Headshot of the author, Rabbi Victor Urecki

Pekudei: Culpability on the Southern Border

by Rabbi Victor Urecki
I went to Juárez seeking a window into what is happening along our southern border, but I left staring at a mirror of culpability and responsibility.
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Elevating Our Hearts and Spirits Towards Justice

by Rabbi Jonathan Biatch
The Mishkan was not just a compound our ancestors built; it is a state of mind that we can inhabit.
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Building Structures to House All Images of God

by Rabbi Adir Yolkut
It is incumbent upon us to create spaces for God to come into the world. I would add, if we are not doing everything we can to create structures to house all holy human beings, then we are not doing our part in imitating godliness. 
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Building a Temple of Democracy Together

by Amelia Wolf
"If we want our vaunted “Temple of Democracy” to contain actual holiness, it means we all must be able to build it up." A d'var Torah for Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudei by Amelia Wolf.
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And they Assembled

by Rabbi Tamara Cohen
A prayer for Shabbat Vayakhel-Pekudei 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Restoring the Dignity of Refugees Should Be Part of Living in a Democracy

by Sabrina Lustgarten
Sabrina Lustgarten, Country Director for HIAS in Ecuador, writes that Parshat Vayakhel emphasizes "the importance of harmonizing wills to achieve a common good."
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Creative Reconciliation (Parshat Pekudei)

by Rabbi Dr. Laura Duhan-Kaplan
Commentary on Parshat Pekudei (Exodus 38:21 – 40:38) Human beings can re-create the world, says the Torah in Parshat Pekudei. This is heartening news for Canadians. Only a few decades ago, the Canadian government supported the genocide of Indigenous peoples. But, with the closing of the last Indian residential schools, genocidal policies have come to...
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Education: The Building Blocks of Justice and Understanding

by Rabbi Jason Levine
“In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if [they are] denied the opportunity of an education,” U.S Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren declared in the famed case of Board v. Board of Education, almost 64 years ago. Decades later, in 2009, Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan...
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Encompassing the Truth in Four Directions

by Rabbi Brandon Bernstein
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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…And Not a Drop To Drink.

by Rabbi Jonah Geffen
“What gets me is how fast the state has just denied — ‘We can’t prove it’s the water,’” Mr. Monahan said. “I think they’re so afraid of tying nine deaths to this. The whole thing is just such a ridiculous tragedy.” (New York Times, February 23, 2016) From almost day one, it was obvious something...
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