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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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Photo of the author, Rabbi Shuli Passow

Shemot: Worthy to Be Named

by Rabbi Shuli Passow
The Torah deems Shifra, Puah, and Moses worthy of being named on the basis of their efforts to subvert the injustice that surrounds them. These leaders should push us to ask ourselves if we are fully inhabiting our named identities as we face today’s moral challenges.
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Cantor Sheri Allen

Shemot: The Burning Bush in my Backyard

by Cantor Sheri Allen
Despite his reservations, [Moses] is able to see that God’s presence illuminates even the most unassuming, seemingly dark and thorny places. May we, with all our insecurities, do the same.
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Getting to Know You

by Rabbi Brian Immerman
True relationships, born out of love and respect, take time to develop. These relationships require intimacy and occasionally discomfort in order to truly know each other.
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Finding God with Open Hearts

by Rabbi Nate DeGroot
When analysis or argument overrides wonder, do we risk ceding what we’re seeking in the first place? Do we risk hardened hearts like Pharaoh, even if our aim is holy?
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Moses the Radical

by Rabbi Andy Kahn
In his work The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire, a renowned 20th century Brazilian philosopher and teacher credited as one of the founders of critical pedagogy, defines the radical as one who is ”committed to human liberation..."
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No Shortcuts to Liberation, Alas

by Brad Lander
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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The Triple Lives of Refugees (Parshat Shemot)

by Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr
Commentary on Parshat Shemot (Exodus 1:1 – 6:1) The opening lines of the book of Exodus serve as a bridge between a family history and the birth of a nation. Somehow, in an infinitesimal span, the progeny of one man becomes an entire people: the Israelites. And a very prolific one at that. The new...
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Midwifing Resistance

by Rabbi Bill Plevan, Rabbi Sharon Brous, and Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson
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.
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“What Is That In Your Hand?”

by Ari Witkin, Rabbinical Student
Alone in the desert, a comfortable Moses is shepherding his flock when he is captivated by flames burning in the distance. Approaching with caution, the Torah tells us that Moses simply cannot turn away from the burning bush. As he moves closer and closer, God calls out to him, and he responds with a single...
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A Time for Realism, or a Time for Imagination?

by Cantorial Student Sarah Grabiner
For many of us, we anticipate that this week will be full of so much change and upheaval, fear and anger, anxiety and sadness, and hopefully also motivation and drive to act. So how do we respond in the face of great challenge? Our Israelite ancestors certainly faced some pretty trying circumstances, so what can...
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