Friday, February 20, 2026 – ג׳ אֲדָר תשפ”ו Last week, in Part I, I argued that Zionism is not a relic of 19th-century nationalism but a living movement and the ongoing project of Jewish self-determination. But self-determination is not merely about the right to exist. It is about responsibility to govern. Of course, as Israel […]
Friday February 13, 2026 – כ״ו שְׁבָט תשפ”ו The recently released Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) survey has sent shockwaves through Jewish communal conversations over the past week, and for good reason. According to the survey, less than four in ten American Jews today describe themselves as “Zionist,” even as nearly 90 percent affirm […]
By Rabbi Lindsey Danziger “וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם” שמות כא:א “And these are the laws that you shall place before them.” (Exodus 21:1) Kehillat haPardes began on October 7th, 2023, in the Northern Israeli village of Pardes Hannah, when Rabbi Naomi Efrat awoke to a nightmare. In the confusion and pain of that morning, her first […]
Friday February 6, 2026 – י״ט שְׁבָט תשפ”ו This week, we stand once again at Sinai. We receive the Torah as a sacred text, a moral and ethical guide, our collective narrative and master story, and as the central defining moment of our people – arguably even more formative than our redemption from slavery in […]
January 30, 2026 – י״ב שְׁבָט תשפ”ו For 843 days, 12 hours, and 5 minutes, Hostage Square, just outside of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, served as the emotional and moral epicenter of Israel’s efforts to bring home those taken captive on October 7. The square became a kind of national sanctuary-in-motion: a long, […]
Friday January 23, 2026 – ה׳ שְׁבָט תפש”ו There are a few verses in the book of Exodus that haunt me every time I hear them. “Toward midnight I will go forth among the Egyptians, and every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his […]
Friday, January 16, 2026 – כ״ז טֵבֵת תשפ”ו “When Pharaoh does not heed you, I will lay My hand upon Egypt and deliver My ranks, My people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with extraordinary chastisements.” —Exodus 7:4 The streets of Iran have been filled with fire, chants, and fear. Protesters pour into city […]
January 9, 2025 – כ׳ טֵבֵת תשפ”ו New leadership often brings with it uncertainty and big questions. This week, we read one of the most politically charged verses in the Torah: “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Yoseph.” (Exodus 1:8) With that sentence, memory collapses. Gratitude dissolves. History is severed from […]
Friday December 26, 2025 – ו׳ טֵבֵת תשפ”ו It was an odd and quietly moving scene inside the Knesset this week. In a building more accustomed to arguments, protests, and procedural tension, two Reform rabbis—one of them also a cantor—sat and ended a Knesset committee session by pulling out a guitar and singing Debbie Friedman’s […]
Friday, December 19, 2025 – כ״ט כִּסְלֵו תשפ”ו Yesterday in Sydney, the Jewish and broader Australian community gathered for an emotional funeral for 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre. Friends and family remembered her as a bright, joyful child — a “ray of sunshine” whose sudden loss was nothing short […]
