Good news and bad news, kinderlakh.

The bummer is—Jewcy is going on hiatus. Don’t worry—you’ll still be able to peruse the site and learn all about RBG’s hot grandson. There just won’t be new content for a while. But this has happened before; you haven’t heard the last of us!

In the meantime, the good news: We’re going to party before we go! Come hang out with us in Brooklyn after the parade, grab a drink, and toast the good times. And will there be surprises, giveaways, queerness, mishegas? Of course there will!

The party is Sunday, June 24, from 7 to 10 pm at Halyards in Gowanus, Brooklyn (406 3rd Ave.)

Plus: Interested in doing a short set of, well, anything? Email Gabriela@jewcy.com— queer performers encouraged, but all are welcome.

Like usual, no cover.

Facebook RSVP here!

See you soon<3

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It may be hard to think of a time post-Chanukah, but it’s sooner than you think. And in that week between Christmas and New Years, when you’ve run out of excuses to get out of the house, we present you with one more: Jewcy’s end-of-year, Notakkah party!

We will be celebrating by watching the greatest Chanukah film of all time— The Hebrew Hammer. Conspiracies! Romance! Evil Santa! How does the 2003 film hold up? Well, we may be getting a sequel soon, so now’s the time to re-watch and decide for yourself!

Plus, for an amazing treat after the movie, the film’s creator Jonathan Kesselman will be virtually visiting us for a short video interview!

The shindig is Thursday, December 28th at Halyards Bar (406 3rd Avenue) in Brooklyn.

RSVP on Facebook here!

Doors open at 7 p.m., and we’ll start the movie promptly at 7:30. That will wrap up around 9, and we’ll then have about an hour or so of music, food, surprises, and more.

Admission is free, with a 2-drink minimum.

Including: Did you receive a Chanukah (or other holiday) present that you don’t want? Sweater the wrong size with no gift receipt? A book you already own? Something you just hate? No judgment! Just bring it to the party, and we’ll pool the reject gifts and redistribute them— socialism style! From each according to her Chanukah ability, to each according to her Chanukah need! Heck, bring your leftover chocolate gelt; someone will want it!

Let’s have a party; we’ll all dance the hora.

The post Jewcy’s ‘Notakkah’ Party! appeared first on Jewcy.

Cue “Summer Lovin’” from Grease, because we are having a summer party of ahava!

Guess which obscure Jewish holiday is on the horizon? If you answered Tisha B’Av, you’re wrong! Less than a week after that bummer day, is Tu B’Av, aka Jewish Valentine’s Day.

There are lots of beautiful Tu B’Av historical traditions, like women borrowing white dresses and dancing in vineyards to attract a spouse. In this day and age, we mostly just get awful singles’ parties.

And so, for the second year in a row, Jewcy presents a holiday alternative: Love Bites.

…

Jewcy is on a summer residency! To read this piece, and our others for July and August 2017, go to our big sister site, Tablet Magazine!

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Purim is nearly upon us! And we’re willing to go on record; it’s the best holiday of the year. Costumes. Condoned drinking (responsibly, guys). Entire gift baskets of treats. A narrative with elements of feminism and a general cause for societal subversion. Basically, it’s all the fun of Halloween, plus more, minus the scary bits. And this year’s Purim marks a year since Jewcy came back— so we’re going to party hard the best way we know how— puns.

That’s right, it’s a knock-down, drag-out Purim Pun-A-Palooza, where we will be crowning our Purim King/Queen/Gender-Non-Specific Monarch based on who makes the best puns in our competition. (You can’t tell from the name of our website how excited we are about this plan?)

We have extra special guest judges: First (alphabetically) is Stephanie Butnick of Tablet Magazine and the Unorthodox Podcast.  Next is Nat Bernstein from the Jewish Book Council. Finally, we have journalist and all-around hijinks-imbued Iris Mansour.

There will be prizes, candy for all, surprises, aggressive shenanigans. If you’re interested in competing, email Gabriela@Jewcy.com to sign up. You’ll get more details, including being asked to prepare a short pun-laden monologue, but you’ll also need to be ready to come up with jokes on the fly. Anyone is welcome— the more the merrier. If you’re on the fence, go for it.

We don’t want to have to me-guilt-ah you about this. Don’t be P(u)rim about it, and it’s OK if other people Eh-stare.

Hey, we never said we were the Gender-Non-Specific Purim Monarch. We’re just throwing the party.

This event is the day after Purim, but if you’re competing, or just want to watch it all go down, you’re still encouraged to come in costume— especially pun-based costumes. There may also be a prize for the best one…

The party is in Brooklyn (of course), Monday, March 13th. Doors open at 7, the puns start zinging at 7:30.

Admission is FREE, with a 2-drink minimum.

The venue is Halyards bar, 406 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11215 (and if you eat non-kosher dairy out, their kitchen serves a mean personal pizza).

If you have any questions at all, please email Gabriela@Jewcy.com.

You can find the event on Facebook here.

Image via Pinterest.

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Get on your feminist hats, or tichels, or sheitels, because it’s time for the JOFA Conference 2017.

Once every three years, Jewish women and allies gather under the mantle of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance for a conference that explores the state of affairs for Jewish women in the larger world.

The conference is this weekend, Saturday night and Sunday, January 14 and 15. The weekend will include performances, art installations, a town hall, and well over a hundred speakers on everything from abuse in the Jewish community to navigating the bureaucracy of the Israeli rabbinate to how to make LGBT students welcome in your Jewish day school.

The timing of the conference is also rather fortuitous, given today’s Israeli Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Women of the Wall (who also have a panel Sunday).

There are also shabbatons prior to the official conference, special programming for High Schoolers or college students, and leadership training after the conference.

Seriously, you name it, and JOFA probably has it covered. The conference nearly has 1,000 attendees registered so far, and despite the name, the draw of the crowd is across a wide spectrum of religious identities and observance levels.

“It’s pretty interesting because there’s a huge range of types of people who come with a range of wants needs and expectations,” says JOFA’s Executive Director, Dr. Sharon Weiss-Greenberg.

After all, the same weekend has a “Jewish Vagina Monologues” (Monologues from the Makom), a conversation on girls’ dress code in Jewish private schools, “Ask a Frum, Gay Couple,” a discussion on race in Judaism, deep exploration of the topic of women as Orthodox rabbis, and both interfaith and intrafaith programming.

The first JOFA conference was in 1997, so this year marks two decades since the first time Jewish women gathered to explore women’s rights through the lens of Orthodoxy. Greenberg is optimistic about the trajectory the organization, and the Jewish world, has taken since then.

“I think then it was so new,” she said, of publicizing the organization’s issues. And while she still sometimes hears that it’s an inherent contradiction, there is less resistance now. “I think in some ways it’s so obvious that there should be feminism within Orthodoxy.”

JOFA’s early work, for example, included agunot, women unable to acquire a Jewishly legal divorce, then an often-ignored topic. Today, there are several organizations that exist solely to deal with the issue, and it’s considered a mainstream concern in many Orthodox circles.

Of course, no fight is over.

“As you’re totally entrenched in the world of Orthodox feminism and feminism at large, it’s concerning and comforting at the same time that sexism is everywhere,” says Weiss-Greenberg. In some ways, the Jewish community’s path forward is arguably less murky. “There are clear rituals, there are clear leadership positions. We know what steps are worth taking or we’re able to take, and in some ways that clarity is helpful.”

You can probably still register in person at the conference, but if you want to sign up online, in advance, today is the last day to do so.

Image via JOFA.

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In case you missed it, Brooklyn Commons, a space for progressive community gatherings, is hosting an anti-Semitic writer and speaker tonight.

Christopher Bollyn is a run-of-the-mill conspiracy theorist, a 9/11 truther whose thumbtacks-tied-to-string ideas frequently blame “Jewish Zionists” for the 2001 attacks and continuing ills of the world.  In response to the controversy of his current speaking tour, many places that originally booked him have cancelled their event.

Not so Brookyln Commons.

The Commons responded with a laughable response letter, about how they couldn’t possibly have time to research all their speakers, how the Commons is so dedicated to fighting bigotry in all forms, and most bafflingly, but that how inviting someone like Bollyn is good because it helps “get to the root of racist thinking.”

This is obviously not satisfactory, and if you’re interested in going to the event tonight in protest, you can join an independent group currently organizing to attend the event, either to picket outside or cause disruption inside.

The information is all on Facebook, but here is some information it contains:

• To get inside (assuming you’re not just staying outside to protest) it costs $10.
• Any signs being brought cannot use a wooden pole or stick.
• Although Bollyn has a history of working with major White Power publications, the person introducing his talk is a black anti-Semite named Rudy Dent. Because of the “optics” of calling someone a neo-Nazi in public when they are appearing alongside people of different backgrounds, it could be a little tricky.
• If you plan to go inside, the use of whistles and noisemakers is rather effective.
• The address is 338 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.

You can coordinate with protest organizers here.

See you there?

Image via BKReader

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I can’t believe it’s already been five months since I took on Jewcy.  More than that, I can’t believe I’ve only written about Stephen Sondheim twice.

But it’s about time we celebrate Jewcy‘s nerdy return in person: We’re having a party.

Tu B’Av is upon us, from the evening of August 18th to August 19th. If it doesn’t ring a bell, it’s the Jewish romance holiday, when single women would wear white and go out into the vineyards of Jerusalem to dance and attract a spouse.

That’s not what we’re doing. But if you’re in the Brooklyn area, come join us Thursday, August 18th, from 8-10 p.m. as we explore what it is to be Jewish and in love. A group of talented storytellers and comedians will share their tales of love lost, found, and everything in between.

(Get it? Short performances in bites? Love bites? Also, sometimes love is awful? Also a “love bite” is slang for a hickey? Thanks, we’re real proud of that one over here.)

Feel free to wear white as is holiday custom. Or wear black. You do you.

This event is for everyone, regardless of relationship status, not another awful Jewish singles’ event (but if you do find someone, Jewcy is totally taking credit).

Admission is FREE, with a 2-drink minimum.

The venue is Halyards bar, 406 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11215.

If you have any questions at all, please email Gabriela@Jewcy.com.

You can find the event on Facebook HERE.

Image credit: Wikimedia

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Hungry for baklava and knowledge?

If you find yourself in the NYC area this Sunday (May 22nd), try the Greek Jewish Festival, based out of Kehila Kedosha Janina, (no, you don’t have to be Greek and/or Jewish).

After last year’s smash inauguration (they had about 2,000 attendees), this year’s street fair will be bigger, better, and tastier (and trust us, last year was tasty). This festival offers a new musical lineup (including Rebetika, known also as “Greek soul music”), more family activities, and food that includes a vintage Good Humor truck selling kosher ice cream (because why not?).

“We’re adapting and reinventing what it means to be a Greek Jew, and to celebrate a culture and a heritage,” Andrew Marcus, the festival’s director, told Jewcy. “We see this festival as another key component of sustaining and revitalizing our communtiy for the next generation.”

While Greek Jews suffered greatly in the Holocaust (about four-fifths of the population perished), American Jews seem to forget that there are plenty of Greek Jews among us today. They are either descendants of survivors or those who emigrated before the war (hello, Hank Azaria).

Kehila Kedosha Janina, is over a century old, and its current building, which contains a small museum, is almost 90. Sunday’s festival centers on the synagogue at 280 Broome Street on the Lower East Side, and takes over the street.

The congregation is notable for several reasons, such as its continued existence on the Lower East Side, its Greek roots, and more specifically, uniquely amongst American synagogues abiding by Romaniote customs. While some Greek Jews are Sephardic, Romaniote Jews are a distinct group that these days live almost entirely in Israel and the United States.

Marcus noted that a touching part of last year’s festivities was seeing Greek Jewish families reunite, and this year plans to include a map of the region where attendees can mark where their families came from in Greece, Turkey, or the Balkans.

The festival (more information on Facebook or its website) runs from noon to six, and thousands are going to come by. Be one of them: Hear some amazing music, eat great food, and learn about a Jewish group that’s bent on not only surviving, but thriving.

Images courtesy of the Greek Jewish Festival.

The post The Greek Jewish Festival! appeared first on Jewcy.

Date: Monday, October 17

Time: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Place: Brooklyn Heights Synagogue (sukkah!)

Address: 131 Remsen Street, Brooklyn

RSVP: Click below by October 12

For more information: Contact the City Team at nycityteam@pursueaction.org

What’s the City Team?: A group of people who are dedicated to strengthening the Pursue network and whose bios you can read here.

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