Shoshana started a Jewish memes page that combines humour with Torah stories

When Shoshana started an Instagram meme page for her friends, she never expected total strangers would connect with it too

Now at over 20k followers, JewishMemesOnly posts highly specific jokes about Jewish life and literature.

For Shoshana, it's provided a new way of appreciating Jewish culture.

"Sometimes when you're looking to fit a Simpsons screencap into a story from the Torah, it opens up new ways of analysing that story," the 27-year-old says.

"It's something I didn't see coming, but I really love how some stupid joke will give me a completely different understanding of a story I've known my entire life."

I spoke with Shoshana about life as a chronically online Jewish lesbian. These are her words.

Shoshana's story

I grew up in Sydney's Jewish community.

It's a lot more open than some of the communities I've seen around the world, because we're nestled in the eastern suburbs, so it's kind of hard to shelter kids from the beach and bikinis.

I went to an ultra-orthodox school, but my family and I were always modern orthodox.

Modern orthodoxy basically believes in being an active member of the modern world, while also adhering to Halacha (Jewish Law). While we are Jewish, we go to university and work in the secular world.

Meanwhile ultra-orthodoxy in Australia is not as hectic as in other places, they just tend to be more stringent when they follow Jewish laws.

'It felt so natural'

I realised I was queer in high school, but I kind of resigned myself to never coming out. Just keeping that inside.

Then after high school, I took a gap year, studying at a religious seminary.

What I realised was that a lot of Jewish life isn't actually about the laws we're given by G-d, but the way we've been socialised. Differentiating between my relationship with G-d and with the Jewish community really helped.

I never felt like I was betraying G-d, or sinning in any way. Because the laws around queerness in Judaism aren't as black and white as you might think.

I started slowly coming out to friends after that, and in the last few years I've been more openly, outwardly outspoken about being gay.

A lot of what I find comforting with Judaism is the way it makes me very aware and cognizant of the world around me. And I think queerness also does that.

You're pushed to the peripherals of society, you get to see this different view of things as someone outside the mainstream. I think they both complement each other.

An online community

I started JewishMemesOnly in November 2019.

I'd just been making random Jewish memes for a while and made an Instagram to sort of collate them for my friends.

It was a perfect storm because by the time COVID hit in early 2020, I already had this kind of portfolio. And everyone was on their phone all the time. It's just been blowing up since then.

I post really niche jokes that are designed to make me laugh, and sometimes they make other people laugh too.

Most of my followers are Jewish, since a lot of the jokes rely on the intricacies and nuance of being in the community. But I do have a handful of Christian followers who really like my biblical jokes.

One of the really phenomenal things about the page has been the way that community has sprung up around it. People have messaged that they're learning from the things I'm posting, that I've reinvigorated their passion for Judaism, which is just amazing.

I didn't set out for it to be an education platform, but I do also see it that way now.

I study education and I'm very passionate about Jewish education and Jewish literacy. A lot of people haven't had the opportunity to do deep Jewish learning, and the page is getting people familiar with the terms, and getting them excited about it.

Can memes change the world?

A lot of the time when Jewish people make the news, it's because of anti-Semitism.

Like this whole thing with Kanye, or someone's drawn a swastika on a synagogue. And that makes me sad.

An exception is this Jewish boys group who have gone viral on TikTok — the Miami Boys Choir have done more for the Jewish people than Moses.

There's been remixes and dance videos of them singing the song Yerushalayim in Hebrew, with just millions and millions of views. I grew up with that dorky nebbish music.

I'm very glad that they have blown up. I didn't expect it, but it makes sense right? Like it's a bit camp — the shining velvet, the satin shirts and ties.

But for me, going viral like that, losing control of the narrative, is maybe the scariest thing.

I don't really think internet humour is the way to combat anti-Semitism. I use my page more to create a space that's free of anti-Semitism — I'm liberal with my block button.

The comedy aspects only work because there's like a deep love and reverence for the content as well. It's a community, because humour has a way of bringing everyone together.

My real goal is for Natalie Portman to follow me. So Natalie, if you're reading this, please give us a follow.