For Shavuot, we have compiled a reader of three essays, each responding to vital questions for our work. As we celebrate receiving the Torah amidst the brokenness of a world struggling with rising authoritarianism and rife with human rights abuses, each of us committed to the work of repairing that world is called to think through how these pieces of our lives fit together.
Are Torah and/or revelation necessary for us as Jews committed to justice work? Why are progressive values not enough on their own?
Rabbi Avigayil Halpern questions the “necessity” of Torah for justice work and demands we think through Torah as beautifying rather than required in building a better world. READ >>
Rabbi Heather Shore argues that the revelation at Sinai offers a spiritual antidote to today’s growing crisis of social distrust and insularity by binding the Jewish people into a covenant rooted in awe, action, and mutual accountability. She reflects on the sacred power of responsibility and solidarity, essential to sustaining both community and moral action. READ >>
Rabbi Jonah Winer argues that Torah is not separate from humanity’s ethical impulses but woven into creation itself, and that when approached with humility and openness, Torah deepens our innate capacity for justice, compassion, and recognition of the Divine image in all beings. READ >>
May we all be blessed to receive the Torah anew this year and build a world that lives up to its beauty.