Call for Submissions: ASHERAH Volume II

The theme of ASHERAH Volume II is the sacred edge.  Grounded in the Hebrew root word עבר (avar), the sacred edge is a place of “crossing over” or “transgression.”

Ecologically speaking, the edge creates a zone of transition between different habitats or ecosystems. Here emerges a new expression of life that occurs only where distinct worlds clash. This area of in-between, called an ecotone, is a place of mischief-making. It is also a place of impermanence and unforeseen (bio)diversity. It is sometimes a place of violence.

As the editorial board of ASHERAH – as young diasporic Jews in 2026/5787– we find ourselves up against inescapable edges. Our communities swim in interstitial worlds:  between nationalism and diasporism, denominations and post-denominationalism, institutionalism and community life, and attachment to the past and a rush into the future. 

We are the Israelites at the moment of crossing the Red Sea. We are going “off the derech,” deviating from the “path” that legacy institutions once laid out. We are in a perpetual state of havdalah, stuck between the holy and the mundane pressures of contemporary life. We also live among the drawn borders  – of Palestine/Israel, U.S./Mexico, Russia/Ukraine, and beyond – where life is structured by the logic of division. 

We are curious about living in the center of the metaphorical mechitza, queering the binaries that our tradition suggests. We ask: what other logics exist at the sacred edge?

Volume II of ASHERAH joins the chorus of edge-walkers, boundary-crossers, and border-activists to explore the edge as a homeland in and of itself. We call for submissions that embrace the liminal and the holy, honest stance of complexity. Please join us in the sacred unknown.

Submissions are due by December 13th.

Additional guidelines can be found on the submission form.