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.

Search Resources

Yom Yerushalayim Obscures The Reality of Modern Jerusalem

by Daniel Seidemann

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,...

It’s Not Enough to “Proclaim Liberty.” We Have to Do the Work.

by Rabbi Sally Priesand

In this d'var Torah for Behar-Bechukotai, Rabbi Sally Priesand draws connections between the Liberty Bell and other symbols and ensuring liberty in civic life.

Texts for shiur on Torah and annexation collected by Rabbi David J. Cooper

by Rabbi David J. Cooper

These texts were collected for a webinar on Torah and annexation for chaverim.

“We Were All Once Strangers”: Emor and Inclusivity

by Cole Parke

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,...

Loving Israel with all of my Jewishness: A Photo Essay

by Gili Getz

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.

Lessons for Democracy from the Holocaust

by Julian Zelizer

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...

“Now We Are Free”: But Who Pays the Price?

by Zackary Sholem Berger

A d’var Torah for Chol HaMoed Pesach. “Let My people go,” God famously said to Moses. We usually don’t finish the quote, which ends “…so that they may serve Me.” Freedom, the rabbis say quite plainly, is another kind of servitude. The cheirut, freedom, that the Jews achieved on Passover (z’man cheiruteinu, the time of...

Where we go from here

by Frankie Sandmel and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed

A d’var Torah for Pesach by T’ruah rabbinic intern Frankie Sandmel and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. This d’var Torah is based on Dr. El-Sayed’s remarks on the T’ruah webinar on March 18, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic will, without doubt, be at the center of all our Passovers. No matter how you mark the holiday, the impact...