October 10th, 2020 — Shmini Atzeret 5781

When we unroll the Torah on Simhat Torah, we are reminded of the access every one of us has, and the necessity of having an agreed upon foundation of facts from which everything else follows.

October 3rd, 2020 — Sukkot I 5781

In the Shulhan Arukh (code of Jewish law), Rav Yosef Karo teaches that, during Sukkot, we are to treat our regular dwelling as temporary and our sukkah as permanent. This Jewish law demands that we acknowledge the unsettling truth that everything we see and touch won’t last forever, that our lives are, in fact, more like fragile sukkot than like steel and cement. Facing this truth can lead one to wonder whether all our efforts are worthwhile, a question that echoes throughout the book of Kohelet, which we read during Sukkot. However, by urging us to treat the sukkah as our true home, Rav Karo also teaches that we should similarly invest in the short, fragile, beautiful lives we’ve been given.

September 28th, 2020 — Yom Kippur 5781

September 27th, 2020 — Kol Nidre 5781

At some point, we will emerge from the acute, multilayered crises of our time. We’re not there yet. Before us will be battles great and small. This will be a defining moment, not only for our nation, but for each of us. We must act with fierce determination in the coming months, and even as we confront these challenges with everything we’ve got, we must plant for tomorrow, holding faith that those seeds will eventually bear fruit.

September 20th, 2020 — Rosh Hashana II 5781

I want to tell you, today, a little bit about what it has been like being alone, living alone during this pseudo-quarantine, and spending most of my time, for half a year now, alone in my house.

I want to talk about it in part because I know there are a lot of you out there who have been alone during this time, and I want to lift up this experience of ours – a shout of solidarity to my brothers and sisters in solitude!

But I also want to talk about it because I learned things from that solitude, and because I think there’s something important about being alone that matters for us all.

September 19th, 2020 — Rosh Hashana 5781

Our ancestors grieved. They told the truth about the past. And they built a new future—a counter-testimony to the world that was. This is our blueprint, an ancient wisdom born of suffering, and a way forward through painful and uncertain times.

September 18th, 2020 — Erev Rosh Hashana 5781

Given the harrowing year we’ve been having, you might think that the spiritual work we are called to do during this holy season, the work of teshuvah, is too much to ask of us. Haven’t we been through enough? Aren’t we just trying to survive all this? But it turns out that what we have been enduring might actually be the climate most ripe for self-reflection and transformation. While there has been so much upheaval and loss, all this forced, destructive change has also given us a chance to engage in generative change. This Rosh Hashanah, more than ever, we are galvanized for renewal and growth.

September 18th, 2020 — Erev Rosh Hashana 5781

Brief remarks by Rabbi Sharon Brous on the loss of tzaddeket Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

October 9th, 2019 — Yom Kippur 5780

After a hard year for the Jews, what can we learn about Jewish peoplehood, antisemitism, and our rightful place in a sometimes hostile world?

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October 8th, 2019 — Kol Nidre 5780

Lifting up the teachings and actions of our loved ones who have died  may be the blessing, even when the dawn has yet to come.

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September 30th, 2019 — Rosh Hashanah I, 5780

The temperatures are rising, the Amazon is burning, storm surges are devastating our cities. It matters how we respond to this crisis. Even while we can’t do everything, there is no moral or scientific calculation that justifies doing nothing. We must be part of a culture shift, a shift in consciousness. We must build islands of spiritual resistance. דבר זה תלוי בנוּ– the matter depends on us.

September 29th, 2019 — Erev Rosh Hashanah, 5780

Why doing good feels so good. And why we must re-commit to an ancient rabbinic ethic at this moment in our nation’s history.

September 19th, 2018 — Yom Kippur, 5779

Rabbi Sharon Brous

The epidemic of sexual assault and harassment thrives on many layers of cowardice and indifference, all too abundant in our culture of complicity. Now we must attune our ears to the stories told not by those with external power, but those with inner strength.

September 18th, 2018 — Kol Nidre, 5779

Rabbi Sharon Brous

Darkness may surround you, but it need not consume you. We are moon people: trained in heart and mind to find hope in the new light rising from the east.

September 11th, 2018 — Rosh Hashanah 2 5779

Rabbis David Kasher and Ronit Tsadok

One of the many reasons given for why we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is that we want to connect ourselves to the story of Akeidat Yitzhak, the Binding of Isaac. What about that story might we tap into and how can it inform our experience of listening to the shofar?

September 10th, 2018 — Rosh Hashanah 1 5779

Rabbi Sharon Brous

These are trying times, but we must not let exhaustion or cynicism dull our senses. Our history has taught us: either you work to dismantle oppressive systems, or your inaction becomes the mortar that sustains them. Together we must build America anew: fierce, fair, and full of promise, equipped to hold us in all our diversity, complexity and beauty.

September 9th, 2018 — Erev Rosh Hashanah

Rabbi David Kasher

What is Rosh Hashanah really about? It is never actually called ‘The New Year’ in the Torah itself. Instead, it is mysteriously referred to as, ‘A Day of Rest, In Memory of the Teruah Sound.’ But what exactly is that sound, and why would it be so important to remember it? A little detective work reveals the first time this sound was ever heard, and unlocks for us the true meaning of Rosh Hashanah.

September 30th, 2017 — Yom Kippur 5778

Rabbi Sharon Brous

Only when we confront the challenges — honestly and lovingly… when we open our eyes and our hearts, will new paradigms of possibility emerge.

 

September 29th, 2017 — Kol Nidre 5778

Rabbi Sharon Brous

LOVE is the good news.

September 22nd, 2017 — Rosh Hashanah 2 5778

Rabbi Sharon Brous

We can’t undo the past. But we can name it, take responsibility for it, and do everything in our power to fix what’s been broken. A Jewish case for REPARATIONS.