Written by Matthue Roth. This excerpt has been taken from Matthue’s book Yom Kippur a Go-Go.
Passover is one of those manic Jewish holidays when it’s hard to avoid getting trashed. You’re not allowed to ingest any bread products all day before the seder, and when your body is starchless and vulnerable, you drink four glasses of wine. A few hours in, I was woozy and glowing, letting the holiday seep in. Then I crawled into Tegan’s bed.
Just as I was ready to let myself fall asleep, my eyelids heavy and my throat parched, Tegan walked in. She peeled off her shoes and rolled into bed next to me, pulling the blanket hard from my body, eyes closed tight, air pulsing into my neck with quick, hot breaths.
When I woke up, she was gone, her side of the bed neat, sheets tucked in like nobody had ever been there.
When I got home from synagogue, I found her setting the table for dinner. “What are you doing here?”
She shrugged. “I came back.”
“Did you walk? The city’s, like, a fifteen-mile walk.”
Another shrug, even more noncommittal. “I got here,” she said.
We cooked. Sticking our hands in each other’s projects felt so weirdly domestic and flirtatious. Neither of us made eye contact. She tried to make me do the poem about shomer negiah and how touching is a promise. Later, I told her, later.
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
Jewrotica is a great way to ask interesting questions about the interplay between sensuality and Jewish wisdom. Check it out.
I stepped out of my comfort zone to be a part of this. I was glad to open up the topic of sexuality in my community. We are trying to build a safe space to talk about sex. The result I am most happy about coming from this event is that hopefully now my friends know they can come and talk to me, that I can be their ‘safe space’.
I love the inclusiveness – there is something for everyone, in and out of the Jewish community.
At Jewrotica’s Evening of Bedside Readings, students declaimed monologues on sexual encounters that had a Jewish twist. At Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the speakers pushed their own boundaries by performing a range of explicit narratives that challenged how the audience thought of the relationship to Judaism and sex. During the speakers’ preparation, the arguments about which narratives would be appropriate forced students to take a stand and voice their opinion on their own beliefs about Judaism an… Read more
I’m Heshy Fried from Frum Satire and I am very, very frum. And I completely support Jewrotica – it’s doing a service to the frum community. We need some sort of kosher sexual education. Jewrotica even has a system that allows frum filters to filter out certain things to make it PG for us. It’s mamish Torah. It’s like The Little Midrash Says for sex.
Jewrotica is awesome. It expands the mind and for people who were raised with narrow views on sexuality. Whether you are Jewish or not, or in different sects of Judaism like Orthodox, Conservative or Reform, no matter what your background or where you’re from, Jewrotica gets you to see Judaism and how it relates to sexuality in new ways. I really appreciate Ayo being here and helping us learn different ways to connect with our sexuality.
What an incredible night Jewrotica was!!!! There was this fantastic moment, in a sea of Jews of all sexualities, ages, backgrounds and denominations, that I realized we were all in this together! I hope that there are many more events coming to Austin soon!
I’m so glad that Jewrotica is represented here at Jewlicious! It’s bringing voices that need to be heard in the Jewish discussion and Jewish climate environment.
Such an amazing experience! The Sarah Lawrence Jewrotica workshop was more than I could have ever expected – a comfortable, safe, sultry environment where participants clearly felt good about sharing or listening to each other’s intimate experiences and relating them to sexy stories from the Torah. From the moment the workshop began, Ayo had a sweet presence that was kinetic and spread around the room; her storytelling abilities had everyone enraptured and made the conversation topics relata… Read more
While many people fear the “sex talk,” Jewrotica offers an opportunity for writers and audiences to speak about sexuality in a open and safe space. When I attended a Jewrotica reading, I heard stories that reminded me that love takes many forms, and that expressing it is a vital part of who we are as a people.
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