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Featured

Grappling with Slavery in Parashat Behar

Grappling with Slavery in Parashat Behar

May 23, 2025 By Marjorie Lehman | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai

Parashat Behar is filled with powerful messages about building a just and compassionate society, emphasizing commandments to care for the land, support the poor, and treat hired workers with fairness and dignity. However, I find that Parashat Behar stirs up more discomfort than ethical inspiration. I am always struck by the difficult distinction it makes between Israelites and non-Israelites with regard to slavery. With the themes of Passover and the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian bondage in my mind, I find it hard to reconcile that Leviticus 25 permits the enslavement of non-Israelites while protecting Israelites from such a fate.

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Meeting the Moment: Urgent Questions for Israel and American Jews

Meeting the Moment: Urgent Questions for Israel and American Jews

May 19, 2025 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In a time of deep internal division and existential challenges for Israel, what are the most urgent issues facing the Jewish state today—and how can American Jews meaningfully engage? Professor Arnold M. Eisen, Rabbi Gordon Tucker, and Rabbi Ayelet Cohen of The Jewish Theological Seminary had a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation based on the themes that emerged at the Israel at a Crossroads Convening. Together, they explored how Jewish values can guide us in responding to this critical moment: bridging divides, sustaining hope, and strengthening our collective future. 

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Who Belongs?

Who Belongs?

May 16, 2025 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Emor

Who is the Other? This question, which is asked more and more often in our world, is not often easy to answer. Can one choose to be part of a community? Are people who were once outsiders ever fully welcomed as insiders? In Judaism, these questions are especially important. While Judaism has categories to define and even praise non-Jews, opting into the Jewish community is not simple. However, the Talmud tells us that once someone converts to Judaism, we are supposed to treat them as any other Jew. Unfortunately, this is a mission in which many communities fail. This failure can have significant consequences, as we see in this week’s parashah, Emor.

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Healing Together: How Those in Trauma Provide Care for Others

Healing Together: How Those in Trauma Provide Care for Others

May 12, 2025 By Naomi Kalish | Public Event video | Video Lecture

How do individuals experiencing trauma find the strength to support others in crisis? Rabbi Naomi Kalish, Harold and Carole Wolfe Director of the Center for Pastoral Education at JTS, discusses this and other topics with Rabbi Annabelle Tenzer, chaplain at Hadassah Hospital-Ein Kerem. Together, they will explore how trauma survivors can also serve as caregivers and highlight key organizations working to provide emotional and spiritual support. This conversation offers insights into resilience, compassion, and communal care in times of crisis.  

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Love Beyond Grudges: Living the Mitzvah of Love Your Neighbor

Love Beyond Grudges: Living the Mitzvah of Love Your Neighbor

May 9, 2025 By Jonah Guthartz | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

Parashat Kedoshim begins by laying out dozens of mitzvot, including the prohibition against idolatry and the mitzvot of charity, Shabbat, honesty in business, honoring one’s parents, and the sanctity of life. Perhaps the best- known mitzvah is לֹֽא־תִקֹּ֤ם וְלֹֽא־תִטֹּר֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י עַמֶּ֔ךָ וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמ֑וֹךָ אֲנִ֖י יְ-הֹוָֽה׃ (Lev. 19:19) “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against members of your people. Love your fellow [Israelite] as yourself: I am the Lord” Rabbi Akiva famously names this as a fundamental value of the Torah (Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12).

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