The SoCal Bund

Jews of Color It's always a bit of a surprise to Ashkenazi Jews, but Jews of color exist. And they're growing  in number. Historically the Bund was strictly White Ashkenazi centered, specifically Yiddish speaking, but it did slightly better at least on sexuality and gender. But there was no explicit amplification of these voices. The SoCal Bund embraces and emphasizes all Jews, not just Ashkenazim. And in Southern California, there are very diverse Jewish populations. We all need to work towards liberation. And with the current situation on the ground here in Los Angeles, it's important that Bundist Jews have a place to coordinate. This is most definitely not business as usual, and by being fully inclusive and welcoming of every bundist SoCal Jew, we'll continue fighting for liberation. You can join us with our contact form , we're actively welcoming Jews and people aligned with our values.

Where Are Jews From There are several independent genetic studies on the origins of the Jews. The consensus is that we're from the Levant, which is where all of the shared DNA between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews originates. Both groups also have much more in common with the Levant populations than with the local populations. But we also have interbred with the populations we lived with. What about the Missing Canaanite DNA? What about it? One study didn't find Canaanite DNA in some Jews from two sites of thousands. Most studies do indeed find significant overlaps between Jews, Arabs, and Canaanites. In fact, Jews and Arabs are more closely related than Jews and Europeans. We do in fact originate from the Middle East. Which should surprise nobody because we speak basically ancient Canaanite with another 3,000 years of history, we have traditions associated with Canaanites still, again with 3,000 years of new history, and these appear in all the subpopulations of Jews, even the o...

 SoCal Bundism Explained דויקייט - Hereness At the core of the original Bundism was Doikayt (דויקייט), Yiddish for "Here-ness". It was a neologism in Yiddish, just as in English, and structurally the words have the same form. The focus is on fighting for liberation where we are and with the people around us, and not in some special territory where we're not. It was in contrast to Zionism, which is focused exclusively on colonizing Palestine and turning it into the ultimate ghetto for the Jews after purging it of all others. יידישקייט - Jewishness Another aspect of Bundism is "Jewishness", the essence of Judaism. This is difficult to formulate, because Judaism is old and diverse, and has been in diaspora since before it's recorded history. Even our mythological history starts with us in diaspora. Initially it was very Ashkenazi-centered, because it originated in the heart of Ashkenazi territory. Now, though, to expand on "Hereness", we include all f...