radical voices for the alternative diaspora…
Tu Bishvat, the New Year of the trees, is a time to celebrate nature, growth, divine spirit and to welcome the earth back to life. The festival is marked by planting trees and eating fruits, and in kabbalist tradition a seder – a dinner, preceded by the retelling of stories handed down through generations. Since … Continued
Hey, did you know that every year thousands of Jews from around the world get to travel to Israel on free ten day trips to learn about how amazing Zionism is? It’s called Birthright and it’s one of the ugliest examples of how Zionism and a one-sided view of Israel-Palestine gets forced onto young Jews. … Continued
Hola friends and comrades! It is I, Maimonides, noted 13th-century rabbi, physician, philosopher, author of the Guide to the Perplexed and general PARTY ANIMAL!!! Which animal, you ask? I’ll get back to you as soon as I have worked out how to classify the entire natural world in a clear and rigorous hierarchy. I have … Continued
Jewdas’ slightly more respectable baby sibling Babel’s Blessing has an announcement for you all! Register for Yiddish, Hebrew & British Sign Language classes 2016 – and help us train the next generation of radical ESOL teachers Here’s a suggestion for anyone struggling to think of a New Year’s resolution, or feeling themselves sliding into that … Continued
On the 26th of November the JNF held a themed “Bedouin Nights” party in London, coincidentally the same night it razed the Bedouin village of al-Araqib for the 91st time. Promising a “unique Bedouin style venue” with cocktails and shesha, the event was to raise money for Desert Stars which is a JNF project for young Bedouin … Continued
Affirmations for Transgender Day of Remembrance This year’s list of names is again long and painful, again full of stories, and again, disproportionately stories of violence against trans and gender non-conforming people of colour. We honour them, we remember them. (printable list of known names here) Whether or not we have a minyan to say … Continued
It was the fifth of November four hundred and ten years ago that yet another man failed miserably in an attempt to overthrow the government. Now every year we celebrate the inadequacies of the male gender by ceremonially burning stuff in a huge fire. This Guy Fawkes Night at 6:30 PM, Jewdas’ Women (and non-Binary) … Continued
At a recent meeting on the refugee crisis, a well-heeled woman talked about how Hackney might be better placed to deal with the situation, given the number of immigrants living there. She cited, as examples, the large Turkish community and “Orthodox Jewish community”. It took me a few minutes to work out who she meant. … Continued
We’re delighted to hear the Jewish Chronicle is finally getting serious about fighting racism! We’re really looking forward to their no-doubt-forthcoming campaigns against the demonisation of migrants in Calais, against Islamophobia, and against unequal legal systems in the West Bank.
** Registration is now open!! ** https://babelsblessing.wordpress.com/ Coming in September 2015! Do you want to learn more Yiddish than the occasional Oy Vey? Get a crash-course in Hebrew and/or Arabic before setting off to the Holy Land? Or have you recently moved to this rainy country, and need to work on your English? We have … Continued