Saturday, November 30 | 10 a.m.
Progressive Jewish communities treat social improvement as a core element of their self-conception and community action. Immersion in the work of social justice, however, reveals it to be rife with uncertainty, with contradiction, and with internal and external struggle. Parashat Toldot’s story of Jacob and Esau offers a powerful opportunity to explore the pain and the power of seeing our actions as simultaneously right and wrong, and of not knowing who is more right and who is more wrong. Moral and intellectual ambiguity lies at the heart of much work toward the improvement of our society, our community, and our world. In this d’var Torah, Darchei Noam’s Social Justice Scholar-in-Residence will draw on decades of antipoverty work in health care, and on the turmoil of the past year, to explore the tortuous struggles that underlie efforts to achieve impactful, positive social change.
Dr. Bloch will also lead an interactive post-Kiddush discussion.