CIW’s “Time’s Up Wendy’s” March
#TomatoRabbis and members of the New York Jewish community will be marching in solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, as they call on Wendy’s to end the five-year stand-off and join the Fair Food Program. This is the culminating event of a five-day fast that CIW members and select #TomatoRabbis are undertaking. Join us...
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Lessons for Democracy from the Holocaust
A d’var Torah for Yom HaShoah. In many respects, World War II seemed like a triumph of democracy. When the Allies defeated the Axis powers, the world celebrated that democratic nations had been victorious against fascism. On May 8, 1945, Victory Day, Americans danced in the streets and threw confetti from the rooftops to celebrate...
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Pride Month: Resisting Anti-Trans Pharaohs
In a time when modern day Pharaohs are seeking to peddle fear, to oppress, and to erase transgender people, we can take our direction from our brave matriarchs.
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It’s Not Enough to “Proclaim Liberty.” We Have to Do the Work.
In this d'var Torah for Behar-Bechukotai, Rabbi Sally Priesand draws connections between the Liberty Bell and other symbols and ensuring liberty in civic life.
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The Essential Human Right
“Sticks and stones,” the nursery rhyme says, “may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” The intent of this pithy statement is probably to help children solve disputes with words rather than physical violence. Its message does, however, raise serious doubts. Words can and do hurt us. Words can trivialize, words can insult,...
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The Exodus from Egypt Was Only the Beginning
As Emma Lazarus taught us, “until we are all free, we are none of us free.” Even once the Israelites left that narrow place, Egypt, they were still pursued by Pharaoh and his army. They eventually came to stand at the shore of the sea, at the crossroads of history; that is where we stand today.
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Matot-Masei: Seeing the Good Through the Lens of Our Own Identities
...let us strive to learn from Zelophechad’s daughters, seeking good wherever we can find it.
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Behar-Bechukotai: Proclaiming Dror Throughout the Land
...modern American politics have alienated the word dror from the Jewish concept of liberty.
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Shoftim: “Thus Blood of the Innocent Will not be Shed” The Necessity of Sanctuary
A self-proclaimed “melting pot,” a country that declared its independence by asserting that all men are created equal, should continue to be a sanctuary and refuge.
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