About #MenschUp
#MenschUp, the brainchild of founding builder Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, is aimed at replacing toxic masculinity with gracious and graceful masculinity, rooted in Jewish texts and Jewish values.
How boys become men – and the kind of men they become – depend on what they learn to be. Masculinity can be empowering and wise, or toxic and destructive, based on how boys and young men learn into becoming themselves.
Today’s epidemic of toxic masculinity traits – anger, aggression, manipulation, violence, emotional sterility and more – is a spiritual health crisis. It demands an antidote for today’s boys and men, and a vaccine for future generations.
The antidote and vaccine for toxic masculinity is wise use of traditional wisdom and modern best practices on how to rear mensches – good men, who hold their masculinity healthfully for themselves and the world.
Parents, synagogues, JCCs and colleges all have pivotal role in mensching Jewish boys and men (including men of trans experience, and genderqueer or gender-non-conforming people who are male-identified .) MenschUp tools and programs will help all of them be part of the solution to toxic masculinity – and through them help build a healthier and more just world for all.
MenschUp Tools & Resources
For Sukkot
A downloadable #MenschUp Sukkot ushpizin resource, co-created by R. Mike Moskowitz and Steve Silbert.
On Builders Blog
A series of parshanut (Torah commentary) posts written through a #MenschUp lens, now edited and revised into a book (see below!)
A New Book
Graceful Masculinity, a new book by R. Mike Moskowitz. “A volume of 58 essays on the weekly Torah Portion and festivals, exploring ideal manifestations of the attribute of (חן) grace as the root of (חתן) groom as an archetype of masculinity. Seeking understanding to create a society where all gender expressions and identities are reflections of the Divine and filled with grace, this book offers positive modalities as an alternative to contemporary toxicity and erasure.”
For Game-Players, Teachers, and More: Graceful Living
New:: The Graceful Living card deck, inspired by and rooted in Graceful Masculinity, created by Steve Silbert. This is our first foray into tangible tools for spiritual gameplay. Available for $18.