Welcome to the Sifriya!
Shalom Chaverim!
Meaning “library” in Hebrew, Sifriya is Gam v’Gam Media’s newest section that provides a space for creatives who are Jewish to tell their most authentic stories.
In too many cultural and intellectual spaces, Jewish voices have been stifled, pigeonholed, stereotyped, or clamped down on in order to serve the masses. Over the last century, the Jewish voice has essentially become that of the stereotypical New York Jew—neurotic, relatively secular, “white,” and Ashkenormative. Undoubtedly, American Jews share the blame in allowing our people, culture, and history to be defined in this way, but that also means we have the power to rectify the issue.
Here at the Sifriya, our goal is to collect a variety of content that that rises above the day-to-day. Whether it be short stories, entire novels, personal essays, drawings, songs, or anything else creative, Sifriya is here to tell the complete story of our people.
Gam v’Gam believes in allowing creatives to be creative. All art has an audience and it isn’t up to us to determine how large that audience is or how much they will love it. So if you have a story that reflects your love of Judaism, of Israel, of our people, or anything in between, we encourage you to submit it.
A Quick Note
It wouldn’t be right of me to not give credit where it’s due. The concept of Sifriya was partly inspired by
who has done an incredible job of platforming authentic Jewish voices with her book On Being Jewish Now.I have the honor of moderating a conversation with Zibby at Poisoned Pen Bookstore on March 17th at 3pm EST/12pm PST. If you are unable to join in person, please consider joining via livestream.
Submit Your Work
If you’re interested in submitting something to us, please adhere to the following guidelines:
All art should be submitted with the intent of supporting Gam v’Gam Media’s mission and values.
While we are not experts on what art will connect with audiences, we are committed to providing objectively quality art and will reject anything that doesn’t meet those standards. All submissions should be sent as “finished products” with no expectation of edits or notes.
More than anything, we want artists to be artists. Let us focus on helping you find the audience you connect with.