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I love a challenge, but sometimes I get in over my head as a result. Where did I leap this time without looking? Directly into next week’s joint torah portions, the infamous and dreaded Acharei Mot and Kedoshim. This is the source of the line that is most frequently used as ammunition against the queer [...]

for poetry month (why april, by the way? ‘the cruelest month’? ‘with his shoures soote’? please.), here’s the text of a talk by irena klepfisz – a fantastic poet in yiddish, english, and both at once, as well as an insightful essayist and deeply committed radical – from a 2006 conference at barnard college called “Jewish Women Changing America: Cross-Generational Conversations”. at the bottom is a poem from one of klepfisz’s books. a complete transcript of the “Changing Culture” panel that klepfisz spoke on (and the rest of the conference) is available online here.

I’ve seen the bumper sticker hundreds of times – an American flag waving across the bottom and the phrase “Love it or leave it!” emblazoned above. The people who claim to be “patriotic” by displaying these continue to disappoint me, because my own feelings on the subject are so complex. On one hand, I love [...]

Just in from the JTA Wire… The Jewish Theological Seminary announced Monday that it would change admission policies to accept openly gay students at its rabbinical school. Arnold Eisen, chancellor-elect of the Conservative movement’s flagship institution, made the decision after consulting with the seminary community and conducting a movement-wide survey, both of which found strong [...]