Parashat Va-Yiggash (Bereishit 44:18-47:27) Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein, Avodah National Jewish Educator For the past week, we have dwelled in the strange and tense pause between the beginning of Yehuda’s speech to Yoseph, at the end of last week’s parasha, and … Continue reading
25th Dec, 2020
We are so proud to share some of the incredible feats and exciting moments we celebrated at Avodah in 2020 and we can’t wait for you to see what we have in store in 2021. Continue reading
23rd Dec, 2020
Our parasha begins with Yoseph in prison. Despite his stunning good looks, his charisma, and talents, in the land of Egypt, he is alone, destitute, and vulnerable. Framed for a sexual assault he didn’t commit by someone who actually tried … Continue reading
18th Dec, 2020
This week’s parasha is the first installment of the enthralling riches-to-rags-to-riches saga of the life of Yoseph. This epic power story unfolds uninterrupted for three weeks, with the exception of chapter 38, in the middle of our parasha. At a … Continue reading
11th Dec, 2020
This week, we’re going to talk about violence. It will take us a little more time than usual, as this loaded topic may require, and I offer a content warning that this essay and the texts in it refer to … Continue reading
4th Dec, 2020
Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein Avodah, 5781 It seems intuitive that truthfulness should be paramount in religious life and in fact, the Torah teaches bluntly in the civil code, “From a lying word stay far away” (Exodus/Sh’mot 23:7). This mitzvah is directed … Continue reading
20th Nov, 2020
In an election fraught with anti-immigrant rhetoric and threats of voter suppression, Avodah DC Corps Members Francesca Rubinson and Jordan Pollack visited Pennsylvania on Election Day to serve as voter guardians for those who might have faced intimidation at the … Continue reading
18th Nov, 2020
Yitzhak: The Dispossessed Building Solidarity with the Dispossessed Parashat Hayei Sarah (Bereishit/Genesis 23-25:18) Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein, Avodah National Jewish Educator, 5781 Hayei Sarah is a parashah of stinging irony. We enter the parashah wondering how Sarah will receive her broken … Continue reading
13th Nov, 2020
This week’s parashah begins the story of the Jewish people. All people mythologically descend from Adam and Eve and through the one remnant of their descendants, Noah, as we read last week. From here on out, the Torah will narrow … Continue reading
30th Oct, 2020
Sylvia Finger and Jill Israel were honored at Avodah’s 2020 Annual Partners in Justice event in New Orleans for their efforts to organize and register more than 9,000 new voters in just two years through their work with the … Continue reading
28th Oct, 2020