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Friend,



Last week was Shavuot, which marks the end of our seven-week journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai. It celebrates the moment we received the Torah, as well as the shared commitments to freedom that got us there. 



Shavuot is a time for being a community at the edges of our comfort. Tikkun Leil Shavuot is an all-night gathering for learning — a time to acknowledge what has come before us, immerse ourselves in possibility, and stretch into new visions of building freedom together beyond our fears.



This year for Shavuot, we launched a new video series — Your Safety Is My Safety <[link removed]>. Between now and the High Holy Days, we’re going to be sharing videos that invite us into reflection about what safety can look like if we commit to community and relationship. We started with videos from my Bend the Arc colleagues Enzi Tanner and Rachèl Laforest. I encourage you to watch and share in your communities. <[link removed]>



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On Shavuot, I was especially drawn to our reading of the story of Ruth. Ruth is a Moabite woman who, after losing her Israelite husband, decides to stay in care-based relationship with her mother-in-law Naomi instead of returning to her family and people of origin. In this choice, Ruth makes a deep commitment to Naomi and her community. “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your G!d, my G!d.” (Ruth 1:16)



Choosing Naomi is a move into unknown territory. It is a transgression of familial practice that puts Ruth at risk. She has to believe that the divine who took the people from a narrow place is the same divine that can keep her safe. She has to trust that her safety can come from her choice and commitment to this new community. 



Our video series is an invitation to choose, like Ruth, to be together in a commitment like hers:  



“Where you move forward, I will move forward; Your community will be my community; your safety is my safety; your future, my future.”



May this Torah of chesed (loving kindness) and these videos ground us in a vision of what can be possible when we choose one another. 



Both episodes are on our website <[link removed]> and will be shared on our social feeds as well. You can watch the first episode on Instagram here. <[link removed]>



L’shalom,

Graie Hagans

Senior Advisor, Bend the Arc







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