Vayeshev: No to Nekamah
This Chanukah, let’s choose to follow the examples of Joseph and Tamar, and say no to nekamah. When the time comes to say the “Al Hanissim” prayer, let’s skip the vengeful words “nakamta et nikmatam.”
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Real Leadership
Rabbi David Ackerman on Pinchas' two distinct visions of leadership, and two sharply divergent paradigms of proper behavior on the part of a leader.
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Velcro, Leather, & String: Towards A New Understanding of Gender and Embodied Mitzvot
“And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully, YHVH your God will maintain faithfully for you the covenant…” (Deuteronomy 7:12) “Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead…” (Deuteronomy 11:18) “That shall be...
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Vayikra: A Model for Transparent Leadership
I yearn to live in a generation where everyone, including our leaders, recognizes that leaders sin; where our leaders admit their mistakes, are held accountable, and where they actively make amends.
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Emor: Sacred Times: A Moment to Reflect on AAPI Allyship
This month, we have overlapping “sacred times”: the counting of the Omer and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.
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“Act Like You’ve Been There”
Rabbi Joshua Strom advises us to "act like we've been there" when we read VaEt'chanan.
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Argue for the Sake of Holiness
Rabbi Sharyn Henry reflects on what it means to argue for the sake of heaven in Parshat Korach.
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What I Learned In Prison
About three years ago, I was called by the Head Chaplain of the Butner Federal Correction Institution located forty-five minutes north of my home in Raleigh, NC. This is the same penitentiary where (in)famous prisoners like Jonathan Pollard and Bernard Madoff currently reside. The chaplain’s message came with a southern drawl: “Rabbi, we have a...
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