ORDER YOUR YOVEL GUIDE HERE
Plus New Rabbinic Teachings on Video
The year 2017/5777 marked 50 years since the Six-Day War, when Israel captured East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. This anniversary calls both for celebration of Jewish sovereignty over our holiest site, the Temple Mount, and a more somber commemoration of the 50 years of military occupation that followed this war.
In the biblical cycle, 50 is the yovel (jubilee) year, in which debts are released, slaves go free, the shofar of liberation is sounded, and each person returns to his or her family’s holdings. This year of release offers us the opportunity to get unstuck, to move beyond the pain of the past fifty years, and to find a new path toward liberation.
In this spirit, we offer you a guide that delves into seven concepts associated with yovel through biblical text, classical commentary, and Hasidic interpretations, and also looks at the complexities of Jerusalem. Each section includes questions for conversation and background information on texts. Videos of prominent rabbis teaching texts from the guide can be viewed here.
Also, check out the Sh’ma Now April 2017 issue on Yovel, examining the concept of the Jubilee year. We address this 50-year marker metaphorically as a time to reflect on how to reset debts and rethink our relationship to the Land of Israel, as we mark more than 50 years since the 1967 Six-Day War and its aftermath.
Campaign News
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September 10, 2019
Progressive Israel Network Opposes Netanyahu’s Annexation Pledge
Netanyahu’s suggested move would entrench Israel’s military occupation in the West Bank. It harms millions of Palestinians living under occupation and poses an existential threat to Israeli democracy. Israeli democracy cannot endure without putting an end to the 52-year occupation.
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July 30, 2019
Almost 300 Rabbis and Cantors Oppose Any Legislation Penalizing Supporters of the BDS Movement
The letter argues that the legislative obsession with seeking to suppress the BDS Movement ultimately harms and distracts from important efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via a peaceful, two-state solution. Its signers note that much of the anti-BDS legislation proposed or already passed at the federal and state level erases the distinction between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories that it controls beyond the Green Line.
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June 19, 2019
T’ruah and 9 Other Groups Ask Congress to Take Stand on Settlement Annexation
Read the letter T’ruah and nine other progressive pro-Israel organizations sent House leadership, calling on them to vote on and pass House Resolution 326, which reaffirms support for the two-state solution and opposes any US actions that would encourage or endorse unilateral Israeli annexations in the West Bank.