November 2, 2013 Today’s Torah portion with its numerous subplots can be read on many levels. Consequently, it lends itself to broad interpretation and many themes, and therefore is in many respects a goldmine for darshanim, for rabbis and those giving sermons. We can read the narrative as the disturbing story of what …
October 2013 The stakes are high. Let’s be honest. For most of the people who attend High Holidays services this is the only time they will be in shul the whole year. It might be the only sermon they will hear. It is our chance to inspire and uplift them. It is …
You may recall the old Superman comic that used to open with the words, “It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, It’s Superman!” The description could aptly be used to describe Michael Oren. Although he is not Superman, it could be said of him, “He’s a scholar. He’s a television star. No, He’s an ambassador.” …
Yom Kippur September 14, 2013 Earlier this year we lost a giant, a proud Jew, Idl Yitzhik, the former mayor of New York, Ed Koch. Koch was to say the least, a colorful figure who succeeded another Jew, Abe Beame. Elected after several terms as a progressive Democratic congressman, he liked to describe himself …
Kol Nidre September 13, 2013 Barely a day goes by without a new revelation coming out about the National Security Agency program to collect data on American citizens. We now know that our government has been collecting records on almost every phone call made in the United States, as well as monitoring e-mail messages …
Rosh Hashana September 6, 2013 This past year I went with my wife and did something we do not do often enough. We went to one of the many fine art galleries in our area. I had read an article in the Washington Post about the black-and-white photographs Nicholas Nixon has taken every year …
Rosh Hashana Day 1 September 5, 2013 Walking through the rubble of the remnants and the still smoldering ashes of the ruins of the Beit HaMikdash two thousand years ago, Rabban Yohanan’s student lamented, “Woe to us. The place which once atoned for our sins lies in ruins.” It is difficult for us to …
Rosh Hashana Evening September 4, 2013 This being the 25th anniversary of the founding of our synagogue, I was tempted to ask congregants to vote for their favorite sermon I have given over the years and then give the ones that got the most votes. It would be hard for me to choose, for …
The stakes are high. Let’s be honest. For most of the people who attend High Holidays services this is the only time they will be in shul the whole year. It might be the only sermon they will hear. It is our chance to inspire and uplift them. It is our chance to …
The signs are back. They are popping up on street corners, public and private property – unauthorized, most definitely not legal, but catchy and appealing. Last year they merely advertised “Free High Holiday Tickets”. This year they have gone one step further, and take a swipe at the concept upon which the American Jewish …
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