October 27th, 2018 — Shabbat Vayera
For generations our religious and legal institutions have worked with near single-minded obsession to eradicate the sin of Sodom from our midst. But they got it wrong. The sin of Sodom was not homosexuality, it was wanton cruelty, callousness, and violence against the most vulnerable. God burned those cities to the ground for embodying the spirit that now pervades this nation! Violence, hatred, vitriol permeate our borders– making everyone from migrants fleeing Honduras for their lives to Jews in a synagogue in Pittsburgh an active target. Even if we desire to be silent, justice does not permit us to do so. We need to open our mouths, our hearts, our homes and become the people we wish to be.