T'ruah

08/21/2026

In this chilling letter, Maryam Tahmasebi details her family's experience in ICE detention for four months. She writes, "My son and I have spent over 120 days in the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, away from my husband, who was taken to the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall, Texas." Despite being green card holders, they're detained for something their relative did before they were born and were even denied their request to voluntarily leave the U.S. They are trapped with no clear path out. https://buff.ly/nVX6IBR

My husband, son, and I have been locked up for months—despite being permanent residents with no criminal record. It is an unendurable, unending nightmare.

08/20/2026

“When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it; it shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow — in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all of your undertakings.” (Deuteronomy 24:19)

In this week's installment of (M)oral Torah on parashat Ki Tetze, Rabbi Kari Tuling, Ph.D. writes: "An abiding concern for human rights, and for upholding the inherent dignity of even the poorest among us, has been a key feature of the Jewish tradition, originating with this Torah verse and carrying into the present day."
https://buff.ly/TPhiCC4

Jewish ideas about poverty are derived in large part from an injunction found in this week’s Torah portion: “When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it; it shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow — in order that the Lor...

08/20/2026

A whistleblower former lawyer in the justice department says probes into antisemitism on campus were a ploy to attack universities. This is exactly what we’ve been warning: None of this has anything to do with keeping Jews safe. Jews facing antisemitism on campus need resources and support. These cases are instead about a justice department with its own agenda: an agenda that undermines democracy and civil liberties and makes Jews, and everyone, less safe.

08/19/2026

Jean Wilson Brutus. Edwin López-Cornejo. José Chajón-Raxón. Three men — from Haiti, El Salvador, and Guatemala — held at Delaney Hall, New Jersey's largest immigrant detention facility. In less than a year, all three are dead.

Their families and advocates describe denied medication, delayed ambulances, and medical neglect. This is not happening only at Delaney Hall: more people died in ICE custody in 2025 than in any year in at least two decades.

We refuse to stand idly by. Share what's happening at Delaney Hall — and find a protest near you.

https://buff.ly/RZQgY4g

José Chajón-Raxón experienced ‘seizure-like activity’ at Delaney Hall and later died after being hospitalized

08/18/2026

These words of Israel's Minister of National Security on former hostage Rom Braslavski's podcast could not be farther from Jewish values, text, and tradition. We're disgusted by this call for blood, and horrified anew that Ben Gvir is the person in charge of Israel's police. Israeli forces have killed 1,250+ people in Gaza since the ceasefire began in October 2025.

08/17/2026

"That's not actually accurate nor a helpful perspective to have, because it puts you in this fearful, defensive posture." T'ruah CEO Rabbi Jill Jacobs talked with Niala Boodhoo () about ditching the apocalyptic mindset around elections — and what it actually looks like to stay engaged instead. New episode of "Oh God Now What," out now.

Podcast Episode · Oh God Now What · August 15 · 43m

08/16/2026

We are sending love and care to the Central Synagogue community after a frightening attack at Friday’s Shabbat services.

08/14/2026

We're angry and not surprised that Netanyahu has thrown up a new roadblock to the full implementation of last fall's ceasefire agreement.

08/14/2026

Rabbi Jonah Winer: "We are in the midst of one of the most violent periods in the West Bank since the region was captured by Israel in 1967. Since Hamas’s horrific attacks on October 7, 2023, over 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank; more than 240 of them were children... I ask that you join me in shifting our communal conversation. Together we can move the North American Jewish community’s discourse from a focus on the crimes of individual radical settlers, to the violence of the occupation and settlement projects as a whole.”

Keep reading: https://buff.ly/8tVr0aW

08/13/2026

Parshat Shoftim, writes Rabbi Mol Paul, "contains one of our most famous phrases — tzedek tzedek tirdof — 'justice, justice you will pursue.' This phrase, read always during the month of Elul — a month of personal reflection and introspection — is often used as the proof text for the importance of living a life committed to pursuing justice." But how can we pursue justice when our systems have become corrupted? Shoftim shows us how to "create new systems with just processes and just outcomes. ... And in doing so, we will build communities capable of 'tzedek tzedek tirdof.'"
https://buff.ly/FhcjcED

Parshat Shoftim contains one of our most famous phrases — tzedek tzedek tirdof — justice, justice you will pursue. This phrase, read always during the month of Elul — a month of personal reflection and introspection — is often used as the proof text for the importance of living a life commit...