Climb Every Mountain – Shabbat Toldot 5781 (2020)
November 20, 2020Sing along if you know it! The bear went over the mountain (3x), And what do you think she saw?She saw another mountain (3x), And what do you think she [...]
Sermon
Troubled Thoughts – Shabbat Lekh L’kha 5781 (2020)
October 30, 2020In this week of painful anniversaries and equally painful local and national happenings, I’ve had an old Paul Simon lyric echoing in my head and heart. And I don’t know [...]
Yihud & Union – Shabbat Tzav 5779 (2019)
March 22, 2019One can easily view the Book of Esther, and the holiday of Purim which grew from it, as nothing but farce and frivolity. In fact, rather serious challenges and questions [...]
To err is human…Shabbat Vayikra/Zakhor 5779 (2019)
March 15, 2019“an inadvertent violation that involves committing an act…” – in Hebrew, shig’gat ha-ma’aseh (שגגת המעשה). Such is the rabbinic understanding of the case described in our parashah. “If any person from among [...]
Clouds & Glory – Shabbat Pekudei 5779 (2019)
March 8, 2019The Torah’s second book, Exodus, concludes with these words: “For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the Lord rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in [...]
Feeling Left Out…Shabbat Vayak’hel-Shekalim 5779 (2019)
March 1, 2019A parable, courtesy of Midrash Shemot Rabbah (51:6) – A young man came to a city and found the people collecting money for charity, and when they asked him also [...]
On the Mountain – Shabbat Ki Tisa 5779 (2019)
February 22, 2019A single spot can tell many stories. This week, I stood at the corner of Dexter Avenue and South Decatur Street in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. I’m still absorbing, and trying [...]
Sermon: Rosh Hashana 5779 (2018) – The Ever-Dividing Jewish People
September 12, 2018 Rabbi David2018-09-15T18:27:58-04:00[Michelangelo – ‘Jeremiah’ – Sistine Chapel Ceiling (Rome)] Let’s start with the haftarah for the 2nd day of Rosh Hashanah, a series of pronouncements about the future delivered by the [...]
Sermon: Rosh Hashana 5779 (2018) – Standing on a Wire
Picture this. It’s a muggy morning. A group of us, all members of the education staff – tzevet hinuch in camp lingo – come together to take on the high [...]