Divrei Torah

For the Sin We Have Commited Against You Through …. Zionism? Al Cheit Shechatanu L’fanecha For the sin we have committed against You …Each Yom Kippur we recite these words over and over again, listing the sins we have committed. I always find it powerful to remember what I was taught about this section of […]

The Sermon I Am Always Giving (i.e. Why Be Jewish):  This time in the context of a world that would rather we go into hiding Last night, I spoke about antisemitism, a sermon I thought I would never have to give. I spoke about how it feels like we have come to the end of

A Sermon I Never Thought I Would Give, But Here We Are

The following D’var Torah was written / delivered for Am Shalom Congregation, in Barrie, Ontario (August 2025 / Av 5785)

When we lose someone, there is a list of things to do. There are “death-logistics”. There are phone calls to make,  document to find, and sign,  and file,there is a body to collect, and then bury. There are prayers to say – the shema and vidui and psalms. There is a funeral or a memorial

This poem, by Rabbi Evan Schultz is possibly all too relatable. It speaks to how fragile we have become in recent times. Everyone around us is so similarly shaken, that we imagine even God is weeping with us. And for good reason. This year, for Jews all over the world, everything has changed.   Rabbi

.Picture this:  The rabbi sits down to begin writing her sermon. The topic is: “Israel: Is there hope even now?” She types out the question. She stares at the screen. She doesn’t know how to answer.  She doesn’t even know where to begin. Ok, I know you get it.  The rabbi is me. The question

A reading, found in our machzor : Dwell on each sound of the shofar; contemplate its meaning. T’kiah –  (BLOW) One whole note Sh’varim-T’ruah –  (BLOW) Three broken notes; nine staccato notes T’kiah –  (BLOW) One whole note . . . T’kiah –  Once I was whole Sh’varim-T’ruah  In the wear and tear of living,

Before we existed, the story goes, God convened a heavenly council—calling on the angels, each representing a different facet of the divine.  There was the Angel of Peace, calm and serene, who spoke first. “Don’t create them,” Peace said, voice steady but firm. “Humans will bring strife and conflict, they will tear at each other,