Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Vayakhel

Rabbi Cat challenges the themes of Purim, contextualizing them within systems of power, complicity, and sexual exploitation.

Rabbi Cat Zavis reflects on Parshat Noach during a week of protest, devastation, and moral urgency. What does it mean to live righteously in a corrupt time? How does the Earth respond when human cruelty becomes too much to bear? And what might it take for loving kindness and truth to meet—so that justice and peace can kiss?

In this reflection on Parshat Bereshit, Rabbi Cat Zavis invites us to notice the seeds of liberation planted at the beginning of creation. Amid ongoing devastation in Gaza and around the world, she calls us to breathe in the divine life force and recommit to standing in solidarity with global struggles for justice, from all rivers to all seas.

Rabbi Cat speaks to the struggle many feel about showing up for High Holidays this year in the face of genocide and empire carried out in Judaism’s name. She reminds us that Judaism is not Zionism—and that our tradition calls us to justice, care, and love. Connecting to this week’s parsha, Ki Tavo, she lifts up Torah’s warning against empire and its call to remember liberation and hold fast to our moral center.

https://youtu.be/CaH_jkDcWB8?si=n2WLm5W6ae7rrTtV This week’s parsha, Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9), calls us to the heart of Jewish ethics: “Justice, justice you shall pursue.” Rabbi Cat reflects on what true justice means in Torah, prayer, and our lives...

https://youtu.be/wGNk8mVIRa8?si=fci3Vp6zgPd3D6kq Rabbi Cat Zavis dives deep into Parshat Vaetchanan—home to the Shema, the V’ahavta, and the Aseret Ha’Dibrot (10 utterances)—exploring what it means to love, to resist, and to live ethically in times of immense...

https://youtu.be/pQKTqZ7U9v4?si=1FN5IJ91iy3sWkZp This week we read Parshat Korach, a portion that asks a timeless question: What does it mean to challenge power in a holy way? Korach confronts Moses and Aaron: “All the community is holy — why do you elevate yourselves...

https://youtu.be/VLLArYnBCcM?si=tbjeghBYdKJB4JoK In a week filled with so much devastation and violence, Rabbi Cat offers a fierce and tender drash on Parsha Beha’alotcha. What happens when those in power respond to fear, hunger, and protest with rage, punishment, and...

https://youtu.be/hjP4yc0cax4?si=PSWaw8kwyZHmnBy_ This week we open the book of Bamidbar, where God commands Moses to count the adult males—name by name, tribe by tribe. Why? Because in Judaism, every person is sacred. The Mishnah teaches that while we all descend from...

https://youtu.be/csnIFQ7Jp0A?si=wreXVe4Fx1Dr60F8 Parshat Shemini | Strange Fires Are Burning: How can we avoid being consumed? with Rabbi Cat Zavis This week’s parsha, Shemini, tells the story of Aaron’s sons offering a stranger fire to the Divine and the Divine...

https://youtu.be/hdDpQ3KFodE?si=f1cTeDsD4cfwe34Z Parshat Pekudei | Vestments for Courage in a Time of Idolatry This week’s Torah portion, Pekudei, tells of the Israelites completing the Mishkan, the Tabernacle—a sacred space for Divine presence. Crafted from the same...

https://youtu.be/WKk9hpsBdMQ?si=IvXAVpDUQ7v6SeQu ✨ Shabbat Shalom ✨ Last week, Moses was given instructions on how to build the holy sanctuary, the mishkan. This week, God commands him to create sacred vestments for the priests—garments of dignity and beauty (kavod...

https://youtu.be/3BX9EpgFg4g?si=YWRQxJGzbTA7Ynkg The Ten Speech Acts & The Idolatry of Our Time | Parshat Yitro This week in Parshat Yitro, we receive the Aseret Hadibrot—the Ten Speech Acts, more commonly known as the Ten Commandments. The revelation at Sinai is...

https://youtu.be/y5Fio_qKKIE?si=almp7Yhvi4U4DzLI Shabbat Shalom,This is Rabbi Cat Zavis from Beyt Tikkun, sharing my reflections on Parashat Vayechi, the final Parsha in the Book of Genesis.In this week's Parsha, we witness the deaths of Jacob and Joseph, bookending a...

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