SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva

SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva Empowering q***r and trans people to expand Torah and tradition through the spiritual practice of Talmud study. www.svara.org

This week's Hot Off the Shtender comes from our Communications Director, Maggie Kraus, who explores what we might learn ...
10/09/2026

This week's Hot Off the Shtender comes from our Communications Director, Maggie Kraus, who explores what we might learn from trying to find time to finally take down our sukkah. Dig in at the link below!

"Time, in our very particular language, can be 'spent,' 'saved,' or 'wasted.' We can be 'on time,' but we can’t be 'in time,' or 'off time.' Faced with so many different recommendations, it’s fair to say that I have yet to adopt a universal perspective on time that feels right to me. And if there’s one group of people who seem even less attached to the idea that time unfolds within a singular framework, it’s the Rabbis of the Talmud."

✨HOTS: https://svara.org/still-standing

ID: Maggie is seated in a room filled with dappled sunlight. They are wearing a knitted sweater and smile toward someone out of frame. Their hands are clasped in front of them. Text from their HOTS piece reads, "Some aspects of our tradition are guided by the sharp edges of 'now or never,' but a sukkah isn’t one of them." A byline reads, "Maggie Kraus, Communications Director." The SVARA logo is placed in the bottom-right corner.

In this week's Hot Off the Shtender, SVARA Fellow Binya Kóatz takes us on a winding journey through a stunning selection...
09/25/2026

In this week's Hot Off the Shtender, SVARA Fellow Binya Kóatz takes us on a winding journey through a stunning selection of texts (both sacred and secular) to reach a deeper understanding of prophecy. Grounded in the story of Jonah and the whale, Binya asks us to consider what prophecy is and what it asks of us as we collectively build a deeper commitment to solidarity across seas small and wide.

✨HOTS: https://svara.org/running-away/

ID: Binya is smiling with her eyes closed as her curly brown hair drapes down across her face. She is wearing a flowing scarf and a sleeveless top. Text from her HOTS piece reads, "There is no peaceful sea in someone else's storm." A byline reads, "Binya Kóatz, SVARA Fellow." The SVARA logo is placed in the bottom-right corner.

It's time, y'all. ❤ After so much thinking, learning, preparing, and waiting, the High Holy Days are finally upon us. We...
09/10/2026

It's time, y'all. ❤ After so much thinking, learning, preparing, and waiting, the High Holy Days are finally upon us. We're grateful to be approaching this bridge toward a new year with the torah of SVARA Fellow Rabbi Maggid Jhos Singer, whose words never fail to ground us in the messy, beautiful, ever-changing reality of being alive. In these final moments before Rosh Hashana, we invite you to take a moment (or several!) to explore Jhos' piece, "It's Just a Story," as you prepare for everything ahead. Link below. Shana Tova!

✨HOTS: https://svara.org/its-just-a-story/

ID: A series of images depicting a large collection of red apples with white text over them, reading: "Rosh Hashana drops us into a whirlwind of emotional, psychic, and spiritual challenges. They range from celebrating the birthday of the world—
the spinning top we temporarily call home—to consciously taking stock of our lives, with special attention paid to our absolute worst moments. How do we embrace the totality of who we are, what we’ve done, how we’ve behaved, who we’ve wounded and who we’ve nursed, where we showed up and where we disappeared?" Beneath the text is a byline that reads, "Rabbi Maggid Jhos Singer, SVARA Fellow."

This week's Hot Off the Shtender is an offering from our Faculty Fellow Ari L. Monts / Emet, and arrives just in time fo...
09/04/2026

This week's Hot Off the Shtender is an offering from our Faculty Fellow Ari L. Monts / Emet, and arrives just in time for the rapidly approaching new year. In this piece, Emet reflects on what teshuva is and isn't, and how we might get the most out of this season of so much doing: "Teshuva happens when we value how we work more than what we make. Teshuva can’t happen if we need to be right, or if we have decided the outcome without the input of the other person. Just like learning Talmud, it takes time, slowness, attention to detail, being with, and openness." Dive in at the link below!

✨ HOTS: https://svara.org/mindful-returning

ID: A photograph of Emet standing outdoors reading. They are wearing bright blue eyeglasses and a denim overshirt. Their braids are gathered in two small buns on either side of their head as they look down and read from a book they hold at their chest. An excerpt from their piece is positioned to the left, which reads, "Teshuva happens when we value how we work more than what we make." A byline reads, "Ari L. Monts / Emet, Faculty Fellow."

Register now for Fall at SVARA! 📖Torah for the Here and Now is a new season of SVARA learning that invites us to discove...
08/26/2026

Register now for Fall at SVARA! 📖

Torah for the Here and Now is a new season of SVARA learning that invites us to discover the wisdom we need for the lives we’re living right now. Students of all backgrounds are invited to learn with us during our upcoming Fall Zman, which runs from October 19 through December 17. Check out everything we're serving up - we hope to see you back in the bet midrash!

✨FALL ZMAN: https://svara.org/start-learning/

ID: A series of colorful photographs depicting our faculty in the bet midrash. Text reads, "Torah for the Here and Now: Liberatory offerings for all learners, this fall at SVARA." The next slides show more information about our four Fall classes, which can be found at our website.

SVARA's Reader for the High Holidays is here.🩷We invite you to pause, reflect, and prepare for the year ahead with our n...
08/26/2026

SVARA's Reader for the High Holidays is here.🩷

We invite you to pause, reflect, and prepare for the year ahead with our new High Holidays reader featuring Torah from our extraordinary alumni community of q***r and trans rabbis, educators, activists, community leaders, and change-makers. Rooted in the learning they carried from their own lives into communities and spaces across the world, these voices offer wisdom for tending to what has been wounded, making and remaking Torah, and entering the new year with intention. We are so blessed to share their Torah with you here!

We want to express tremendous gratitude for our alumni authors: Mayim Yasmin, Rabbi Emily Aviva Kapor-Mater, Ma'ayan Seligsohn, Olivia Devorah Tucker, and Caroline Taymore. Dive into the digital booklet or view with a screenreader at the link below!

✨READER: https://svara.org/library/

ID: Snapshots from our new High Holidays Reader, which has a bold pink design theme woven throughout. The cover of the reader is a photograph of a large room filled floor to ceiling with books, manuscripts, and documents. Pink text above the photo reads, “Until We Say Enough: A SVARA Reader for High Holidays 5787.”

💜✨📖 Thank you, Julie! 🌄🥰🥹For so many years, faculty member Julie Batz has been a mainstay in the SVARA bet midrash. For ...
08/14/2026

💜✨📖 Thank you, Julie! 🌄🥰🥹

For so many years, faculty member Julie Batz has been a mainstay in the SVARA bet midrash. For hundreds and hundreds of learners (online and in-person; during semester-long offerings and one-night programs), Julie has brought unwavering warmth and generosity to her work as both a teacher and a student of our tradition. Her steady, welcoming presence has been invaluable to this community—grounding, joyful, curious, and always ready to meet learners (especially our sacred beginners) exactly where they are.

As Julie leaves SVARA to begin a new chapter, we’re holding so much gratitude for all she has given to this yeshiva and to the countless people whose lives she has touched through her Torah. We are excited to continue being in community and sharing in the joyful, necessary work of building a more liberatory Jewish future. Thank you, Julie, for helping make the SVARA bet midrash the place it is and always will be.

ID: A photo collage featuring pictures of Julie over the years. She is depicted beside countless SVARA learners in many different rooms that have held the SVARA Bet Midrash. Julie is most often smiling, reading, and laughing, with long brown hair and glasses. Purple text over the images reads, "Thank you, Julie!"

Recent studies indicate that LGBTQ+ nonprofits in the U.S. receive less than 1% of all philanthropic giving. 🤨🤯 When so ...
08/12/2026

Recent studies indicate that LGBTQ+ nonprofits in the U.S. receive less than 1% of all philanthropic giving. 🤨🤯 When so many of the institutions we rely on are up against this level of divestment, we’re reminded that SVARA's future has always been powered by the folks who learn with us, grow with us, and invest in us.

Over the last four years, our incredible community has helped more than double the share of SVARA’s revenue that comes from individual donors—from 10% to 20%. That growth means so many things to us, but perhaps most importantly, it means we continue to have the freedom to build the q***r, radical yeshiva we know the world needs. 💜 Join us today as a monthly donor and help sustain our work!

✨GIVE MONTHLY: https://svara.org/donate/

ID: A colorful photo of someone using the SVARA rainbow alef-bet strip as they fill out a Finding the Root worksheet, which rests on top of their masechet. Text reads, "Q***r non-profits receive less than one percent of all philanthropic giving in the U.S. Become a monthly donor and help sustain SVARA!"

As the High Holidays approach, we can't help but think about the beautiful year of learning we've shared together. The d...
08/10/2026

As the High Holidays approach, we can't help but think about the beautiful year of learning we've shared together. The depth, joy, and energy we’ve created together in the Gemirna Kollel, the Open Bet Midrash, and our return to Q***r Talmud Camp are powerful reminders of just how transformative our tradition can be. 📖💜

Today, we’re launching our Monthly Giving Campaign to help carry this energy forward. Monthly donors are the backbone of SVARA. Your recurring support helps us keep this learning vibrant, accessible, and growing year-round, and we're so grateful for that.

Join our core circle of monthly supporters today, and help make sure the magic of this year becomes the foundation for what we’ll learn together next!

✨GIVE MONTHLY: https://svara.org/donate/

ID: A SVARA-nik is seated in the bet midrash, wearing a maroon dress and glasses. They are smiling toward someone off-frame, surrounded by a long table lined with fellow learners and books. Text reads, "Join SVARA's Monthly Giving Campaign!"

In this week's Hot Off the Shtender, SVARA Fellow Chava Shapiro explores the legacies of some of our tradition's most po...
07/31/2026

In this week's Hot Off the Shtender, SVARA Fellow Chava Shapiro explores the legacies of some of our tradition's most powerful words: war, wilderness, ownership, and Torah. Chava writes with precision, poetry, care, and a commitment to the texts they're unpacking as they try to make meaning from the many directives our ancestors give us. Dive in at the link below, and follow Chava's writing and teachings at their substack, The Rubble. 💜

✨HOTS: https://svara.org/sharpened/
✨ CHAVA: https://digintherubble.substack.com/

ID: SVARA Fellow Chava Shapiro is standing on a mountain above a desert city landscape. They are wearing a beaded crown on their head, and their outfit is a colorful red pair of overalls atop a black and white embroidered shirt with a red bandana around their neck. They are holding flowers in one arm that are visible at the bottom left corner. The text to the left reads, "The wilderness has no fences, no titles or deeds, no name carved or flag staked into it. To receive Torah, the midrash insists, a person has to become like that terrain." A byline beneath the text reads, "Chava Shapiro, SVARA Fellow."

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