Halachic Left
@halachicleft.org
Halachic Left is changing the conversation about Israel/Palestine in traditionally observant Jewish communities
Reposted by Halachic Left
Come to our Chanukah shiur, either in-person in NYC (UWS) or over Zoom! 🔥🕎🍩
Tuesday 12/16, 6:30pm EST to arrive in person/schmooze, with shiur starting around 7:00pm
Sign up here: bit.ly/hl-chanukah
Tuesday 12/16, 6:30pm EST to arrive in person/schmooze, with shiur starting around 7:00pm
Sign up here: bit.ly/hl-chanukah
December 2, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Come to our Chanukah shiur, either in-person in NYC (UWS) or over Zoom! 🔥🕎🍩
Tuesday 12/16, 6:30pm EST to arrive in person/schmooze, with shiur starting around 7:00pm
Sign up here: bit.ly/hl-chanukah
Tuesday 12/16, 6:30pm EST to arrive in person/schmooze, with shiur starting around 7:00pm
Sign up here: bit.ly/hl-chanukah
Come to our Chanukah shiur, either in-person in NYC (UWS) or over Zoom! 🔥🕎🍩
Tuesday 12/16, 6:30pm EST to arrive in person/schmooze, with shiur starting around 7:00pm
Sign up here: bit.ly/hl-chanukah
Tuesday 12/16, 6:30pm EST to arrive in person/schmooze, with shiur starting around 7:00pm
Sign up here: bit.ly/hl-chanukah
December 2, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Come to our Chanukah shiur, either in-person in NYC (UWS) or over Zoom! 🔥🕎🍩
Tuesday 12/16, 6:30pm EST to arrive in person/schmooze, with shiur starting around 7:00pm
Sign up here: bit.ly/hl-chanukah
Tuesday 12/16, 6:30pm EST to arrive in person/schmooze, with shiur starting around 7:00pm
Sign up here: bit.ly/hl-chanukah
Thank you to everyone who came out last week to hear Yoav Peck in conversation with our student moderator Ami Dube, in partnership with @jstreetu.bsky.social at Hunter College!
December 1, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Thank you to everyone who came out last week to hear Yoav Peck in conversation with our student moderator Ami Dube, in partnership with @jstreetu.bsky.social at Hunter College!
Reposted by Halachic Left
We're excited to announce that we've received a grant this upcoming year from the Jewish Liberation Fund! Through participatory grantmaking, grassroots donor organizing, and philanthropic transformation, JLF is building an alternative model for funding our social movements...
November 30, 2025 at 8:42 PM
We're excited to announce that we've received a grant this upcoming year from the Jewish Liberation Fund! Through participatory grantmaking, grassroots donor organizing, and philanthropic transformation, JLF is building an alternative model for funding our social movements...
We're excited to announce that we've received a grant this upcoming year from the Jewish Liberation Fund! Through participatory grantmaking, grassroots donor organizing, and philanthropic transformation, JLF is building an alternative model for funding our social movements...
November 30, 2025 at 8:42 PM
We're excited to announce that we've received a grant this upcoming year from the Jewish Liberation Fund! Through participatory grantmaking, grassroots donor organizing, and philanthropic transformation, JLF is building an alternative model for funding our social movements...
For our dvar Torah this week, Melvin Lewis writes on Parshas Vayeitzei:
"As Yaakov fled, he wasn’t thinking about the possibilities that might lie before him. Only when he lets himself rest and dream does he connect with the holiness of his situation..."
"As Yaakov fled, he wasn’t thinking about the possibilities that might lie before him. Only when he lets himself rest and dream does he connect with the holiness of his situation..."
November 28, 2025 at 7:10 PM
For our dvar Torah this week, Melvin Lewis writes on Parshas Vayeitzei:
"As Yaakov fled, he wasn’t thinking about the possibilities that might lie before him. Only when he lets himself rest and dream does he connect with the holiness of his situation..."
"As Yaakov fled, he wasn’t thinking about the possibilities that might lie before him. Only when he lets himself rest and dream does he connect with the holiness of his situation..."
For this week's dvar Torah, Rabbi Lexie Botzum asks, "Should we aspire to a love like Yitzchak has for Esav, or learn from it?"
She writes, "Even when we self-consciously assume a critical stance, we’re all at risk of replicating the faults of the obliviously loving Yitzchak..."
She writes, "Even when we self-consciously assume a critical stance, we’re all at risk of replicating the faults of the obliviously loving Yitzchak..."
November 21, 2025 at 5:54 PM
For this week's dvar Torah, Rabbi Lexie Botzum asks, "Should we aspire to a love like Yitzchak has for Esav, or learn from it?"
She writes, "Even when we self-consciously assume a critical stance, we’re all at risk of replicating the faults of the obliviously loving Yitzchak..."
She writes, "Even when we self-consciously assume a critical stance, we’re all at risk of replicating the faults of the obliviously loving Yitzchak..."
"Jewish Peoplehood does not require political dominance to maintain its integrity. The challenge arises only when 'Jewish nationhood' is interpreted in modern statist terms—a framework that rabbinic literature itself does not mandate before the messianic era."
blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-hareidi-...
blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-hareidi-...
The Blogs: The Hareidi basis for peace in the Middle East
From the blog of Ofra Kaplan at The Times of Israel
blogs.timesofisrael.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:00 AM
"Jewish Peoplehood does not require political dominance to maintain its integrity. The challenge arises only when 'Jewish nationhood' is interpreted in modern statist terms—a framework that rabbinic literature itself does not mandate before the messianic era."
blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-hareidi-...
blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-hareidi-...
A Mamdani canvassing volunteer writes of their experiences in
the YU Commentator: “Mamdani’s election has been portrayed as a symbol of a changing political landscape and city. My experiences put me in touch with many who pushed these changes…”
yucommentator.org/2025/11/canv...
the YU Commentator: “Mamdani’s election has been portrayed as a symbol of a changing political landscape and city. My experiences put me in touch with many who pushed these changes…”
yucommentator.org/2025/11/canv...
Canvassing for Mamdani: What I Learned and What it Means - The Commentator
Editor’s Note: Although generally we do not publish anonymous pieces, we have decided to publish this piece anonymously for the author’s privacy. A much-discussed part of the Zohran Mamdani victory t...
yucommentator.org
November 11, 2025 at 9:02 PM
A Mamdani canvassing volunteer writes of their experiences in
the YU Commentator: “Mamdani’s election has been portrayed as a symbol of a changing political landscape and city. My experiences put me in touch with many who pushed these changes…”
yucommentator.org/2025/11/canv...
the YU Commentator: “Mamdani’s election has been portrayed as a symbol of a changing political landscape and city. My experiences put me in touch with many who pushed these changes…”
yucommentator.org/2025/11/canv...
Rabbi Jamie Weisbach in our dvar Torah for Lech Lecha this week: “The Malbim points out that the text emphasizes that Avraham went to save Lot, not his property, and was only motivated by the direct threat to Lot’s very life. Avraham’s motivations to go to war were good and even noble..."
October 31, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Rabbi Jamie Weisbach in our dvar Torah for Lech Lecha this week: “The Malbim points out that the text emphasizes that Avraham went to save Lot, not his property, and was only motivated by the direct threat to Lot’s very life. Avraham’s motivations to go to war were good and even noble..."
Reposted by Halachic Left
Israeli authorities just issued demolition orders for 13 buildings in the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair – including family homes and the community center.
✍️ Congress must speak out: Stop the demolitions and pressure the Trump Administration to act.
✍️ Congress must speak out: Stop the demolitions and pressure the Trump Administration to act.
Stop Demolitions in Umm al-Khair
None
act.jstreet.org
October 29, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Israeli authorities just issued demolition orders for 13 buildings in the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair – including family homes and the community center.
✍️ Congress must speak out: Stop the demolitions and pressure the Trump Administration to act.
✍️ Congress must speak out: Stop the demolitions and pressure the Trump Administration to act.
Whole podcast is worth listening to -- and thank you to
@peterbeinart.bsky.social for giving our High Holiday reader a shout-out around 29 minutes in!
(You can find links to our yamim noraim reader and all of our Torah publications here: halachicleft.org/torah)
@peterbeinart.bsky.social for giving our High Holiday reader a shout-out around 29 minutes in!
(You can find links to our yamim noraim reader and all of our Torah publications here: halachicleft.org/torah)
October 30, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Whole podcast is worth listening to -- and thank you to
@peterbeinart.bsky.social for giving our High Holiday reader a shout-out around 29 minutes in!
(You can find links to our yamim noraim reader and all of our Torah publications here: halachicleft.org/torah)
@peterbeinart.bsky.social for giving our High Holiday reader a shout-out around 29 minutes in!
(You can find links to our yamim noraim reader and all of our Torah publications here: halachicleft.org/torah)
Reposted by Halachic Left
An anti-Mamdani rabbis' letter was organized by The Jewish Majority, which is led by an AIPAC alum. But the letter was also signed by liberal rabbis, revealing how some are leaning when confronted with a choice between their progressivism and their Zionism. jewishcurrents.org/anti-mamdani...
Anti-Mamdani Letter Draws Support from Liberal Rabbinate
The letter revealed a split between liberal rabbis backing the mayoral nominee and those opposing him over his positions on Israel.
jewishcurrents.org
October 30, 2025 at 8:17 PM
An anti-Mamdani rabbis' letter was organized by The Jewish Majority, which is led by an AIPAC alum. But the letter was also signed by liberal rabbis, revealing how some are leaning when confronted with a choice between their progressivism and their Zionism. jewishcurrents.org/anti-mamdani...
"Two American Jewish women are facing deportation from Israel after joining interfaith groups for the olive harvest in the West Bank on Wednesday."
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Two U.S. Jewish women face deportation from Israel after joining West Bank olive harvest
The Two Are Part of a Four-month Program Run by the Achvat Amim Educational Group, Which Organizes Jewish-Palestinian Solidarity Programs. After Joining Palestinians for the West Bank Olive Harvest, I...
www.haaretz.com
October 30, 2025 at 8:21 PM
"Two American Jewish women are facing deportation from Israel after joining interfaith groups for the olive harvest in the West Bank on Wednesday."
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Reposted by Halachic Left
Scenes from an intensely joyful and painful Hoshanah Rabbah...
1/
1/
![Tweet @AlonLeeGreen:
Einav won! Matan returned! Her struggle won! What an exciting moment we've all been waiting for. Unbelievable.
[Photo of released hostage Matan Zangauker embracing his mother Einav]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ckikhalnxxs637rezmm3ceu3/bafkreibj6xpte6p7lmy6qfanfywcfiljweedbcctcd7xm3s6daqqxitt6u@jpeg)
![Tweet: @RamAbdu:
This grieving man, Hitham Salem — Israel killed all his children and his wife weeks before his release.
He made a gift for his daughter, whose birthday is in a few days. Look at the anguish consuming him.
[Video still of Hitham Salem, anguished at the news of his family's death]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ckikhalnxxs637rezmm3ceu3/bafkreigv7vpecoslm7lm7cd3uut74y5bqqyunoyxs7i7wqg3ybkyzaj3yq@jpeg)
![Tweet @JohnLyndon_: Had privilege of spending time with Nimrod's Dad- Yehuda, pictured here- while in NY at UNGA & in meeting with @EmmanuelMacron. Where he not only advocated for Nimrod's release, but for Palestinian rights, statehood & lasting I/P peace.
I hope I'm half the Dad/human being he is.
Quoted tweet:
@LucBernard:
Nimrod is back 😭 [photo of released Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen with his family, sitting together and smiling]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ckikhalnxxs637rezmm3ceu3/bafkreidoxvd7digvtuit5isrrzau7uvwzvcr6p363irl2sjnd6cjuuyx3a@jpeg)
![Tweet @HowidyHamza:
It's worth noting that hundreds of Gazans have been arrested by Israeli forces since October 7 under what’s called the “unlawful combatant” law, a legal framework that allows indefinite detention without charge or trial. Most of them are civilians taken from evacuation zones, hospitals, or shelters, with no evidence presented against them.
Quoted tweet: @gazanotice
"BREAKING: Freed Palestinian abductee embraces his son in an emotional reunion in Khan Younis Southern Gaza Strip, following his release as part of the exchange deal."
[Video of a crowd of people welcoming a Palestinian released from Israeli custody, with different people embracing him as he walks through the crowd]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ckikhalnxxs637rezmm3ceu3/bafkreibngfm2wt7htlqqaqwqib6sveljl4qg7vmgsyhxatcxrk6x4xexua@jpeg)
October 13, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Scenes from an intensely joyful and painful Hoshanah Rabbah...
1/
1/
Reposted by Halachic Left
Seeing such familiar names now being released seems utterly surreal. Just an incredible moment
October 13, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Seeing such familiar names now being released seems utterly surreal. Just an incredible moment
Reposted by Halachic Left
Lishay’s last post before putting the girls to bed:
“For two years now, every night we go out under the moon and say, "Good night, Daddy Omri," hoping he hears, hoping he feels.
Today, for the last time.
Tomorrow, Roni and Alma will say it to Daddy himself 🎗️ “
Credit: Ofir Berman
“For two years now, every night we go out under the moon and say, "Good night, Daddy Omri," hoping he hears, hoping he feels.
Today, for the last time.
Tomorrow, Roni and Alma will say it to Daddy himself 🎗️ “
Credit: Ofir Berman
October 13, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Lishay’s last post before putting the girls to bed:
“For two years now, every night we go out under the moon and say, "Good night, Daddy Omri," hoping he hears, hoping he feels.
Today, for the last time.
Tomorrow, Roni and Alma will say it to Daddy himself 🎗️ “
Credit: Ofir Berman
“For two years now, every night we go out under the moon and say, "Good night, Daddy Omri," hoping he hears, hoping he feels.
Today, for the last time.
Tomorrow, Roni and Alma will say it to Daddy himself 🎗️ “
Credit: Ofir Berman
ברוך מתיר אסורים!
Einav's first call with Matan after two years
Unbelievable
Unbelievable
October 13, 2025 at 6:21 AM
ברוך מתיר אסורים!
Reposted by Halachic Left
Einav's first call with Matan after two years
Unbelievable
Unbelievable
October 13, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Einav's first call with Matan after two years
Unbelievable
Unbelievable
Reposted by Halachic Left
Breaking News: Israel said the Red Cross had custody of some of the hostages in Gaza who were to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel Says First Hostages Have Been Released in Swap: Live Updates
The Israeli military said the Red Cross has custody of seven of the first hostages who are to be released as part of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners. President Trump was scheduled to land in Israel and address Parliament.
nyti.ms
October 13, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Breaking News: Israel said the Red Cross had custody of some of the hostages in Gaza who were to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Came out of Yom Kippur to this terrible news -- our hearts are with the UK Jewish community 💔❤️🩹
Our hearts are with the victims and their families at this terrible time.
October 3, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Came out of Yom Kippur to this terrible news -- our hearts are with the UK Jewish community 💔❤️🩹
Ahead of Yom Kippur, we're sharing our Suggested Tzedakah page from our Yamim Noraim reader. We encourage you to donate to any of the following initiatives:
Gaza Soup Kitchen: bit.ly/gaza-sk
Umm Al-Kheir: bit.ly/umm-al-kheir
Palestine Children's Relief Fund: bit.ly/pcrf-gaza
Gaza Soup Kitchen: bit.ly/gaza-sk
Umm Al-Kheir: bit.ly/umm-al-kheir
Palestine Children's Relief Fund: bit.ly/pcrf-gaza
October 1, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Ahead of Yom Kippur, we're sharing our Suggested Tzedakah page from our Yamim Noraim reader. We encourage you to donate to any of the following initiatives:
Gaza Soup Kitchen: bit.ly/gaza-sk
Umm Al-Kheir: bit.ly/umm-al-kheir
Palestine Children's Relief Fund: bit.ly/pcrf-gaza
Gaza Soup Kitchen: bit.ly/gaza-sk
Umm Al-Kheir: bit.ly/umm-al-kheir
Palestine Children's Relief Fund: bit.ly/pcrf-gaza
You can now download a half-page version of the pdf to print yourself a folded booklet.
Duplex (two-sided) printers: drive.google.com/file/d/1kfHN...
Non-duplex printers: drive.google.com/file/d/146Ot...
Duplex (two-sided) printers: drive.google.com/file/d/1kfHN...
Non-duplex printers: drive.google.com/file/d/146Ot...
✨ "Ya'aleh Zikhroneinu," our essay collection for the High Holidays, is now live!
Download and print it out to read over the chagim here: bit.ly/hl-reader-5786 ✨
Download and print it out to read over the chagim here: bit.ly/hl-reader-5786 ✨
![יעלה זכרוננו
Essays for the Yamim Noraim
Published by Halachic Left, 5786/2025
Contributors:
Rana Bickel • Jonathan Boyarin • Rabbi Caleb Brommer • Rabbi Vincent Calabrese • Rabbi Aryeh Cohen • Rabbi William Friedman • Avi Garelick • Rabbi Avigayil Halpern • Lexi Kohanski • Raphael Magarik • Zev Mishell • Ya’aqov Shenkin • Laynie Soloman • Rabbi Leead Staller • Rabbi Lauren Tuchman
Edited by Rabbi Lexie Botzum, Max Buchdahl, Caroline Morganti, Eliana Padwa, and Noam Weinreich
[Cover image: a watercolor background of clouds in the sky near either sunset or sunrise]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ckikhalnxxs637rezmm3ceu3/bafkreidi2gsi4tykvrafs2yb4q3idxchl27febeihknwvlakj2vnybqcei@jpeg)
September 26, 2025 at 4:42 AM
You can now download a half-page version of the pdf to print yourself a folded booklet.
Duplex (two-sided) printers: drive.google.com/file/d/1kfHN...
Non-duplex printers: drive.google.com/file/d/146Ot...
Duplex (two-sided) printers: drive.google.com/file/d/1kfHN...
Non-duplex printers: drive.google.com/file/d/146Ot...
Reposted by Halachic Left
✨ "Ya'aleh Zikhroneinu," our essay collection for the High Holidays, is now live!
Download and print it out to read over the chagim here: bit.ly/hl-reader-5786 ✨
Download and print it out to read over the chagim here: bit.ly/hl-reader-5786 ✨
September 21, 2025 at 4:35 AM
✨ "Ya'aleh Zikhroneinu," our essay collection for the High Holidays, is now live!
Download and print it out to read over the chagim here: bit.ly/hl-reader-5786 ✨
Download and print it out to read over the chagim here: bit.ly/hl-reader-5786 ✨