Israel / Palestine
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Navigating Evolving Perspectives on the War Through Sermons
For many rabbis, it's not easy to talk to your congregation about your evolving perspective on this war. Here are two examples, generously shared by Rabbi Mosbacher and Rabbi Grabelle Herrmann, of how they shared their evolving positions with grace, compassion, and honesty.
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![Rabbi Amelia Wolf](https://truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Rabbi-Amelia-Wolf-Portrait.png)
Bo: What the 10th Plague and Missiles Have in Common
A missile cannot tell righteous from wicked.
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![Rabbi Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein](https://truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Rabbi-Ruhi-Sophia-Motzkin-Rubenstein.png)
VaEra: It’s Our Time to be the Protagonists of History
In this moment, we do not know how things will turn out, in Israel or the U.S. But if Torah and history have anything to teach us, it is that whatever happens is not inevitable, and the catalyst will not be something we could have predicted in advance. This moment, like all moments, is full of possibility. It will be those with proactive vision who will move history, just as it always has been.
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![Rabbi Daniel Plotkin](https://truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Rabbi-Daniel-Plotkin-Portrait.png)
Vayechi: Blessing Israel to Be a Levi
Peace is difficult. It requires understanding, listening, and a great deal of courage. May we have the courage to speak this truth to power, and may those in power have the courage to hear our message.
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![screenshot of webinar with Jonathan Crane](https://truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2-1024x1024.png)
Watch: Israel-Hamas War Public Webinars
Since the attacks on October 7, T'ruah has offered public webinars for prayer and mourning, to engage with the moral challenges of the war, and to hear from staff who traveled to the region.
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![Rabbi Soshana Brown](https://truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Rabbi-Shoshana-Brown-Portrait.png)
Vayigash: Can We Dream Bigger?
What I think is needed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories today is the will to break the chain of the blame-game. We need a new generation of dreamers — those who can imagine a future of peace and prosperity for both Palestinians and Israelis together.
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![Rabbi Philip Gibbs](https://truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Rabbi-Philip-Gibbs.png)
Miketz: The Dangers of Finding Political Meaning in Suffering
As we continue to watch the unfolding events in the war in Gaza, we need to distinguish between suffering and accountability.
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![Headshot of Amelia Wolf](https://truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Rabbi-Amelia-Wolf-Headshot.png)
Vayeshev, Yosef’s brothers, and Gaza
"More and more I begin to believe that we are as defined by those calls for help we do not answer than as by those calls that we do."
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![Rabbi Ian Chesir-Teran](https://truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Rabbi-Ian-Chesir-Teran-Portrait.png)
Vayeshev: No to Nekamah
This Chanukah, let’s choose to follow the examples of Joseph and Tamar, and say no to nekamah. When the time comes to say the “Al Hanissim” prayer, let’s skip the vengeful words “nakamta et nikmatam.”
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![Rabbi Josh Breindel](https://truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Rabbi-Josh-Breindel.png)
Vayishlach: We Need Stories to Counter the Narrative of Endless War
Let’s find courage together by sharing our stories about the world we wish to create; the world we want our children to inherit. As Herzl famously said about the State of Israel, “If you wish it, it is no myth.” It’s similar for crafting a world of peace: By telling our stories, they become no myth; our words become an act of redemptive creation.
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