A Q&A with Charlottesville’s Rabbi Tom Gutherz and Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin

On Aug. 12, 2017 Rabbi Tom Gutherz and Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin of Charlottesville’s Congregation Beth Israel — the city’s only synagogue — confronted a nightmare in their backyard: the horrifying Unite the Right Nazi rally. T’ruah was the only major national Jewish organization with a presence at the counter-protests that day. T’ruah honored both rabbis...
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A personal note in the midst of COVID-19

March 13, 2020 I’m writing first to send love and good wishes to everyone in the T’ruah community. I know that all of us are feeling a heightened sense of anxiety as we hunker down at home, quarantine ourselves, cope with our own illnesses or those of friends and family, and mourn the chance to...
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Board Meeting Materials

<— Return to the Board Document Share Next Upcoming Meeting: January 18 & 19, 2022 Packet of Materials to come Zoom details: Join Zoom Meeting: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89182252703?pwd%3DS1VMb2JtTWZoZVZBeHVWWkhUcjY5dz09&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1639946450896094&usg=AOvVaw0glfNEbUmbsoNFuCOvLxVG Meeting ID: 891 8225 2703Passcode: 307878One tap mobile+16465588656,,89182252703# US (New York)+13126266799,,89182252703# US (Chicago) Dial by your location        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)     ...
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Joshua Mikutis

Josh Mikutis is a 4th Year Rabbinical Student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute in New York City and a 2nd Year Masters Student of Jewish Nonprofit Management at the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management. Originally from Dayton, Ohio, he attended Haverford College where he graduated with Honors in Religion and History. After graduating, he...
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Peering Outside the Camp

“Joseph’s master had him put in prison…but even while he was there in prison, God was with Joseph.” -Genesis 39:20-21 Bulletproof glass separates me and my congregant. David [not his real name] and I sit opposite one another, in identical, soundproof, cinder-block visiting cubicles at a prison an hour’s drive from my home. He’s wearing...
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Building Structures to House All Images of God

It is incumbent upon us to create spaces for God to come into the world. I would add, if we are not doing everything we can to create structures to house all holy human beings, then we are not doing our part in imitating godliness. 
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From Furious to Curious

I wonder how the story would have unfolded if God had been curious rather than furious, and if when Moses came down from the mountain and witnessed the dancing, he had been able to pause and observe, noticing the feelings arising and waiting to respond until his anger had quieted down. Was it reasonable to expect these newly freed slaves, who were just beginning to experiment with their sense of autonomy, to simply wait patiently for Moses to return? 
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Justice for the Land and Its Inhabitants

Commentary on Parshat Behar (Leviticus 25:1 – 26:2) In Leviticus 25, the Torah famously explains the practice of the sabbatical year (shmitah) and the jubilee year (yovel), in which those who work the land refrain from farming in order to let the land rest. It’s not hard to see a connection between the ancient practice...
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