Looking all around from my corner of the universe
Rather than a full sermon, I decided to engage the congregation in text study on Yom Kippur Day, with some opening and closing remarks: We love this text from Isaiah, and believe he is speaking to us. His emphasis on ethics over ritual, right behavior rather than right performance, this is something we can understand. …
Continue reading Should Humans Have Been Created? (Yom Kippur Day 5779)
There is a name I want you to remember, a name that perhaps you have not heard before, a minor player in a larger drama, a person whose seemingly banal insignificance is what makes her so important. I want you to remember the name Helen Roseland, who was the assistant postmistress in Eagle Grove, Iowa …
For those of you who have been here in the past for Rosh Hashanah, and for those of you who have paid attention—which arguably, could be a smaller number—I have stood on the bimah on erev Rosh Hashanah and shared a list. A list of teachings I have gleaned from various events that have happened …
Continue reading Seven Things You Can Do to Save the World (Rosh Hashanah 5779)
Last year we started what hopefully will be a new tradition at Temple Beth Hatfiloh, a community cleaning of our sacred space right before the High Holidays. We have a regular cleaner who does surface cleaning a few times a week, and when something major needs cleaning or repair (the carpets or the roof), then …
My congregation Temple Beth Hatfiloh took the step of becoming a sanctuary congregation as a means of advocating for immigrant justice. Here are the words I shared at our ceremony on August 29, attended by about 100 community members, including the faith community, city leaders, state legislators and a representative from our member of Congress. …
I apologize for not having written in a few weeks. After coming back from my summer travels (you can still read the blog here), I fell into a combination of catching up with what I missed and planning for the coming fall (read: High Holidays). But this was a week to turn back to the …
Arriving back at the synagogue after a long vacation seems somewhat surreal. In many ways, it as if I hadn’t left. In other ways, I feel like I have been gone for much longer. Taking these 3 ½ weeks off has been a tremendous gift. I feel blessed that I am supported by the congregation …
I won't be posting on my Rabbi360 blog for a bit because I'm taking some time off for study and vacation. But, I can't stay away from the keyboard too long. My family and I are taking a long road trip across the country to visit some important social justice and civil rights sites (as …
