Promised Land Delayed: Meet the Jewish Suffragist Who Changed History
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States this year, Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., is sharing eight chapters of an "alternative Book of Numbers” designed to tell the stories of Jewish women who combined civic engagement with Jewish values in a 40-year
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!"
Resolution Urging the Israeli Government Not to Carry Out Unilateral West Bank Annexation
As a proud Zionist movement, we hold the value of Ahavat Yisrael – love for the people, the Land, and the State of Israel – as core to who we are as Jews. Our abiding commitment to the security of Israel, to the special relationship between Israel and both the U.S. and Canada, to the Jewish and democratic character of the State of Israel, and to the importance of Jewish values in shaping our policies and priorities lead us to express our alarm at the possible unilateral annexation by Israel of areas of the West Bank.