In This Edition:

• Weekly Message
• Apply to Join Jofa's Board, by May 22
• Shabbat Dorshot Tov, June 1
• Parshiot Acharei Mot & Kedoshim & the LGBTQ+ Community
• "Screams Before Silence"
• Mental Health Awareness Month Resources
• Women's Voices
• Israel Resources
• Divrei Torah by Women on Parshat Kedoshim

Weekly Message:

A Holy People

Friends,

This week's parsha, Kedoshim, opens with Hashem telling Moshe to instruct all of the people of Israel to 'be holy,'" followed by dozens of ways to actualize that — from not putting a stumbling block in front of the blind, to judging fairly. 

Writing in the 13th century, the Ramban makes the connection here between the command to be holy and the need for personal judgment, human dignity, and moderation, in understanding and balancing the letter and spirit of the law. He writes, "Such is the way of the Torah, that after it lists certain specific prohibitions, it includes them all in a general precept. Thus, after warning with detailed laws regarding all business dealings between people...He said in general, And thou shalt do that which is right and good..."

The Ramban here is getting to the heart of God's instruction to tell all of the people of Israel, using the plural, "kedoshim tihyu" – signaling to us that this is a communal directive. In other words, we become holy by behaving in a holy manner toward each other; by treating others with the same dignity with which we wish to be treated – by "loving your neighbor as yourself," as God specifies in this parsha.

As we go forward at this challenging moment, we are awash in opportunities to be holy, by treating each other with compassion and humanity. Beginning the new month of Iyar; preparing to observe Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut, and counting the Omer on our way to renewing our acceptance of the Torah, are ideal opportunities to reinvigorate our understanding and practice of what it means to be a holy people – building up our holiness one interaction at a time.

With this in mind, we offer ways to help increase our understanding and awareness of the people around us, through ways to be involved; women's voices and perspectives on the situation in Israel and the weekly parsha, and more suggested ways to help. 

Chodesh Tov ~ Shabbat Shalom ~ Besorot Tovot

Apply to Join the Jofa Board of Directors, by May 22

Jofa leadership pictured above (left to right) during Jofa's Israel Solidarity Mission in January 2024 are: Board President Dr. Mindy Feldman Hecht; Executive Committee Member Allie Alperovich; Executive Director Daphne Lazar Price; Board Treasurer Rachel Berke, and Executive Committee Member Rabba Dr. Carmella Abraham.

If you'd like to take an active role in Jofa's work to advance leadership opportunities for women in Orthodox communities across North America, consider applying to join Jofa's Board! Applications are being accepted through Wednesday, May 22, for three-year Board terms beginning on June 3. Find out more & apply here.

Shabbat Dorshot Tov, June 1

During Kolech: Religious Women's Forum's annual Shabbat Dorshot Tov, families and communities across Israel host female scholars who give divrei Torah and teach shiurim for diverse audiences and communities, including some where female religious leaders are uncommon.

This year, Yeshivat Maharat is cosponsoring Dorshot Tov, to include more than 100 female scholars speaking in Diaspora pulpits on Shabbat Bechukotai, June 1.

If you're speaking on June 1, know someone who is, or would like to find a pulpit, here you can find more info and the application link. We hope you'll join us!

Parshiot Acharei Mot and Kedoshim

and the LGBTQ+ Community

Parshiot Acharei Mot and Kedoshim can be painful for many in the LGBTQ+ community, because of the prohibitions against same sex relations.

With thanks to Eshel, we share two helpful resources that address this:

• Seeing Ourselves in Torah
• Between the Lines Podcast: Acharei Mot and Kedoshim, with Rabbi Steven Greenberg

"Screams Before Silence"

Please join us in bearing witness to what happened on October 7. Sheryl Sandberg's "Screams Before Silence" documentary sheds light on the horrific atrocities that Hamas committed, by lifting up the stories of Nova Festival survivors, first responders, and released hostages. As heartbreaking as these firsthand accounts are, we must listen to them and stand united against all forms of sexual violence. Access the film trailer and the full 56-minute film at screamsbeforesilence.com.

Mental Health Awareness Month Resources

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we are drawing attention to the Blue Dove Foundation's extensive resources on mental health and Judaism -- including the new "HaDerech - The Way: A Guide for Mental Health Crises" and "Lashon Hara: How to NOT Talk About Mental Illness". Please visit the Foundation's web site for these and many more helpful resources.

Women's Voices

Raising women's voices helps us find new insight and perspective about what has been happening and how we may find meaning in it. We hope that these voices provide you with new understanding, and inspire you to act, and to share your own insights.

This week, we make special note of the JTA piece, "Jews from Arab Lands Are the Missing Piece of the Israeli-Palestinian Discourse," by Lisa Sayegh, an American Syrian Jew who participated in both Jofa's Israel Solidarity Mission, and our Op-Ed Writing Workshop, through which she produced and published this article.

Lisa writes: "Pro-Palestinian activists who call out Israel as a 'European settler colonial project' omit a critical part of the story that calls into question their claim. They ignore the Mizrahi majority in Israel who are descendants of Jews expelled from Arab lands when Israel was declared a state." She makes the case that including this in the narrative of the current Israeli/Palestinian conflict will help balance the conversation by taking into account the actual historical events of 1948, and the impact on all of the involved parties. 

*

Following are additional selected blog posts and opinion pieces by women, published in the past week:

• "After Oct. 7, Jewish Unity Must Include Queer Jews," by Gila Romanoff
• "Rosh Hodesh Iyar Torah Essay," Dr. Shifra Assulin
• "What the Kapo Trials Tell Us About Moral Gray Zones," by Cheryl Levi
• "Digital Antisemitism: The Largest Propaganda Machine Since the Holocaust," by Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler
• "The Day ‘Never Again’ Became an Empty Slogan," by Tova Dorfman
• "The Strength of Second Generation Trauma, After Hamas’s Massacre," by Tova Herzl
• "The Antisemitic Mask is Off," by Rachel Lester
• "The Cost," by Andrea Simantov
• "Lies That Tell a Truth – and Why They’re So Important," by Janice Weizman
• "I Don’t Want to Attend College in a Safe Jewish ‘Bubble’," by Ary Hammerman
• "A Survivor’s Class Photo," by Nomi Kaltmann

More Israel Resources

With the war in Israel and the hostages' fate weighing heavily on us, we look to ways we can offer help on the home front.

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 to 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 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 running list.

NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief is an Israel-based, all-volunteer, non-profit NGO, that helps people all over the world rebuild their lives with dignity following natural and human-made disasters. Its professional, experienced volunteers go where and when they are needed, to provide medical, dental, psychosocial, and educational aid. Right now, NATAN volunteers are helping by operating medical and dental clinics at centers for evacuees, survivors of the October 7 invasion and massacre in the towns and villages along the Gaza border. NATAN established clinics at hotels in three locations where evacuees have been staying: Shefayim Kibbutz, The Dead Sea, and Eilat, in collaboration with Clalit Health Service and Maccabi Health Service, Israel's largest HMOs.

American Jewish Committee: Guidance for Jewish Students on Campus offers a wealth of resources and guidelines to help students manage this challenging time, as many campuses deal with anti-Israel protests and encampments, and many Jewish students feel uneasy and unsafe being openly and proudly Jewish on campus.

Nefesh b'Nefesh is staying focused on several initiatives in three main areas, relating to its mission and unique capabilities: relief for olim in distress; support for lone soldiers and their families, and recruiting and coordinating volunteer physicians to bolster Israel’s national health care system.

Divrei Torah by Women on Parshat Kedoshim

Shabbat Shalom

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