Being Like Reuben and Gad: What sort of allies will we be?

Have you ever been the one white person, or one of the only, attending a Black activist event or protest? Have you been the one, or one of the only, men gathered in a Feminist space? Have you been the one cisgender individual in a room of Trans activists organizing for change? Have you ever...
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On Arendt: Creating a Zionism That Owns Its Mistakes

Hannah Arendt would find it very tricky to be a Zionist today. She was critical of David Ben Gurion’s policy of effectively ignoring the Palestinians’ sincere pursuit of national sovereignty. She advocated a Zionism that would be achieved through excellent relations with the Palestinian neighbors, rather than in spite of them. In her essay “To...
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Why Listen to the “Goy”?

This week’s Torah portion is Yitro, named for Moses’s father-in-law, a non-Jew. It is in this parashah that we receive the Ten Commandments and make our covenant with God. So, how could the Rabbis have decided to name such an important parashah after a gentile? In today’s climate of polarization, it is more important than...
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Holding Onto the Image in Every Human Being, Even One’s Adversary

In the militia headquarters in Odessa decades ago, I was surrounded by harsh interrogators who castigated my friend and me for visiting Russian Jews, who were aliens in their eyes. I felt anger and even hatred at these leaders and their many followers who had made Jewish life impossible for a large segment of our...
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My trip to Immokalee

CONGREGATION SHA’AREI KODESH 2nd Day of Passover MARCH 27, 2013 ©  RABBI LOUIS RIESER   Hag kasher v’Sameah. I want to thank Rabbi Baum for this invitation to speak about my experience in Immokalee with T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.  In January I joined 9 other rabbis to learn first-hand about the conditions...
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The Shield of Abraham Will Not Guarantee Our Righteousness

Human beings are very good at justifying war and all of the human rights abuses that war involves. We are easily convinced of the righteousness of our causes, and we eagerly seek reassurance that the innocent lives that our militaries have destroyed must not have been so innocent at all. One can see such desires...
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Senseless Hatred Among Us

On the 9th of Av, 5772, I had to attend the wake of a close friend who died suddenly at the age of 24. It was the first time I ever fasted on Tisha B’Av. I wasn’t raised with any observance or even knowledge, really, of the day, and even as I became more observant...
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The Human Right to Have a Child

Commentary on Rosh Hashanah Torah and Haftarah readings. Reproductive rights have been hijacked. When someone mentions the phrase “reproductive rights,” the first things that usually come to mind are either birth control or abortion. However, the ability to prevent pregnancy is only part of reproductive rights. What about the right to have a child? This...
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