Category Archives: Sermons

Faith and Faithfulness: A Sermon for Erev Rosh Hashanah

Posted on September 21, 2009 | 2 Comments

From my sermon this past Rosh Hashanah eve:

How do we discover the true meaning of spiritual commitment in our lives? Perhaps the first step is simply taking a closer look at our lives themselves. Maybe, just maybe, the source of our emunah is much closer than we think. On Rosh Hashanah we say in our liturgy “Hayom Harat Olam” – on this day the world is born. Your entire life has been leading up to this moment. Take the time to look back. What has led you here to this place tonight? Who are the people who have helped to guide you on your journey? What are the memories and experiences that you continue to hold sacred? And, finally, how will you transform them into faithful action? How will you commit to them honor them in the coming year and the years after that?

Click below for the entire sermon:

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Posted in High Holidays, Immigration, Judaism, Prayer, Religion, Sermons, Spirituality

Understanding Iran, Facing our Fears: A Sermon for Yom Kippur

Posted on October 10, 2008 | 8 Comments

At Yom Kippur services yesterday, I announced to my congregation that I will be traveling to Iran on an interfaith peace delegation next month. I devoted the majority of my remarks to our current conflict with Iran, and why I have been so deeply frustrated with our government’s and the Jewish community’s response to this crisis.

Click below to read the entire text of my sermon:

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Posted in Global Activism, High Holidays, Interfaith, Iran, Israel, Peace, Politics, Religion, Sermons

The Reconciliation of Civilizations: A Sermon for Kol Nidre

Posted on October 10, 2008 | 1 Comment

On Kol Nidre 5769 I discussed one of the more positive and hopeful religious trends in recent years. Here’s an excerpt:

Yes, as the saying goes, 9/11 did “change everything” – but not necessarily in the way we might first have assumed. Yes, that tragic day did awaken the American public to the reality of Islamic extremism in the world, but we’re now finding that it might have awoken us up to something even more significant. It may have aroused within us the importance of understanding one another, of cooperating with one another. It may not only have exposed religion at its worst: it may also have inspired religion at its best.

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Posted in Coexistence, High Holidays, Interfaith, Islam, Judaism, Religion, Sermons

The End of Empire: A Sermon for Rosh Hashanah

Posted on October 5, 2008 | 3 Comments

My sermon for Rosh Hanshanah Day 5769 was something of a sequel to the one I delivered the night before. I’ve reworked it here, based on a version I gave today at Lake St. Church’s World Community Sabbath. (Those of you who read the previous sermon will notice I carried some passages over into this one).

Click below to read:

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Posted in Energy Efficiency, Energy Policy, Environmentalism, Health Care, High Holidays, Judaism, Politics, Poverty, Religion, Sermons, War

The Season of our Sustenance: A Sermon for Erev Rosh Hashanah

Posted on October 2, 2008 | Leave a comment

As I sat down to write my sermons this New Year, I somehow found myself returning to the theme of “sustainability.” Click below for my remarks on Erev Rosh Hashanah:

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Posted in Environmentalism, Fair Trade, Global Activism, Green Buildings, High Holidays, HIV/AIDS, Hunger, International Aid, Judaism, Poverty, Religion, Sermons, Spirituality, Tzedakah

Coming Home: A Sermon for Yom Kippur

Posted on October 1, 2007 | 1 Comment

For those interested in an aftertaste of the High Holidays, here’s a short excerpt from my Yom Kippur sermon:

As for me, I’ve always felt it is far too early to write the epitaph for synagogues just yet. I do believe in congregations. I do believe that congregations are still places where great and important and transformative things can happen. But I believe just as strongly that that synagogues must become more relevant to a rapidly changing American Jewish community or, sad to say, they will eventually become extinct.

For the entire sermon, click below:

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Posted in High Holidays, Judaism, Reconstructionism, Religion, Sermons, Shavuot, Spirituality

Night of Our Disavowal: A Sermon for Kol Nidre

Posted on September 25, 2007 | 3 Comments

Here’s an excerpt from the sermon I gave this past Friday on Erev Yom Kippur:

In the end, I believe the path set out for us by our tradition guides us still. The violence in our midst cannot be ignored or wished away. We must acknowledge it, we must face it, and yes, we must respond to it. For our own sake, for the sake of all who dwell on earth, we must disavow the use of violence to solve our conflicts. Whether it be the violence in our own homes, or the use of military force to address complex political situations, we must be ready to confront and repudiate the violent impulses that reside deep within each and every one of us if we are ever to find a way toward a truly just and peaceful world.

If you’d like to read the full text, click below:

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Posted in Gun Control, High Holidays, Judaism, Nonviolence, Peace, Religion, Sermons

There Is Nothing So Whole As a Broken Heart

Posted on September 18, 2007 | 3 Comments

I’ve been hunkering down these past two weeks working on my High Holiday sermons, so I haven’t had too much time/energy for the blog, alas. In the spirit of the season, however, I thought it might be appropriate to pull one of my older sermons out of the ol’ data base.

Here’s a Kol Nidre sermon from a few years back in which I somehow managed to combine the first two chapters of Genesis, the Kotzker Rebbe, and the children’s book, “Eggbert, The Slightly Cracked Egg.” If this seems at all intriguing to you, click below:

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Posted in High Holidays, Judaism, Religion, Sermons, Spirituality