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We are very much in the wilderness, traveling together through the desert. This fellowship has revealed to me how much all Jews need Torah – and how much the Torah needs all Jews, especially those who feel most at the edges of the camp.
I rediscovered the power of art and creativity from the other New Voices fellows; when I write the next niggun, I will send it to them first.
We are still at the beginning of this period, and it can still feel like a miracle; we will learn more from this moment if we remember that it is nothing less than a revolution, and that we are responsible for helping this revolution reach all Jews.
To be honest, as a young Jewish woman from Los Angeles who lives in Washington D.C., I never imagined I would ever come into contact with Nazis. Despite my fears, I knew this was something I had to do. I don’t regret the decision at all.
While the two may have dramatic differences, I think that the successful model of the millennia-long conversations that make up Talmud can teach us a lot about how to argue – and understand each other – on Twitter.
“Awakening” suggested a kind of milestone, a coming-of-age, almost a second bat mitzvah. Here was my unofficial rite of passage into the real Jewish world: not an aliyah, but anti-Semitism.
These are miracles not because they shake the earth or defy the laws of nature, but rather because I was crazy and tender and hopeful enough to ask for them.
“The reason that I went was that everything was paid for,” she said, adding, “It was so clear that there was an agenda, but I didn’t ask who funded it. I didn’t really want to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
Figuring out who I am as an interfaith Jew has been complicated, but I have gotten to the point where I am more confident in my identity. Yes, I am the person who proudly wears Chrismukkah sweaters to parties.
The next day, atop Masada, I chose my Hebrew name and began my Jewish life. I was Rivkah, Matriarch; I was done taking shit from any human, institution, or supreme being. The Judaism I found gave me space to be newly brazen, and radically myself.