Observing Sigd is about more than just adding another Jewish holiday to the list—it’s about fully including Beta Israel in the wildly wonderful tapestry of Jewish diasporic traditions.

I had never really thought before about the difference between “more” or “less” Jewish, simply that we were all Jewish and that we all celebrated, just maybe not in the same ways. 

In a way, being Jewish in a sea of strangers is a little like giving a star-struck tourist directions in Times Square.

I didn’t lose my faith while reading Lucretius. But I did lose my willingness to let faith finish my sentences for me.

From group chats to family simchas to inherited objects, my Jewish identity is both remembered and honored every single day. 

I have never felt more Jewish than when I’ve been in a communal performance space.

I choose to define Jewish identity not through a litmus test of allegiance to a set of positions, or conformity to a way of observance, but instead through shared identification with a peoplehood and culture. 

Cohen’s contribution to jazz as an Israeli inspires me as a Jewish musician. She shows the world how to love and perfect the art of jazz, while making it her own.

Yiddishism is marked by its foremothers, like Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman and Adrienne Cooper, and the women who keep it alive today.

“Girl” becomes “grrrl,” the growl at the center of this word symbolic of the righteous anger we feel as girls facing injustice.

It’s our responsibility as Jews, and as women, to be activists. The chain of activism that stretches back to my great-grandmother will continue with my children. 

In a society where women are forced to choose either/or, Vera Rubin looked the status quo in the eye and said, "And."

Gloria Steinem’s legacy teaches me that activism is both personal and collective, it's spiritual and political. 

The Torah tells us to be accepting of foreigners 36 times, more than any other commandment. So when we see people in our city who are being wrongfully targeted, we help.

When Lang dances The Song of Deborah, she restores the uncertainty that the Book of Judges omits. 

Bella Abzug contributed to the causes that she was passionate about, not afraid to connect her passions and “womanly emotions” to the impacts she made.

I realize now that my first steps in participating in tikkun olam were those hours spent watching Sesame Street, those conversations with my mother in the car, and now the countless articles I’ve read since.

If the Statue of Liberty is an overpowering symbol, Lazarus’s poem highlights that difference itself is essential to the American vision.

Sometimes, what keeps things holy is that they are above the turmoil of moral squabbles and temporary elections.

Even with its historical shortcomings and its co-option by the mainstream media, the true success of Riot Grrrl was never in creating a perfect, finished movement.

When marginalized stories are erased and accountability is tossed aside, society loses the history and perspectives we need to prevent injustice from resurfacing.

If more people looked at Ginsburg’s work not just as a Supreme Court Justice, but as a Jew, woman, mother, and advocate, who most likely dealt with the same things they have, they might also ask themselves how their choices make a difference in someone else's life.

Lilith was only the first step, a single note into the void. But the thing about silence is this: once it is broken, we know it is there. 

Though some may view Goldman as a pessimist for holding the idea that systems had to be completely torn down for equality to finally become reality, I’d call her an optimist for it.

Knowing that I am related to the Kaplans, a family that completely changed the way we now practice the Jewish religion, makes me feel both proud and grateful.