How Patience Destroys the Hope of Redemption

My step-daughter has a very distinctive sense of style, part Goth, part Emo, part anime, part steam-punk, part Asian, part her. She is also very petite, and finds it hard to find the clothes that she likes in her size. We recently realized that we can often find things that fit her if we order...
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Devon Spier

Devon Spier is a rabbinical student at the Academy for Jewish Religion, expected to graduate in 2022, and committed to radical compassion that catalyzes Jews and non-Jews to show up for each other. Devon’s experiences at Solel Congregation, in NFTY-NEL, URJ Kutz Camp and Newman illuminated her passion for Jewish encounter. Her gap year in Israel...
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Words and Deeds

Last year at this time, we were hearing the distressing news of the conflict in Gaza. Coinciding with Tisha B’av, which this year occurs in the week to come, Jews everywhere were mourning, and beginning to argue with aching hearts about Israel, and about justice. Parashat Devarim begins with Moses addressing “all Israel.” Rashi suggests...
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If Only I Had Known, I Would Have Changed For The Better

For the rest of us, it took ground penetrating radar, and other technologies which render the invisible visible, to wake us up. But for the Indigenous communities most directly affected, none of that was needed. The voices we most desperately need to be listening to already knew. They already saw.
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Creative Reconciliation (Parshat Pekudei)

Commentary on Parshat Pekudei (Exodus 38:21 – 40:38) Human beings can re-create the world, says the Torah in Parshat Pekudei. This is heartening news for Canadians. Only a few decades ago, the Canadian government supported the genocide of Indigenous peoples. But, with the closing of the last Indian residential schools, genocidal policies have come to...
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A Mirror For Our Giving

My sister is developmentally disabled. Although she is very high functioning, she still needs a lot of support, including financially. She is able to live independently and, until two years ago, was fully employed. She is approaching 60 and, as she ages, her increasing physical issues affect her functioning. She was laid off from her...
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Hallel for Yom Yerushalayim

In Israel, it is common for religious Jews to celebrate Yom Yerushalayim with Hallel, the psalms of praise sung on Jewish holidays. In the US and Canada, different communities have different practices. Rabbi Ezra Weinberg has curated a series of tunes for Hallel that are thematic to Jerusalem and set a more mournful mood. This captures...
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Hearing the Cry of Oppression

We often read the biblical narrative of slavery as a relic of our past. However, as consumers in a global economy we unwittingly utilize products tainted by slavery every day. In 2011, a group of workers from the New York State Fair appeared at a health clinic near Syracuse, New York with malnutrition. It turned...
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Finding Refuge in Makom

A few weeks ago, Hurricane Sandy blasted through the Caribbean, the United States and Canada. In her wake, more than 100 people have died along with untold damage to public infrastructure and personal property. For days the images poured in of families evacuating their homes in search of higher altitudes, of empty streets overflowing with...
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