This week’s parshah opens with the command, “Give yourself judges and administrators to carry out just decisions…” (Deut. 16:18) On the face of it, this seems to be about how society should be ordered. It needs police, judges, lawyers, and a whole mechanism of justice in order to function rightly. Rather than each individual carrying...
“Praying for freedom never did me any good ‘til I started praying with my feet.” – Frederik Douglas “On the seventh day there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred occasion. You shall do no work.” – Leviticus 23:2-3 (Parshat Emor) We are blessed to live in a thriving democracy. Though American and...
The girl who will become bat mitzvah in my shul on Parshat Lech Lecha has noted that her special day falls a week before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, which members of her family witnessed. So she requested I let her leyn her portion from the Czech “Shoah” scroll in our ark. Those who possess such...
Jacob said to his kin: Gather stones. They took stones, made a mound, and ate there by the mound. Laban called it Yegar-Sahaduta, but Jacob called it Gal-Ed. (Gen 31:46-47) Two different languages, the same name. Witness-mound. Laban’s name for the site of this peace treaty is in Aramaic; Jacob’s is in Hebrew. How did...
“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...
The daughters of Zelophehad had previously been disenfranchised by the system but were able to advocate for themselves and not only did God heed their request, God changed the law entirely. We must act as the daughters of Zelophehad and reconcile the injustices we find.
I yearn to live in a generation where everyone, including our leaders, recognizes that leaders sin; where our leaders admit their mistakes, are held accountable, and where they actively make amends.
Mishpatim teaches that formal justice must be free of influence from bribes or wealth status, and that even the stranger deserves protection. In my home state of Montana, regressive laws recently passed in our 2023 state legislature have revoked rights and freedoms from Montana residents under the guise of “protection” and “freedom of speech."