Sermons
One of the strangest, most difficult and at times most exciting responsibilities of being a rabbi is preparing and delivering a sermon. It is a strange form of communication, almost completely “one way,” with little opportunity for the congregation to respond or for the rabbi to know how it was received. The blank sheet of paper before beginning to write is so daunting: what should I talk about? What should I say about it? How should I say it? But looking back now over forty years of sermons, I realize that being required to stand up in front of the congregation and open my mouth and speak has forced me to think deeply about my own life, Judaism, and our world. Below are many recent sermons and some of the sermons from the past which capture important moments in my life, or the life of our community or the world.
Rwanda
December 30, 2017
I was only there for five days, but in that short time I took in so many sights, and experiences, and conversations that it will take me many months to process it all. Tonight I want to focus on one aspect of the trip, the question that felt like it was all around me, all the time, and that is “how are the people of Rwanda making sense of their past? How are they remembering and how are they thinking about the genocide, and how are they trying to heal themselves?”
Ubumwe
April 26, 2013
But listen: here is something equally difficult to understand. In the midst of the carnage, an 82-year-old American white woman named Rosamond Carr was evacuated, wearing only her nightdress, and then returned….unbelievably…in August of the same year to establish an orphanage for children of the genocide. She called the place “Imbabazi” meaning “a place where you will receive all the love and care a mother would give.” Our story tonight begins in that place…in Imbabazi.