The Disastrous Effects of a Scarcity Mindset

Parshat Toldot is a cautionary tale, in which the disastrous effects of the scarcity mindset are illuminated; it comes to highlight its devastating impact in our world. In contrast, a mindset of abundance can pay dividends.
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Dream Until It’s Your Reality

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.
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Rabbi Lisa D. Grant, Ph.D.

Sukkot: The Tikkun of Climate Action

Let Sukkot be our call to action this year. May it give us the spiritual resolve to live in the midst of great uncertainty and challenge, and to take action to pursue climate justice in this vast interconnected world of ours.
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Rabbi Daniel Plotkin

Vayechi: Blessing Israel to Be a Levi

Peace is difficult. It requires understanding, listening, and a great deal of courage. May we have the courage to speak this truth to power, and may those in power have the courage to hear our message.
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Photo of the author, Rabbi Michal Woll

Bechukotai: God and Us Under Stress

[Unders stress,] we are often functioning far from our cores, where we can access our unique strengths and talents, offer our best selves, and hear – and perhaps even seek – other voices.
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Where Have All The Flowers Gone

“Where have all the flowers gone.” For a host of reasons, I hate loving this song: especially at this time of year. I look forward to loving this song, when it will no longer speak to me. This song is about the cycle of life and death. Our life cycles are a normal part of...
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“The Part About The Stars”

The girl who will become bat mitzvah in my shul on Parshat Lech Lecha has noted that her special day falls a week before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, which members of her family witnessed. So she requested I let her leyn her portion from the Czech “Shoah” scroll in our ark. Those who possess such...
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Take With You Words

I do a lot of driving and often listen to sixties music while in the car. Like many people, I do not always pay attention to the lyrics, but lately every time I hear “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire I find myself listening more carefully, lamenting the fact that humanity has not made as...
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The Work of Teshuvah

According to the Jewish tradition, the period of repentance continues after Yom Kippur until the end of Sukkot. These days may continue to be an opportunity for reflection, but these final days of the holidays are days of celebration. Though none of us know what our fates hold for us, we act as if the...
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