Articles

With the calls to arms, the demands for ethnic cleansing of Canaan, and the blueprint for conquest, read at a time of ongoing genocide in Gaza and accelerating violence in the West Bank,it's not hard to see why these verses feel like they're speaking directly to the present. But a careful look at the tells a very different story than the one Zionism has trained generations of people to find here.

Parashah Re'eh presents the chilling case of Ir HaNidachat – a “wayward city” that has embraced idolatry. In this parashah, God's instructions are simple: wipe out the entire city. To rationalize this abhorrent violence which counteracts the moral precepts of the Torah, the rabbis say this biblical vignette is theoretical, “It never was and it never will be.” This re-interpretation of text easily explains away the suffering it contains, yet other rabbis provide a dissenting testimony of grief and melancholy. In this D'var, Rabbi Aron asks "can we carve a narrow path between a false optimism that would sublimate suffering and an endless pessimism that would drown in it?"

What is the Divine Presence this week's Torah portion calls us to love with all our heart, soul, and passions, and what does that love actually demand of us? Va'etchanan holds the Ten Commandments and the Shema alongside a deeper claim: that a spark of Divine love lives in every person and in every corner of creation, and that Torah's holiness comes from carrying a revolutionary voice for liberation, dignity, and justice. Love and domination are two forces in constant tension, in Torah, in history, and in our own lives, showing up as the choice between care for the stranger and justice on one hand, and fear, patriarchy, and othering on the other. From Shifra and Puah defying Pharaoh to today's movements for freedom and peace, the future depends on which force we choose to nourish, and history shows that the impossible only becomes inevitable once people struggle for it.

A d'var Torah from Laynie Soloman (they/them), Associate Rosh Yeshiva at SVARA. On Parshat Pinchas, Laynie traces how the rabbis reframed a violent zealot's act as prayer, opening a path to understanding zealousness as expressing justice rather than harm.

“You have gone too far! For all the community is holy and God is in their midst. Why then do you lift yourselves above God’s congregation?”

How can we trust leaders who use people-oriented language to take on personal gain? Parshat Korach is often viewed as a righteous rebellion against authority, but in this D'var Rabbi Lizz Goldstein offers a critique of Korach's self-gratifying action. 

"That shall be your fringe; look at it and remember all God’s commandments and do them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your urge to stray." Numbers 15:39. 

Parshat Shalach is well known for its depiction of the 12 scouts who survey Canaan before the Israelites enter the land, yet the outcome of this parashah is less so. Shalach introduces the mitzvah of tzitzit, the ritual fringes that adorn the corners of Jewish garments. Tzitzit provide a physical reminder of God's presence, becoming like a rope to grasp onto amidst overwhelming river currents (Bamidbar Rabbah 17:6).