Vayera
Vayera: War Ethics from Kabbalah
What feels so hard in this moment is that I don’t know what the right course of action is. One of the problems I see in the world’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack is a preponderance of either Chesed or Gevurah thinking.
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The Wisdom of Welcome
Welcome, it appears, does not end at the door. It is a commitment to walk with vulnerable guests as they emerge from the protection of our homes and enter the public square.
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In Our Rabbis’ Eyes, “Sodomy” Meant Toxic Selfishness
As a whole, the rabbinic discussions about Sodom demonstrate that, for the rabbis, the true definition of “sodomy” is toxic selfishness combined with an extreme devotion to property rights.
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Drawing Near to Injustice
There are moments when we want to close our eyes, to stop listening, and to take a break from what ails the world.
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Vayera: Two Models of Governance
Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky reflects on the sins of Sodom and modern-day parallels in this d'var torah on parshat Vayera.
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Report from El Paso, November 2019
A firsthand account from Rabbi Jill Jacobs, T'ruah Executive Director, of the joint T'ruah-HIAS border delegation, November 2019.
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Is Three a Magic Number? (Parshat Vayera)
Commentary on Parshat Vayera (Genesis 18:1 – 22:24) This edition of Torah from Truah is sponsored by Dale Gardner in memory of her sister Rhonda Kolarik. “Three is a magic number.” One can surely ascribe meaning to almost any number or any letter of the alphabet. But let’s consider the number three for a moment....
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Controlling Anger
I never saw my beloved teacher, Abraham Joshua Heschel, lose control as he stood up for some of the most urgent issues of his time, civil rights for all, ending the war in Vietnam, and liberation for Soviet Jews. His words burned with passion as did his actions. His presence, the intense look in his...
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Promises Broken, Promises Kept
In Parshat Vayera, we are reminded of the crucial role water plays in the life of all human communities. In Genesis 21, we read about the banishment of Hagar and Yishmael from their home, and how God revealed a well of water in Hagar’s moment of despair. Immediately following this, the Torah describes a negotiation...
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An Echo of Shofar
At the end of June, my husband and I took our daughter, Zohar, to Harrisburg. She was six months old at the time. We each put on a tallit (the baby’s was a black onesie screen-printed with an image of a tallit) and gathered in a tent on the Capitol steps along with rabbis, cantors...
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