A Queer Manifesto of Jewish Land-Based Liberation

This theory was shaped across 7 years of communal conversation and practice at Linke Fligl, a queer Jewish cultural organizing project and chicken farm that existed in Millerton, NY from 2016-2022. Below are six cultural organizing and de-assimilation strategies that bring us closer to olam habah/the world to come.

ROOT

By rooting into land-based Judaism wherever we are, we reject the narrative that returning to the land of Israel is our only path to belonging and liberation. We nurture our connection with land in diaspora, in all its complexity, and develop relationships of accountability with the original stewards of the lands we call home.

LEAD

By stepping into leadership as queer, trans and BIJOCSM Jews, we revitalize our tradition and restore leadership to those who have been erased and invisibilized by racism, trans and homophobia over generations.

GROW

By growing food and medicine, we nourish and heal our communities while connecting to the deep wisdom of the land and the more-than-human realm. Working with the soil and cultivating diasporic Jewish plants are central ways we integrate ecological stewardship and food sovereignty into our community.

RECLAIM

By reclaiming, remembering and transmitting our diasporic Jewish cultures, languages and customs, we resist and undo assimilation. When we develop libratory, communities of Jewish practice capable of wrestling with the challenging parts of our traditions, we are able to root deeply in our own culture rather than in appropriation.

GATHER

By gathering on land, we create a sacred opportunity to practice  interdependence. We cook, sing, dance, schlep and pray as ways to honor each other's needs and the needs of the land. Held by the rhythms of Jewish time, we co-create adaptable community structures based in collective care, learning new ways to hold each other across race, class, ability and gender.

REPAIR

By working towards repair for ongoing systemic harms, we choose solidarity and interdependence over hoarding and isolation. We organize around the redistribution of power, land and financial resources to BIPOC communities, embodying that Jewish liberation is bound up with the liberation of all peoples.

Poster of our manifesto

Image Description: dark blue velvety watercolor with white willow draping down and rue growing up with the words below flowing down the page in curvey arcs. ROOT- By rooting into land-based Judaism wherever we are, we reject the narrative that retur

graphic design by Sol Weiss

  • The manifesto above was inspired by this working draft of our theory of change that guided LF decisions and programming for many years.

    RECONNECT
    to land in diaspora by guiding participants to claim their Judaism where they are, connect to the place(s) they call home, and build skills to deepen interdependence with the more-than-human world.

    RECLAIM
    our culture(s) and challenge assimilation by building spiritual community and engaging tradition within a redistribution and solidarity framework. We resource Jewish organizers to root in our own traditions, proudly re/claim our Judaism and reject the narrative that return to Israel is the only path to liberation for the Jewish people. 

    EMPOWER
    queer and trans Jews as community leaders through our retreats, workshops, Cultural Organizing Team and theory of change.

    GROW
    food and medicine to nourish and heal our communities while tending the land, soil and chickens, connecting to the deep wisdom of the earth and letting it guide our work to end oppression. 

    BUILD
    community through gender diverse, multiracial, cross-class gatherings virtually and on the land where we care radically for each other, collectively provide for our community, learn off-grid skills for communal life and practice vulnerability, accountability and interdependence. 

    REDISTRIBUTE

    power & resources by creating opportunities for those historically on the margins to lead from the center and by building structures for collective participation in land based reparations.

 
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