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May we hear and take seriously others’ observations of us that we have erred, and may we admit our errors, when we realize them. May our leaders take seriously their obligation to examine their own actions, and to admit and take responsibility for their unwitting mistakes.

By Rabbis Felicia Sol and Roly Matalon of B’nai Jeshurun in New York City.

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.

Repair takes intention and responsibility, while destruction requires nothing but the will to destroy and the means to do it.

The Esther model seeks Jewish safety not by defying the status quo, the power structure, but by sucking up to it. It is safety without freedom. True liberation comes against totalitarian power, not by cozying up to it.

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.

We are living in a terrifying moment to be trans in America. When those in power try to take away your rights, being your authentic self is the most revelatory thing you can do. It is revolutionary and holy work.

From Rabbi Seth Goldstein: We know that this is a nation founded by massacre, built by slavery, maintained by exclusion, defined by inequality. And we also know that this nation promises equality, exercises resilience, evolves continuously, practices teshuvah.

Adar is a month that invites us into an ancient, collective experience. It calls us to cultivate joy, even when we do not feel it naturally. Our ancestors knew there would be Adars when joy was hard to find, yet they committed themselves to honor the spirit of the month, to dare to seek joy even in the hardest times.

By performing this mitzvah [of helping your enemy], we create an experience of cognitive dissonance, causing our enemy to question the assumptions of conflict between us.