Id, Superego, and Israel

Parshat Sh’lach seems, at first glance, to have two totally disconnected halves. Part one is the story of the twelve scouts whom Moses sent to Canaan and their sin that led God to decree 40 years of desert wandering. Part two is a series of laws about sacrifices, tithing, repentance, and wearing tzitzit. But a...
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My trip to Immokalee

CONGREGATION SHA’AREI KODESH 2nd Day of Passover MARCH 27, 2013 ©  RABBI LOUIS RIESER   Hag kasher v’Sameah. I want to thank Rabbi Baum for this invitation to speak about my experience in Immokalee with T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.  In January I joined 9 other rabbis to learn first-hand about the conditions...
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You Can’t Leave Anyone Behind

I love Israel. But I could never live in a place called “the Jewish homeland” when progressive Jews are treated as second-class citizens. In Israel, the Orthodox establishment controls matters of personal status – primarily conversions and marriages. Jews who wish to be married, religiously, by a Conservative, Reconstructionist, or Reform rabbi generally leave the...
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Mikdash: Sanctuary Quickstart Guide

This two-page guide offers a starting point for how to think about joining the sanctuary movement. The accompanying text study offers some initial Jewish sources on the subject. A longer guide will be available in September 2017.  
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Yovel (Jubilee): Condensed Resources

If the full yovel sourcebook feels a little overwhelming, consider these two condensed forms as a starting point. The Yovel Sampler offers one text from each of the eight sections, in Hebrew and English, with discussion questions. It’s a great way to get the 30,000-foot view on yovel in a single class. The “Yovel at...
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Messianic Vision in a Zealous World

Zeal—In this day many of us are fired up. It is easy to see the injustice. It shouts at us every time we open our Facebook feeds, its red face looks up at us from the newspapers at our feet. We march, we sing, we chant. We scream out in agony demanding change. A while...
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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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In Time of Upheaval: Wonder & Awe OR Wealth & Wall?

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught that there are two ways of being in the world: “the way of expediency” and “the way of wonder.” In the former, we seek to take what we can from the world and others; in the latter, our focus is on how we can serve. When we are driven by...
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Racing to Justice, by john a. powell

A group of T’ruah chaverim has been reading and discussing Racing To Justice: Transforming our Conceptions of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society, by john a. powell (Indiana University Press, 2003). Rabbi Bob Gluck offers this five page digest of the book, with excerpts, as a resource for chaverim looking to learn more about...
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