levi 🧿

As we read about Sodom in this week's Torah portion, a brief reminder that according to Jewish tradition the sin of Sodom had nothing to do with sexuality, it was that they criminalized helping the poor and the visitor.

Judaism is like Math: it might be hard to discover new things, but you could spend your life learning what exists and it would not be a waste, and the applications are without end

“splitting hairs is a sacred act in my religion”

Actually there has always been one monolithic Halacha.

Of course the Jewish people have a wide variety of differing opinions about what it is, and that's fine, there are many valid perspectives

oseh shalom bimromav hu yaaseh shalom aleinu v’al kol yisrael v’imru amein

When people say they want the country to follow "Biblical values," they always mean hating queer people and never mean canceling everyone's debts after a certain period of time.

Shema the Beit Shammai way!

Morning shema = standing up
Bedtime shema = lying down
Depression shema = curled up into a ball

"There are some things for which there is no forgiveness. Absolutely none. And that hard fact is impossible to learn to live with."

I often see people use "Zionist" in a way that is not a critique of Zionism as an ideology ("Zionists control the media!" "Zionists are why you don't know about queer victims of the Holocaust!"). Then when I call this antisemitic, I get "I said Zionists, not Jews, so you're the real antisemite!"

and i don’t know how to help that. it feels like a systemic issue that my own social circle is just about getting around to addressing because it’s so hard. i don’t know how you’d do that on a large scale. but we’d be all the more powerful together. against this ever perpetuating cycle of violence.

tbh what most frustrates me about i/p is that i feel that there is such potential for synergy between jews and non-jews, israelis and palestinians and folks from elsewhere and instead identity terms and fear and snap judgments create walls that prevent conversation and listening to conversations had

you shall not pollute the land in which you reside with blood.

These are hard times. Thinking of friends with dear ones in Iran. Of the people in Gaza, and the occupied territories. Of the good people in Israel.
I admit: I take in the news and wonder, how can this turn out well? Is this the end of the world as we knew it?
The bitter harvest of last November.

Borders, Boundaries, and Barriers have become increasingly prominent themes in historical scholarship. There is, therefore, a pressing need to examine how these constructs have shaped the lived experiences of historically marginalised groups, as well as how they were perceived, defined, and engaged with by those groups. This conference seeks to reorient discussions around borders, boundaries, and barriers by foregrounding the experiences and perspectives of marginalised groups and considering how these divisions were perceived from the peripheries of societies. Rather than treating these concepts as abstract or solely geopolitical, we will explore the ways in which they have operated — both historically and historiographically — as tools of exclusion and differentiation. Organised by Natasha Jenman (University of Oxford), Naomi Reiter (QMUL), and Dean A. Irwin (University of Lincoln/OCHJS), the conference will focus on individuals, religious groups, social groups, societal constructions, and natural phenomena. Participants are invited to explore the role played by evolving borders, boundaries, and barriers in the medieval world as part of group identities; and how groups used them to their advantage. Likewise, it will consider the extent to which borders, boundaries and barriers have been imposed upon the medieval world by modern scholars. Possible topics for consideration include: • Legal jurisdictions • The natural and the supernatural worlds • Socio-economic strata • Ritual and religion • Space, time, and the environment • Gender and sexuality • Disability • Transgression, delinquency, and the grey middle space This conference adopts a broad chronological and geographical approach with submissions from all historically-related disciplines being welcome. The conference will take place on 20 and 21 April 2026 in Oxford. To submit, please send a title, abstract (c. 250 words), and a bio (c. 100 words) to: bordersboundariesbarriers@gmail.com.

I’m co-organising a medieval conference next year in Oxford! Please take a look at the CfP and consider submitting an abstract, by the 15th of September, to bordersboundariesbarriers@gmail.com. We hope to be able to provide funding to help cover expenses of attendance.
#medievalsky #skystorians

Under the smokescreen of war:

Two days ago, Israel’s Higher Planning Council for the West Bank allowed IDF training in Firing Zone 918. This means the total demolition of 12 villages—home to around 2,800 people—and the final stage of ethnic cleansing in Masafer Yatta.

In Gaza:
-Starvation continues
-Wanton bombing of civilians continues
-Israel's campaign to make Gaza unlivable continues

read the entire thread. all of it.

Send queer and trans kids to camp with each other so they can actually be in a space for themselves for once:

And for the pride month (so far coming with horrible news every day) I give you something really good: Uta’s book is now officially a thing!
Homophobia in Nazi Concentration Camps coming to you next year! 📕🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

i obviously am not stopping people from using terms like these, but i do feel like they’ve severely declined in terms of functionality as opinion/identity markers

i’ve stopped using the term altogether. i feel as though people mean myriads of things when they self id as antizionist/zionist/etc & realistically it does nothing to tell me what the person thinks about the things i care about. i’m also so tired of “this is what zionism actually means!” statements.

Squeeeee! Amazing stuff. 📜
#Judaica #rarebooks

Die Uni Kassel darf, dank der Landesegierung, nicht mehr "Schüler:innen" schreiben.
Die Uni Kassel zeigt sich kreativ und ersetzt nun jedes Mal "Schüler:innen" mit "Schülerinnen, Schüler, nicht-binäre Lernende an Schulen sowie solche, die sich keiner geschlechtlichen Kategorie zuordnen möchten." 😅👍

baruch hashem baruch hashem baruch hashem

i watched an interview recently where someone said that trumps core emotional drive seems to be to never be powerless again. and i still don’t *get* trump, but i see that.

Yuval Abraham, in his Oscar speech last night, spelled the only viable pathway for Palestine/Israel: dismantling the architecture of oppression and supremacy; stopping ethnic cleansing and destruction, mutual liberation and recognition for national rights for both peoples.

1/

Amos Harel, Haaretz's military correspondent:

"the correct headline is this - Israel is violating the hostage agreement. It has not withdrawn from the Philadelphi Corridor, it has gone back on its pledge to stop the fighting and it is unwilling to enter the second phase of the agreement."

Keine Stimme: Warum ein großer Teil der jüdischen Zuwanderer aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion nicht an den Wahlen in Thüringen und Sachsen teilnehmen darf Ein großer Teil der jüdischen Zuwanderer aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion hat selbst nach Jahrzehnten noch keinen deutschen Pass – und darf deshalb nicht an Wahlen teilnehmen. Wie kann das sein?

Not very fun fact: thousands of Jewish immigrants with whose presence Germany has decorated itself, my parents included, are not voting today b/c they don’t have a path to citizenship, despite living there for two decades or more. www.juedische-allgemeine.de/gemeinden/ke...