“I'm struggling” - Sermon for Second Day Rosh Hashanah
11/08/2021 01:14:18 PM
I’m struggling and maybe you are, too. Let me clarify with what I am struggling. During these past eighteen months I have lost something and I am worried that I may never regain it. I guess I could say that it is one of those many symptoms of...Read more...
A thought on Captain Kirk's view of the earth
10/15/2021 01:20:51 PM
Like many of us, I was taken by William Shatner's brief journey into space this week. I was never a big fan of Star Trek, but I have always found Shatner an endearing man – one who seems to exude an innate joyfulness and the admirable quality of not taking himself too seriously. But his reaction to going...Read more...
Jewish Nationalism, Antisemitism & Us Part 1 - Sermon for Rosh Hashanah Evening
09/20/2021 02:44:18 PM
Thirteen years ago, my second High Holidays here at Beth Israel, I began my sermon on the first morning of Rosh Hashanah with these words:
For some time, I have been discontent with referring to Judaism as a religion. The term religion...Read more...
Jewish Nationalism, Antisemitism & Us Part 2 - Sermon for Rosh Hashanah Morning
09/20/2021 02:40:21 PM
Judaism is not a religion. It’s a nationality.
That statement will come as a shock to many of you. On all those forms we fill out, Jewish is the word we write in the blank next to the word “Religion.” And in the blank next to...Read more...
Jewish Nationalism, Antisemitism & Us Part 3 - Sermon for Yom Kippur Evening
09/20/2021 02:29:57 PM
One of the unexpected developments ushered in by the Coronavirus pandemic is a reacquaintance - albeit somewhat incomplete - with the Greek alphabet. Today, the world remains stuck on Delta, but I am beginning to hear ominous things...Read more...
Jewish Nationalism, Antisemitism & Us Part 4 - Sermon for Yom Kippur Morning
09/20/2021 02:24:49 PM
November 9, 1938 is known as Kristallnacht - the night of broken glass; a massive pogrom through Germany in which Jewish homes, hospitals, schools, synagogues and businesses were ransacked and destroyed by the Nazi party’s paramilitary force, the SA. Hundreds of Jews were...Read more...
A reflection on the attacks on our Capitol
01/08/2021 02:46:44 PM
Watching the news the other night, I found myself recalling a couplet of verses from Psalm 118:
It is better to take refuge in Adonai than to trust in a man.
It is better to take refuge in Adonai than to trust in princes.
I think...Read more...
Yom Kippur Morning Sermon
10/01/2020 02:49:51 PM
“Save me, God; for the waters are come in even unto the soul. I am sunk in deep mire, where there is no standing…let not the flood water overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up."
Those words are from the 69th Psalm, attributed to King David. But we are taught...Read more...
