Words of the Week

“Rabbi Held and other Jewish leaders involved in the protests fittingly cited the Torah, and its insistence on equality, for their actions. ‘Do not stand idly by while the blood of your neighbor is shed,’ the passage from Leviticus (19:6), was noted in Rabbi Ayelet Cohen’s opinion essay on the Garner death and its aftermath. She also quoted Leviticus 24:22: ‘There shall be one law for all of you.'”
–Source: Editorial (The Jewish Week)

“The issues here in New York and across America are great. I bless you, and ask you to bless me that we meet the challenge of our community, inspired by the glorious and holy words of the Torah, tzedek tzedek tirdof. (Deuteronomy 16:20) This does not only mean ‘justice, justice you shall pursue’ but even more importantly, ‘justice you shall justly pursue.'”
–Source: Rabbi Avi Weiss, “Eric Garner, Jacob and Esau: The Ethics of Confrontation” (The Jewish Week)

“While Open Hillel’s stated aims are open dialogue and inclusiveness—worthy goals—the organization in actuality has something else in mind. The people who claim that Open Hillel’s main objective is to garner support for the BDS movement may not realize just how right they are.”
–Source: Holly Bicerano, “Standing Athwart Lies: Why I Left Open Hillel” (The Times of Israel)

“We need you to keep the faith, and become the advocates that Israel deserves and we and the Jewish people need.”
–Source: Rabbi John Rosove, “An Open Letter to Young American Jewish Liberals About Israel”

“Despite, and because of, the media’s preoccupation with the negative where Israel is concerned, we need to remind ourselves and others of how much there is about Israel to admire, of developments worthy of celebration, accomplishments deserving of praise, and individuals and entities making the world a better place and Israel ‘a light unto the nations.’”
Source: Rabbi Richard A. Block, “The Israel We Should Be Talking About” (The Tower)

“And while opinion pieces have more leeway than reported ones to present personal points of view, they, too, are bound by the core standards of journalism—not to mention the dictates of basic human decency—to argue with the facts rather than obfuscate them or ignore them all together. Rolling Stone has apologized for its transgression to this basic principle. I doubt the Times ever will.”
Source: Liel Leibovitz, “Rolling Stone Apologized. Will the Times?” (Tablet)