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Photo of the author, Rabbi Julie Hilton Danan

Emor:  Insiders and Outsiders

The devastating consequences of excluding “the other” reverberate through history and are particularly relevant in our current climate of nativism and xenophobia, where human beings are being exiled for their words, and the very term “inclusion” is being banished.

Capitol Building at sunset

“May We Create a Nation”: A New Prayer for Our Country

From Rabbi Seth Goldstein: We know that this is a nation founded by massacre, built by slavery, maintained by exclusion, defined by inequality. And we also know that this nation promises equality, exercises resilience, evolves continuously, practices teshuvah.

Lag BaOmer: From Mourning into Action

Rabbi Elana Nemitoff-Bresler on how thinking of Lag BaOmer as the end of shloshim also reminds us that we have to move from grief into action.

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Photo of the author, Rabbi Marc Gruber

Behar – Bechukotai: Abolish the Minimum Wage

by Rabbi Marc Gruber
We live in a privileged society. The Torah teaches that God judges us on how we meet our societal responsibility to provide for the most vulnerable people within our society. While we enjoy the blessings [of our privilege], we fail to meet the responsibility.
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Behar: Getting from Here to There

by Rabbi Moshe Heyn
We are returning from the mountain to the plains; from our highest ideals to the practicalities of daily living; from the most fundamental expression of holiness to where we are now.
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Behar-Bechukotai: Proclaiming Dror Throughout the Land

by Rabbi Michael Rothbaum
...modern American politics have alienated the word dror from the Jewish concept of liberty.
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Fostering an Equitable Urban Landscape

by Rabbi Michal Woll
In Parshat Behar, urban spaces were not considered a factor in the wellness and stability of society. Today, we must acknowledge our centuries of disenfranchisement and commit to fostering an urban landscape of equity and opportunity.
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Migrants on God’s Land

by Rabbi Rachel Greengrass
That’s how I found myself chanting and marching, yelling to children that they were not forgotten, that they were loved – while holding the hand of my youngest son, whom I love so much it hurts. Having a child is like letting your heart walk around outside of your body.
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It’s Not Enough to “Proclaim Liberty.” We Have to Do the Work.

by Rabbi Sally Priesand
In this d'var Torah for Behar-Bechukotai, Rabbi Sally Priesand draws connections between the Liberty Bell and other symbols and ensuring liberty in civic life.
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Justice for the Land and Its Inhabitants

by Rabbi Jill Hammer
Commentary on Parshat Behar (Leviticus 25:1 – 26:2) In Leviticus 25, the Torah famously explains the practice of the sabbatical year (shmitah) and the jubilee year (yovel), in which those who work the land refrain from farming in order to let the land rest. It’s not hard to see a connection between the ancient practice...
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A Yovel for the Poor People’s Campaign (Parshat Behar/Bechukotai)

by Rabbi Debra Kolodny
Commentary on Parshat Behar/Bechukotai (Leviticus 25:1 – 27:34) One week from today, Monday May 14, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival will launch across this country. As I prepare for this momentous event, I’m struck by the alignment of Torah and sacred season. This Shabbat when we read of the yovel...
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Praying That God Is Not Nauseous

by Rabbi Marcus Rubenstein
“The land vomits you out?!” one of my congregants in my weekly parshah class exclaimed. We were learning parshat Behar. I was trying to explain the conditions in which we are allowed by God to dwell in the land of Israel. In order to dwell in the land we must act with holiness, following God’s...
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Private Prisons, God’s People

by Rabbi Judith Hauptman, PhD
A number of years ago my husband’s nephew suggested that we invest some funds with him in high-risk high-yield bonds. We did. After earning a good return, I asked my husband what his nephew had done with our money. He answered that his nephew, among other ventures, had invested in for-profit prisons. I was horrified....
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