Sermons

12/17/2016

VaYishlach 5777: “Like Father Like Son”

How do we know that Jacob wore a kipah? Well, at the beginning of last week’s parasha, the Torah says: וַיֵצֵ֥א יַעֲק֖ב מִבְאֵ֣ר שָ֑בַע “And Yakov went out from Be’er Sheva” Could it be that Yaakov went out without wearing a kipah?! Of course not!” I have two confessions. The first is that this is not…
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12/10/2016

VaYetzei 5777: “Barbarians!”

“Over thousands of years, they wandered from their homeland in the Middle East to Europe and finally traveled to North America, bound by a shared history and rigid dietary restrictions. But these nomads do not keep kosher. They are kosher.” With these words, the New York Times opened an article about a rare breed of sheep, known…
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12/03/2016

Toldot 5777: “He Hunted With His Mouth”

During the 1968 presidential campaign, Vice President Hubert Humphrey made a campaign stop to Brooklyn to visit Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the leader of the Satmar Hasidic court, known simply as the “Satmar Rav.” During the meeting, Humphrey described his commitment to some of the political priorities for the Satmar community and also described how he…
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11/05/2016

Noach 5777: “A Window for the Ark”

Earlier this week I witnessed several heated disagreements on social media that were each about the very same controversial topic. Each conversation began with someone whom I know presenting his opinion on this particular controversial and sensitive topic in a straightforward and clear fashion. And, each time, the reactions quickly escalated into heated arguments, which, in retrospect,…
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10/15/2016

Ha’Azinu 5777: “Don’t Let the Light Go Out”

Before I speak I thought I’d share a story. It happened here in shul, just last night. As we often do, we had a group of college students visiting as part of their study of religious and cultural diversity. One option was to go to Thailand; the other option was to come to Anshe Sholom.…
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10/12/2016

Yom Kippur 5777: “This Has Been a Test of the Emergency Broadcast System”

I’m going to tell a story about a fierce debate about something with no practical application whatsoever. Rabbi Eliezer and the Sages had a dispute about the legal status of an oven constructed out of small pieces of earthenware fixed together with sand. Rabbi Eliezer said this oven, known as an oven of akhnai, was…
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10/04/2016

Rosh Hashanah Day 2 5777: “Smile for the Camera”

During my final year in yeshiva, a film crew came to the beit midrash to record our prayers and studies. The film crew was filming footage for a PBS mini-series that chronicled several young Americans as they embarked on careers as clergy in various religions. The Jewish subjects of the mini-series attended Yeshivat Chovevei Torah…
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10/04/2016

Rosh Hashanah Day 1 5777: “90 Seconds”

Shannah Tovah. This year, I anticipate that our services will end 90 seconds later than last year. I know how sensitive everyone is to the end of services so I wanted to give you all a warning in advance. I feel some guilt that I am sharing this news too late for you to warn…
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10/01/2016

Nitzavim 5776: “40 Years”

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Netanyahu convened his cabinet and made the observation that it was the first time ever that the cabinet of Israel had met without Shimon Peres. As the last surviving founding father of Israel, the entire history of the State of Israel, up until this week, had been entwined with the story…
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08/13/2016

Devarim 5776: “From Jerusalem to Lawndale: Tisha b’Av 5776”

I’ve just read the opening paragraphs of an article published in the Chicago Tribune this past week reported by Alexandra Chachkevitch and Peter Nickeas. The story shook me to the core and I had to fight back tears when I first read about little Tavon Tanner. There are three reasons why I had such a strong emotional response…
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