Sermons

The Glorious Light
Judging the activity on social media, Hanukkah in 2020 has taken on a far deeper resonance.

The Dark Night of the Soul
Darkness is an overarching theme of Jacob’s life.

D’var by Frank Salomon for Chayei Sara
According to the source-critical approach, Chayei Sara contains three segments.

In the Breach and to the Brink
In many ways, the story of Abraham in Parashat Vayera, is the detail – what the Rabbis called the ‘p’rat’ – of the Noach story.

Let There Not Be Strife Among Us
Can we be like Abram? Can we center ourselves on our morality and center each other’s humanity? Can we hold difference and create space? Can we recognize grievance and pain, diversity and blessing? Can we leverage wealth and power not for prestige and conquest but for compassion and the common good?

Power and Virtue: the Davidic Calling and Promise
Not so long ago, before the Jewish High Holidays, my five-year-old daughter – the middle child – insightfully asked me whether God ever makes mistakes.


Neilah Sermonette
‘Did they’, she wondered out loud, ‘consider the gardens they planted, their last garden?’

Yom Kippur Day Sermon
Be still, my soul, the Psalmist sings. Isn’t that soothing? Isn’t that what the current moment cries out for?
Kol Nidrey Sermon
The human family. All of us. Remember that idea?