by Elaina Marshalek, Director of Programs & SVARA Fellow   בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוק  בְּדִבְרֵי תורָה Blessed are you G!d, our G!d, Melekh of eternity who has sanctified us through mitzvot and commanded us to get working on words of Torah. When we take the time to dedicate […]

by Maggid Jhos Singer, SVARA Fellow (I am dedicating this learning to my teachers, friends, and supporters: Rabbi Benay Lappe, and Bonnie Kahn Martin—may their legacies be carried and magnified by their students and the students of their students and the students of their student’s students—and to the memory of Henry Genthe, the marine biologist […]

by R’ Benay Lappe, Rosh Yeshiva & Dan Libenson, SVARA Board Member At the beginning of his book A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking shares the well-known story of the old woman who raises her hand at the end of a scientist’s lecture on astronomy to declare that the scientist’s theory that the sun […]

by R’ Bronwen Mullin, SVARA Fellow If you had told me growing up that to study Talmud was a radical act, I would have told you, “You need to get out more.” I might have hooked you up with the Free Mumia protests, or Amputation Nation at the Trocadero, or taken you to the local […]

by Laynie Soloman, Associate Rosh Yeshiva Our sages teach us that we should say 100 different blessings each day (1). This invitation reminds us to drop into moments of sacredness, gratitude, connection, and transcendence throughout our waking hours, creating a posture of gratitude and attunement as we bless our world into being. Some of these […]

by Ayana Morse, Executive Director A few months ago, I woke myself up from a nap sobbing. I don’t recall whether I was dreaming, or what exactly was going on around me at the time, but the feelings of deep exhaustion and overwhelm had clearly rooted in deep and needed an outlet that I hadn’t […]

by R’ Becky Silverstein, SVARA Fellow & Board Chair In 2014, a few weeks before I was ordained a rabbi, SVARA’s President & Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Benay Lappe, gave an Eli Talk called “An Unrecognizable Jewish Future: A Queer Talmudic Take.” Much of this talk is what SVARAniks and countless Jews around the world know […]

by Ren Finkel, Mishnah Collective Coordinator Between our one-year anniversary and our Masechet Avot Chapter 4 siyyum, it has been a really big couple of weeks for the Mishnah Collective. As is so common during the pandemic, going through this last chapter felt like it took both a second and a year. This last mishnah, […]

by R’ Hayley Goldstein, SVARA Fellow I never thought I’d spend Purim day on the phone with Wildlife Rescue trying to save a small, injured bird. On a walk with a friend to a nearby gorge where I live in Ithaca, NY, we silently admired the trees, with their roots somehow afloat, twisted and elegant […]

by R’ Lauren Tuchman, SVARA Fellow Today, I remember. I remember vividly the all-consuming sadness I felt last Purim, as the sun was setting and my celebratory seudah was ending, the last event I attended with a large Jewish community. I remember feeling overcome with the intuitive sense that it would be a long, long […]