This is the best thing I've seen all week and I had to share.
(source)
Explanation in the alt text:
Famously, the Egyptian tyrant causes Egypt to be overrun with frogs because he refuses to free the Hebrew people, but there are additional details that make this a fun one to ponder. For one, the Hebrew says "the frog came up" - ONE frog - even though the rest of the time it says "frogs." So there are a few explanations rabbis have come up with to explain this. One is that a single frog multiplied to create swarms. A more creative explanation is that there was a singular giant frog who traveled and brought destruction. Jewish social media was sharing videos of the Portland Frog protester with the caption, "One Big Frog! One Big Frog!" Of course the frog protesters did multiply, and many were seen in crowds all over the world on "No Kings" Day. This calligraphic work takes the verses addressing the frog plague and combines them to form a simple rendering of the Portland Frog protester. The frog figure itself is made up of the English translations of the Hebrew around it. At the bottom left my signature is in the shape of a lily pad.
it’s one thing to call yourself anti-Zionist and reject people who are outright and openly and brazenly genocidal. but if you’re serious about giving a shit you have to reject liberal Zionism and half-measures too. The only true anti-Zionism is a total rejection of the very existence of Israel as a state, and any and all rhetoric that would validate that existence. And when you lean into this you’ll find most people, even the ones who might call themselves your allies, even perhaps some very big and prominent orgs, will not follow you there. they will choose not to. and especially as a Jew, you will lose a shit ton of community over this. and it’s all worth it and it all pales in comparison to what’s being done to Palestinians in what is said to be our name. Obviously.
minor pet peeve but saw a lot of it in the notes of tht post, it annoys me when ppl liken yiddish to just a judaized german rather than an entire language of its own descending from middle german just like modern german is. but also with influence from old french and spanish and italian and in some variations more slavic obvs but yknow
the other thing tht annoys me is ppl being like haha what a silly funny language. like listen to me you do not actually know yiddish you know a handful of yinglish words which have entered english primarily through comedic usage and now you have a skewed perception of the entire language . u do not see the earnest intimacy of like ikh hob geshmuest mit mein zisele. smh
Gotta appreciate how goddang on point Yiddish was with developing the verbage. “Mazel tov”. “Schlep”. “Kvetching”. It feels good in the mouth. Accurate. Organic. Kiki and Boba of concepts
I believe that if I’d never heard the word before in my life and someone pointed to some sleazy rapscallion rubbing elbows with persons of influence and said that they were “schmoozing” I would just innately know what they meant
do you have any advice for a jew who wants to unlearn zionism? I grew up in a very reconstructionist-zionist community and have started the process of re-evaluating a lot of what I’ve thought as intrinsic to jewish identity, but it’s all leaving me feeling very lost
Hi anon,
I am glad you want to unlearn Zionism. Even in the liberal Jewish world, it has a real stranglehold over the religion. It might seem counterintuitive, but I think it’s better to learn the history first, and only then to rebuild your religious identity.
You’ll know what’s legit and what isn’t by that point, and you’ll know how to spot “soft” Zionism (general Jewish chauvinism, obsession over bloodlines, wanting to maintain ethnic majority, etc) Don’t build a house upon sand, as they say.
Please know that you may feel lost, but you are not alone. Judaism has been anti-Zionist for most of its existence, and it will become the majority again soon, God-willing.
Books that I have personally benefited from reading below. Most are either free online or available through Libby or your school library if you’re a student. Many have audiobooks, and ebooks can be read aloud with text to speech software, including old scans.) If you cannot find, I have copies of most works mentioned below.
On Palestine
The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi (if you read only one thing on this list, read this one.)
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
Orientalism by Edward Said
Justice for Some by Noura Erakat
Poetry by Mahmoud Darwish, Mosab Abu Toha, Mohammed El Kurd, Refaat Alareer
All that Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 ed. Walid Khalidi and Sharif ElMusa
https://www.zochrot.org/welcome/index/en History of ethnic cleansing as well as info on villages destroyed in 1948 in website form
Palestinian left revolutionary history: https://learnpalestine.qeh.ox.ac.uk/
Films “Born in Gaza” (on kanopy, which most libraries have) and “Gaza Fights for Freedom” and “Angel of Gaza” (free on youtube)
On Judaism/Zionism
The Jewish Dilemma by Rabbi Elmer Berger
A Partisan History of Judaism by Rabbi Elmer Berger
(Most of R. Berger’s work is free on the Internet Archive)
The 1885 Pittsburgh Platform of Reform Judaism rejects Zionism
Duties of the Heart by Rabbi Bahya ibn Pekudah if you like dense personal theology
I’ve heard from other anti-Zionist Jews that reading the writings of Zionists like Herzl and Jabotinsky was very enlightening re: Zionism’s colonial intentions.
Film: Israelism, now available for screening. Shows liberal US jews unlearning Zionism.
From a Reconstructionist/Renewal perspective specifically
Shomeret Shalom: Replanting the Seeds of Jewish Revolutionary Nonviolence by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
I also highly recommend reading Rabbi Brant Rosen’s work: Blog: https://rabbibrant.com/
Book: Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian Solidarity
Rabbi Rosen is the rabbi of Tzedek Chicago, a shul you can attend online (might need to ping their admin a few times to get the Zoom link)
Further reading I recommend Decolonize Palestine’s website, as well as their reading list: https://decolonizepalestine.com/reading-list/
Adalah’s discriminatory laws database which clearly shows that even Palestinian citizens living in the 48 territories suffer terrible discrimination:
Adalah’s Discriminatory Laws Database (DLD) is an online resource comprising a list of over 65 Israeli laws that discriminate directly or in
There’s also a whole online library about Palestine you can check out here, tons of books: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zqyxFMrGP3fFifjAC75wk5QjMMYC96eo
#im not jewish but would like to read up as well
#i hope that's alright
Yes of course this is ok. Everyone can and should learn about Palestine, regardless of their background.
People don't publish books they don't want others reading. Brant Rosen wants people reading his book, not just other Jews. We should all learn from one another. Solidarity is more important than worrying about staying in your lane.
There, where we live, there is our country! A democratic republic! Full political and national rights for Jews. Ensure that the voice of the Jewish working class is heard at the Constituent Assembly.
Bundist poster from Kyiv, Ukraine, circa 1918. Source.
This zine is dedicated to Hereness. The concept of Doikayt was at the centre of the Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund praxis, a political organization that existed in Poland, Lithuania, and Russia between the end of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century. Doikayt is a word encompassing many ideas: Jewish diasporic identity, cultural autonomy, safety, meshing identities, and local entanglement.
This zine is an invitation to think about Hereness. What can Doikayt mean to you? What does it mean to be a Jew? What does it take for Jews to thrive?
Karl is a Montreal-based writer, trans gay activist, and history student. Their hunger for knowledge, social justice, and Jewish culture has made them passionate about Yiddish revival and secular Jewish culture.
(this is not my zine! i am an archivist! please support the original artist using the link above!)
My decision is an acknowledgement that this status never held any legitimacy to begin with.
"Citizenship, of the kind I hold, has been a material piece of a long-standing genocidal process. The Israeli state, from its inception, has relied on the normalization of ethnically determined supremacist laws to bolster a military regime whose clear colonial goal is the elimination of Palestine."
Just as it is a mitzvah, a commandment, to reprove someone who will heed the reproof, so too is it a mitzvah not to say what will not be heeded (Talmud, Yevamot 65b)
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