I've been having a look at the Keshet site and they look extremely cool. Joel's turning 30 this year, so in terms of his history I'm also curious what would have been around in his teens/early 20s in the late 90s. (The story's set now, so contemporary stuff is also really helpful, and I now have loads of resources to keep me busy finding that out!)
(ETA: My maths! Late 90s, dear me. Probably more like 98-04, ish.)
All the stuff on denominations and the Oxford synagogue is really helpful too - that helps give me a better idea of what Joel's religious upbringing might have been like (which I think is important for me to know). I'm not sure yet how religious Joel is in his adult life - I know that because of his various reasons for being mostly a shut-in (at least for a fair chunk of the story!) he probably doesn't make it to a lot of services. And I suppose I'm wondering what other things might be part of his religious life if that's the case. (Might he celebrate Shabbat alone, for example, or is that not something that makes sense? I think he might be tempted out to his parents' occasionally, but probably not that often. Are there other things he might do by himself? Or is this a senseless question?)
Also, more specifically about denominations, I have read a few summaries of the different ones, but I'm curious if there are things I haven't read about that might cause someone to choose one denomination over another, or feel more comfortable in a particular one. (What I've mostly read about are their theological differences, and also I've had an eye on how they feel about homosexuality and queer identities, because that's obviously quite relevant to how comfortable Joel might feel.) Are there other things that might have an effect on his choice, that I haven't thought of?
That is interesting! I'm not sure whether the word shul will come up in my story, but if it does I shall keep that in mind. :D
Another question I have is about invective. Quite a lot of surprising and/or unpleasant things are going to happen in this story so I think my characters are going to be using quite a lot of colourful language. I'm pretty sure I know what kind of language Joel's Catholic-raised boyfriend is going to use, but I'm not so sure about Joel himself. Um, obviously I know to avoid Jesus-related stuff, but should I be avoiding him taking God's name in vain? Uh, that'll probably depend on the religiosity of his upbringing and/or how he feels now. Not sure if this a weird question (and uh, this question is making me feel anxious that I'm crossing some kind of line for some reason, but I'm hoping that if I do, you'll let me know?).
Thank you again! Sorry, I appear to be made of questions.
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I've been having a look at the Keshet site and they look extremely cool. Joel's turning 30 this year, so in terms of his history I'm also curious what would have been around in his teens/early 20s in the late 90s. (The story's set now, so contemporary stuff is also really helpful, and I now have loads of resources to keep me busy finding that out!)
(ETA: My maths! Late 90s, dear me. Probably more like 98-04, ish.)
All the stuff on denominations and the Oxford synagogue is really helpful too - that helps give me a better idea of what Joel's religious upbringing might have been like (which I think is important for me to know). I'm not sure yet how religious Joel is in his adult life - I know that because of his various reasons for being mostly a shut-in (at least for a fair chunk of the story!) he probably doesn't make it to a lot of services. And I suppose I'm wondering what other things might be part of his religious life if that's the case. (Might he celebrate Shabbat alone, for example, or is that not something that makes sense? I think he might be tempted out to his parents' occasionally, but probably not that often. Are there other things he might do by himself? Or is this a senseless question?)
Also, more specifically about denominations, I have read a few summaries of the different ones, but I'm curious if there are things I haven't read about that might cause someone to choose one denomination over another, or feel more comfortable in a particular one. (What I've mostly read about are their theological differences, and also I've had an eye on how they feel about homosexuality and queer identities, because that's obviously quite relevant to how comfortable Joel might feel.) Are there other things that might have an effect on his choice, that I haven't thought of?
That is interesting! I'm not sure whether the word shul will come up in my story, but if it does I shall keep that in mind. :D
Another question I have is about invective. Quite a lot of surprising and/or unpleasant things are going to happen in this story so I think my characters are going to be using quite a lot of colourful language. I'm pretty sure I know what kind of language Joel's Catholic-raised boyfriend is going to use, but I'm not so sure about Joel himself. Um, obviously I know to avoid Jesus-related stuff, but should I be avoiding him taking God's name in vain? Uh, that'll probably depend on the religiosity of his upbringing and/or how he feels now. Not sure if this a weird question (and uh, this question is making me feel anxious that I'm crossing some kind of line for some reason, but I'm hoping that if I do, you'll let me know?).
Thank you again! Sorry, I appear to be made of questions.