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I believe so many contradictory things, the game of tug-of-war can be exhausting. In Parashat B'reishit, we encounter a world of rights and wrongs, and we are empowered through the concept of "creation in the image of God" to see our lives as if they have purpose and significance. But the scientific worldviews that class with B'reishit promise us comfort and political progress while stripping our lives of higher purpose. What are we to do with these competing truths? Of course, I don't have an answer, but I do have foundational beliefs that help provide some contours and contexts for the discussion of faith and doubt.
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The Shabbat between Yom Kippur and Sukkot is a perfect time to prepare ourselves for the Festival of Ingathering, a holiday on which we work hard to welcome everyone to our table.
Our congregation is proud of our "Caring Community," which organizes help and support for anyone in our community. This year, we are refreshing and expanding the reach of the Caring Community, and we are especially eager to provide help not only when it's needed but also when it's just plain helpful? My Rosh Hashanah sermon explores the difference between meeting needs and kindly helping and asks community members to join us in our endeavor in the year ahead.
Britain has a new king! This moment has led to reflection the world over on the topic of monarchy and leadership, but of course, these aren't new questions in Jewish tradition. We call God Melech Haolam, "King of the Universe" - but what does this metaphor really mean? (Hint: It doesn't mean that God is petty, selfish slave-driver!)
Many of us struggle with an instinct to take the world's problems onto our shoulders. We're not the first, of course - Moses also faced the same challenge. How do we see ourselves as meaningful change agents without drowning in the sea of work that remains to be done?
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Sally Priesand as the first woman to be ordained at a Jewish seminary. We pause to consider the role of women in the rabbinate for the past half-century as well as trailblazers in other areas and fields.
Often, arguments about environmental stewardship focus on the importance of preserving human life. What would it mean to center the land itself as an object of our concern regardless of its effect on human flourishing? This week's parashah challenges us to do just that, to see the land from God's point of view and to take a giant, humble step backward in estimating our own importance to its continued life.
The Torah has contradictory accounts of whether or not God can be seen. We deny ourselves the richness of interpretive possibility if we limit ourselves only to one way of thinking about this question, and a close reading of a single verse in this week's parashah helps remind us that there's always another way to look at an idea we assumed we understood completely.
An "angel" is a being with a divine task. Our tradition teaches us that ordinary human beings--yes, including you and me--are able to bring God into the world, and when we do, we, too, act as angels. Parashat Terumah was my bar mitzvah Torah portion, so this week's lesson holds a special place in my heart.
In the Torah, the "mixed multitude" is considered both dangerous and praiseworthy - but in either case, they are "other." How should we think of a single individual that comes from this group, and how might that apply to the way we think of people today? It can be easy to conflate a person with the group they're a part of, but often that's the easy (and wrong) way to judge others.
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About“To be effective, the preacher's message must be alive; it must alarm, arouse, challenge; it must be God's present voice to a particular people.” Archives
October 2022
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