A Blessed Human Rights Day to You. On December 10, 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust and the catastrophic disregard for human life that marked World War II, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Its…
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Honoring the Divine Image: A Message for International Human Rights Day
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Netanyahu the Great Pretender
In a cowardly act, coalition members tried to flee the Knesset plenary to avoid supporting a proposal put forward by opposition leader Yair Lapid to adopt Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza – a plan that was approved and partially…
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Shabbat Shalom: A Non-Jewish Call for the World’s Oldest Sacred Gift
The recent publication of Charlie Kirk’s book, Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life, has inadvertently created one of the most significant and positive cultural moments for Shabbat in modern times. This was…
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Betrayed Aid: Redirect Jewish Giving
I am a Zionist Jew who has served Africa my entire life—because giving is what we Jews do. Jewish Americans, just 2% of the population, account for 16% of U.S. megagifts totaling $7 billion in $1 million-plus donations. This disproportion…
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AEPi’s Response to Rising Antisemitism: Pride, Leadership, and Action
I had the pleasure of attending the American Zionist Movement’s Biennial National Assembly, where I met extraordinary leaders transforming our community at one of the most difficult times in modern Jewish life. But just months earlier,…
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Schocken, Goethe’s Faust and Rabbi Nahman
Salman Schocken died alone in one of Switzerland’s hotel rooms, clutching two outstanding books, Reb Nahman’s stories, Goethe’s Faust, in his two hands, as if kabbalah and Kultur, contrasting cooks this literary broth for him prepared….
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Our Mother Rachel
The death of Rachel was one of the most tragic stories in the Torah. Yakov’s one true love perished while giving birth to Binyamin, the youngest of the twelve brothers. The Torah added that a monument was built in Beit Lechem, her place of…
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Our Reluctance to Let Go of Hostage Square
When the dream of the living hostages returning home came to fruition this past October, our community looked for ways to ritualize the moment. Inspired by a colleague in Las Vegas, we invited our members to attend Simchat Torah celebrations,…
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Israel: Never a Vacation; Always a Trip (Part 2 of 3)
Part Two of a Three-Week Odyssey Too much happens in Israel every day and every minute of every day. It is for this reason I am dividing up my account of my recent visit into three segments. As in Part One, I’m sharing vignettes from my…
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Yehudah and Tamar / Boaz and Ruth: Déjà vu? (Vayeshev)
We are fascinated by the story of Ruth, a non-Israelite woman who, at her mother-in-law Naomi’s behest, seduces the much older and -according to tradition – widowed and childless Boaz. As a childless widow, Ruth’s status mandates a levirate…
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