Who Feels the Pain? (Parshat VaEra)

Commentary on Parshat Vaera (Exodus 6:2 – 9:35) Who deserves human rights? Even the Torah has its blind spots. The Torah portion VaEra describes an escalating cycle. As YHWH predicts, Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh and he refuses to free the Israelites. A plague strikes, and Pharaoh relents. The plague is removed by divine intervention,...
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Was Joseph a Good Person?

Let’s review how Joseph exercises power once he achieves it in Egypt. He takes revenge on the brothers who sold him into slavery, by calling them spies and holding Shimon in prison. Then, after reconciling with them, he uses his position to enrich his family, giving them the fertile land of Goshen to settle in....
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The Essence of Being a Jew

That’s Kedoshim’s point – that those of us who own land (and its modern equivalent, a bank account) have an undeniable responsibility to support those who don’t. 
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Funding Transparency

“These are the records of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle of the Pact, which were drawn up at Moses’ bidding…” -Exodus 38:21 According to Midrash, after the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was completed, some Israelites accused Moses of misusing their donations. Moses’ response was a full accounting of every piece of jewelry, gold, and precious stone that the...
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A Symposium on Judaism and Democracy

We are excited to announce our Symposium on Judaism and Democracy, which will be held on Thursday, June 2 in New York City. This gathering will be a first step to develop new intellectual frameworks for how Judaism relates and can contribute to the preservation and reimagining of multiracial democracy in America. After an opening panel,...
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