Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

@velveteenrabbi.bsky.social

674 followers 278 following 854 posts

Rabbi, writer, mom; author of 70 faces, Texts to the Holy, Crossing the Sea & more; blogging as Velveteen Rabbi since 2003. Co-founder yourbayit.org. She/her.

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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"Chronically dysregulated" is the phrase I've been looking for, and oh, man, y'all, when I manage to take a Shabbat break from all of this it is almost physically painful to return. Hm. Maybe I should pay attention to that.

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Joseph Finn's avatar Joseph Finn @josephfinn.bsky.social
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*bursts through the front door*. Everyone shut up new Lady Astronaut novel in March!

1 replies 4 reposts 24 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Bayit: Building Jewish's avatar Bayit: Building Jewish @bayit.bsky.social
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Amazing news -- we met our Kickstarter goal! YAY! Now announcing new backer possibilities, including a bulk order of 20 copies of the book, available only during the Kickstarter (e.g. between now and July 22). Click through to learn more:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/bay...

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Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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"Hello panic attacks my old friend, you've come to incapacitate me again..." Seriously y'all, this is just. I can't.

3 replies 0 reposts 16 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

's avatar @pacquah.bsky.social
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Putting aside the antisemitism for a moment, in what world to you go to a stranger of some ethnicity and ask, "Can I mock a person of your ethnicity using this trope?" What's wrong with you? (I know what's wrong with you)

1 replies 13 reposts 44 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Bayit: Building Jewish's avatar Bayit: Building Jewish @bayit.bsky.social
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The annual Bayit board retreat is a time for brainstorming, visioning, looking back and looking forward, adjusting course. Conversations weave and flow. We riff off of each other, ideas sparking. It's like making jazz, and it reminds me why I love what I do. velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2024/07...

0 replies 1 reposts 1 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

CK DexterHaven's avatar CK DexterHaven @ckshowalter.bsky.social
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The next few days aren’t days to start arguments over the election. Remember that folks are upset, and processing a lot of fear and grief. Election is 5 months out. A lot can change. Don’t burn yourself out now. Rest, recharge. And remember mute tags are your friend.

2 replies 7 reposts 31 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Iron Spike's avatar Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social
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Evergreen advice. It’s over when you give up and not a moment before. The Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott, too.

16 replies 209 reposts 518 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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It's the time of year for sharing this poem again.

1 replies 1 reposts 2 likes

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John Scalzi's avatar John Scalzi @scalzi.com
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It's 7:40 am and I am already exhausted by social media today, here's a cat photo, some of all y'all might need it

28 replies 71 reposts 1069 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Laine Nooney @ đŸ”„đŸ—‘ïžđŸ”„'s avatar Laine Nooney @ đŸ”„đŸ—‘ïžđŸ”„ @lainenooney.bsky.social
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this is an extremely valid reason to never host your conference in a state that can opt out of life-saving medical procedures for people who are pregnant. All professional societies should take note. 👇

0 replies 88 reposts 180 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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"The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed on Monday in Federal District Court in Baton Rouge, La., are nine families with children in Louisiana public schools. They include two Unitarian Universalist families; a Presbyterian family; a Jewish family; an atheist family; and nonreligious families," per NYT

3 replies 11 reposts 67 likes

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Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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You are amazing. I wish I had done the kind of work you are doing when I was your age. (hell, I wish I could do that kind of work now.) I'm grateful that you exist.

2 replies 0 reposts 31 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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Photo by Craig Clemow. Kid and me at the standout today. Take hope where you can find it, folks; tikkun olam is a marathon, not a sprint.

1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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I feel so asd;flkjas\asdlfkjas;dlf lucky, I cannot even tell you.

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Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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"The biggest way you can help is voting for the candidate you want to see change our impact on the world for the better," he said. Amen, kid.

1 replies 0 reposts 3 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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Proud of my teenager today for speaking at the local Bigger Than Dobbs Standout -- about why the climate crisis matters, and how #Project2025 includes plans to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency, eliminate its Environmental Justice department, and drill for more fossil fuels in the Arctic.

2 replies 0 reposts 12 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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"...Just as we cannot allow American identity to be defined by the Trump camp, we must use our influence to help prevent the further domination of Israeli identity by Netanyahu and his extremist allies...."

0 replies 4 reposts 8 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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Wait, what? Really? Now I have to go check; I didn't see that.

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Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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It absolutely is, and it infuriates me on behalf of students who are Hindu or Buddhist or Muslim or any other religious tradition. And, some Christians like to imagine that it should be fine with Jews because these texts are in our scriptures. (They're wrong; it's not fine at all. Ugh.)

2 replies 0 reposts 28 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg 's avatar Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social
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Fun fact: the Rabbis removed the Ten Commandments out of our core liturgy (Shema &tc) bc the Jewish Christians were SOOPER into it & the Rabbis wanted to be clear that the 10 weren’t superior to the other 603 mitzvot in Torah. So we’re clear that this 👇 is Christian supremacy. & a 1A violation.

45 replies 504 reposts 1572 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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Okay, so first of all, we all owe things to each other -- that's part of living in a society with other human beings. We try to do right by each other. Because it's what's right. This is not rocket science. And secondly, "privileged"? I take it back, I don't owe that guy anything, what a jerk.

1 replies 0 reposts 9 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Scott Edelman's avatar Scott Edelman @scottedelman.bsky.social
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It's Berkeley Breathed's 67th birthday, and so I shall celebrate by once again sharing the only Bloom County strip I ever clipped out of a newspaper's Sunday comics section. It ran on February 26, 1989, and oh, how I wish the goniff being being spoofed here had long since vanished from our memories!

0 replies 19 reposts 52 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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(2/2) Torah says otherwise. Torah says, re-orient, re-align, and try again. That's the work of teshuvah, which is the work of Jewish life...."
My d'varling from Kabbalat Shabbat services -- read the whole thing here: velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2024/06...

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Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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"...No one’s going to police what’s kept us from the mitzvot, from community, from building a more just world. We might feel like our failure to do these things before disqualifies us from doing them now, but (1/)

1 replies 0 reposts 2 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Emily L. Hauser's avatar Emily L. Hauser @emilylhauser.bsky.social
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We left Israel bc we couldn't consign our kids' lives to the machinery of occupation that defines Israeli Jewish life. This is the one place my heart held as a possible home; I took the kids there once to show them hope. Masha Gessen was on All In last night discussing their reporting. It broke me.

1 replies 4 reposts 26 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Bayit: Building Jewish's avatar Bayit: Building Jewish @bayit.bsky.social
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Amazing news: our @kickstarter.com for the Visual Mahzor is halfway funded! And now there's a video that explores more of what this book aims to do -- and shares some art! Click through to learn more and support this awesome project for those awesome days:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bay...

0 replies 2 reposts 1 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Rima I Anabtawi's avatar Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social
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"There is another way” is not just a catchphrase but a reality we try to model in our movement to show the world that an alternative reality is possible. Last weekend 25 Israelis & Palestinians gathered in the desert for our first bi-national seminar since the start of the war.

cfpeace.org

1 replies 14 reposts 57 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Dianna Gunn's avatar Dianna Gunn @diannalgunn.bsky.social
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Things to do before we even *talk* about AC: Ban private jets Invest in public transit everywhere & reduce reliance on cars & therefore on gas Improve recycling infrastructure & force companies to use glass bottles for soft drinks Mind your own fucking business when folks are trying to survive

22 replies 377 reposts 956 likes

Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg 's avatar Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social
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Oh hey the audiobook of my book is only 7 bucks today:

3 replies 39 reposts 75 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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I also kind of want to insist that if they're going to display the 10C, they ought to be in their original language. If they like "originalism" so much, let them learn to read Hebrew.

4 replies 2 reposts 48 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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I am trying to imagine how long a hallway one would need for this purpose...

2 replies 1 reposts 21 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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Also it's not just "their" book, and their interpretation of pretty much everything makes me want to scream.

0 replies 0 reposts 7 likes

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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SO gorgeous. I thought I would read it in bits and pieces, because that's been my pattern with nonfiction lately, but I didn't want to put it down!

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Rabbi Rachel Barenblat's avatar Rabbi Rachel Barenblat @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social
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I just finished Hijab Butch Blues by @lamyaisangry, and it's honestly dazzling. Hijab Butch Blues is a queer coming-of-age memoir interwoven with global immigrant story interwoven with verses from the Qur'an and rich, meditative midrash thereupon...

velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2024/06...

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Reposted by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat