Sermons
One of the strangest, most difficult and at times most exciting responsibilities of being a rabbi is preparing and delivering a sermon. It is a strange form of communication, almost completely “one way,” with little opportunity for the congregation to respond or for the rabbi to know how it was received. The blank sheet of paper before beginning to write is so daunting: what should I talk about? What should I say about it? How should I say it? But looking back now over forty years of sermons, I realize that being required to stand up in front of the congregation and open my mouth and speak has forced me to think deeply about my own life, Judaism, and our world. Below are many recent sermons and some of the sermons from the past which capture important moments in my life, or the life of our community or the world.
Becoming Israel
December 9, 2022
I know that fear is also normal. There are many good reasons to be afraid in this dangerous world. But Tally, and Linda and Ben, like our father Jacob nearly four thousand years ago, each in their own way are teaching us, showing us that it is possible to be unafraid, to step boldly out of our comfort zone, and to increase the peace of God’s world.
The Purpose of a Sermon
July 1, 2022
The purpose of a sermon is to remove our sandals, so that with the sensitive soles of our souls, we may feel all the pain and all the joy of being alive in this beautiful broken world.
Lies and Truth
June 10, 2022
We are living in a time when it often seems as though truth lies gasping on the ground. In our haste, we may decide that kol ha-adam kozev, everybody lies. But if we care for this fragile but marvelous creation, democracy, we will interrupt our haste, our rushing around. We will pay attention to the seriousness of this moment in history, and we may be blessed to see the miraculous return of truth imagined in the midrash. Emet mei-eretz titzmach. Truth will sprout forth from the earth.
Backpacking and Braver Angels
May 13, 2022
The temptation is so strong to withdraw, to listen only to music on the radio, and to have nothing to do with the brawling, the name calling, the derision and contempt and demonization that have become the norms in our political discourse. I’m so tired of it. And yet, here we are, trying to create something together.
Choose Life
April 29, 2022
God declares, “if this human being chooses correctly, then this entire creation will endure. But if this human being chooses badly, the heavens and the earth will disintegrate, and return to tohu vavohu, the primordial chaos. In our generation, we have come face to face, at last, with the planetary implications of our life choices.
Go Down Moses
April 8, 2022
it came to pass that in the middle of the 20th century, American Jews discovered a body of songs which combined both: our ancient Jewish story and one of the richest and most profound forms of American music, the African American spirituals.
Esther and Zelenskyy
Friday night, March 11, 2022
In this moment also, in our own terrifying moment in history, a Jew named Volodymir Zelenskyy is recapitulating Esther’s act of kiddush hashem.
On Suffering
December 10, 2021
the truth is that we are not meant to be happy all the time. There is vast suffering in the world, more than I ever imagined when I was young. And I think that one of our greatest challenges as human beings is to somehow make room in our hearts for both all of the exquisite beauty and joy, and also the suffering that is all around us. Is that even possible?
Heart Attack
Friday night, January 8, 2021
After the January 6 Capitol riot
Our nation suffered a heart attack this week; can we change our national, political lifestyle? Can we become healthy again? Can we ever hope to create a government with well-functioning institutions, which is more or less trusted by most of its citizens?
Truth, Justice and Peace
Friday night, June 5, 2020
After the murder of George Floyd
Tonight I want to propose that if we hope for a livable world for ourselves and for our children, we must consider Rabban Shimon’s three pillars: truth, justice and peace. In that order.
The Voice of the Prophet
Yom Kippur 2019
Malala Yousafzai, Emma Gonzalez and Greta Thunberg have each spoken in a voice that has reached across the entire planet....before reaching the age of 18 years old. Each one of them, sadly but not surprisingly, has thousands of people who hate them and are trying to destroy them. Somehow, fear does not seem to affect them. Like the prophets of ancient Israel, each one of these young women speaks for something far beyond themselves. Something that I believe our ancient ancestors would have understood as the holy spirit.
Mt. Hope Cemetery
December 2, 2016
How very fitting that Susan B Anthony and Frederick Douglass are resting nearby each other in a cemetery named Mount Hope.
Two Wrestlings
December 5, 2014
This week we read the story of Jacob wrestling all night long with a mysterious man, and in the same week our televisions and computer screens have placed before us devastating video footage of a forty- three year old black man Eric Garner being placed in a chokehold, and wrestled to the ground, to die on a street on Staten Island. Two very different wrestlings fill our minds in this single week.
February 8, 2011
All of this has happened so quickly that it is still too soon to understand what these changes mean for us. Just a couple of months ago, we saw long-standing, powerful dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia collapse in a matter of days, brought down by uprisings orchestrated on Facebook. In the aftermath of those revolutions, it is no longer possible to regard Facebook as trivial. The social network has emerged as a powerful force in our world. That is a fact. But we do not know: Will it be a blessing or a curse?
After 9/11 WTC Attacks
September 17, 2001
This year the entire world is observing Rosh HaShanah. In a single hour, last Tuesday’s terrorist attack brought us all immediately to the central concerns of this season. Not just the Jews, and not just the United States. The entire world has been living for a week now with the fundamental existential questions posed by our Days of Awe: Mi yich-yeh umi yamut? Who shall live and who shall die?