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We are responsible for one another. A society cannot call itself just while the sick are impoverished. It cannot call itself prosperous while the vulnerable are denied basic health care.

Even if you are feeling a lack of empathy for an “other,” God does not make that distinction. God wants to be in relationship with both of you. May this profound teaching inspire us to resist the dehumanization of any group of human beings.

Perhaps this midrash holds out a hope that any of us can be transformed to meet the needs of the moment. And perhaps we can find a way to change the course of today’s story so it does not have to end in wholesale destruction.

...if we want the soil of our land to live up to our hopes for it, we must hold to our faith — whether that is in God, in the land itself, or, in our case, the conviction of the cause(s) we are working for — and believe that we will reap the fruits of our labor.

Of course, we are scared when faced with giants, or when we are fed terrifying misinformation. It is what we do with our fears and anxiety that is a key to Jewish spirituality.

To put our trust in the gods of militarism and brute strength, to conflate the presence of God with armed combat, is to succumb to idolatry, to assimilate into a culture that conflates might and morality, violence and virtue.

My Torah for this week urges each of us to walk into the unknown. Let our written lines, mixed in with the words of others--ancient and contemporary--make a path, embodied.

Rabbi Josh Whinston calls for moral scouts in our own times.

Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz writes about Parshat Sh'lach-Lecha.

Rabbi Cynthia Kravitz writes about Parshat Sh'lach-Lecha.