Ki Tavo
Today is the 15th of Elul and approximately full moon time. This week’s parsha, Ki Tavo, means “when you enter”. There’s some agricultural festival stuff, and a piece of the pesach haggadah, and tithing, and rules and curses and consequences and blessings.
David Graeber, a Jewish anarchist and social science scholar, passed away this week. May his membory be a blessing. A great deal of his work is available on the Anarchist Library website. I haven’t read all that much of his work, but his book Debt: The First 5000 Years has been recommended to me many times, and I saw a number of intriguing recommendations for shorter works I’ll probably dive into first.
This happened last Friday but I saw it after sending the newsletter:
September’s Sephardic Digital Academy from the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America / La Ermandad Sefaradi has some great-looking opportunities, including learning to cook masapan (aka marzipan) and baklava. I believe all lessons there will be available after the fact on their facebook.
UK-based Jewish leftist org Jewdas (wikipedia explainer) put together a gorgeous and extensive (and still growing) twitter thread of lovely synagogues around the world. The past of our oppression is written in these very buildings, as are some lovely stories of the relationship between Jewish and Muslim communities and our places of worship, both historically and in the present. Welcome home, our old neighbours!!
I recently found out about a several-month fellowship for Jewish disabled young adult (20-39) organizers. The wording about pay is strange to me but it does look like there will be an optional $1100 stipend. It looks like it will be entirely remote. There’s an info session in early October and a pretty detailed FAQ if you’d like to know more.
My shopping suggestion this week is the Radical Jewish Calendar 5781. I’ve used their calendar for a few years running now, as one of several in my apartment, and it’s just nice to have something jewish and justice-focused. It feels a little homemade, more community-built than super-slick commercial artwork, and that does mean there’s sometimes a typo or two but I don’t mind.
If you instead want to be on the getting money side of things, Jewish Currents has a call for submissions regarding our current social uprising.
And, to finish up, the Jewish Pet of the Week! This is Arlo, whose human Nora is in my queer talmud study group. Hi Arlo! Hi Nora!
What’s that, Arlo? You’re ready for your closeup? OK!
Anyway, I hope everyone reading this has a shabbat shalom and good week and all that. See you next time!