Tessera

((Herschel))

@jaklacroix.bsky.social

Jewish and constantly angry. He/they. Author of UGLY: A BIKIE'S LIFE (Penguin, 2021). Lead vocals/guitar in @thelimitedmusic.bsky.social https://linktr.ee/jaklacroix

2368 Posts1130 Follower 268 Folgt

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 2d ago

Read the rest of this thought-provoking piece by backing our #Kickstarter - now in its final hours! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"The Talmud goes as far as to say one who goes out of their way to insert a public hazard almost has their death coming to them, seeming to treat this like some sort of act of divine comeuppance. This treatment is logical, if not a bit cruel, but it certainly shows the value our Sages placed on quality public space, and its utter lack of fealty towards those who seek to deteriorate it. "

—Ami Dube, "Public Space, Public Health, and the Public Good: A Halakhic Perspective on Environmental Justice in Urban Planning", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 3d ago

Read the rest of this incredibly moving piece by backing our #Kickstarter. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"You will tell them about helping traumatized evacuees settle into temporary housing in a new city, about the friendships that formed with people you would otherwise have never met, and how a traumatized girl came out of her shell for a few hours playing with a friend’s puppy." —David Selis, "What is the essence of this very day? A reflection on memory, ritual, mourning, and hope in the aftermath of October 7th", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 4d ago

Read the rest of this great piece by backing our #Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"Once again, the state gestures toward shielding us, but only after allowing the embers of hate to smoulder long enough to serve its own ends. It’s an old pre-War European manoeuvre: cultivate resentment, push Jews into precarious roles, then intervene just as the violence erupts, using our suffering to consolidate power." —Duke P. Aaron, "The Wheel of Centuries", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 5d ago

I really hope the Sex Pistols release a new album in 2027 with Frank Carter, not just because I want more music, but because I think it'll be funny to be a band that went 50 years between albums.

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 5d ago

Read the rest of these pieces - including my own - by backing our #Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"The work can seem insurmountable because there’s so much of it, but as Rabbi Tarfon said above, you are not “free to desist from it.” If we attack one small thing at a time, we can tackle the ills of the world. You can dismantle a mountain stone by stone." —Jordan King-Lacroix, "The Work is Never Done", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

"If you marry someone who isn't Jewish, you'll have someone to protect you. This is how we reach herd immunity against antisemitism." —Rebecca Katz, "Jewish Continuity", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · last wk.

WE'RE FUNDED!!!! You can still reserve your copy by backing the #Kickstarter now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

Again at a Crossroads

New Jewish Thought for a Better World

kickstarter.com

The Autistic Coach | Mati (he/they)@theautisticcoach.bsky.social · 2w ago

A course on supporting autistic adults BY an autistic educator. Support the ones who you love in a way that meets *their* needs. www.theautisticcoach.com/allies-autis...

autistic allies workshop - 5 weeks - theautisticcoach.com

Rabbi David Polsky @motownrabbi.bsky.social · last mo.

Sharing a Kickstarter for a projected book on Jews, Judaism, and the left. I am honored to be one of the authors in it with a Halakhic argument for water justice: www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

Again at a Crossroads

New Jewish Thought for a Better World

kickstarter.com

Ben Yehuda Press, Jewish books here & everywhere @benyehudapress.bsky.social · last wk.

—Rabbi Avigayil Halpern, "A Place Their Heart Desires: An Integrated Torah for the Future" Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

Again at a Crossroads

New Jewish Thought for a Better World

kickstarter.com

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · last wk.

Read the rest of this beautiful piece by Rabbi Avigayil Halpern by backing our #Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"Educators struggle to “make Judaism relatable,” to “connect Torah to modern times.” Too often, our work is framed to us as a form of marketing. [In] this formulation, “Torah” or “Judaism” is something separate from any given person, which they can engage with at will as a commodity. But this approach is both foreign to Torah itself."
—Rabbi Avigayil Halpern, "A Place Their Heart Desires: An Integrated Torah for the Future", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

The Foggy Jew @hmcevansoneya.bsky.social · last wk.

The level of antisemitism on here (which means I assume it is even worse elsewhere) in response to that Mamdani announcement video is quite frankly insane

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · last wk.

Read the rest of this wonderful piece by Daniela Naomi Molnar - poet of "Protocols: An Erasure" - by backing our #Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"I think of this active emptiness as a type of memory. Because the entire universe is made of atoms, and because an atom is made of active emptiness, this memory is common to all matter, including forms we consider living, like animals and plants, and those we do not, like rocks, smoke, or water." —Daniela Naomi Molnar, "Memory of a Larger Mind", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

Oregon 🕎🎲@oregonthedm.bsky.social · last wk.

okay I'm sorry to literally beg for this, I've done part time jobs and you all have been amazing sponsoring for me doing work around the community But I go 1400 a month rent is due at the end of the month and I'm freaking out, they can delay it until the 8th but I think I honestly can't pay it

Oregon 🕎🎲@oregonthedm.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I don't like saying this But if ya willing to help out OregontheDM on Pal and Ven GingerbreadGolem on Cash Phrasing to avoid bots lol

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 2w ago

Read the rest of this wonderful piece by the formidable @theradr.bsky.social by backing our #Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"The Jewish embrace of emancipation and acculturation was reflected primarily in the behaviour of Jewish men. On the other hand, due to the gender constructs of...who made this choice, Jewish women were...less affected by the tendency towards assimilation. " —Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, "Jews, Gender and Assimilation", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 2w ago

Read the rest of this amazing piece by backing our #Kickstarter now! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"Is 'just war' even a coherent concept? What about 'Purity of Arms' (a key term in the IDF code of ethics)? The reality or impossibility of legitimate killing is an age-old debate, but it is also one of the burning moral issues of today." —Levi Morrow, "Murder/Killing: Avraham Yehuda Chein's Thou Shalt Not Kill", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 2w ago

Read the rest of this amazing piece by @josie.zone by backing our #Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"So what does Jewish salvation look like now? Is it just physical survival, or is something else required? What does it mean to be a “Good Jew” in a time when so much evil is done in the name of preserving the Jewish future? And how can we go on in a world that’s always just a little too small to accommodate us?" —Josephine Reisman, "Shielding the Breath of God: Two Jews, Two Salvations", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

Le Monde in English @english.lemonde.fr · 2w ago

Amnesty International calls for ICE to be abolished

In a report titled 'We Had Whistles, They Had Guns,' the NGO documents widespread human rights violations committed by ICE in the United States.

lemonde.fr

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 2w ago

I think this piece from @theautisticcoach.bsky.social @autisticrabbi.bsky.social says some of the most important stuff about Judaism's future possibilities. Read the whole thing by backing our Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"[Mordecai] Kaplan’s Judaism refuses assimilation. It was grounded in peoplehood, in communal creativity, and in the lived, complex reality of being Jewish in the Diaspora."
"And critically, this meant placing community - not belief, not ritual, not law - at the centre of Jewish religious life."

—Matti Boulakia-Bortnick, "From Self-Realization to Collective Liberation", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 2w ago

You should back this, why not?

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · last mo.

At last, this is live! Featuring @josie.zone @theradr.bsky.social @jewishcurrents.bsky.social @sarahseltzer.bsky.social @autisticrabbi.bsky.social @theautisticcoach.bsky.social @bogiperson.bsky.social @swordsjew.bsky.social and many others fantastic voices! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

Keeping it Spooky 🎃@keepingitgeekly.bsky.social · 3w ago

👏👏👏 @boom-studios.com Credit to @azhuoart.bsky.social for the screenshot

Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 2w ago

Stop spreading fear, paranoia, & apathy where none is warranted. This behavior DOES actually persuades people to not bother to vote.

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 2w ago

Read this rest of this excellent piece by Gillian Polack by backing our Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"The cultural mainstream in much of the western world has a Christian underlay. This makes it a bit difficult for writing that focuses on Jewish culture. When I wanted to put a type of unicorn from Jewish folklore into one of my novels I had to build my world very carefully in order to support it." —Gillian Polack, "Writing Fiction Outside the Christian Hegemony", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 3w ago

Read the rest of this extremely touching piece from @bogiperson.bsky.social by backing our Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"Immigration was and remains a Jewish issue; it would be even in the absence of any Jewish immigrants, simply because Judaism has a longstanding tradition of social justice. But there is no shortage of Jewish immigrants – we are here, but we are being actively erased from American Jewish public discourse." —Bogi Takács Perelmutter, "Not a Jewish issue anymore"? – Jewish immigration, emigration, migration to the United States in six anecdotes", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

Oregon 🕎🎲@oregonthedm.bsky.social · 3w ago

Update: Back on the grind, I have about 15 hours of availability this week to help out and do some stuff around the city that needs cleaned up

Tossing this concept out
If you want to hire me to do an hour or more of volunteer work of your choice if it exists locally I wlilliterally trade my labor for financial aide and putting it back into supporting the community , and l'| document it

Oregon 🕎🎲@oregonthedm.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I don't like saying this But if ya willing to help out OregontheDM on Pal and Ven GingerbreadGolem on Cash Phrasing to avoid bots lol

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 3w ago

Read the whole piece by the lovely @sarahmseltzer.bsky.social by backing our Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"Though my politics have remained consistent, I feel a pendulum swing witnessing others’ online battles. I don’t know how many times I’ve thought about posting some kind of decisive, Mercutio-like rant where I criticize everyone for their lazy, thoughtless posts." —Sarah Seltzer, "A Pickled Diasporist: What being a New Yorker has taught me about tribalism and universalism", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 3w ago

Read this full piece by the fantastic @swordsjew.bsky.social in the full book of Again at a Crossroads! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"I rapped my left breast ten times; hard knuckles on soft flesh in a big hushed room. At this time I felt a rupture in myself. God didn’t speak to me as he didn’t speak to me eleven years ago. But all of a sudden I felt gathered up in a big fist, bigger than the room, bigger than Manhattan, bigger than time." —Tal Lavin, "The Confession", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World

Josephine beckbook.com Riesman @josie.zone · 3w ago

Carrie Fisher flirtily stealing Peter Weller's glasses was possibly the sexiest a woman has ever been

Four photos of Carrie taking and wearing Peter's glasses

Punk Rock History @punkrockhistory.bsky.social · 3w ago

75 years ago today In memory of Douglas Glenn Colvin, alias Dee Dee Ramone, founding member, songwriter, bassist, and the heart and soul of the punk rock band the Ramones, born on this day in 1951 in Fort Lee, Virginia (USA) 📸 Michael Ochs Archive #punkrock #deedeeramone #ramones #punkrockhistory

((Herschel))@jaklacroix.bsky.social · 3w ago

Back the #Kickstarter now to read the whole piece! It's excellent. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ben...

"As a system which acts almost exclusively to funnel wealth to the top of society, feudalism can easily be called a system where the elites of society receive on condition to receive more. Existing as the fourth term, the lowliest, it is understood as the infancy of the political process."

—Ya'aqov Shenkin, "Anarcho-Communism as Redemption: An Ashlagian Analysis of the Exodus Narrative and Recent History", Again at a Crossroads: New Jewish Thought for a Better World