Mother Tongue

Mother Tongue is a compilation of art, writing, prayers and questions from 28 queer Jews on the themes of repair, home and belonging in Jewish diasporas. It is 76 pages long and includes writing in 9 languages. Below is an excerpt from editor Zuriel Biran Hurst’s preface to this collection.

A Black, bisexual, transgender, Disabled, working-poor and Anti-Zionist Jew is writing this Editors’ Note. And this is important for you, dear Reader, to know. Not because I am taking this opportunity to self-aggrandize, but because I want you to engage with this work knowing that clarity is important. Our identities and their intersections - as Kimberlé Crenshaw, JD, LL.M. wrote - are deeply, deeply, important, never inconsequential.

It has been an honor to witness your stories, your visual art, your poems, your genre-defying testaments to memory. A “mixed multitude” from our mythic trek away from Mitzrayim (Bondage), we have never been a monolithic people with a monotonous narrative. While Imperialism has sought to ravage the planet we call home, we at Linke Fligl choose to center the voices and experiences of Black and Indigenous Jews. We present the following collection as an active attempt at righting the wrongs of Ashkenormativity and yt supremacy. Learn more at linkefligl.com/zine