Kosher Queers

Jaz Twersky and Lulav Arnow
  • 5.0 (31)
  • JUDAISM

Kosher Queers is a podcast with at least two Jews and generally more than three opinions! Each week Jaz and Lulav bring you queer takes on Torah.

  1. 10/08/2021

    101 — Shavuot in Cheshvan

    Did you miss us? As a treat, we've crafted some deluxe Kosher Queers bonus material for you; here's all the short parsha summaries we did throughout the two years of making the podcast, all neatly collected in one place. Get ready for a lot of very rapid speech. Transcript available here! Tip us on Ko-fi! Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Lulav, and our transcript was written by Jaz Twersky. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. Support the show

    1h 39m

  2. 09/23/2021

    100 — V'Zot HaBerachah: What If The Real Blessing…

    This week, we talk about the dubious metaphor of Gog and Magog, name our city Pluralism and then rename it again, talk about crumbling empires, and reflect on what we’ve learned about the text over the last two years. We do that because this is our last episode of season 2 and thus, the formal end of the podcast!!!! Bye y'all; thanks for these last couple years. (But stay tuned for a small surprise in the feed coming soon.) Transcript here. Lulav listens to the podcast Emojidrome, which you can support on their Patreon. The bracha for immersion that Lulav said in the shower is available here, and more commonly used when visiting a mikvah. The local  indie printing press that Jaz visited was Reflex Letterpress, and if you're in Boston you can also rent out the space or take classes there. If you're not in Boston, you can still order custom prints, buy pre-made prints from their Etsy page, or follow them on Instagram at @reflexletterpress. "Cis", in case this hasn't come up in the two years we made this podcast, is NOT an acronym for "comfortable in skin". It means "the two things we're considering are on the same side," or, in gender terms, that the gender you are is the same as the gender you were assigned at birth.  "The Crucible" is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller that dramatized the 1692 Salem witch trials as an allegory for Congressional attempts to ferret out communists and homosexuals — real or imagined — that is usually referred to as "McCarthyism". Also, turns out Eretz Yisrael IS on a fault line, and according to the Geological Survey of Israel, there is a rough average of one earthquake per day. Lulav mentions some things from the 1996 computer game Civilization II: its global warming mechanic, and a famous scenario where the world's resources are wholly devoted to war. Lulav also references the song "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads. Please do what you can to stop Line 3, which is an oil pipeline that violates native treaties, crosses hundreds of bodies of water, and has the potential to be a major pollutant. Tip us on Ko-fi! Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Ezra Faust, and our transcript was written by JJ Jensen, who you can follow on Twitter @pantspossum. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. Support the show

    56 min

  3. 09/17/2021

    99 — Haazinu: Can I Get a Selah?

    This week, we debate the unholy combination that is polyamory, ponder the beauty of limericks, flirt briefly with pornoprophetics, and talk frankly a lot about words related to "gadol." Transcript available here, but this week's transcript is also a little delayed due to the holiday, and the full thing will be up and correct shortly. You can check out the band Really From at their bandcamp! You can also check out the work of Fat Torah at their website, where Jaz's classmate Emily Rogal has done cool work! The bit from Talmud we referenced about how angels don't understand Aramaic is in Shabbat 12b. If you're curious about the "Microsoft Sam" voice, there's a text-to-speech where you can listen to it here (though Lulav wishes to advise that you open it in an incognito window). Jaz references a TV show that they couldn't remember the name of that we're pretty sure was Joan of Arcadia (2003-05), which is apparently not available for legal streaming anywhere on the internet, because capitalism is not interested in cultural preservation. John Donne's most famous poem about being horny for Hashem can be found here, but if you want it longer, less blasphemous, AND with uncriticized examples of ancient colorism, Shir haShirim is right there. This week's reading is Samuel II 22:1-51. Next week's reading is Ezekiel 38:18–39:16, and that'll be the last episode of season 2, and the formal end of the podcast for the foreseeable future! Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Lulav Arnow, and our transcript was written by JJ Jensen, who you can follow on Twitter @pantspossum. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. Support the show

    45 min

  4. 09/09/2021

    98 — Vayelech: Ice-Skating Tzadikim

    Shana tova! This week, we talk about unsatisfying endings, concise prophets, and how a DM slide can be a radical gift of honesty. Also, the pluses and minuses of smooth roads, insufficiently Jewish translation choices, and what having four different answers to the same question means, Talmudically speaking.  Transcript here. This week's reading is a combination of Hosea 14:2-10, and Micah 7:18-20 and Joel 2:15-27. Next week's reading is Samuel II 22:1-51.  Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Ezra Faust, and our transcript was written by JJ Jensen, who you can follow on Twitter @pantspossum. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. Support the show

    44 min

  5. 09/02/2021

    97 — Nitzavim: Am Bartholomew Chai

    This week, we are strongly in favor of having help (both from people and canes), have mixed feelings about Jericho walks, and dislike when trans people are rude about the ways other people are trans. Plus, being flirty but judgemental with G-d!    Transcript available here. Here's the Cowbody Rap that Lulav referenced. For our listener Consolations, you can listen to "Back in the Ring" by Chris Pureka and the poem "Hope Is Not A Bird, Emily, It's A Sewer Rat" by Caitlin Seida, which is available via photo here, and for purchase in her book ebook My Broken Voice: Poetry from the Edge and Back. Also, here's "what resembles the grave but isn’t" by Anne Boyer.  Ian Perry's poetry isn't published anywhere that we know of, but we're grateful it was shared with us! Also, thank you to @froggybulbes on Twitter for sharing your personal life Consolation. This week's reading is Isaiah 61:10–63:9. Next week's reading is a combination of Hosea 14:2-10, and Micah 7:18-20 and Joel 2:15-27. Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Lulav Arnow, and our transcript was written by JJ Jensen, who you can follow on Twitter @pantspossum. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. Support the show

    54 min

  6. 08/26/2021

    96 — Ki Tavo: The Top Surgery of Kings

    This week, we return to the text from our very first pilot episode, and take a fresh look at it two years later! We talk about taking some distance in different types of relationships to be able to return to them better, the importance of mourning, and excellent gay novels. Plus, no kings! They're all too busy working in service jobs to rule.  Transcript available here. You can find out more info about the most recent Philly Trans Wellness Conference. There's also an overview Wikipedia article about the great chain of being. We definitely recommend reading the new book Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar. This week's reading is Isaiah 60:1-22. Next week's reading is Isaiah 61:10–63:9. Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Ezra Faust, and our transcript was written by JJ Jensen, who you can follow on Twitter @pantspossum. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. Support the show

    43 min

  7. 08/19/2021

    95 — Ki Teitzei: Queer Futurities

    This week, we discuss metaphorical big-tent design, and the joys and perils (mostly joys) of not getting back together with your exes. Also, a reminder not to argue with randos on the internet and skepticism about people who talk in vague, idealitistic terms about "queer elders." Plus, journaling as a reality check on our fallible memories and impression of self and the value of just keeping things to yourself for a change. Transcript available here. You can listen to "Fire Back About Your New Baby's Sex" by Don Caballero, and it's entirely instrumental, so we choose to believe it means something in line with what we would mean, about refusing to gender babies. Also, we've now finished reading Persuasion by Jane Austen, and enjoyed it! Not our favorite Austen, but probably not least favorite either, though it does feel weird to now be the type of person who has favorite and least favorite Austen books. You can check out the forthcoming podcast doing a queer retelling of Pride and Prejudice, by Caroline Mincks and Cassie Josephs, on its Twitter account @QueerPridePod. I do recommend A Mosaic of Israel's Traditions by Esther Shkalim for learning about different Jewish holiday traditions from around the world, though note to more radical listeners that it does frame the whole thing around modern Israel as a melting pot. The podcast Gender Reveal, which asks guests about their dreams for the future of gender, is also pretty cool. Jaz's current journal is from the Walnut Wellness Fund, helping provide access to therapy for low-income LGBTQ people, particularly people of color.  This week's reading is Isaiah 54:1-10. Next week's reading is Isaiah 60:1-22. Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Lulav Arnow, and our transcript was written by JJ Jensen, who you can follow on Twitter @pantspossum. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. Support the show

    54 min

  8. 08/12/2021

    94 — Shoftim: Go Touch Grass

    This week, we ponder things that can be both liberatory or oppressive depending on the circumstances, discuss interesting translation choices, and compare divine retribution to "buy one, get one free" sales. Plus, thoughts about debt. Transcript here. The part of Job that Jaz was referencing starts at chapter 38:4. Lulav references the "RIP but I'm different" meme. We asked if anyone knows things about modern Jewish Greek translations of the Tanakh and how those compare to Christian translations of the Tanakh into Ancient Greek, so hit us up if you know anything about that. Jaz references the work of scholar Daniel Boyarin, and in particular his book A Traveling Homeland: the Babylonian Talmud as Diaspora. For her Consolation, Lulav brought Family Tree Clinic in Minneapolis.  This week's reading is Isaiah 51:12–52:12. Next week's reading is Isaiah 54:1-10, which we have done before, but we're doing again from a new angle.  Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi! Our music is by the band Brivele. This week, our audio was edited by Ezra Faust, and our transcript was written by JJ Jensen, who you can follow on Twitter @pantspossum. Our logo is by Lior Gross, and we are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Orthodox Union. Support the show

    53 min
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About

Kosher Queers is a podcast with at least two Jews and generally more than three opinions! Each week Jaz and Lulav bring you queer takes on Torah.

Information

  • Creator
    Jaz Twersky and Lulav Arnow
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2021
  • Episodes
    105
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2023 Kosher Queers
  • Show Website
    Kosher Queers