“It is a mitzvah to remember those who perished during the Nazi Holocaust. Many congregations and Jewish community centers hold memorial services on Yom HaShoah.” 3/
As some of you know, one of my academic areas of concentration is Genocide Studies. Here are some book recommendations I’m sharing specifically with Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, in mind. I recommend them so highly. A thread:
Here’s a thread with some excerpts from books I’ve been reading about our relationship to plants as other beings inhabiting Earth. Starting with this one from Care of the Species: Races of Corn and the Science of Plant Biodiversity by John Hartigan Jr. 1/
Some forms of life Jamaica Kincaid took notice of in her garden as detailed in My Garden. 2/
Notes on permaculture ethics of care from Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds by María Puig de la Bellacasa. 3/
On Wednesday an Orthodox Jewish family, including a 1 year old baby, were slashed by an attacker in downtown Manhattan. This was one of multiple horrific attacks against Jews this year alone. They aren’t random. They’re targeted. 1/
If you’re not aware, it’s almost Yom HaShoah (or Holocaust Remembrance Day) and one example of antisemitism is the lack of outrage over the rise in hate crimes against Jews including physical violence and vandalization/attempted destruction of synagogues. 2/
It is inappropriate and dangerous to shrug these attacks off as, from what I’ve seen on here, harm against random white people. That’s not the case. These are targeted acts of violence against Jewish people, and we are a marginalized and diverse group. 3/
Tiferet of Chesed reflections: I’ve been thinking about how many different ways you can love someone and what it means for your love to manifest in endless ways. We love the people in our lives, and the people in the world we will never meet, in different ways. 1/
I wrote down some different ways I say “I love you” that take into account all the different ways we love people:
I honor your life and want you to feel cherished
I want you to be safe from harm
I pray for your safety and I hope for your happiness
2/
I want to care for you
I would feel honored to be trusted by you
I would feel thankful if you considered me a close friend
I think it’s a good thing that Jews are talking about connections between Black and Jewish history, the ways that collective trauma impacts multicultural groups, and the power of storytelling in oral traditions. This excerpt is related: 1/
The excerpt is from “Holocaust Narratives: Trauma, Memory and Identity Across Generations” and I’ve been reading it with other books about collective trauma, memory, and the experiences of Black and Jewish people in exile, enslavement, and their descendants. 2/
Being Black and Jewish I’m no stranger to all of the complex, painful, complicated feelings that accompany intergenerational trauma, being the target of genocidal regimes, and knowing your existence is something people in power want extinguished. 3/
Some of my favorite excerpts from essays, letters, and sermons written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that don’t get enough love or attention, a thread:
“This dearth of positive leadership from the federal government is not confined to one particular political party. Both political parties have betrayed the cause of justice.”
“Capitalism is always in danger of inspiring men to be more concerned about making a living than making a life. We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to humanity.”