分类: The Land Of Israel

Our Moral Power – Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5786 (2025)

9/23/2025

The turmoil, hunger and utter devastation in Gaza arouse deep emotions at the heart of Jewish community, identity and morality.

Amidst all the cross currents of confusing information, recriminations and abject suffering, whatever our views and perspectives, we all face common questions. What does it mean for our hearts and souls? How can we stand in our moral power, and be #StrongerTogether amidst it all, and not lose ourselves as a people of integrity?

For Whom We Stand (P. Nitzavim)

9/14/2025

For whom do you stand? I don't mean physically (though we'll get to that shortly). I mean existentially: for whom do you stand?

This week's Torah portion rehearses a pivotal "Stand Together" moment we will experience on Yom Kippur. Now over 700 days post-October 7, its call lands on me very differently.

The Middle Pathway (P. Re'eh)

8/17/2025

Nobody needs to hear that we live in polarized times. We know it. We see it in the media we consume. We sense it in friends and family. We feel it in our bodies. Polarized times often reflect and feed polarized thinking. "She's the best." "He's awful." "These times are the worst." "We're blessed beyond measure." "We're toast."

Some things genuinely seem to be extremes of good or bad – but not everything. There's a Middle Pathway beckoning us through.

About Our Spring Series: "Community Conversations" About the Mideast

3/19/2025

Israel evokes inspiration, dismay, pride, anger, blessing, suffering, love and hate. The State of Israel and the Mideast, including the ongoing crisis in Palestinian life, deeply touch the heart of everyone in and near Jewish life. Yet rarely do we discuss them openly. Too often such matters are avoided like a Third Rail, or suppressed, or relegated to quiet corners. Let's change that.

The Flags Up Front (P. Toledot)

11/24/2024

We're all global citizens of a shared and fragile planet. And at the same time, Jewish life's public vitality – and with it, global diversity and genuine belonging – tends to ebb and flow in cycles of societal turbulence. Yet again, Jews and other minorities face a recurring existential question: who are we relative to where we are? In the U.S. flag's stars and stripes, there is still enough starlight for all of us.

When Places Double (P. Hayyei Sarah)

11/17/2024

What we call spiritual places, holy sites, are more than our consecrated houses of worship or historical touch points. Understood as they truly are, "holy" places can be the most ordinary ... until life, love, experience and memory change them into something more. Those places can transport us in memory and meaning, mind and heart – if we let them.

Our story of "double" places that become holy sites begins with this week's Torah portion, and continues today.

On Love and War – Sermon for Yom Kippur 5785 (2024)

10/12/2024

Opinions and arguments. War. Antisemitism. Elusive hopes for peace. Pride and prejudice. Morality in the crosshairs. What we're about. What we want to be about. What we crave to be about. And back to opinions and arguments, and war, and antisemitism....

Amidst the swirling chaos of the year that's been, and so much hurt still ongoing, what keystones to Jewish spiritual life can secure our foundations? What can help keep our hearts open amidst all?

The Tunnel of Love – Sermon for Kol Nidre 5785 (2024)

10/11/2024

There are times in life that rivet us on what's core and strip away the rest. In those moments, we can enter a tunnel of love and be transformed. If we're purposeful, or lucky, we can experience these times long before our last time. We can experience Eckhart Tolle's secret to life: we can die before we die – so that we can live.

Our Moral Power – Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5786 (2025)

For Whom We Stand (P. Nitzavim)

The Middle Pathway (P. Re'eh)

About Our Spring Series: "Community Conversations" About the Mideast

The Flags Up Front (P. Toledot)

When Places Double (P. Hayyei Sarah)

On Love and War – Sermon for Yom Kippur 5785 (2024)

The Tunnel of Love – Sermon for Kol Nidre 5785 (2024)

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