There have been so many amazing things happening on the Jewish interwebs these days that I’ve wanted to share, but they just keep piling up and I’ve been having trouble keeping track of them all and making sure to help them with their exposure.
So, here’s a blog post instead. A collection of the awesome things going on. An amazing new piece of music by a baal teshuva newcomer, a new online Jewish literary journal, and more. Enjoy.
1. A Spiritual Literary Journal
Altar Journal (started by the incredible writer Chavie Lieber, Raffi Leicht, and Michael Weber) showcases, as they describe it, “the triumphs and struggles of a holistically spiritual life. Through our prose, we aim to distill our suppressed realities.”
I love this journal for two reasons:
1. It asks its writers to dig deep. This isn’t your usual literary fluff, focused more on style than on substance. This is real. This is deep. This is personal.
2. The writers are incredible. From Tova Ross to Shmuel Braun (yes, Mayanot folk, that Shmuel Braun) this is not an amateur endeavor. I’m beyond impressed with the writers Chavie and her partners have been able to bring together.
The design, as well, is great. I love how original this entire project is, and I wish them the best of luck as they go forward.
2. A Future Jewish Musical Superstar: DËMA
DËMA, aka David Zinger, emailed me his new song, Siamese, and I was immediately struck by this incredibly well-produced and beautiful song. And, best of all, the lyrics are filled with real spiritual depth. He says he’s coming out with an EP within a month or two. I’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, listen to Siamese please:
3. A “Bazaar” Of And For Creative Jewish Women
It’s hard for me to count the ways that Yocheved Sidof (a fellow Crown Heightser I profiled in an earlier post) blows my mind, but In The Glow, a bazaar and concert for the creative Jewish women of Brooklyn to share their talents with the world, is a new level of mindblowingness. Although I’ve obviously never gone before, I’ve heard amazing things.
This year’s In The Glow is happening on December 15th. Go to their Facebook page for more info.
4. Three New Jewish Blogs To Pay Attention To
There are two new Jewish blogs that deserve some more attention. One of them is fresh off the presses, but I’ve always been a big fan of the writer so I want to share it with you. It’s called Listen Israel, and it comes from a very earnest and thoughtful person, Ethan Stephen Press, who’s been featured in the Huffington Post before and is now striking out on his own.
The other one is from a fan of Pop Chassid, Berry Schwartz, who I’ve gotten to know a bit since he got in touch with me. His new blog, Healthy Judaism, is slowly growing, and doing a good job of getting people talking. I disagree with 90% of what he says, but I love the goal of what he’s trying to accomplish: get people to connect to a Judaism that is healthy and real. Not just a part of our lives, but a living part of our lives.
The last one is by another fan of Pop Chassid, Bentzy. Bentzy has been in touch with me quite a bit through Twitter, and I’ve always loved interacting with him and hearing his thoughts. That’s why I was really excited to see he’s started writing on Medium. His writing is alive and crackling and very clearly from deep in his heart. I love writing like that, and if I was still accepting guest posts (I’ve stopped accepting submissions temporarily), I would definitely include his latest post, A Moment Of Faith. I hope to see Bentzy write more, he’s great.
5. “My First Kafka” One Of The Best Children’s Books Of 2013
And finally, mazel tov to Matthue Roth who is getting more and more recognition for his incredible children’s book, My First Kafka, which was just named as one of the best children’s books of 2013 by Brain Pickings, one of the best and biggest blogs on the web today. It’s so amazing to see the incredible reach the creative people within the Jewish world are starting to have, and I’m so proud of Matthue for his achievements. I can’t wait to see what comes next for him and all the other creative Jewish people of the world.
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