Most Jews I know have increased their Jewish engagement since the attacks on October 10th and the data backs that up

It's Canadian Thanksgiving and on the cusp of opening Rugela up to a closed beta, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to the amazing Jewish community on Babka Social that's helped inspire this site.

Babka Social was my first foray into Jewish social media, a Mastodon server with the goal of being a place where, as one Babkan called it, we could be "Unapologetically Jewish".

But for me, it's been so much more than just means of expression. It's been a home. I launched Babka after experiencing antisemitism on the Fediverse, the network of servers that make up Mastodon, Pixelfed and other online spaces. The Fediverse can be a very welcoming place, as long as you fit in as a very specific kind of person.

If you're outside that group, it can be a very hard, cold, even cruel place, and so after almost a year of working on a plan, I launched Babks Social in November of 2022 in order to give Fediverse Jews a home.

Little did I know that less than a year after I'd launch, that site would become critically important to Jews who found that they needed connection and community.

And through that site, I found myself meeting people I'd never have met otherwise, including and especially Jews of Choice who felt unhappy and uncomfortable in many Jewish spaces, as well as LGBTQ+ Jews who felt similarly alienated.

Babka has given them a place to be Jewish, and given me some important friendships.

Rugela, when it launches soon, will be this and more. I have put years of my life into this site and I know what it came become, and none of it would would be possible without its roots in Babka.

Aaron spent this past summer in Israel on a Birthright sponsored trip, making more fitness content and partnering with a clothing brand. He plans to move there in the next two to three years after graduating. “It’s where I’m meant to be, where Jewish people are meant to be,” he says, noting that Israelis are welcoming and outgoing, but also have no filter, a trait he says he shares. “Israeli culture is saying what’s on your mind, doing whatever the fuck you want to do.” Most importantly, though, he wants to highlight Israeli athleticism, which fewer people are aware of.

He’s part of a small but growing contingent of young people, mostly men, posting fitness content to social media that centers their Judaism, either jokingly or inspirationally.

From the "Did you know that ___ is Jewish" dept...

Her name was Evelyn Berezin, and she was one of the great pioneers of the computer age who spent most of her career as the first — or only — woman in the room.

For decades I'd used Emacs and various knowledge capture systems, Muse, org-mode, and eventually denote. But Silverbullet is where I'm at now.

Shoutout to Silverbullet and to all the second brains everywhere!

In these times many of us are seeking understanding and meaning, even scholars in Jewish History. From the article:

When my family made aliyah last year, I found myself needing to pare down my personal library to the most essential volumes—no small feat for an inveterate reader, beit midrash dweller, and academic. I found myself placing three types of books in the “put on the lift” pile: first, seforim, most (though not quite all) of which made the cut; then, trusty reference books which I use regularly; and finally, my treasured coterie of what I call “books to think with”—those whose ideas profoundly influenced me as a scholar and continue to shape me.

Have you read any of these? What are some books you found that have shaped your understanding of us as a people and you personally?

Thought nonbinary gender was a modern concept? Think again. The ancient Jewish understanding of gender was far more nuanced than many assume.

The Talmud, a huge and authoritative compendium of Jewish legal traditions, contains in fact no less than seven gender designations

What's the point of reading if you can't retain it?

"What I'm saying is we're an opinionated and expressive people" summarizes us beautiful, and with that, our traditions ground us in how to have a disagreement while staying grounded and together while engaging in thoughtful debate and disagreement.

Welcome to Rugela, an online space for Jews.

Rugela is a place to share what matters to you: your stories, your jokes, your news, your celebrations, your woes, your discoveries, and whatever else is on your mind.

What you bring will shape this place and help make it home.

So come in. Share something you love, ask a question, or just say hello.

This is only the beginning, and I’m so grateful you’re here for it.