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Comment on Hurricane Sandy-HELP WANTED! by Erika Davis

Erika Davis — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 13:06:35 +0000

Reblogged this on Cheap Thrills NYC and commented:

If you're able to Volunteer in the NYC and surrounding areas, please do!

Comment on Changing the Face of Judaism/Judaism’s Changing Face by Changing the Face of Judaism/Judaism’s Changing Face « Alef: The NEXT Conversation

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 21:49:32 +0000

[...] This post originally appeared on Erika’s Blog, Black, Gay, and Jewish: A Gay, Black Woman’s Discovery of Her Jewish Self. [...]

Comment on How do you Jew? by mikvahbound

mikvahbound — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:04:20 +0000

I’ve only heard about Food, Inc., but it’s not like it at all! The author is local to the SF Bay Area and came and spoke at my synagogue. She also wrote a really interesting book I’m reading now about Chabad called the Rebbe’s Army.

Kosher Nation basically takes different aspects of the kosher industry and discusses them in different chapters: what is it like to be a kosher supervisor? What is the kosher supervision process like in China and how are the Big 4 courting Chinese companies? What is the history of the heckshers in the US? How do more non-Jewish (“ethnic”) foods like sushi become kosher? What are more modern kosher movements like? Totally non-judgmental and a really interesting read, whether you eat cheeseburgers or only cholov yisrael.

Comment on New Site and Pesach and Last Class of the Trimester by Erika Davis

Erika Davis — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:04:36 +0000

Me too! Sara designed it and then Dez was able to add it to a list of fonts…

Comment on New Site and Pesach and Last Class of the Trimester by Website Designers Chicago

Website Designers Chicago — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:50:16 +0000

Love the site! I’m a fan of your posts! Lots of love!

Comment on New Site and Pesach and Last Class of the Trimester by Dena

Dena — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:24:17 +0000

I like the font.

Comment on How do you Jew? by Erika Davis

Erika Davis — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 03:58:41 +0000

I love when books and websites are recommended!! Although, I’m a little nervous about Kosher Nation…is it like Food Inc.?

Comment on How do you Jew? by mikvahbound

mikvahbound — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:25:06 +0000

You may also be interested in the Conservative Movement’s Magen Tzedek (http://magentzedek.org/) as being more in-line with your idea of Kashrut. I’d also recommend Kosher Nation is you haven’t read it–really opened my eyes up to the kosher industry.

Comment on Happy International Women’s Day! by Erika Davis

Erika Davis — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:33:25 +0000

Did you see my dissertation of a post? It’s okay! I know what you mean…A lot of people would pose the question, why would you want to be a Jew when you’re already black and a woman and gay. For, choosing Judaism wasn’t about adding another other point but finding a faith that spoke to me and made me feel like I could really be part of something amazing.

On the other hand, being a woman can be hard. Being black can be hard. Being gay can be hard but it teaches us how to navigate the world around us. Will it be easier to adjust to the “otherness” that is being a Jew? Probably not but at least I’ve got practice!

Comment on Happy International Women’s Day! by Natalie

Natalie — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:06:42 +0000

There is also a list about male privilege floating around the net.

I once had someone tell me that I was becoming Jewish so I COULD become a minority. That I was a bored white girl tired of listening and acknoledging my white privilege and that I wanted the “privilege” of claiming minority status to feel like I could “own” my participation in the conversation of social privilege more.

It really made me stop and think about my actions and my thoughts and my belief, to ensure that this wasn’t the reason why I wanted official status as a Jew. What a horrible reason to accept any new facet of your identity–absolving me of my white privilege when so much work needs to be done.

It becomes particularly frustrating when my parents don’t understand that as whites, they can be racist and benefit from racist structures in this county but due to the historical conditions here, other races may be prejudiced but not racist. They conflate social class and gender problems with racial problems and it’s a big ole mess.

Sorry for the dissertation of a response.