Silence Implicates Us

“The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.” These words were spoken by Rabbi Joachim Prinz, one of two Jews to speak at the March on Washington in 1963 alongside the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Rabbi Prinz knew of which he spoke, having served the Jewish community...
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Jewish Health Care

The old joke is told about a proud Jewish parent flying to Washington to attend their child’s inauguration as the first Jewish president of the United States. They strike up a conversation with the stranger sitting next to them on the airplane, who asks why they’re flying to D.C. “Well, my daughter Julie is a...
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Love as Resistance (Parshat Vayakhel)

Commentary on Parshat Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1 – 38:20) “He made the washbasin of copper and its stand of copper, from the mirrors of the women.” (Exodus 38:8) Parshat Vayakhel describes the mishkan, the portable desert sanctuary, as filled with beautiful items created from donated materials. Near its entrance stood a copper washbasin, a public fountain...
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What Progressive Jewishness Could Have Been

A D’var Torah for Parshat Mishpatim by Allen Lipson As workers across the country lead backs-to-the-wall organizing drives in the long odds of a COVID economy, Parshat Mishpatim’s labor laws offer a timely opportunity to reclaim the legacy of Rav Avraham Bick’s Mishnas Ha’Poel (The Teaching of the Worker), an all-but-forgotten tale of Jewish class...
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Our Wealth is Not Our Own: What Is Jewish Power For?

...the Torah teaches us that the particular and the universal are inextricably intertwined. Just as we need partners in the fight against antisemitism, we must use our power to become partners to others in the fights for social, racial, and economic justice. As the Talmud says, ​​even a poor person who is sustained from tzedakah must also perform tzedakah (Gittin 7b). When we feel the fragility of our power, when we feel we need help, even then – precisely then – we must share what we have with others.
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When Grief Turns to Rage

Jewish leaders need to be authoritative and steadfast in ensuring that September 11th and its commemorations do not provide annual pretense for rage against Muslims (and Sikhs and the countless others conflated with Muslims). Nor can we allow political opportunists to seize upon our unresolved grief and pain once again. 
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