected to fast, neither are the pregnant. People whose health could be endangered by fasting are exempt under the principal of _pikuah nefesh_, or are allowed modified fasts such as you did. > [@Kropotkin](#): > > Is cultural appropriation in part a matter of power and consequences? I do think that that is a factor to consider. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/171 "2025-06-19T14:52:05Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > I guess i think most cultural appropriation is sparkling syncretism > > I guess I don’t see the same syncreticism in Coachella warbonnets. I am not familiar with Coachella warbonnets, but if they are mocking First Nation culture, I’m happy to oppose them. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/172 "2025-06-19T14:56:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > A lot of Jews find stuff like this distasteful not because “you must believe exactly how we tell you” but because it sucks to see your culture reduced to a toy for religious dilettantes. If we’re perhaps especially sensitive to it, it’s because the unseriousification of culture is one square of many on the dehumanization game board that ends with pogroms. There were some Polynesians who had a similar reaction to Disney’s _Moana._ One of their concerns was the Disney version of Maui and Polynesian culture/history might drown out their own versions. While I do think there are some ridiculous complaints about cultural appropriation, like jumping on a white girl for wearing a Chinese qipao dress to prom, I do understand why some Polynesians would be concerned about how their culture is repackaged for mass consumption. For a lot of people throughout the world, the Disney version is Polynesian culture, and I can understand why Polynesians might be concerned about that. While I’m critical of cultural appropriation as a concept, I cannot help but have some sympathy in some cases. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/173 "2025-06-19T15:15:37Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > There is no God but the God of Abraham How do you feel about the Hasidim? In your humble opinion do they adhere to the 1st Commandment? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/174 "2025-06-19T15:30:41Z")
Huh? Why wouldn’t they? All the hasidim I’ve known certainly did. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/175 "2025-06-19T15:48:16Z")
Of course Hasidim do but I’ve known Jews who felt the Hasidim worship the Baal Shem Tov as a deity and feel they are not respecting one of the most (or most) basic tenets of Judaism. I give their opinions no more consideration than the OP’s but that’s how they feel. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/176 "2025-06-19T15:57:32Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > If someone made an images of Sylvester the Cat up on the Crucifix saying “Sufferin’ succotash!”, I’m sure many Christians would be offended at both the desecration of their core iconography and the lack of decorum or respect in how fundamental what that representes is to their belief. I was on the Ministry and Oversight Committee of my quaker meeting back when yet another chocolate jesus was getting some publicity. A local mosque sent us a letter about how they were offended on our behalf, this is unacceptable, etc. After some head scratching, we drafted a polite response explaining that this wasn’t anything to get excited about. My suggested additions about questioning the artist’s originality or explaining that anyone bothered by it could seek medical treatment were deemed not aligned with the sense of the meeting. ETA I believe it was the 2007 work here. I don’t recall if the issue was the chocolate or the penis. > **[Chocolate Jesus](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_Jesus)** > > Chocolate Jesus is the common name of chocolate sculptures by Richard Manderson in 1994, who called it Trans-substantiation 2; by George Heslop in 2006 who called his work Jesus on the Cross; and a third one by Cosimo Cavallaro in 2007 he called My Sweet Lord. It has also been used in literature and song. > In 1991, Richard Manderson created a series of small raspberry fondant filled chocolate Jesuses, named "Sweet Jesus" that were sold for consumption to visitors of Gorman House Arts Centre in Ca... ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/177 "2025-06-19T17:14:45Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > > > If someone made an images of Sylvester the Cat up on the Crucifix saying “Sufferin’ succotash!”, I’m sure many Christians would be offended at both the desecration of their core iconography and the lack of decorum or respect in how fundamental what that representes is to their belief. > > I was on the Ministry and Oversight Committee of my quaker meeting back when yet another chocolate jesus was getting some publicity. A local mosque sent us a letter about how they were offended on our behalf, this is unacceptable, etc. After some head scratching, we drafted a polite response explaining that this wasn’t anything to get excited about. My suggested additions about questioning the artist’s originality or explaining that anyone bothered by it could seek medical treatment were deemed not aligned with the sense of the meeting. > > ETA I believe it was the 2007 work here. I don’t recall if the issue was the chocolate or the penis. > [Chocolate Jesus - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_Jesus) Interesting! Never heard about this. When I was young our Easter baskets used to include chocolate crosses - a bit macabre but an acceptable confection at the time. One time I bought some surplus chocolate heart candy at a steep discount after Valentine’s Day right before Easter which was early in the season that year. My son was only around 3 or 4 at the time so I put the chocolate hearts in his Easter basket. I told him and, more importantly, my family, that they were the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to just deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/178 "2025-06-19T17:18:54Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > One time I bought some surplus chocolate heart candy at a steep discount after Valentine’s Day right before Easter which was early in the season that year. One might hope, cherry filled chocolate hearts? ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/179 "2025-06-19T17:21:29Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > > [@Ellecram](#): > > > > One time I bought some surplus chocolate heart candy at a steep discount after Valentine’s Day right before Easter which was early in the season that year. > > One might hope, cherry filled chocolate hearts? I actually can’t remember. I think some might have been? Or maybe they were cream filled … it was many, many years ago. Saved quite a bit of money that year on candy which my son would hardly eat at that age anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/180 "2025-06-19T19:40:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > said genocide, not me. History teaches us, unfortunately, that it’s appropriate to draw a distinction between a culture that encourages pogroms and one that is actively trying to commit a genocide. It’s unfortunate, all right. Because if history thinks that it’s appropriate to draw a bright-line distinction between pogroms and genocide, then history is full of shit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724.md?page=10)