Sermons
Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz’s sermons connect Jewish tradition with the real questions we face today. Her teachings offer gentle insight, spiritual grounding, and a thoughtful moral voice. We hope these reflections bring perspective, meaning, and encouragement to your own journey.
We Didn’t Start The Fire
This Shabbat is also known as Shabbat Shirah, the Sabbath of Song. This name refers to ‘Shirat haYam’, the ‘Song of the Sea’ that Moses and Miriam sang on the shores of the Sea of Reeds that they had redemptively crossed. I hope you’ll please indulge me as I start with this sermon with a […]
What did the day after look like? Feel like?
For forty days and forty nights, they had been in the bowels of the ark, as the rains pounded down and the waters of the earth spewed forth.
Yom Kippur Shacharit Sermon 5785
The desert sun rises with a fleeting crispness in the air. The Kohen Gadol readies himself by immersing himself in a clear, cold pool.
Kol Nidre Sermon 5785
Today, I want to talk about a new teacher at whose feet I – quite literally – sit.
Rabbi Hugenholtz’s Recorded Rosh HaShanah Sermons
Find recordings of Rabbi Hugenholtz’s Rosh HaShanah Sermons.
Erev Rosh HaShanah Sermon 5785
‘How are you?’ It’s a loaded question, isn’t it?
Rosh HaShanah Shacharit Sermon 5785
Loving Through The Pain Imagine the two of them walking up the mountain path, their sandaled feet cut by bristle and thorn. The sun is already hot mid-morning; their calves ache from the effort and their parched throats speak few words. One is old, the other young. The old one is driven by a zealotry […]
Songs of Freedom
Try to imagine the environs: we are seated outside in a semi-circle of wooden benches, between the blending of the light of day and dusk, a campfire roaring in the center.
The Naked Torah
Let’s talk about… menstruation, blood, sex and reproduction. Yes, this sermon comes with a content warning.