Judaism, Gender, and the Seeds of Prejudice
This year, I read the opening passages of the Torah portion of Tazria (Leviticus Ch. 12) with a different lens than I have in the past. I’ve long believed that the meaning of any Biblical passage lies in the realm between the words in the text and the life experience of the person reading the […]
“Give me Your Tired, Your Poor…”
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.“Keep, ancient lands, your […]
Exodus and the Legacy of MLK
How fitting it is that, in our annual cycle of Torah reading, some part of the Exodus narrative always coincides with the celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Some call the Exodus story the “master narrative” of the Jewish people because it tells the story of m’avdut l’herut-how a people can […]