Learn why this concerning trend isn’t just a matter of concern to the Jewish community, but a direct threat to democracy and national security. Gain insights into how the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. government in general, are addressing Jew-hatred around the world and why a comprehensive, whole-of-society approach is more critical now than ever before.
Don’t miss this opportunity to be informed, engaged, and empowered to counter antisemitism.
*Annual New York Conference to mark the departure and exile of Jews from Arab Countries, 20 May 2024, Touro University, Brooklyn. With MK May Golan, Shimon Ohayon, Ben Dror Yemini, Sasha Goldstein-Sabbah, Haim Saadoun, Stanley Uruman, Sarina Roffé, etc
From Harif - Association of UK Jews from MENA - a London event:
*Why is the ethnic cleansing of MENA Jews more relevant than ever? Monday 20 May, 7:30 pm. Appeal for Yad Sarah. Lyn Julius will present her book UPROOTED. Donors get a free signed copy. Maida Vale Venue.
For complimentary tickets please email Michael Marks at michael@yadsarah.org.uk.
Stereotypes about Jewish physical weakness have meant that the crucial role Jews played in creating American fitness culture has often been overlooked — despite the 19th century tradition of muscular Judaism established precisely to challenge these assumptions. Join New Lehrhaus in hosting historian and Reboot Network member Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, author of Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession, for an exciting talk and conversation about how and why Jews were so influential — but understudied — in shaping American fitness. Presented in partnership with Reboot.
Underscoring that there is no singular way to "look Jewish" or “be Jewish,” Reboot Studios collaborated with Paramount Global on This is What Jewish Looks Like, a new video short that celebrates the rich tapestry of Jewish identity in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. The visual techniques in the piece challenge stereotypes and preconceived notions of identity, especially important at a time when tensions are high among American Jews.
Photographer Brian Molyneaux captured portraits of individuals who identify as Jewish, highlighting the rich diversity within the Jewish community across various dimensions such as age, gender and race. See the short video here. It is appearing across Paramount’s portfolio of channels, including MTV, Comedy Central, CMT, Pop, TV Land, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel and BET throughout May as part of Jewish American Heritage Month.
Jews from Arab lands are the missing piece of the Israeli-Palestinian discourse by American Syrian Jew Lisa Sayegh May 7, 2024
"...Over the past years, I have often been frustrated when I find people do not understand the trauma of the 700,000 Jews from all over the Middle East who were violently expelled from their countries in 1948 and how it resonates today. Pro-Palestinian activists who call out Israel as a “European settler colonial project” omit a critical part of the story that calls into question their claim. They ignore the Mizrahi majority in Israel who are descendants of Jews expelled from Arab lands when Israel was declared a state..."
It’s Taurus season, and that means it’s time to focus on stepping out of our comfort zone. Change is the rule in life, and though it may not be comfortable, we find growth, blessings, and expansion when we move beyond the familiar and routine. This month, examine where you’re living in comfort and where you're called to venture beyond it. Make the effort to bring your awareness to the present and remember that challenges herald positive transformation, even if you can’t quite see it yet. Armed with this consciousness, an even more authentic version of you and your life can begin to emerge.
How has Zionism changed since October 7? As the State Israel marks its 76th anniversary amid unprecedented challenges, what does the future hold? Israeli author and historian Gil Troy will offer an examination of Zionism at this particular moment and discuss how a renewed Zionist vision may present a path toward a brighter future and nurture a more hopeful tomorrow.
Don't miss this important lecture, followed by a question-and-answer session led by JTA Editor in Chief Philissa Cramer.
Harif UK Association of Jews from MENA presentation 7:00 pm UK/ 1100 am PT/ 2:00 pm ET / 8:00 pm Europe / 9:00 pm Israel
‘We are leaving Morocco for good after 600 years,’ David Corcos told his family as they made ‘aliya’ to Israel from Mogador (known today as Essaouira) in 1959. David’s ancestors...arrived in Morocco from Spain as ‘The King’s merchants’. They were part of a select group of Jews enjoying trading privileges in Morocco’s largest port, where half the residents were Jews. Today almost none are left.
Sydney Corcos is a researcher on the history of the Mogador community, which maintained close relations with Eretz Israel through the centuries... In 2020, Sydney closed a circle with Morocco, when he became involved with the establishment of Beit Dakira, a centre dedicated to the Jewish history of Mogador..."
I’m a Jewish linguist, and unlike some in Congress, I think ‘Ashkenormativity’ is a perfectly fine word.
Sarah Bunin Benor May 2, 2024
The term arose in Jewish discourse around 2014. It has since been used by North American Jews of Moroccan, Bukharian, Turkish, Ashkenazi, Ethiopian, Persian, Black, Japanese-American & other backgrounds to critique and debate the orientations of various educational, cultural & communal institutions & products...
The Sephardi/Mizrahi advocacy organization JIMENA...has created a toolkit to help day schools... “The schools were built and the curriculum was created at a time when Jewish life was ‘Ashkenormative’ — Ashkenazi Jews catering to Ashkenazi Jews,” JIMENA’s executive director explained. “And there’s a need for the schools to meet the current needs of their student populations.”
Jews discuss Ashkenormativity not to perpetuate the power imbalance, but to counter it..."
The world’s oldest Jewish play inspires a new, immersive production
By Chava Pearl Lansky May 3, 2024
"...This is the world premiere of Untitled Theater Company No. 61’s “Exagoge,” an opera within a play within a seder being staged this month at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, a 63-year-old downtown institution.
Written and directed by Edward Einhorn, with original music by Avner Finberg, the production’s source material is the world’s oldest known Jewish play: an ancient Greek drama, also called “Exagoge,” that was written in Alexandria more than 2,000 years ago by someone known now as Ezekiel the Tragedian.
The writer Howard Jacobson has theorized that the original “Exagoge” — an interpretation of the Book of Exodus mixed with pagan ideas — was written in the second century BCE but was destroyed shortly after its creation by the Jewish elders, on grounds of idolatry. Today, only 269 lines remain..."
From Mayyim Hayyim:
Being a Mikveh Guide means showing up for another person as they mark a meaningful transition in life. Alongside a virtual community of Trans & Nonbinary Jews, participants will gain new knowledge and skills to facilitate this ancient ritual, reimagined for modern use.
"The pro-Palestinian demonstrators tend to reject Zionists of all stripes. That leaves pro-Israel progressives in a lonely place: deeply critical of Israel’s right-wing government, but also appalled by a protest movement that challenges the very legitimacy of Israel, and hesitant to join a Jewish right that wants to clamp down on free speech and attack higher education.
“I think most of the progressive Jewish world we are talking about probably fits somewhere in the middle of these extremes,” said Colton-Max. “As a parent of college kids, what terrifies me is that there is no safe space for them at all.”
At a Manhattan synagogue, ‘normie’ pro-Israel liberals stage a last stand
Andrew Silow-Carroll May 5, 2024
Join Yeshiva University Professor Neil Rogachevsky — co-author of “Israel's Declaration of Independence: The History and Political Theory of the Nation's Founding Moment” — for a two-part deep dive on how the declaration helped Israel become the state it is today.
Your course fee gets you:
Two live and interactive lessons on the Israeli Declaration of Independence
Recordings of both lessons so you can review what you learned or missed
Original translations of the discussions that shaped the declaration
Suggestions for resources and books to extend your learning
Ahead of Israel’s Independence Day this year, get an in-depth lesson about the country’s founding document and the many debates that shaped it, with the co-author of a book on its history.
The New York Jewish Week and UJA invite you to join Elissa Strauss, author of the new book "When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others," for a look into the tremendous psychological, philosophical and spiritual power of parenting and caregiving, and how it's been diminished in the broader culture. Strauss will be in conversation with Deborah Joselow, Chief Planning Officer, UJA-Federation of New York.
I am conscious that a lot of people have never met a Jew, but the number who seem to think we are fictional or mythical characters from stories, like elves or Olympians, is always jarring.
From NCJW:
Yesterday, during the first holy days of Passover, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Idaho v. United States, a case determining whether states can force hospitals to withhold emergency abortion care from people who could die without it.
This case conflicts directly with Judaism, which not only permits such care, but even requires it to save the life of the pregnant person.
Please read my op-ed in USA Today, published yesterday, on the serious implications of this case for all people who want to be pregnant and the infringement of religious freedom.
Jewish Life Stories: A pioneering woman comic book artist...
By Andrew Silow-Carroll April 23, 2024
"Trina Robbins, 85, the first woman to draw a full issue of “Wonder Woman...”
In 2023, at the first-ever Jewish Comics Experience convention, Robbins was awarded the Macherke Award for lifetime achievement for works that included “Escape Artist,” a graphic biography of Holocaust survivor and cartoonist Lily Renee, and “A Minyen Yidn,” her adaptation of Yiddish short stories by her father, Muttel (Mutye) Perechudnik.
Robbins died on Wednesday in San Francisco. She was 85..."
Passover is called Zman Cheruteinu, Time of our Freedom. This year, it is challenging to embrace & celebrate our freedom when there are still hostages in captivity. As you prepare for your sedarim, we share resources from Maharat students & graduates that offer meaning & reflection:
A prayer and poem for the hostages by Adina Roth '24 titled “The Fifth Child” (below)
Seder Sources and Resources
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
Apr 19, 2024
"...THE FOUR QUESTIONS
An 1887 edition of the Arbeter Fraynd– a socialist paper published in London– reworked the Four Questions ("Why is this night different than all other nights?"– which is actually one question and four answers...
Their edition read as one might expect a poor laborer to say:
Ma nishtane, why are we different from Shmuel the manufacturer, from Meyer the banker, from Zorach the money lender, from Reb Todros the rabbi? They don’t do anything and they have food and drink during the day and also at night at least a hundred times over, we toil with all our strength the whole day and at night we have nothing to eat at all..."
Living wages, workers rights, glaring inequality, and class warfare are nothing new, but in today's economy they are urgent issues. Predatory capitalism is a tyrant we must escape from.
From Reboot:
Plastover: An Exodus from Plastic Waste
Reducing plastic use is a moral responsibility as well as a practical necessity. But it seems so overwhelming — how to begin?
It won’t be easy, but we have all of the information you need to make it happen – and plenty of information about why it matters. We know that saving the world from plastic will require more than just eliminating single-use plastic for a week and a day. We have a long journey ahead of us as well, but pushing now for industry change will help us use Passover to spark a sustained climate intervention. An Exodus of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Reclaiming miqvah as a spiritual act, rather than an misogynistic relic of patriarchy, is part of our mission. We stand with Mayyim Hayyim in their efforts to help educate people who have never experienced miqvah.
"A few weeks ago, I brought my Hillel students to Mayyim Hayyim. I know how special Mayyim Hayyim is from my own personal experiences. I immersed when I became a rabbi, and in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. Still, I didn’t expect how much my students would benefit from visiting Mayyim Hayyim.
Our visit to Mayyim Hayyim was more than I could ask for as an educator. It gave my students the chance to feel nourished by Jewish tradition. That’s why I am asking you to make a generous donation today. Your gift enables Mayyim Hayyim to provide meaningful Jewish connections for young adults."