Summary: “Justice, justice you will pursue” – but what about renewing balance despite the worst kinds of injustices we can imagine? Gut yontif on this Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, or “At-One-Ment,” when we say that our souls and lives hang in the balance.   For centuries, our ancestors harnessed Yom Kippur’s power to inspire life-changing,… Continue reading Dvar for Yom Kippur 5783: Renewing Balance After Injustice

Summary: On our yearning to re-balance our lives, and the paradox that the world was made for us and we’re dust and ashes.  By Rabbi David Shanah tovah, friends.  Our world needs better balance.  We all do, after rollercoaster years kicked us, our politics and our planet so far off kilter. These High Holy Days on the Jewish… Continue reading Dvar for Rosh Hashanah (Day 1) 5783 – The Physics of Our Quest

Summary: The path toward finding balance new begins with a perspective shift… and a sacred “and.” A joint dvar by R. David and R. Rachel Barenblat of Congregation Beth Israel of the Berkshires “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age… Continue reading Dvar for Erev Rosh Hashanah 5783: The Sacred “And”

Gut yontif on this Yom Kippur day of transformation.  This year’s High Holy Day themes of strength, resilience, courage and daring all flow into today, when we can lift our lives – perhaps in just an instant – if only we’ll take the leap. Last Yom Kippur, I quoted mysticism scholar Gershom Scholem, who called days like today “plastic” times… Continue reading Yom Kippur 2021: Our Forwarding Address

Shanah tovah.  I hope your 5782 is dawning bright and strong. Last night we introduced our theme of strength (gevurah) – wise structure, healthy boundaries and moral direction.  Gevurah calibrates impulses, sees better worlds out of turmoil and chaos, and even can transform walls into springboards.  As we saw in last night’s tribute to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, gevurah can power our reach… Continue reading Rosh Hashanah 5782: Mustaches and Moral Injuries – Resilience in Divisive Times

Shanah tovah!  Welcome to the High Holy Days 5782. May they bring sweet goodness and health for us, our loved ones and our world. All of us here tonight lived through 5781, a year like no other. We all lived it — pandemic, climate change, racial reckoning, economic and political spasms, technological shifts and more.  We saw… Continue reading Stronger Together: Erev Rosh Hashanah 5782

Yom Kippur Morning 5781 Gut yontif on this Yom Kippur of loving connection, courage, vulnerability and forgiveness.  These "love" themes of our High Holy Day journey all flow into this poignant day when Jewish wisdom urges that we can change our lives in just a day if we'll take that inner loving leap. Modern mysticism… Continue reading This Plastic Hour: Love’s Forward Memory We Need Now

Erev Rosh Hashanah 5781 | Temple Beth-El of City Island Shanah tovah.  Welcome to Jewish spiritual year 5781 – may it bring sweet goodness and health for all of us and our loved ones.   Every Rosh Hashanah, Jews worldwide say that the new year is a year like no other, a creation unique in history,… Continue reading The Kind of Love We Need

Rosh Hashanah Morning 1 | Temple Beth-El of City Island. Shanah tovah.  May 5781 dawn bright for you and your beloveds. Last night we introduced our High Holy Day theme of love to power our journey of teshuvah – returning to our best selves, each other and a world urgently needing repair.  We explored how love's… Continue reading The Courage to Emerge

Shanah tovah.  It's so good to see each and every one of you. In 1952, Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, visited the U.S. on a fundraising mission.  Fresh off Israel's miraculous War of Independence victory over seven invading armies, Ben Gurion arrived to a standing ovation of thousands waiting to see him. What do… Continue reading Holy Vision and Optical Delusion

“What We Remember in Our Feet” Cragsmoor Stone Church August 19, 2018   Happy Sunday to you.  And thank you – especially Deacon Jeff Slade – for inviting me to share in today’s service of worship and learning.  Deacon Jeff and I met through the New York Theological Seminary. I’m delighted to be with you. Some… Continue reading What We Remember in Our Feet

  Gmar chatimah tovah.  May you be sealed in the Book of Life for joy, creativity, belonging and love – for the shalom (peace) and shleimut (wholeness) you need most. Fittingly for Yom Kippur, I have a confession.  Judaism's "Book of Life" metaphor – "On Rosh Hashanah it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed" – once drove me from… Continue reading Getting to Yes

"I beg of you: do not walk by without pausing to attend to this rather ridiculous performance – It could mean something; it could mean everything; It could mean: You must change your life." These words, adapted for today's Haftarah, are from the poem "Invitation," by Mary Oliver.  She calls us to pay attention, even… Continue reading Paying up

Shanah tovah.  Welcome to 5778 and to renewing our holy journey together as we "return to the land of our souls." For 3,000 years, our people have craved shalom – peace within, peace between, peace for all.  Judaism is about shalom – seeking shalom and making shalom.  Rosh Hashanah renews this call, to repair what's… Continue reading Renewing our holy wholeness