January 14, 2022

Beshalach

Hello everyone! This week is shabbat shira (singing shabbat) and tu bishvat (tree holiday) and i am Quite Excited.

CW's: zionism, colonialism, antisemitism, islamophobia

Jewish Calendar

This week's torah portion is Beshalach, and shabbat shirah because the torah reading includes the crossing of the sea on the way out of mitzrayim. It is traditionally part of the morning service (though a lot of congregations skip it, and it does veer a little close to taking joy in the destruction of our enemies, a thing we're not supposed to do) and it looks very cool in the torah scroll itself.

Tu Bishvat

🌴🌳🌲🍐🍊🍇🍑🫒

Frutikas alegre! The sephardic brotherhood of america's most recent email has some links to tu bishvat resources, including guides to the frutikas (seven species + song of songs quotes) seder.

Thursday Bram recently put together a zine vision of the future of tu bishvat, including thinking about colonialism and how to not do that so much.

I'll be doing a small tu bishvat seder online 1/16 at 5pm pacific time. Reply to this email if you want the zoom link! All are welcome. If you want to participate fully bring a fruit or three (one with a peel, one with a pit, one entirely edible, and something that smells nice).

Israel, Zionism, and Antisemitism

Speaking of Tu Bishvat, JNF's programs involving planting a tree in israel are ecologically inappropriate and emblematic of settler colonialism. Put your coins in a different pushke please.

There is one thing i have to say about IDF-hoodie-guy getting punched and it's a quote from JFREJ's Leo Ferguson and Sophie Ellman-Golan: "A New York rally conflating the IDF emblem with Jewish identity does nothing to fight antisemitism[.]"

More and more Muslim-oriented American nonprofits are speaking out the way mainstream jewish nonprofits like Jewish Federations contribute to islamophobia. While I have not read CAIR's report, I do want to clarify that Jewish groups are not its focus, and instead are one piece of the puzzle, as is appropriate.

Jessica Price did some amazing work looking into those scam covid test sites and found the parent company also has a neonazi security company supporting bolsonaro's regime. Surprise!

Dave Troy's thread here connects cryptocurrency conspiracy theorists with the traditional antisemitism found in anti-central-banking stuff, with a tour through SovCitVille on the way.

Miscellaneous

Let's all learn about Eve Adams, radical queer jewish ancestor, part of NYT Obit's Overlooked series of historical figures and subject of a book by Jonathan Ned Katz i absolutely must read one of these days.

My friend brin did a very cool siddur thing and my OTHER friend Jaz interviewed brin about it wow my friends are so cool and i love them!

Classes!

• Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva announced four new classes starting this February, on topics ranging from secular judaism to shmita observance.

• Ariel Tovlev's trans tahara class series through CBST ($36)

• Shel Maala's miraculous minutiae (sliding scale, suggested $18/class). I love their new website.

• Sacred Action: Bringing Jewish Mindfulness Practice to Justice Work (1/31-3/7, sliding scale $180-540)

Hey Jews of Color with an audience or presence in NYC and some idea you need funded! JoC Initiative wants to give you money!

Events!

1/10-1/14 Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest

1/16-1/17 Tu Bishvat

• 1/16 5pm pacific Meli-style Tu Bishvat Seder (reply to this email for a link)

• 1/16 IJV Tu Bishvat Seder

• 1/16 Workers Circle tu bishvat seder

• 1/16 musical tu bishvat seder ($10 suggested donation)

• 1/16, 1/23 two-part Torah, Trees & Time class (sliding scale $50-ish; has ASL interpretation)

1/18 Torah beyond zionism: Israel and the Book of Joshua with Rachel Havrelock

1/18 Megillah reading lesson from Kanisse

1/26 Black Studies and Jewish Studies in Conversation: Du Bois Before Warsaw, Fascism Before Racism

1/27 Shakespeare & Yiddish with Ilan Stavans

1/30 Judeo-Hamadani, Judeo-Isfahani, Judeo-Yazdi, and other Median languages (more info)

1/30 New York Ladino Day

1/30 and 2/6 Cultivating Culture: A Virtual Gathering of Jewish Farmers

2/10 Dagesh: The Lil’ Dot That Could Shel Maala class (sliding scale $0+)

2/17 The Flippy Vav: Time-Travelling Prefixes and Ancient Biblical Storytelling Shel Maala class (sliding scale $0+)

2/24 Revolutionary Jews from Spinoza to Marx book talk

2/24 Jastrow: The Dictionary, The Man, The Queer Icon Shel Shel Maala class (sliding scale $0+)

Jewish Pet of the Week

The Jewish Pet of the Week this week is Theo, a lovely seal-point shorthair cat sent in by human @shabbesdyke!

<3

Meli