Rosh Hashanah Jewish Contributors Blog

Friday, September 15, 2023

L’shana tova!

September 15th at sundown marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of a new year, and the beginning of the High Holy Days for Jewish people. In celebration of the new year, we’ve gathered submissions from some of our Jewish employees and community members!

James Beck (he/she/they)

And for my first action, I blow the shofar to inspire courage. Hello! My name is James Beck. I am a Jewish author who wrote for Lost Omens Firebrands (specifically the Fire’s Finest & Passenger). I felt at home to tell Jewish stories in Numeria as I related to the story of the androids and the struggles they went through with the Technic League. In my works either with Paizo or Eldritch Osiris Games, I try to bring in themes and values of Jewish culture that I grew up with such as tikun olam (repair the world). Pathfinder/Starfinder have greatly emphasized the idea of adventurers trying to make the world or universe a better place to live in. Jewish culture teaches us to be curious and to explore and I feel honored to be part of this community where I can explore different ideas and learn about all that has come before. Thank you Pathfinder and Starfinder community for giving me a chance to learn and grow not only as a writer but as a person as well. You can find me @geekjames513 on twitter!

Michael Bramnik (he/him)

Why is this knight different from all other knights? I know, I know—wrong holy day!

Hello there, and L’Shana Tova! I’m Michael Bramnik (https://canisdirus.carrd.co), a Jewish freelancer for Paizo and elsewhere in the industry. I’ve had the privilege of writing for Starfinder Enhanced and several other things this past year, but the one that stands out for me today is Pathfinder Society #4-05: The Arclord Who Never Was. Though far from being a universal opinion, I have heard firsthand that RPGs aren’t as popular in our communities because of things taken from Jewish myth or folklore and then “twisted.” The character Vrisk was my way of putting a positive spin on golems in RPGs to combat this—something I’m very proud of.

Beyond that, I’d like to offer something fun to help celebrate the new year. This probably won’t ever become PFS-legal, mind you, but maybe it could be a fun addition to your home game?

Ram's Horn
Uncommon, Concussive, Nonlethal, Propulsive
Price 10 gp; Damage 1d4 B; Bulk L
Hands 1; Range 10 ft.; Reload 0
Type Ranged; Category Simple; Group Brawling

Each of these eloquently-crafted horns curves in unique ways. They can play musical notes as well as rupture eardrums in combat through staccato blasts.

Rue Dickey (they/he/xe)

Wishing a happy new year to all of my fellow Jewish nerds—may your apples be crisp and the honey linger on your lips. As a practicing Jewish witch, I have a deep love for the spirituality of our religion and culture, and how the world’s cycles interact. Jewish ritual magic—for protection, for wellness, for family and love—inspires a lot of my design work when it comes to magic in fantasy games. It is equally important to get the sigils and designs right as it is to have the right thoughts held in your heart and mind while completing them. Rituals in Judaism are rooted in tradition, but like all aspects of our faith, are deeply personal, and every family—or even every person—might practice them slightly differently. No one ritual is correct, there is never only one answer—and there is always room for change. I love getting to incorporate this philosophy in my work, and remind everyone that questioning the world and “the way things are” is a vital part of living.

Avi Kool (they/them)

Hi all, Avi again, still here at Paizo, still Jewish. I’ve had the privilege of bringing a Jewish perspective to my work from my heritage as both an Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jew, and from my upbringing in Reform Judaism. This includes the opportunity to write characters inspired by my family history (see Arhan Benimaya in the Kraken’s Ink Tattoo section of Pathfinder Lost Omens Grand Bazaar), and I hope we can bring more aspects of Jewish folklore and history into Pathfinder as time goes on. I’m particularly interested in telling accurate folklore around Jewish monsters, because Judaism is full of monsters! Whether that be the terrifying “biblically accurate angels” (a misnomer, because these descriptions aren’t from the Bible originally, they’re from the Torah) or golems or the Leviathan, Jewish lore is bursting with material suited for TTRPGs. I’ve even recently been learning about the history of dragons in Judaism—believe it or not, many medieval Jewish manuscripts feature illustrations of dragons in the marginalia! They didn’t teach me about that in Hebrew school. There’s also the shedim, Judaism’s precursor to the Christian demons. Shedim are shapeshifters that can turn invisible, and it’s said that you could throw ashes to the ground to render their footsteps visible. I have also read that the tradition of using salt to ward off spirits originates in Judaism. As you can see, Jewish lore contains bountiful material to be adopted respectfully in TTRPGs, far beyond what we’ve seen published by any company. I might just write it myself!

Jacob W. Michaels (he/him)

Shana tova (happy New Year), Paizo community. I’m Jacob W. Michaels, one of Paizo's Jewish freelancers. I’ve gotten to work on a number of products for Paizo; this year, that includes the potions section in Pathfinder Treasure Vault, the Findeladlara article in Pathfinder Adventure Path #189: Dreamers of the Nameless Spires, and Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-11: Prisoners of the Electric Castle! Part of what I love about Judaism is our tradition of telling stories, and particularly stories that provide meaning. I like to think I bring that tradition to role-playing games. We tell stories together—and part of that is just for fun (though fun is 100% reason enough for some of the stories we tell together), but part of it reaches deeper. We build a sense of community through our stories, hopefully finding things we have in common, even when we live across the world from each other. Through these games, we find friendship. And I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Judaism in my work. May this coming year bring more sweetness, more joy, more games, and more time well spent together.

For all those celebrating—Shana tova!