Tazria-Metzora
This week we have parshat tazria-metzorah, which has a lot of things to say about various things that cause tumah (ritual impurity, ritual recognition of messy embodiment, a situation of being closer to life rather than closer to G-d) and what to do with that. There is space here for some outsider torah, and I'm sure people wiser than me have written it from a queer and/or disabled and/or feminist perspective. However, I defer to Dr. Rebecca Epstein-Levi, who while writing about something else gave a delightful evergreen quote:
https://twitter.com/RJELevi/status/1382427505731207173
Left Jewish twitter has been A Lot recently and most of that I don't especially want to engage with. I am glad the jewish currents panel in the Religious Socialism conference was switched from Saturday to Sunday so shomer shabbos jews can attend, though, and I hope there's other jewish content in the schedule too.
Battle of Antisemitism Definitions (IHRA vs JDA) is Actually a Proxy War For Criticism of Israel. This is, actually, the point of the Jerusalem Declaration--but for people who aren't plugged in to the history, reading this might be a better education than reading the JDA itself.
I am perpetually frustrated that belief in free palestine will get groups kicked out of collaborating with other jews and jewish institutions, but explicitly working with white supremacists won't.
https://twitter.com/aptly_engineerd/status/1382433574696022019
Learn from Zachary Braiterman about Jews and race (cn: antiblack racism discussed academically) in old-school jewish philosophy, including talking about jewish whiteness in antiquity inasmuch as the concept existed then.
There was another article about online language learning in the jewish mainstream press, this time about yiddish AND ladino.
We're already a good chunk through counting the omer, but two additional omer counting projects I'm enjoying and haven't linked yet are Rabbi Sandra Lawson's counting the omer tweets, and the instagram account dog baomer from a very cool rabbi who i went to USY with back in the day.
I recently saw this image from cartoonist Darrin Bell mourning the passing of Leonard Nimoy back in 2017.
Do you know of anyone doing work in specifically Jewish approaches to (police &or prison) abolition? I am aware of Jewish Community Action in Minnesota, as staff members Enzi Tanner & Jamie Kavanah did a wonderful presentation on the topic at the Trans Jews Are Here convening. There exists also this sermon from Rabbi Brant connecting shabbat and other Jewish values to abolition. I also found several source sheets on Sefaria including a sermon from Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari and another by Jayce Koyster. I would love to read more, so if you have any additional reading suggestions on the crossover (i am set as far as secular abolitionist readings, thank you! My to-read list is very long and I am chipping away at it), please let me know. I will also keep an eye out as i read through There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart but i do not know if anyone had that particular focus for their piece.
https://twitter.com/mirmiration/status/1381989963005321218
Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt wrote in Glamour about frum women popstars on instagram. I'm extremely put off by kol isha (the idea that women's voices are too tempting for men and thus women should not sing in front of men) and hearing about how different women in orthodox communities deal with it is fascinating.
In Geveb's typography and page layout is beautiful in its presentation of this alef-bays poetry from Freed Weininger translated from yiddish into english by Jonah Lubin.
Apparently there is a CW Nancy Drew show with some jewish content in season 2, including racism against an asian jew (sigh) and also dybbuks.
In other TV news, I watched an episode of Worn Stories on netflix that featured a nonbinary teen's b'nei mitzvah and how they picked what to wear. It was beautiful. I was kvelling.
https://twitter.com/sillyhead/status/1382158942365577217
I may be a caricature of myself but in my own defense there are a lot of trans and/or queer jews, it's not all that surprising that I find people lots of places.
Politically upsetting content ahoy: there is a new(ish) transphobic and antisemitic ideological descendant of qanon. Transphobia and antisemitism are unfortunately and deeply linked in all kinds of ways, ranging from outright conspiracy theories like this one to "gendercritical" UK feminism.
The footprints project "traces the history and movement of Jewish books since the inception of print."
EVENTS
4/18 JOCSM? On the Racial Identity of Sephardi and Mizrachi Jews, a conversation between Hadar Cohen and Tamar Zaken
4/18 Lara Haft teaching Right Relationship with the Land: Torah Alternatives to Conquest Hishbati info, register here. It will also broadcast on JewishLive.org.
4/18 From Northwestern University's Arab-Jewish Culture, Identity, and Language: Past and Present series: "In-between": Arab-Jews In Palestine/Eretz Israel at the Turn of the 20th Century, “Oriental Jews - Between Local Arabs and the Zionist Movement” by Abigail Jacobson; “Sephardi Intellectual Visions between Partitions and Translations” by Yuval Evri; “Esther Azhari Moyal: A Jewish Woman in the Arab Renaissance” by Lital Levy.
4/18 Queer Jewish Speed Connecting, can be dating but doesn't have to be. You do need to register and provide a social media account (fb, insta, or tiktok) to verify.
4/19 Rad Yiddish Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Poetry
4/19 Event Marking the 78th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising from Congress for Jewish Culture (more info)
4/20 Blut und Blintzes: A Yiddish Vampire Radio Play by Rebecca Turner. Register here.
4/20, 4/28, 5/3: 3 part class on ritual design and innovation
4/22 Leonard Cohen's Mystical Midrash
4/24 Café Yiddish-lite, an online cabaret from Boston-based Cafe Yiddishkayt
4/24-25 Building the Religious Left conference from DSA's Religious Socialist groups
4/25 Chana Rein teaching Make Here Israel: The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Approach to Zionism and Diasporism Hishbati info, register here
4/25 Experiencing Jewish Music in New York: A Virtual Tour, a talk by Professor Tina Frühauf
4/27 Conversion Activism: The Evolution of the Laws of Conversion and Its Relevance to LGBTQ+ Inclusion from an Orthodox perspective, put on by Eshel
4/29 Lag B'Omer w/Rabbi Lucía & freygl, a Non-Zionist Lag B'Omer celebration with text study and art making ($18-36)
5/2 Yakov Rabkin teaching Jewish Messianism in the Face of Crises in the 1930s Hishbati info, register here
5/2 Queer Jews: A 20th Anniversary Symposium in Memory of David Shneer, a 20 years later event about an anthology
5/2-5/3 Jewish Psychedelic Summit
5/4 From Interfaith Family to the Rabbinate: Three Communal Leaders’ Jewish Journeys
5/14 The Jewish People of Color National (Virtual) Shabbaton
5/23 5/2 From Northwestern University's Arab-Jewish Culture, Identity, and Language: Past and Present series: Performance and Conversation With Tair Haim, Acclaimed Soloist of the Band A-Wa
The Jewish Pet of the Week this week is Elana's dog Annie! I cannot get over these most excellent ears.
That's all for this week! Shabbat shalom, everyone.
<3
Meli