Ancient Wisdom for this Post-Election Era

As I recall standing upon those millennia-old steps holding that aged stone in my hand, I take heart in the ancient truth that functional families, close friendships, and coalitions of decency with other religions and peoples have the capacity to sustain us, that historical perspective is a balm to mind, heart, and soul, and that pragmatic, sure, and visionary leadership is a hedge against societal chaos and an opportunity to seek the fulfillment of our people’s and nation’s highest aspirations.
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Favoring the Many, Not the Mighty

This is but one example in a web of inequity that favors an ever-shrinking group of American elites... And yet, one word — Ish, a person — repeated over and over again in the dictation of these mitzvot is a reminder that the work is indeed mine to do as an individual. 
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Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson

Vayera: War Ethics from Kabbalah

What feels so hard in this moment is that I don’t know what the right course of action is. One of the problems I see in the world’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack is a preponderance of either Chesed or Gevurah thinking.
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Yom Kippur at the Lincoln Memorial

I was having lunch with a dear rabbinic colleague. After inquiring into each other’s health and family, I said “I just read the Pope’s Encyclical. It is fantastic. Have you read it?” My friend looked at me quizzically and said, “I never read the Popes’ encyclicals.“ “Well, I never have either, but this is really...
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Heart of a Stranger: The Jewish Historical Memory of Torture

You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt. -Ex. 23:9 You were strangers in the land of Egypt reminds us that we have experienced the great suffering that one in a foreign land feels. By remembering the pain which we...
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