TEMPLE TALK | ROSH HASHANAH 2024
10/18/2024 10:03:41 AM
L’shanah Tovah.
I would like to start off my sermon today with a question, perhaps the question most commonly asked: Why? Now I won’t be asking about the whys of the larger world, instead, I want to start smaller. I want to start with us. Why are we here? What does this day mean for us? Why do we feel compelled to come back and gather to hear the shofar year after year? What is it about today, this day, this Rosh...Read more...
ELUL THOUGHTS | 26 ELUL - 1 TISHREI
10/04/2024 12:48:12 PM
September 29, 2024 | 26 Elul 5784
Cantor Joanna Alexander
Dear God,
Why can they not see how wrong they are? Can you not simply bring a miracle to show them your will, to change their ways and help them find the true path?
Dear God, I know I am not perfect, but do they not see the harm they cause to others, the damage to your one and only earth, the pain their stubbornness bears out?
They have such surety...Read more...
ELUL THOUGHTS | 19 - 25 ELUL
09/27/2024 08:42:17 AM
September 22, 2024 | 19 Elul 5784
Rabbi Erin Boxt
As the High Holy Day Period is coming upon us fast, we tend to turn our focus (internally and externally) to seeking and giving forgiveness. It is in our attempts to heal these rifts among people that we spend so much time dwelling on in the month of Elul.
Perhaps you are familiar with the musical, Hamilton. When Alexander Hamilton admits to an affair, his wife, Eliza,...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | SEPTEMBER 20
09/26/2024 10:10:23 AM
As I stared at the blank sheet of paper I had so many thoughts going through my mind. Do I want to teach about Hezbollah, do I want to talk about Israel and the pager bombs? What do I even think of this action? Should I talk about the Jewish ethical tradition of war? Should I defend or accuse? Should I discuss nation-states and people-hood? Should I discuss the Torah portions emphasis on Blessings and Curses?
All these...Read more...
ELUL THOUGHTS | 12 - 18 ELUL
09/20/2024 08:42:15 AM
September 15, 2024 | 12 Elul 5784
Rabbi Benjamin Sharff
In today’s world, where certainty and binaries reign, it is so hard to find any space for commonality or even perceiving humanity in someone else who holds a different view. If I am right, then you are wrong. And more than that, if I am right, then your worldview is fundamentally flawed and there is no hope for you.
And this is the challenge of binaries. As we learn...Read more...