Odessa’s Oddities & Curiosities | Week of 2/12/2024

Dear friends,

I start writing this newsletter Sunday night, perched on a chair in the basement dining hall of the Slifka Center for Jewish Life, eating very waxy Gushers, as the 49ers hopefully crush the Chiefs (sorry, Taylor!) But I am admittedly a fair-weather fan… sue me!

But the real spirit of the Super Bowl comes from the ads. I was amused by this CeraVe x Michael Cera crossover and the backstory. Also, have you ever been curious about how Puppy Bowl operates?

For spring break this year (for which Yale gives us a glorious two weeks off), I’m headed to Spain for my Jewish Pirates project (with generous funding from Slifka). What is my Jewish Pirates project, you ask? Well, given that I haven’t talked your ear off about this subject, which, to be honest, is improbable, I’ll fill you in. A year or so ago, I discovered the true historical phenomena of Jewish pirates. Basically, after the Spanish Inquisition and subsequent expulsion of Jews from Spain, the former merchants/excellent seafarers Jews all of a sudden had a common enemy with Spain’s enemies: Spain. They were some of the most successful pillagers of Spanish ships in the 1500s, before the Golden Age of Piracy — side note: a fantastic podcast episode on the use of tree rings to discover the causes of the Golden Age of Piracy on Radiolab. Anyway, I think this area of Jewish history is so fucking cool. First, it breaks with most of Jewish history being: “They killed most of us. Some of us survived.” And, it gives historical Jews agency over their fate — yes, they were expelled, but they also fought the fuck back. Anyway, I plan on writing a Jewish pirate fantasy novel, and I’m going to Spain & Morocco to do some research. Please write if you have any recommendations for Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Sevilla, Tangier, Malaga or Cordoba. Also!!! I’m trying to find a good travel backpack for this 10-day trip (that’s also RyanAir compliant!)

Speaking of Jewish fantasy, I’m a co-founder of Yale’s first Jewish Fantasy Book Club (can you believe that one wasn’t taken? ;)) with Hannah. We’ve just finished our discussion on Swordcatcher, and we’re searching for our next read. Any recommendations?

If you’ve ever been curious about counterfeit money, check out this YouTube video from Insider. I love their series interviewing ex-cons about their crimes.

I’ve also been enjoying this YouTube series on Tan France’s house on GQ — although, it makes zero sense to me that he’s choosing to build his dream home in Utah.

I listened to this really interesting episode on the evolution of the female body — interviewing Cat Bohannon about her new book called Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. Cat’s a badass…and her book is very much in conversation with my grandfather’s book Sex, Time & Power.

I’ve been in a little bit of a religious crisis this past week. I even hesitate to use the word religious. For the past year+, I’ve been attending Kabbalat Shabbat services. I find them a meditative, centering part of my week, coupled with the absolute joy of dancing the hora.

But last week, I was really rattled by services.

I’ve been caught in the tension between appreciating the continuity of saying the same exact prayer as millions (?) of people around the globe, as my family has done for generations, and realizing that I not only don’t believe in what I’m saying but vehemently disagree. The phrase melech haolam in particular has gotten on my nerves. King of the world. King of the universe. I used to say it without knowing what it means, but now, my Hebrew is too good for that excuse. My conception of God entirely contradicts the idea of God as a king, for both feminist and power-structure reasons. I don’t even like the phrase higher power. If I see/believe in God, which I’m not sure I do, then God must be the deep interconnectedness of the universe, not part of a power hierarchy. Why would I repeat and repeat melech haolam? Why would I bow? And I hesitate, because I appreciate the idea of acknowledging one’s own smallness, but I don’t think acknowledgment of smallness means accepting a “higher”-power structure. If Judaism teaches me nothing, it’s that words have power. Why am I giving the power in my words to a metaphor I don’t believe in? Anyway, I’ve been deeply confused and searching this last week. I’ve been most recently inspired by Medad to write my own Kiddush…something radical and feminist and still deeply in awe of the universe — I’ll keep you updated.

I hosted a Reading Party this week (as promised!) It was deeply fulfilling to my childhood self to just sit in a room with friends, enjoy books, and eat popcorn. We shared out from our books at the 30 min mark, then dove back for 20 more minutes of reading. I was reading Jewish Magic and Superstition (as mentioned in a previous newsletter), and I have some fun curiosities for all of you.

First, that Jewish magic as opposed to Christian magic operated within the bounds of the religion. For instance, while Satanic magic use was threatening because it was considered an arch-opponent to Christianity, Jewish magic operated with the framework of Judaism.

Also, “according to ancient Jewish tradition, which was heartily seconded in the Middle Ages, women are inordinately prone to the pursuit of the magic arts” (16), however women were subsequently restricted from studying Hebrew/Aramaic & mystical lore — heavily relied upon for Jewish magic.

And the complexity of Jewish demonology!! Super fascinating!

Wow, this newsletter has been super Jewy. Apologies, gentiles.

I know there has been a dearth of recommendations in the newsletter this week. To be honest, I consumed a pretty similar amount of media this week, but not a lot of it brought me joy. I only save the joyous ones for all of you.

But in terms of joy, shout out to Jeremy’s 21st Birthday! and Lunar New Year!

At the end of this newsletter, the 49ers have lost. Please imagine that I am whispering this to you in deep shame. I am so so sorry. Did I curse them accidentally with my magical Jewess ways? The world will never know.

With love & curiosity,

Odessa