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Photo of the author, Rabbi Elyse Wechterman

Pekudei: Learning From, Not Erasing, Our Broken Tablets

The administration is tearing apart the historical narrative of the United States, denying the verifiable truth that more people have been left out of the American dream than included in it, that brutality had a role in building this country, and that we have inherited both the gloriousness of the nation’s founding ideas and the shame of our failure to live up to them.

“Project Esther”: Exploiting Jewish Fear to Advance Dangerous Policy

Created in collaboration with The Nexus Project. Learn what Project Esther is, why it’s dangerous, how it’s showing up in policy right now, and what Jewish leaders can do about it. Plus: Texts related to the biblical Esther to explore with your communities and inspire your resistance. The perfect tool for pre-Purim text study or learning throughout the month of Adar.

A person wearing a kippah that says end the war.

A Prayer for Gaza and to Preserve Our Humanity

By Rabbis Felicia Sol and Roly Matalon of B’nai Jeshurun in New York City.

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Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson

Beshalach: No More Solitary Confinement in NYC

by Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson
There is a deep and abiding power in saying to those who have died as a result of solitary confinement. We cannot bring back those we lost, but we can sanctify their memories by continuing to fight for a city that is dedicated to human rights for all.
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Rabbi Elyse Wechterman

Bereshit: On Being Human, in God’s Image

by Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
I believe one reason we dispose of people who have done harm (or are accused of doing harm) is to avoid looking at ourselves and our own baser natures.
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VaEt’chanan: Torah as a Life-Giving Force

by Rabbi Danny Stein
No matter the circumstances, each imprisoned and formerly imprisoned person deserves a life filled with dignity.
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Shabbat Hazon: Massachusetts Reimagining Communities Sermon & Study Toolkit

by Cantor Vera Broekhuysen, with resources from Rabbi Becky Silverstein, Rabbi Jim Morgan, and Rabbi Shahar Colt
T'ruah invites Massachusetts clergy to use this toolkit as a way to connect the decarceration of women and girls in the Commonwealth with Shabbat Hazon.
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Seeing God in All of Us: Even (Especially) Those on Death Row

by Rabbi Michael Bernstein
When someone like Kenneth Smith is praying even as he is lying on a bed of death, how can we pass by once we are made aware, awakened to God's presence there? 
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Walking Free: Democracy and Incarceration

by Rabbi David Dunn Bauer
Of all the places I have served in a rabbinic capacity, the maximum-security prison where I serve now is the most religious.
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Rabbi Benjamin Zober

Well-Practiced at Punishment

by Rabbi Benjamin Zober
...In our seats, we forgive ourselves for these sins, the ones we committed and those we did not. But outside of the synagogue, we continue to hold others, who actually seek teshuvah for many of those same sins, forever in chains.
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Michael Zoosman quote

Abolition, Abolition Shall You Pursue!

by Cantor Michael Zoosman
...justice comes in many forms. It is not, as many mistakenly think, mostly punishment and consequences.
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Returning from the Narrow Place

by Rabbi Steven Jacobs
In our tradition, from any place on earth, even in a prison cell, there is always the possibility of teshuvah — a return.
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Why is the Torah So Silent About Prisons?

by Rabbi Greg Hersh
The Torah commands us to be a nation of priests and to make the earth a place for God to dwell. And it’s not possible to do that from behind bars.
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