Category: Pursuing Justice

A few days ago, at their annual spring rally and concert, some tomato pickers from Florida taught me what Dayenu is about. I never expected this to happen because I never suspected I had been misunderstanding it at all. But this past

Editor’s Note: This week’s blog from guest writer Erika Davis of “Black, Gay, Jewish” may not at first seem to be explicitly about Jewish ritual. However, when Erika interrupted her scheduled series to write about her grief around the Eric Garner case, we knew that her story touched on the very things that have brought so many of you to our site over the years. We thank Erika for sharing her story with us and hope you will find comfort and sustenance in her words.

I pray this way in the mornings now because I want to feel less afraid; less afraid of the places I have been and less afraid of the path ahead.

When I imagine wearing my tallit in Ferguson and afterward, I am imagining how it will help carry with me a sense of security and home—a portable home just like the sukkah. 

I have said the words of the Yom Kippur Vidui many times, always awkwardly aware that most of the list of sins did not apply to me. I never thought I would come to embrace its awkwardness, and I certainly never imagined that it could guide me toward making decisions I was afraid to make. 

What's special about

The gift of freedom our people received generations ago bestows upon us the obligation and responsibility to work for the liberation of all people. SHEHECHIYANU! We can finally eat chocolate on Passover that's been certified not to have been made with trafficked child labor! Why is this so important?

Do I believe that with God’s strength I can do all things? How powerful would that be?

As a young rabbinical student, I was full of zeal for unearthing obscure Jewish texts and bringing them to bear on modern issues. No more would we invoke the same tired old

We were planting the seeds for future tikkun olam work.