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The Road to Yavneh: A Sermon for Yom Kippur
In my Yom Kippur sermon I revealed that I considered Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakkai, a 1st century Jewish sage, to be my personal Jewish hero – and that I considered his story to be a defining Jewish story....
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Leaving Home: A Sermon for Erev Rosh Hashanah 5771
From my Rosh Hashanah Eve sermon last Wednesday night: So here’s my question for this Rosh Hashanah: how will you leave the familiarity of your home in the coming year? In ways will you challenge your...
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Confronting Islamophobia: A Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5771
From my Rosh Hashanah sermon last Thursday: So what is the real issue here? I don’t think it’s about sensitivity to individuals who may or may not be offended by this particular construction project....
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The Supreme Sacrifice: A Sermon for Erev Yom Kippur 5771
From my Erev Yom Kippur sermon last Friday: And as I think about it, perhaps this is why we read a Martyrology on Yom Kippur. As we remember our martyrs, we search our own souls and ask ourselves...
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Jews, Power and Privilege: A Sermon for Yom Kippur 5771
From my Yom Kippur sermon yesterday: For matter how painful the prospect, I don’t think we can afford to dodge this question. If we agree that the inequitable distribution of power and privilege is a...
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A Religious Defense of Big Government: Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5772
Source: Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America 2011 Three years ago, I traveled with several JRC members and nearly 1,500 others to Postville, Iowa. We went to show our solidarity with...
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War Without End: Sermon for Yom Kippur 5772
US Global Command and Control System In 2006, I was approached by JRC’s Peace Dialogue task force and asked if I would consider adding something to our Shabbat prayer for peace. Could we, they asked,...
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Locking Our Children Away: Sermon for Erev Yom Kippur 5772
Cedric Cal was born to a single mother, in a family that lived below the poverty line on Chicago’s West Side. His father had left the family, married another woman and had very little to do with him....
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Judaism Without Tribalism: A Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5773
From my Rosh Hashanah sermon last Monday: However – I also wonder if Jewish tribalism is starting to come at a cost. I especially wonder what it means for the Jewish community to be tribal in this...
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Why Be Jewish?: A Sermon for Yom Kippur 5773
From my Yom Kippur sermon yesterday: Let me leave you with this vision: the vision of a people who have over the centuries learned to build a nation without borders, a multi-ethnic nation suffused...
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Blowing the Whistle: A Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5774
I’m sure many of you remember the story of John Walker Lindh, a young American citizen who converted to Islam as a teenager and eventually went to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban. Lindh was...
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In Memory of our Voting Rights Martyrs: A Sermon for Kol Nidre 5774
Jimmie Lee Jackson I’d like to begin tonight by telling you the stories of three heroes of the civil rights era. I’d wager most Americans have never heard of them – but as far as I’m concerned, they...
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At-Risk Communities from Syria to the South Side: A Sermon for Yom Kippur 5774
While I’m sure that Syria has been on the lips of many a rabbi this High Holiday season, I’ll be honest with you: I’ve struggled with whether or not to give that sermon this year. Not because I don’t...
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The Push and the Pull: A Sermon for Erev Rosh Hashanah 5775
Like most Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah goes by many names. We refer to the Jewish New Year as Yom HaDin, “The Day of Judgment;” we call it Yom Teruah “The Day of the Sounding of the Shofar;” or Yom...
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Open Congregations, Open Communities: A Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5775
This past year marked an important milestone for our congregation – our 50th anniversary, JRC’s Jubilee Year. During the course of the year, we celebrated in a variety of different ways at events...
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God is Close to the Broken Hearted: A Sermon for Yom Kippur 5775
One of the most celebrated rabbinical debates in Jewish tradition comes from the Midrash, as a commentary on the book of Leviticus. Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Ben Azzai, two 2nd century rabbinical sages...
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A Force More Powerful: A Sermon for Tzedek Chicago’s Inaugural Rosh Hashanah...
One of the most celebrated lines in the traditional Rosh Hashanah liturgy is the verse “Hayom Harat Olam” – “Today is the birthday of the world.” As you might imagine, these words have an added...
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Celebrating a New Jewish Diasporism: A Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5777
A synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia As I’m sure you know, Tzedek Chicago has received a great deal of attention – some might call it notoriety – for calling ourselves a “non-Zionist” congregation. But...
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Anti-Racism as a Sacred Jewish Value: A Sermon for Yom Kippur 5777
I’d like to begin my remarks today where I left off on Rosh Hashanah: Because of our diverse, multi-racial nature, Jews must necessarily embrace anti-racism as a sacred value. The Jewish Diaspora is a...
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Recommitting to Solidarity in the Face of White Supremacy: A Sermon for Rosh...
Members of Holy Blossom Temple, a Toronto synagogue, form a protective circle around the Imdadul mosque on February 3, 2017, following an Islamophobic shooting at a mosque in Quebec City. (Photo:...
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