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PARSHA POSTS: SHOFETIM

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Jun 22, 2026, 11:33 AM

Mekudash: Restore the Court’s Voice Where It Left Off

The United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding that halted recent military operations, reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, lifted blockades, extended a ceasefire to Lebanon, and established a 60-day window for further nuclear negotiations....

Jonathan Muskat

Sep 2, 2025, 4:34 AM

Fear, Faith and Responsibility: What the Torah Teaches about War

I generally feel uncomfortable publicly criticizing the Charedi leadership in Israel who insist that their boys should avoid drafting into the IDF. After all, I live in America, I never served in the IDF, and neither did my children...

Aug 30, 2025, 12:41 AM

A Painful Teshuva for a Broken Congress

In his acclaimed book for the High Holy Days, Rabbi Alan Lew tells us, “The nature of our pain points us to the nature of the transformation we need to make.” As we embrace the month of Elul, when we...

Aug 30, 2025, 12:38 AM

How To Win this Battle and End This War

"When you go out to battle against your enemy, and you see horse and chariot - a people more numerous than you - you shall not fear them, for Hashem, your God, is with you” (Deuteronomy 20:1). Here in the...

Lori Prashker-Thomas

Aug 30, 2025, 12:37 AM

Justice, Integrity, and the Choices We Make

This design was created on Canva.com on August 29, 2025 It is copyrighted by Lori Prashker-Thomas/ShadowCatcher Photography (Paid Subscription)

This week’s Torah portion, Parshat Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9), opens with the well-known command: “You shall appoint judges and officers for your tribes… and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show...

Aug 29, 2025, 6:32 PM

Look where you are going

Rabbi Pelz, one of our favorite Rabbis in Jerusalem, once asked us why we thought he had tripped and broken his foot. He saw us thinking … and then smiled and said: “Because I wasn’t looking where I was...

William Hamilton

Aug 29, 2025, 6:26 PM

Wouldn’t It Be Great?

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a credible and honorable fresh way to tell our story? There now is. It’s Sarah Hurwitz’s essential new book, As A Jew: Reclaiming Our Story from Those who Blame, Shame, and Try...

Sarah Segal-Katz

Aug 29, 2025, 4:12 PM

After October 7: Children and Jewish Mourning

In Elul 5776 (2016), I was ordained at Beit Morasha as a Morat Halakha. The rabbinical faculty asked our group to articulate the directions we envisioned for the future. I suggested that welcoming women's voices (in practices, customs, and...

Itzchak Evan-Shayish

Aug 29, 2025, 11:06 AM

Rav Kook on Parshat Shoftim: How to create a divine society

RAV KOOK ON PARSHAT SHOFTIM: HOW TO CREATE A DIVINE SOCIETY Parshat Shoftim begins with a directive of how Israel must create a functional legal system: שֹׁפְטִ֣ים וְשֹֽׁטְרִ֗ים תִּֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ בְּכׇל־שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ לִשְׁבָטֶ֑יךָ וְשָׁפְט֥וּ אֶת־הָעָ֖ם מִשְׁפַּט־צֶֽדֶק׃ -You shall...

Aug 29, 2025, 7:08 AM

Greatness is Humility (Shoftim, Covenant & Conversation)

There is a fascinating detail in the passage about the king in this week’s Parsha. The text says: “As he presides upon his royal throne, he must inscribe a copy of this Torah for himself upon a scroll, in the...

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