R’ Arthur writes: The past weeks of the death of Pope Francis and the gathering of the Conclave has brought to my mind his own life and that of his true forerunner, Pope John XXIII. Each of them did the unheard-of.

“What in your own life made you feel like Judaism needed to be renewed?”

This is the question we’ll pose to Rabbis Arthur Waskow, Phyllis Berman, Jeff Roth, Marcia Prager, and Michael Strassfeld at the beginning of Renewing Judaism this Sunday.

Because Reb Arthur has dedicated his life to serving YHVH and motivating us to do the same, each week of the Omer this year we will highlight a different component of the Legacy Fund. 

THIS SUNDAY, come hear from Rabbis Arthur Waskow, Phyllis Berman, Jeff Roth, Marcia Prager, and Michael Strassfeld about the origins of Jewish renewal and the early days of renewing Judaism in America. Part oral history, part roundtable conversation, this is a unique opportunity to hear the founding story of one of American Judaism’s great transformations directly from those who transformed it.

We are raising $500,000 to nourish the prophetic movement of Jewish sacred justice that Arthur has spent his life cultivating, while also giving all of us an opportunity to express our blessings, gratitude, love, and affirmations for Arthur while he can fully receive it.

Read about the launch call and find links to all the features that debuted at the April 16, 2025 launch event.

In 1969, Arthur Waskow wrote and helped organize the original Freedom Seder, and in so doing, transformed American Judaism forever.

Today’s Pharaohs are imposing PLAGUES on all Americans.

R’ Arthur writes, “There are four truths to the Seder that most of us don’t notice in the busy-ness of preparing the words and the foods and the companions of each Seder.”

Reb Arthur has said, “My greatest dream is for The Shalom Center to continue to thrive into the future.”   

Toward that dream, The Shalom Center is launching the Reb Arthur Waskow Legacy Fund, raising $500,000 to ensure Reb Arthur’s legacy lives on for generations to come.

Video of the Episcopal Bishop of Washington at the National Cathedral, directly addressing President Trump — please share widely to those whom you think would be drawn to these words and want to multiply their presence, including using it in their sacred services.

Join The Shalom Center and ALEPH for Renewing Judaism, a 3-part webinar series reflecting on the past, present, and future of Judaism’s renewal.

Reb Arthur explores a story of Jacob’s great shift from Heel to Godwrestler. As hard as that shift was, it is still much much harder for an entire people to do teshuvah for its most drastic and public sins.

Jumping the track: When one thing seems certain, when destiny seems like settled fact, and then all of a sudden facts give way to something totally new and unpredictable - unsettled potential. 

Rabbi Nate observes, that’s what happens in the Purim story. And that if we look wide-eyed enough at our own world, that’s what happens all around us, too.

One year ago today on the Jewish calendar, over 200 people gathered in the Bay Area for The Shalom Center’s actifest, the Tent of Mourning - a space of ritualized grief and mourning for anyone whose heart was tender and open enough to be grieving both Palestinians and Israelis.

Some scholars say the story in the Scroll of Esther is a satire against stupid and tyrannical power, which we have more than enough of scattered around us right now. 

Rabbi Arthur shares a piece by Jeffrey Dekro, reflecting on the unprecedented Feb. 28, 2025 Oval Office encounter between President Trump and Vice President JD Vance and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine: “the moment when the US inescapably and willfully changed course and abandoned its traditional embrace of democracy and justice. “

Reb Arthur continues to work on “Ancient Torah Transformed for the 22nd Century,” offering here the Ten Utterances from Sinai as he imagines them, transformed for and beyond the year 2100.

Moved by the Feb. 28th day of national boycott being promoted by a number of national groups, R’ Arthur has a proposal for a a stronger moral and Jewish imprint to the no-spending aspect of the protest.

These days, Rabbi Nate sees midrash everywhere. And as we approach Adar, a season of upside-downness, The Shalom Center also brings you two incredible programs that we hope will meet us in the upside-down and ordain us in our disorientation.

For years, Rabbi Arthur wondered why we continue to read one of the most terrible chapters of Torah: the Israelites’ genocide of the Midianites. But a few years ago, he realized a reason to keep it.