On Saturday, November 5, 2022, Rabbi Timoner addressed the increase of antisemitism, the recent Israeli election, and the 2022 U.S. midterm elections in her sermon, which was mentioned in The New York Times‘ article, “Between Kanye and the Midterms, the Unsettling Stream of Antisemitism.” We are proud to share it with all of you.
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This week, we have been witness to the shocking details of an unworthy insurrection which resulted in violence, chaos, and misguided actions that were built on a lie. I am of course speaking about this week’s Torah portion, parshat Korach. Sometimes Torah lines it up just right.
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Watch Rabbi Rachel Timoner’s invocation @NYCMayor Eric Adams’ speech marking his first 100 Days in office. Rachel, a NYJA Board Member and Co-Founder, did us proud today with her powerful and prayerful remarks! @rtimoner @CBEBK @bradlander pic.twitter.com/UJlbE8lETy
— New York Jewish Agenda (@NYJewishAgenda) April 26, 2022
“NEW YORK (JTA) — Three rabbis and six Jewish teenagers were among those arrested Monday at a climate protest at the Manhattan headquarters of BlackRock, the largest investment management company in New York.
The demonstration, organized by the Jewish Youth Climate Movement with support from the interfaith organization GreenFaith, demanded the firm stop its investments in and cut ties with companies that fund the fossil fuel industry, which include Enbridge, Inc., Formosa Plastics and Shell.
Rabbis Rachel Timoner and Stephanie Kolin of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, vice president of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, were among those arrested.
“Judaism’s highest priority is saving lives,” said Timoner in a statement. “The Jewish youth who are leading us today understand that we are in a life or death moment, that we must divest from fossil fuels now in order to save lives.”
Read the full article from JTA here.
“When I first realized we weren’t going to be able to fill the sanctuary completely, I was disappointed. But now, I’m just really excited to be back. It’s still going to be incredibly uplifting,” Read the full article from NY Daily News that Rabbi Timoner was interviewed for here.
I came across a post on Facebook this week that I sat with for a long time and then hesitantly re-posted. It’s by a woman named Leah Solomon who lives in Jerusalem. I don’t know her, I’m not even her Facebook friend. But we have friends in common and she works for Encounter, an organization that brings Jews and Palestinians together to listen to one another. I read her words and I want to share them with you in their entirety.
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The best parts of life are the surprises.
Here we have a story of surprise. The scouts are surprised that the Promised Land is a frightening place, with looming giants. Why would Gd, whom they trusted, promise them a land like this, with these terrifying people in it?
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I had a chance on Thursday to talk to our member Jared Dougall, who’s 18 years old, one of my son Benji’s closest friends (they met at Yachad), and is living and working in Tel Aviv these few months, taking a break from his first year at the University of Michigan. Jared is a really smart, thoughtful intellectual, and he and I have had many conversations over the years about Israel/Palestine, as well as all about American politics.
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Lucy, what a beautiful d’var Torah. I love that you connected rest to freedom, Shabbat to Shmita to Yom Kippur to Yovel (Jubilee). I love that you brought us two evocative teachings about t’ruah, the shofar sound that, according to the Mehilta of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, is the sound of breaking chains of slavery, and according to Ketav v’haKabbalah, the sound of fellowship and friendship.
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