smalljewishgirl

[smalljewishgirl]

Given the current human rights disaster in Gaza, and the fact that Shavuot is coming up and it is therefore yet another opportunity for Jews to be charitable, I have attempted to compile a small and handy list of organisations working towards peace or related goals in Israel and Palestine, in the hope that all you people (including non-Jews: this is for you too!) who want to help in some small concrete way will be able to find an organisation you’d like to support.

B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, working to end the occupation by documenting human rights abuses in the occupied territories. 

Breaking the Silence: An organisation of veterans of the Israeli forces, publishing testimonies of the realities of life in the occupied territories, in the hope of ending the occupation.

Medical Aid for Palestinians: Delivering health and medical care to Palestinian communities affected by conflict, occupation and displacement, including providing emergency medical aid at times of crisis.

Combatants for Peace: An organisation of Israeli and Palestinian former combatants, working to promote dialogue and non-violence, with the aim of ending the occupation and finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Gisha: The Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement, working to protect the freedom of movement of Palestinians, especially Gaza residents, by promoting rights guaranteed by international and Israeli law.

The Galilee Society: The Arab National Society for Health, Research and Services (R.A.), working to achieve equitable health, environmental and socio-economic conditions, and to increase development opportunities for Palestinian Arabs inside Israel.

[smalljewishgirl]

I’m finding International Women’s Day increasingly less meaningful as it becomes more and more about *women bosses* and *CEOs who are women* and *group photos of happy white women talking about how great their pals are* and none of this is what International Women’s Day is meant to be about: it began as International Working Women’s Day and is built on the labour of working class and immigrant women. International Women’s Day is not a celebration of (white) women getting to integrate themselves into patriarchal and neo-liberalist structures. International Women’s Day is a recognition of the labour of all women, and if you are not talking about working class women, immigrant women and women of colour then you are whitewashing history. 

We are standing on the shoulders of all the women who came before us, and we have so much still to do.

[smalljewishgirl]

ROSALIND FRANKLIN WAS JEWISH THIS WAS A PSA.

[smalljewishgirl]

um so tonight I watched the nailed it Chanukah special and, like, what has American media done to our culture? Is yiddishkeit some kind of punchline for y’all?

[smalljewishgirl]

this story has a happy ending in which my roommate bought me a grater and i ate 15 latkes and half a pot of sour cream and honestly i feel like hashem is proud of me  

I JUST PEELED A MOUNTAIN OF POTATOES AND THEN I REALISED I DON’T HAVE A GRATER

[smalljewishgirl]

happy last night of Chanukah and here’s some tzedakah ideas 🕎🕎🕎

jews, donate! it’s almost time*

aka the charitable giving masterpost

it’s nearly the high holy days, and a big part of all jewish holidays is tzedakah, or charitable donations in the pursuit of justice. because we should make donations for each holiday, I like to try and make mine relevant to the holiday. this helps me connect to the holiday and its meaning, and to consider more deeply what forms of justice I want to pursue through my celebration of the holiday. here’s my best list of themed charities for every** jewish holiday. i’ve tried to do a mix of charities based in the uk, the us, and israel. 

Rosh Hashanah

rosh hashanah is the beginning of the new year. we reflect on the past year and hope for a sweet new year. it’s a holiday about fresh starts and clean slates.

you could donate to charities that help ex-offenders rebuild their lives, or charities that offer a way out of homelessness, or charities which help people to recover from addition. 

adrc, refugee action, the refugee council, and the international rescue committee are all charities which offer support to refugees and asylum seekers as they navigate new countries and new lives. safe passage works to reunite child refugees with their families.

Yom Kippur

yom kippur is, for me, an intensely personal holiday. it’s a time for reflection and introspection. i almost don’t want to recommend any charities for this one. if you have a cause that is significant to you, this is your ideal donation time. 

however, if you’re struggling: tzedakah is above all about righting injustice. because it’s a fast day, yom kippur draws our attention to one aspect of injustice in particular: what feels like to be hungry. there are literally hundreds of charities out there working to end food poverty. 

alternatively, fast days are a really difficult time to be a person suffering from an eating disorder. donating to an eating disorders charity such as beat or neda is a way to show solidarity with sufferers.

Sukkot

the major theme of sukkot is shelter; we build a sukkah and live/spend time/visit it occasionally (depending on what latitude we live at). i think a lot about our right to safety and security at sukkot.

shelter offers advice, support and legal aid to people experiencing bad housing and homelessness, as well as campaigning to end homelessness. end homelessness is a national alliance committed to ending homelessness in the US.

women’s aid and safe horizon support women escaping domestic violence.

heart to heart, msf, and the red cross all provide emergency aid and disaster relief where they are needed most around the world. world jewish relief is the international humanitarian agency of the british jewish community.

Chanukah

chanukah is a holiday about resistance to assimilation. if you have a local cultural centre, or your synagogue needs funds for cultural events, this is a good time to donate. on a wider scale, the american sephardi foundation and the leo baeck institute preserve the history of sephardi and ashkenazi jews respectively.

we know how important it is as a minority community to have access to our cultural heritage. beit ha’gefen is an arab-jewish cultural centre in haifa, which develops intercultural ties, as well as enriching arab cultural activity in israel. the aca promotes palestinian cultural heritage.

Tu B’Shevat

i love trees, so obviously this is my perfect holiday. if you, like me, want to protect trees, then bgci is an international network of botanic gardens working to conserve the world’s plants.

there are many international wildlife conservation organisations, such as conservation international, but you could also look more locally, at your local wildlife trust, or your local climate action group.

if you want to combine environmentalism with social justice, the environmental justice foundation (see what i did there?) highlights the links between human rights and environmental protection.

Purim

at first glance, purim is a tricky festival to define, perhaps because it lacks a presence of god. but this makes it interesting: it’s about intolerance, and the power that we have to fight injustice (and despots with genocidal tendencies), even when god is apparently absent. 

stonewall is an LGBT+ rights organisation, which campaigns for equality for LGBT+ people. black lives matter and the splc both act to combat racism across the US. 

hand in hand are building a network of jewish-arab public schools across israel to promote tolerance and co-existence.

Pesach

the big one. the passover story forms our collective psyche: we have all been refugees, and we too were strangers in the land of Egypt. this is a holiday with big themes of liberation, freedom from oppression and the power of storytelling to bind a people.

the aclu works to protect the rights and liberties of everyone in the united states, while raices provides legal services to immigrants and refugees. both organisations are currently fighting Trump’s family separation policies.

the truth is that slavery never ended, and there are many charities working to end human trafficking and modern slavery. in addition, the legacy of historic slavery is long, and the passover seder teaches us that remembrance is essential. the NMAAHC gives a voice to African American history and culture.

Shavuot

a big theme of this holiday is learning. we stay up all night in torah study (at least, we do if we’re keen). in fact, judaism as a whole is very keen on learning. use this as an opportunity to help give others an education.

magic breakfast gives breakfast to kids who otherwise might not get to eat before school, so they can learn to their full potential (here’s a us-based program).

girl rising campaigns to change attitudes towards educating girls and women, while global education fund empowers local organisations improve education in their communities. 

learning doesn’t stop with going to school: perhaps you’d like to help refugees learn English or Hebrew, or you believe that learning how to garden, or play sport, or cook has the power to change someone’s life.

please add more suggestions to this very-much-non-exhaustive list and if I have accidentally included any awful suggestions, please educate me!

now let’s donate!

*credit

**okay, obviously not every one, because who knows every jewish holiday anyway?

[smalljewishgirl]

FOOD PROCESSOR DID NOT WORK OUT.

I JUST PEELED A MOUNTAIN OF POTATOES AND THEN I REALISED I DON’T HAVE A GRATER

[smalljewishgirl]

PLEASE HELP WHAT DO I DO

I JUST PEELED A MOUNTAIN OF POTATOES AND THEN I REALISED I DON’T HAVE A GRATER

[smalljewishgirl]

I JUST PEELED A MOUNTAIN OF POTATOES AND THEN I REALISED I DON’T HAVE A GRATER

[smalljewishgirl]

white people, amirite?

[smalljewishgirl]

this is so beautiful oh my gosh

prayer

[smalljewishgirl]

playing ‘spot your menorah’ on this is rly fun

ANNOUNCING: THE CHANUKAH PROJECT 5779

The month of Kislev is here! Which means that Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, is right around the corner!

For the third year in a row, we invite you to share your Chanukah with us! Pictured above is all of the menorahs from last year!

Starting December 2nd, at sundown, each night of Chanukah, I will post a picture of my Menorah, in the proper stage of lighting. I invite each of you post your Menorah for the world to see! Tag it #chanukahproject or #istodayajewishholiday if you want me to see, and I’ll reblog as many as I can!

[smalljewishgirl]

i present: america.

[smalljewishgirl]

tried to message my boyfriend gut shabbos and it autocorrected to Guy Shannon’s 👍

[smalljewishgirl]

on the one hand, democrats gained control of the house and there were more people of colour, women, and LGBT people elected than ever before, (with special shout out to Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland being the first two native american women elected to congress, and Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib being the first two muslim women elected to congress!!!).

on the other hand, 55000 people just voted for a literal Nazi.

[smalljewishgirl]

I mean it doesn’t help that I have no idea what any of these numbers represent

watching these election results come in is so stressful and this isn’t even my country

[smalljewishgirl]

watching these election results come in is so stressful and this isn’t even my country