Related Blog Posts on Strengthening Congregations and Current Events
What Should Jewish LGBTQ+ Spaces Look Like?
For many LGBTQ+ Jews in the United States, LGBTQ+ synagogues and organizations offer that sustenance.
A Letter to the Jewish Community
I read a quote today by Sy Smith that said, "Black people in the U.S. are expected to keep on keeping on, no matter what..."
Holy Sparks: Celebrating 50 Years of Women in the Rabbinate
On June 3, 1972, Rabbi Sally Priesand was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion as the first woman rabbi in North America. To celebrate this milestone in Jewish and American history, HUC's Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York partnered with The Braid's Story Archive of Women Rabbis in Los Angeles to create the exhibition "Holy Sparks," presenting 24 ground-breaking women rabbis who were "firsts" in their time.
Q&A with Andy, a Young Jewish Community Leader in Ukraine
As many Ukrainian Jews know this year, Passover will be different in 2022. We sat down with Ukrainian Jewish community leader Andy (he/him), 27, to discuss what the community and holiday will look like in the context of current events.
How Many Times
Rick Lupert wrote a poem about the current Russian invasion of Ukraine.
For Colleyville, Texas
This is a prayer of healing for the hostages freed from Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, Texas, as well as the congregation and the community.
"Unite the Right" Organizers Lose Big in Court
Amy Spitalnick is the executive director of Integrity First for America (IFA), the civil rights nonprofit behind Sines v. Kessler - the successful federal lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the violent "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. I sat down with Amy, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, to get her views on the significance of this lawsuit.
Remembering Kristallnacht After Pittsburgh
On November 9, we will mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), the Third Reich's first large-scale attack on the Jews of Germany and Austria in 1938.
Pandemic Passover, Take Two: The Long Journey through the Wilderness
Last Passover began the urgent quest to reinvent much of Jewish life, highlighting that some of the ways we “do” Judaism needed to be updated. This year has been a powerful catalyst to shifts in how we perform our holy work.
Reflections on Observing Black History Month in the Wake of the Capitol Insurrection
This is not yet the America most of us dream of, but it is an unavoidable part of our DNA. American equality and exceptionalism are checks that are still in the mail. If we truly love what this country is capable of, we must continue to speak the hard truth to power.