In Part 2, I continue my rich conversation with Jess on how identities are crafted in relationship to our histories. We share laughter over Yiddish comedic traditions where grief meets hilarity and absurdity. Jess makes insightful connections between death and body humour as possible pathways of Jewish diasporic resistance. They share an excerpt they wrote as a Writer in Residence that was inspired by the passing of their grandparents, or their Bubbe and Zayde. In confronting their own internalized Zionism, they reckon with the devastating material reality and urgency of Israel’s national project of land theft in Palestine.

Jess Goldman is an anti-Zionist Jewish writer, comics artist, and amateur puppeteer based on the traditional, unceded lands of the Sḵwxwú7mesh, səlilwətaɬ, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm peoples. Their writing has been published in Maisonneuve, the CBC, and Room Magazine. A graduate of University of British Columbia’s MFA in Creative Writing Program, their writing explores that sweet spot where Yiddishkayt and queer culture joyfully collide.

Follow Jess @yentlthewriter

Jess’ Rec’s:

Dazzle Camouflage: Spectacular Theatrical Strategies for Resistance and Resilience by by Ezra Berkley Nepon

Jewish Dark Continent: Life and Death in the Pale of Settlement by Nathaniel Deutsch