In the Summer
Camp sermon corona In the summer of 1992, I had just graduated High School. I was excited to start college as a music student at Florida State University (I transferred to UF after one year), but I was pretty nervous…
Category: Judaism and Religion
After Death Comes Life
There are some people that know the Torah memorized. These individuals know where each verse begins and ends, and are aware of each and every trope. But even these individuals read the Torah portion every week, even…
Yom HaShoah 2020
It’s interesting to me that in the past month, we celebrated Passover, Christians celebrated Easter, and right now, Muslims across the world are celebrating Ramadan.
What day is Today?
What day is today? I feel like that question has been asked more and more in these recent weeks. With kids staying home from school, and many adults working from home, it’s possible that there hasn’t been much to…
Hear One Another's Prayers
One of my favorite Torah passages occurs in the first portion of Exodus. Moses had just killed an Egyptian taskmaster, and Moses ran away to escape Pharoah's wrath. These short verses are a watershed moment for the…
It Is Time to Stop
In this double portion, Vayakhel/Pekudei, the Israelites put the finishing touches on the tabernacle. The Israelites are still bringing things to the tabernacle, as they were commanded in T’rumah. They bring more…
Publicizing the Miracle of Judaism
A few weeks ago (in December), I was a participant in the Union for Reform Judaism’s Biennial Conference. During one of the sessions, the president of the URJ, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, spoke to all the participating graduates…
Diverging on the Path of Least Resistance (Lech L’cha)
This week’s Torah portion of Lech L’cha contains one of Judaism’s most well known stories. In fact, I would probably place God’s command to Abraham of go forth and journey, Lech L’cha, as one of the five most important…
Stand with Other Tribes (Yom Kippur 5780/2019)
אַתֶּ֨ם נִצָּבִ֤ים הַיּוֹם֙ כֻּלְּכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם רָאשֵׁיכֶ֣ם שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֗ם זִקְנֵיכֶם֙ וְשֹׁ֣טְרֵיכֶ֔ם כֹּ֖ל אִ֥ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
Ecclesiastes and Job Are True (Kol Nidrei 5780/2019)
There is a time for everything, a time for every experience under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die, a time for planting, and a time to uproot the planted.