Why can’t some christians just be happy with their own holidays and leave Jewish holidays alone. Jesus did not have a Passover seder as we understand it today. The seder is a modern invention.

On March 25, 2026, the United Nations General Assembly voted to declare the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity. 123 countries said yes. 52 abstained. Three voted no: the United States, Israel, and Argentina rabbisandra.substack.com/p/three-said...

Israel just passed a law mandating the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis. The same law explicitly exempts Jewish Israelis convicted of killing Palestinians. One land. Two legal systems. One people who can be hanged. The other, exempt.

My office today in N. Little Rock. My favorite coffee shop when I visit - Darkside Coffee

Does God Do Teshuva? My thoughts open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Vayikra. The book nobody wants to read. Full of blood and ritual and rules about offerings. Also the most honest book in Torah about what it actually costs to be in relationship — with God, with each other, with the stranger.

Last summer, a donor asked if I’d be interested in a public conversation with @peterbeinart.bsky.social about Israel, Gaza, and Palestine. I said no. Read what I said yes to. open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Some Torah for this Saturday morning substack.com/@rabbisandra...

When I began rabbinical school, that first year, I fell in love with an unlikely blessing. Asher Yatzar. Yes, I fell in love with the bathroom blessing. The blessing we say, thanking God for allowing us to relieve ourselves in the morning. open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Purim teaches us that joy can be defiant, courage can be collective, and survival is only the beginning. We gather, we give, we protect one another — and we refuse to disappear. Chag Purim Sameach.

President of peace? My tuckas.

You don’t rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War unless your focus is war. Words signal priorities.

They Kept Walking There is a particular grief in losing elders. In Jewish tradition, when we lose someone, we say zikhronam livracha — may their memory be a blessing. But memory cannot be passive. It asks something of us. open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

They Kept Walking There is a particular grief in losing elders. In Jewish tradition, when we lose someone, we say zikhronam livracha — may their memory be a blessing. But memory cannot be passive. It asks something of us. open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Micromanagement is often framed as a leadership style that is anxiety-driven, controlling, or perfectionistic. But when it is disproportionately directed at Black people, it’s about power—a way to express distrust and undermine authority. open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

This 👇🏾

Rev. Jesse Jackson passed away this morning. We lost a giant. I am deeply grateful that I had the opportunity to thank him for paving the way for so many of us. His life was a testament to what it looks like to keep showing up for the dream of a more just world.

Micromanagement is often framed as a leadership style—anxiety-driven, controlling. But when disproportionately directed at Black people, it's about power. Racism shows up as excessive oversight, constant correction, and the assumption that Black professionals need more supervision.

Repeatedly elevating the same center-right, middle-aged voices as arbiters of ‘what Jews need’ risks missing the very people who are the Jewish future. open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

“The last 50 years haven’t weakened us. They’ve made us more representative. More capable of holding the complexity of real human lives.” open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Federal agents are executing American citizens in the streets. This is state terror. The federal government wants you to not believe your own eyes. No community in America should have to deal with this.

Fighting for justice is Jewish tradition. MAGA counts on violence to make us afraid. To turn us against our neighbors. To distract from their failures to address affordability, healthcare, and other crises. We refuse to look away or be divided. We reject ICE. Art by @jasonadamk.bsky.social

Thank you for illustrating the point. Saying 'Israel is fueling antisemitism' still places responsibility for bigotry on its targets rather than on those who choose hate. Antisemites are responsible for antisemitism. Criticize Israel all you want - antisemitism is still just hate

Blaming Jews for antisemitism is victim-blaming. We are each responsible for our own bias and hate.

Sharing open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

We honor King with a holiday. He asked us for courage. open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Martin Luther King Jr. Would Be Getting Arrested at ICE Facilities

Kotzer ruach is what happens when trauma settles into the body. It’s the tightness in the chest when we learn a synagogue has been destroyed by fire. It’s the shallow breathing that comes with shock, grief, fear, and anger compressed together. open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Waking up to devastating news: Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi - the city’s only synagogue - was attacked by an arsonist and suffered heavy fire damage. Sending love to the congregation and community. mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...

When power refuses to know: Shemot and State Violence youtu.be/uakw474ZIVs?...

Big tent Judaism was always aspirational and we were moving in that direction but is this era now over or is it something worth fighting for?

Shemot as Liberation Theology open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

“Clarity builds community faster than caution ever will.” open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

@arnorosenfeld.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/antisemi...

Remember when Trump said he knew nothing about Project 2025? Now he’s bombing countries to enact it. This operation is the direct implementation of what Project 2025 explicitly called “re-hemisphering” - capturing Latin American supply chains and resources as a requirement of US economic security.

Are we really doing this again? Another Republican president launching an illegal war of choice?

I thought Trump was trying to get rid of all the immigrants and foreigners, so why is he bringing one in?

It’s almost midnight, and I’ve spent all day trying to write an end-of-year reflection, only to remember I’m an internal processor. So this is it: Happy New Year, my friends. I love you. Thank you for all the support in 2025.

"Every time we've thrown a group under the bus to appeal to some imagined 'middle,' movements have gotten weaker, not stronger." open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Habari Gani? Kwanzaa invites us to honor community, shared responsibility, and hope. May these days strengthen our bonds, renew our purpose, and remind us that liberation is something we build together. Joyous Kwanzaa. Harambee.

For Asheville folks join @peterbeinart.bsky.social @ncjews4justice.bsky.social and me for a thoughtful conversation. The event is free and open to the public. www.worthamarts.org/events/belon...

When Vance says white people don’t have to apologize for being white anymore, he knows no one has ever had to do that. What white people have been asked to do is apologize for being racist. And now Vance is telling them they don’t have to apologize for that either. open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Conversations around Israel and Gaza inflame long-simmering tensions in the Jewish American community. Yet we know that open, inclusive dialogue is essential. Join CJJ in creating a welcoming space to explore what it means to be Jewish in America today. www.carolinajewsforjustice.org/community_an...

Hanukkah begins tonight as we remember the world needs more light. In Sydney, families gathered on a beach to celebrate the start of Hanukkah. They were met with gunfire. At least twelve are dead, twenty-nine wounded—terror aimed at joy itself.

This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we act as though other communities have abandoned us, we retreat from relationship and coalition-building. Then, when we need support, we find ourselves isolated because relationships require ongoing commitment.

“We stood up for the LGBTQ community, for the African American community, for immigrants, and it was a real core part of our mission. And we would often do it in coalition with other civil rights groups, and that’s all gone. That respect that we had is just completely gone” shorturl.at/BkQXS

I have a new YouTube channel just for music youtube.com/shorts/pcxWb...

Is this nightmare finally coming to an end. What do you think?

We are the people who wrestle open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...