Today is April 23, 2024 /
Today is April 23, 2024 /
Main Office: 215-635-3110
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My sermon this week on Parashat Bereshit The Creation Story found in the Hebrew Bible is a revolutionary one. There are many reasons we might say this: The biblical creation story puts forth the image of ONE all-knowing, all-powerful deity, who existed before creation and will continue to exist even if the world should come Continue Reading »
September 10, 2018 When God calls, the right answer is “Hineini.” Abraham says hineini when God instructs him to sacrifice his beloved son. Moses answers hineini when God calls to him from the burning bush. Isaiah cries out hineini when God invites him to prophecy to Israel. The literal translation of this word is, “Here Continue Reading »
September 9, 2018 There is a story about a beloved rabbi who, after a long and fulfilling career at one spectacular synagogue, decides to retire. His congregants are supportive, but anxious. The community has been thriving. The last thing they want to do is to rock the boat The synagogue president calls an emergency meeting. Continue Reading »
Last night during our Kol Nidrei service, we sang the evocative words of the Ashahm’nu, the litany of transgressions in alphabetic acrostic: Ashahm’nu, bah’gahd’nu, gahdahl’nu, dihbar’nu…an acknowledgment that we betray and steal, we scorn and are cruel, we scheme and slander, we lie and ridicule…and on and on. The list exists because these are the Continue Reading »
What vows will you make this year and how might they help you create a better future? There are so many images filling the pages of our newspapers, television screens and mobile devices, and most of them are alarming and depressing, as well as painful to see and hear: political invectives and impasses; anti-Semitism and Continue Reading »
September 21, 2017 Last night, I gave the first of what will be my last High Holy Day sermons as your rabbi. This morning I want to share with you my heartfelt optimism about our future as we prepare to welcome your next rabbi. Our leaders on the Board of Trustees have created Gesher l’Ahteed/‘Bridge Continue Reading »
March 10, 2017 It has been a very difficult few weeks for all of us. Just five days after more than a hundred headstones were toppled and damaged at Chesed Shel Emet Cemetery in St. Louis {February 21, 2017}, almost a hundred headstones were pushed over, severed from their foundations, at Mt. Carmel Cemetery here Continue Reading »
March 3, 2017 This is ‘Shabbat Across America’ though at this particular time, this particular week, it should really be called ‘The Much Needed Shabbat Across America’ because if you are like me, you are bone tired, worn down, reeling and angry. People have told me that it does not do me any good to Continue Reading »
December 3, 2016 Surely you have read about me. “Esau the meek” some call me. Esau, the one who had his birthright taken from him not once, but twice, by his brother, Jacob. I was, they say, a refined man. I don’t deny it. I spent time at home and in camp, and so I Continue Reading »
November 9, 2016 Late Tuesday night, November 8th, it became evident that what many of us hoped/worked/prayed and yearned for was not going to happen. Donald Trump – Donald Trump! – will be the next President of the United States. I went to bed but could not sleep. It was one of the most restless Continue Reading »