Choosing a Life-Giving Narrative

In this week’s d’var torah on Parshat Mishpatim, Judith Plaskow notes that it is easy to focus on those passages in the Torah that are inspiring and uplifting, or to depict US history as a continuing march toward equality and freedom, passing over in silence the aspects of both narratives that are troubling or oppressive.
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From Furious to Curious

I wonder how the story would have unfolded if God had been curious rather than furious, and if when Moses came down from the mountain and witnessed the dancing, he had been able to pause and observe, noticing the feelings arising and waiting to respond until his anger had quieted down. Was it reasonable to expect these newly freed slaves, who were just beginning to experiment with their sense of autonomy, to simply wait patiently for Moses to return? 
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One Year After the Hard-Hearted Insurrection of January 6, 2021

The parshah is pushing us to learn from the insurrection – and not ever to forget it — in service of a larger goal. When major moments like this shock our systems, a part of us needs to embrace that shock and allow it to become constructive, something to propel us forward into courageous action.
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Vayikra: Mincha and Roses

To stand for human dignity means not only insisting on the right to basic survival needs, but the right to live fully — to experience joy, pleasure, love, friendship, beauty.
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Photo of the author, Yael Marans

Naso: The Burdens We Cannot See

For me, acknowledging what I cannot see lies at the heart of community building. It helps me feel connected to the humanity of people in my circles and in the broader world, as ultimately the invisible heaviness of experience is one of the things that I know to be true of being human.
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Meet our 2024 Gala Honorees

Raphael Lemkin Human Rights Award From the arts, to the United Nations, to Human Rights Watch, Marina Kaufman has dedicated her life to human rights for all people. In 1978, she became involved with an organization called the University for Peace in Costa Rica, where she was one of the “producers” of a benefit concert...
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