What is Nefesh Min Lozen
I wanted to build an organization that creates community, something that is separate then any political or issues-based organizations. I wanted to see out something that was far lost that many people of the past used to have that is a true community. I traveled a lot in the United States and in many places in the world such as Mexico and in Columbia and i started to realize the idea of a community was Dieng due to mostly capitalism and the necessity of cannibalizing oneself to serve the corporate collective. Most people in the world not only just lack community; but they also fail to realize what it actually is, or where to even look.
Community isn't a club or a political organization such as DSA, CPUSA or PSL it's not even a friend group or chat circle and we may use the word " community" in a colloquial sense, and they have many overlapping features of a community but are themselves not true communities. For example, like DSA PSL, CPUSA they are not designed to meet you in an interpersonal level they are not there to help you raise a family or make friends they exist to elect socialism or progress the ambitions of socialism for the betterment of our society. These are important organizations that do really amazing work, and many of our members are a part of these organizations, especially DSA. However, they are not communities, nor do they have the ambition to build communities.
Even with Friendship circles, groups, gyms, hobbies or clubs are themselves by themselves not communities, they are not an ecosystem where families can actually flourish and yes a community encompasses these groups however it's important to realize the community is a larger collective that offers a place to build self-disciple, a place to collaborate a place to build friendships and create family a place that places children at its forefront and promotes growth.
What community actually means
A real community is a collection of families and people who are building on each other, raising each other, and helping each other thrive. A community will have strong mutual aid and a huge web of support. its children growing up together with many different father, mother or parental figures many different wisdom and perspectives from the elders and an environment of egalitarianism, diversity and protection. It is an environment where no mother nor child goes hungry where fathers help each other become stronger and invest in one another. It is a place where we calibrate our cycles of life, roles and differences and embrace the things that bring us together. It is knowing your neighbors and having to go down the street with everyone you see you would know.
Imagine growing up in this environment knowing as a child your neighbors are looking after you, knowing that if your mom loses her job your neighbors will come out and help to ensure you don't go without shelter or food. Imagine learning welding from one tradesman out of his garage and then learning how to sew from down the street by another friend, imagine all your friends playing together in the park not having to worry about being attacked or bullied for how you were born.
unfortunately, this does not exist today, and that wanting is driving Americans to embrace horrific philosophies to fill the void of the lost community life fascism, conservatism, nationalism or Zionism or the endless list of isms that blame minorities or people of a given demographic for the failings of an economic system rooted in colonization. Community was the last thing they capitalized on, unfortunately its why you call your chat groups a community; it was always meant to be a replacement of one. the community was broken apart and sold for it peace's, you have issues well there is therapy blocked and paywalled no support no compassion, you happen to be disabled well to the welfare lines as if your value is dependent on your body, you're a women hope you find a wealthy man to create a family. You're a man hopefully you can get a 6-figure income 6 Pac abs and born with size to compete. Being trans well I guess we are going to blame everything on you because your so marginalized that you can't simply defend yourself. and so, there are a million streams and YouTube channels insuring you all blame each other as we cycle in our endless eco chambers screaming into the void of our loneliness.
The question is how do we get back to the community? How do we rebuild something that was fundamental to the human spirit? How do we fight back and reclaim what has been given to all life, our birthright as sentient beings.
The Name Nefesh Min Lozen
Nefesh- is a Hebrew word usually translated as "spirit" or "soul," but that translation undersells it. In its root, Nefesh is tied to the neck, the throat through which breath and life move. From there it grew to mean something much larger: the wholeness of a person. Not a soul trapped inside a body, the way Greek philosophy would later frame it, but the person as a living, breathing, unified whole body, breath, and self, together. In the Hebrew Bible, Nefesh is used again and again to mean the entire, integrated person, not some separable spark inside them. That's exactly the idea I wanted at the center of this organization: a person isn't whole alone. Wholeness is something we reach through each other.
Lozen- was a 19th-century Chihenne Chiricahua Apache warrior, healer, and seer the sister of the great war chief Victorio. She rejected the roles expected of her and trained as a warrior instead, and by the time she came of age, her own brother was calling her "my right hand," saying she was "strong as a man, braver than most, and cunning in strategy" -"a shield to her people." After Victorio was killed in battle, Lozen rode to rejoin what remained of her people and fought on alongside Geronimo through the final campaign of the Apache Wars, using what her people believed were prophetic gifts to sense danger and protect the band. She never stopped defending her community the elders, the children, the whole of her people even as that community was hunted to its last members. She was eventually taken prisoner and died in captivity in Alabama, far from the homeland she spent her life protecting.
Putting these two names together was intentional because it describes our entire purpose, traditions, ideas, and goals. Nefesh min Lozen (the wholeness emanating from Lozen the protector, creator, builder of community) both of these traditions Nde (Apache) and Jewish have endured genocide after genocide, expulsion after expulsion and they still exist they are still standing tall, maybe bruised but not defeated. these communities the wholeness of all indigenous nations, and the Jewish nations have survived because of community. We even look beyond these for inspiration such as Palestine, black American, middle eastern Christian nations and the endless groups of people who experienced eradication but survived due to the strong community ties they have to one another.
What we are Building
We are building communities, many people from different backgrounds weather, trans, queer, disabled regardless of color culture or religion. These communities will have mutual aid. They will help each other build families, make friends, and raise children. We will create culture uniting people in festivals and traditions celebrating our mothers' fathers and parents. Building networks of love and compassion where the current economic system will have no ability to control or harm. (blood and soil)
The rise of Fascism and nationalism wants your identity to be welded to an imaginary thing called a Nation state, which is tied to something only achievable by an accident of birth. Communitarianism is the direct counter to that. Our claim is different, your identity isn't handed to you by a birth certificate, it's built by people who accept you, who actually live alongside you, your family, your friends, your children, your street in your neighborhood. Your identity is the things you built by your sweat of the brow and the blood of your labor in the effort you placed into building yourself and your community. (Love and Discipline)
To join : https://discord.gg/Z7y8rvpz3f
For anyone who wants to go deeper into the traditions and thinkers this vision draws on:
On communitarian political philosophy
Communitarianism — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — the standard academic overview of the tradition, including thinkers like Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Sandel, and Charles Taylor, who argued that identity and justice are shaped by community and tradition, not just individual choice.
Communitarianism — Britannica — written by sociologist Amitai Etzioni, founder of the modern communitarian political movement in the U.S.
On the decline — and possible rebuilding — of community
Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000) — the landmark study documenting the decline of American "social capital": civic groups, unions, neighborhood ties, and the trust that comes with them.
On mutual aid as a natural and historical force
Peter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902) — full text — the foundational text arguing that cooperation, not competition, has been the primary driver of survival for both animal and human societies, from ancient tribes through medieval guild cities.
On the name Nefesh
Nefesh — Britannica — an overview of nefesh in Jewish thought as a unified, whole way of understanding a person, rather than a body-versus-soul split.
On Lozen
Lozen — Wikipedia — a sourced overview of Lozen's life, her role in Victorio's and Geronimo's campaigns, and her death in captivity.
The Apache Woman Warrior Who Helped Lead Resistance to European Invaders — HISTORY.com — a readable narrative account of her life and legacy.
