A Letter to the Kids: Where Judaism Can Take You

Yom Kippur Sermon 5782 I want everyone to look around for a minute. Those in the sanctuary, and those at home. Maybe Ven, our camera person can pull back for a minute so that those at home watching on Zoom can take a look at the sanctuary. I want all of us to notice what’s […]

The Sacred Fire: Discerning How To Be In The World

Kol Nidre Sermon 5782 One of the stories that struck me this year going through our annual cycle of reading the Torah is one that is not often covered in your classic Hebrew School curriculum. Long after Noah and the flood, long after the Exodus from Egypt, even long after the revelation of Mt. Sinai […]

Pathways to God: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, and Adonai Avoteichem

Rosh Hashanah 5782 I think I know what the most important piece of Torah is.  I know, it’s a lofty claim. It’s like saying you can identify the single greatest piece of art, the greatest piece of music, the greatest basketball player of all time. Sure we all have opinions, but how can you claim […]

Sukkot: A Reflection on Our Transience and Impermanence

With the High Holidays behind us, we are going to return to our minhag (custom) of sending out weekly summaries of our Shabbat morning Torah conversations. As a reminder, each week during our Shabbat morning service, we engage with a text from our weekly Torah portion and ask, how does this text apply to our lives? In […]

Kehillah Kedoshah: Sacred Community

Yom Kippur Sermon 5781 Al shlosha d’varim ha’olam omed. On three things the universe stands. Al ha’torah, va’al ha’avoda, v’al gemilut chasadim. On Torah; on Avodah, worship or service, and on gemilut chasadim, acts of lovingkindness. So says pirkei avot, the teachings of our ancestors, that sacred entry in our canon On Rosh Hashanah, we […]