Kosher Queers

This week, we look at some fun goth performance art, which plays with bones and death and a messianic age. We also talk art curation practices, fanfiction vs canon, and the value or lack thereof of inherited roles.

Full transcript here.

The book with lesbians that Jaz recently read was We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia. The two movies we watched were Happiest Season , which you can watch on Hulu, and Last Christmas, which appears to only be available on HBO.  Jaz also mentions that they've been listening to the All My Relations podcast; here's the first episode in their series about indigenous artists.

This week's reading is Ezekiel 37:15-28. Next week's reading is 1 Kings 2:1-12.

Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Send us questions or comments at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @kosherqueers, and like us on Facebook at Kosher Queers. Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Lulav Arnow, and our transcript was written by Reuben Shachar Rose. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

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This week, we learn about how camels are nonbinary, attempt to define what makes a "real parent," and dissect a famous story in which the women are way cooler than we were led to believe as children.  (Like, for real, there are some single moms in this story who maybe do sex work and maybe are lovers, and definitely roommates who do not get along with the existing power structures of kings and judges.)

Full transcript here.

Lulav mentions doing quiz bowl with NAQT. Here's the reading from the OU rabbi Lulav also talked about.

This week's reading was I Kings 3:15–4:1. Next week's reading is Ezekiel 37:15-28.

Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Send us questions or comments at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @kosherqueers, and like us on Facebook at Kosher Queers. Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Ezra Faust, and our transcript was written by Reuben Shachar Rose. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

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This week, we ponder creating your own separate traditions before returning to join the Jewish people, visions of angels and holy prosecuting attorneys, and calendars. Plus, some fun bonus stories  of said prosecuting attorney messing with some rabbis.

Full transcript here.

Also, a neat fact that we didn't mention in the episode is that the Orit is the five books of the Torah, plus Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, written in Ge'ez rather than Biblical Hebrew; there's a picture here.  Commedia dell'arte is an Italian theatrical genre popular in the 1400s, wherein the characters are stock caricatures that have the same names even in wildly different works. HaSatan doesn't map onto any of them particularly well, but does feel a little like Arlecchino. The Cheese Man appears in Buffy the Vampire Slayer s4ep22, "Restless." The stories of HaSatan come from Job, Kiddushin 81a, Bava Batra 16a, and Rosh Hashanah 16b. You can read Aurora Levins Morales' "V'ahavta" here. Also, here's Debbie Friedman's "Not By Might, Not By Power" and the lyrics to it.

This week's reading was Zechariah 2:14–4:7. Next week's reading is Kings I 3:15–4:1.

Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Lulav Arnow, and our transcript was written by Reuben Shachar Rose. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

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This week, we read a very short books, take some digressions into more interesting stories, and  discuss how power protects itself. Plus, Jaz would be bad at thievery because all they'd take are some children's books. (Btw, in case you were worried about how much crying was happening, we are okay! It may offer partial context that we did record this on November 6th, 2020.)

Full transcript here.

Remy's Instagram is @ rat_dog_remy and Princess' Instagram is @cessprin_the_chug. Jaz highly recommends the book Something that May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel Lavery, and now would be an excellent time of year to buy it from your local independent Black-owned bookstore, as indie bookstores tend to really rely on sales this quarter to stay afloat. Jaz's friend Gabe Schneider is on Twitter @gabemschneider. Thanks to Zoe @TheStonyField for writing in to our Continuity Corner, and here's the Chabad translation of Hosea Ezra cited. 

This week's reading was Obadiah 1:1-21 and Hosea 11:7-12:12. Next week's reading is Zechariah 2:14–4:7.

Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our website is at kosherqueers.gay. Send us questions or comments at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @kosherqueers, and like us on Facebook at Kosher Queers. Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Ezra Faust, and our transcript was written by Jaz Twersky and Reuben Shachar Rose. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

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This week, we talk about famed prophet and noted bad husband Hosea, learning from our pasts, and if "cow-kisser" is an insult (apparently, yes, but only as a way to tell off rich people). Plus, you get Biblical poetry served with extra bonus poetry on the side, and TSwift standing in a window with a sign reading "I Brought You Out of Egypt."

Full transcript available here.

This week's reading is Hosea 12:13–14:10 and also there's a single line from Micah, 7:18. Next week's reading is Obadiah 1:1-21 (otherwise known as all of the book of Obadiah).

Kipo and The Age Of Wonderbeasts and Crip Camp are both on Netflix.  The quotes about kissing calves was in Sanhedrin 63b.  Here's the Tumblr post about whispering in cows' ears Lulav was referencing. Here's a couple articles about modern Samaritan communities.

Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our new website is at kosherqueers.gay. Send us questions or comments at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @kosherqueers, and like us on Facebook at Kosher Queers. Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Lulav Arnow, and our transcript was written by Reuben Shachar Rose and Jaz Twersky. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

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This week, we discuss whether G-d is threatening people or whether a prophet is just a lady or nonbinary person super burdened by being a divine messenger and also super exasperated at their generation. Plus, a questionable mixed drink, an equally questionable bike ride, and some incredibly snarky Kaplan.

Full transcript available here.

This week's reading is Malachi 1:1–2:7. Next week's reading is Hosea 12:13–14:10.

Jaz was reading Questions Jews Ask: Reconstructionist Answers by Mordecai Kaplan.  "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" are both on Hulu, and both have fun accompanying re-watch podcasts of Buffering the Vampire Slayer and Angel on Top.

Content note: this episode contains non-graphic references to slavery.

Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our website, still a little bit under construction, is at kosherqueers.gay. Send us questions or comments at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @kosherqueers, and like us on Facebook at Kosher Queers. Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Ezra Faust, and our transcript was written by Jaz Twersky and Reuben Shachar Rose. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

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This week, we have an unfortunately timed conversation and totally coincidental conversation about the feasibility of coups. Plus, Lulav introduces us to Bigger Batsheva, we scoff at (and also honor) the idea of personal continuity, and encounter David being an extraordinarily messy bisexual.

Transcript available here.

This week's reading is Kings I 1:1-1:31. Next week's reading is Malachi 1:1–2:7.

Go listen to Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Also, a note: depending on how you define 'resigned' and 'pope' and 'history', Benedict XVI was the most recent in a tradition of six to eleven Catholic popes who voluntarily renounced their title. He is, as far as we can tell with a cursory Wikipedia search, the only one to have then taken the title of 'Supreme Pontiff Emeritus.'

Content note: rape mention around 25:22 and end of that relevant segment at 25:55.

Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our new website, still a little bit under construction, is at kosherqueers.gay. Send us questions or comments at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @kosherqueers, and like us on Facebook at Kosher Queers. Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Lulav Arnow, and our transcript was written by Reuben Shachar Rose and Jaz Twersky. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

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This week, we talk about a cool trans Ishmael who is really good at her archery, an abundance of father figures and bio dads, and some cute gay prophets.  Lulav also attempts — and absolutely whiffs — a literary reference derived from one of the kings mentioned.

Here's a nonacademic summary of the history of how we stopped using "thou." Jaz recently read Modern Reform Responsa by Solomon Freehof and is currently reading Questions Jews Ask: Reconstructionist Answers by Mordecai Kaplan. You can follow them on Goodreads here. The Moby Dick deepread podcast we mention is Moby Dick Energy, our sibling in being hosted on Buzzsprout.

Transcript available here. Unfortunately, our transcript this week is a little delayed; there is a partial version for about half the episode as of release, and the full transcript should be completed by Friday.

This week's reading is Kings II 4:1-37. Next week's reading is Kings I 1:1-31.

Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our new website, still a little bit under construction, is at kosherqueers.gay. Send us questions or comments at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @kosherqueers, and like us on Facebook at Kosher Queers. Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Ezra Faust, and our transcript was written by Reuben Shachar Rose, Benji Janapol, and Jaz Twersky. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

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This week, we talk hammer-based encouragements, raptor husbandry best practices,  and what's worth believing in or not believing in. Spoiler: parasocial relationships are not the way to go.  Also we contemplate having the autonomy to make choices that the prophets don't approve of.

Transcript available here.

This week's reading is Isaiah 40:27–41:16. Next week's reading is Kings II 4:1-37.

You can read "The Nutritionist" by Andrea Gibson here and check out their book, Take Me With You.

Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our new website, still a little bit under construction, is at kosherqueers.gay. Send us questions or comments at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @kosherqueers, and like us on Facebook at Kosher Queers. Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Lulav Arnow, and our transcript was written by Reuben Shachar Rose. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. 

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This week, we spend like half the episode on background info, and in the back half casually try to figure out what love is, what our obligations to each other are, and if G-d can consent to people hurting us, so you know, just the easy stuff this week. Also, Lulav smushes together the English "Jerusalem" and the Hebrew "Yerushalayim" to create the word "Yerushalem" (thereby maybe accidentally re-creating Aramaic pronunciation?)

Transcript available here. Soon we're going to move all our transcripts to our new website, but for now they're still in Google Doc form.

This week's reading was Isaiah 54:1-55.  Next week's haftarah reading will be Isaiah 40:27–41:16.

Jaz is reading The Prophets by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Lulav makes jokes about the podcast "The Shrieking Shack" and about The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. For more of Jaz yelling at G-d, you can see their poetry included the zine Dodi.

Content note: this episode contains non-graphic discussion of cultural genocide.

Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our new website, still a little bit under construction, is at kosherqueers.gay. Send us questions or comments at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @kosherqueers, and like us on Facebook at Kosher Queers. Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Ezra Faust, and our transcript was written by Reuben Shachar Rose and Jaz Twersky. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. 

Support the show