‘Wayward’ House Demolitions

Earlier this month, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the military may demolish the homes of three Palestinian men who, on June 16, 2017, led a stabbing and shooting attack in Jerusalem’s Old City, killing an Israeli soldier. Israel intends to carry out the demolition orders, even though the perpetrators of this heinous attack were killed...
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Holy Human Rights Chutzpah

This Shabbat, Dec. 8-9, is not just the weekend before Chanukah; it’s also that of International Human Rights Day.  We honor this global holiday, Jewishly, when we reread our sacred stories through a human rights lens. On December 10, 1948, the United Nations ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a document of great...
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The Mournfulness of Her Song: Hearing the Cries of the Enslaved

On my recent visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, I was moved to tears by one of the readings displayed in the darkened memorial room to those who were transported to America on slave ships from Africa. I learned that the chained slaves would sing songs of...
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Opening the Door at Passover

At the first Passover, we marked our doorposts with the blood of a sacrificial lamb to protect us from the Angel of Death (Exodus 12:23). Although that was a one-time ritual, doors continue to be a central symbol of the holiday. It is a symbol that seems more relevant than ever in an age when nativism...
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Harvest Prayer

Sukkot, the fall harvest holiday, blends our gratitude for a bountiful harvest, our awareness of the fragility and vulnerability of all life, and our ancient communal memory of leaving Egypt to travel in the desert under God’s protection. This prayer-poem connects those themes to the astounding human rights accomplishments of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers...
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Is Three a Magic Number? (Parshat Vayera)

Commentary on Parshat Vayera (Genesis 18:1 – 22:24) This edition of Torah from Truah is sponsored by Dale Gardner in memory of her sister Rhonda Kolarik. “Three is a magic number.” One can surely ascribe meaning to almost any number or any letter of the alphabet. But let’s consider the number three for a moment....
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