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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 Yair Robinson

Vayetze: How We Choose to See the World

by Rabbi Yair Robinson
We must not merely curse the world as irreconcilably wicked, incapable of beauty, love, or justice. Rather, we must bless what is good, offering our gratitude for the holiness in our lives and in each other, so that we may see to our work to repair the world with that much more love and compassion.
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Rabbi Noah Arnow

Vayetze: Could Israel Have Done Better? Can We?

by Rabbi Noah Arnow
May we have the courage to engage across difference. May we find partners who warrant and share that courage, and may we merit their courage. And may we be certain of the incompleteness of our truth, yet dedicated to seeking a truth that is more whole.
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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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Dream Until It’s Your Reality

by Rabbi Alex Kress
Like Jacob’s dream, our justice work must be grounded in this world, absorbing the pain of everyday injustice with our hearts open to those suffering. And yet, our work must remain aspirational, reaching for the sky and not settling for anything less than our basic demands of human dignity and human rights.
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When One Line Makes All the Difference

by Rabbi Abby Stein
Yet to this day it taught me a most valuable lesson: the power of representation. The power of one line in a teaching, sermon, saying of a teacher, or political statement. Because it might seem minor to so many, yet you never know who is going to be the nine-year-old who might find themselves in it.
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Healing the Rift: Jacob’s Ladder & the Great Law of Peace

by Rabbi Zelig Golden
When President Trump announced that he would no longer receive The New York Times or Washington Post at the White House, I was struck that a sitting President would brazenly cut out half of America’s civil discourse to justify his domination of American politics. I felt how deep the rift in our politics has become,...
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Turning the Tables on Accusers and Abusers (Parshat Vayetze)

by Rabbi Philip Gibbs
Given Jacob’s many troubles, it may seem like the angels who followed him outside of the land of Israel were not doing a good job of protecting him, but they may have given Jacob exactly the support and protection he needed at exactly the right moment.
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Jacob and Laban: How Not To Do Healthcare

by Rabbi Seth Goldstein
A few months ago I received a letter from my health insurance company telling me that they were cancelling my insurance plan, and that as of December 31 I would have to find new coverage. I was not alone in this scenario, as this particular company cancelled plans in several counties in my state. The reason, as...
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First They Came

by Rabbi Michael Adam Latz
Rabbi Michael Adam Latz's response to Pastor Martin Niemoller (z"l)'s "First they came" poem: "First they came for the African Americans and I spoke up— Because I am my sisters’ and my brothers’ keeper..."
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The Long View

by Rabbi Jonathan Biatch
“Sorry, Rabbi, but I just don’t get it. How could God treat Jacob so well, considering he was a thief who snatched Esau’s birthright from under his soup-filled mouth, and a liar who disguised himself to steal his father’s blessing intended for his brother? This is how God rewarded this selfish brat: adequate food and...
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