Posted in Sermon on Jul 27th, 2008 No Comments »
Hi, and thank you for listening this week! The Union for Reform Judaism has a wonderful program that started decades ago called Reform Jewish Summer Camp. URJ Camps are places that compliment our youth’s growth in understanding themselves, their Jewish identities and these places help our kids to encounter some of the biggest questions of life in a safe place. Where else can a kid go and have not one or two, but six different rabbis, two cantors and three educators teach them; while having all the other activities and fun found at summer camp? I can’t describe the enthusiasm, so I’ll let you listen to a few songs from song sessions with 500+ campers and share moments of ruach (spirit!) in upcoming shows. Enjoy!
URJ Camps
Camp Video
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Posted in Sermon on Jul 21st, 2008 No Comments »
When we see someone act in a zealous way, chances are they think they are doing something divine. What does it mean to be zealous, and what happens when God does (or maybe doesn’t) speak to us? Acting on God’s command should make any of us nervous, however Moses would often question God’s decree and often questioned God. What should demand our zeal? Please listen and consider…
God speaks through Bush?
It’s not funny….
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Posted in Sermon on Jul 12th, 2008 No Comments »
Balak, King of Moav hires Balam to curse Israel, but all Balam can do is bless Balak’s nemesis. While this is the story in our Torah portion, I think we see the opposite today. In our world, we seem to have people who should be blessing certain social and political achievements, but in a tragic irony, they curse. This situation also begs the question, how do we pass on leadership and responsibility from one generation to the next. Often we think it is about the next generation being responsible, but the actions of Jesse Jackson point to the fact that the older generation also gets in the way.
Jesse is sorry…
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Posted in Sermon on Jul 6th, 2008 No Comments »
How do we honor patriots? Good question given the recent past where veterans have been left to struggle to survive battle wounds, and the bureaucracy of trying to obtain health care. Unfortunately, regardless of how some officials claim to honor the military and patriotism, we have a checkered past which brings us to a Jewish patriot who helped save our country and died with only a questionable “Thank You.”
Solomon’s Business
Washington’s letter
The music you hear on this podcast is available at Magnatune.
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Posted in Sermon on Jul 1st, 2008 No Comments »
Is it just a bad sense of timing, or does God really have a sense of humor? The ‘conservative’ leaders of the Anglican Church met in Jerusalem this past week, and boy, were they surprised! To find out how and why please continue to listen. BTW, THANK YOU! we hit 5,000 listens this week! I am truly grateful for your interest in this podcast! Shalom.
BBC Podcast (go to time index 19:10)
Mother’s Day
Father’s day
I Have A Dream…
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Posted in Sermon on Jun 21st, 2008 No Comments »
This is one of the more interesting Torah portions. Why is it that the theology in the Torah portion doesn’t work and what is the fear that we all face when striving to make a difference? To quote Caleb, “Let us by all means go up, and shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.” What are we trying to overcome today?
Hagee’s Apology
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Posted in Sermon on Jun 15th, 2008 No Comments »
There is a great story from the Hasidic Anthology that when the Satan (the one envisioned by Jews) saw that Hasidim were so successful, the Satan became worried. What did he do? He sent some of his own followers to become Hasidim so that this movement of piety would not become so successful as to put the Satan out of business. How do we deal with the riffraff and the naysayers in our midst? What happens when part of that negativity is in ourselves? I hope you listen and discover one way to try and confront the difficult voices all of us must face in life.
Music you hear is from Magnatune and is available for download or purchase.
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Posted in Sermon on Jun 9th, 2008 No Comments »
How do we struggle with belief and proof? What happens when God is not just a thought, but an angel of God shows up…could one possibly not believe after such an event? According to the Haftara for Naso, it could happen. The problem with belief is not confined to modern times, even in ancient days, people doubted God or God’s messengers, even when these messengers appeared to them. This brings us the story from Judges Chapter 13 where an angel appears and announces the birth of the Judge, Samson. What might we learn from this story? Listen and think.
Music on this podcast is available via CD or download from Magnatune.com and features the music of Suzanne Teng.
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Posted in Sermon on Jun 8th, 2008 No Comments »
Greetings, I invite you to explore and listen to this wonderful program about the modern prophet Abraham Joshua Heschel from the NPR program Speaking of Faith.
SOF: Heschel
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Posted in Sermon on Jun 6th, 2008 No Comments »
So where do the names of Torah portions and books come from and why don’t they translate into the English? This and other questions will get some attention this week as we look at the first Torah portion of the fourth book of the Torah, in Hebrew, Bemidbar. Shavuah Tov!
Music you hear is by the group Ya Elah and the artist Suzanne Teng and can be found, ordered and downloaded from Magnatune.com.
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Posted in Sermon on May 23rd, 2008 No Comments »
I love fountain pens! In fact this week I am very jazzed since the haftara (reading from prophets for the week) mentions pens and writing instruments, but you might not want to see what they wrote. Jeremiah speaks of inscribing the sins of Judah on the stone Horns of the Altar, which would have to be done with a metal instrument. This was considered a permanent and sacred declaration in ancient times, unfortunately, we have certain pastors today who don’t understand that their words are no less public or permanent. Hagee’s recent rants seem to confuse us all, so I’d ask you to join me in my prayers for him and all of us this week. If there was a prayer for the Czar…there has to be one for Hagee.
Portrayal of Altar in Jerusalem by Francesco Hayez
Hagee’s Speech
McCain’s criticism of Hagee Hagee’s retraction of McCain endorsement
Yoffie’s letter to Hagee
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Posted in Sermon on May 16th, 2008 No Comments »
What do we learn from a loaf of bread? This weeks Torah portion gives us some unusual mitzvot to observe in the Land of Israel, but are they so strange? We are to treat the land as if it had feelings and could be harmed. Perhaps the Torah and rabbis were not so far off in a physical sense (land conservation and global warming). What about the metaphorical understanding of this passage? What do we learn when we extend concern to inanimate objects? Listen and find out.
The First Bat Mitzvah
The Sabbath - AJ Heschel
The music you hear on this podcast is by Suzanne Teng and available for download or by CD from Magnatune.
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Posted in Sermon on May 9th, 2008 No Comments »
This week’s Torah portion is a list of qualifications for the priests and about time. Now in the middle of an election cycle, we seem to focus on the perfection of our choices and the time when things enter the media. Are there certain things that really damage and taint a leader? Perhaps there needs to be one and it found its way into our neighborhood as of late. This devar was delivered at our Kehilah of Lower Merion meeting this past Monday.
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Posted in Sermon on Apr 30th, 2008 No Comments »
Greetings! We thought we had lost this recording due to technical glitches, but we found it! So what does an interfaith family add to a synagogue beyond being a member? How have attitudes changed over time and whither the Jewish community today on this ever increasingly important issue? Listen and find out.
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Posted in Sermon on Apr 19th, 2008 No Comments »
This week I am going to get something off my chest about the political/religious discussion that erupted in the past few weeks. While I don’t agree with Rev. Wright’s comments, I think we have to look at his charge as a minister and at the connection between a politician (and for that matter ALL politicians) and their spiritual leaders. Was Wright right? Hmmm…. Even if you don’t agree with him, he was carrying out his charge to his community. However, this episode brings up bigger issues about religion, culture and the homogenization we think translates into the ‘right’ answers in our society. Are they the right answers or the Wright answers and are the so different?
Trinity United Church of Chirst
The United Church of Christ Contract
The Reform Responsa - Freedom of the Pulpit
WHYY Radio Times Interview - (always) Worth a listen
News and Notes on Wright
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