Rabbi's Sermons

Friday, August 20, 2021

Last Shabbat morning, we spoke about the importance of providing medical prevention and care to all in our midst, whether we approve of our neighbors’ choices or not. In that conversation, we referred to a passage of our parashah in which an unidentified body is discovered in the field. In such a case, the Torah teaches, the elders of the town closest to the body ritually claim responsibility for the...Read more...

August 14, 2021

A group of elderly, retired men gathers each morning at a cafe in Tel Aviv. They drink their coffee and sit for hours discussing the world situation. Given the state of the world, their talks usually are depressing. One day, one of the men startles the others by announcing, “You know what? I am an optimist.” 

The others are shocked, but then one of them notices something fishy. “Wait a minute! If...Read more...

August 7, 2021

Chicken fried steak, donuts, cheese pizza, Doritos - all kosher! Keeping kosher does not automatically make for a healthier lifestyle. However, with real intention, keeping kosher can make for greater compassion, mindfulness, gratitude and ultimately, mental and physical health.

Parashat Re’eh covers all of our basic laws of kashrut, although this is not the first time in the Torah that we hear them. We only...Read more...

Va'ethanan 5781 - July 24, 2021

If you know this tune by the Rolling Stones, please sing along:

You can’t always get what you want (x3)

But if you try sometimes, you just might find

You get what you need

You are not the only one who doesn’t always get what you want. In the verses that precede our Torah reading today,...Read more...

Parashat Pinchas - July 2, 2021

Parshat Pinchas is often seen as a huge win for women! The daughters of Tzelophechad, named Machla, Noah, Chaglah, Milkah, and Tirtzah, achieve the new Israelite reality that if a man has no sons, his daughters can inherit his property too! (Side note: Midrash declares that because the four daughters’ names show up in different orders throughout our story, we can surmise that all four daughters are...Read more...

Parashat Balak - June 26, 2021

The respected Rabbi Yochanan would give his lectures perched upon seven cushions, so that he could be easily seen by all of his students. One day, Rav Kahana was visiting the yeshiva, and he offered a series of challenges to Rabbi Yochanan that the great Rabbi could not answer. With every unanswered challenge, Rabbi Yochanan took one cushion out from under him, until he sat on the floor. Rabbi Yochanan...Read more...

Parashot Matot-Masei - July 10, 2021

On Fourth of July morning, it was cool enough to take the dogs on a light, easy nature walk at the Red River Wildlife Refuge. We chose to take a path we had never taken before, and halfway through, we found ourselves trudging through a lovely, green swamp. As we kept thinking we saw dry land, we trudged deeper and deeper, until we all were covered with algae and accepted that it was time to...Read more...

Parshat Bamidbar
Saturday, May 15, 2021

Our tradition includes a whole lot of prayers for peace - Oseh Shalom, our responsive prayer for peace in the morning, Shalom Rav, Sim Shalom, and so on. At times like these, when rockets are firing back and forth between Gaza and Israel yet again, when over a hundred lives have been lost from this week’s violence and...Read more...

The Corners of Our Fields: A  Societal Structure of Giving 
Parshat Emor, 5781
Saturday, May 1, 2021

At a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, President Biden proposed a slate of programs to expand governmental support of childcare, healthcare, cost of education,...Read more...

Honoring, Revering, and Listening to Parents
Parshat Tazria-M'tzora, 5781
Saturday, April 17, 2021

How do you respect your parents? For those who are parents in the room, when do you feel respected by your children?

For the past month, on the Shabbatot between...Read more...

The Holiness of Community
Parshat Tzav, 5781
Saturday, March 27, 2021

Throughout this Pesah (Passover) we will explore themes introduced in Shir HaShirim, the Song of Songs. We’ll talk about the interplay of Judaism and romantic relationships, why human love is so integral to Jewish life and practice,...Read more...

Building the Mishkan—Lessons in Non-Profil Management
Parhsat Vayak'heil-P'kudei, 5781
Saturday, March 13, 2021

Imagine an Agudath Achim in which we had enough volunteers and funds to never worry about our limits. How would our synagogue space,...Read more...

Please, Look Jewish!
Parshat T'tzaveh, 5781
Saturday, February 27, 2021

We keep them in the back of the closet - those t-shirts, sweatshirts, and tote bags from Jewish camps and conferences. Some of us keep them stowed in our jewelry boxes - Star of David earrings and necklaces engraved with the...Read more...

Yitro and the Merits of Delegation
Parshat Yitro, 5781
Saturday, January 23, 2021

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had conversations with a few members of our synagogue leadership about the merits of delegation. Although we have quite a few community members who are ready and willing to...Read more...

Judaism and Wellness
Parshat B'shalah, 5781
Saturday, January 30, 2021

A few weeks ago, a woman walked into Agudath Achim, asking for a kosher cookbook. When I asked why, she explained that in the new year, she wanted to eat healthier! While I helped her find some books, I couldn’t help but think about a...Read more...