Talmud, The Afterlife, and Remixing Madonna
by Maggie Kraus
In his panoramic book, A Biography of the Book of Genesis, biblical scholar Ronald Hendel begins with a simple yet powerful framework for thinking about sacred texts and cultural objects:…
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Grateful for Our Portion: Growing the Trans Halakha Project Beyond SVARA
The Trans Halakha Project began in 2021 as a way to help trans people find the answers they were seeking about how to live full, ritually infused Jewish lives that…
Loving the Tradition Until it Transforms
by Maggie Kraus
This past Wednesday, the SVARA community gathered for Shaping Tradition, our annual celebration of the radical, rooted, and resilient Torah we’re creating together. We were honored to lift up the…
Rest, Renewal, and Listening to Our Deepest Yearnings
This past Shabbat marked seven years since my rabbinic ordination, a milestone of great significance. That’s not only because of the role the number seven plays in the Jewish tradition,…
Turning Death Itself Into Life
by Binya Kóatz
Judaism is good at so much: Connecting us to our ancestors, providing an eternally renewable tradition, even making us wash our hands before we eat. But I think the part…
Bending Time Until It Breaks
by Maggie Kraus
Approximately seven lifetimes ago, I was a traveling musician in a gay folk band with my friend Hannah. Interestingly enough, we were called Hannah & Maggie. For nine years, we…
Befriending Rashi
There comes a time when I’m working through a sugya, inevitably reaching the limit of my own understanding, I ask “What does Rashi say?” My eyes turn away from the…
Want No Wanton Hatred
by Jhos Singer
In a few weeks, my wife, Julie, and I are going to Europe to experience this amazing thing called “a vacation.” Part of our time away will be spent with…
From Within and Without
by Ren Finkel
Binyanim are the various structures that Hebrew words take, the verb forms that shift words from their root meanings. They’re the added letters and vowel patterns used to transform words.…
Artists and Esther: Prophets, Clothed in Holiness
Before we leave the Purim spirit entirely, starting on the road to Passover, I’d like to share with you the learning journey I’ve been on for about a year now:…
Tenderness In These Times
What a time to be alive. I find myself, as I imagine many of us do, navigating bouts of deep existential despair. Even on my better days, I experience the…
The (Bright) Future of Jewish Leadership
by Maggie Kraus
A year ago, we decided to do something unlike anything we had ever done before at SVARA. In celebration of our yeshiva’s 20th anniversary, we gathered a spectacular lineup of…