Why I Spent a Week Learning with Muslims and Christians
It troubles me that I live in a socially segregated community, so when my professor announced that he would be co-teaching with a Protestant preacher and a Muslim imam a week-long summer intensive called Building Abrahamic Partnerships, I immediately signed up.
We See Ourselves in the Syrian Refugee Narrative
Each of us had different reasons for taking part in the recent mission to Berlin sponsored by the Central Conference of American Rabbis. We care deeply about the refugee crisis and wanted to learn so that we could share the story, engage our congregants and communities with this issue, and be part of an effective response.
Monotheism and the Problem of Truth
"You shall have no other gods beside Me!" This is the first of Aseret HaDib'rot, literally the "Ten Declarations" or "Ten Commandments" found in this week's parashah, Va-et'chanan (see Deuteronomy 5:2-18; we recited a slightly different version earlier in the year in Parashat Yitro, Exodus, chapter 20). Aseret HaDib'rot lays out the central terms of an exclusive covenant between God and Israel. After a brief prologue in which God self-identifies as the One who freed Israel from Egyptian bondage, the first declaration occurs in the form of a command that Israel take no other gods in addition to the God of Israel: "You shall have no other gods beside Me!"
From Collective Memory to National Identity
A litany of laws. A multitude of mitzvot. According to Maimonides, Ki Teitzei contains 72 of the 613 commandments in the Torah — the most commandments in any one Torah portion. As the time for the Israelites’ transition into the Land draws ever nearer, God and Moses continue to prepare the people for sovereignty and self-government. In addition to laws that cover rules and regulations within the Israelite community, this portion also includes two passages that dictate the relationship between the people of Israel and neighboring entities.
“Sing with Liberty,” a Prayer of Immigration and Welcoming
This prayer/song is based on “New Colossus,” the sonnet by Emma Lazarus appearing on a plaque inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Those familiar with the sonnet will recognize the images and phrases reflected here; it was written as an antidote to attempted hijackings of the message of the Lazarus poem.