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How Yiddish taught me to embrace the joy and defiance of being queer
(JTA) — Queer elders can be hard to find. There’s no app I could mindlessly swipe to find a queer mentor. So, for wisdom and guidance on how to live as a queer human, I’ve had to look elsewhere.
I was nicknamed “Bubbe” (the Yiddish word for grandmother) in high school, due to my early bedtime and exceptional affection for sweaters, puzzles and tea. But in college, when I came out as nonbinary, Bubbe no longer seemed to fit: My gender sits somewhere on the spectrum between “bright floral button-downs” and “Bernie Sanders.” Friends soon coined me “theydy,” a gender-neutral play on zeide, the Yiddish word for grandfather.
While my affection for puzzles and sensible footwear are certainly theydy–esque, they are not truly the reason that I am fond of this nickname. I love being called a theydy because Yiddish culture has taught me the value of being a little strange, a little out of place and more than a little queer.
Yiddish, the 1,000-year-old language of Central and Eastern European Jews, never quite fit into a culture of American assimilation. At the turn of the 20th century, in a country where most people spoke English, Yiddish was the language to be forgotten (or at least used only when you didn’t want your Americanized kids to know what you were saying). And in the middle of the 20th century, in Israel, where most people spoke Modern Hebrew, Yiddish was never quite considered “good enough,” “academic enough” or even “Jewish enough.”
But before the Holocaust decimated the Jews of Eastern Europe, Yiddish established itself as the language of poets, artists and writers. Queer and gender-bending sensations like Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short story and play “Yentl the Yeshiva Boy” and Sholem Asch’s play “God of Vengeance” were written in Yiddish, and S. An-ski’s drama “The Dybbuk,“ in which a son’s spirit possesses the body of the woman he loves, was popularized in Yiddish.
Yiddish was also the language and culture of bold and fiery activists — people like Rose Schneiderman and Clara Lemlich — who were powerhouses of the early American labor movement.
As queerness is increasingly persecuted in the United States, Yiddish culture has been my refuge: a culture with no country that is well-suited for people being rejected by theirs. Just as queer people build communities out of necessity, grounded in a deep sense of love and care, I have found Yiddish culture to be heimish and warm, welcoming those with and without an ancestral connection to the language.
Today, inspired by the Yiddishists of the past and the present, many queer people of my generation have taken on Yiddish learning and leaned into Yiddish culture. From the Queer Yiddishkayt Facebook group, to the queer klezmer band Isle of Klezbos, to the virtual Queer Yiddish Camp, many queer people are drawn to Yiddish language and culture. Perhaps this is because queer people often especially understand the importance of being counter-cultural. Native Yiddish speakers are few and far between outside of the haredi Orthodox communities of Jerusalem and Brooklyn, and so for queer Yiddishists, the benefits of learning the language are rarely material. Rather, they are political, spiritual, sentimental and communal. In a society that tells us that our value comes from our productivity, learning Yiddish is itself an act of resistance.
My queer Yiddish is deeply intertwined with the fight for a better and more beautiful world for all, “a shenere un besere velt far ale.” I’m the social justice organizer at The Workers Circle, a Jewish social justice organization where we embrace our Yiddish tradition through vibrant cultural expression, Yiddish language learning and bold activism. I’ve been arrested with the Workers Circle three times for nonviolent civil disobedience, fighting for federal voting rights and democracy reform legislation. Each time, as I felt nerves coming on, and my hands began to sweat, I could hear my queer elder — Yiddish culture — whisper in my ear. I was reminded that I am not the first person to take a stand for what I believe in. I come from a long legacy of people trying to do the same.
Through its defiant perseverance throughout history, Yiddish culture has shown me what resilience really looks like. And through its humor, food and music, I have learned from Yiddish culture how to lean into the joy of being. Yiddish culture is my queer elder. I am proud to be a theydy.
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The post How Yiddish taught me to embrace the joy and defiance of being queer appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Five Students Arrested After Unruly Anti-Israel Protest at Berlin University
Graffiti on the walls of Humboldt University in Berlin, where students defaced property with antisemitic slogans during an anti-Israel protest. Photo: Screenshot
German police arrested five students who participated in an anti-Israel protest at Humboldt University in Berlin, where they chanted antisemitic slogans and vandalized school property.
The unruly demonstration came as authorities in Germany continued to work to address the growing surge in antisemitism and pro-Hamas activism across the country.
On Wednesday, a group of students took over several buildings at Humboldt University, a public research university in central Berlin, and staged a demonstration against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. They also called on the state government to halt the deportation of four Hamas sympathizers who participated in raucous anti-Israel protests and, according to German authorities, “pose a threat to public order.”
In the buildings, the students put up banners bearing slogans such as “You are complicit in genocide,” “There is only one state, Palestine 48,” and “Intifada until victory.”
They also defaced university property with banned slogans, including “Zionism is fascism” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which the German government prohibited last year for promoting the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel.
Students held a pro-Palestinian protest at Berlin’s Humboldt University
Police forcibly detained at least 5 demonstrators as security forces moved in to disperse the crowd
pic.twitter.com/wQm8Kjz1FW
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) April 16, 2025
There were also around 40 to 60 people outside the buildings staging a demonstration and chanting slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine,” “Boycott Israel,” “No borders, no deportations,” “Germany is a fascist country,” and “Resistance is an international right.”
After the university administration requested the removal of the protesters, local police intervened and arrested at least five people.
The European Jewish Congress, the representative umbrella organization of European Jewry, condemned the incident, stating that “hate must never be normalized.”
“Such hateful and inflammatory rhetoric fosters an atmosphere where Jewish students feel unsafe, unwelcome, and targeted,” the group wrote in a post on X. “These aren’t just words on a wall, they contribute to a climate of fear and exclusion.”
“Hate must never be normalized. Not in our societies, and not in our universities.”
We are appalled by the antisemitic vandalism at @HumboldtUni, where slogans like “From the river to the sea” and “Zionismus ist Faschismus” were scrawled across university property.
Such hateful and inflammatory rhetoric fosters an atmosphere where Jewish students feel unsafe,… pic.twitter.com/M9s0Y8aaq3
— European Jewish Congress (@eurojewcong) April 17, 2025
Earlier this month, German authorities issued deportation orders for three EU citizens and one US citizen living in Berlin over their participation in several anti-Israel protests.
The four deportees, identified as Hamas sympathizers, have until April 21 to leave the country or risk being forcibly removed.
The German State Office for Immigration issued “residence termination notices” against the four individuals – two Irish citizens, a Polish citizen, and an American citizen – for their participation in pro-Hamas demonstrations, including a sit-in at Berlin’s central train station, a road blockade, and the occupation of a building at the Free University of Berlin (FU).
According to the deportation notice, they “pose a threat to public order” and “indirectly supported” terrorist groups like Hamas.
A spokesperson for the German Senate Department for the Interior announced that an appeal against the decision has been filed with the Supreme Court.
While legal representatives and experts have expressed concerns that the deportation orders violate civil liberties for EU citizens in Germany, as neither individual has been convicted of a criminal offense, German law does not require a conviction for deportation.
Germany has experienced a sharp spike in antisemitism amid the war in Gaza. In just the first six months of 2024 alone, the number of antisemitic incidents in Berlin surpassed the total recorded for the entire previous year, according to Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS).
The figures compiled by RIAS were the highest count for a single year since the federally funded body began monitoring antisemitic incidents in 2015, showing the German capital averaged nearly eight anti-Jewish outrages a day from January to June last year.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), police registered 5,154 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2023, a 95 percent increase compared to the previous year.
The post Five Students Arrested After Unruly Anti-Israel Protest at Berlin University first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Speeding Brooklyn Woman Indicted on Manslaughter for Car Crash That Killed Jewish Mother, Two Daughters
An overturned auto in a car crash flipped on its roof landing on a mother and her three children, killing two children on March 29, 2025, in Brooklyn, New York. The family was crossing the street when the crash happened. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect.
A Brooklyn woman was indicted on reckless manslaughter and other charges on Wednesday for a car crash late last month that killed a Jewish mother and her two children who were crossing the street on Shabbat.
Miriam Yarimi, 32, was arraigned on Wednesday by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment that charged her with multiple counts of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault, and other related counts. The resident of Midwood, Brooklyn, was ordered held without bail and her next court date is set for June 11. She is facing a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison if convicted for the fatal car accident that took place around 1 pm on March 29.
Yarimi pleaded not guilty during her first in-person court appearance on Wednesday. Earlier this month, she appeared in court virtually from her room in NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where she was undergoing a psychological evaluation.
“This horrific fatal crash was one of the worst I’ve seen in over 25 years as a prosecutor,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “It wasn’t an accident. This defendant’s unconscionably dangerous driving wiped out a family. The consequences of her flouting traffic laws and commonsense were disastrous, and we will now seek to hold her fully accountable for this criminally reckless behavior.”
Gonzalez said video surveillance shows Yarimi drove her car through a steady red light a block before the crash, “narrowly avoiding other cars,” before she approached the site of the car accident at the intersection of Ocean Parkway and Quentin Road. Yarimi was also going almost triple the speed limit before she crashed her car into an Uber that was waiting for four Jewish pedestrians to finish crossing the street. When the Jewish family was just “a step or two from the sidewalk,” Yarimi’s car sped through the intersection against the light, smashed into the back of the Uber and plowed through the victims as her car rolled over, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said. According to evidence obtained from the black box, Yarimi’s car was traveling at about 68 mph – in a 25-mph speed zone – “was at full throttle (suggesting the gas pedal was floored) and zero brake was applied.”
Natasha Saada, 34, and her daughters – eight-year-old Diana and five-year-old Deborah – were killed at the scene. Her four-year-old son Philip suffered serious injuries, including skull fractures and brain bleeding, and also had a kidney removed. He is in a medically induced coma and “is still fighting for his life,” Gonzalez told reporters outside of the courtroom on Wednesday after Yarimi’s indictment was announced. The Uber had five occupants – the Uber driver, a mother, and her three kids – all of whom sustained minor injuries. Yarimi’s car was upside down and had to be cut to get her out. The single mother, who is also Jewish, suffered minor physical injuries.
At the time of the crash, Yarimi was driving with a suspended license. Her car also reportedly had 99 parking and camera violations between August 2023 and March 2025, including 21 speed camera tickets and five red light tickets.
The post Speeding Brooklyn Woman Indicted on Manslaughter for Car Crash That Killed Jewish Mother, Two Daughters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Mural Honoring Holocaust Survivors in Milan Gets Vandalized Again With Swastikas, ‘Nazi’ Messages
A mural by AleXsandro Palombo that was vandalized in Milan. Photo: AleXsandro Palombo
Another mural in Milan celebrating Holocaust survivors by Italian contemporary pop artist AleXsandro Palombo has been targeted in an antisemitic attack, this time being vandalized with a swastika and Nazi-related messages.
The mural features real-life Holocaust survivors Liliana Segre, Sami Modiano, and Edith Bruck as characters from “The Simpsons.” Above their heads, vandals spray painted in black the message “Israeliani Nazis,” which is Italian for “Israeli Nazis.” Vandals also defaced the mural by spray painting a Star of David and equating it with a Nazi swastika. The mural additionally depicts Pope Francis holding a sign that says, “Antisemitism is everywhere.” His face was spray painted over and the words on his sign were defaced as well.
The vandalism took place shortly after a national pro-Palestinian demonstration in Milan.
“In Milan, people protest the war in Gaza with vandalism throughout the city, shouting every possible antisemitic insult and even defacing a pop artwork that honors three of the last great Holocaust witnesses and symbols of peace,” commented Palombo after the latest vandalism of his artwork. Several of his murals depicting Holocaust survivors have been repeatedly vandalized in antisemitic attacks, some even completely painted over.
The latest vandalism took place days after the April 7 inauguration of another of Palombo’s murals, “The Star of David,” which features Bruck. The original mural was vandalized in January in another act of antisemitism but was recently restored and has now been acquired for the permanent collection of the Shoah Museum in Rome. It is displayed alongside “Anti-Semitism, History Repeating” — another mural by Palombo featuring Segre and Modiano, that was also vandalized last year and acquired by the museum in January. Both artworks are now exhibited in Rome’s Jewish Ghetto, in front of a synagogue and the archaeological site of the ancient Portico of Octavia, built under Emperor Augustus.
The European Jewish Congress (EJC), Ambassador of Israel to Italy Jonathan Peled, European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno, and other Italian leaders have condemned the latest vandalism of Palombo’s mural in Mulan.
“We are appalled by the antisemitic vandalism in Milan,” the EJC said in a post on X. “This mural paid tribute to Liliana Segre, Sami Modiano, and Edith Bruck, three survivors who have dedicated their lives to Holocaust remembrance and education. We stand with them. We will not stay silent.”
“Those who deface art think they are offending us. Instead, they only strengthen our resolve and unity around the project of memory,” said Noemi Di Segni, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI). “This is a commitment we undertake as citizens for the future of our country.”
Picierno expressed solidarity with the Italian Jewish community after the lastest antisemitic vandalism of Palombo’s artwork. “Sadly, we are witnessing ongoing acts of intolerance and the trivialization of the Shoah,” he noted. “It is our duty to continue fighting antisemitism and all forms of hatred in society.”
“Antisemitism is spreading in Milan,” stated Minister for Regional Affairs of Italy Roberto Calderoli. “Just four months ago, I was appalled by the repeated defacement and removal of a mural dedicated to Segre and Modiano. Today I am further horrified by this latest act of defacement with the words ‘Israeli Nazis’ — targeting yet another mural by aleXsandro Palombo. This antisemitic trend in Milan is increasingly alarming and troubling. I’m also appalled by the consistent and complicit silence from the city’s leadership. I stand in full solidarity with Senator Liliana Segre, Edith Bruck, Sami Modiano, the Jewish community under attack for months, and the State of Israel.”
Senate Vice President Anna Rossomando called the vandalism “yet another deplorable act of antisemitism.” He added, “The escalation is concerning, and targeting Holocaust survivors makes the act even more vile.”
Over the span of 30 years, Palombo has created numerous artworks that condemn antisemitism and Hamas and honor Holocaust survivors – all of which have been vandalized in antisemitic attacks. They include the artworks “Simpsons Go to Auschwitz” at Milan’s Holocaust Memorial; “Anne Frank crying,” which depicts the teenage Holocaust victim and diarist wearing a concentration camp uniform and holding the Israeli flag; a mural of a Palestinian girl burning the Hamas flag; and the “Warsaw Ghetto boy,” which is a recreation of a hostage of Hamas terrorists. Palombo also created a mural featuring Vlada Patapov, nicknamed the “girl in red,” who survived the Nova music festival attack on Oct. 7, 2023. It was displayed at the University of Milan but was also defaced when Patapov’s head in the image was decapitated.
The post Mural Honoring Holocaust Survivors in Milan Gets Vandalized Again With Swastikas, ‘Nazi’ Messages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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