Resources

It is exactly how we treat every person, every animal, every plant, our planet — with reverence — that distinguishes us as fulfillers of the Divine commandments on which the world was formed, and the slaves from Egypt were redeemed.

In a time when manna no longer falls from the sky, its ethic becomes our responsibility. By rejecting the culture of excess, using Shabbat as a tool of resistance, and fostering communities of care, we can work toward building the society that our parshah invites us to imagine.

Words of prayer from Rabbi Jill Jacobs in support of Minnesota.

Darkness, in Bo, was not merely the absence of light, but the collapse of moral vision — the inability to see the person beside you. The Israelites, by contrast, … were able to preserve connection within their homes. Connection is also light.

…I am a refugee. I am an immigrant. I am a person of color. I am a transgender person… [These] words become more than just words when we know that it was YHVH who spoke them.

In the Morning Blessings, we name different aspects of the Divine by acknowledging their presence in our lives. Merely by acknowledging these qualities, through mentioning their names, it is as if we are funneling them into our day.

Jacob’s words remind us that life’s most sacred moments call us to speak truth and to recognize our deep ties with one another. Even when relationships are fraught, even when pain tempts us to turn away, we are bound together.

Although makhlokot (disagreements) stem from forgetting the Torah, Torah thrives and expands as we argue, trying to uncover its truths. When we have different truths, we increase the Torah in the world, and thus beautify it.

Rabbi Deborah Waxman reflects on what Jewish tradition has to say about democratic practice.

New work by scholar Geoffrey Adelsberg, PhD on how Jews of past generations advanced groundbreaking multiracial coalition work, and what the tensions they faced — including racism within the Jewish community — say about conditions today.