| |
| Rabbi Edward Feinstein |
The World's Longest Recurring Nightmare Returns |
Erev Rosh Hashanah 5767 |
Valley Beth Shalom
Encino, CA |
"'B'chol dor va'dor omdeem alaynu l'chalotaynu' In every generation, the Hagaddah laments, they rise up against us to destroy us. But we thought it was over, finished. We thought anti-Semitism was relegated to museums and textbooks. Surely the Holocaust changed things. Didn't it? Surely the Holocaust demonstrated conclusively the demonic, destructive power of hate. Surely the sacrifice of 6 million Jewish souls cured, once and for all time, the world's insatiable craving for Jewish death! Surely the world's shame and remorse would prevent anyone from ever again evoking the ancient hatred. But as novelist Cynthia Ozick writes, 'Naively, foolishly, stupidly, hopefully, a-historically, we thought that the cannibal hatred, once quenched would not soon wake again. It has awakened.' (Rosenbaum, p. 596) It has awakened in Islamic lands, in Europe, and even in America. The world's longest recurring nightmare has returned. " |
| Excerpt: |
| Read the sermon... |
| |
The Kol Nidre Code |
Yom Kippur 5767 |
| |
"An historical mystery: you can call it, The Kol Nidre Code. The holiest moment of the Jewish year is Kol Nidre. The service is named for its opening prayer. But it's a very strange prayer, for despite its haunting melody, the words of this prayer are dry, technical and legalistic. It sounds much more like a disclaimer at the bottom of a contract than a prayer initiating the holiest night of the year. So what makes this prayer so holy? " |
| Excerpt: |
| Read the sermon... |
| |
| Rabbi Asher Lopatin |
Sermon for Day 1 of Rosh Hashanah 5767 |
Rosh Hashanah Day I 5767 |
Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation
Chicago, IL |
"So here I am facing you, my friends, with three different issues that I need to focus on: If we are silent about Israel, we reject who we are as Jews; if we are silent about Darfur, we are denying "hayom Harat olam: today the entire world was created." And if we are silent about how the big rabbis, and big religious politics affect the individual, the Jewishly committed family that can't get their adopted child a universally accepted conversion, or the couple that is committed to having a kosher, shomer Shabbat home, but can't have a Jewish wedding because some politico - far from Chicago or even America - thinks they will score by not letting the conversion through - if we are silent for the individual, then we are denying that God sees into the hearts and minds of everyone - that God sees the tears and hears the cries of the meekest, weekest person on earth." |
| Excerpt: |
| Read the sermon... |
| |
Sermon for Day 2 of Rosh Hashanah 5767 |
Rosh Hashanah Day II 5767 |
|
"But if we Jews today as 1000 years ago are walking in between super rationality and anti-rationality , how do we do it? How do we respect reason, but not give it full reign in determining what we believe? And how do we challenge reason, without rejecting it and ultimately divorcing from it, as Sunni Islam believes is necessary? How do we balance faith and reason as two different things, both important, but neither one God nor anti-God?" |
| Excerpt: |
| Read the sermon... |
| |
Kol Nidre Sermon |
Kol Nidre 5767 |
|
"Everything rests on each one of us. There are no heroes who can pick up the slack and move our people, our shul, or the State of Israel or the Jews of America where they need to go, without us.. We have to answer the demands of Yom Kippur, and we have to be the ones that at the end of this awesome day find the answer within us to say: Yes, I am here God. I don't know if anyone else is, and I don't know if any other person or institution is going to help me, by here I am. I have looked into myself, and I am here. Hineini." |
| Excerpt: |
| Read the sermon... |
| |
Yizkor Sermon |
Yom Kippur 5767 |
|
"So we remember now: Achat ve'achat, achat ushtayim... For now, before we start Yizkor, we will remember for ourselves how to make these individual lives we are thinking of continue to be meaningful in our world: In our own lives, for the future of the State of Israel, for the future of the Jewish people and our communities and families. But in Musaf, the chazzan will take us one step further: not just remembering, but the chazan will take us out to step out of our security, out of our regular modis operendi. The chazzan will motzi us - will take us out. " |
| Excerpt: |
| Read the sermon... |
| |
| Rabbi Ayala Miron |
Parashat Shoftim |
1st day of Elul, August 25th, 2006 |
Bavat Ayin Congregation
Rosh HaAyin, Israel |
"One of the great challenges of reading Torah is to always try and find or actually uncover a meaning, a relation to our own times, and most important: an inspiration.
This week's Torah portion, Shoftim, promotes, once more, the idea that life in the new land will have to be regulated by codes of behavior, rules and a justice system with Shoftim, judges, and Shotrim, the implementers of their judgments.
Some of these rules seem relevant still: "bribery blinds the eyes of the wise", or the rules regulating the behavior of the king, making sure he does not feel superior in his heart. Others seem too particular, reflecting a long gone reality. Here is where we face the challenge that I mentioned. For example the idea of refuge cities: nowadays we do not have refuge cities, but the notion of intentionality plays an essential part in considering a crime.
" |
| Excerpt: |
| Read the sermon... |
| |
| Rabbi Elaine Zecher |
How I Came to Take Anti-Semitism Seriously |
Rosh Hashannah 5767 |
Temple Israel
Boston, MA |
"I have a recurring nightmare. It is the kind where you have to reassure yourself that it was merely a dream because, upon waking, the sweat and the pounding heart are real. Mine comes every few months since I was in my teens. There are always Nazis chasing me, my attempt at hiding, and someone I love in danger. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the pursuit and sometimes I wake up when I am face to face with my tormentor. Some of you may have nightmares, too. " |
| Excerpt: |
| Read the sermon... |
| |
| Rabbi Daniel Zemel |
Israel: Three Empty Chairs (Dedicated to Gilad, Ehud and Eldad) |
Erev Rosh Hashanah 5767 |
Temple Micah
Washington D.C. |
"Life is filled with questions. Jewish life is filled with questions. Is the chicken kosher? Can a minor serve as a witness? Who is qualified to sound the shofar? There are more complicated questions- Is Jewish life sustainable in the diaspora? Is the preferred, more substantive and richer Jewish life lived in Israel? Are there limits on what is permissible in self defense? What are the Jewish restrictions in making war? Is there evil in the world? How do we explain the possibility of such evil in a world created by a loving, benevolent God?" |
| Excerpt: |
| Read the sermon... |
| |
|
TOP
