Judaism Unbound Episode 552: Asherah - Shaul Magid, Lila Rimalovski
ASHERAH is a new journal of Jewish liturgy — past, present, and future. Its name comes from an ancient goddess, related to a tree of the same name, and its first issue kicks off with a provocative quotation from Abraham Joshua Heschel: "Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive." Shaul Magid, Asherah's founder, and Lila Rimalovski, one of its co-editors, join Lex Rofeberg and Miriam Terlinchamp for a conversation about weaving tradition and subversion seamlessly together, in artistic and linguistic forms.
In the episode, Lila Rimalovski mentions Yizkor books in connection with how shtetl communities recorded and remembered their lives. The correct term for the record books that communities kept is pinkas (pl. pinkasim). Yizkor books are post-Holocaust memorial volumes, compiled by survivors and hometown societies after communities were destroyed. Thank you to Jules Weitz for recognizing this mistake.
[1] To read the full 1st issue of ASHERAH, click here! Explore Asherah’s website at Asherah-Journal.com and check out its substack here.
[2] Pieces of the journal that are referenced in this episode include:
Magid’s preface (pages i-iii)
Miriam Pellegrino’s artist statement (pages iv-v)
Rimalovski’s intro, co-written with Daisy Jacobs (ASHERAH’s other co-editor — pages vi-ix)
Rimalovski’s interview of Jericho Vincent (pages 2-15)
Alex Baskin’s a shema for all as kin (pages 91-93)
[3] Learn more about Asherah (the goddess this time, not the journal) as featured in the Zohar, by reading Jill Hammer’s “An Altar of Earth: Reflections on Jews, Goddesses, and the Zohar.”
[5] Rimalovski references t’khines — liturgical creations often created in Yiddish, by women and queer people. For some examples of t’khinos featured in Open Siddur, click here.
[6] Lex references an early episode of Judaism Unbound, in which Amichai Lau-Lavie argues in favor of supporting the construction of the golden calf. Listen in here - Episode 29: Lab/Shul - Amichai Lau-Lavie.
[7] For the Talmudic passage about Akiva finding deep meaning in the “type face” (the crowns/serifs) of the letters in a Torah scroll, see this link.
[8] Explore the two books about Ashera that Magid referenced — Asherah and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel, by Saul Olyan, and In the Wake of the Goddesses, by Tikva Frymer-Kensky.