Cheshvan 5785
Jewish Calendar: High Holy Days and Sukkot (after the fact)
We’ve been through so many holidays lately. A collection of links from them: OpenSiddur has four Yom Kippur prayers from Halachic Left’s yizkor supplement for Palestinian life. I hope you were able to shake a lulav this season and thus put an arrow in the eye of satan. Progressive neohasidic mag Gashmius put together some holiday content on praying for rain this season.
And today is Simchat Torah. To dispense with the heavy note, I will not be discussing last year this (hebrew) date, or the changes since then. On a light note, “it can throw even an experienced leyner off when […] each letter stretches out so much that it makes you ask yourself how much Simkhat Torah have I already imbibed”
On a medium note, or an in-between note, we are in a time of renewal once again—finishing and restarting our communal torah reads, and studying the most studied section of torah, that first verse (664 commentary connections on sefaria!). As ada says in her newsletter Etz Hi, “as we begin new projects, as we cook and write and love, as we create selves and homes, as we breathe in and out, as we take care of each other: may we enjoy the act of creation for itself, the moment of creation in itself.”
Jewish Calendar: 4 Cheshvan (US election day)
Personally, I vote down-ballot in local and state elections, and, while I’m there, I vote for president. I have friends who fled or are fleeing the country in fear of another trump presidency and friends in blue states who can’t bring themselves to vote for kamala harris based on her inaction on Gaza. I can’t blame either group, but I do think voting to choose one’s leader and/or antagonist is important if you can.
I am not looking forward to election day, even though I have faith that the democrats will pull through. If Harris doesn’t win, everything is going to suck worse again for at least four years. I am mostly letting myself not feel the stress of it all until the day of, at which point i will be a stressmonster like everyone else.
Israel/Palestine and Antisemitism
Here is where it does get heavy. The secular and hebrew calendar anniversaries of October 7th and all that came after have passed/are here. The genocide in Gaza continues for the sake of Israel taking over the land. Ashjan Ajour writes about her chronically ill Gazan uncle’s end of life experiences. Meanwhile, Israel bars medical NGOs from entering Gaza.
I try not to consider university politics my business but they are once again heating up particularly around Jewish students and faculty who are pro-Palestine/antiZionist. Here are some relevant links:
From the Cornell Daily Sun, Why is Cornell Telling Jewish Students What Their Jewish Values Should Be?
What happened to Finkelstein? [Muhlenberg] Faculty want to know, a followup regarding the Jewish faculty member fired for sharing a pro-Palestine post on her personal instagram
US universities remove anti-Zionist sukkahs on campus. I believe this has since also happened at additional universities than those listed.
U.S. Jewish Institutions Are Purging Their Staffs of Anti-Zionists, specifically for being anti-zionist—including liberal-left organizations like Tzedek (EDIT: Mishkan! I meant Mishkan) Chicago. What a shonde.
On the antisemitism front, I regret to share that an historic Sephardic synagogue in Philadelphia was targeted (vandalism/potential arson) three times in three days this week. It is not death or harm to congregants or staff (baruch hashem), but no place of worship deserves this.
Elad Nehorai’s Why Antisemitism Is Spreading on the Left is not a collection of proof of left antisemitism; it is instead a list of ingredients that together result stochastically in antisemitism—components that are here in our world today.
Also, in news combining some of our least favorite people, Trump praises Hitler; ADL remains silent. No offense to the newsletter writer but every part of that title is something I wish I could unhear.
Additional articles I have not read but seem promising:
Emily Pothast’s What I Witnessed in the Holy Land, about a visit in spring of 2023
Books and Language
never too much garlic art in yiddish and english from Madison Safer
I loved Ben Lorber’s review of Joshua Leifer’s Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life, titled The Wrestling Is The Point.
Ulla Urszula Chowaniec writes about Irena Klepfisz’ recent poetry for In Geveb, including a new Polish-English collection.
In The City Of God, a group of klezmer musicians convened by Frank London. “These brilliant new songs are meant to be sung while dancing hakafot on Simchat Torah.”
Miscellaneous
deep annoyed sigh Columbus was not jewish, okay? I don’t care what the gene tests say about his possible heritage; if a guy is avowedly catholic his whole life he’s not jewish.
Sarah Day Arts just dropped a bunch of little chanukah gifts in her shop!
The Jewish Monsters and Magic Trading Cards kickstarter starts soon! I’ve enjoyed seeing the stages of this project develop on the creator’s social media and it’ll be so cool to have as a physical object.
Events
Judaism Unbound’s UnYeshiva is once again starting classes soon, on gender or rambam or whatever.
Torah Studio’s drop-in classes are also starting next week, on Abulafia-style meditation and art midrash!
10/28 What We Make of Who We Are: Jewish, Trans, and Family Identities, a double book launch from Joy Ladin
10/29 Were the Ancient Greeks Responsible for Antisemitism? Erich Gruen lecture
10/29 Election Emotions: Creative Reflection & Resilience, from Jewish Studio Project and Lilith Magazine
11/1 Aleksandra Szczepan, “Intimate Cartographies: Mapping Jewish Eastern Europe in Yizker-Bikher” lecture
11/3 TransHallel Cheshvan
11/3 Yiddish Schmooze: Selections from the Poetry of Rosa Nevadovska (Poetry readings in Yiddish and English both), from the Workers Circle
11/3 Queer Lefty Yiddish Futures Zine Launch from Queer Yiddish Camp / Rad Yiddish!
11/10 Reclaiming Marginalized Jewish Languages Panel Discussion, about Judeo-Arabic and Ladino language projects
11/11 Vashti x Solidarity is the Political Version of Love, with Solidarity Is The Political Version of Love: Lessons from Jewish Anti-Zionist Organizing authors Rebecca Vilkomerson and Rabbi Alissa Wise
11/13 Magic and Death: Ritual, Power and Liminality, a talk from Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Seidel
12/8 UW Ladino day, featuring a talk on “The Familiar” with Author Leigh Bardugo
2/2-2/3 Bad Yiddish Farbindungen yiddish studies conference (proposals due in November)
Pet of the Month
Today’s Pet of the Month is Elijah! Such floof, amazing coloration, an beautiful boy.
Until next time,
<3
Meli