Long Path, Rosh HaShanah Day 2
David Gold Shana Tova I think the reason the Rabbi thought of me as someone to invite to say something about Ḥoni and the carob tree guy and the Longpath is that I spend most of my time working for…
Long Path, Rosh HaShanah Day 2
Hilan Warshaw “The directory is being rebuilt.”There I was this past week, sitting in my home office, preparing the remarks that I am delivering to you now. Like we all do much of the time, I was multitasking. While I…
Longpath, Rosh HaShanah Day 2
Emily SHapiro Rosh HaShanah seems like a perfect time to be thinking about time. It’s a new beginning and yet, also, a repetition. Rosh HaShanah comes round again and again and again, always followed by Yom Kippur ten days later,…
Digging for Sparks: Teshuvah as Return, Erev Rosh HaShanah 5785
Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann Shana Tova! I begin tonight with a story told to me by a colleague, but of an unknown source — it is a story I shared a few years ago at a Kol Nidre service and…
Cultivating Empathy in Hard and Divided Times, Rosh HaShanah 5785
Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann Shana Tova! According to the Midrash, at the beginning of Rosh HaShanah, God sits on the throne of “din,” “judgment.” Then, as prayers and pleas and the sounds of the shofar are heard on High, God…
Confronting Anti Semitism, Embracing Who We Are, Kol Nidre 5785
Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann Just a few months ago, in this very room, I experienced a personal highlight of my life so far — the B*Mitzvah of my 13 year old kiddo, Nadiv. Of course, Bar/Bat/B*Mitzvahs are always meaningful for…
A Letter to Nadiv, Judaism is a Vehicle of Love, Yom Kippur Day 5785
Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann Last year at this time, I stood in front of this congregation and shared about the shame and stigma of mental illness. I spoke as a parent whose child had struggled with active thoughts of suicide,…
Ulay Yesh Tikvah: Taking a Leap of Hope – Rosh HaShanah 2023/5784
Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann Last year at this time, I stood in front of this congregation and shared about the shame and stigma of mental illness. I spoke as a parent whose child had struggled with active thoughts of suicide,…
Olam Hesed Yibane: From Kindness to Connection, Empathy and Mutual Responsibility – Kol Nidre 2023/5784
Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann In the spirit of Yom Kippur, which we usher in tonight, where we take responsibility for the wrongs we have done in the past year, I begin by asking us some questions as a way to…
Transforming our Stories, Transforming Ourselves – Erev Rosh HaShanah 2023/5784
Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann This summer, I re-read This I believe, a book of excerpts from NPR’s series of the same name, in which people from all backgrounds share their personal philosophies. One in particular has stayed with me since. Greg…