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.

...

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.

Shalu Shalom Yerushalayim - Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

Shalu shalom Yerushalayim. Ask about peace for Jerusalem. Ask leaders in America, ask leaders in Israel, ask leaders across the world. How can we make a Jerusalem of peace? Shalu shalom Yerushalayim. Demand peace for Jerusalem. Demand it from governments, from individuals, from communities. Shalu shalom Yerushalayim. Pray. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That those who love her will live in tranquility. That she will know no violence or war. That she will be a city of light and a beacon of peace.

Installation Remarks: Let's Get to Work

As your rabbi, I promise to work with you. I promise to be your partner in changing the world. Whether the world is the internal world of the soul and of personal healing. Or if it is the world of our daily interactions. Or if it is the world of the systems and structures that undergird our society. I promise that I will be here to work. And I pray that you will come to work with me.

Isn’t that what the synagogue is for? Isn’t that why we are here? The rabbinate I hope to build is rooted in the relationships that we will form. And through our relationships with each other and with the immortal words of our tradition and with the incredible power that comes from study, prayer, and community, that we will set about making a world worthy of our highest ideals.

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan: Getting Back to Normal

Cheshvan is…Tuesday. It’s just any day. Nothing remarkable, nothing special. Except that it’s a day when we wake up to the sun and can marvel at God’s creation. A day when we have to make choices about who we are and who we hope to be in the world. And a critical time when we wonder, did the High Holy Days have an impact on us? After having been written into and sealed in the book of life, emerging from the day of Judgment to life, emerging with a clean slate…are we new people? There is nothing special there to goad us to righteousness. No soul-shaking reminders to stay on the path we swore to walk on during Yom Kippur. Cheshvan is the normal, everyday, real world, and Cheshvan asks us: truly, what are your commitments? No gimmicks, honestly, who do you want to be? With the pomp and circumstance of the Days of Awe in the rearview mirror, who are you?

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.

The Shofar: Our Call to Battle

When we hear the shofar, we prepare ourselves for a desperate and critical battle. And our tools for that moment, are love, truth, presence, and compassion. We gird ourselves in teshuva, tefillah, and tzedakah: sacred returning, prayer, acts of righteousness to create the world we will so desperately pray for during our season of introspection and renewal.

The month of Elul is our month to get ready. To clothe ourselves in love, truth, presence. and compassion as we prepare to quench the fires of fear, to extinguish the flames of hate, and to stamp out indifference.

Making Sense in a World of Nonsense

Unfortunately, even though we yearn for the logic of “If A, then B” reality doesn’t always turn out so neat and tidy. We know that. We’ve seen that in the news. We’ve seen that in our lives. We’ve seen that good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.

...And still, we pray. And still, we yearn. And still, we hope for a world that will make sense. A world where our good deeds will be appropriately rewarded. Where the leaders of all nations work for the best interest of their citizens. Where we see the senselessness of devastation and destruction and work for the safety and security of all peoples.

Whenever a Jew prays, a Jew always prays for Peace

Parashat Matot-Masei

I think this is a universal experience, so you’ll have to let me know if this has happened to you too.

There’s something you know. Maybe it’s a quote, a famous saying, a philosophical idea, or even a line from a movie…but, for the life of you, you have no idea where it comes from.

You’ve searched for it. You’ve googled it. You’ve opened up random books hoping you flip to the right page. You’ve googled it again. You changed a few words…and you google it again. Perhaps, you have even driven friends and loved ones crazy with your incessant googling.

Well, I have a phrase like that. I’ve shared it and taught it multiple times in many settings. And every time, I try to say it with conviction, mostly so no one will question me on it. I’m always secretly terrified that some well-meaning or moved person will ask where it comes from…and I’ll have no idea!

But! No more! Last night, while G-chatting with a classmate about this week’s Torah portion (because that’s what rabbis do), I decided to give it another shot…and, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, I found it!

The Misogyny of Omission

Parashat Pinchas

Let me begin this Shabbat by sharing some of the insider trade secrets of the Reform Rabbinate. There are a lot of exciting things that happen when you are ordained a rabbi. There is the ceremony itself. The big, fancy piece of paper you get. The days and weeks of celebrations and congratulations. The feeling of accomplishment and awe. The opportunity to head out to serve the Jewish people.

But, the most prized in this remarkable period of transition, the most anticipated status change, the most coveted opportunity…is joining the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ members-only Facebook group.

What's in a Name

Sermon for Parashat Vayishlach at a "Mispacha Shabbat," a service designed to be engaging to all members of the family, young and old.

Let me tell you a story. It’s a story about my great-great-great grandmother and my great-great-great grandfather, and their son, my great-great grandfather. My great-great-great grandfather, Shlomo, was a farmer. And his wife, my great-great-great grandmother Rayzel, ran the family store and managed all of the finances.

One day, Rayzel to Shlomo: “We’re going to have a baby!” They were so excited! They moved the goats outside so there could be space for a crib, they made sure to put their various sharp, pointy farming equipment in carefully locked cabinets. They pulled out boxes of their favorite toys from when they were children.

Rayzel went to the shtetl’s Lamaze class. And Shlomo, he just did a lot of pacing.

Concert Across America

Shabbat Shalom! I missed you all! It was nice getting to check in and catch up with a few of you last Shabbat. Gavi and I were away for most of the summer in Florida for an internship I had down there. It was a lot of really hard work. Slaving away day after day without a moment’s rest. And it is really nice to be back home.

You know…I’m starting my 5th and final (God willing!) year of rabbinical school. I’m trying to soak in all of the academics I can before I have to go out into the real world. And the good (or maybe bad) news for all of you, is that you are going to have to listen to me ramble about all of the stuff I’m learning in class!

The topic right now that’s grabbed the strongest hold of my attention is a course in “ritual studies.” That’s right. I go to school to talk about the theory and creation of sacred rituals. I’m not sure why there’s anyone who doesn’t want to be a rabbi. We’ve been talking about what defines a ritual. What rituals are for. Sociological, psychological, political, and anthropological critiques of rituals. And what makes for good (or bad) ritual.

Learning to Disagree

This past Wednesday, my wife and I were out for dinner to celebrate her birthday. We spent the whole time talking. And then, toward the end of our meal, this random stranger came over and said, “Excuse me. I’m sorry to interrupt you. But, I just wanted to say, it was so lovely to see the two of you sitting here talking all night. You never took out your phones. You just talked. You never see that anymore. It was really nice. Anyway. Thanks. Have a good night.”

I think that was the sweetest chutzpah I’ve ever experienced!

#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.

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.

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.