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Posts by author:
Erika Davis
 The other day I had an interesting conversation with one of my friends about Passover. She’d just received an invitation to attend the seder of a perfect stranger—well, almost a perfect stranger. During a business interaction, my friend’s client, who is an identifiable Orthodox Jewish woman, noticed my friend, somewhat unidentifiable as a Jew with her dark brown skin, far-set eyes and long dreadlocks tied up in a scarf. Still, the woman looked past skin color and noticed the silver Star of David around her neck and asked her, “Are you a Jew?” My friend affirmed that she was indeed Jewish and, while the woman did try to “place” her as a Jew, she quickly invited her to her home for Passover.
As I listened to my friend tell this story, I wondered how many Jews would do something like this. In my own experience it has only been while attending Shabbat services in an Orthodox synagogue that I have been invited into a stranger’s home for Shabbat dinner–never once have I been invited into a home for Shabbat dinner in my own liberal synagogue. I find this fact a little unsettling, especially since it is considered a mitzvah to have Jews around your Shabbat and Passover table. Read more →
Tagged as:
community,
holidays,
passover,
race
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” --Martin Luther King, Jr.
Valentine’s Day was at its best when I was in grade school. Long before Target was a staple in Toledo, Ohio, my sister and I would roam the Valentine’s Day aisle at K-Mart looking for the best cards to give to our classmates. We’d get home and go through the red and pink colored box of paper valentines to find the most lovey-dovey ones for the boys we crushed on and the most generic sentiments to the people we didn’t care for. In our grade-school hand writing we’d spell out “HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY” on each card and put them in the envelopes (if they were the good cards). Loaded with valentines, candy hearts, and enough SweetTarts to keep us amped for two days, we’d hand them out to our classmates at school.
In high school, Valentine’s Day became a competition. As a student at an all-girl Catholic school, no Valentine’s Day was considered a success until you heard your name being called over the PA system to report to the office. Read more →
Tagged as:
celebration,
holidays,
inspiration
Tonight marks the half-way point of Hanukkah, the fourth candle. There are probably a few things we can cut back on: another night of latkes, baked goods, chocolate coins. There are also things we should continue to move towards: ways of being a light in the world, year-end giving, and connecting with family and friends. In that spirit, Chanel Dubofsky, our new Pursue staff member, wrote a post for Where Do You Give about her tzedakah practice. She says, “Giving is also a feminist act…” Upload your story or video today to tell us where you give.
- When one thinks Hanukkah, images of latkes and donuts are usually come to mind. While latkes may be a Hanukkah staple, they come in many varieties and aren’t the only foods traditionally eaten during the holiday. Amy Spiro of The Jewish Week asks us to Think Beyond the Jelly Doughnut this Hanukkah season. The Jew and the Carrot share Italian Jewish recipes in their piece, Buon Hanukkah! An Italian Holiday Feast! and The Tastes of Kurdish Hanukkah. The Jewish Women’s Archive shares Indian Jewish treats, Aloo Gobi Latkes, anyone? One of the spiciest latkes we came across was this one from Mexikosher. You can’t go wrong with tequilla-laced latkes.
Read more →
Tagged as:
hanukkah,
holidays,
LGBT,
nu
We’ve been experiencing some very un-winter-like weather in New York City. Despite the lack of cold, the longer nights serve as a reminder that it’s not late fall, or early spring: we’re at the beginning of winter. There are a lot of overlapping celebrations at the end of December. This year Hanukkah overlaps with Winter Solstice (December 22) and Christmas (December 25). It’s ironic that solstice, the longest night of the year is on Hanukkah, a holiday in which we use light to declare to the world that we are Jews. This week’s Nu is focused on ways in which we can be a light in the world around us in how we give, how we spend, and how we eat:
- Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, the Director of North American Programs for Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, asks Jews to take the concept of ba’al taschit, the commandment not to needlessly waste or destroy, to the restaurant. Her article for The Jew and the Carrot exposes the causes of food waste that we, as consumers, have control of: what we throw away by ordering too much at restaurants.
- After listening to AJWS President Ruth Messinger the University of Washington earlier this month, Jew-ish writer Emily Alhadeff found herself re-invigorated in the fight for Jewish social justice. It turns out that most people engaged in social justice are young adults: EJewishPhilanthropy looks at a new survey that asserts that when engaged in social justice at a young age, youth are inclined to continue that engagement and bring it into their Jewish practice. Take it from Jessica Anth, 12 years-old and the newest member of the board of directors at Friends of the Walton County Animal Shelter. Read more →
Tagged as:
environmental justice,
judaism,
nu,
tzedakah
“On the Front Lines For Freedom” was the theme of the 2011 Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Risk-Taker Awards. Last night, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) honored Freedom Riders Reverand C.T. Vivian and Joan Pleune along with modern-day freedom fighters Jose Antonio Vargas and United We Dream. I felt honored to share the same space with such important activists.
Freedom Riders Reverend C. T. Vivian and Joan Pleune were celebrated to mark the 50th anniversary of the journey they took to challenge racist segregation in the South, putting their own bodies on the line, filling the jails, assembling in the face of violence, and even risking their lives for the cause. In 1961, Joan Pleune was arrested in Mississippi with fellow Freedom Riders. It was the first, but not last, time she would find herself behind bars for standing up for what she believed in. Presumed to be black by her arresting officers, Joan, a secular Jewish student from Berkeley College, remained in the Deep South, to the shock and horror of her concerned mother. Joan was most recently arrested at an Occupy event and continues to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other activists. Read more →
Tagged as:
change-makers,
inspiration,
partners
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A Project of :
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Jewish change-makers are inspired, motivated and fiercely smart. Jewish values urge us to question injustice, act, and take collective responsibility. Pursue sparks and sustains social change by channeling the unlimited passion and potential of Jewish change-makers
in their 20s and 30s into action for a more just world. Copyright 2010
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