Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Here is an excerpt of a sermon I wrote for this Rosh Hashanah. Download the whole sermon.

Hospitality, true hospitality takes those who are vulnerable and raises them up, supporting them in such a way that they are more likely to meet the unexpected with strength and dignity to fight on. They see themselves as having worth and value and that they have something to offer to the world.

Rabbi Rick BrodyRemember the media craze surrounding Lauren Caitlin Upton, Miss South Carolina in last month’s Miss Teen USA pageant, the young woman who stumbled into notoriety through a blunder on national television. That episode offered many lessons to reflect on, the first being the idea that we all stand under the bright lights of judgment, dumbstruck and speechless, without a clue how to account for ourselves.

There’s more for us to learn from Caitlin’s gaffe. How did we get to the point where such absurdity draws so much of our attention? Why do we shine the spotlight on rather unremarkable people and then reap some kind of sadistic pleasure when they prove themselves to be seemingly unworthy of our focus?

Mt. Arbel, Israel Light and Shadow: photo by Shai GluskinBelow is an excerpt from a sermon I gave Rosh Hashanah morning. Download a pdf to read the sermon in its entirety.

We are praying here today in the language and telling the stories of the ancestors we share with our Israeli sisters and brothers, with the sancta and canon passed down ledor vador/from generation to generation, beginning with our peoples’ experiences in that land.

Rabbi Lina ZerbariniBelow is an excerpt from Rabbi Lina Zerbarini's Rosh Hashanah sermon delivered at Yale this year. She is a 1997 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the Associate Rabbi at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale University. Download the sermon in its entirety.

I do believe in possibility, in growth and change. And yet, the process of change is frightening, marked by fits and starts and two steps forward and one - or three - steps back - in myself and in others.

Rabbi Bonnie KoppellIn this Yom Kippur Sermon written for this year, Rabbi Bonnie Koppel draws on the work of Maimonidies' Hilchot Teshuva, the Laws of Repentance, and Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas' 2006 book, The Five Languages of Apology to unpack the process of apologizing in order to get us to do more of it.

Rabbi Bonnie Koppell is a 1981 Graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She has served the Jewish community of Phoenix for the last twenty years as a congregational rabbi, and, additionally, as a teacher at the Jess Schwartz Community High School. She was the first female rabbi to serve in the US military and currently holds the rank of Colonel in the United States Army Reserve. Read more about Rabbi Bonnie Koppell.

Jacob Gives Gifts to EsauThe following is an excerpt from a sermon I gave on Rosh Hashanah called, Bible Bullies. You can read the sermon in its entirety on my blog:

The pediatrician who supervised the assessment that our son had Asberger's Syndrome broke the news to me gently as though he was waiting for me to burst into tears.

But the son I brought home that day was the exact same child I've loved his entire life. In receiving the diagnosis, Bobby (my husband) and I strode right past denial, anger, bargaining, and depression and went straight to acceptance of Yonatan's condition. What we really wanted to figure out was how he was going to make his way in the world.

The Open House in RamleFollowing is an excerpt from a sermon I gave on Rosh Hashanah. You can read it in its entirety at my blog:

I will confess I that there are times when I fall victim to this cynicism as well. Like everyone, I’ve often been overwhelmed by the knowledge that the systemic roots of these problems are just so enormous, so pervasive in our world.

Still, I cannot surrender the conviction that individual actions do indeed make a difference in our world, and that such actions such as these are occurring around the world, every day, every moment, every second, in ways we often cannot quantify or understand.

Light through the canopyI just came across this wonderful poem, just written for 5768 by Rachel Barenblat on her blog at, Velveteen Rabbi. The photo is mine. Have a sweet year!.

What matters isn't
who I am on retreat,
singing the day into being,

but who I am
when I've come home
to the cat and the bills,

to-do list as long
as the yoga mat
I too rarely unfurl.