Ideas
The Jewish Society in Israel is Blind to the Crimes Against Humanity It’s Committing
In April 2016, I traveled with a delegation of doctors and medical students to the extermination camps in Poland. One morning we arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and before we entered, we sat down for a conversation near the house of the camp commander. The guide told us about Rudolf Hess, who lived there with his wife and five children, and asked us if we thought it was possible to be a good father and at the same time manage a death camp.
Jonathan Siegel: Parashat Emor
“The Torah asks, why should you not hate the stranger? Because you once stood where he stands now. You know the heart of the stranger because you were once a stranger in the land of Egypt. If you are human, so is he. If he is less than human, so are you. You must fight the hatred in your heart as I, God, once fought the greatest ruler and the strongest empire in the ancient world on your behalf. I made you into the world’s archetypal strangers so that you would fight for the rights of strangers – for your own and those of others, wherever they are, whoever they are, whatever the colour of their skin or the nature of their culture, because though they are not in your image, says God, they are nonetheless in Mine.”
When a Slave Becomes King
Especially this year, when we are surrounded by inordinate suffering inflicted on us and by us, I would suggest that we take seriously the Haggadah’s implicit counsel to transition from a focus on “In every generation they stand up against us to destroy us,” on what they have done and continue to do to us—the negative memory—to “In every generation one must look upon oneself as if you had personally left Egypt,” to what we can do for ourselves and for others—the positive, constructive memory.
Our Colleagues in Gaza are Being Killed, and the Medical Establishment in Israel is Silent
Last Sunday (March 30), a UN rescue team arrived to locate the bodies of 15 Palestinian paramedics and aid workers in Gaza, after they disappeared for the Tel A-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah a week earlier. According to reports, they arrived at the site in coordination with the Israeli military, and a military official told them to “come with digging tools”. And indeed, they dug. Inside the piles of send the found the 15 dead, some of them still wearing gloves, some of them with their hands or feet bound, some of them were shot dozens of times in their upper body. They were found dead in a killing pit, together with an ambulance and a UN vehicle that were also found buried in the sand.
A New Halakha of B'tzelem Elohim that Responds to our Current Reality
“When we see the world differently, we are called upon to respond – to articulate a halakhic vision that corresponds with the reality we perceive.”
The State Is Not the Covenant: Jewish Ethics Beyond Nationalism
“The nation-state seems to have an almost hypnotic power over us. It promises us security and freedom, and presents itself as the ultimate carrier of our culture, tradition, and religion. I believe that our inability to distinguish ourselves from the state, in this case Israel, and its modes of thinking accounts for much of the horrors we are seeing right now. “
The Hope That Will Prevail: Ethics at the Heart of Jewish Identity
“Both Judaism and socialism teach us again and again: Responsibility for our society. Care for the weak. Protect the stranger, the orphan, and the widow….This is the role of the people of God.”
Yitro’s Torah: Seeing, Listening, and Speaking Out
“We rely on critique and challenge and re-assessment and open conversation. We always have. At this juncture, all the more so, we need new minds, new perspectives, new paths forward, new Torah. Making space for differences of opinion is crucial.”
Judaism as Restraint: Power, Ethics, and the Renewal of Zionism
“The question is this: Can there be an ethically principled and restrained Jewish nationalism? What role will Judaism play in relation to that nationalism?”
When Jewish Means Just: Smol Emuni and the Moral Imperative
“The justification for Smol Emuni is not just communal—it is political and religious. It is about how we perceive the meaning of God’s moral demands in light of the violent political interpretations of those who claim to speak in His name.”
Not Just Us: A Zionism That Recognizes the Other
“In law and in national policy making, the only Judaism that can be Israel's ‘civil religion’ is the Judaism that is compatible with democracy, be it secular or ultra-orthodox. I believe that the Smol Emuni is not only about prioritizing the return of the hostages over the continued war; it is about propagating a democratic state of Israel, at large.”
'Gone Off the Rails': U.S. Orthodox Jews Take a Stand Against Occupation and War in Gaza
At the launching event of Smol Emuni (Religious Left) in New York, hundreds of religious Jews opposed to the policies of the Israeli government congregated. ''Jewish' is invoked to justify violations of democratic and humanitarian norms,' said one participant
A group of modern Orthodox Jews is hosting a conference critical of Israel
The conference is a noteworthy turn. Orthodox Judaism, both in the United States and Israel, has typically espoused a right-wing political orientation that includes unconditional support for Israel. Orthodox and Haredi Jews in the U.S. generally stand apart from the majority of the American Jewish community in their support for President Donald Trump and his policies regarding Israel. Five of the six parties that make up Israel’s government are either Orthodox or religious Zionist
In NY, 1st conference gives Orthodox Jews a forum to seek out Palestinian perspectives
NEW YORK — As casualties in Gaza mounted following the Hamas invasion of Israel in October 2023 that launched the ongoing war, Meylekh Viswanath grew frustrated that the issue was not being discussed in his Orthodox circles in Teaneck, New Jersey.
These Modern Orthodox and observant Jews want to change their community’s conversation around the Gaza war
Close to 30 Jews met recently at a private home on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, sitting on borrowed folding chairs to hear Karin Loevy, an Israeli legal scholar at New York University.
Leftist? This U.S. Orthodox Rabbi Speaking Against the Israeli Government Prefers 'Realist'
But by far, the most surprising name to appear on the speaker list is that of Rabbi Yosef Blau, the longtime mashgiach ruchani (spiritual adviser) of Yeshiva University and former president of the Religious Zionists of America. This 86-year-old rabbi, in many senses, epitomizes Modern Orthodox establishment in America.
Opinion | Loving Israel Means Calling to End the War in Gaza
When weighing future threats that would be a result of releasing terrorists in a negotiation against the immediate, confirmed danger that the hostages faced, the rabbis wrote that we are commanded to prioritize the release of those in immediate danger, even at high cost.
One Palestinian historian. A roomful of observant Jews. And a conversation all of us must have.
Professor Rashid Khalidi spoke to a room full of Jews on the Upper West Sids of NY. Smol Emuni roganzied the event, Esther Sperber said a Dvar Torah and Adi Mahalel interviewed and moderated the event.
Hostages NOW: The infinite value of life even during war
Professor Rashid Khalidi spoke to a room full of Jews on the Upper West Sids of NY. Smol Emuni roganzied the event, Esther Sperber said a Dvar Torah and Adi Mahalel interviewed and moderated the event.
