Resources
Featured Resources
Naso: Patriarchal Surveillance, Bodily Autonomy, and Longing for “a Regulated World”
This “regulated world” is only idyllic if you are the monitor and punisher of “deviation,” not the monitored and punished. For [the monitored and punished,] the longing instead is for a world that affirms the dignity of all people.
Criticism of Israel and Antisemitism: How to Tell Where One Ends and the Other Begins
In this time of inflamed passions, it’s crucial both to ensure that criticism of Israel does not cross the line into antisemitism, and to protect the free speech of those protesting Israel’s actions.
“May We Create a Nation”: A New Prayer for Our Country
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.
Why is the Torah So Silent About Prisons?
The Torah commands us to be a nation of priests and to make the earth a place for God to dwell. And it’s not possible to do that from behind bars.
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Favoring the Many, Not the Mighty
This is but one example in a web of inequity that favors an ever-shrinking group of American elites... And yet, one word — Ish, a person — repeated over and over again in the dictation of these mitzvot is a reminder that the work is indeed mine to do as an individual.
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The Holy Task of Welcoming People Re-Entering Society
The experiences of those returning from incarceration recall the Torah’s description of someone with tzara’at, an infectious and highly stigmatized skin disease.
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Doing Justice Justly
When our methods are just, our system doesn’t grant privileges to the powerful and strip protections from the vulnerable. As the Torah formulates it this week, “You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes.” The justice system ought to represent all equally...
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Tefillat HaDerekh from Montgomery, Alabama
Written during the T’ruah delegation to the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice, January 26-28, 2020 Rabbi Nina H. Mandel Bo Bo el Par’oh Come after the oppressor Join the trouble Muster your strength Gird your loins Mobilize your anger Disrupt, disrupt, disrupt Watch for bias Cry out for truth Soften...
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Report from El Paso, November 2019
A firsthand account from Rabbi Jill Jacobs, T'ruah Executive Director, of the joint T'ruah-HIAS border delegation, November 2019.
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Ruth: An Immigration Story
This text sheet uses excerpts from the Book of Ruth to begin a conversation about U.S. immigration policy. It is designed to segue into “The Sin of Sodom,” a text study that appears in the revised and expanded Mikdash handbook (p. 30-31). The second page of this resource contains a prayer for immigrant children and...
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Those who served their time deserve a second chance (Shabbat Nachamu)
A d’var Torah on Shabbat Nachamu Clarence Office, Jr., of Miami, FL, served in the U.S. Army for three years in the 1970s and was honorably discharged. Like many veterans, Clarence tragically fell into drug use and was arrested for drug offenses. He served a prison term and paid his debt to society. Clarence now...
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Every Person Counts? (Parshat Bamidbar)
Commentary on Parshat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20) Our Torah portion opens with the taking of another census of B’nai Yisrael – the Children of Israel – this time “listed by their clans, ages 20 years and up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms…” (Num. 1:2) This is census number three since the...
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The Mournfulness of Her Song: Hearing the Cries of the Enslaved
On my recent visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, I was moved to tears by one of the readings displayed in the darkened memorial room to those who were transported to America on slave ships from Africa. I learned that the chained slaves would sing songs of...
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