Hot Off The Shtender Archives - SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva

Three SVARA-niks, including Jhos, dance in a line, holding hands and smiling.

An (Im)Perfect Step

World Building In the Bet Midrash

A learner reads from a masechet resting on a shtender. There are orange sticky-arrows scattered across the page, indicating where a certain line of Talmud starts and ends.

Finding Echoes of Real People in Our Queer Rabbi Ancestors

A photograph of a field. There is a tall spruce tree framing the shot on the left side, and two cows can be seen walking up the slope of a hill.

Making the Tradition What We Say It Is

A SVARA-nik stands in front of a dark background. In the foreground at the top of the image, a series of colorful, neon lines are visible.

Turning Our Dreams Upside Down

An image of Rabbi Bronwen's tattoo can be seen on her left arm. The tattoo is of Yentl leaning seductively on her masechets of Talmud with the constellation of Capricorn (the hybrid goat-fish) astrological sign in the sky behind her.

She Shall Inscribe Her Hand to God

A SVARA-nik, wearing an orange lanyard and brown sweater, points at a line in an open page of Talmud.

Not a Rabbi, Not Yet a Rav

A SVARA-nik, face out of the frame, learns from a page of Talmud. They are leaning on a table, which has a laptop open to a Zoom screen full of faces.

Ask, And They Will Tell You: Reflections on the Teshuva-Writing Collective

Laynie stands at the front of the room in the bet midrash with their hand raised in the air. SVARA-niks are scattered throughout the room standing and seated in celebration.

On the Table in Front of Us

Maggie is standing in front of their green pickup truck. They are wearing a yellow hat and a green winter coat. Their dog can be seen sitting in front of the steering wheel. It is a bright blue winter's day in Chicago.

What Carries Us Through a Crash

A learner is seated in the bet midrash, pointing to a section of a page of Talmud. They have a pencil in one hand, and the table beneath them has a lot of learning resources scattered about.

Questions, Practice, and Moving Toward Life

Two learners stand outside at Queer Talmud Camp. They are facing one another, and they are surrounded by other learners who appear to be gathered in a circle around them.

Healing, Heroes, and Holding Hands

An astrophoto of the Lovejoy Comet, which was captured by Kendra Watkins' grandfather, William Nigg. The photo captures a vast darkness speckled with countless small stars, and a turquoise comet streaks from right to left across the cosmos.

A Little More Darkness

A volume of Talmud sits open on a table. A learner can be seen sitting next to it. There is a rainbow alef-bet tool placed across the pages.

The Uncountable Queer Contradictions of Rabban Gamliel: A Roundtable Discussion

A SVARA-nik is seated in the bet midrash. They have short hair and a white, long-sleeved shirt on. They peer into an open masechet through a magnifying glass.

The Needy for a Pair of Sandals: Jacob’s Unsettling, and Our Own

A SVARA-nik sits on a chair with a bright yellow pillow and a blanket over their legs. They are leaning over an open Talmud in their lap, which they are annotating with a pen and pointing to. They are reading intently from the text.

Our Friend, Torah

Two people are in a bright, sun-lit room poring over a page of Talmud together. One person is standing and one is seated. They are both wearing glasses, and the table beneath them is covered with books, dictionaries, and reading lamps.

He Chopped Up the Damn Boat

Laynie stands in the bet midrash holding a volume of Talmud. They are wearing a yellow sweater and dark eyeglasses.

For Those of Y’all Joining Us for the First Time

A single yellow leaf floats just below the surface of a body of water. The water is deep blue, and there are faint ripples visible surrounding the leaf.

Reenvisioning Tashlich (With Some Help From the Temple)

On Visiting the White House