Photo of the author, Rabbi Sarah Weissman

Ki Tetze: Safety and Dignity for All Workers

The Torah teaches us that we have a special duty, not only to avoid exploiting, but to actively care for the poorest and most vulnerable in our communities. As we celebrate Labor Day, let us do all we can to ensure that every person [especially immigrant workers] can live and work in safety and dignity.

Responsibility, Guilt, Teshuva

Sources and guiding questions to help inspire and support Jewich clergy as they bring the ethical teachings of our tradition to their communities this High Holiday season.

Changing the Conversation: A Resource for Israel and Palestine Education

Want to read this resource as a pdf? Download here. What is this resource? In this moment of heartbreak, overwhelm, and moral reckoning, many of us are searching for ways to have authentic conversations about the realities on the ground in Israel and Palestine. So many in our communities are yearning to connect with people...

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FAQ About Weakening Democracy in Israel

This two-pager FAQ addresses the Nation-State Law and other legislation passed by the Knesset this summer that weakens Israel’s democratic institutions. It is followed by two pages of quotations from classical and contemporary Zionist thinkers and leaders that remind us of how important democracy is to Zionism. Included in the FAQ are links to more...
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Al Chet Sh’chatanu

by Rabbi Samantha O. Kahn
I felt rage and disappointment in their choices and positions. Being a rabbi in Texas meant I was constantly trying to connect our moral traditions to political action, while simultaneously removing any hint of partisanship from the conversation. For a long time, I walked the delicate balance, recognizing that while our values relate to our...
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El Maleh Rachamim for Victims of Racial Violence

El Maleh Rachamim is the memorial prayer recited at funerals and during Yizkor, the memorial service included in Yom Kippur and other festival services. This version honors the memory of all those who have been murdered throughout America’s history because of their race–those who died under slavery or the Native American genocide, those lynched or bombed,...
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The Work of Teshuvah

by Philip Gibbs
According to the Jewish tradition, the period of repentance continues after Yom Kippur until the end of Sukkot. These days may continue to be an opportunity for reflection, but these final days of the holidays are days of celebration. Though none of us know what our fates hold for us, we act as if the...
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Take With You Words

by Rabbi Sally J. Priesand
I do a lot of driving and often listen to sixties music while in the car. Like many people, I do not always pay attention to the lyrics, but lately every time I hear “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire I find myself listening more carefully, lamenting the fact that humanity has not made as...
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T’shuvah, Hope and the Struggle for Justice

by Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger
It’s hard to hope for peace these days. The ceasefire in Gaza holds but there is no political breakthrough; President Obama has just announced a new and complex military action against a brutal enemy in Iraq and Syria; Ukraine is bleeding, and anti-Semitism in Europe has turned ugly and violent. Here at home, the suburbs...
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