About These Days/About This Torah

Rabbi Moskowitz explores his emotions of feeling small in the face of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and his worries about the future of LGBTQ rights.  He reaffirms Jewish teachings that women's health should be prioritized and that welcome and inclusivity make our community better.

The most important thing is not the exact counting the week's Torah portion suggests but instead savoring our blessings.   "A blessing can take any form.  The most important thing is to find them and collect them rather than count them.  And the really, really important thing is try to savor the blessings, and  that one perfectly timed blessing, to help carry us through life’s difficulti...

Thoughts about the war in Ukraine and the need to stand with Ukraine's democracy and against Russian tyranny, as well as some insights gleaned from one letter of Torah.  "I do not pretend to know how best to end this war or how we, and other democratic nations, can rescue Ukraine, save its democracy and aid its citizens, but I am certain about the moral question.  So let our vision remai...

Antisemitism is here to stay; it always has been, and it always will.   My thoughts on the hostage taking at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas and the growing threat of antisemitism.  It make no political distinctions!  Let us forever remain one people. "There is a direct line between Charlottesville whose Nazi marchers remain the fixation of the political left and whose signific...

This past Shabbat our congregation celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish new year for trees.   These days remind us of our obligations to do more to alleviate climate change and racial discrimination.  Cantor Talya Smilowitz chants Reverend King's words to the tune of the Haftarah chant.   These quotations from Dr. King’s speeches were edited by Rabbi Marcia P...

This week we read that Jacob blessed his children and grandchildren and so we likewise bless our children.  Cantor Talya Smilowitz joins me in offering insights and suggestions for why it might be meaningful to bless your own children using the tradition's formula.  For the words of the blessing visit ReformJudaism.org. 

The portion opens with the words "Jacob is settled," but the rest of the Torah is about how we become unsettled.  The same can be said for our lives.  As soon as we feel we have arrived, we become unsettled and must write a new story, a new Torah.

Esau offers forgiveness to his brother even though Jacob does not repent and acknowledge his wrong.  Perhaps we should emulate Esau more than Jacob.

Why does Rachel steal the family idol?  It is not because she wants to save her father from the sin of idolatry.  It is instead because she wants to hold on to the past.  Why is Jacob always running?  It is not because he is fleeing from Laban or Esau.  It is instead because he is impatient to write a new future.

A brief sermon about walking not to get somewhere but to discover something in our souls.  This lesson is drawn from the weekly Torah portion about Noah as well as Henry David Thoreau. 

Rabbi Moskowitz's sermon from Yom Kippur morning.  In order to face present uncertainties we need to get angry and be joyful.

Rabbi Moskowitz's Yom Kippur evening sermon.  Only change can ensure the Jewish people's survival.  We therefore must embrace change.

Rabbi Moskowitz's Yom Kippur Yizkor service meditation on what we learned from a year of Zoom shiva.

Rabbi Moskowitz's sermon from the second day of Rosh Hashanah.  He explores Jewish teachings about abortion rights.  Judaism prioritizes the mother's life.  To limit access to abortions is contrary to Jewish teachings.

Rabbi Moskowitz's sermon from Rosh Hashanah morning.  When it comes to climate change and the war on terror our best response is to change our perspective.

Return to Jewish Values, Part 3: The Need for Preserving Life.  Yom Kippur 2020 morning sermon about why we need to care for everyone's health and how best to approach the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Return to Jewish Values, Part 2: The Need for Soul Searching.  Yom Kippur 2020 evening sermon about the the need to do real, honest, communal soul searching.  Rabbi Moskowitz explores Black lives matter and Palestinian rights as two contemporary examples. 

Return to Jewish Values, Part 1: The Need for Community.  Rosh Hashanah 2020 morning sermon about why we need community more than ever.