For Ronnie Dubrowin a butterfly moment is one where we push against our outer limits and achieve something far beyond what we could originally imagine. During her talk last Shabbat at the Sisterhood Paid-Up Luncheon, she described the first marathon…
Torah Thoughts – Lech Lecha – Genesis.12.1-17.27 – “One Step in Front of Another”
The Erie Canal was not built in a day or two or three. The idea for it was generated in the 1780s. Construction officially started in 1817 and went until 1825, but the canal continued to be developed until 1918. …
Fiddler on the Roof Shabbat
Torah Thoughts – Noah – Genesis.6.9-11.32 – “Our 70th Year Reunion”
If you leave off the animals, the flood, the rainbow and any other specific details of the story of Noah, what you are left with is an immigration tale. Displaced by violence and an ecological disaster, our Biblical protagonist sets…
Torah Thoughts – Bereishit – Genesis.1.1-6.8 – “Welcome Home!”
As frustrating it is to start back at the beginning, it can be liberating as well. Reading the first lines of Genesis again is an opportunity to find new interpretations and new meanings. While the Torah is the same, we…
Torah Thoughts – Ha’azinu – Deuteronomy 32:1-32:52 – “One Final Poem”
As always, on Ha’azinu, Moses’ last poem to the People of Israel, I share a poem. This one is taken from a Jewish Italian poet named Umberto Saba (1883-1857). He converted to Judaism as a young man, and then, refused…
Yom Kippur Morning Sermon 2025 – 5786
Kol Nidre Sermon 2025 – 5786
High Holy Days Sermons 2025 – 5786
Erev Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah Morning Kol Nidre Yom Kippur Morning
Rosh Hashanah Morning 2025/5786 Sermon
“You Are All Here to Listen to a Frog” Perhaps the strangest commencement speeches of all time began with a few opening remarks given in a high pitched, awkward stutter, followed by the words: “You are all here to listen…