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Archive: September 2021

Cancel Culture versus Teshuva Culture – Rosh Hashana

Posted on September 7, 2021

I wanted to give at least one sermon this year that wasn’t about the pandemic or the move. So this morning, I’m going to address an issue that is undoubtedly on all of our minds. Has The Cat in the Hat been canceled? This past March, Dr. Seuss Enterprises decided to stop publishing six of Continue Reading »

Sacred Discomfort – erev Rosh Hashana

Posted on September 6, 2021

Shana Tovah! Whether you are joining us here in person or online, we are so grateful to have you here in our sacred community. And whether you are joining us here in person or online, this probably isn’t the Rosh Hashana you were dreaming of when we gathered virtually last year. To have survived from Continue Reading »

What Do We Owe To Each Other?

Posted on August 13, 2021

August 13, 2021 This week’s d’var Torah on parashat Shoftim and communal responsibility. Sometimes, a piece of text seems outdated and irrelevant, until you’re ready to understand it in a new way. That’s how I feel about this week’s parasha, Shoftim, which outlines the procedure that Israelite communities should follow if someone finds a dead body Continue Reading »

Matot-Masei: All Hands on Deck

Posted on July 9, 2021

July 9, 2021 This week’s d’var Torah on Matot-Masei and our upcoming move. My paternal grandmother, of blessed memory, was not a big fan of rabbis. While I like to think she was secretly pleased that the rabbi in our family was a woman, she did try several times to talk me out of my chosen profession Continue Reading »

What Women Want: The Right to Self-Determination

Posted on July 2, 2021

July 2, 2021 This week’s d’var Torah on Parshat Pinchas, the Daughters of Zelophechad, and the #FreeBritney movement. Many years ago, possibly in the first year of my rabbinate, a bat mitzvah student asked me why we bother adding the matriarchs’ names to the Amidah, since, and I quote, “They didn’t even do anything!” Her Continue Reading »

The Patience to Carry One Another

Posted on June 4, 2021

June 4, 2021 This week’s d’var Torah on parshat Shelach Lecha. As we prepare to leave our High School Road property and head to a new home (not to mention starting to think about leaving the wilderness of Zoom), it’s fitting that we should read about our ancestors wandering for forty years in the desert. Continue Reading »

When Human Dignity is Not at the Center

Posted on May 14, 2021

May 14, 2021 This week’s d’var Torah addressing the violence in Israel. When I heard of the violence and bloodshed occurring in Jewish and Muslim holy sites—the Temple Mount and the Al Aksah Mosque–centered around Jewish and Muslim holy days—Yom Yerushalayim and Ramadan—I thought not of the Torah portion but of a very odd and Continue Reading »

Emor: Speak Up!

Posted on April 30, 2021

April 30, 2021 This week’s d’var Torah on parshat Emor. I don’t mention the details of specific incidents in this drash, but those that have been made public are readily available in Jewish publications like The Forward. I also encourage you to read this statement from the Women’s Rabbinic Network. One might think that, after years Continue Reading »

Beware of “Back to Normal”

Posted on April 2, 2021

April 2, 2021 This week’s drash for Shabbat Pesach. On Shabbat Pesach, we suspend the regular weekly Torah reading cycle in order to retell the climax of the Exodus story, the joyous song we sang when we passed through the parted Red Sea into freedom. When we read this passage, and the chapters that surround Continue Reading »

The High Priest’s Garments and Amanda Gorman’s Coat

Posted on February 26, 2021

February 26, 2021 This week’s d’var Torah on parashat Tetzaveh. Some of you know that one of my outlets during the pandemic has been online thrift shopping, and this week, I had a particularly good find: a bright yellow wool peacoat. This isn’t something I would have bought a year ago, or even six weeks Continue Reading »