Making Mensches

Join Making Mensches for our special conversation with Binya and Xava, creators of Shel Maala Yeshiva - a digital-first queer Yeshiva! We talk about the importance of queer, anti-zionist, accessible Torah and Talmud study, the rewards and challenges of this work, abolitionist and anti-zionist Torah, and so much more. We can’t wait for you to listen, and we hope you’ll join us for our joint event on MAY 23RD - both in NYC and online on Zoom. Please RSVP for more details!

The work Shel Maala does is essential, please consider supporting their work! Join one of their classes, such as the one we discuss in this episode, Torah from the Inside Out: Cohort for Incarcerated People and Allies. If you’re curious about (or want to support, we hope!) Matir Asurim, you can find more info here.

[This episode was recorded in March 2025.]

Big thanks to Xava and Binya for being on the pod, to Jessie for editing the podcast, and to Nate for our podcast music. If you want to support our work, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠you can do so here.⁠⁠⁠⁠

We hope you're as excited as we are for this conversation with Joey Ramona, iconic Toronto based punk rock tattooer, visual artist, and a self-described “weird Jewish punk guy.”

We talk with Joey about being an anti-zionist Jewish tattooer, about how tattoos can help people deepen their connection to Judaism, about the concept of doikayt and researching ashkenazi tradition, about mutual aid and community organizing, and so much more! If you want to book an appointment with Joey, reach out to them at [email protected]⁠

We feel so lucky that we get to have incredible conversations with people we admire so much <3

Links to things we discuss in the episode:

• The zine Joey made a few years ago about Jewish tattooing
• Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction org
• Sudan Solidarity Collective
• Toronto PYM chapter
• Jews Say No to Genocide

[This episode was recorded in March 2025.]

Big thanks to Joey for being on the pod, to Jessie for editing the podcast, and to Nate for our podcast music. If you want to support our work, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠you can do so here.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join us as we talk to Stephanie (they/them), founder of Taste of Olam Haba, a vibrant Jewish community in Central Arkansas founded in 2021. We discuss the growth of Taste of Olam Haba and what building this community has looked like, what it's been like to engage with the rise and presence of fascism in the South, backlash from zionist Jewish community, and much more. Thank you to Stephanie and Taste of Olam Haba for this conversation and for all the work you do in Arkasas! If you're in Central Arkansas and looking for anti-zionist Jewish community, make sure to connect with Taste of Olam Haba.

Stephanie is also a co-founder of Little Rock Peace for Palestine, and you can find more information about their work here.

This episode is the first in what will be an ongoing conversation series with Jewish spiritual communities that exist outside of major cities, in an effort to uplift these spaces and discuss the unique challenges and joys that these communities face.

[This episode was recorded in March 2025.]

Big thanks to Stephanie for being on the pod, to Jessie for editing the podcast, and to Nate for our podcast music. If you want to support our work, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠you can do so here.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join us for an extra special episode with ⁠Ayeola Omolara Kaplan⁠ and ⁠⁠Hadar Cohen⁠, two of the talented artists who created pieces for the ⁠⁠DWELL in Revolution project. In this episode, we discuss their creation processes, the ancestors that they depicted, why this project is important, and everything in between. Listen to the full episode to hear ⁠Shelby Handler⁠ reading their piece from DWELL!

So much work went into this beautiful project, a project that enables folks to learn about and honor their anti-zionist ancestors. It is so essential that we see these examples of anti-zionism in our history, so that we can strengthen our own anti-zionist foundations. It’s equally as essential to begin learning about ancient ancestral practices and rituals that zionism has tried to stamp out of Judaism. ⁠⁠If you don’t already have it, you can purchase the DWELL zine here.⁠⁠

[This episode was recorded in February 2025.]

Big thanks to Ayeola and Hadar for joining us, to Shelby for reading their piece, and to Jessie for editing the podcast, and to Nate for our podcast music. If you want to support our work, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠you can do so here.⁠⁠⁠

Join us for an extra special episode with Micah Bazant and Ollie Schwartz, two of the main organizers of the DWELL in Revolution project, as we discuss the creation process and intention behind the zine, in addition to discussing the complexities and joy that are a part of organizing for our movement. 

So much work went into this beautiful project, a project that enables folks to learn about and honor their anti-zionist ancestors. It is so essential that we see these examples of anti-zionism in our history, so that we can strengthen our own anti-zionist foundations. It’s equally as essential to begin learning about ancient ancestral practices and rituals that zionism has tried to stamp out of Judaism.

Stay tuned for the second part of this series where we talk with two of the artists included in the project about their creation process!

If you don’t already have it, you can purchase the DWELL zine here.

[This episode was recorded in February 2025.]

Big thanks to Micah and Ollie for joining us, to Jessie for editing the podcast, and to Nate for our podcast music. If you want to support our work, ⁠⁠⁠⁠you can do so here.⁠

For this episode, we are joined by ⁠Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, who graciously talks with us about her recent book, “The Jewelers of the Ummah: A Potential History of the Jewish Muslim World.” Ariella is a film essayist, theorist, curator of archives, and professor currently teaching Modern Culture and Media in the Department of Comparative Literature at Brown University.

Ariella talks us through Jewelers of the Ummah, discusses what the Jewish Muslim world is, how empires dictate history and peoplehood to serve their own interests, what principled anti-zionism looks like, how she has deepened her ancestral connections, and much much more. This is not an episode to miss! Every second is full of wisdom and steadfast love. 

Join us in two weeks for an exciting episode with more than one special guest 👀

[This episode was recorded in February 2025.]

Big thanks to Ariella for joining us, to Jessie for editing the podcast, and to Nate for our podcast music. If you want to support our work, ⁠⁠⁠you can do so here.⁠

we're back after our mid-season hiatus with our first episode in a long time that's just Jessie and Elana!

we talk about the present moment and some of our upcoming events, and at the end is a rewind to our Instagram Live episode on tu b'shvat from 2022 (which was somehow THREE years ago). we've obviously grown and learned so much since then but enjoy our baby selves talking tu bish

join us for our virtual tu b'shvat poetry event,find our events calendar here,and sign up for our newsletter!

comment and let us know if you want more of us chit-chatting 👀

In our midseason finale, we are joined by Eliana Rubin, who talks (among many, many other things) about their new book, “Taking the State out of the Body: A Guide to Embodied Resistance to Zionism.” Eliana builds transgressive relationships with bodies, land, and lineage through their work as a somatic practitioner, politicized facilitator, anti-Zionist organizer, full spectrum doula, land steward, and queer pleasure instigator. They run a somatic facilitation practice with Sanctuary Embodied aimed at resourcing organizers in developing embodied leadership and power for movements for justice.

While discussing her brilliant book, Eliana gives insight to what somatics are, how somatic practices can support us through challenging conversations with Zionists, speaks to some of the plants and body parts that informed the book - like calendula, redwoods, and the vagus nerve, and talks about the pitfalls of individualistic models of therapy. Eliana goes beyond fighting for liberation, and teaches us how to live for liberation. 

Find more of Eliana on their instagram or website, and go buy the book ASAP! We truly could not recommend it enough.

We will be back with more episodes in February, see you then!

[This episode was recorded in November 2024.]

Big thanks to Eliana for joining us, to Jessie for editing the podcast, and to Nate for our podcast music. If you want to support our work, ⁠⁠you can do so here.⁠

Golems, Dybukks, Psychedelics, oh my! Today we are joined by Julie Weitz (she/her) - diasporic performance artist, Fulbright Scholar, and co-creator of the Tzitzit Project - some of you may know her as @MyGolem_is_here.

In this episode, Julie reflects on her time in Poland and the ways that we can reconnect with our ancestral homeland outside. Julie talks about recent and past projects, what brought her to performance art, and the ways her work is informed by anti-zionism. We can’t wait for you to listen!

UPCOMING OFFERING FROM JULIE:

Online Dybbuk Workshop

Sunday, December 8 at 11am pst / 1pm cst / 2pm est / 8pm cet / 9pm ist

Registration Link: https://www.flipcause.com/secure/event_step2/MTkzNzI1/289544 

Join artist Julie Weitz for a dynamic online workshop exploring ancestral folktales about the dybbuk and Jewish rituals of exorcism. Drawing from her extensive research and artistic practice, Weitz will share stories, images, and videos that illuminate the cultural and spiritual significance of the dybbuk. Participants will also explore simple, accessible movement techniques inspired by Yiddish dance, fostering embodied connections to their ancestors.

The session incorporates insights from Holy Names for Our Dybbuk, Weitz’s performance art project that reimagines dybbuk exorcism as a movement-based ritual at sites of Jewish memory in Poland. Conducted in English, this workshop welcomes participants of all backgrounds and requires no prior experience. Come dressed comfortably and ready to engage in storytelling, movement, and learning.

All ticket proceeds will support the artistic collaborators of Holy Names for Our Dybbuk.

If funds are a concern, use the discount code DISCOUNT50 at checkout for 50% off.

Links to things we mention in this episode:

-No State Manifesto

-Rabbi Aaron Tamares

-The Great Dominatrix

-Kosmic Kamels (@kosmickamels)

[This episode was recorded in October 2024.]

Big thanks to Julie for joining us, to Jessie for editing the podcast, and to Nate for our podcast music. If you want to support our work, ⁠⁠you can do so here.⁠

We are joined by the brilliant Jules Pashall (they/he) for this episode! Jules is a fat, white, trans/queer Jew who holds space as a somatic, creative and spiritual practitioner. Their offerings are built on the belief that undoing violent hierarchies and how they live in our bodies is part of the path of soul retrieval and collective liberation. For 15 years, they have been exploring fat as a resource for transformation. Jules holds a master’s degree in Somatic Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and their writing can be found in The Fat Studies Journal and Diverse Bodies, Diverse Practices: Toward an Inclusive Somatics.

In this episode, we explore all things fat. How Judaism loves fat, how fat is connected to liberation, how fatness is weaponized in our world, how people can be invited into - and celebrate! - their fat, and so so much more. Jules is an endless well of wisdom and we imagine you will feel as inspired by them as we do after listening! 

UPCOMING OFFERINGS FROM JULES:

-Feeding the Erotic: A Jewish winter journey spanning Hannukah to Tu Bshvat

Dec 19-Feb 13th Thursdays 8-10 ET / 5-7 PT (Led by Jules and elana june margolis)

-Tonguing the Divine: a Tu B’shvat Retreat at Mariposa Institute in Ukiah, CA 2/14-2/17 (Led by Jules and elana june margolis)

-One on one work with new clients for 10 weeks of “a season of practice” - follow him for more information!

You can read “thank god i’m fat: gifts from the underbelly” by Jules here and join his email list here to stay updated on upcoming offerings.

[This episode was recorded in August 2024.]

Big thanks to Jules for joining us, to Jessie for editing the podcast, and to Nate for our podcast music. If you want to support our work, ⁠you can do so here.⁠