Rabbis Petition for Jewish Emojis

The Conference of European Rabbis in a letter to the Unicode Consortium called for new emojis that show men in kippahs and women in head coverings.

In addition to its main function of developing a universal character encoding scheme allowing people around the world to use computers in any language, the nonprofit consortium also selects the emoji icons used by the world’s smartphones based on submissions from individuals and organizations who present their case with evidence for why each one is essential.

“There are emojis of women in the hijab and Arab clerics, and the Jews have been forgotten,” a statement from the Conference of European Rabbis read.

“The need for equality and non-discrimination begins with the small things, which in this case may seem minor but have enormous significance and long-term effects. The WhatsApp application is used daily by millions of citizens around the world, especially the young,” the letter said.

Earlier this month Sefaria, which hosts a large selection of Jewish texts, including the Torah, Talmud and a variety of classical commentaries on its website, announced this month that it will file an official request to add a Torah scroll to the emoji library.

“At Sefaria, we tackle the big issues! That’s why we’re filing an official petition with the emoji selection panel to add a Torah emoji! Here’s where you come in…we need you to help us choose the best one to submit. Let us know your favorite in the comments below!”