A D’var Torah for Parshat Beshalach by Rabbi Tova Leibovic-Douglas Someone asked me recently if I was a “Social Justice Rabbi.” I found the question odd, so I replied, “If you mean a rabbi that cares about everyone’s human rights and our world? Then yes, I am a Social Justice Rabbi.” And I continue to...
Like Jacob’s dream, our justice work must be grounded in this world, absorbing the pain of everyday injustice with our hearts open to those suffering. And yet, our work must remain aspirational, reaching for the sky and not settling for anything less than our basic demands of human dignity and human rights.
When anger is a mode of life or when expressed in an unjustified manner, it is prohibited by Judaism. But if a person is wronged, they are allowed to express their natural feelings, including anger.
Our Torah depicts what can happen to us in a world without water... Moses striking the rock to yield water is a vivid metaphor for the water-related violence that is breaking out all over our world — particularly in the Middle East, as well as in South Asia and Africa.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs (she/her) is the CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, an organization that trains and mobilizes more than 2,300 rabbis and cantors and their communities to bring a moral voice to protecting and advancing human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories. She is the author of...
Salem received her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College Rabbinical School in Boston, Mass. During her time there, she has served as the rabbinic intern at Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue and at the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts, and she was the Community Organizer at Temple Israel of Boston. She was also a mikveh guide at Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community...
Phoebe Ana Rabinowitsch is a student at Yeshivat Maharat expected to graduate in 2022. She grew up in South Florida and earned a B.A. in Religion and Anthropology from American University (Washington, DC). Phoebe Ana has completed various internships including at Hillel International and a national voter registration campaign. Phoebe Ana studied at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at Middlebury College Language Schools....