Bereishit - In the beginning it was just us and HaShem

The idea of becoming a Decolonized Judean for me is deeply personal, spiritual and also WORK. First let me preface this piece with the following - being a Decolonized Judean has zero to do with the current state of Israel, nothing to do with Israel/Palestine and doesn’t speak to my relationship with Palestinians who I believe are not only genetic cousins but who I believe we should beside on the land we all love and share history on. It also goes way deeper than knowing and saying “Jews originated in Judea”. That’s the easy part. So what does becoming a Decolonized...

I can’t be European, I’m Brown.  My diaspora experience does not reflect my origins.  My whole life, I’ve had the burning question, “How come I’m ‘brown’ when both my twin sister and brother are as white as snow and burn under the sun in like 2.5 seconds”? Well, within the past year or two, I learned why. It is because I am a Jew. I am an Ashkenazi/ European Jew and dedicated gefilte fish connoisseur. When just looking at me, my nationality is pretty ambiguous. I went to a very multicultural high school and I was asked on so many...

Judean Gatekeepers, The Torah starts by telling us that HaShem began creation with the heavens and the earth. But Rashi’s first commentary on the Torah relates to the land of Israel belonging to the Jewish people. Why would the famous eleventh century Torah commentator begin by telling us this? Because Rashi knew that in the future the nations of the world would reject Israel belonging to us, the Jewish people. Before any further commentary Rashi wanted the world to know outright that in the beginning HaShem created the heavens and the earth and gave Israel to the Jewish people. Rashi...