Although recent news has led some to portray Amsterdam (and Diaspora more broadly) as inhospitable for Jewish life, it is home to a thriving Jewish community that has been charting a path toward a diasporist Jewish Future.

Ben and Zach are joined by Jelle and Tori, two organizers of Oy Vey, an outward-facing, radically inclusive and unapologetically Jewish hub in Amsterdam. Drawing on hundreds of conversations with community members and Amsterdam's wider Jewish community, they have created A New Jewish Manifesto which seeks to provide a positive vision for Jewish life in Diaspora. This timely text is being launched in multiple languages at the Jewish Manifestival, a hybrid event on Thursday November 21 starting at 7:00pm (GMT +1).

In this conversation, Jelle and Tori explore the work of Oy Vey, and guide us through the social and institutional context it has been built in. Alongside many other insights, they provide perspectives on the constructive relationship they have with the many other Jewish communities in the city.

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Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!

Historian and yiddishist Tamara joins Ben and Zach to talk about the history of the Jews in Mexico, the 1930s and 1940s, the role of the Jewish left in the country, and contemporary politics following the beginning of the presidency of Claudia Sheinbaum - the first female and first Jewish president of Mexico who is continuing the progressive "Fourth Transformation" of the country!

ingeveb.org/people/tamara

forward.com/news/622618/mexico-president-claudia-sheinbaum-jewish-family-holocaust/

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Sukkot reminds us of the dwellings our ancestors lived in when they were fleeing Egypt, they are the temporary dwellings of refugees. Yet settlers have bastardized the holiday to be about occupying land, and often use the plants of the Lulav to claim Sukkot as a Zionist Holiday. In this episode, join Ben and Jordan for a walk as they creatively engage with the Holiday's halacha (Jewish Law/Way of Practice) and inspiration in the Torah to adapt the ritual in the spirit of Doikayt (Hereness).

Hear the full conversation, and the thought that went into creating our Lulav from Coast Live Oak, Douglas Fir, California Mugwort and a single pulled French Broom by supporting us on Patreon!

We hope you'll check out this inspiring text, the Book of Lulav by Miriam Saperstein, and if you have time before the end of Sukkot, build your own local Lulav!

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As usual, we'd like to thank Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use their beautiful music.

So often, Jews and Palestinians are seen as separate, even diametrically opposed communities, yet what happens when we center those who hold both of these identities simultaneously?

In this episode, Ben and Jordan are joined by Hadar Cohen, an Arab Jewish scholar, mystic artist and community organizer to discuss the complexities, tensions and possibilities of modern Arab-Jewish life and identity. By tying together personal, spiritual and historical perspectives, Hadar helps us illuminate the subversive power of Palestinian-Jewishness as a key component in the struggle for justice in Palestine-Israel and de-assimilation across the diverse Jewish world.

Learn more about Hadar's work on her Linktree!

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Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!

In this special crossover episode of The Jewish Diasporist and Labor Jawn, hosts Jordan and Gabe team up to interview Dr. Caroline Luce, a scholar of Jewish labor history in the United States. Together. They explore the rich and complex history of Jews in America, highlighting the intersections of immigration, labor unions, synagogues, mutual aid societies, and colonialism. Tracing the westward migration of American Jews from New York to Los Angeles, this episode provides a deep dive into Jewish labor’s evolving role within the broader context of capitalism and colonialism

Follow Dr. Caroline Luce's Work!

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Big thank you to Isabel Frey for continuing to allow us to use her music for our intro and outro!

In this episode, Ben and Jordan discussed an institution near and dear to their hearts, URJ Camp Newman, with additional former campers and recent staff members, Dani and Ezra. Throughout the conversation, we explore the way camps serve as a microcosm of the diasporic Jewish world, offering a crucial space for young Jews to develop their identities while also highlighting many of the tensions between the policies of the URJ (Union of Reform Judaism, more on that in a future episode) and the changing, growing, and questioning Jewish people they seek to contain. This interview follows several years of intentional efforts by staff (our hosts included) to challenge the uncritical Israel education that is so common within mainstream Jewish communal spaces.

Donate to support Ezra’s session’s charity work: https://donate.reformjudaism.org/fundraiser/5599537

B’tselem Mapping Resource Discussed:https://conquer-and-divide.btselem.org/

🌈 Queer Yiddish Camp is a two-week online Yiddish intensive from for ALL levels November 3-17. Take language, literature, dance, history, and culture classes from an all-queer faculty of world-renowned Yiddish teachers, scholars, artists, activists, and cultural workers! Registration closes September 30 so REGISTER TODAY at https://queeryiddish.camp/register !

Okay, not EXACTLY Paris...

We venture into France for the first time to speak to Mati, one of the organisers of a new diasporist congregation in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, just north of Montmartre.

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Sophie Cardin (MPhil, Oxford) (Mazel Tov!) joins us to talk about her work on Yiddish Political Utopia, especially the work of Kalmen Zingman (1889-1929) author of "In the Future City of Edenia" (1918).

We talk about Zingman and the other utopian writers of his time, what utopia is and the importance of utopian thinking in the present situation (fans of JD35 will love it in particular!)

Zingman in the YIVO encyclopedia

Zingman's funny face

Read "In the Future City of Edenia" here! (Original and English)

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In this episode we spoke to Ollie Schwartz, the cultural organizer, who founded Pushcart Judaica, an online and traveling market that specializes in ethical Judaica produced by local artists and makers.

Ben met Ollie during the Center For Jewish Nonviolence’s May 2023 Delegation to Palestine (See Episode 7 for more). From 2018 to 2022 Ollie served as one of the co-directors of Linke Fligl, Yiddish for “Left Wing”, which was a queer diasporist Chicken farm in Upstate New York that intentionally built community for one 7-year shmita cycle.

If you want to hear more from Ollie, they were recently featured in an episode of the Judaism Unbound podcast. Nevertheless, in framing of our conversation around diasporism across the world, this interview offers unique perspective on their work. You can find Pushcart Judaica on Instagram here

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In this episode, Zach spoke to Steve Ogin, one of the lead organizers of the Yiddish cultural movement in the United Kingdom.

We'd like to apolgize for the delays in our regular biweekly publishing schedule. We have been working hard, and have had difficulties editing at the rate we'd like. Nevertheless, we have several though provoking episodes recorded for the coming weeks so stay tuned!

Yiddish Cafe Website and Youtube

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Big thank you to Isabel Frey for continuing to allow us to use her music!