Join T’ruah and Rabbi Avigayil Halpern this Thursday, October 26 at 2pm ET / 11am PT, to explore this very question in “Torah for the Moral Challenges of War.”
In this painful time of war in Israel and Gaza, so much is unknown to us. We turn to Torah as a companion for our questions.
Torah can teach us to think about when a certain risk is “worth it” and when it is too likely to cause grave harm. It can help us learn how to be people who evaluate situations both with our heads and our hearts. As North American Jews committed to justice and safety for Israelis and Palestinians, sharing Torah together can give us tools for having these conversations better.
For this event, will take a fresh look at the “Oven of Achnai” story, a Talmudic tale of debate between rabbis, as a lens into how Torah study can interact with questions of grief, power, and violence.
Rabbi Avigayil Halpern (she/her) is an educator and writer whose work focuses on feminist and queer Torah. She has taught in Torah institutions and synagogues nationally and internationally, and holds rabbinic ordination from the Hadar Institute and a BA from Yale. She has been the Cooperberg-Rittmaster Pastoral and Educational Intern at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, and was one of the New York Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” in 2021.
Watch the recording below: