Year-in-Israel Program

***As of October 7, our in-person Israel programs are on hold. Rabbinical and cantorial students in Israel can check back here for updates.*** About the Year-in-Israel Program The T’ruah Year-in-Israel Program offers rabbinical and cantorial students spending the academic year in Israel the opportunity to develop their moral voice on human rights issues in Israel...
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Rabbi Sid Schwarz

Rabbi Sid Schwarz is a social entrepreneur, author and teacher. He created and directs the Clergy Leadership Incubator (CLI), a program that trains rabbis to be visionary spiritual leaders.  He also created and directs the Kenissa: Communities of Meaning Network which is building the capacity of emerging spiritual communities across the country. Both projects are...
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An Echo of Shofar

At the end of June, my husband and I took our daughter, Zohar, to Harrisburg. She was six months old at the time. We each put on a tallit (the baby’s was a black onesie screen-printed with an image of a tallit) and gathered in a tent on the Capitol steps along with rabbis, cantors...
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The Just Harvest of Summer

The intoxicating smell of ripe fruit is just too enticing. My niece takes a bite from one of the peaches we have been picking from an orchard this morning. As the juice runs down her chin, she gives me a sheepish smile as if asking if it is OK for her to be doing this....
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Heart of a Stranger: The Jewish Historical Memory of Torture

You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt. -Ex. 23:9 You were strangers in the land of Egypt reminds us that we have experienced the great suffering that one in a foreign land feels. By remembering the pain which we...
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When Loved Ones Die

“Time will tell where love goes when one of its most radiant sources is ungraciously taken. Yet so many lean forward to give cover along the way.” I penned these words in March 2009, shortly after burying my 19-year-old son. It was a devastating experience to let go of my child. And yet, the loving...
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Klinghoffer and Me

Last week, my worlds collided. I once trained as an opera singer, and though I have traded Gluck for gemara, I remain a fervent supporter of the arts. I have a weekly appointment that brings me within a block of the Metropolitan Opera House, at Lincoln Center, and I often stroll through the plaza, admiring...
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