In This Edition:

  • Weekly Message
  • Pesach Resources
  • Women's Voices
  • Israel Resources
  • Divrei Torah by Women on Parshat Tazria

Weekly Message:

The Power We Wield


Friends,


This week’s Torah portion, Tazria, reminds us about the power of words. Our ancient sages saw tzara'at (leprosy) as an external sign of internal moral or ethical turpitude – and a fitting punishment for spreading slander and malicious gossip. When you hurt someone’s reputation and make them appear poorly in public, you are punished with a skin disease that causes you to appear poorly. You are visibly singled out and separated from the community as an obvious and direct result of the hurt that your words have caused. 


Whereas in biblical times tzara'at revealed the immediate effect of lashon hara (negative speech), nowadays our words are often separated from their effect, without any visible shaming mark. Once words are released, regardless of how, it is difficult if not impossible to completely withdraw or erase them. They have powerful potential to build up or tear down; to be constructive or destructive; to create a harsher or kinder world. They can live on and reverberate into the future, in ways that we may not imagine. 


From this we can learn the important lesson to think carefully about the potential impacts of that most precious tool of good and evil - our words - and all of their potential to help and hurt. This is as true in our everyday interactions as in the writing that many of us do across online media, and the speaking that we choose to do on issues important to us.


Now more than ever, we can choose words that advocate urgently for the hostages' release; that pray for the safe return of all of the soldiers and evacuees to their homes; that offer comfort to our brothers and sisters experiencing grief, trauma, and loss. 


It is also worth noting that because we are human, mistakes and pitfalls are inevitable. So the fact that tzara'at was treatable reminds us that even when we err, we can make amends and return to the community, hopefully the wiser going forward.


As we find ourselves at the heavy juncture between marking six months of captivity and war in Gaza, and preparing for Pesach, when we tell the origin story of our Jewish nation, these are two powerful reminders of all that words can do – and of the power within each of us to actively choose to use them for good. 


With this in mind, below you will find hostage advocacy and Pesach resources; women's voices and perspectives on the situation in Israel and the weekly parsha, and more suggested ways to support needs on the ground in Israel. 


May we use our words to keep supporting, advocating, and bearing witness for all in the community of Am Yisrael -- and to remind ourselves of the immense power we wield each and every day.


Shabbat Shalom ~ Besorot Tovot ~ Am Yisrael Chai

New Pesach Resource:

"Let Our People Go: The Power of Being an Upstander"

"Let Our People Go: The Power of Being an Upstander" is a new Pesach guide and source sheet that Jofa produced in partnership with Everyone Counts, #BringThemHomeNow's educational toolkit site. Find these, along with additional Pesach resources, on Jofa's Pesach resources page and Everyone Counts.

Additional Jofa Pesach Resources

Activity Handbook

In addition to the new resource above, don't forget to check out Jofa's Project Shir HaShirim/Pesach page for more resources including:


We hope that these resources will help enhance your participation and expand your experience of the chag.

Seder Sense Virtual Learning Program

Recordings Coming Soon

This past Sunday, April 7, Jofa joined YCT and many communal partners to present Seder Sense: An Evening of Pesach Prep for Your Mind and Soul. The program offered six learning sessions with excellent educators -- a great opportunity to get into the Pesach spirit! In case you missed it, please check back at yctorah.org/seder next week to access the recordings, which we will also share via social and email.

Women's Voices

We continue to raise women's voices and insights about what has been happening during this time and how they are finding meaning in it. We hope that these writings provide you with new perspectives, and inspire you to write and share your own insights:




More Ways to Help Now

As we approach the holiday of our national freedom and peoplehood, the hostages who are still not free weigh heavily our minds and hearts.


Please check our Supporting Israel: Ways to Help Now page, where we continue adding ways to stay connected and engaged with what is happening in Israel and what we can do - including raising the voices and stories of how girls and women are impacted, how they are responding, and ways we can support them.


The page includes resources for fighting antisemitism; advocating; staying informed; keeping attention on the hostages; finding comfort in rituals; ways to contribute; talking to kids about Israel; reaching out; mental health; community gatherings, tefillot, and more.


We will also keep spotlighting additional resources in this weekly email and our social feeds, and adding them to our Israel page. We hope that each week you'll find something that speaks to you, helps you stay connected, take action, raise your voice -- in Israel, around the world, and in your own home and community.

Spotlighted Israel Resources

We continue highlighting resources and organizations each week that you can turn to for information, support, or to contribute toward direct needs on the ground in Israel. Please see our Supporting Israel page for our continually growing list.

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The Israel Association of Community Centers (IACC), with a national network of more than 1,000 community centers, is a trusted partner of the Jewish Federations of North America. Through its community centers, which work in close cooperation with local authorities, the IACC offers a wide range of solutions to the evolving needs of the population, including programming and spaces for teens/youth, family centers, resilience workshops for staff and volunteers, a pilot program to build resilience for individuals and teams from within the communities most affected by October 7th, and joint parent-child programming to help restore routine and healthy family relationships.


The Israel National Council for the Child (NCC)'s mission is to ensure the welfare, well-being, and rights of all children in Israel. NCC is a national protagonist in all child and youth related issues, initiating and promoting public policy, forging cross-sector partnerships, and operating as a main source of information for professionals, government, and the non-profit sector. NCC's entire operations have been diverted to responding to current needs since October 7. NCC is advocating for children and providing training at the macro level, while providing support for children and teens is distress at the micro level.

Divrei Torah by Women on Parshat Tazria

Jews around the world are reading and studying Parshat Tazria this week. Here are a few divrei Torah by women on this week's parsha:


Shabbat Shalom U'Mevorach

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