Three Wins Today: Oct 1, 2025
To my fellow Jews, have a meaningful Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar begins at sundown, and ends 25 hours later.
We wear white, don’t eat or drink or take a shower or use products etc, and sit in shul (temple) all day.
There are many theories, but one of the ones I learned a few years ago is the idea is that we are preparing ourselves for death. Yom Kippur is about repenting for what you, and all people have done wrong, which in Hebrew is called teshuvah.
And the Hebrew greeting is “G’mar Chatima Tova” or, “May you be sealed in the good book.” The idea is we are creating a clean slate and we enter this next year, which in the Jewish Calendar is 5786.
Another greeting could be “have a meaningful Yom Kippur,” but never say “chag sameach” or “Happy Yom Kippur” it’s not a happy Holiday.
I will be shul all day tomorrow. I will not forgo technology, but I won’t be watching the news or working. I will wear white, but I will also eat and drink and brush my teeth, and that’s okay.
Judaism has a concept called “pikuach nefesh.” Your emotional, spiritual, mental and physical well being surpasses every single Jewish law. This is why abortions are not against Jewish law, and in fact, abortion bans go against our religious freedom.
I cannot fast. Not only can I not fast, I must eat certain foods every day. I’ve tried fasting a few times. It was not a good idea. It took me a lot of years to accept that as okay, as not failing. Even though Jewish tradition tells me it’s fine, because it’s about my physical well being, it was still hard to accept.
And I think this idea of pikuach nefesh can be used for so many things. Especially in politics and activism. You do what you can do emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically, and what you can do is good enough. You cannot do everything and that’s okay.
And get creative. I can’t fast, but I can eat bland food (other than salt, I have POTS). I can’t go to shul in person but I can watch it on YouTube (will be watching Ikar, if you’re a Jew and don’t know where to go.)
Modify activism to make it work for you. If all of us did what we could, if people did something instead of just complaining, imagine where we’d be.
Figure out your limits and don’t pass them to please someone else. It doesn’t help if you can’t be here to fight back further down the line.
Anyway, Yom Kippur may begin in a couple hours for me, but I still have to give you your wins (though I won’t be posting them, or anything else, tomorrow)
Washington DC
YESTERDAY - Ben Cohen, of Ben & Jerry’s, introduced his new government department. It’s called DOPE (Department of Pentagon Excess.) It was a stunt on the Capitol lawn to bring attention to how much money goes into the Pentagon.
He said each year we could return about 2k to every single tax payer in America with the money the Pentagon wastes. That’s such a wildly large number, and yet, I totally believe it:
The budget bill cut healthcare, they cut food for hungry families, they cut housing, but, the Department of War? Never touched it. Instead, they shoved another $150 billion dollars at it, so that now, about 70% of our country’s expendable income goes to war. It’s not about defending our country. What should be a last resort has become a normalized go-to tool of our foreign policy. That’s why we have forever wars. Our country is either at war, recovering from war or preparing for war, but never paying for war. We just add it to the national debt for our kids to pay. What a stupid way for the richest country in the world to engage with the rest of the world.
You can watch the full press conference and the stunt itself (it includes a chainsaw, I don’t want to spoil it) below
I will also say, if you didn’t hear about this, it wasn’t for lack of trying. I tried to get some influencers who were in DC, and elected Dems to show up, but there was just so much going on yesterday that no one could fit it in their schedule.
Which is a good reminder when people say “why didn’t I know about this,” it really is on us. When we see something we need to amplify it. So much is going on at once, many many things fall through the cracks.
Massachusetts
Thu, Sept 25 - The State Senate voted UNANIMOUSLY for The Massachusetts Data Privacy Act. This bill is designed to help protect the personal data of Bay Staters, through having limits on the personal data a company could collect, prohibition on the sale of sensitive data, even further protections for minors data and language that prohibits digital discrimination.
State Senator, Michael Moore said:
Big tech companies make billions of dollars selling your personal data without giving you any say in what information they collect or how they use it. No one should profit from anyone’s personal data. The Massachusetts Data Privacy Act returns the power of choice back to the people because your data belongs to you. This legislation is the culmination of three years of work, collaborations with advocates, and in-depth discussions with stakeholders and lawmakers in states with data protection laws – I could not be more proud to see it advance through the Senate today.
I will also say that Dems have a supermajority in the MA Senate, but, there are still five Republicans, and even with what the federal government is doing to our personal data, they voted in favor of this.
Lancaster, PA
Sat, Sept 27 - A new billboard went up on Prince St. that says “Without due process, it’s just kidnapping. ICE out of Lancaster”
It was created by Lancaster Stands Up and paid for by Alison Moon.
This is not her first billboard. She began doing this back in May with a billboard supporting her trans community that says simply “Trans people do exist.”
She hasn’t been interviewed about this latest billboard, but she was about that one, and Jaxon White at Lancaster Online wrote:
Moon said she was partially inspired by the 2017 film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” in which a mother rents ads criticizing the local police chief after his department failed to catch the killer of her daughter.
Moon is unemployed but said she’s looking to get back to work using her degree in music from Lebanon Valley College. Asked how she can afford the billboards, Moon referred to herself as a “trust fund baby.”
A trust fund baby using her privilege for good. It’s not all that common, but it does happen.
You may also see another billboard she paid for this month advertising No Kings Oct 18.
This is one very powerful way to fight back. The power of one at work.
So those are today’s wins. I hope they help make resisting easier today.
If you’re a fellow Jew I wish you g’mar chatima tova, and that you have an easy fast, if you’re fasting.
And if you’re not, have a loud second day of the Republican shut down.
Loved your information about this special day. Also proud of the folks who gave you one of the three wins today. Stay strong!🥰
G’mar Chatima Tova. Thank you for sharing what you do and for all your good efforts!