Dear friends, Far more often than I could ever have imagined doing in my career, I have had to address the rise of antisemitism–synagogues attacked, Jews harmed in the streets, laws up for consideration, and governmental tactics and agents, all of which echo and resemble the darkest hour of Jewish history. A theology professor of Continue Reading »
Moadim l’simcha, friends! That is a special greeting that I can only bring you twice a year on the days of Chol HaMo-eid, the intervening middle days of our week-long festivals of Sukkot and Pesach. As I wrote in my remarks last Fall on Chol HaMo-eid Sukkot, on these days we greet each other with Continue Reading »
Dear friends, Including a sermon as a fixed part of Jewish Shabbat worship was not always the standard. Before the Reform Movement’s rise in the early 1800’s in Central Europe, sermons were actually quite rare. A congregant of a traditional synagogue could expect to hear from their rabbi in a homiletical style at only two Continue Reading »
Dear friends, This Shabbat we begin our reading of the third book of the Torah: Leviticus, or Vayikra (lit. And God called) in Hebrew. Leviticus means “to do with the Levites” reflecting the fact that the Leviim in Judaism served as guardians of the sacred. While this is a perfectly appropriate title, the Hebrew name Continue Reading »
Dear friends, I write in sorrow, but also with immense gratitude, as we collectively react to the attack on the largest Reform Temple in the country, Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. An assailant drove their vehicle around security bollards and directly into the temple, causing serious damage. Their intent was Continue Reading »
Dear friends, This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Ki Tisa, features the famous text: “V’shamru v’nei Yisrael et haShabbat la’asot et haShabbat l’dorotam, b’rit olam.” “The People of Israel will observe Shabbat, to make Shabbat across their generations, an eternal covenant.” V’shamru is one of the touchstone texts that illuminates for us the particular value of Continue Reading »
Dear friends, This Shabbat is Shabbat Zachor, a Shabbat for remembering–on which we are commanded to remember Amalek, an evil People that terrorized us in our ancient past. On this Shabbat, and on Purim as we blot out Haman’s name, we are enjoined to continue to blot out this People’s memory, of which Haman was Continue Reading »
Dear friends, I will not be on our bimah this Shabbat, as I am currently on a bus with our 10th graders down to Washington, DC for our L’Taken weekend. We’ll join teens from many other Reform synagogues around the country in learning about how our Reform Jewish values of tikkun olam (repairing the world) Continue Reading »
Dear friends, This Shabbat we read Parashat Mishpatim, in which we find this age-old law concerning pregnant mothers: “When [two or more] parties fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, [the one responsible] shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact, the Continue Reading »
Dear friends, This Shabbat’s Torah portion is Parashat Yitro, the Torah portion that contains our People’s revelatory encounter with God at Mt. Sinai and the giving of the “Ten Commandments.” Our midrashic tradition, unsurprisingly, is rich with stories and interpretations of the “Sinai Moment.” One of the most inspiring and widely known is the notion Continue Reading »