Sofi Hersher (she/her) is the former assistant communications director at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. She holds a master’s degree in religion in the contemporary world from King’s College London and a bachelor’s degree in comparative religion from the University of Washington – Seattle. She is a member of Temple Micah in Washington, D.C. and Congregation B’nai Israel in Sacramento, CA.
On Simchat Torah, as we read the final portion of the Torah and immediately beginning again, what can the blessings to the Israelites teach us about our world today?
I always find interfaith encounters provide myriad ways to evaluate and deepen my own faith and who better to learn about the Koran than one who has never read it?
To welcome the stranger is to make our homes, congregations, and countries places of refuge for all. But what about welcoming the stranger into our hearts?
After a spree of white supremacist violence in Sacramento in 1999, collaboration, solidarity, and hope followed. I’ve carried this lesson with me for 18 years.