Iyar 5784
Hi everyone! I am chatty in this one—hope that’s alright with you!
Jewish Calendar (and…nature?)
How was your passover? Mine was pretty great. I went to two seders, including one I led and one at a dear friend’s house; both were on the small end and lovely, which I think I needed this year. But maybe yours was a little more weird (pejorative).
Rosh Chodesh Iyar is my Hebrew calendar birthday, so I’m excited to be 36 (double chai!) in the Hebrew calendar as well as the Gregorian soon. I’m celebrating by taking a few days in a yurt by myself in the middle of the forest, as Rabbi Tamares said, “among my most intimate friends the beautiful evergreen trees.”
I’m working (perpetually) on an essay about me and Tamares and the trees and nature writ large—I’ll be sure to link it when it’s done, but if you know of any other older jewish sources about nature, maybe about the shtetl’s surroundings, let me know as that would be helpful!
Israel/Palestine and Antisemitism
I’ve been reliably informed that you simply must read Asher Elbein’s The Judgment of Magneto, on the comics character Magneto, holocaust remembrance, mutant and/or jewish supremacy, the legacy of oppressive violence, and repentance. (It covers a lot of ground.)
I don’t have anything in particular to say about the campus protests. I am glad they’re happening and feel horrible about the colleges’ admins bringing in police to break up peaceful encampments. See also: The Student-Led Protests Aren’t Perfect. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Right, a reported op-ed highlighting what was happening in and around Columbia prior to the mass arrests late Tuesday night; or read the words of protestors themselves.
This criticism of the ADL and its leadership by Emily Tamkin will catch you up on why I don’t like the ADL or its ideas on antisemitism.
The untold story of Arab Jews — and their solidarity with Palestinians, an explainer from Sigal Samuel at Vox. And yes, I know Arab Jewish history and present-day politics are more complicated than the headline presents; so does the author. Or perhaps you’d rather read about co-resistance in Israel/Palestine?
On Jewish feelings (including mine) and pro-palestinian activism
Being afraid does not mean you're under attack: On those condemning anti-genocide protests, but not genocide. Those of us raised in zionism have a lot to unlearn, and it can be scary; but feelings of unsafety and existence of danger are not always the same. Hate speech exists on the left, including in pro-palestine contexts, but a keffiyeh or free-palestine chant is not antisemitism, regardless of how they may make us feel.
We need an exodus from Zionism, by Naomi Klein, on the false idol that is Zionism
Check out this Haaretz article about Reform rabbis trying to be pro-israel and pro-palestine (which I’m not sure one can, but…!)
As you can tell, I’m working on reading a lot of things touching on Israel’s actions in Gaza. I’m working on understanding and working on my views and working on my ethics. I’m working on counting the omer every night, working on its sefirot crossovers; I’m working on existing in this world day by day. I’m working on not having my newsletter be my journal, but that particular work in progress has not progressed very far.
I feel pulled apart between finding comfort in my tradition and the sensory overload of paying attention to the anger-inducing news, whether anger because it’s wrong or because it’s right. I feel stuck, tangled in supposedly opposing viewpoints that mostly talk past each other. I am comforted when I read things I agree with, and struggle when I read barely adjacent or opposing opinions—am I just leaping from idea to idea, from thing to thing, no true commitment to justice or other ideals? I feel alone, comforted by how a few of you have responded that whatever I’m doing here has helped you feel less alone as well.
Meanwhile, in our names, for the sake of so-called jewish safety, over 34,000 are dead in Gaza. Bombed, starved, shot only to be rediscovered in mass graves, hands tied at the time of death, children and adults both. What about this helps anything at all?
Books and Language
Leftist publisher Pluto Press has 50% off a collection of Ella Shohat’s writing along with the rest of their books—I might get myself a copy of this one; let me know if you want to read along with me.
LGBTQ Reads celebrates Jewish American Heritage Month this May with some queer jewish book recs.
A Conversation with Trina Robbins, in part about her Jewishness and how it’s influenced her work in comics.
Pseudo-Boccaccio, Yiddish Pulp Fiction, and the Man Who Ripped Off Joyce, a look at two invented “translations” of Boccaccio works in Yiddish and what they can tell us about shund literature, complete with some lovely nsfw illustrations.
Mo Martin, in ANMLY, tranlsates(-and-then-some) captions for “anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist political cartoons by William Gropper for the leftist newspaper Morgn Freiheit”
Miscellaneous
The delightful Sword and the Sandwich newsletter covered the hillel sandwich you probably ate last week during the seder. Also regarding food, New Lines Magazine has a feature about Bene Israel (Indian Jewish) food, including similarities and differences to neighboring regions’ cuisines.
Lev Gringauz writes for Cincy Jewfolk on the closure of HUC-JIR’s Cincinnati campus. It’s a long read but if you like knowing what’s going on institutionally it’s worth it.
Reclaiming Aspects of the Jewish Past and Remixing Them: An Interview with Performance Artist Julie Weitz on In Geveb’s blog is an excellent look at Weitz’s Doykeit performance art series.
Events
There’s a weekly ladino lounge zoom event from the American Ladino League if that’s your jam, covering lessons for beginners and more advance conversations.
5/5 For Times Such as These Seasons of Our Joy: The Radical Power of Jewish Holidays to Transform the World, with Rabbis Ariana Katz, Jessica Rosenberg, and Arthur Waskow
5/5 Rokhl Auerbach’s Warsaw Testament, with Samuel Kassow
5/5 Sefardi Amulets and Plant Protection with Naomi Spector
5/5 and subsequent Sundays: Zohar: The Hebrew Goddess at The Torah Studio (drop-in)
5/7 and four tuesdays after; Presence and Absence: Images of the Divine in Kabbalah, a Jewish Studio Project class on the Zohar
5/7 Yiddish and Hebrew Song in the Weimar Republic
5/8 and 5/15 Torah of Grains, a two-part series on wheat and other grains from Jewish Farmer Network
5/9 Heeling Our Soles: The Torah of Feet, taught by Lex Rofeberg at Shel Maala
5/10, 5/17, 5/24 At the Intersection: Cultivating Jewish Embodied Dialogue, “three participatory sessions centering Jews at the intersection of multiple perspectives to engage in open-hearted, body-oriented, and empathy-led dialogue.”
5/19 Lexi Wants To Know Everything About Siddur Davar Hadash, in which Lexi Kohanski interviews brin solomon about its siddur
5/19-6/16 Sundays, Thorns in the Vineyard: Criminals, Snitches, and Jewish Views on the Law, a Shel Maala class taught by Xava de Cordova
5/22-6/5 Unraveling Jewish Zines: From Rashi to the Haggadah to Instagram with Chava Shapiro—also check out the other Judaism Unbound mini-courses, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh and Birthing and Dying.
5/23 Frume Halpern’s Blessed Hands book talk with Translator Yermiyahu Ahron Taub
Pet of the Month
Chestnut is the Pet of the Month! Look at those little ears/face/eyes/fluff.
That’s all for this month! See you in a few weeks.
<3
Meli