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Your Sacrifice
The key concept of Rosh Hashanah may be the willingness to sacrifice. What do you have that you would sacrifice? What are you willing to sacrifice? Money, Time, Individualism? For whom are you ready to sacrifice? For your family, your community, the Jewish people? Abraham is the focus of the Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah.…
September 15, 2023
Zion
Dear fellow clergy, distinguished guests, my neighbors, Today, I want to reflect on how we, as a community, Christian and Jewish and Muslim, Black and White, all cherish the place called Zion. In our traditions, Zion is a mountain in Jerusalem. Zion is where we built a structure worthy of God. Zion's rocky edges and…
June 14, 2023
Seder Topic: the Undemocratic Promised Land
The promise of freedom is at the heart of the Passover seder. Freedom is not merely the liberation from slavery but goes to the quality of our lives. This year, challenges to freedom plague our world and our people. Will your seder stick only to the 3,500-year-old story or fast forward to the present-day reality?…
March 26, 2023
A Very Narrow Bridge
The morning in Selma, Alabama was extremely foggy. It was hard to see the Alabama river below the bridge into town. We turned off the bridge onto Water Street. Stepping down from the bus, we entered one of the old brick buildings along the waterfront. And then the day slowly began to clear. Selma had…
February 3, 2023
Southern Jews and Jewish Values
The American South hosted Jewish immigrants hoping to live the American Dream. German Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, and Sephardic Jews all found refuge below the Mason-Dixon line. Yet, their American dream included the dual terrors of discrimination and segregation. Jewish communities thrived throughout the South during times of Jim Crow segregation. They had cordial relationships with…
February 2, 2023
Entering Alabama
Crossing from Georgia into Alabama on I-75, our group of rabbis entered the first rest stop. A large carved stone reads: “Alabama We Dare Defend Our Rights.” Alabaman’s defense of rights? Whose rights are these Alabamans daring to defend? Is it the rights of its African American citizens? Or the state’s right to make laws…
February 2, 2023Reconciliation to Save US
Yom Kippur teaches us the process of teshuvah. One element of our repentance is reconciliation. More than making amends for past wrongs, reconciliation demands education, understanding, and caring in the formation of a relationship based upon shared values. In 5782, I began a journey of discovering how we need reconciliation on a national level and…
October 4, 2022
Israel or New Zealand?
If a fascist were to be elected President, would you move to another country? If so, what country would that be? For Jews, the safe choice is assumed to be Israel. Jews around the world are answering similar existential questions. 17,000 Ukrainians and Russians arrived in Israel from February to May of 2022. Thousands more…
May 20, 2022Listen to Me!
Many Israelis and Palestinians are no longer looking for grand solutions to existential problems. Yet, the lack of a “peace process” does not mean that efforts toward peace have been abandoned. Across Israel conversations in more intimate settings are setting the cornerstones of coexistence. Our group heard from Nazier Margally, a Palestinian journalist who shared…
May 20, 2022
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