Technicalities, Flames, and Democracy

Before I was a rabbi, I was a lawyer. Most of my legal career was spent assessing almost-inevitably doomed appeals. These were often criminal cases based upon what are popularly called “technicalities.” That work came back to me when I read the story of Nadav and Avihu, to which we return again this week in parshat...
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Kedoshim: Love the Stranger as Yourself

On a recent Sunday, I was invited to preach at a neighboring Episcopalian church. This church is unusual in that its members are a mixture of English and Spanish speakers. The vast majority of the Spanish speakers are undocumented immigrants and their children. My congregation has been working with this church community to support and, if...
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Miracle Of Miracles (Chanukah)

Commentary on Shabbat Chanukah I’ve always had a problem with the familiar Chanukah story, which highlights the Maccabees’ unlikely victory over the Greeks and the kindling of the menorah from one jar of oil that lasted eight nights. “Miraculous war” surely represents a quintessential definition of oxymoron; a jar of oil burning for eight nights...
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On Human Rights Day, Choosing to Remember

December 10 is International Human Rights Day, marking 70 years since the passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, seven months after the creation of the State of Israel and one day after the passage of the UN Convention on Genocide. When T’ruah was founded, back in 2002, Rabbi Gerry...
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Who Feels the Pain? (Parshat VaEra)

Commentary on Parshat Vaera (Exodus 6:2 – 9:35) Who deserves human rights? Even the Torah has its blind spots. The Torah portion VaEra describes an escalating cycle. As YHWH predicts, Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh and he refuses to free the Israelites. A plague strikes, and Pharaoh relents. The plague is removed by divine intervention,...
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Tefillat HaDerekh from Montgomery, Alabama

  Written during the T’ruah delegation to the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice, January 26-28, 2020 Rabbi Nina H. Mandel Bo Bo el Par’oh Come after the oppressor Join the trouble Muster your strength Gird your loins Mobilize your anger Disrupt, disrupt, disrupt Watch for bias Cry out for truth Soften...
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