Queer artists

Continued from Page 18 style and religious practices. The garments cost $100, but a sliding scale for people with financial constraints can bring the price as far down as $36.

Spector and Weitz found trial users were excited by the idea that the tzitzit could be available in bright colors, and loved how soft the fabric felt on their bodies, compared to how itchy and ill-fitting they found traditional ones. They also liked that each garment could be worn under other clothing or as a more daring top on its own.

To Weitz, those attributes are essential to her goal of “queering” tzitzit.

“Queering something also has to do with an embrace of how you wear things and how you move your body in space and being proud of that and not carrying any shame around that,” she said. “And I think that stylization is really distinct. All those gender-conventional tzitzit for men — they’re not about style, they’re not about reimagining how you can move your body.”

For Chelsea Mandell, a rabbinical student at the Academy of Jewish Religion in Los Angeles who is nonbinary, the Tzitzit Project is creating Jewish ritual objects of great power.

“It deepens the meaning and it just feels more radically spiritual to me, when it’s handmade by somebody I’ve met, aimed for somebody like me,” said Mandell, who was a product tester.

Whether the garments meet the requirements of Jewish law is a separate issue. Traditional interpretations of the law hold that the string must have been made specifically for tzitzit, for example — but it’s not clear on the project’s website whether the string it uses was sourced that way. The project’s Instagram page indicates that the wool is spun by a Jewish fiber artist who is also the brother of the alt-rocker Beck.

“It is not obvious from their website which options are halachically valid and which options are not,” said Avigayil Halpern, a rabbinical student who began wearing tzitzit and tefillin at her Modern Orthodox high school in 2013 when she was 16 and now is seen as a leader in the movement to widen their use.

“And I think it’s important that queer people in particular have as much access to knowledge about Torah and mitzvot as they’re embracing mitzvot.”

Weitz explained that there are multiple options for the strings — Tencel, cotton or hand-spun wool — depending on what customers prefer, for their comfort and for their observance preferences.

“It comes down to interpretation,” she said. “For some, tzitzit tied with string not made for the purpose of tying, but with the prayer said, is kosher enough. For others, the wool spun for the purpose of tying is important.”

Despite her concerns about its handling of Jewish law, Halpern said she saw the appeal of the Tzitzit Project, with which she has not been involved.

“For me and for a lot of other queer people, wearing something that is typically associated with Jewish masculinity — it has a gender element,” explained Halpern, a fourth-year student at Hadar, the egalitarian yeshiva in New York.

“If you take it out of the Jewish framework, there is something very femme and glamorous and kind of fun in the ways that dressing up and wearing things that are twirly is just really joyful for a lot of people,” she said.

For some, wearing tzitzit is just about halachic egalitarian practice, and not about queering Jewish ritual items.

Rachel Schwartz, a straight cisgender woman, first became drawn to tzitzit while studying at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem in 2018. There, young men who were engaging more intensively with Jewish law and tradition than they had in the past began to adopt the garments, and Schwartz found herself wondering why she had embraced egalitarian religious practices in all ways but this one.

“One night, I took one of my tank tops and I cut it up halfway to make the square that it needed. I found some cool bandanas at a store and I sewed on corners,” Schwartz recalled. “And I bought the tzitzit at one of those shops on Ben Yehuda and I just did it and it was awesome.”

Schwartz’s experience encapsulates both the promise and the potential peril of donning tzitzit for people from groups that historically have not worn the fringes. Other women at the Conservative Yeshiva were so interested in her tzitzit that she ran a workshop where she taught them how to make the undergarment. But she drew so many critical comments from men on the streets of Jerusalem that she ultimately gave up wearing tzitzit publicly.

“I couldn’t just keep on walking around like that anymore. I was tired of the comments,” Schwartz said. “I couldn’t handle it anymore.”

James Ross Levinson, age 80, of Harrison Township, passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 20. Jim was a good man. He was smart, kind, sympathetic, ethical, Jewish, funny and more. He loved to cook, loved to hug, loved to play catch, loved to kvetch, loved to give, loved a game of Scrabble, loved to be there for others, loved his wife and kids, loved his books and loved his road trips. He was born, worked, lived, loved and died in the city of Dayton and he will be missed more than we can possibly say. Jim, the child of Jule and Rose Matusoff Levinson, was the youngest of three boys, all proud graduates of Fairview High School. His older brothers, Richard and Rabbi Stephen Levinson predeceased him. Jim grew up slinging chickens at Tasty Bird, the family poultry business. He loved to reminisce about the years he spent driving a truck delivering chickens and eggs, selling wing-dings at the Tasty Bird stores and working at the Arcade stall. Jim studied political science at Brandeis University, received a master's degree from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and earned his law degree at the University of Cincinnati. He was a lifelong member of Temple Israel and an ardent supporter of the State of Israel. His in-depth study of the Holocaust inspired him to seek a career which would allow him to give voice to victims who could not speak for themselves. He served as the regional director for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and found his true calling as an assistant Montgomery County prosecutor under Lee Falke and Mat Heck. As head of the Violent Crimes Division, he was respected for his dedication, his eloquence in the courtroom, his incredible moral compass, and his willingness to mentor younger colleagues. As passionate as he was as a lawyer, nothing held more joy for Jim than his role as a father and grandfather. He was well-known for his sweet lullabies and imaginative bedtime stories. Jim is survived by his beloved wife, Meredith Moss Levinson (whom he met in kindergarten); his children Stephen (Hannah) of Oakwood, and Joel (Randi) Levinson of Loule, Portugal, his treasured grandchildren, Mortimer, Noah, Hubert, and Dahlia, his sistersin-law Rose Levinson and Phylis Walt and his nieces, nephews and cousins. Interment was at Riverview Cemetery. Please consider donations to the Dayton Chapter of Hadassah, P.O. Box 292815, Dayton, Ohio 45429. May his memory be a blessing to all who knew him.

Robert Seiden (aka Bob, Bobby) passed away surrounded by love on Dec. 10 at the age of 82. Bob was born on May 1, 1940 in Brooklyn to Fannie and Benjamin Seiden. Bob graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School before serving as an Army Ranger in Vietnam. After returning from his service, he began his career in the sheet metal industry, eventually moving to Pittsburgh to become the president of SSM Industries, where he retired in 2006. In his retirement, Bob moved to Myrtle Beach where he started a small business, Bob’s Handyman Services, and played a lot of golf. It was in Myrtle Beach where he met his wife, Peggy Crawford Bowers, to whom he has been married for 12 years. A lifelong fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers — as well as any team one of his grandchildren played for — he was also known by any of his golf partners for making up his own rules of the game! Bob had a long history of caring for others, starting when he was young and served as a camp counselor for children with cerebral palsy and continuing through his dedication and care of the love of his life, Irene, as she battled early onset dementia. He was preceded in death by his brother, Daniel Seiden, his sister and brotherin-law, Harriet Seiden Brotter and Marvin Brotter, and his beloved wife of 39 years, Irene Kozichousky Seiden. Bob is survived by his children, Karen and Lee Levitt, Brad Seiden, Rachel and Ed Fagan; and his grandchildren, Maddie (Reece), Kyle, Sammie, Marla, Sophie, and Noah; in addition to his bonus grandchildren, Trish, Connor, and Nick. He is also survived by his best friend and adventurer, Jerry Greenberg. Bob had no “in-laws,” he considered all of them “just family.” He was the original “funcle,” always good for a prank or a tickle. He will be greatly missed by his many nieces and nephews and their children. The family wishes to extend a special thank-you to his caregivers at NHC Health Care who took wonderful care of him throughout the last few months and Caris Hospice, who took gentle care of him though his last few days. Interment was at Wellwood Cemetery, where he will dance once again with Irene. Donations in his memory can be made through Carisma Hospice to one of many organizations that Bob supported: https://carishealthcare.com/donations/.

Larry S. Glickler, Director Dayton’s ONLY Jewish Funeral Director 1849 Salem Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45406-4927 (937) 278-4287 lgfuneralhome@gmail.com