Sermons

“The Future Is Not What It Used to Be – and Neither Is the past”

Using the best technological tools available today, in other words, Google, as far as I can tell, it was the French poet and philosopher, Paul Valéry who is credited with saying: "The future is not what it used to be."  In context, he was referring to a rapidly changing world, the one in which he lived from the late nineteenth through the middle of the...Read more...

I would like to introduce an important Jewish concept, a fundamental one, in fact: "a dispute in the name of heaven" - "machloket l'shem shamayim."  The Talmud in particular is filled with such disputes, because Judaism recognizes that when it comes to understanding how we ought to live in this world, what our norms and practices ought to be, there is no ultimate human authority, and so, we can share a common goal of a strong and secure...Read more...

In an e-mail that I sent out to the congregation just before Rosh Hashanah, I quoted Thomas Cahill's book, The Gifts of the Jews, but did not specify the particular gift he identified in Shabbat, the radical, revolutionary notion that human beings, especially free human beings, created in God's image, should not be working, productive, creative every waking hour.  The idea of Shabbat was that we take a break every now and then, without...Read more...

Shanah tovah.

No matter what age I am working with, from the tiniest toddler to the grayest head amongst us, I
find there is one symbol of this season that intrigues us across all ages. One symbol that is so
simple yet so sacred. One symbol that yanks us out of the life that we live every other day of the
year and immediately renders us… enlightened to all of the possibilities that Rosh HaShanah
have to offer us....Read more...

The Kolin Torah was dedicated by Temple Isaiah on Kol Nidre Eve, September 17, 1972 as a memorial to the Six Million. The Scroll is on permanent loan to the congregation from the Memorial Scrolls Committee of Westminster Synagogue in London. The Kolin Torah is read by the congregation on Yom Kippur and Yom Hashoah in remembrance of the Holocaust. The Dedication Sermon was given by Rabbi Cary David Yales.

The letter...Read more...

As you know, I chose to speak on Rosh Hashanah, as I often do, about a topic that is timely, bringing Jewish teachings and sensibilities to a burning issue of our day. Not today. Yom Kippur is about the timeless, a day to look inward toward our individual and collective souls, a day devoted to grappling with the meaning of our lives as we face our own mortality.

And so it may come as a surprise that I begin with reference to...Read more...

September 13th, 1993.  The rabbi walked into my Confirmation class that night with tears in his eyes, holding a newspaper.  “Save this paper,” he said, “This may be the most important date in Jewish history of your time.”  On the cover was the iconic picture we all know well: Bill Clinton bringing together Yassir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin for a handshake on the White House lawn.  The rabbi’s comments seem sadly...Read more...

I’d like to talk a bit about this wonderful, venerable organization that is the real reason we are here tonight, the American Jewish Committee. As David Harris illustrates, when it comes to the cause of Israel, the cause of human rights in the Middle East and the cause of peace, there is no organization more important than the AJC.

Unfortunately, as David points out, the challenges to Israel, to human rights in the Middle East and...Read more...

I would like to share a different kind of story today. It does not come from traditional Jewish sources, but comes from a man named Paul Villard -- not the French Scientist Paul Villard, a different Paul villard - published originally in Readers Digest  in 1966– a powerful Yizkor story.

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished, old case fastened to the...Read more...

Dear Yael,

It is your first Rosh Hashanah and I want to tell you a story. Although you will not remember me telling you this story this year, or even next year, you will surely hear it again and again. I imagine that it will become such a part of you, that you will come to understand that you have been hearing it your entire life.

It is a story about your great-grandmother, Nana. You met Nana twice in your life – do you...Read more...

On the morning of their wedding anniversary, a woman woke up and told her husband, "I just dreamed that you gave me a gold necklace for our anniversary. What do you think it means?"

"You'll know tonight." he said.

That evening, the man came home with a small package and gave it to his wife.

Delighted, she opened it to find a book entitled "The Meaning of Dreams."

Of course, Jews have made a few contributions to...Read more...

Have you been following the stock market this week?

We are going though some pretty turbulent waters right now. Of course, Jews know something about going through water. That will probably come in handy right about now. A miracle would be nice, but even without one, we just need to get to the other side safely.

People often go to the movies for escape, and though I have not seen any statistics, I would not be surprised to...Read more...

In 1978, a young, little known golfer named Tom stood over a birdie putt on the fifth hole of the final round of an important tournament. He was neck and neck with an established, championship-caliber golfer. When the young golfer moved his putter behind the ball, the ball moved a fraction of an inch; no one else but Tom could have known that his putter had moved the ball.  Much to everyone’s surprise, he called a penalty shot on...Read more...

One evening this summer, while my husband Gregg and I were enjoying our vacation in Jerusalem, we decided to indulge in a visit to a dessert shop in a quiet residential neighborhood.  The specialty of the shop was fresh Belgian waffles filled with butter-cream toppings.  While I was instantly intoxicated by the delicious smells that greeted us when we entered the shop, something else grabbed my attention as we waited for our order....Read more...

This summer I spent a wonderful portion of my vacation backpacking in the woods of Baxter State Park in northern Maine.  The park was as beautiful as any I have ever seen and it felt renewing to be completely immersed in nature, at least for a few days.  As Gregg and I made our way along the trails I noticed an impressive number of planks laid across the muddy and wet portions of the hiking paths, a sight common on trails across...Read more...