(M)oral Torah

We find that we have to learn from our ancestors with a dual dose of humility and chutzpah: both to learn from their wisdom, and also to transcend their limitations.

'On Rosh Hashanah, it is written and on Yom Kippur, it is sealed: How many will die and how many will be born? Who will live and who will die?' This is one of the most beloved and troubling of Rosh Hashanah prayers. But such is the power of great poetry.

Looking back can be terrifying. We are further protected by being a part of the covenantal community, thus we can look back safely, unflinchingly, to the very real horrors that have shaped our communities and our lives.

What is the Torah inscribed on our lands and in our hearts? What Torah do we bring with us into a new land?

You may be familiar with the notion about the wounded healer, popularized by the author Henri Nouwen in his book by that name. He asserts: “When we become aware that we do not have to escape our pains, but that we can mobilize them into a common search for life, those very pains are transformed...

A self-proclaimed “melting pot,” a country that declared its independence by asserting that all men are created equal, should continue to be a sanctuary and refuge.

God entrusts us, flawed mortal beings as we are, with the responsibility to figure it out and take care of each other.

It is indisputable that there is serious, ongoing, and systemic racism in the institution of American law enforcement.

It is not enough to mourn. Mourning must be accompanied by actions that end the harm being done. 

Israel is too important for us to throw up our hands and turn away, just because it feels like we’re losing. Israel needs us and we need them.