We met on shabbat morning to honor the coming of spring and share our fear, grief, and hope as activists and people who want a livable future.
Find our liturgy here, downloadable as a slide deck
Our torah study for the month was learning about the utter fuckery of “Project Esther,” a campaign by Christian Nationalists to blame Jews & Muslims for anti-semitism. Resources I used include:
Dove Kent writing in The Forward
Arno Rosenfeld writing in The Forward
Ben Lorber writing in Religion Dispatches
Mitchell Plitnick writing in Mondoweiss
For our Consequences reading, I pulled a paragraph from Timothy Synder’s essay on the antisemitism behind the White House attack on President Zelins’kyi.
We added a new song this month, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” by Lia Rose. Watch a video from a February, 2020 Bernie Rally.
To understand the origins of the phrase “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” see:
This 1978 poem by June Jordan about South African women marching to oppose Apartheid
This vocal setting of that one line by Bernice Johnson Reagon and Sweet Honey in the Rock
Lia’s song also uses questions from famous Hillel quote, “If I am not for myself, who is for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, then when?” Fringes has used these 3 questions as part of our Bark’hu since we were founded, with 2 additional questions: from Adrienne Rich, “If not with others, then how?” and from Dane Kuttler, “If not here, then where?” The cumulative answers to these questions are exactly the moment we’re in now, trying to discern how to make allies and alliances while working hard to know what we can each best do.
Elliott – Ever since I saw the announcement that you will be this year’s Liturgist-in-Residence at the NHC Summer Institute, it has been in my heart to say how excited I am that you were selected. I attended NHC Summer Institutes for decades (from the early 1990s on) until 2014 or so, and again in 2023 and 2024; in the interim there were also a couple years of pandemic-related virtual-only attendance by everyone. I always get a lot from them; besides the richness you will be contributing, I trust that you will find something to nourish yourself as well.
One of my immediate reactions to this year’s announcement was “Elliott – of course!” Why didn’t I think of you / nominate you myself at some point? 😉😊 (I am not sure for how many years the liturgist role has been a “thing,” – it has certainly not been decades – but it doesn’t matter.) I am delighted for both you and the NHC that the shiduch has come about!
I’ve been in and out of hospitals and rehab settings for the past six months because of a health crisis that I experienced last October- actually on Shabbat Shuva. It has been quite rough. Thus, frustratingly, it’s doubtful that I personally will be able to attend the Institute this year. However, I am glad that I can at least say a heartfelt “Mazal Tov” to you. May you go from strength to strength!
Shabbat Shalom to the extent possible in these adjective-defying times.
Natalie – thank you SO MUCH. Your note made me smile so much, and smiling is rare in these impossible days. I’m very touched by your enthusiasm for my work. Writing liturgy is weird – I craft it and send it out into the world, and then I never know what happens. I hope you’re finding some healing.
Elliott