Clergy Sermons

What a joy we have experienced! Watching the twenty hostages return home after 738 days has been overwhelming. We have had over two years knowing each day that hostages were suffering – it was so painful, and now it is finally over. The videos of the hostages and their families reuniting show the love, joy, and powerful excitement of dreams being realized. We will sit...Read more...

Haazinu - Ask Your Elders

Between services on Yom Kippur, I will sometimes come into my office and pull down one of the big volumes of Talmud and look at certain sections that inspire me on the High...Read more...

Kol Nidre - Confronting Mortality

My mother of blessed memory, who we all called Bubbe, used to share her concerns: “Nat, you’re working too hard!”

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I have turned to a line from Psalms this year – Psalm 27 said throughout the High Holidays this year. Chazak v’amotz libecha – Let your heart be strong and courageous.  Amidst intense polarization, a hair trigger readiness to write off those who disagree with us that has created a climate of anger and contempt – coupled with unfathomable antisemitism - strength and courage can feel distant and elusive. Today, I will explore how...Read more...

Reeh - Seeing What Might Be - The story of Henrietta Szold

Today I want to tell you stories of an extraordinary woman, who may be one of the most influential people in the 20th Century – but many don’t know her...Read more...

On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, I shared with our community some of my experiences being in Israel during the Gulf War. I was in Jerusalem on a post-hight-school gap year program. We were mostly Americans, and when the war began, the dorm emptied out. Something like 80-90% of the girls went home. Those of us who remained were issued gas masks, and had the experience of rushing to a sealed room several times a day in response to...Read more...