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Happy Anniversary, Sexy Rabbis & Our Canadian Debut

By on December 22, 2013

From The Desk Of New

Beautiful friends,

Rated PGMy, have we been busy at Jewrotica over the past two months! October marked the one-year anniversary of Jewrotica’s founding. During our inaugural year, we successfully:

  • Launched an online community, built a dedicated audience and established a hub for Jewish sexual expression
  • Published 300+ pieces of (mostly unpublished and original!) content including essays, fiction, Torah commentary, educational articles, Jewishly-themed erotica and more
  • Developed, piloted and kicked off a series of Jewrotica events (e.g. “An Evening of Jewrotica: Bedside Reading”), workshops (e.g. “Jewrotica: Sanctifying Sex” and “Sex in the Jewish Tradition”) and Discussion Groups (e.g. “Kedoshim Tehiyu: Sex Ed 101 Jewish-Style) in North America and Israel
  • Made waves in headlines around the world, including newspapers, magazines, blogs, local publications and radio programs in North America, Latin America, Germany, Russia, Spain and Israel

None of this would have been possible without the Jewrotica team, including present members and also past members – Tamar Fox, Karalyn Dane and Adi Elbaz. We extend a particular thank you to Larisa B., Jewrotica’s graphic designer, who made my vision for the aesthetics, styling and flare of Jewrotica a reality through her tremendous artistic talents.

Facilitating Jewrotica Programming in 2013

Facilitating Jewrotica Programming in 2013

Now, onto the Sexy Rabbis! Over the past four weeks, we received over 150 thoughtfully-written nominations for Jewrotica’s Sexiest Rabbis list. Reading through these pieces was truly a treat, and while it was inspiring to read about the work of these rabbis, it was even more inspiring to hear about them from the congregants, students and community members who love them so dearly. (And, yes, we did get a handful of nominations from significant others. “My wife / husband has to make the sexiest rabbis list because…”. Those were sweet, too.)

There was a fair mix of age, gender and ‘relationship status’, though my friends have kidded me that this is all an elaborate excuse to find myself a fine single rabbi. (I assure you, I’m not looking.) Commentary aside, we will be presenting our top ten picks in the coming week with another 20 rabbis being spotlighted for the voter’s choice awards. (Stay tuned for details. Voting will be open for approximately two weeks in late December / early January.) I really wish we could feature all 150+ rabbis who were nominated and I thank all of you who took the time to nominate your spiritual or community leader for the title!

The Crowd Knows What It Wants!

The Crowd Knows What It Wants!

Presenting An Interactive Visuals-Based Jewrotica Session in Montreal

Presenting An Interactive Visuals-Based Jewrotica Session in Montreal

In other news, we popped Canada’s Jewrotica cherry last month at the Le Mood festival in Montreal, where we debuted our new workshop “Jewrotica: Sanctifying Sex”. The room was packed, the day was filled with meaningful and dynamic programming and we recruited a couple hundred new readers and some writers, as well! We made an appearance on the Shtetl on the Shortwave radio program and received coverage by Montreal’s La Presse. The press love continued this past week with a feature in New York’s The Jewish Week, as well.

All in all, it has been a beautifully positive season. We have some very exciting news and fresh faces to be introduced ahead, but I’m not letting the cat out of the bag just yet. So stay tuned, keep reading and I wish each of you a most love, passion and kindness-filled 2014!

Light and Love,
Ayo Oppenheimer - Final Version of Signature and the Jewrotica Team

Founder and editor of Jewrotica, Ayo spent the past two years full-time RVing North America with her Jewish educational film program. Ayo alternates between intensely pursuing fun new experiences and equally intensely trying to do good by people. She would love to hear from you.
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