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Rabbi Berezin's Sermon from September 1's Shabbat Service discussed foundational stories & core memories. She speaks about a text in Deuteronomy that is echoed no less than 26 times in the Torah -- the reminder that we were once strangers in the land in Egypt. 

An excerpt from her sermon: 
"Why is this the story we tell? There are so many other stories in the Torah; stories that teach us so many varied lessons. Why is this the story and the thread that we repeat no less than 36 times in the Torah? Because this is our story as a people. It’s a story of wandering and growing, a story about what it means to be free and to be in community. It is a story about what it means to find ourselves desperate and suffering and crying out to God for something – anything—to alleviate our collective pain. It is a story about what it means to have faith and to trust ourselves, our leaders, and our God. It is a story about what it means to be in relationship with other imperfect human beings and to still choose to journey together. And above all, it is a story that reminds us that because we know what it is like to be strangers in a foreign land, because we have walked this journey before and have felt the sting of being unwelcome and unwanted, and have felt the pain of persecution, we can do no less than to become a people who embody unbridled, radical inclusivity and audacious hospitality." 

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Watch the entirety of Friday’s service here.

Temple Talk is a recap of sermons given from the Bimah for those who missed a Sermon or who wanted to revisit the words spoken at a previous sermon.