Resources
Lech Lecha: A Wide Open Tent
If the tent, our home, is truly open on all sides, there is an understanding that each person is continuing onward on a different journey. Our Torah is blessing us to be just as supportive in saying goodbye as we are in saying hello.
VOTING AND DEMOCRACY: One Possible Halakhic Approach
Rabbi David Polsky reflects on what Jewish tradition has to say about voting and democratic practice.
Resources on Police Brutality, Protests, and the Black Lives Matter Movement
Prayers, text studies, divrei Torah, and general advice to the Jewish community, particularly white Jews, about how to be effective allies in this essential cause.
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Our Best Leaders May Be Those with the Least Power
A d’var Torah for Parshat Beha’alotecha by Matt Nosanchuk. Leadership lies at the center of our Jewish communal discourse, and rightfully so. Through tough times biblical, historical, and present, Jews have relied on a wide range of leaders, including patriarchs and matriarchs, kings and queens, prophets and prime ministers, soldiers and scholars, and, of course,...
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Counting everyone, including the stranger, for the 2020 Census
A d’var Torah for Parshat Naso. “The Eternal one spoke to Moses: Take a census.” This week’s Torah portion, Naso, focuses on one of the multiple censuses that was carried out, the census of the Levites in the desert. This year in the U.S. is our year to carry out the census — to be...
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“We Were All Once Strangers”: Emor and Inclusivity
A d’var Torah for Emor from community organizer Cole Parke. Coming out is a defining experience for most every queer person I know. This month marks 15 years since I first shared that part of myself publicly, and these days it’s a deeply integrated part of my identity — something that is far from secret,...
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Loving Israel with all of my Jewishness: A Photo Essay
In words and photographs, activist Gili Getz explores his complex relationship with the State of Israel. A d'var Torah for Parshat Kedoshim and Yom HaAtzma'ut.
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Lessons for Democracy from the Holocaust
A d’var Torah for Yom HaShoah. In many respects, World War II seemed like a triumph of democracy. When the Allies defeated the Axis powers, the world celebrated that democratic nations had been victorious against fascism. On May 8, 1945, Victory Day, Americans danced in the streets and threw confetti from the rooftops to celebrate...
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The Sacrificial Artform
In this d'var Torah for Parshat Tzav, novelist Ruby Namdar reflects on the power of sacrifice and sacrificial imagery.
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Everybody Hurts: Learning from Leviticus to Reclaim Public Ritual Repentance
In this d'var Torah for Parshat Vayikra, Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie examines our ancient tools for healing transgressions.
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Restoring the Dignity of Refugees Should Be Part of Living in a Democracy
Sabrina Lustgarten, Country Director for HIAS in Ecuador, writes that Parshat Vayakhel emphasizes "the importance of harmonizing wills to achieve a common good."
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Great Leaders Know When To Step Back
Parshat Tetzaveh is perhaps most noteworthy in the Torah for what it lacks: any mention of the name of Moses.
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