Text Study

T’ruah, a network of more than 2,000 rabbis and cantors across the U.S. and Canada, calls on AIPAC attendees not to attend the speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Jewish law prohibits speaking and listening to lashon hara (evil speech), consorting with evildoers, and swaying a court case. Netanyahu regularly engages in speech that...

In December 2015, T’ruah organized Jewish communities and individuals to study this text over Shabbat, as a response to incitement against activists in Israel. It is a talk given by Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion and a major figure in the Orthodox movement, in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak...

Freedom of speech is an ancient Jewish value, as well as a keystone of democracy. Even if we find certain speech distasteful or disruptive, we all lose when we attempt to quash such speech—as long as it does not rise to the level of inciting violence. Boycotts have long been defined as a form of...

This text study, intended for the week of the 2019 Women’s March and beyond, invites us to reflect on our national political circumstances, their bearing on human rights, and where we might go from here. It pairs classical Jewish sources with contemporary writings and can also serve as the basis for a d’var Torah. Order...

This two-pager FAQ addresses the Nation-State Law and other legislation passed by the Knesset this summer that weakens Israel’s democratic institutions. It is followed by two pages of quotations from classical and contemporary Zionist thinkers and leaders that remind us of how important democracy is to Zionism. Included in the FAQ are links to more...

From May 14-June 22, 2018, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival launched 40 days of “nonviolent moral fusion direct action,” calling on our country to change course on the deep moral crises that threaten our democracy and our survival. T’ruah supported the campaign in a variety of ways, including by publishing...

In recognition of Israel’s 70th birthday, we have created a resource to try, in a condensed way grounded in Jewish tradition, to reckon with the fullness of what 70 years means for the Jewish state. This resource brings the voices of four rabbis, commenting, as if on a page of Talmud, on four verses from...

This two page source sheet has applications both for the issue of domestic gun sales and gun violence and regarding international arms sales, whether by Israel or the US.

For Pesach 2018, T’ruah offers this short, text-and-photos conversation starter about Jewish women’s resistance over the centuries. Bring it to your seder for use with the Four Children, the story of the Israelites’ enslavement, or a springboard for discussing the #MeToo movement.

This discussion guide and text study, created for Human Rights Shabbat 2017 but widely applicable to any time of year, asks us to consider what it means to bring holiness to the front lines of our activism. Also suitable as sermon sparks.