Welcome to Weird Jewish Digest! This month we have content relating to Tu Bishvat; fan art of Spock's bar mitzvah; midcentury Reform antizionism; Algerian Jewish sign language; neohasidism; and more!

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Welcome back to Weird Jewish Digest! This month we have chanukah (including the world's largest lego menorah), gorgeous old (and new) jewish books, several online classes and events, and a kitten.

Content notes include: genocide (shoah, removal of Yemenite Jewish children), other antisemitism, and islamophobia.

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Before the next issue of Weird Jewish Digest goes out on January 20th, we'll go through the following parts of the weekly torah reading cycle:

Content notes include:

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Before the next time I send out an email on December 16th, we'll go through the following parts of the weekly torah reading cycle:

Hello all! Welcome to the first real monthly issue of weird jewish digest! This is all in trial mode still. Let me know what you think!

Content notes include: genocide, antisemitism, anti-Palestinian violence, and probably some other rough topics in the links themselves.

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Before the next time I send out an email on November 18th, we'll go through the following parts of the weekly torah reading cycle:

Hello!

The next Jewsletter will go out October 21st, which is the day before the shabbat mevarchim rosh chodesh cheshvan. I'm excited for the break but I'll miss sending out a weekly update!

Hello!

Reminder, once again, that I'll be sending newsletters out weekly through the end of September (right before Shabbat Shuva) to make sure everyone's got the high holy days resources they need, then I'll be switching to monthly so i have the energy to work on this and also other projects as they come up.

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Parshat Nitzavim

Hello!

I'll be sending newsletters out weekly through the end of September (right before Shabbat Shuva) to make sure everyone's got the high holy days resources they need, then I'll be switching to monthly so i have the energy to work on this and also other projects as they come up.

Also, content notes this week include homophobia and child abuse. No prizes for guessing the topics they're attached to.

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Hello! I missed you last week. As a reminder, I'll be sending these out weekly through the end of September (right before Shabbat Shuva) to make sure everyone's got the high holy days resources they need, then I'll be switching to monthly.

CW: child abuse, homophobia, antisemitism, genocide (shoah)

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Parshat Ki Teitzei

Hello!

I'm gonna be skipping next week due to spending a few days in the woods, but I'll be back to send a Jewsletter out on September 9th.

Hello!

I really appreciate the replies from readers last week! I'll be making the switch to monthly emails some time after Yom Kippur, so your access to online High Holy Days content should remain consistent. I'm still working on the details, including how i'll be handling the events list and torah portion info, so if you have feedback please let me know!

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Parshat Eikev

Hello!

I've been thinking about changing this newsletter to be monthly rather than weekly. I imagine the events list would be less helpful but I've been itching to devote some of my creative energy elsewhere, which is hard to do in my current setup! What do you think? Reply to this email and let me know.

Hello friends! Great to see you.

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Devarim

We start the last book of the torah this week! Devarim (meaning words or things or stuff) is a much better name for it than Deuteronomy.

Hello friends! Great to see you. I missed you last week. Unfortunately we're in a bit of a heatwave where I am and it's causing my chronic illness problems to flare up a little. Nothing dangerous, 🧿, but inconvenient enough that i'm a little less capable of editing wonders--be patient if / when you discover any errors, please!

Anyway, enjoy!

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Hello friends! This week in jewsletter we have: the 17th (or 18th) of tammuz, a jewish astrology guide, community safety training, several new events for the list, and a dog!

Also I'm out next week. See you on the 29th.

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Usually I just fill this section with holidays and parsha info, but this week I have two links about actual calendars!

Hello friends! This week in jewsletter we have some stuff about the parsha and a very cute cat as pet of the week, with various thoughts and links in between.

CNs: internet harassment, mass shooting, racism

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This week's torah portion, parshat chukat, contains the red cow ashes purification stuff, one of many rituals that we don't (can't) do anymore. Also the death of Moses's sister Miriam. Ben Greenfield has a great twitter thread drash about Moses mourning Miriam and other potentials of original-language learning. Moses also goes on to angrily hit a rock which is not what hashem wanted, so then aaron dies (which is weird revenge but ok i guess). The haftarah is from judges and tells us the story of yiftach.

Hello friends! This week in jewsletter we have: tzitzit and gender; bodily autonomy and judaism; gefilte fish hot dogs; and my very own cat Jam as Jewish Pet of the Week.

An administrative note: I will be skipping next week and returning the following week. I've got nice personal life stuff coming up--a beloved partner is visiting, and I'd like to devote the time I normally spend putting this together as quality time with them instead.

CNs: transphobia, abortion rights (and our sudden lack thereof), murder of shireen abu akleh, genocide (shoah)

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Hello everyone! This week in Jewsletter we have: multiple zine-related links, pesach sheni, anti-queer anti-trans nonsense, links to book sales, and a babka for pet of the week!

I had plans on what I was going to focus on this week, but then a bunch of transphobia (and related problems) happened--systemically, not to me personally--so the heavy pieces of this email are more about that and other """culture war""" topics. You have been warned.

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Beha'alotcha

Happy pride month, friends! I'm skipping over some of the heavy stuff this week not because there isn't relevant news, but as a burnout prevention strategy, and also because I'm still working through my thoughts on some concepts that will still be equally relevant next week.

Jewish Calendar: Parshat Naso

Happy pride month, friends!

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Parshat Bamidbar

This week we're starting a new book of the torah: Bamidbar/Numbers! Bamidbar means "in the middle of nowhere" or "in the wilderness" or "in the open space". Dunno about you but I do feel a little bit in the wilderness about a lot of things right now.

Hello and welcome. I wish these times were less full of horrors, but here we are, doing our best to survive. I am glad you are here.

CN: child sex abuse, shoah, nazis

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Parshat Bechukotai

Hello! Last week we had some technical difficulties, so you might not have gotten the email on time (or at all), but never fear! you can read it online. There's kittens. It's worth it.

CN: mass shooting reference, racism

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Hello! My apologies for the delay. I clicked the send button yesterday afternoon as usual and it seems that it did not work. Let's try this again, eh?

CN: antisemitism, death by gunfire, violence against Palestinians, shoah mention, police violence

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Parshat Emor

Welcome back jewsletter friends! I missed you last week but it was also nice to have a break. This week we have: holiness (whatever that means), @swordsjew being badass, Yiddishland Pavilion, and a cat named Bubbe.

CN: abortion talk, bad politics

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Parshat Kedoshim

This week in Jewsletter we have: some links about Mimouna, my take on LibsOfTiktok and the aftermath (with context links), The Temptations doing a Fiddler medley, and a JEWISH PUPPY!

An administrative note: i'm going to take next week off. See you in two weeks!

CN: homophobia, transphobia, horrible right wing MAGA etc

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Pesach starts tonight!

"What to the Black Jew is passover? It should be haven from white supremacy." full article link. Related: don't sing Go Down Moses at your seder if you're not Black.

The pandemic continues. COVID prevalence is rising once again. Please consider mitigation measures if you are having an in-person seder, such as:

This week in jewsletter we have: historical haggadahs, a reading list of good leftist writings about antisemitism, and new events (including a lecture about a jewish anarchist's spiritualism and multiple pesach-related zooms)!

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This week's torah portion is Metzorah.

Hello everyone! Let's jump right in.

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This week's torah portion is tazria! We're introduced to tzaraat (biblical leprosy), and talk some about tumah (ritual impurity).

I think bird kashrut was last week, but here, have some funny birds anyway.

Hello everyone! This week in jewsletter we have some book discounts, an antiquities smuggling update, a few new classes, and a new Pesach section! And also a puppy.

CW's this week are: firey death, antisemitism, anti-Palestinian oppression, Ukraine war

Hello everyone! This week in jewsletter we have: a purim wrap-up including Judith Butler and Abby Stein (separately), a Deadly Exchange update, a banger of an article about TropeTrainer software, and a kitty!

Also, here, have some birds.

Hello everyone! This week in jewsletter we have: a tiny aleph, magic invisibility foccacia, demographic panics are racist, two online archive projects that almost made me cry, and a judeo-arabic for super-beginners class.

It's a stressful time. CW's this week are: antisemitism, israeli racism, ukraine war, abortion criminalization, outdated trans language

Hello everyone! This week we make fun of (and/or shake our heads at) antisemites, have a variety of feelings about Mizrachi-ness, and showcase a very special dog as Jewish Pet of the Week.

CW's this week are: antisemitism, holocaust stuff

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This week's torah portion is Pekudei, the last one in the book of Shemot! We finish building the mishkan and at the very end of the parsha get the G-DCLOUD that we're gonna wander around the desert with for 40 years or so.

Hello everyone! The world is shit but also contains the two cute cats at the end of this email, and a whole lot of really cool jews (like you!).

CW's this week are: antisemitism, anti-Palestinian violence, sexual assault

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This week's torah portion is vayekhel! Please listen to its asks in at least one specific case, and observe shabbat as a day of rest (though obviously without the death-to-non-observers part. i'm not about that). Take a breath and put down the stress rectangle (smartphone) and do something else, or nothing for a little while. Shabbos is coming! Or here, depending on your time zone.

Hello everyone! I have enjoyed taking a week off and also enjoyed coming back, though it has meant I have SO many links this week. Oops.

CW's this week are: antisemitism, anti-Palestinian violence

Hello everyone! There are so many links to share this week, and I know I missed several things worth including. I'm a little frayed at the edges, just like everyone else attempting to live through this pandemic nonsense, so I am going to take a week off from sending this newsletter and return on 2/18.

CW's this week are: antisemitism, kkk iconography, animal death

Hello everyone! There are a bunch more of you than there were last week, in a way that makes me think someone linked to this newsletter. If you're a new subscriber, and don't mind me asking, where did you find out about this?

CW's this week are: holocaust, drug use, home demolition, anti-Palestinian violence

Hello everyone! What a week. Let's all take an extra deep breath and do restful shabbat things.

CW's this week are: antisemitism (including last saturday's hostage situation), Palestinian death mention, shoah mention

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This week's torah portion is Yitro, where Moses's father in law is like "you are gonna burn out if you keep this up", and we get the revelation of the ten commandments at Sinai. I love the synesthesia interpretation brought in by Josh Fleet of Rising Song Institute. Listen too.

Hello everyone! This week is shabbat shira (singing shabbat) and tu bishvat (tree holiday) and i am Quite Excited.

CW's: zionism, colonialism, antisemitism, islamophobia

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Hello everyone! Please enjoy the following extremely boss pair of pants.

CW's: death, zionism, pandemic, antisemitic conspiracy theories, sexual harassment

Hello everyone! I am not feeling well this week (it's not covid, just a cold), so this may be a somewhat off-kilter jewsletter with more errors than usual. Also, it's the secular new year soon and I'm gonna mark the changeover by trying to stay up til midnight in my own living room.

CW's: plague(s), taphonomy (giant corpse speculation), nazis (in the context of resistance to), god-eating i guess?

Hello everyone! There are 236 email addresses receiving this and I think that's amazing.

CW's: beginning of exodus bible stuff (oppression, baby killing policies, murder), nazis

Hello everyone! I have officially clicked the button that gives a paid subscription option. The same content will always go out to free and paid subscribers, but why not have a way for me to make a little money off this.

CW's: drugs (LSD), genocide (shoah), Trump, nazis, violence.

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This week's torah portion is vayechi (there's even a playlist about it). Jacob is near death, having lived 17 years in mitzrayim. He blessed Joseph's children, during which he shuffles the first and 2ndborn (but both get a blessing, this time!). It feels to me that this parsha is more of an endcap on Jacob's story, symmetric with its beginnings and tying up the ends of his offspring; Joseph technically does die at the end of this parsha also, but the themes of his particular story, of wealth and famine and social positioning, are more firmly tied into the beginnings of Exodus, and the rise of Moses.

Hello everyone!

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Hello friends! In an attempt to avoid burnout, I'm keeping the jewsletter relatively light right now, so there won't always be a content note section or an israel/antisemitism one. The whole thing might also be shorter, for similar sanity-preservation reasons. Never fear, though, there will always be a pet of the week at the end--and this week he's Chanukah themed!

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This week's torah portion is Miketz, but more relevantly to my particular focus, it's still chanukah.

Hello friends! We are nearing the winter holiday season and i hope you are having a good one.

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This week's torah portion is Vayeshev, which covers the first part of Joseph's story. Themes include jealousy, dream interpretation, false assumptions, and (as always) tensions over favoritism and social roles.

Hello!

Content notes for this week's newsletter are (trans)gender problems, police and military violence, christian nationalism, disrespect of dead bodies, nuclear weapons, genocide denial. Cheerful, huh?

Hello!

One of the links this week came from a trivia newsletter I subscribe to. Guess which one!

Content notes for this week's newsletter are antisemitism, anti-palestinian opinions and violence, white supremacy

Hello!

Content notes for this week's newsletter are homophobia, transphobia, white supremacists, sexual assault, and probably more?

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This week's torah portion is Toldot. Kadin Henningsen summarized the plot of the parsha in a dvar for a previous year's Trans Day of Remembrance. There's family stuff in there, and masculinity stuff, gender role stuff, power stuff, plenty of stuff. Since Jacob and Esav were twins born of a genderweird mother I can't say I'm surprised by the sheer amount of gender.

Hello chaverim!

Content notes for this week's newsletter are antisemitism, homophobia/transphobia, anti-Palestinian BS

but first, to offset that, a very cute t4t jewish opportunity:

https://twitter.com/comradecumslut/status/1453659452431904770

Hello!

Content notes for this week's newsletter are anti-Palestinian bigotry, terrorism, antisemitism, animal slaughter, racism

I just learned and now immediately love this saying in Ladino.

Hello!

Content notes for this week's newsletter are racism, antisemitism, legacies of colonialism, white feelings (mine), shoah, abortion, crisco