Feeling, and feeling openly, and showing that feeling are political acts.
Our calendar starts our holiday season with Tisha B’av, a day dedicated to sadness and mourning and ends our season with the height of happiness, Simchat Torah. The vast majority of the time, our task is to exist somewhere in between those two ends of the cord.
We must move beyond our day to day traditions to find more piety. Perhaps we may use Sukkot as a launching point to become more involved, standing with those who seek sanctuary on a daily basis.
Sukkot raises the questions of how to cultivate joy in times of tragedy, where we derive safety and security, what it means to have enough in our daily lives, and how to share what we have with others as a critical expression of our own humanity.
This political moment requires acting in solidarity — having other people’s backs and enabling people to have ours. As Jews, we need practice in both.
Here are two beautiful, justice-oriented pieces about the Shofar and the Unetaneh Tokef prayer.
As our society does teshuva for white supremacy, let us dismantle the idols of oppression to pave the way for a more just and honest present and future.
Let us use this high holiday Teshuva period to do the important work of dismantling racism in our hearts and in our society
As we enter this new year, we must remember that justice is inevitable, even in the face of destruction and despair.
In the face of political and natural disaster, Parashat Ki Tavo reminds us to build a just society with joy and a sense of gratitude