June 16, 2023

Tamuz 5783

Welcome to Weird Jewish Digest!

Jewish Calendar

Before the next issue of Weird Jewish Digest goes out, we'll go through the following parts of the weekly torah reading cycle:

• 6/17 Sh’lach l'cha / שְׁלַח־לְךָ; newsletter from that week in 5782

• 6/24 Korach / קוֹרַח; newsletter from that week in 5781

• 7/1 Chukat-Balak / חֻקַּת־בָּלָק; newsletters from that week in 5781 (chukat) and 5782 (chukat, balak)

• 7/8 Pinchas / פִּינְחָס; newsletter from that week in 5781

Pride month

see also: reboot on instagram's post showcasing a jewish gay pride marcher from 1992

Juneteenth

While most of the linked events have passed, Jews of Color Initiative has a set of resources related to Judaism and Juneteenth.

Israel and Antisemitism

For all the "two jews, three opinions" jokes, people sure seem to assume every jew has the same narrowly-defined opinions about Israel and antisemitism. We asked hard questions about Reform Judaism, says Jeffrey Salkin in Religion News Service; but from that article's content the conclusions of those conversations are the same as they've always been. (For a different take, see David Regenspan in Jewish Currents talking about how Reform Judaism Needs an Identity Beyond Israel.) Also, Lila Corwin Berman wrote an opinion piece for JTA on the fight over the IHRA definition of antisemitism and manufactured norms.

https://twitter.com/ShammaBoyarin/status/1661487210800246784

Books and language

Rafael Rachel Neis' new book Rabbis and the Reproduction of Species is open access and looks amazing, based on this preview in Ancient Jew Review.

Yoel Fievel ben Avram put together a prayer book based on Maimonides's directions on how and what to pray. What a cool project!

Pirkei avot is sometimes beautifully illustrated and always goth as heck.

If you are on cohost, there is a new blog there posting yiddish folktales.

The Workers' Circle has launched the Yosl and Chana Mlotek Yiddish Song Collection, bringing together historic yiddish songs about a wide variety of topics.

Miscellaneous

Food podcast Gastropod recently put out an episode on fish and chips, including covering the dish's sephardic roots. For more Jewish potato writing, see Of Potato Latkes and Pedagogy: Cooking for the History Classroom by Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall.

Tzitzit Project's instagram has started a new tzitzit archive series showcasing talit katan from around the world!

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg says it's time to end pretrial detention, based on both common human decency and Maimonides' prioritization of reedeming captives. To help, you can donate to (or organize with) your local bail fund. Here's mine.

Classes and events

ShavuotLive 2023's playlist of recordings is now available, if you missed the event (like i did) and want to catch up.

Rabbi Lucia Pizarro's Jewish Liberation Theology Institute is starting another 8-week round of discussion groups this July. Alternately, check out Jewish sex with Rabbi Nikki, a five-session inclusive learning situation covering a variety of topics about sex and relationships.

6/18 “Israel and Palestine in Crisis: What Next for Jewish Dissent?” hosted by Independent Jewish Voices Canada (via, registration)

6/19 9am TransHallel led by yours truly (Edit: fb event link)

6/21 Judaism for a Changing World with Rabbi Andy Kahn

6/21 Accepting the Mitzvahs: a shareback shiur from Lexi Kohanski

6/22 Jewish Themes in The Last Unicorn

10/24-25 Rising Tide Gathering 2023: Elu v’Elu, Both/And: Multiplicity in Mikveh

Jewish Pet of the Month

The Jewish Pet of the Month this time around is Leviathan!

Reply to this email if you want your pet to be jewish pet of the month, or just to say hi!

<3

Meli