Illustration by Rena Yehuda Newman

A JEWISH EMBRACE OF DEMOCRACY: Early Reconstructionist Judaism and America’s Promise

by Rabbi Deborah Waxman, PhD
Rabbi Deborah Waxman reflects on what Jewish tradition has to say about democratic practice.
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Illustration by Rena Yehuda Newman

NARRATING OUR HISTORIES IN SOLIDARITY: Lessons from the Civil Rights Congress

by Geffrey Adelsberg, PhD
New work by scholar Geoffrey Adelsberg, PhD on how Jews of past generations advanced groundbreaking multiracial coalition work, and what the tensions they faced — including racism within the Jewish community — say about conditions today.
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illustration by Rena Yehuda Newman

“THEY FOUGHT BACK, USING EVERYTHING THEY HAD AVAILABLE”: Democracy and Theology in Independent Afro-Jewish Communities

by Rabbi Walter Isaac, PhD and Rabbi Koach Baruch Frazier
A conversation between Rabbi Walter Isaac, PhD, and Rabbi Koach Baruch Frazier on the role of Black Judaic communities in innovating democratic ideals in the Americas.
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Tekiyah Gedolah Graphic

Civil Disobedience, Jews, and the Authoritarian State

by Rabbi Jonah Winer
The following is the first in T’ruah’s new thought leadership series, “Tekiyah Gedolah.” In a time of mounting authoritarianism in the United States, we must use the wisdom of our tradition to help us think through how to fight for democracy as diaspora Jews. How does our tradition guide us to respond to our present...
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Illustration of Grandma Nettie

GRANDMA SAYS NO!

by Jonah Canner
In a moment of such high stakes, we take heart and courage from Jonah Canner’s ode to his vibrant radical grandmother.
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Ballot box illustration

VOTING AND DEMOCRACY: One Possible Halakhic Approach

by Rabbi David Polsky
Rabbi David Polsky reflects on what Jewish tradition has to say about voting and democratic practice.
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Ladino socialist publication La Bos del Pueblo. Credit: New York Public Library.

A MULTI-ROOTED MOVEMENT: Sephardic Activists and Horizontal Alliances in the Early 20th Century

by Professor Devin E. Naar, PhD
New scholarly work on how Jews of past generations advanced groundbreaking multiracial coalition work, and what the tensions they faced — including racism within the Jewish community — say about conditions today.
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illustration by Rena Yehuda newman

A DIZZYING INVERSION AND AN URGENT PAUSE: Reading Trachtenberg in the 21st Century

by Ben Lorber
The second half of a debate across time between author Ben Lorber and Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg about American Jews’ strategies to resist antisemitism.
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illustration by Rena Yehuda newman

Excerpt from “STOP FASCISM: Preserve Democracy” (1937)

by Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg, PhD, with introduction by Rabbi Shirley Idelson, PhD
The first half of a debate across time between author Ben Lorber and Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg about American Jews’ strategies to resist antisemitism.
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BEING WITH OUR PEOPLE: Fear, Courage, and Coalition

by Jennifer Margulies
Jennifer Margulies shares thoughts on her family’s life under the Christian Right in Texas and how the very coalitions that can feel unbearable can also give us life.
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