CRASH HOTSStaying Whole in the Face of Unbelievable BrokennessAugust 7, 2020by Ari Lev FornariThere is no question we are living through a crash. We are undoubtedly living through many crashes. The collapse of…
The Plurality of MourningJuly 31, 2020by Lauren TuchmanNachamu Nachamu ami, “comfort, comfort my people,”— the opening words of the Haftorah from the book of Isaiah, which we…
A Tapestry of Individual Actions & Collective PowerJuly 24, 2020by Elaina MarshalekOrigin stories are powerful. They give names to our ancestors. They lift up voices, honor the courage and power of…
Expanding Our CanonJuly 17, 2020by Laynie SolomanWhat counts as Torah? Who decides? What makes it into the canon, and what remains on the outside, seen as…
The City that Never Sleeps—and the City that Becomes HomeJuly 10, 2020by Bronwen MullinWhen I became the rabbi of a small congregation in Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood I thought this would be a…
The Revolution Will Not Be TranslatedJuly 3, 2020by Benay LappeLast week I watched the Netflix film Disclosure. I’m never going to be the same. It’s a documentary about trans…
The Radical Lineage of the Tanna’imJune 26, 2020by Laynie Soloman, Mónica GomeryAt SVARA we often say, “The Talmud is never really talking about what it says it’s talking about.” We focus…
Say Little. Do Much.June 18, 2020by Benay Lappe, Ayana Morse, Becky Silverstein, Laynie Soloman …שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר עֲשֵׂה תוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע אֱמֹר מְעַט וַעֲשֵׂה הַרְבֵּה Shammai used to say: Make your learning fixed. Speak little,…
Pirkei AvotThere Is No Torah Except the Torah of FreedomJune 5, 2020by Mónica GomeryAs I imagine many of you have, I’ve spent the week in alternating states of heartbreak, anger, and deep inspiration,…
A Kiss from the SagesMay 28, 2020by Laynie SolomanThere is no feeling like being in a full bet midrash. In the bet midrash I hear and feel the…
Pirkei AvotSheltering in MishnahMay 22, 2020by Mónica GomeryA couple of weeks ago, I attended a poetry reading called Shelter in Poems, hosted by the Academy of American…
We Are The Talmud’s FantasyMay 15, 2020by Benay LappeEach daf of Talmud presents us with a fantasy. The fantasy is the record of an impossible intergenerational conversation across…