Special Recent Posts
Va-Etḥanan, Shabbat Naḥamu, and Tu Be-Av: With Heaven And Earth As Our Witness, By Rabbi Louis Polisson
August 10th, 2022
"If you know you have harmed the earth, know that you can heal it." On Shabbat Naḥamu, the Sabbath of Comfort the week after Tish’ah B’Av, we read Parashat Va-Etḥanan. Though Shabbat Naḥamu is about consolation and healing after lamenting Jewish[...]
Devarim/Hazon, Erev Tisha B'Av: Rooting Ourselves In Space And Time by Rabbi Jesse Paikin
August 3rd, 2022
On the confluence of the beginning of Deuteronomy, Tisha b’Av, and the shmita year North Americans often suffer from the affliction of being uprooted from space and time. Out of a historical or philosophical perspective, some of us call ourselves “post-modern,”[...]
Matot-Masei: What We Can Learn from Regret, by Rabba Dr. Carmella Abraham
July 28th, 2022
"Through the lens of regret, we learn the importance of appreciating the land and its fundamental purpose of sustaining humankind." In a surprising twist, the midrash recounts the regret expressed by the tribes of Reuben and Gad for choosing to stay[...]
Hakhel Newsletter: July 2022
July 27th, 2022
Dear Hakhel Communities, While it may be extremely hot in your part of the world, or extremely cold if you’re in a different part, Hakhel has remained in motion this past month. Some recent highlights include OLAM’s release of a report[...]
Hakhel Newsletter: June 2022
July 26th, 2022
Dear Hakhel Communities, It’s hard to believe that it was a month ago that Hakhel community leaders gathered together in Israel for our Trip & Summit! We toured Israeli intentional communities for in-depth learning; and gathered at the Summit to learn[...]
Hazon Farm Bill Campaign
July 26th, 2022
Join Hazon in Advocating for a Just and Climate Resilient 2023 Farm Bill! The once-every-five-years Farm Bill authorization process is coming up in 2023! This presents an historic opportunity to lower the nearly one third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions spewed[...]
Pinchas: Loving the Land, by Talia Weisberg
July 20th, 2022
"If we lived our love for land - whether in Israel or elsewhere in the world - how different would our world look?" Parshat Pinchas is, at its core, about loving the Land of Israel. The first major event of the[...]
Balak: Getting The Best of Both Worlds, by Aharon Ariel Lavi
July 13th, 2022
"Where is the sweet spot between conserving and respecting the past (cycles), and progressing towards a new reality (linearly)?" Parashat Balak is one of the two weekly portions in the Torah named after a significant non-Jewish protagonist. The first one is[...]
Chukat: What Happens When You Keep Hitting The Rock by Gillian Steinberg
July 6th, 2022
"We must hear both God and the rock crying out: the punishment is upon us." In Chukat, after Bnei Yisrael complain about missing the comforts of home, Moses strikes a rock to elicit water. God is angry at Moses for striking[...]
A Prayer for our Country
June 30th, 2022
Friends, Today, the Supreme Court of the United States, in their ruling on the West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) case, stripped the EPA’s authority to limit carbon pollution from power plants, drastically reducing our ability to fight climate change.[...]
Korach: When Is The Desire For Equality Sincere? by Avraham Norin
June 29th, 2022
"Capable leadership can use authority wisely to contribute to solidarity and equality." A memorable line from the movie The Incredibles is said as Syndrome captures the Incredible family and explains his grandiose plan to the captured heroes "I'll sell my inventions[...]
Shlach: Honoring The Bounty by Rachel Siegal
June 23rd, 2022
"A person who is deeply connected to the land around her is a person who can honor its uniqueness, celebrate its bounty, and respect its need to rest." This week’s parsha, Shlach, contains the well-known scene of the scouts sent to[...]
B’haalot’cha: Of Fertility And Infertility In Land And People by Anna Burke
June 15th, 2022
"Action and prayer work hand-in-hand; we cannot rely solely on God for our well-being, but we can derive meaning and support from walking our journeys with God in our hearts and minds." Parashat B’haalot’cha marks the beginning of the Israelites’ journey[...]
Naso: Lift Up Their Heads - And Notice Them, by Rabbi Carol Glass
June 8th, 2022
"Moving towards equity, inclusion, and diversity by truly seeing others and sharing our bounty with them." By mandating a 7th year cessation of all agricultural production and the release of intra-Jewish debts, shmita is a highly ‘disruptive’ ancient Jewish practice with[...]
BaMidbar: Being Sustained, In Eden and the Wilderness, by Rabbi Eli Herb
May 31st, 2022
"To create a society balanced between the curse of civilization and the wildness of being nourished by the Creator." “When the Holy Blessed One gave the Torah, no bird chirped, no fowl fluttered, no ox lowed … the sea did not[...]
BeHukkotai: Why Land is Different, by Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson
May 25th, 2022
"Land is imbued with holiness, which means that like God, it is beyond human measures of usefulness or control" As we prepare to close the Book of Leviticus, the Torah’s pinnacle, we are left with a message of responsibility, consequences, and[...]
Parshat Behar: To Dwell Within Them, by Arthur Green
May 18th, 2022
״אין לך פרשה שאין בה תחיית המתים אלא שאין בנו כח לדרוש״ (ספרי האזינו ש״ו) There is no portion in the Torah that cannot be brought back to life, if only we had the strength to interpret!” (Sifrei, Ha’azinu 306:35) 1 וידבר יהו״ה[...]
Parshat Emor: Making It All Count, By Rabbi Jon Kelsen
May 11th, 2022
"Counting the Omer - like the shemitah cycle - invites us to believe that each day, week and year is count-worthy, valuable and unique." One after the other, the days proceed. The slog continues on, with no progress or forward movement[...]
Od Lo Avdah Tikvatenu, Our Hope is Not Yet Lost
May 5th, 2022
Today is Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, the 74th anniversary of the birth of the state of Israel in 1948. Yesterday was Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Day of Remembrance, a day for grieving the loss of 24,000 fallen Israeli soldiers and[...]
Parashat Kedoshim: How To Be Holy Now?, by Rabbi Atara Cohen
May 4th, 2022
"Taking a step back to envision a holy, caring society - especially in light of the oppression perpetuated by this very parasha." Parashat Kedoshim begins with what one might call a “greatest hits” compilation of mitzvot. Here God lists the ways[...]
Yom HaShoah | Legacy & Responsibility
April 28th, 2022
Friends, Today is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. One of my early memories is the moment my father told me that almost all of our family–his parents’ families–were murdered in the Holocaust. My grandparents, Saul & Lonia, grew up in Lodz, Poland. They[...]
Acharei Mot: You Can Be Too At Home by Abe Mezrich
April 27th, 2022
"What you see as your own private grounds is actually a base from which to serve the world." It makes sense that Aaron’s sons would bring a strange fire to God in the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Aaron their father is the high[...]
Freedom, Wandering, & Resilience
April 14th, 2022
“In every generation, one must see oneself as if one had personally experienced the Exodus from Egypt.” – Passover Haggadah Friends, Like our ancestors leaving Egypt – beginning the long desert wandering – we face daunting years and decades ahead. The Israelites rejoiced[...]
Hakhel Newsletter: April 2022
April 12th, 2022
Dear Hakhel Communities, We wish you all, your families, and your communities, a Chag Pesach Sameach! Passover is the holiday of freedom. We tend to think of ourselves as free people living in free societies, at least most of us. And yet,[...]
Pesach Torah Reading: Between Particular and Universal, by Vincent Calabrese
April 12th, 2022
"Though the Exodus tells the story of one nation’s birth, the legal and religious system to which it gives rise is open to outsiders." On Passover our Torah reading is taken from one of the most dramatic moments of the Book[...]
Metzora: Illness And Recovery, Then And Now by Mira Potter-Schwartz and Rabbi Ariel Milan-Polisar
April 7th, 2022
Just as the Torah provides an opportunity for recovery regardless of poverty level - different recovery pathways dependent on means - so too should our health system. Parshat Metzora marks the end of the instructions that detail what a person afflicted[...]
Tazria/Shabbat Ha’Chodesh: Release, Respect, Renew by Rabbi Arthur Waskow
March 30th, 2022
The parasha for this week is Parashat Tazria, but it also Shabbat Ha’Chodesh, the week of the new moon of Nisan, the month of Pesach. The haftarah is from Ezekiel 45:16 - 46:18. "By whatever gateway we enter the shmitah year,[...]
Shemini: Energizing The Ultimate Source Of Energy, by Judry Subar
March 23rd, 2022
"When we focus on the purposes of Shmita we facilitate the flow of spiritual power from earth to heaven and back again." So many adjectives can be used to describe the act of eating: necessary, enjoyable, challenging, fraught, social, and on[...]
Hakhel Newsletter March 2022
March 22nd, 2022
Dear Hakhel Communities, I hope you and your community celebrated a very happy Purim! We are now in the lull between Purim and Pesach (always shorter than you think!), but that doesn’t mean there’s an end to the work to be[...]
Purim is True
March 17th, 2022
Friends, What is Purim? And Have We All Gone Mad? Purim is everywhere. A masquerade. A feast. A time of drinking and debauchery. Why? The unbridled joy of early spring? Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die? G!d…not mentioned once. G!d’s deafening[...]
Parashat Tzav: Shmita As An Expression of Gratitude By Shoshana Michael Zucker
March 16th, 2022
People who have the tools of production at their disposal should gratefully acknowledge their blessings, and invite others to partake of the bounty. Of the many sacrifices mandated in Parashat Tzav, one stands out: the thanksgiving offering (Leviticus 7:12-15), which must[...]
Vayikra, Zachor: Stepping Back, Drawing Close By Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein
March 9th, 2022
"When we release our usual patterns and tools, we open a sacred space for contemplation, and for re-imagining ourselves and our world." Our parsha of Vayikra (“And He called”) begins the third book of the Torah, to which it also gives[...]
Support our Partners in Ukraine
March 8th, 2022
Friends, “War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.” - Thomas Mann We are heartbroken and outraged as Putin’s merciless war on Ukraine continues. We will not be silent, and we will do all we can to support our partners impacted[...]
Pekudei: Combining Laws And Generosity by Josh Weiner
March 3rd, 2022
"Like the mishkan that was built of laws and gifts, the paradoxes of the shmita system allow kindness to re-enter our economic lives." This week’s parasha concludes the construction of the Mishkan - the portable center of ritual life as the[...]
How We Can Help Our Partners in Ukraine
February 28th, 2022
Friends, We have watched, horrified, as Putin’s Russia has invaded Ukraine, causing bloodshed, destruction, and hundreds of thousands of innocent people fleeing. What you may not know is that Hazon operates a global Jewish intentional community network called Hakhel that includes[...]
Vayakhel: Some Striking Shabbat And Shmita Parallels by Rabbi Jack Bieler
February 24th, 2022
Just as the weekly Shabbat starkly reminds us who is the Creator and who is the Creature, shmita achieves a similar goal Parashat Vayakhel, although primarily devoted to the fabrication of the Tabernacle and its vessels, begins (Exodus 35:1-3) with a[...]
Ki Tissa: Breaking God’s Tablets? Way To Go, Moses! by Rabbi Jessica Fisher
February 17th, 2022
"Sometimes rupture is necessary and holy. Sometimes disruption is an essential spiritual practice." In parashat Ki Tissa, we encounter one of the pivotal moments of tension in the Torah. After spending forty days and nights on Mount Sinai, Moses descends, carrying[...]
Tetzaveh: Portable Holiness, Global Jewishness by Elyssa Hurwitz
February 9th, 2022
"Holiness is inside of us, meaning we can embrace shmita, both inside and outside of the Land of Israel, inside and outside of the traditional ways of observing it." As we continue forward through both the Book of Exodus and the[...]
Hakhel Newsletter February 2022
February 8th, 2022
Dear Hakhel Communities, What makes the world holy, and how can we increase the holiness of the world together? In this week’s Torah portion, T’tzaveh, the Israelites learn about how to organize a community with Torah at the center, in a[...]
Terumah: Cultivating The Trait of Generosity, by Rabbi Micah Peltz
February 3rd, 2022
"When we are able to live generously, then we can create not only a sacred structure, but a more sacred world." Parashat Terumah begins the final section of the book of Exodus which deals mostly with the construction of the mishkan,[...]