Balak
Balak: Bilam’s Donkey: Judaism’s First Emotional Support Animal
As we draw nearer to the November elections, we see constant reminders that our democracy is a work-in-progress. By practicing democracy — working to get out the vote, engaging in conversation, writing letters to the editor — we will make democracy a reality.
more
Chukat-Balak: Seeing Ourselves Through the Eyes of Others
I like to imagine that Balaam’s words changed us and shook us out of our complaining so that we could see ourselves in a fresh way.
more
The Power of Bearing Witness
Balaam models being an independent and critical thinker... He refuses to stoke the hot coals of fear that demonize the other.
more
If Only I Had Known, I Would Have Changed For The Better
For the rest of us, it took ground penetrating radar, and other technologies which render the invisible visible, to wake us up. But for the Indigenous communities most directly affected, none of that was needed. The voices we most desperately need to be listening to already knew. They already saw.
more
Purell, Red Heifers, and Why Not Being Racist Isn’t Enough
And at some point, I looked down at my hands and my children’s hands, spotless from washing, no dirt under our nails, and I thought about the historical chain of racist violence and state-sanctioned brutality that our hands grasped. Our social system makes certainty of our cleanliness an impossibility. Quite the opposite: we are all unclean, no matter how much we may have washed.
more
Opening Our Eyes
Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein analyzes Balaam's blindness and points to our own blind spots in this drash on Parshat Balak.
more
Good Tents Help You Really See
Commentary on Parshat Balak For the past 10 years, I’ve been leading my synagogue’s children’s school team, yearly, in a 5k walk that likely none of you have ever heard of. The Save Our Homes Walk Somerville is indeed a very small local effort. Its purpose is to raise cash for keeping people on the verge of...
more
Balak and Solitary: Dealing With Our Desire To Curse Those Who Harm Us
"In this reorientation from one way of doing things to a better one lies the relevance, power, and teaching for our broken criminal justice system today."
more
Seeing the Invisible
With the collective stress of thousands of commuters all trying to get from point A to point B, subway transit in New York can be a little overwhelming. When I’m in the city, I deal with the stress like many fellow riders— I behave as though surrounded by a protective bubble. I notice just enough...
more