What are folks using for secure note-taking and sharing? Cryptpad is really not working for me this morning. BAH. And hi. Sending each of you strength and love and care in these fascist times.

Not gonna lie. Felt some fear today. Felt it this week. It's been a week. Reconnected to my courage on our In Our Name campaign call. Found more on a local organizing signal chat. And connected to the courage of others at the #NoKingsKickOff.

We are heartbroken by the murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, two young Israeli Embassy aides shot outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. 🧵 1/5

Confession: I almost put our copy of "Pride Puppy" in the "to give away box." How many ABC books do my kids need? True it's the only Pride ABC book we have, but we have at least six other ABC books and several pride books. And now, well, now its back on the shelf.

Did you know you can be a @jfrejnyc.bsky.social member even if you don't live in NYC? While "diaspora" members aren't their core constituencies, we are still welcome!

What a week. (it's only Tuesday)

Chris Murphy is doing the work, y'all. Here, in the Senate, everywhere.

Listen. Boston isn't perfect. @mayorwu.boston.gov is not perfect. And this is pretty darn perfect. I join with Mayor Wu to say to my neighbors "You belong here." And also that I'm sorry that I don't speak Spanish nearly as well as my pretty close to bilingual kids.

THIS THURS 3/6! — Panelists will unpack the stories we’ve inherited, reckon with harm they may cause, and dream about new Jewish stories we might tell going forward, for a world that desperately calls us to see that we are all in this together. More: theshalomcenter.org/events/new-jewish-story

Yesterday, hundreds of Jews gathered outside of the ADL conference in Midtown Manhattan to show that the ADL does NOT speak for us– and is actively putting us in danger.

🚨 HAPPENING NOW: Hundreds of Jews — including rabbis, community leaders, and former ADL staffers — are gathered outside of the ADL conference in Midtown Manhattan to say that we reject the ADL’s support for Trump & Musk’s agenda. #RejectADL

Tonight. 7pm ET. Join us. Be in community. Learn some things. Take action. Build a world where we all get to thrive. Register here: bit.ly/JPledge4Tran...

I joined 350 of my Jewish clergy colleagues and other notable Jews in taking out this full-page ad in the New York Times to oppose Trump’s plans for ethnic cleaning of Palestinians in Gaza. Join us at saynotoethniccleansing.org

 #saynotoethniccleansing #whatrabbisdo

As Jews for Shared Safety, we know our history demands that we take a stand against ethnic cleansing—wherever it happens. Trump wants to erase Palestinians from Gaza. We must be louder than ever. 350+ rabbis & Jewish figures are taking a stand in a historic NYT ad rejecting his genocidal rhetoric.

Really looking forward to the 2nd Annual Conference on the Jewish Left, especially my chance to talk with @joware.bsky.social and @audrey-sasson.bsky.social! Feb 28th. In person and online. Register here: www.bu.edu/cura/the-jew...

Just heard @adriennemareebrown.bsky.social share this on the @workingfamilies.org mass call. Tarot is the edge of my comfort zone and this resonates deeply.

Starting now!

A snippet of the Statement from the Parents Circle/Family Forum, Palestinian & Israeli Bereaved Families for Peace on the Ceasefire. Read the whole 🧵 for the whole statement.

Some opportunities for LA fire specific pre-Shabbos tzedekah (giving): 1) Any of the gofundme pages listed in this directory

Allow us to (re)introduce ourselves! 👋🏽 Gender Liberation Movement (GLM) is an intersectional organizing collective elevating bodily autonomy & self-determination for ALL. Co-founders @RaquelWillis.com & @ElielCruz.com spoke to @rollingstone.com all about it. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Many folks asking me if I know when/if the Torah scrolls were evacuated from Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center. They were and the question reflects a deeply held belief about what is central -- Torah and each other (are folks safe is the first question asked). #eatonfire

Wrote something on the parsha and being trans. tl:DR. There is something a little trans about Joseph and trans people are miracles. Read the full piece and then watch the Chase Strangio video that follows this post. hebrewcollege.edu/blog/the-tru...

How does a transgender news outlet cover a major national story? We center trans voices, and we tell the truth without showing excessive deference to the justices who are holding our lives in the balance. Read Assigned Media's story on US vs Skrmetti.

Anti trans activist Benjamin Ryan previously reported on spurious accusations that Boston Children's rushed trans youth through assessment. The Boston Globe spoke with actual families and they completely contradict those blatant distortions. www.bostonglobe.com/2024/12/03/m...

On Wednesday I'll fly to DC to gather with trans community and allies outside the Supreme Court. Inside, the court will be hearing oral arguments in US v. Skrmetti, the case over Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for treatment of gender dysphoria in transgender minors.

So glad the NYT continues to meet my ridiculously low expectations

No one asked what I was listening to and I'm going to tell you anyway. The TransLash podcast. The Anti-trans Hate Machine. If I had more time I'd add The Mess. Anything @translashmedia.bsky.social puts out.

Welcome to new folks following me. FYI -- There are many things shifting in the world at the moment (and all the time). One thing that is still true is that I have am on/off with social media. I also try to only share (here and in general) when I have something additive to say.

Great follows in this starter pack and in the replies. Thanks, @benlorber8.bsky.social!

Some Torah for the moment. What would it mean to be unequivocal in claiming each other as Jews, even across significant differences not just in religious and cultural practices but also political understandings and longings?

Have I mentioned that we are writing on family building? It's gonna be good!

Just hopped on here to let y'all know that the Trans Halakha Project Teshuva Writing Collective Cohort 2 is kicking off today and my heart is so full. svara.org/trans-halakh...

Y'all! My chevruta and JSP Co-Founder & Creative Director Rabbi Adina Allen wrote a book! I've preordered a copy - order yours today! The Place of All Possibility is a paradigm-shifting work that reframes the whole of Torah as a contemporary guidebook for creativity.

Wrote on Parashat Vayishlach. ... certainty is elusive at best, and we make our decisions with neither divine assurance nor the assurance that our fear and desire for Jewish safety and liberation will be taken seriously by our neighbors or policymakers.

Lists of names... trans folks, Israelis, Palestinians. All complex human beings with stories and lives. We can do better. We can build a world with more justice, more peace, more dignity, more connection. I know it.

Today is a good day to remind folks that political analyses and beliefs don't determine whether or not someone is a Jew. Nor are they representative of whether or not someone is in mourning or pain in this moment. Let's be kind to our fellow Jews.

In today's rabbi-ing, I'm heading to the MA State House to offer faith-based testimony in support of the #HealthyYouthAct. Cheers to medically accurate, queer inclusive, consent based sex-ed! Excited to pair my "consent is holy" sweatshirt with a my button up and tie. #MApoli

Here is @elizabethwarren.bsky.social's DC office #(202) 224-4543

Here is @elizabethwarren.bsky.social's DC office #(202) 224-4543

YEEEEEEEEEEEEES! The new comprehensive health and physical education curriculum frameworks were passed by the MA Board of Ed this morning!!!!! Hello to sex ed frameworks that are comprehensive, medically accurate, queer affirming realities AND teach consent! www.wbur.org/news/2023/09...

One day I'll write more about the Jewish Futures Pledge & how it limits our understandings of community, future, & freedom. For now, let's just say that I wish Jewish funders be more expansive with their giving. -- Signed a Jewish funder who believes my freedom is tied to all of yours.

"By supporting transgender people in their journey, we acknowledge that every soul is a reflection of the Divine and deserves to express that image in its fullest, most authentic form.” open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Hello Jews of Bluesky. If you would like to be included in the new JewSky Plus feed repost this! And if you ever want to be removed from it, undo the repost! https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:24atmhsxslaeuvf2gcmv7fh3/feed/jewsky-plus

I really hate that Dennis Prager and Prager U are in the news again. My early rabbinic career was marked by Prager publishing an op-ed wondering if I was a lover of Torah and questioning my hiring -- because trans. It turns out that almost a decade later, seeing his name still makes me angry.

One wondering that didn't make it into this piece is something about the overlap of Elul / teshuva time and the seven weeks of consolation. Are teshuva and nechama related? How? Do we have texts that speak to this?

This week, I wrote on seeking comfort: Bottomline: Our goal is not to achieve complete consolation... rather to realize that comfort and consolation may come from connecting our grief to the holiness that animates, and emanates from, each of us... https://svara.org/incomplete-comfort/

Thinking about transphobia, Jewish community, and Christian Nationalism. Feeling grateful to the @translashmedia.bsky.social team and @eladn.bsky.social for their work. Wondering about Abigail Shrier's trans friends... Season 2: Episode 4. Listen to it. https://translash.org/antitranshatemachine/

I've had the opportunity to be outside with colleagues in the rain twice in the past few days. One on a walk with a light rain, another sitting under an umbrella as the rain ebbed and flowed. Such a beautiful and sweet experience to just be.

Apropos of secrets in my inbox -- Turns out that if you give some Trans Jews some resources to write halakha and berachot, we/they will. This working is deepening the halakhic discourse and changing Judaism. Every day. https://svara.org/trans-halakha-project/

This Wednesday morning is brought to you by kettlebells and bespoke playlists.