Loving Israel with all of my Jewishness: A Photo Essay
In words and photographs, activist Gili Getz explores his complex relationship with the State of Israel. A d'var Torah for Parshat Kedoshim and Yom HaAtzma'ut.
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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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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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Slavery, Then and Now
In this moving sermon, Rabbi Gordon Tucker discusses the problem of modern slavery and describes his experience visiting sites from the African slave trade. SLAVERY THEN AND NOW Rabbi Gordon Tucker The Torah, in Leviticus 25:55, has God saying “The children of Israel are My servants”, and the rabbinic tradition afterwards added the following...
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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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Two Decades Later
Two decades later, it is easier to see how we were tempted by the idols of that time, but it is still hard to recognize the idols of today. We remember the sheer panic of 19 years ago, and how we longed for someone — anyone — to make us feel safe again. Those who told us that we need only sacrifice a bit of our liberty for safety often gave us neither. Looking back, we remember just how hollow those promises were.
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Yom HaShoah: Human Rights Require Human Enforcement
We are born in the image of God, but we must accept that this God-given status exists only within the framework of human enforcement.
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New York City
Don’t live in New York City? Check out the Chaverim Hub for opportunities nationally and in your area! Whether pursuing worker justice through our long-term relationship with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and pressuring Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program; or supporting the Laundry Workers Center’s Cabricanecos campaign for worker safety and the...
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