T’shuvah and the Margin for Error

I’d like to share with you the D’var Torah I shared Friday night in advance of Abigail Hamilton’s beautiful Bat Mitzvah celebration this past Shabbat: There’s a phrase that’s been floating around in the public consciousness lately that has been resonating with me on a number of levels in this season of t’shuvah, of repentance […]

Making Ourselves Known: Unburdening As A Bridge To The Divine

Yom Kippur, Society Hill Synagogue, 5784 There is one particular story from Torah that is sticking with me this Yom Kippur, and it’s a story that, while perhaps known to many, does not necessarily have an enduring role in the Jewish ritual calendar and so I want to take this opportunity to lift it up. […]

Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself: A Journey Into The Soul

Kol Nidre, Society Hill Synagogue, 5784 Rabbi Akiva has been called the greatest rabbi of them all, the most esteemed of the ancient rabbis. So when he identifies what he considers to be כְּלַל גָּדוֹל בַּתּוֹרָה, the great principle in all of Torah, you sit up and listen. The principle, the verse, he selects as […]

The Enduring Sacredness Of The Synagogue

Rosh Hashanah 5784 I have to say, I never imagined myself here. I never imagined myself as a pulpit rabbi.  Many of you know that I had a brief foray as an attorney before this, and even when I got to rabbinical school, I didn’t imagine serving in a synagogue context. I imagined leaning on […]

To Life: Seven Points of Guidance for The Synagogue Service-going Experience

Erev Rosh Hashanah, Society Hill Synagogue, 5784 Judaism is not a religion that is often closely associated with math; most of us rabbis got into this business precisely to avoid it, but I want to get into just a little bit of addition with you. Ready? Tonight’s service is approximately an hour and a half. […]