Sh’lach-Lecha: Israel/Palestine Buddy Cop Edition
Perhaps this midrash holds out a hope that any of us can be transformed to meet the needs of the moment. And perhaps we can find a way to change the course of today’s story so it does not have to end in wholesale destruction.
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Vayera: War Ethics from Kabbalah
What feels so hard in this moment is that I don’t know what the right course of action is. One of the problems I see in the world’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack is a preponderance of either Chesed or Gevurah thinking.
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When Blood Boils: Learning to Channel Anger in Productive Ways
Anger is like fire that, when used productively, can power engines of change but when mishandled can consume anything in its path, including us.
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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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Peace is Easy: When Everything Has Gone So Far Afield, How Do We Make Peace?
A D’var Torah for Parshat Vayishlach by Rabbi Rachael Bregman I live in the land where Trump and Biden signs face off from across property lines. We are told daily that our brothers, our neighbors, are a threat to our lives, are our enemies, because of how we vote. My “other” is not an abstraction,...
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The Sacrificial Artform
In this d'var Torah for Parshat Tzav, novelist Ruby Namdar reflects on the power of sacrifice and sacrificial imagery.
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What Good Will Cursing Do?
Rabbi David Wirtschafter argues against cursing our enemies in this d'var Torah on parshat Ki Tavo.
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The Failure of Moses’–and Wendy’s–Leadership
Rabbi Jesse Olitzky writes about Parshat Chukat.
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Seeing the Broken World: Discovering Myths Around Homelessness (Parshat Bereshit)
Commentary on Parshat Bereshit (Genesis 1:1 – 6:8) The story of humanity in the Torah begins with homelessness. The first two humans, Eve/Chava (“Mother of all life”) and Adam (“Earthling”) are unhoused vegetarian nudists living in bliss – and blissful ignorance – in the bubble of perfection of the Garden of Eden. There is no...
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