Sermons & Stories

Shabbat Shalom!

This week’s Torah portion is parshat Lech Lecha where God asks Abraham to go on a journey. He travels hundreds and hundreds of miles with Sarah and all their possessions so they can make it to the Land of Israel.

We had another great leader, King Solomon who went on a different kind of journey. King Solomon was known as the wisest person in the world. He knew the language of every animal. He kidnapped...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! I am not a fan of the idea that Noah and the Ark is a little kid’s story. If you go online and do a search for Noah’s Ark, the first thing that comes up is the Noah’s Ark experience near Cincinnati. Someone actually built a life-sized Noah’s Ark museum that you can tour and walk through. Not a joke – and there’s a zip line… it’s not far from a creation museum… it’s a real thing.

The second thing...Read more...

The following story is a modern retelling of a Tunisian folktale that I learned about from the brilliant story tellers Nina Jaffe and Steve Zeitlin (While Standing on One Foot, p. 81-86, adapted).

Once there was a man named Jacob Leibman, who lived in a small apartment on the top floor of a six-story house in New York City. Jacob lived alone, but he had many friends. Neighbors were always stopping by to see him, and children loved to...Read more...

Gut Yuntiv! Throughout these Days of Awe, I’ve talked about caring for ourselves: as individuals, as a people, and as a congregation. This morning, I felt it was important to focus on caring for ourselves as a part of the global community. Our Haftarah this morning begins with the strong words of Isaiah 58, “Cry with full throat, without restraint; raise your voice like a ram’s horn!” Why are we crying out? So that we can learn about...Read more...

L’shana Tova Um’tukah – Praying for a good and sweet new year!

In the Torah this morning, we read about one of the most significant moments in the history of the Jewish People – Isaac’s birth. Without Isaac, we’re over before we even began and we marvel at the notion that Sarah gave birth at the age of 90! The idea is that Isaac’s birth was miraculous and a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. A promise that has...Read more...

This week’s Torah portion, Nitzavim, tells us that we should choose life so that we shall live. And in the New Year ahead, we are hoping and praying for a year filled with life and good health and positive things! Our story tonight is therefore life affirming and might even be able to teach us a thing or two about what it means to choose life. It’s a Jewish story from Afghanistan that I learned from Howard Schwartz (Leaves from the Garden...Read more...

Almost every month, people will happily get their birthday gift – the awesome happy birthday pen or magnet – and then we’ll do the anniversary blessing and someone will ask – what gift do the anniversary people get? The answer is usually – each other. Well, this Shabbat, I’m giving the anniversary couples an extra special gift – instead of just one story, I’m going to share two of them. I know – it’s pretty...Read more...

I talk often about the Jewish values we find in Torah. Giving Tzedakah, caring for those who are sick, offering hospitality. I also teach about how we cannot ignore the more difficult parts of the Torah – the ones that might feel uncomfortable to our modern ears. Passages such as this one from this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Re’eh:

“You must destroy all the sites at which the nations you are to dispossess...Read more...

Deuteronomy – D’varim begins with Moses recapping the Israelite’s wanderings as they draw near to the Promised Land. And as Moses speaks, it’s hard not to notice what sounds a lot like frustration. Moses stresses the times when the people wouldn’t listen to God. He blames the people – “Because of you, God was incensed with me” (Deu 1:37). He asks rhetorically, “How can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and...Read more...

This week’s Torah portion, parshat Korach, is about how after learning that the Jews will wander in the wilderness for forty years, there are a series of rebellions against God, Moses, and Aaron. Eventually things will calm down, and this story, told by Rabbi Edward Garsek (“God’s Miracles,” Three Times Chai, Laney Katz Becker, ed, p. 59-60, adapted.), envisions what it would be like as children are growing up in such a...Read more...