About — Jewish Ranger

About this blog

“Shtey up! Shtey up! Meleches haborei!”

A traditional wake-up call used in Orthodox Jewish (especially Hasidic and Yeshivish) communities, often shouted in the morning to rouse people for prayer or Torah study

Shtey up! — Yiddish for "Get up!" or "Stand up!"
Meleches haborei (מלאכת הבורא) — This is Hebrew/Aramaic, meaning "the work of the Creator." It comes from a famous passage in the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law), the very first ruling in Orach Chaim 1:1, attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ben Teima in Pirkei Avot:

"One should strengthen himself like a lion to rise in the morning to serve his Creator, so that he should be the one who awakens the dawn."

The full phrase essentially means: "Get up! Get up! [There is] the work of the Creator [to do]!" — i.e., wake up, there's divine service (prayer, Torah study, mitzvot) waiting for you.

It's the kind of thing a shammes (synagogue caretaker) traditionally called out going door-to-door in shtetls to wake people for Shacharis (morning prayers), and it's still used today in yeshivas and some Hasidic communities as a morning rallying cry. It carries a tone of spiritual urgency — don't be lazy, the day's holy work awaits.

It’s been a few decades since I’ve heard those words out loud, and yet they still jingle around in this head of mine. And sometimes I contemplate them.

I wonder. Is meleches haborei referring to the work of the creator that has to be completed and we are tasked with? Or is it referring to us as being the work of the Creator and it is just addressing us to get up and wake up?

Hey you! Meleches Haborei! Get up! Get Up

I don’t even know why I brought this up, and have decided to make this the introduction of what will sit on the about page. I don’t speak yiddish.

Actually, who am I kidding. I do know. It is because I have this continual nagging feeling wondering why it seems like so many people are completely asleep, or misguided, or have their priorities mixed up.

Let’s be clear, I wouldn’t claim to have it all figured out myself, but I wouldn’t argue I do.

I do my best to understand that people firmly believe they are doing what they think is best for themselves, their family, their community, the Jewish people and the world.

But are they?! Are we?

I digress.

Let me start again.

I decided to start this blog to document my journey to become a responsible Jewish firearm owner.

Responsible.

Jewish.

Firearm Owner.

I’m writing about this, because I’m not alone on this path. There are many others like me further along, or not as far, or how shall we say, sheino yodeah lishol.

I often meet them. I speak to them. And I often hear similar remarks, of them wishing there were more people in this with them. Or at least aware of others.

We didn’t all wander through the desert individually. We did it together. I’m hoping this little blog might help with that.

This brings me to my next point…

Who Am I

I’ve spent a little time thinking about how I wanted to approach telling my story and how much to reveal about who I am personally.

I’m not particularly against revealing who I am. And I’m sure many folks will be able to easily guess. But I’ve decided not to directly reveal it for a specific purpose.

The purpose is to not tie a particular type of Jew directly to this blog. People shouldn’t read the posts and information here and think, “Oh, it’s a guy in that community, but those type of people are not in my community.”

No. You are completely wrong. We are in your community!

I happen to be fortunate to live a location where the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform shuls, synagogues, and temples, all have families that span multiple communities. Our kids are in the yeshivas and the days schools, and the public schools together. And we are often gathering all together for important events for the broader Jewish community. We show up to the shuls we are not members of, when our kids have bar and bat mitzvahs to attend. We all show up to the Israeli Festival at whichever synagogue or temple just happens to be the host. And when local politicians address our area, we often all gather together.

All that to say, I’m not some guy in a right-wing religious community. I’m at your Conservative synagogue, and in your Reform temple.

I’m not a random guy in Texas that decided one day to walk into a gun shop and 30 minutes later walked out with a firearm. This was a years long process.

No.

I wear a black hat, a knitted kippa, a streimel, a baseball cap, and sometimes nothing at all.

I’m sitting in your Conservative synagogue, and showing up to your community events at your Temple.

My kids are in the Chabad nursery, the Jewish day school, and the Temple confirmation program.

I want you to understand that the musings on these pages is of someone in your community: your neighbor, your friend, your colleague, and your family member.

And there is a growing number of us who are on this journey. I believe the Jewish community as a whole should acknowledge it, understand it, and dare I say support and encourage it.

I think everyone should know how to defend themselves, but I’m not about to suggest that you yourself should get a firearm. I will however try to cover the what, why, and how. If there is one goal for this project, it is to stop you from having a knee-jerk reaction on the topic of safety.

I hope to go further in depth on those topics in future posts.

And I hope you will stick around and join me for them.

If I can ask one favor of you

This is quite new for me.

And although I feel passionate about this topic, I don’t know how this will go.

I’m feeling very strongly about this right now, who knows if I will continue to feel this drive in a few months or even a few weeks of talking to the wind.

So the one request I have, is please subscribe to the site and share it with others.

Right now it is the only way I know that I should continue doing this.

And I will do my best to post helpful advice and resources:

for those that are on this journey as well,
for those that are curious,
and for those that are vehemently opposed to this whole topic.

Also, if you are on this path as well yourself, and would like to share your thoughts, please reach out to me via the Contact form, and I’d be happy to receive them, and/or post your story.