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

A d’var Torah for Chol HaMoed Pesach. ā€œLet My people go,ā€ God famously said to Moses. We usually donā€™t finish the quote, which ends ā€œ…so that they may serve Me.ā€ Freedom, the rabbis say quite plainly, is another kind of servitude. The cheirut, freedom, that the Jews achieved on Passover (zā€™man cheiruteinu, the time of...
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Justice for the Land and Its Inhabitants

Commentary on Parshat Behar (Leviticus 25:1 – 26:2) In Leviticus 25, the Torah famously explains the practice of the sabbatical year (shmitah) and the jubilee year (yovel), in which those who work the land refrain from farming in order to let the land rest. Itā€™s not hard to see a connection between the ancient practice...
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The Disastrous Effects of a Scarcity Mindset

Parshat Toldot is a cautionary tale, in which the disastrous effects of the scarcity mindset are illuminated; it comes to highlight its devastating impact in our world. In contrast, a mindset of abundance can pay dividends.
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The Modern Plagues of Climate Change

When I was a senior in high school I had an alumni interview for entrance into a prestigious college. We sat in a cafĆ©, and I remember telling the alum about my passion for healing the relationship between people and the earth. I probably used the term ā€˜environmental activist.ā€™ At the end of the interview...
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My trip to Immokalee

CONGREGATION SHA’AREI KODESH 2nd Day of Passover MARCH 27, 2013 Ā©Ā  RABBI LOUIS RIESER Ā  Hag kasher v’Sameah. I want to thank Rabbi Baum for this invitation to speak about my experience in Immokalee with T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.Ā  In January I joined 9 other rabbis to learn first-hand about the conditions...
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Law and Order? Or: How We Keep People Safe

In the current climate of police violence, particularly against people of color; political campaigns calling for law and order; and activist calls to defund the police, how might Jews respond? The following sources suggest an approach that flows from classical Jewish sources, through a lens informed by contemporary progressive values.
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Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

ā€œDiamonds are a girlā€™s best friend,ā€ so the song says. And so might be rubies, sapphires, amethysts, and the whole gamut of precious and semi-precious stones that shine and shimmer when dangling from a bracelet or sitting pretty in a ring. And why not ā€“ they sparkle and shine, and the many variations and colors...
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In Time of Upheaval: Wonder & Awe OR Wealth & Wall?

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught that there are two ways of being in the world: ā€œthe way of expediencyā€ and ā€œthe way of wonder.ā€ In the former, we seek to take what we can from the world and others; in the latter, our focus is on how we can serve. When we are driven by...
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