Session 2: Parashat Sh'mot

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," Ursula K. LeGuin, 1973

Exodus presents a society gone wrong. Mistrust and division lead to atrocity and oppression. Only the defiant heroism of the midwives prevents the worst horror. The power structure must be challenged, and even before God intervenes, Moses ventures forth from the palace to go “out to his kinsfolk.” So the story of confronting power begins with an encounter with the “other” of society.

We live in a time of widespread social division, mistrust, cynicism and alienation. How can the practice of seeing the “other” help address oppression and suffering? How can we respond to the invisibility of injustice around us?

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