Where we go from here

A d’var Torah for Pesach by T’ruah rabbinic intern Frankie Sandmel and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. This d’var Torah is based on Dr. El-Sayed’s remarks on the T’ruah webinar on March 18, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic will, without doubt, be at the center of all our Passovers. No matter how you mark the holiday, the impact...
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“Now We Are Free”: But Who Pays the Price?

A d’var Torah for Chol HaMoed Pesach. “Let My people go,” God famously said to Moses. We usually don’t finish the quote, which ends “…so that they may serve Me.” Freedom, the rabbis say quite plainly, is another kind of servitude. The cheirut, freedom, that the Jews achieved on Passover (z’man cheiruteinu, the time of...
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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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“We Were All Once Strangers”: Emor and Inclusivity

A d’var Torah for Emor from community organizer Cole Parke. Coming out is a defining experience for most every queer person I know. This month marks 15 years since I first shared that part of myself publicly, and these days it’s a deeply integrated part of my identity — something that is far from secret,...
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