We are pleased to introduce you to The Shalom Center’s freshly updated Board of Directors!

Today, R’ Arthur writes, “ I want to explore how Purim worked for centuries of Am Yisrael, the Godwrestling Folk, the Jewish People. Especially I want to look at Megillat Esther, the Scroll of Esther — which claims to have invented, explained, and justified Purim.”

Here The Shalom Center begins an adventure into the Festival of Purim that will lead us all into several ways of transforming Purim and, we hope, the world — through actifests. Each week from now until Purim you will find here one excitement or incitement.

Today: which midrash frames the future?

R’ Arthur writes: “The International Court of Justice has delivered a more ‘nuanced’ decision on the current war between the Netanyahu regime and the Military Wing of Hamas. . . . While I myself would have gone further and swifter, I am not a world-spanning court with a strong sense of its own weakness. . . . it needs vigorous support from governments, businesses, religious communities, other civil societies.”

Now on the other side of Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish new year for the trees, and with the secular new year still visible in the rearview mirror, we want to take this opportunity to share with you what we’re excited about for The Shalom Center in the year ahead.

R’ Arthur writes: “Dear companions in the struggle for a decent world, in the midst of sorrow, violence, and trauma, we need to rediscover the deep meanings of the Mourners Kaddish.”

A reflection by David Waskow on the interaction of two moments in time: Tu B’Shvat — a celebration of trees and creation, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday — a commemoration of a commitment to justice.

The Shalom Center is proud to be co-sponsor of upcoming action campaigns led by two of our respected partners: Tu Bishvat Virtual Lobby Day with Jewish Earth Alliance and Repro Shabbat with the National Council of Jewish Women.

Dartmouth professors Susannah Heschel & Tarek El-Ariss join The Shalom Center for a discussion about how they helped guide the post-10/7 conversation on their college campus.

Israeli Supreme Court & People vs. ’Yahu

Gazans & Political Hamas vs. Military-Murderous Hamas

Four Sides, Not Two, in the War

Perhaps the first hint of serious change within what was the government of Gaza.

Shalom Center Senior Fellow Robert Brand writes, “The talk of eliminating Hamas may just be whistling in the graveyard or a function of rage and anger. Whatever it is, such talk is fantasy, but a fantasy that escalates tension and death between Palestine and Israel and further delays the inevitable process of neighbors figuring out how to live together.”

On Night 8 of Hanukkah, The Shalom Center’s Founder and Director Rabbi Arthur Waskow points beyond the “completion” of the candle lighting.

On Night 7 of Hanukkah, Black Trans Torah Club founder and Tzedek Lab co-founder Koach Baruch Frazier highlights the urgency of uprooting anti-Black racism.

On Night 6 of Hanukkah, writer, speaker, and activist Arlene Goldbard, past board president of The Shalom Center, looks to shed light on the root spiritual crisis underlying patriarchy.

For Night 5 of Hanukkah, Rabbi Becky Silverstein, Co-Director of SVARA’s Trans Halakha Project, Schusterman Fellow, and Jewish Studio Project board member, sees an invitation to let the light illuminate the joyful world made possible by eradicating transphobia.

On Night 4 of Hanukkah, the Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis, Executive Director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, is heartened by a central message of the ancient story: God has gifted us with enough light to not just survive, but to banish the darkness.

For Night 3 of Hanukkah, Heather Booth, President of Midwest Academy finds inspiration to “turn anger into action; pain into purpose”.

For Night 2 of Hanukkah, Madeline Canfield, Organizing Coordinator for Adamah’s Jewish Youth Climate Movement, encourages us to find hope in “the embodied practice of resistance.”

For night 1 of Hanukkah, Lex Rofeberg, Senior Jewish Educator at Judaism Unbound, reminds us that our holiday rituals should not only serve as sanctuaries from the injustices of the world, but rather as reminders of the work we must do to confront them.