September 18, 2020

Let Oneness Reign: A Sermon on Interconnectedness

Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum's Rosh Hashanah Sermon, entitled "Let Oneness Reign: A Sermon on Interconnectedness" is available to listen to or read.

Click here to listen to the audio version, which runs about 28 minutes.

Click here to read Rabbi Rachel's sermon.

September 8, 2020

Preparing to cross the river into 5781...

This week, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Labor Day weekend is now in the rearview mirror! Time has moved very strangely for me during this pandemic period, but still, it has continued ticking forward, and we now find ourselves less than two weeks out from Rosh Hashanah. We prepare ourselves to conclude one cycle and to begin a new one, uncertain about what the new year will bring, but also with a sense of hope.

September 2, 2020

Falling Back on Set Liturgy: Finding Keva at Kavana

This week, Parashat Ki Tavo opens with a famous sequence. The Israelites are told that when they will enter into the land, possess it and settle in it, they shall gather the first fruits of the soil, put them in a basket, bring them to a priest, and make two declarations. The first declaration is an acknowledgement that this is the land that God promised to their ancestors. The second, longer declaration is an abridged telling of all of Israelite history in a few verses, beginning with the words "Arami oved avi...":

August 27, 2020

Returning... lost objects, and ultimately ourselves

This week, let's keep our eyes open for opportunities to effect return -- whether this is in finding and returning a lost item to its owner, or in restoring core beliefs in our own hearts, or in participating in our own process of return... to our truest, purest selves, and to the spark of divinity that resides within each of us. As the Torah reminds us, we cannot remain indifferent; we must return.