Sermon: Parshat Bo, 1/7/22
01/11/2022 11:12:11 AM
Shabbat Shalom!
We are living through a challenging time. It’s been stressful. Sometimes, it’s been overwhelming. We don’t always know how to cope; we don’t always know the right thing to do. There’s a lot of fear and there’s a lot of uncertainty.
And while it’s not the same thing, some of those emotions would have also been present...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Vayigash, 12/10/21
12/14/2021 10:20:50 AM
Shabbat Shalom!
People will ask about glasses being half full or half empty when it comes to optimism and pessimism. So what do we do – we turn the glass over spilling out whatever is inside by pointing out that for Jewish optimists, things could always be worse. We are kvetchers and can find something wrong with anything. And when it comes to Israel, oh Israel, well that really...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Toledot, 11/5/21
11/09/2021 05:14:26 PM
Shabbat Shalom!
People are complicated. We are all a mix of emotions. We’re not consistent one hundred percent of the time. We fall short with the best of intentions. We succeed against all odds. We are a mess… and we are amazing – each and every one of us. And most of us are trying to do good. We’re doing the best we can to live a good life and care for others. We often...Read more...
Invocation: Tarrant County Commissioner's Court, 11/2/21
11/04/2021 09:43:51 AM
Before I begin, I’d like to invite everyone to the Peace Together Walk focused on building relationships with our neighbors this Saturday that will be held in Colleyville and I wanted to take a moment of personal gratitude and honor the memory of Neil Strassman, who used to work here, may his memory be for a blessing. He set it up so that I would be able to join you on election day the past many years and I am...Read more...
Sermon/Stories: Parshat Chayei Sarah, 10/29/21
11/04/2021 09:39:26 AM
In honor of the 2nd and 3rd grade, I have some stories to share. Because it’s Halloween weekend, I like to share stories about some of the really weird things that we have in our tradition. Really weird. And because we’re celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, I will NOT be doing the song and dance routine, even though Raymond really wanted me to – you’re welcome and happy birthday.
Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Vayeirah, 10/22/21
10/26/2021 11:17:42 AM
Shabbat Shalom!
New research indicates that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah that we read about in this week’s Torah portion may have been based on a historical event. After years of research, Scientists believe over 3600 years ago a meteor or comet exploded about two and a half miles above the city of Tall el-Hammam. The description of events is quite apocalyptic –...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Noach, 10/8/21
10/26/2021 11:12:06 AM
Shabbat Shalom!
Prophets serve many roles in Judaism. One is to warn us when bad things are about to happen. And it turns out that we’re not really great at listening to those warnings. Interpreting this week’s Torah portion, our rabbis envision that Noah took one hundred and twenty years to build the ark in order to give humanity a very long time to change their ways. Still...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Bereishit, 10/1/21
10/07/2021 08:12:59 AM
Shabbat Shalom!
Bereishit – the beginning of our Torah. It starts out so good! God’s speaking and creating and it’s all good and then God makes us and it’s very good. And then God creates things in a different way – forming Adam and putting him in a garden, forming animals and Eve. And then things start to go off the rails…
Adam and...Read more...
Sermon: Shabbat Sukkot, 9/24/21
10/07/2021 08:11:44 AM
I love the creativity of our people. It states clearly in the Torah (Lev 23:43) that God made us live in sukkot when we came out of Egypt. And yet in both Midrash and the Talmud, our Rabbis debate what this means. One goes with the obvious – that the Israelites built actual booths. Another offers a different take – that the sukkot were metaphorical booths. Instead physical structures, these booths were God’s...Read more...
Sermon/Song: Parshat Haazinu, 9/17/21
09/19/2021 03:37:33 PM
Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is parshat Haazinu, which is made up almost entirely of Shirat Moshe – the Song of Moses. After writing it, the Torah says that Moses came, together with Hosea son of Nun, and recited all the words of this poem for the people. Afterwards, Moses tells them: Take to heart all the words with which I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children, that they may...Read more...
Yom Kippur Morning Sermon 5782
09/19/2021 03:18:01 PM
Gut Yuntiv!
This morning’s Torah reading has always puzzled me. I can comprehend the washing and the special clothes. The idea of an animal sacrifice makes a lot of sense. But what’s up with sending a goat to Azazel? I know there’s lots of great interpretations and there’s lots of lessons to learn, but really? Put everyone’s sins on a goat and send it off to the...Read more...
Kol Nidre - Yom Kippur Evening Sermon 5782
09/19/2021 03:15:48 PM
Tonight’s D’var Torah was inspired by a teaching from Rabbi Shai Held, the Rosh Yeshiva at Mechon Hadar – an egalitarian yeshiva in New York who I heard speak at the online CCAR Conference this past year.
Gut Yuntiv!
We are told clearly how to understand our place in the world in Genesis, chapter 1. It was revolutionary then and it remains...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Vayeilech, 9/10/21 - Remembering 9/11
09/14/2021 01:23:08 PM
Parshat Vayeilech near the end of Deuteronomy is filled with a sense of history. The transition from Moses to Joshua, the instruction to read the Torah every seven years, the foretelling of a future where we will turn away from God. A scroll is written to bear witness – to remember.
The act of witnessing and remembering remains an integral part of our tradition. We remember...Read more...
Rosh Hashanah Morning Sermon 5782
09/08/2021 08:47:20 AM
L’shana Tova!
This morning’s Torah portion mentions that Hagar finds herself bamidbar – in the wilderness. There was no warning. Her son Ishmael did something that Sarah didn’t like and they were cast out from their home. In the wilderness they wander. In the wilderness they despair. In the wilderness they are saved and begin life anew.
The wilderness is a brief, transforming episode for Hagar. The wilderness overwhelms the rest of the Torah. From the middle of Exodus to the end of Deuteronomy we are bamidbar. We survive the trauma of slavery only to be thrust into the unknown. In the wilderness we experience skepticism and lack of faith, along with fear, frailty, and vulnerability. Bamidbar – in the wilderness, mistakes have real and tragic consequences, yet every person can encounter the divine and healing, learning, and growth become possible. We are tested bamidbar and many times we fail. Through our trials and tribulations, we become a People in the wilderness.Read more...
Rosh Hashanah Evening Sermon 5782
09/08/2021 08:44:29 AM
L’shana Tova!
We could use a good year! It’s been very challenging for far too many of us. Between COVID, the weather, physical and mental health issues, local, state, and national politics, tragedies overseas, and numerous other difficulties, it’s been really hard. And just when we think that things might get better, there seems to be another challenge, another turn for the...Read more...
Sermon/Story: Parshat Nitzavim, 9/3/21
09/08/2021 08:42:36 AM
This week’s Torah portion includes some of my favorite verses. Moses tells the people:
Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and...Read more...
Story/Sermon: Parshat Ki Teitzei, 8/20/21
08/24/2021 02:52:11 PM
Shabbat Shalom!
This week’s Torah portion, Parshat Ki Teitzei, has more mitzvot than any other parsha. Most of these sacred obligations speak to how we should treat one another – if something is lost, we return it; we don’t abuse workers; we don’t turn away a slave seeking refuge. The story tonight focuses on that notion of communal responsibility.
Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Shoftim, 8/13/21
08/17/2021 04:27:15 PM
Shabbat Shalom!
The story I share tonight comes from II Kings. It’s a reminder that our Tanakh, our Bible, is well worth exploring. We start off with Josiah – who becomes king in Jerusalem when he’s just eight years old. We don’t know much about those early years, but something monumental occurs eighteen years later.
King Josiah orders...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Re-eh, 8/6/21
08/10/2021 03:25:27 PM
Shabbat Shalom!
To read through the first eleven chapters of Deuteronomy, it would be easy to come away with the impression that it’s hard to be an Israelite. Moses tells us about the wonders we experienced, and he stresses that we’ve been a burden. He shares wisdom and teachings, and he recounts all the times we felt short of expectations. Moses points out numerous challenges...Read more...
Story: Parshat Eikev, 7/30/21
08/03/2021 05:28:31 PM
Shabbat Shalom!
At GFC they don’t do a lot of camping, but each unit will do a cookout around the campfire with s’mores. It’s a part of the camp experience. This year, Erez was the cook for cookout. He’s the director of high and low ropes, an Israeli who lives just a few kilometers from the Gaza border, and he’s working at camp and teaching our kids while remotely running...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Va-etchanan, 7/23/21
07/27/2021 09:13:13 AM
Shabbat Shalom!
Greene Family Camp is a magical place. I spent almost two weeks at GFC helping with services, teaching, mentoring, and participating in everyday activities. It has everything from mountain biking to ping pong to basketball to boating to dance to arts and crafts to 3D printing and so much more. Campers don’t get phones at camp and with fewer distractions, it’s a...Read more...
Brief teaching: Parshat Pinchas, 7/2/21
07/06/2021 10:57:19 AM
Shabbat Shalom!
A very brief teaching from Parshat Pinchas…
This Torah portion comes after great upheaval the past few weeks. We’ve seen a political rebellion that was put down, we’ve seen an attempt at prophetic corruption that was corrected, and we’ve seen the violence of an extreme zealot. Following all this we have a lengthy...Read more...
Story: Parshat Balak, 6/25/21
06/29/2021 03:32:19 PM
This weeks Torah portion includes a talking donkey that helps teach humility to the great prophet Bilaam. And with great humility, he blesses the Israelites instead of cursing them. While we have two talking animals in the Bible, we have numerous examples of talking animals throughout Jewish and non-Jewish folklore. Different versions of the following tale go back over a thousand years, with Jewish versions found...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Chukat - Juneteenth, 6/18/21
06/22/2021 03:16:25 PM
Shabbat Shalom!
We have a lot of chutzpah, our people. A close reading of chapter 12 of Exodus shows us that we have the audacity to create a festival of freedom before we are even free. And then, even after we receive the Torah, we’re a mess – rebelling against God and Moses, wandering 40 years in the desert. We conquer a land through genocide… we’re led by Kings that...Read more...
Carroll ISD Baccalaureate Remarks, 5/23/21
05/25/2021 11:50:03 AM
Mazal Tov and Congratulations to the class of 2021 and all your families. I want to give appreciation to all of the teachers and staff and administrators who helped you make it through, especially over the past 15 months! Mazal Tov!
I also want to give appreciation to the organizing group who selected, “Love One Another,” as the theme. What an incredible challenge! It’s a...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Nasso, 5/21/21
05/25/2021 11:25:51 AM
Shabbat Shalom!
This wasn’t the sermon I was planning on giving tonight, but sometimes the world doesn’t work to our advantage. In the Israel update I offered this past week, I tried to show the complexity of the situation in Israel. Something that is not complex, something that is simple and straightforward and crystal clear is that Antisemitism is wrong. The situation in...Read more...
Brief Teaching: Parshat Bamidbar, 5/14/21
05/19/2021 03:47:16 PM
Shabbat Shalom!
The book of Numbers begins with God telling Moses to conduct a census of
כָּל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל
The whole community of Israel.
This is curious for two...Read more...
Sermon: Parshat Behar/Bechukotai, 5/7/21
05/11/2021 08:56:13 AM
Shabbat Shalom!
The Torah contains powerful ethical teachings that are celebrated throughout Jewish tradition: Every person was created in God’s image (Gen 1:27). Love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18). Care for those without power in society because we were strangers in Egypt (many places). The Torah is also filled with contradictions – including teachings that contradict...Read more...
Story: Parshat Emor, 4/30/21
05/04/2021 03:08:58 PM
This week’s Torah portion, parshat Emor, details who can and who cannot become a priest and it states: “asher yih’yeh vo mum – that anyone with a blemish or defect,” cannot be a priest who offers a sacrifice (Lev 21:17).
Not surprisingly, there are other verses and teachings throughout Jewish tradition that offer a very different perspective, including the line from...Read more...
Brief Teaching: Parshat Achrei Mot-Kedoshim (Honoring Hazak), 4/23/21
04/27/2021 12:44:46 PM
Shabbat Shalom! A brief teaching before we turn things over to Hazak – and this is just so good. Now Sandy and I didn’t plan it this way, but it’s amazing how often these things work out. In this week’s Torah portion, we find the following (in Lev. 19:32)
מִפְּנֵ֤י שֵׂיבָה֙ תָּק֔וּם וְהָדַרְתָּ֖...Read more...
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