#MaccaBEtheLight

Sermon for Misphakha Shabbat at Woodlands Community Temple. Lots of music, lots of families, and, this time around, LOTS of hanukkiot! It's a "visual worship" service, which means there are large screens with these (and other) images projected during the sermon. Chag Urim Sameach!

If you have a message that’s really important to you, that you think everyone needs to hear, what’s the way you get it out? I think some our students might be best equipped to answer. Twitter.

140 characters. You have to be succinct, you have to be snappy, you have to catch the eye in an instant. Other people see it, are inspired by it, and pass it along to their friends.

And I think that Hanukkah is the original Twitter.*

And I’ve still got 16 characters to spare!

Tzaddikim in Training

The text and video below are my "Senior Sermon" at HUC-JIR. The Senior Sermon is delivered in the 4th year of rabbinical studies and is the one opportunity to preach in this capacity to the students, faculty, and administration of the New York campus. Video and the rest of the sermon text are after the jump. Hope you enjoy!

When I was six or so, my mother said me, “being a good Jew means being a good person.” I was a dutiful son, so I believed her. And I still am, so I still do. Since that moment, I’ve been trying to figure out how to be good.

Of course, I think she meant something more grand than good, but you know, she said it to a six-year-old, so “good” will have to suffice. I’ll have to check with her after services, but I am pretty sure she meant something like working to save the world!

I won’t give you a laundry list of the world’s problems, however – not now, anyway. It’s 11am and you’ve checked the Times, Ha’aretz, or Facebook at least once. It’s enough to say that for me – and probably for you – being “good” requires becoming a part of resolving these problems.

Shabbat Shuva: Asking Questions with Eyes Wide Open

Something felt different this year. Tragedy after tragedy opened our eyes to injustice in new, heartbreaking ways. It became more difficult for our communities to hide from the realities of social and economic inequality.

In the coming year, what changes will we seek?

Our Goofy Looking Instrument

Photo from ReformJudaism.org

What a goofy looking instrument. In the Reform Movement generally and at Woodlands specifically, we have modernized so many parts of our Jewish experience. We have projector screens in our sanctuary, we include egalitarianism and modern notions of science in our prayers, we have an electric ner tamid, we play acoustic guitars with plug-ins to a sound system…but we still use a ram’s horn to announce the beginning of the year. Wouldn’t a trumpet or bugle provide a cleaner, crisper sound? Why do we use this awkward, rough, imperfect piece instead of a modern instrument?

Rosh HaShanah 5776: The Fruit from Our Tree

Who better to start a celebration of the 50th anniversary than the person who has been here for the shortest amount of time? (Anyone here for the first time or join in the last year? Don’t worry, we can get through this together.)

I’m reminded at this moment of an iconic Jewish story, but I am going to tell it a little differently than you may have heard it before. I call it “Back to the Future: starring Honi haMa’agel.” Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. But…actually...don’t stop me. I’m going to tell it anyway.

Peace in our Rampart

This year I have had the honor of interning at Woodlands Community Temple. For our Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat services we write "iyyunim," introductions to set an intention for a given prayer. Each week we have a theme that all of the iyyunim tie back to. This past Friday, we spoke about Memorial Day. My Senior Rabbi, Billy Dreskin, really liked the iyyun I gave before the Silent Prayer, so I thought I would publish it here. I hope you have a meaningful Memorial Day and have the time to reflect on lives lost in conflict and hope for a world where we no longer know the violence and pain of war.

Questioning Our Way to Freedom

As a kid, I asked a lot of questions. I would follow my mother around saying: “What’s that? How does this work? Why do we do this? When did you do that?” I’ve been told that I had an adorable blend of inquisitiveness and pestering.

It will come as no surprise, then, that Passover is my favorite holiday. The Four Questions are an iconic moment in the seder. I am an oldest child and the eldest of my cousins, so it was never my job to ask, but I would still spend the night peppering my family seder with other requests for explanations and information.

Shabbat HaGadol: Ekhad Ani Yodea!

I come from a family of talkers. We talk loud, and we talk fast. Somehow, we manage to understand each other. But, the / effort / to / pace / our / speech/ to / speak / in / public for humans, who speak and listen at non-Fenster speeds, is a regular family goal.

That being said, when the songs at the end of the seder come around, all bets are off. A lightning fast Chad Gadya is a badge of honor, and Ekhad Mi Yodea, who knows one?, a year’s worth of bragging rights.

So, as I have been loosening my tongue and stretching out my jaw for a yearly speed-singing battle with my brother,I took another look at my favorite song: Ekhad Mi Yodea, who knows one.

Shabbat Parah: It's Time to Get Ready

Well, Passover is just around the corner, so it’s time to head to the store to pick up your brisket, 5-pound box of matza, some macaroons, those jelly rings that uncle Chayyim likes. Oh! And did you get some Parah Adumah?

What’s a Parah Adumah? Parah Adumah is Hebrew for: Red Heifer.

And this week is Shabbat Parah, the Shabbat of the Red Heifer. One in a cycle of pre-Passover Shabbatot to help us get ready for the holiday.

Brokenness at the Core

We have had a busy few weeks. Two weeks ago, we found ourselves at the base of a mountain. Thunder, lightning, shofar blasts, smoke, and a voice that reverberated in each of our hearts. Moses imparted to us the 10 commandments, the word of God. Then, last week, we got more details. Holidays, foundational laws for structuring our community and instructions for living in fellowship and relationship with our neighbors We have had a busy few weeks.

And now, we get into what can seem like biblical technobabble. The instructions shift from “you shall not wrong or oppress a stranger” A moral enjoinder that easily speaks to our time. To “you shall make the planks for the tabernacle of acacia wood…each plank shall be 10 cubits and the width of each plank shall be a cubit and half” Intricate details for the design of the tabernacle, The movable dwelling place for God During the Israelites’ desert wandering. We move from the quality of our character To the quality of the wood, gold, silver, and bronze that we use to create and adorn this holy space in the Israelite camp. I, at least, need a moment when I reach parashat Terumah. I need a moment to recalibrate To move from the easier to access moral code of last week’s parashat Mishpatim. To find the core truths and values in parashat Terumah.

And, it is precisely the core of the Tabernacle where, I want to look with you today.

Are Our Stories Enough? Yes, And! (MLK Day)

Last Sunday, curled up on the couch, eating Ben & Jerry’s frozen yogurt, watching the Golden Globes, I had a mini-existential crisis.

It all started off fine. There were great stories and moving speeches. And, as always, those actors and directors who gave a glimpse into their story and their truth gave me chills and warmed my heart.