Hanukkah Against Apartheid

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Come celebrate Hanukkah this year building a radical, loving, anti-Zionist Jewish movement for liberation.

Hanukkah means rededication. This Hanukkah Against Apartheid, we rededicate our resolve to be bold and win against all that is life-taking and land-grabbing.

It is said, the Temple was cleaned, sanctified, and rededicated after the Maacabees won the fight. Here, in diaspora, we can recognize the “Temple” as what we are building together: Judaism beyond Zionism. The Temple is where we practice our treasured values of justice, freedom, and equality; it is this practice that sanctifies the Temple.

Scroll down for JVP and friends’ virtual Hanukkah offerings. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

No Tech for Apartheid: Digital Day of Action
Monday, November 29th
All day

The second night of Hanukkah falls on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People…and Cyber Monday, one of the biggest online shopping days of the year for Amazon and Google.

In October, JVP and MPower Change, along with 50 organizations, launched a campaign to support the 1,000+ Google and Amazon workers calling for these tech companies to cut their $1.2 billion cloud contract with the Israeli military and government. By signing this so-called “Project Nimbus” contract, Google and Amazon are powering Israeli apartheid and enabling the Israeli military and government’s oppression of the Palestinian people.

On Monday, November 29, look in your email inbox and to JVP’s and our partners’ social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) for a digital action that we can take together to get Amazon and Google execs’ attention on one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, and bring attention to the impact that these companies’ technology will have on Palestinians.

Rewriting Hanooka
Tuesday, November 30th
5pm PT / 8pm ET

On this third night of Hanukkah, join Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb for an interactive conversation that envisions Hanooka beyond Zionism and gendered violence.

Unpack Zionist and Rabbinic uses of the Festival of Lights. Narratives matter. Narratives determine how communities self define: are we porous or exclusionary? Do we invest in stories that glorify militarism or nonviolence as a force more powerful?

Lynn Gottlieb is a visionary rabbi, human rights advocate, storyteller, educator and visual artist. Next year will be her rabbinic jubilee year! She is on the Rabbinical Council of JVP, board chair of Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, organizing team member of Grassroots Reparations Campaign, and founder and director of BackYard Mishkan. She is very funny. Find out Rabbi Lynn’s radical spin on Hanooka (her spelling!)

Live captioning will be available. 

JVP Action Training: How to Talk to Your Neighbors about Palestine
Wednesday, December 1st
5pm PT / 8pm ET

JVP Action, the political and advocacy arm of JVP, is hosting a fall training series to strengthen specific organizing skills and tactics to keep building people power into 2022! It is perfect for folks who are brand new to organizing as well as for those who have been doing this work for years.

Our December 1st training will focus on everything there is to know about talking to your neighbors and community.

Grab a hot cup of cider and something fried, light your hanukkiah, and join us to learn how to talk about Palestine with your friends, neighbors, and family. 

Rosh Chodesh Tevet + Anti-Apartheid Oneg
Thursday, December 2nd
5:30pm PT / 8:30pm ET

On this 5th night of Hanukkah our gathering coincides with Rosh Chodesh, the celebration of the new moon that begins the new month of the Jewish calendar. This month, Rosh Chodesh Tevet will be led by Kohenet Priestess Ketzirah Lesser. Join Kohenet Ketzirah to celebrate Rosh Chodesh Tevet in a ritual where we take a moment to acknowledge all that we are grateful for in the month that is ending, ask for strength in the month that is beginning, and receive guidance for what can support us in the work we are doing towards collective liberation.

Then, stay for a special Oneg led by JVP Havurah Network leader, Beth Bruch, with some creative prompts and time to connect in community. Live captioning will be available.

Ketzirah Lesser is working to transform the world as a strategist and leader as well as a maker and teacher of the sacred arts.

Beth Bruch is an educator, artist, poet and active leader of the JVP Triangle Chapter Ritual Team as well as the JVP Havurah Network.

JVP Havurah Network hosts monthly Rosh Chodesh gatherings on the Thursday closest to the new moon; participants are invited to stay on for an informal and welcoming Oneg (celebration). Join the JVP Havurah Network to be part of the growing Judaism Beyond Zionism community and find spiritual support for your whole Jewish self, including your anti-apartheid activism. 

JVP Presents: Artists Against Apartheid
Saturday, December 4th
4pm PT / 7pm ET

On this seventh night of Hanukkah, 6 artists come together bringing their talents — spoken word, song, music, and theatrical performances — to rally against apartheid and in support of Palestinian Liberation. With Sara Abou Rasheed, Erik Andrade, Zahra Belyea, Sariyah Idan, Anu Yadav, and Rosza Daniel Lang/Levitsky.

Watch @jvphavurah Instagram for daily bios of these artists.

Live captioning will be available. 

A Virtual Brunch in Solidarity with Silwan
Sunday, December 5th
10pm PT / 1pm ET

Last summer, Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists worldwide rose up to defend Silwan and other villages in East Jerusalem from Israeli bulldozers. Silwan is out of the headlines, but the battle rages on!

Jawad Siyam, founder of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center and Madaa Creative Center for Children, has been at the center of Silwani resistance. We’re honored to be able to share his perspective and news about the current situation.

Jody Sokolower, co-coordinator of the Teach Palestine Project at the Middle East Children’s Alliance, is the author of Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight for Their Village. Determined to Stay is filled with the voices of Silwani youth and their families that illuminate the connections between Israel’s role in Palestine and racism faced by youth in the United States. Jody will share some of those stories and discuss ways her book can be a tool for building understanding and solidarity.

Come join us to learn more about Silwan and how you can stand in solidarity!

Hosted by JVP Bay Area 

Beidth al Tbeet: Deconstructing the Political History of an Iraqi-Jewish Meal
Sunday, December 5th
4pm PT / 7pm ET

On this last night of Hanukkah, siblings Sam and Annabel Rabiyah, will uplift stories of cultural displacement, untold political memory, and anti-Zionist resistance through a Iraqi-Jewish lens. The workshop will lead participants through an interactive cooking demonstration for Beidth al Tbeet (“eggs overnight”), a dish traditionally served in Iraq for Shabbat brunch. Woven into the cooking demonstration will be a conversation of the political and cultural history of the dish, and what it means for this Iraqi meal to have been co-opted and rebranded as Israeli fast food. Participants are invited to cook alongside the presenters; you will receive a list of ingredients after registering. There will be time for Q&A and open discussion at the end.

JVP & JVP Havurah Network are proud to co-sponsor this event by Awafi Kitchen and RAWI (Radius of Arab American Writers) 

Will You Light My Candle?
A fiery and flirty Chanukah party benefiting Palestinian organizing by the Adalah Justice Project, organized by JVP-NYC
Monday, December 6th
5pm PT / 8pm ET

Join us for a fiery and flirty Chanukah Party organized by JVP-NYC to benefit the powerful Palestinian organizing of the Adalah Justice Project! Invite your friends near and far for a night of comedy, burlesque, political inspiration and surprise guests in a thriving antizionist Jewish community. Trust us, you don’t want to miss this!

 

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