The concept of “sanctuary” congregations has many definitions and applications. In the 1980s, Reform Movement congregations provided sanctuary primarily to central Americans at risk of deportation.
Our role as custodians and stewards of God’s earth is to protect and preserve the ecology and environment as best we can.
Shabbat Tzedek, observed annually the weekend before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is an opportunity for congregations and members to celebrate the achievements of movements for racial justice, and to look toward the challenges ahead.
In his essay, “The Legacy of the Maccabees,” Dr. Shaye Cohen writes: “From the perspective of world history and Jewish history, the Hasmonean (Maccabean) revolt was epoch making.
How do we work to prevent what has become an epidemic of gun violence? How do we honor those who have become the victims of this deadly trend? And how do we engage in this issue, specifically as Jews?