By Rebecca Newman

D’varim 14 is that one group of post-Commandments laws you’ve likely heard about since the genesis of your Jewish education. We are holy and therefore we should not eat any abominations: ibex, bison, pelican, bats- the usual. In essence the laws of Kashrut (note cat is not on either list. I leave that interpretation up to you). D’varim 15 covers what we know today as the Shmita year. “At the end of seven years you will make a release” (15:1). We are commanded to have no needy among us, to open our hands and our hearts to everyone. As well we should release our bonds and generally be good people to each other.

The other half of the parsha, Bamidbar 28 details how to carry out the ritual sacrifices of Pesach at the Temple, which is fascinating if you enjoy the thought of offering up goat and lamb at an alter. If not, then this is useful to me purely because it sets up concepts of practice that we still use today, i.e. seven days of the chag, when to start the festival of the weeks a.k.a. Shavuot. Another interesting detail is that Pesach is mentioned to always fall on the 15th of the month, just like many other Jewish chagim. That lunar calendar tho.

D’varim 16 appears very similar to that of Bamidbar 28, as it is essentially instruction on how to observe Pesach. Its significance to me is the inclusion of a line made famous by tikkun olam groups around the world “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (D’varim 16:20), which I have always tried to incorporate into my life. While doing research for this parsha, I also came across this line: “You shall not pervert justice” (D’varim 16:19). This phrase continued to bounce around in my head for the next few days. Is a pervasion of justice different, and somehow worse than simply not seeking justice at all?

I would say yes. If we as Jews, as human beings on this earth, do not oppose hurtful stereotypes, racism, misinformation, and the violence of microaggressions, then we are actively aiding and participating in a system constructed for the sole purpose of

devaluing human lives. By not supporting Black Lives Matter, we are implying to those around us that we believe that Black lives do not matter. By not talking about the Occupation, by not opposing it with every fiber of our beings, we show the world that we believe that it must be just, that the Palestinian people deserve it. By choosing not to learn correct pronouns, by ignoring the rampant transmisogyny in our society, we are committing acts of violence.

It goes a step further. The facts we leave out, the ability to twist narratives to our advantage is a danger we face as a movement. Education is where I think we are given some of the easiest opportunities to fail justice. What we bring to our chanichim, and our friends and families, must be oriented towards freedom always. We must shape our own realities. If we are not actively encouraging and challenging our chanichim to truly oppose inequality and to understand oppressive structures, then we have wronged them in some way. Each day we are told that police equal justice, that prisons and courts equal justice. But if there is anything that we have learned from the past year, it is that systematic imprisonment is not fairness, nor is it often justice at all. We internalize hundreds of racist, misogynist, and hate induced thoughts everyday if we are not constantly critical of them. Our silence is not simply a failure of justice; it is a perversion of it because it lets our hateful society fill in the gaps. I do not believe it is possible to be passive and neutral; either we fight for what we believe in or we are part of the problem.

So we as educators are presented with this amazing task of supporting those we educate to find their own path to justice. We have the duty to present a real challenge to harmful notions that settle in the brains of those who live under the

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