Our Positions & Policies

Two Sovereign States for Israelis and Palestinians The world is sustained by justice, truth and peace: דין אמת ושלום. As rabbis, cantors, and Jewish community members who love and care deeply about Israel, we believe that a just and secure future for Israelis and Palestinians will best be achieved by a negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...
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Rabbi Henry Zoob quote

Going Beyond Rectifying Poverty

These passages (from this week's parshah) go beyond the basic responsibility of physically helping the poor; they challenge us to take into account their dignity and personhood.
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Encompassing the Truth in Four Directions

In college, I used to tutor inner city middle school students through an organization called Making Waves. Once during a staff training, I was placed in a group with two Latinx tutors and two black tutors; the other group consisted of five white tutors. When my group playfully accused the supervisors of dividing us up...
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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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Redigging the wells

In the struggle over democracy, it is not just about big ideas, levers of power, or sums of money: It is about human lives.
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The Pharaohs of Contemporary Politics

Passover is often referred to as a holiday of Freedom and Justice. One of the most common Biblical quotes when referring to the mitzvah of tzeddek/Justice, Freedom, and Passover is found in Dt. 16:20: “Tzeddek tzeddek tirdof. Justice, Justice shall you pursue.” This verse, of course, assumes you know what justice is so you can...
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Sanctuary Cities: No Walk in the Dog Park

Commentary on Parshat Masei (Numbers 33:1 – 36:13) When I take my dog to the dog park, he loves to run from picnic table to picnic table and dive underneath them, seeking shade and safety. The picnic tables are a safe zone, a refuge, a sanctuary. Between 1980 and 1991, nearly one million Central Americans fled...
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Is there comfort after such pain?

People experience the deep pain at different times: when a personal tragedy or loss shakes us to our core. When an eye opening experience shocks us into reassessing reality. When we recognize that truths we held as self-evident were not shared by others. For many, in both political parties, the world fell apart (again) during...
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Jacob the Immigrant

On October 5, supporters of immigration reform staged rallies in cities across the United States to advocate for a comprehensive overhaul of a system that routinely disregards basic dignity and respect. After Shabbat services that week, some congregants and I attended the New York-area rally on Cadman Plaza, just steps from our shul. When we...
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