Episodes
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Historian and yiddishist Tamara Gleason Freidberg 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-gleason-freidberg
forward.com/news/622618/mexico-president-claudia-sheinbaum-jewish-family-holocaust/
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Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!
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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.
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Episodes manquant?
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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!
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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!
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Summer Camp Conflict and Care w/ Dani and Ezra
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 !
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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.
Follow Le Shul Saint-Ouen on Instagram
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Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!
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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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Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!
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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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If you like the work we're doing here, please consider supporting us on Patreon!
Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!
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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!
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Ben and Zach speak to Joe, a member of the Jewish Voice for Solidarity group, which is based in Prague, Czech Republic, Alongside their various local actvities, they recently drafted and presented an interesting document, a satire playing on the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which all Jewish Diasporists will find an interesting read.
Perhaps this humourous spirit, or the fact that we recorded the intro on the 4th of July, led us to engage in a little tomfoolery during the intro...
Joe's article "There is No Jewish State"
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If you like the work we're doing here, please consider supporting us on Patreon!
Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!
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This is a re-release of our conversation with artist and former University of Oregon Hillel organiser Alana Green, conducted in November 2023.
Stay tuned for more on this subject :)
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If you like the work we're doing here, please consider supporting us on Patreon!
Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!
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(Note: This Interview was recorded before 6/7, when the University of California (UC) found an Orange County Judge to declare a restraining order on the UAW in order to suspend the legal strike action.)
Over the past months, encampments were set up to demand fiscal transparency and divestment from Israel’s militarism. Although this mass movement has commonly been accused of spreading antisemitism, Jews have disproportionately taken part in this movement to hold their universities’ administrations accountable.
At the campuses of the University of California, this movement has taken a unique turn as academic workers, organized through UAW 4811, launched a strike to challenge the unfair labor practices imposed to repress the student movement.
In this episode, Ben interviewed Rebecca Gross and Max Sàrosi. Max and Rebecca both have been key organizers of Jews Against White Supremacy (JAWS) on the campus, and Rebecca is also a leader of the union on campus.
While locally focused, this conversation explores JAWS as an organization that has been part of the wider movement at UCSC, and places the specific dynamics of the movement at UCSC within its context as part of the UC Divest coalition. We hope this conversation will help listeners better understand the character of this locale within the historic movement.
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If you like the work we're doing here, please consider supporting us on Patreon!
Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!
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Note: This episode was recorded on May 14, 2024, prior to the arrests made at the UC Berkeley "Hind's House" encampment.
For this episode, we interviewed Zalman Tzipporah, a Bundist student and organizer, who has been attending University at Berkeley CA, but in past months has been completing a Semester in Berlin. In our conversation we explored Zalman's road to Bundism and how these ideas have shaped his experience in these distinct geographies; from Yiddishism to their practice of hereness in there collegial homes of Berkeley and Berlin.
We initially met Zalman through our shared participation in the effort to rebuild the International Jewish Labour Bund, but he also joined Zach in Krakow to help organize a Jewish Bloc for the city's May Day Demonstration. This was the first organized Jewish bloc at a demonstration in Poland in generations.
Sign up here to join in rebuilding the International Jewish Labor Bund!
Learn more about the Yiddish program that has been foundational to Zalman's Bundism.
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Big thank you to Isabel Frey for allowing us to use her rendition of the Bund's anthem, Di Shvue.
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In this episode we spoke to Levi Zapata, Katie Kaestner-Frenchman and Lìdice, three organizers of Colectivo Sirpad (סרפד), a Queer Anti-Zionist and Diasporist group in Spain. In our conversation we delved in to the rich Jewish history of the country and explored how Jews have contributed to and pushed against the formation of Spanish national culture. By diving into the history and present of Sepharad our guests offer a unique look into the way diaspora cultures constitute and subverts contemporary understandings of national identity.
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If you like the work we're doing here, please consider supporting us on Patreon!
Big thank you to Dan Nichols and Aly Halpert for allowing us to use their music for our intro and outro.
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Esteemed Professor Avi Shlaim joins Zach to speak about the study of history and Arab-Jewish identity!
Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew
simonandschuster.com/books/Three-Worlds/Avi-Shlaim/9780861544639
Recent interviews by Prof. Shlaim:
youtube.com/watch?v=lfDhaWlqXf8&pp=ygUUYXZpIHNobGFpbSBhcmFiIGpld3M%3D
youtube.com/watch?v=gvhL2Sy5FEQ&pp=ygUUYXZpIHNobGFpbSBhcmFiIGpld3M%3D
youtube.com/watch?v=krOE1QOWziA&pp=ygUUYXZpIHNobGFpbSBhcmFiIGpld3M%3D
youtube.com/watch?v=nUjdDYoTZG0&pp=ygUUYXZpIHNobGFpbSBhcmFiIGpld3M%3D
youtube.com/watch?v=OdWOpHMKelM
Hadar Cohen's cited article:
972mag.com/arab-jew-mizrahim-zionism-israel/
Patreon: patreon.com/TheJewishDiasporist
YouTube: youtube.com/@HamotziNetwork
Instagram: instagram.com/thejewishdiasporistpod/
Endless Gratitude to Aly Halpert for the intro music: open.spotify.com/artist/5ilJZ0nHG41CYddwNuP3f6?si=EH0Uy2JATLK0w-x-IAIIRA
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Zach and Jordan (a first time combo!) speak to Zandi and Julia, two activists from South African Jews for a Free Palestine, about what their group can offer to our present moment, locally and globally. We also touch on the connections between Jewishness in a particular context between racism and settler-colonialism, providing context and frameworks for wider perspectives from Jews of colour.
Some of the Articles cited from in this episode:
newint.org/2024/africas-pandoras-box
kh-uia.org.il/about-us/governors/martin-moshal/
sajr.co.za/moshal-puts-money-on-better-sa-leadership/
dailyinvestor.com/south-africa/32930/anc-da-and-effs-biggest-funders-revealed/
Ben White, Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide
Patreon: patreon.com/TheJewishDiasporist
YouTube: youtube.com/@JewishDiasporistMakingMensches
Instagram: instagram.com/thejewishdiasporistpod/
Endless Gratitude to Aly Halpert for the intro music: open.spotify.com/artist/5ilJZ0nHG41CYddwNuP3f6?si=EH0Uy2JATLK0w-x-IAIIRA
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In this episode, Jordan sits down with two scholars of Jewish diaspora life, Ben Yanowitz and Zach Smerin, to discuss the historical and cultural diversity of Jewish life. They discuss the role of various Jewish diasporas in shaping the social, ecological, and technological adaptions employed by Jews across cultures and times.
If you’d like to learn more, check out Jewish Ecology on Substack: https://jewishecology.substack.com
And you can continue to support this project through Patreon: http://patreon.com/TheJewishDiasporist
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The video of this episode: youtube.com/watch?v=xS25N1ymTS4
As of April 1st; the Jewish Diasporist has officially turned 1 year old! In this brief episode, Ben and Zach discuss how their understanding of Diasporism has evolved over the past year, as well as the podcast’s growth. They also hint at the future of the Jewish Diasporist, and the conversations which will happen in this new year.
Patreon: patreon.com/TheJewishDiasporist
YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@JDxMMxLJ
Instagram: instagram.com/thejewishdiasporistpod/
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In this episode, we are joined by Zevi Slavin, the creater of the YouTube project Seekers of Unity. We talk about the etymology of Chasidism, with its roots in Chesed — loving kindness — and how Zevi’s own journey has brought him to a diasporist understanding of the unity at the heart of both Jewish and non-Jewish mysticism.
Zevi joins Ben and Jordan Yanowitz as they together paint a picture of the role that love, community, and dialogue together play in shaping Jewish life. Chesed and Chasidism are diasporically interfused in this discussion with Seekers of Unity.
Check out Zevi's work with Seekers of Unity on Youtube
Patreon: patreon.com/TheJewishDiasporist
YouTube: youtube.com/@JewishDiasporistMakingMensches
Instagram: instagram.com/thejewishdiasporistpod/
Endless Gratitude to Aly Halpert for allowing us to use her song I'm Not Alone
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(Recorded 1/30/2024)
In this episode, we are joined by Rivka, Andrey, Roman and Meir from Kompass Media, a critical Russian-language media and activist collective based in Israel-Palestine!
We talk about the trials of two diasporas, parallels between Palestine and Ukraine, the connection to Eastern European homelands, as well as future of leftist organising - in their local communal context and the general fight against imperialism, nationalism and militarism.
Follow Kompass Media on their Instagram and join their Telegram channels here!
instagram.com/kompass.media
t.me/kompass_media
Patreon: patreon.com/TheJewishDiasporist
YouTube: youtube.com/@JewishDiasporistMakingMensches
Instagram: instagram.com/thejewishdiasporistpod/
Endless Gratitude to Aly Halpert for the intro music: open.spotify.com/artist/5ilJZ0nHG41CYddwNuP3f6?si=EH0Uy2JATLK0w-x-IAIIRA
Thank you to our editor Jacob!
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