Category Archives: Congregation Beth Am
It is Possible to Worry Less.
Yom Kippur 5784 Congregation Beth Am, Buffalo Grove, IL There’s an old joke about a Jewish telegram, it read “Start Worrying. Letter to follow.”[1] Then there’s the joke about four people who get lost while hiking in the desert together. It’s … Continue reading
Posted in Congregation Beth Am, Fear, Gratitude, High Holidays, Holocaust, Jewish Jokes, sermons
Tagged Beth Am, community, Faith, High Holidays, Holocaust, Hope, Jewish Jokes, Sermon
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Caring about Israel is to Care about Democracy.
Kol Nidre 5784 Congregation Beth Am, Buffalo Grove, IL One particular day when I lived in Israel as a first-year rabbinic student was particularly memorable. Friends and I gathered to watch the historic Oslo Accords in my small apartment—the old city … Continue reading
Posted in Congregation Beth Am, High Holidays, Israel, sermons, Uncategorized
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Suing the Nazis: A Rosh Hashanah Sermon
In my early twenties, I dreamt a version of the following dream many times: I was a young adult in a Nazi concentration camp, and I was trying to save young children and babies from extermination. The dreams always ended before … Continue reading
Posted in Anti Semitism, Congregation Beth Am, Hate, High Holidays, sermons, Shana Tova
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We Mourn. We Get up. #SolidarityShabbat
Here is a sermon I delivered Friday night November 2nd, one week after eleven Jews were murdered at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Shabbat Morning. The sermon was delivered from an outline, written-out a touch more fully … Continue reading
Witness. Feel. Act.
Chol Ha Mo’ed Sukkot Sermon offered at Congregation Beth Am, September 28, 2018 I want to share about this momentous time we are in our Country. We are at a crossroads. Never before has there been a supreme court justice … Continue reading
Do Not Despair: A Yom Kippur Sermon
There is cable news station that is often on in my house, or on my Sirius XM radio in the car… until someone tells me to turn it off. I don’t have a lot of time to listen or watch … Continue reading
Kol Nidre: You Have Permission
[To the tune of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood theme song] It’s a beautiful eve in the sanctuary, a solemnly evening in the synagogue. I’m glad you’re here, I’m glad to share, this holy day with you. I was 36 years old … Continue reading
Why I joined The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
On a hot summer August day in 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stepped out of his car and was greeted by a mob of 700 angry white protesters in Marquette Park on Chicago’s southwest side. Shortly after he stepped … Continue reading
Posted in Congregation Beth Am, Hate, Love, Uncategorized
Tagged Poor People's Campaign, Religious Action Center, Social Justice
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Celebration
On our last day, we went to Masada and the Dead Sea. We rode camels and will soon have a festive dinner together on our last night in Israel 2017. On Masada we offered mourner’s Kaddish for a dear relative of one … Continue reading
Posted in Congregation Beth Am, Gratitude, Israel, Uncategorized
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Out of Darkness
On the short bus ride to Yad VaShem (The Jewish People’s living memorial to the Holocaust), Lana asked us to imagine a room that would fit 100 people, then think of a space that holds 500 people, a 1000 people and … Continue reading
Posted in Anti Semitism, Congregation Beth Am, Israel, Uncategorized
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Ayin Tova: To See The Good 
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