Social Justice Torah

The Ninth Level -Tsedek, not just Tsedakah, by Naomi Schacter

2008-09-07 11:43
This article first appeared in Conversations, a publication of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals--www.jewishideas.org     Four idealistic religious social activists started making the rounds among rabbis and other religious leaders four years ago, to see if perhaps they were...

What Happens After Postville - Seth Winberg

2008-08-29 09:13
Labor Day 2008 is a good time to reflect on what has been a busy year for Jews and labor. In June, the Union for Reform Judaism's Board of Trustees adopted a resolution on Ethical Employment Practices, calling on Reform Jews to "seek out businesses that pay a living wage,...

Exploring the role of social action in Judaism - 2 articles by Rabbi Dov Linzer, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

2008-08-19 19:12
Social Action - Mandate or Mixed Message.pdf (193,5 kB) Is there a Jewish Social Action.pdf (229,5 kB)

Labor on the Bimah

2008-08-19 19:08
Includes articles from Rabbi Saul Berman, others on issues of labor, halacha, and society Labor2.pdf (368,7 kB) Labor.pdf (1 MB)

B'Maaglei Tzedek Journal 5766 - English version

2008-08-17 01:05
mtzenglish.pdf (3,5 MB)

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - Markets and Morals

2008-08-17 00:58
  Markets and Morals   The 1998 Hayek Lecture   Institute of Economic Affairs Chief Rabbi Professor Jonathan Sacks   In 1978, Friedrich Hayek, whose work and influence we commemorate tonight, proposed a great debate. He was by then almost eighty years old, but ...

R. Haskel Lookstein and Social Activism

2008-08-17 00:55
(From Rav Chesed: The Life and Times of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, page 55-56) Political or social activism was hardly the hallmark of American Orthodox rabbis in the 1960s. While a number of Conservative and Reform rabbis participated in the civil rights movement or protested U.S. involvement in the...

Rav Ahron Soloveichik - Civil Rights and the Dignity of Man

2008-08-17 00:53
(From Logic of the Heart, Logic of the Mind, pages 61-68) From the standpoint of the Torah, there can be no distinction between one human being and another on the basis of race or color. Any discrimination shown to a human being on account of the color of his or her skin constitutes loathsome...

Rav Klapper's Summer Beit Midrash

2008-08-01 18:52
Excellent mekorot for thinking about Jewish activism. www.summerbeitmidrash.org

Tikkun Olam - Basic Questions and Policy Directions, Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Mirsky

2008-07-30 09:53
tikkun - Mirsky.pdf (64,6 kB)

Bringing Dr. King into the Beit Midrash, Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Mirsky

2008-07-30 09:52
Oddly, or perhaps not, for a product of the Orthodox yeshiva world, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., profoundly shaped my religious life. His life story, with all its achievements, failures, complexities and wonders, is, as are the lives of all spiritual giants, its own text and source...

לשמוע את הצעקה הבלתי מושמעת Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Mirsky

2008-07-30 09:42
הרב יהודה מירסקי מתוך עלון קולך מספר 115 צעקתם של היתום, האלמנה והעני בוקעת ועולה עד לב השמים גם אם אינה מושמעת בפועל, והתעלמות ממנה היא מהחטאים היחידים שמעוררים את חמת זעמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא 2007-02-15 מעמד הר סיני, שבמהלכו "קול השופר הולך וחזק", אפוף...

Courage and Risk by Rabbi Nathan Cardozo

2008-07-24 17:03
“The paradox is that man must be a little careless of his life in order to keep it.”  [Chesterton]  The Midrash about Nachshon Ben Aminadav is well known.  Standing at the Reed Sea, chased by Pharaoh and the Egyptian army, Nachshon ben Aminadav made his decision and...

Rabbi Asher Lopatin: Let us make every mouthful a kiddush Hashem

2008-07-20 02:24
Friends, over the years, and especially the last few weeks, many issues have been raised concerning Rubashkins meats and poultry. There are still significant concerns with Agriprocessors which makes Aaron's Best, Aaron's Choice, Rubashkin's, European Glatt, Supreme Kosher, David's, and Shor HaBor...

Ben Greenberg - A Jewish Liberation Theology

2008-05-22 18:34
A Jewish Liberation Theory Ben Greenberg.pdf (58,9 kB)

The Seder Paradox, by Ari Hart

2008-04-25 16:53
In a few short days, millions of Jews around the world will sit at seder tables and make two extraordinary, paradoxical statements. At the beginning of the seder, we will announce: כל דכפין ייתי ויכל, כל דצריך ייתי ויפסח All who are hungry, come eat. All who are in need, come and join the Pesach...

Purim Torah

2008-04-25 16:52
by Shmuly Yanlowitz, Uri L'tzedek co-director The Rabbis teach us that Megillah replaces Hallel on Purim. Whereas normally Hallel is our expression of simchah (joy) and hodaah (thanks), on Purim we have an essentially unique articulation of that religious experience. Most hold (excluding the Meiri)...

Genocide in the Torah: The Existential Threat of Amalek

2008-04-22 17:53
Genocide in the Torah The existential threat of Amalek. By Shmuly Yanklowitz  In 2006 Conservative Rabbi Jack Reimer, Bill Clinton’s rabbinic counsel during his presidency, created a stir when he associated Islamic fundamentalism with the biblical nation of Amalek. "I am becoming convinced...

Prophetic Voices

2008-04-22 17:50
  Prophetic Voices January, 2008 Shmuly Yanklowitz                 For years I have been inspired by the words of the great Talmudist and Jewish philosopher Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik in his magnum opus, “Halakhic...

Prison Reform: A Torah Perspective on the American Crisis

2008-04-22 17:43
  Download for full article and footnoes: Prison Reform - Yanklowitz.pdf (639,5 kB) Prison Reform: A Torah Perspective on the American Crisis Shmuly Yanklowitz*   Introduction Shocked and dismayed only months after visiting European concentration camps, I now found myself...
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