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.
Drawing Near to Injustice
There are moments when we want to close our eyes, to stop listening, and to take a break from what ails the world.
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Democracy and Elections
Text studies, divrei Torah, placards, and more resources for elections.
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Jewish Texts On Fair Voting And Just Elections
"In the form we know them today, popular elections – where all adult citizens vote for their leaders – are the product of western democracies."
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Looking backward, looking forward: A year of Torah 20/20
A d’var Torah for Simchat Torah. Rabbi Avi Katz Orlow is the Vice President at the Foundation for Jewish Camp. He has a deep love of irreverent, relevant, and revealing Torah and blogs religiously at saidtomyself.com. Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson is Director of Rabbinic Training at T’ruah and the editor of Torah 20/20. Rabbi...
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Listening Leads to Understanding, Which Leads to God
A d'var Torah for Shavuot by Congressman Jerry Nadler, originally published in 2020.
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Yom Yerushalayim Obscures The Reality of Modern Jerusalem
A d’var Torah for Yom Yerushalayim by Daniel Seidemann. Jerusalem Day, Yom Yerushalayim, which is this coming Friday, was created by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, the Rabbanut, in the wake of the 1967 war, and subsequently enshrined as a national holiday under law. A religious commemoration of the “reunification” of Jerusalem when Hallel is said,...
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Judging a Sovereign: How the Judges are Judged
With thanks to our chaver Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, who brought these texts to our attention, this sheet delves into what happens when a sovereign goes on trial and the judges buckle under fear of him. It gives us Jewish language for grappling with corruption, complicity, and power.
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Resisting Tyrants Seder Supplement
A supplemental reading and discussion prompts for your Passover seder, as you retell the story of our slavery in Egypt. We recommend you download and print this beautifully designed PDF in full color, but you can also scroll down for the full text. Our oppression in Egypt was the...
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On Not Attending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s AIPAC Speech: Jewish Sources and Analysis
T’ruah, a network of more than 2,000 rabbis and cantors across the U.S. and Canada, calls on AIPAC attendees not to attend the speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Jewish law prohibits speaking and listening to lashon hara (evil speech), consorting with evildoers, and swaying a court case. Netanyahu regularly engages in speech that...
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Torah Against Incitement
In December 2015, T’ruah organized Jewish communities and individuals to study this text over Shabbat, as a response to incitement against activists in Israel. It is a talk given by Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion and a major figure in the Orthodox movement, in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak...
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