Rabbi Cat’s Musings, Teachings, and Press

My soul cries in gratitude for the brave clarity of your impactful interview on The Marc Steiner Show. Thank you for speaking truth to power and wisdom to soul. Thank you for being the shining light leading the way to kindness and compassion.

Sandra Gancz

“Rabbi Cat’s observations about Palestine and the genocide, I believe, represent the absolute pinnacle of the Jewish ethical tradition. This is what Tikkun has always been about.”

Paul Von Blum

Teachings and Press

Steadfast Resistance Under Occupation from Minneapolis to Palestine

WagingNonviolence.org
(February 2026)

Prophetic Empathy & Revolutionary Love

Sacred Inclusion Network
(April 2023)

Spirituality and Social Justice

Podcast Interview with Angelo Lewis (April 2023)

Rabbinic Ordination

Smicha/Ordination Ceremony
(January 2023)

Yom Kippur Day 2021 – Haftorah

Isaiah, read and translated by Cat Zavis

Prophetic Empathy with Cat Zavis

Aquarian Minyan
(March 2023)

Torah Study

Celebration of Cat’s ordination as a Jewish Renewal Rabbi (January 2023)

Imagine with Us

Podcast with Rabbi Michael Lerner and Rabbi Cat Zavis

What would Isaiah say today?

(Yom Kippur 2020)

We Have Built an Unethical World – Now We’re Reaping Environmental Disaster

Tikkun Magazine
(September 2020)

A Cry from the Heart: A Response from Beyond

Tikkun Magazine
(May 2019)

Prophetic Empathy

Tikkun magazine
(December 2018)
[The article begins on page 13.]

Love Knows No Borders

Tikkun Magazine
(December 2018)

Affirming Difference, Embracing Unity

Tikkun Magazine
(April 2018)
[The article begins on page 59.]

Religious Panel

Cat Zavis speaks at Marianne Williamson’s Sister Giant Conference
(February 2017)

Psalm 23: A Psalm to Inspire and Support Social Justice Activists

Tikkun magazine
(January 2017)
[The article begins on page 47.]

Sarah and Hagar

How Reimagining the Torah Story That Jews Around the World Read on the First Day of Rosh Hashanah Can Empower All of Us to Action – Tikkun magazine (October 2016)

More Blood Flowing, Will It Ever End?

Tikkun Magazine
(July 2016)

Building a Progressive Spiritual Movement

Tikkun Magazine
(May 2016)

Interview on Collaborative Law

Part 1
(August 2014)

Interview on Collaborative Law

Part 2
(August 2014)

A Cosmic Prayer

Realizing Our Interconnection
(April 2014)
[The article begins on page 43.]

I am a Christian minister at a local church and I learn so much from reading Beyt Tikkun. I use quotes from Rabbi Cat and references to your work in my preaching and conversation with church folks. Thank you for your steadfast witness to hope and justice.

Rev. Dr. Tracy L. Hughes

I can’t even express how much it means to hear you speak and how your loving, kind, and gentle manner is so intertwined with your commitment to social justice and peace.

Pamela Ann Brown

Musings

Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Noach: Falsehood, Misfortune, and the Hope for Peace

Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Noach: Falsehood, Misfortune, and the Hope for Peace

Oct 24, 2025

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?

Planting Seeds of Justice and Hope – Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Bereshit

Planting Seeds of Justice and Hope – Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Bereshit

Oct 16, 2025

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.

Calling Forth a Judaism Beyond Zionism – Rabbi Cat’s Musings on High Holidays in a Time of Genocide

Calling Forth a Judaism Beyond Zionism – Rabbi Cat’s Musings on High Holidays in a Time of Genocide

Sep 11, 2025

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.

What Makes a Holy Challenge? – Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Korach

What Makes a Holy Challenge? – Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Korach

Jun 26, 2025

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...

Every Life Counts – Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Bamidbar 5785

Every Life Counts – Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Bamidbar 5785

May 30, 2025

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...

Rabbi Cat’s musings on Parsha Shemini

Rabbi Cat’s musings on Parsha Shemini

May 9, 2025

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...

Rabbi Cat’s musings on Parsha Pekudei

Rabbi Cat’s musings on Parsha Pekudei

Mar 28, 2025

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...

Rabbi Cat’s musings on Parsha Tetzaveh 5785

Rabbi Cat’s musings on Parsha Tetzaveh 5785

Mar 6, 2025

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...

Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Yitro

Rabbi Cat’s Musings on Parsha Yitro

Feb 11, 2025

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...

Rabbi Cat’s musings on parsha Vayechi 5785

Rabbi Cat’s musings on parsha Vayechi 5785

Jan 10, 2025

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...