“If we set aside the Rabbinic criticism of Bilaam for a moment and look merely at the text, we are left with a prophet who communes with God, is paralleled in his zeal and dedication to Avraham during the Akeidah, and can see and confirms the Godly blessing that has been passed down from Avraham through the generations. This Bilaam is far from the hyperbolic villain the rabbinic tradition imagines, instead serving as a combination of Moshe and Avraham to the non-Jewish nations…”
— R’ Leead Staller
All of a sudden our calendar is packed with opportunities for learning and doing. Check out our upcoming events, including our protective presence trips to the West Bank this fall. While you’re checking out all the opportunities here, please consider giving tzedaka to Help our friend Maram get her six-year-old niece out of Gaza to safer conditions in Egypt. Her niece is in immediate danger of abuse and really needs our help.
Join us for nosh and conversation with journalist, author, and first-ever HL speaker Peter Beinart!
Details below.
Join us for shiurim, a film screening, and discussion! Schedule and registration info forthcoming.
Registration is coming in the next few weeks, but for now you can sign up on our interest form.
There is a new initiative called “Protect the Harvest” being launched to bring individuals from around the world to do protective presence in solidarity with Palestinian villages during this coming year’s olive harvest season (after the chagim, mid-October through mid-November). The plan is to have multiple week-long cohorts, where the logistics, food and lodging are all arranged (the cost will be roughly 1200-1300 dollars, plus airfare. Financial assistance will also be available). The program will be kashrut and Shabbat friendly. There will be an info session on this Sunday, June 28 at 12pm EDT – register here.
Halachic Left is helping recruit for this initiative and are looking for a rough number of how many Halachic Left people might be interested in participating. While you can register as an individual, we are also exploring the possibility of putting together a Halachic Left cohort to participate together. The initiative is also aiming to be as broad-based as possible, and so we think this can be an excellent opportunity to bring along those in our communities and shuls who are broadly supportive of Israel, but are deeply disturbed by West Bank violence against Palestinians. If you’re interested, please reach out to caroline@halachicleft.org to join the HL x Protect the Harvest WhatsApp group.
“Even in the literal biblical campaign for the land of Israel itself, genocide and wiping any remnant of other nations off the land was never the goal. In fact, it is only once the Jewish people internalize this message of respecting these different cultures– as evidenced by the naming scene at the end of Bamidbar– do we begin to see descriptions of the actual campaign to conquer the land.”
We’re excited to read and discuss Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund by Molly Crabapple this summer. Dates haven’t been picked yet, but we’ll be discussing it twice.
Here Where We Live Is Our Country reanimates a band of idealists who broadened our global political imagination. As we once again contend with nationalism, repression, and the struggle for belonging, the Bund’s remarkable story and message—that liberation, dignity, and solidarity must begin where we stand—reaches across time as a guide to our own urgent moment.
Familiarity with the text is encouraged, but anyone with an interest in the subject, even without reading the book, is invited to join.
Buy books here to support our work
Help our friend Maram get her six-year-old niece out of Gaza: Our friend Maram was able to leave Gaza last September to pursue a master’s degree in Ireland. Now she’s trying to raise money to pay for her niece to leave Gaza for safer conditions in Egypt.
Please support the recently launched fundraising campaign for Bnei Avraham, a religious Jewish activist movement working alongside Palestinian communities in the West Bank through protective presence. Their initial goal is to raise $50,000 to sustain and expand this vital work.
Ohel Eidot CHeMDaT”A: Founding DC’s 1st Black Jewish Shul: Help our friend Rabbi Shais Rishon (also known as Ma Nishtana) build a traditionalist Modern Orthodox synagogue for African American and Caribbean Jews and welcoming to all!
Help Beth Israel of Jackson, MS rebuild after arson. Join the Jewish Federations and the Institute of Southern Jewish Life in supporting the oldest shul in Mississippi.
SupportSydney.com – dedicated to supporting the Sydney Jewish community in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach shooting. Thank you to Nathan (whose sister lives in Sydney) for sharing.
Khalil Abu Yahia Gaza Solidarity Fund Khalil believed unwaveringly in solidarity and friendship. Honor his memory by giving to his brother’s project in Northern Gaza.
In Memory of Hayim Katsman z”l Give to support building a community center in the Bedouin city of Rahat.
The HL Torah team is incredibly excited to continue our weekly dvar Torah series. We would love to have as many participating authors as possible! Please fill out this form to apply to write a dvar Torah! If you have any questions please email nechoma@halachicleft.org
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