Rabbi Rena Rifkin welcomes the first Shabbat of a new decade and reminds us that “change doesn’t happen overnight.” If we want to make to make real change, “we must plant seeds and continue to work on them over many years.”
Outraged after the latest attack on Jews at a kosher marketplace in Jersey City this week, Rabbi Samantha Natov asks and answers: “What can we do about the rise in anti-Semitism? We need to fight it – on every level, in every place and with everything we have.”
“We are numb to the damage that our culture of shame wreaks,” says Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, as he examines the lengths we go to protect our dignity in this week’s parasha. “Dignity is the very essence of what makes us human. The Talmud tells us that when Rabbi Elazar was about to die he gave one final teaching to summarize all others: ‘May each of you be very careful of the dignity of others.’”
Rabbi Shira Gluck delves into the history of Thanksgiving, and encourages us to “not let Thanksgiving be the only thing we know about indigenous Americans!” She enjoins us to acknowledge our historical reality, for “our expressions of thanks are more powerful when we acknowledge what made them possible.”
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch examines generational tensions, both modern day and through the lens of this week’s parasha, Va’yerah. Ultimately, whether you are a critical Baby Boomer or a sophomoric millennial retorting, “Okay, Boomer!” time speeds by. “You will spend a brief moment holding the levers of social power and then give way to those who follow you.”
“What would a magazine article say about my worth?” asks Rabbi Samantha Natov. “Are we only as valuable as the amount of money we have?”
