In This Edition:

• Weekly Message
• Jofa in the Media
• Women's Voices
• Israel Resources
• Divrei Torah by Women on Parshat Acharei Mot

Weekly Message:

Holy Service

Friends,

With Pesach behind us, hostages still in Gaza, war still raging, and antisemitism emboldened on university campuses, we wonder: What now? What happens next? Where do we go from here?

This week's parsha, Acharei Mot, offers a possible answer through the details of the Yom Kippur service: Aharon is given a highly specific and extensive set of instructions as preparation for entering the Kodesh Hakodashim (the Holy of Holies) for his brief time with G-d's divine presence on Yom Kippur.

He is not to enter at any other time, with anyone else, or otherwise diverge in the slightest bit from the proscribed rituals, lest he die in the process. Serving as the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur is an awesome responsibility to be undertaken with the strictest care.

However, fascinatingly, the Tosefta in Keilim notes that Kohanim were actually permitted to enter the Kodesh Hakodashim as needed to perform maintenance work -- no additional rituals or purifications necessary.

This type of holy maintenance work can shed light on the wide range of tasks that Israelis have undertaken with a profound sense of purpose and responsibility since October 7 -- not only on the battlefront, but across the home front.

The heroes are all around us, both risking their lives on the front lines to protect us, and doing the holy maintenance behind the scenes: working and volunteering in vast and varied capacities to support our country, communities, and families every day, regardless of how mundane some tasks might seem. Stocking shelves in the local makolet (market); picking fruit on the kibbutz farm; providing for the significant needs of victims and evacuees -- all are deeply holy efforts that can help each of us find our place and purpose in the Kodesh Hakodashim.

Even those who do not physically live in Israel can make the effort to visit in solidarity; give to organizations doing the work on the ground; raise our voices loudly for Israel and against antisemitism; speak out against sexual violence; keep fighting the good fight.

With this in mind, we offer ways to help renew your sense of place and purpose, through women's voices and perspectives on the situation in Israel and the weekly parsha, and more suggested ways to support needs on the ground in Israel. 

Shabbat Shalom ~ Besorot Tovot ~ Am Yisrael Chai

Jofa in the Media

During Pesach, Jofa's Executive Director, Daphne Lazar Price, published a blog post, I'm in Israel for Passover. This is How Israelis Are Celebrating., offering first-person perspective on what it was like to be in Israel during the chag.

On Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch's newest episode of her "Just for This" podcast, titled "Leading Better Together," Daphne Lazar Price talks about the power of broad, diverse coalitions, and the many forms that Jewish identity can take. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or stream it on the web at justforthispodcast.com.

Women's Voices

Raising women's voices helps us find new insight and perspective about what has been happening and how we may find meaning in it. We hope that these voices provide you with new understanding, and inspire you to act, and to share your own insights.

• "Screams Before Silence," by Sheryl Sandberg, is a difficult but important one-hour documentary film on the sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7.

*

Following are selected blog posts and opinion pieces by women, published in the past week:

• What You're Calling for When You Call for Intifada, by Sherri Mandell
• Two Packs of Tissues and an Arm Around My Shoulders, by Miriam Haber
• What Side of History Do You Want to Be On?, by Leah Jacobson
• Photo Essay: This Year My Family's Redemption from Egypt Came in Poland, by Batya Hefter
• Rabbi Akiva and Rachel: Role Models for Marriage, by Susan Barth
• The Death of Language, by Cheryl Levi
• The Toyota, by Talya Woolf

More Ways to Help Now

With the war in Israel and the hostages who are still not free weighing heavily on us, we look to ways we can offer help on the home front.

Please check our Supporting Israel: Ways to Help Now page, where we continue adding ways to stay connected and engaged with what is happening in Israel and what we can do - including raising the voices and stories of how girls and women are impacted, how they are responding, and ways to support them.

The page includes resources for fighting antisemitism; advocating; staying informed; keeping attention on the hostages; finding comfort in rituals; ways to contribute; talking to kids about Israel; reaching out; mental health; community gatherings, tefillot, and more.

We will also keep spotlighting additional resources in this weekly email and our social feeds, and adding them to our Israel page. We hope that each week you'll find something that speaks to you, helps you stay connected, take action, raise your voice -- in Israel, around the world, and in your own home and community.

Spotlighted Israel Resources

We continue highlighting resources and organizations that you can turn to for information, support, or to contribute toward direct needs on the ground in Israel. Please see our Supporting Israel page for our running list.

Mitchashvim is the largest non-profit in Israel distributing refurbished computers with a national, supervised, transparent, and equitable distribution model. It is partnering with 2B.Friendly, a fund that promotes a just and environmentally friendly economy through the power of the private sector. Mitchashvim has been providing thousands of laptops to evacuees and others in need during the war.

MOSHE: Words That Make a Difference is an organization devoted to reducing suicide rates through community-based interventions. In Israel, an estimated 600 people die by suicide each year, and 13,000 people are in suicide-related distress. Since October 7, countless people are suffering from acute mental health issues – and heightened suicide risk. MOSHE is providing community interventions that are highly effective and save lives – through a call center, professional training, and both direct interventions and group sessions for those in crisis.

Divrei Torah by Women on Parshat Acharei Mot

Shabbat Shalom

Follow us on Social Media: