...My Goals for Speaking
"Know Before Whom You Stand" --Brachot 28b
"My the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You, Adonai, my Rock and my Redeemer" --t'filat haleiv, Mishkan Tefilah
I remind myself of these pieces of Jewish wisdom before I rise to speak before any group or congregation. With my sermons, I seek to teach, to share, to inspire, to remind, and to connect. Indeed, there are few things I like more than crafting a sermon. They offer me the opportunity to learn and grow within myself but also, with luck, to cultivate a measure of growth in others.
"My the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You, Adonai, my Rock and my Redeemer" --t'filat haleiv, Mishkan Tefilah
I remind myself of these pieces of Jewish wisdom before I rise to speak before any group or congregation. With my sermons, I seek to teach, to share, to inspire, to remind, and to connect. Indeed, there are few things I like more than crafting a sermon. They offer me the opportunity to learn and grow within myself but also, with luck, to cultivate a measure of growth in others.
Arami Oved Avi...
"Our Torah wants us to be part of our people’s narrative... Closing a breach with our collective past and transforming it into an opportunity for us to connect with a narrative far greater than our own. Not just to experience the past but to grow from it. Finding ourselves distant and then creatively working to reinvent, to reconcile, and to return. Whether it is in the Exodus from Egypt, learning to live without a Temple, or surviving utter ruin, Judaism so often looks back and looks within and finds ways to endure. Situating us in the past to set off into the future. And just as Judaism has done this for millennia, so too can we, Jewish individuals, do the same for ourselves. Harnessing the fluidity of memory, taking the Torah up on its offers and tapping into our collective narrative is exquisitely transformative." |
Parashah Ki Tavo
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Although Parashah Ki Tavo is loaded with a litany of curses, it also contains a depiction and indeed a near rehearsal of the rite of the Bikkurim--the giving of the first fruits at the Temple. And what's more, its in this rite that we find the famous phrase, "Arami oved avi"--my father was a wandering Aramean. Its a phrase we recite each year on Passover. But yet, was your father ever an Aramean? This one question, stemming from this one phrase, Arami oved avi, has some profound implications. And, in many ways, I have it to thank for who I am today. You can watch the sermon in its entirety as it was delivered at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion to the left of this text. Or, you can find the text of the sermon by clicking here.
Rosh Hashanah Morning (delivered in Fredricksburg, VA)
During this past High Holy Days, I was called upon to take the place of a community's regular rabbinic presence who was called away at the last minute. It was truly a gift to serve such a warm and wonderful community. The situation called out for introspection and taking stock of our lives. This sermon was one of a series on memory that I delivered over the course of the Yamim Nora'im. It focuses on the introspective power of crafting a cheshbon hanefesh--an accounting of the soul. Such practices are intrinsic to engaging the High Holy Days, and you can read my remarks about taking stock of the year gone by, by clicking here.
Iyyunim
Iyyunim are those wonderful opportunities that we as prayer leaders have to join prayer to prayer and liturgical moment to liturgical moment. They can offer thoughts, add clarity, and open points of connection when we come together to pray. The following are a selection of Iyyunim that I have crafted to deepen the experience of prayer.
before the Yotzeir Or...
This day is a new day.
This day is clean and unfettered. It carries no weight no shadow no stain What I bring to it is mine. not the day's And while what I leave to yesterday may tag along at my heel and underfoot in the recess of my mind I raise up my eyes I take up my brush I paint a new day clean and unfettered. |
before Mi Chamocha (Shabbat evening)
Mi Chamocha? Who is like you?
ba’elim Adonai! among all the gods that are worshipped! Our ancient forbears sang this song, these words which we are about to sing. They sang in celebration of their freedom. Though we no longer flee Egypt, on Shabbat we are free. We are free to rest, free to celebrate, free to shake loose the fetters of another week gone by and free to do it all together <cue: cantorial background accompaniment> --singing praise and thanks to God A God who redeems. A God who frees. A God without equal. |
Finding God
An introduction to High Holiday programming, a panel discussion on discovering God in our lives.
How do we find God?
Is God like our keys? Something, that at some point, we had--safely and securely--in our grasp, but then lost. Do we say, "Ugh! I'm running so late! I've looked everywhere! Where the hell did I put my God?" Or perhaps, God is like a great new restaurant or cafe that we just happen upon down a neighborhood street? Leading us to tell our friends about the exciting God we found that serves amazing tapas just around the corner from the bookstore. It could be that God is like an article in the newspaper. And over dinner, you could bring up how you found out about the latest happenings through a God you read in the Times.
As luck might have it, there are times that I, indeed, go through life, suddenly realize that I don't feel Gods presence--unlike my keys God's not in my pocket--I panic, and I begin to seek God out. And likewise, when God is with me, God helps me move forward, opening doors, and moving from one place in life to the next. What's more, I have often gone about my business, turned a corner, and was struck by God's presence in something I saw or experienced. And yes, finally, when I study, pray, meditate, or simply think about the world, I revel in the discovery of God in all things.
But regardless of where I have or have not put my keys, [pantomime keys search in pockets] let's hear from our panelists...
How do we find God?
Is God like our keys? Something, that at some point, we had--safely and securely--in our grasp, but then lost. Do we say, "Ugh! I'm running so late! I've looked everywhere! Where the hell did I put my God?" Or perhaps, God is like a great new restaurant or cafe that we just happen upon down a neighborhood street? Leading us to tell our friends about the exciting God we found that serves amazing tapas just around the corner from the bookstore. It could be that God is like an article in the newspaper. And over dinner, you could bring up how you found out about the latest happenings through a God you read in the Times.
As luck might have it, there are times that I, indeed, go through life, suddenly realize that I don't feel Gods presence--unlike my keys God's not in my pocket--I panic, and I begin to seek God out. And likewise, when God is with me, God helps me move forward, opening doors, and moving from one place in life to the next. What's more, I have often gone about my business, turned a corner, and was struck by God's presence in something I saw or experienced. And yes, finally, when I study, pray, meditate, or simply think about the world, I revel in the discovery of God in all things.
But regardless of where I have or have not put my keys, [pantomime keys search in pockets] let's hear from our panelists...
