Rabbi Marc Katz leads Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, N.J., and is the author of the 2016 book The Heart of Loneliness: How Jewish Wisdom Can Help You Cope. His next book, Yochanan’s Gamble: Judaism’s Pragmatic Approach to Life, will be published in December 2024.
Judaism demands we hold their suffering in our hearts alongside concern for Israel
In most traditional synagogues in the United States, the Torah reading for Yom Kippur afternoon is Leviticus 18, a chapter that speaks about sexual sins, supposedly committed by the inhabitants of Canaan, that we Jews should avoid. For generations, the Reform Movement—and, more recently, many Conservative congregations— have chosen to read instead Leviticus 19, which…
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