D'var Torah
Democracy: Remembering Where We Are Going
A d’var Torah for Yitro (Ex.18:1-20:23) by Rabbi Gordon Tucker. The Book of Eikhah (Lamentations) contains this apparently oxymoronic phrase when speaking of how ancient Judea had lost its moral way: “It did not remember its future” (1:9). What could it mean to remember something that is not in the past? The usual ways of...
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Chester Hollman III Has a Lot of Torah to Teach Us
Chester Hollman III understands what it means to endure the trials and tribulations of the wilderness while dreaming of the Promised Land.
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How Teshuvah Can Inform Our Thinking on Slavery and Reparations
In a d’var Torah for Parshat Bo, Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari suggests teshuvah may provide a framework for thinking about reparations.
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Freedom Means Thinking for Oneself, Too
In this week’s d’var torah on Parshat VaEra, Bard College President Leon Botstein asks just what kind of freedom Moses was demanding.
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No Shortcuts to Liberation, Alas
In this week's d'var torah on Parshat Shemot, NYC Councilman Brad Lander draws connections between patterns of oppression and resistance then and now.
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Arts of Losing: Joseph and His Brothers, Religious Nationalism, and Democracy
Joy Ladin applies the 'art of losing' to Joseph, his brothers, and religious nationalists in this d'var torah for Parshat Vayechi.
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We Choose To Keep People Hungry. We Don’t Have To.
Abby Leibman analyzes our attitudes towards hunger in this d'var torah on parshat Vayigash.
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One Candle at a Time
Jeremy Ben-Ami of J Street offers a small candle of hope (originally published in 2019).
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Walking in Tamar’s Shoes
Cindy Greenberg examines the troubling story of Tamar in this d'var torah on Parshat Vayeshev.
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Discomposing Our Culture of Toxic Masculinity
Rabbi Sharon Brous calls for an end to toxic masculinity as we read about the rape of Dina in this week's torah portion, Vayishlach.
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