November 22, 2:00-3:30pm | Shel Maala, the radical online queer Yeshiva, is coming back to the DMV after their amazing weekend last year, to teach a Shabbes afternoon about Jewish desire for, and resistance to, earthly power. Starting with an evocative passage in the Book of Samuel, where the Jews ask for a king against God's wishes, co-teachers Binya and Xava will trace our yearning to be like "all the other nations” from Rabbinic commentators all the way to the Israeli Declaration of independence. Come unearth arguments together about the very nature of Jewish government, what makes a good/kosher ruler (if such a thing is possible), with implications for Zionism, the decolonial left, anarchy, and more, today.

Roshei Yeshiva Binya and R’ Xava will join us for Shabbat dinner and Kabbalat Shabbat on the 21st!

More about the Roshei Yeshiva:

Binya Kóatz is a trans woman Torah teacher, with Sefardi and Ashkenazi lineage from across the diaspora, born and raised in Queens, NY. Now living in Oakland, on Ohlone Land, she is the co-Rosh Yeshiva of Shel Maala, a radical online Jewish learning community, and co-Director of the Trans Halakha Project. A performer and community organizer, Binya also sings with her klezmer band, does stand-up and drag, and helps create local rad Jewish community.

Rabbi Xava De Cordova is a disabled, Sefradi, Mizraxi trans woman and co-host of the world's first Queer Talmud podcast, "Xai, how are you?". She is a long-time SVARA-style Talmud learner and SVARA teaching kollel fellow who got her start as a teacher by creating Beit Midrash Behind Bars, an organization that facilitated Jewish learning opportunities for incarcerated people in Washington State. She is also the co-Rosh Yeshiva of Shel Maala, which she co-founded with her incredible co-Rosh, Binya, and Co-Director of the Trans Halakha Project. She lives in Providence, RI, where she does her best to steward the radical tradition she's been blessed to inherit.