Learning to Swim

Yom Kippur 5779

If we aren’t careful. If we aren’t intentional. We lose the chance to frame the conversation about fatherhood, the conversation about being a parent. If we don’t have those conversations on purpose, we let the next generation learn by accident. And given the state of masculinity in 21st Century America, that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.

And this comes at a time when we need to be asking new questions about masculinity. Well, overdue questions finally breaking through in today’s America. The public face of what it means to be a man, the public face of masculinity at this moment, is one of aggression, of violence, of abdication of moral responsibility, of the minimizing women’s voices, of concern for perpetrators of degradation while ignoring the impact on those who suffer…this is not the masculinity I want to raise my son into.

A Story Demands

Rosh HaShanah 5779

בכל דור ודור (b'chol dor vador), in every generation, we tell our stories. And in each generation, we listen to the stories of those who came before. The stories of our family, so we might find empathy with past generations, and extend that empathy to the present. We learn who we are and where we come from.

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A story is not an unchiseled stone. A story is a set of tablets, etched with sacred words of commandment, commitment, and obligation. A story is not ambivalent about its circumstances and it is not ambivalent toward those who receive it. A story demands.

America's Mezuzah

Rosh HaShanah 5778 

The mezuzah is affixed to our doorposts, at the threshold of our house, so that we might see it and be reminded of our ongoing responsibility to care for the stranger and the oppressed. To care for all those who might pass through that very threshold. It’s there to remind us to be active agents of freedom and redemption.

And it strikes me that America also has a doorpost. We also have a symbol that sits at the threshold of our nation. A sign we often think delivers a message to the outside world, but, maybe, it is more important as a sign lachem, to you, to us. Of our heritage, of who we claim to be, and of who we might yet become.

I believe that the Statue of Liberty is America’s mezuzah.

Tell Me Your Names

Erev Rosh Hashanah 5778

Our names aren’t just our names. Our names tell a story about our past, our present, and our future. Our names are full of hope, passion, and promise. When I tell you that I want to know your names, I tell you that I want to know you. Truly. Who are you? Where do you come from? What do you care about? Who do you want to be in the world? When we know each other’s names, that is to say, when we really know each other…that is when we enter into sacred relationship. That is when we build a spiritual community of meaning and purpose. That is what seals us for blessing in the Book of Life.

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.

Rosh HaShanah 5775: Toward Healing on Israel

Most people spend their summers reading books, relaxing on the beach, and maybe catching a few Mets losses live and in person. I spent my summer as a chaplain in a hospital. On Mount Sinai Medical Center’s ninth floor I visited patients to talk, listen, and, hopefully, be a part of the healing process. I helped my patients as they tried to process their experiences of suffering and their co-occurring feelings of anger, fear, confusion, and sadness. You know, easy stuff.

One day in late July I had a referral to visit Mrs. B, a soon-to-be-discharged Catholic patient. I was feeling confident after a meaningful conversation with her, but then, the dreaded moment came. She looked up at the television, which had been on throughout our conversation, gave me a knowing glance and asked, “so, what do you think about all of that?” On the screen were scrolling headlines about the war between Israel and Hamas. There were images of rockets, demolished buildings, frightened people, and the occasional, requisite pundit. I took a deep breath.

Yom Kippur 5774: High Holiday Word Play

What do you call an average-looking grassland? Plain plain. How would you describe an unsightly collection of 144 items: Gross gross. A super cool insect? Fly fly.

English homonyms are great. And I love a good pun just as much as the next nebbishy rabbinical student, but playing with English words…that’s small potatoes. Now, this may just be the reality of four-more years of school plus a lifetime in the rabbinate talking…but Hebrew Homonyms…that’s where it’s at.

Rosh HaShanah 5774: Sefer Zichronot

I delivered this sermon at University of Rochester Hillel:

I don’t know about all of you, but in the last few weeks, I have acquired a lot of books. Books for classes, reference books, library books, notebooks, planners. It is a miracle that there is a square inch of space to move in my room. But, this is how we start things. We collect and we open books. New classes? Textbooks. Bar Mitzvah? Prayer books, books of Jewish Wisdom, a stack of Torahs. Starting a new job? Workplace handbooks and instruction manuals from past employees. Time for the New Year? Rosh Hashanah is a holiday with plenty of books to dive into.