Community, mental health and gratitude all have a place in this year’s High Holiday sermons – Jewish News of Greater Phoenix
Posted By admin on September 21, 2022
Rabbis across Greater Phoenix, like rabbis the world over, are sitting down right about now to put their thoughts to paper as they prepare to address their congregants for High Holidays.
More than at any other time of the Jewish year, these sermons represent the best of long-form writing and deep thinking. While some rabbis are just putting the finishing touches on their sermons, some procrastinators might be starting to sweat a little. For example, Scottsdales Congregation Or Tzions Rabbi Andy Green puts himself in the latter camp.
Im a notorious procrastinator, he told Jewish News. What I have to say and how I end up saying it wont be finalized until closer to the big day, but it will be ready the morning I deliver it.
He already knows some of the things he will be talking about: how the Jewish community has responded to the challenges of COVID-19 and how social division has fragmented our communities in a way that didnt exist before.
In Paradise Valley, Temple Solel Associate Rabbi Debbie Stiel also plans to discuss toxic polarization. Though its a very tough issue, she said, it is an important topic to face so that we keep connections with others, even if we disagree with them. We need to continue to see the holy in others despite our differences.
Green, Stiel and other local rabbis intend to use the time and space theyre given each year during this period to provide thoughtful analysis of many complex ideas. They want their congregants to take this time to listen and reflect on their messages. While so much of everyday life seems to consist of simple and short bursts of ideas and thoughts, many programmed by social media algorithms, rabbis use these sermons to slow things down, think about timely topics and encourage others to do the same.
For example, after two years of mostly online High Holiday services, many of Greater Phoenixs rabbis will be emphasizing the importance of community to their large and primarily in-person congregations.
Chabad Jewish Center of Mesa Rabbi Laibel Blotner said this is the perfect year to talk about community. He pointed out it is the hakhel year, a time when Jews have historically gathered following the shmita, or sabbatical year. He sees the timing as opportune.
The fact that the first year in three years that Jewish people have an opportunity, uninhibited for the most part, to come together and be in our synagogues is also a year associated with gathering, is divine providence, he said.
God has given us this year that we can come to the synagogues and feel, for the most part, safe, and we should try to make sure that this is the largest Rosh Hashanah and the largest Yom Kippur.
Temple Chai Associate Rabbi Bonnie Koppell in Phoenix will also be emphasizing the importance of community, especially the synagogue. She plans to talk about the present by invoking the past, that of her childhood Jewish community in Brooklyn.
As we walked to one of the two local shuls on the High Holidays, it was a joy to see the streets fill with more and more people and to sense the deep connection that we all felt to each other, she described in one sermon.
With so many members coming to Temple Chai in person after two years of live streaming, Koppell will tell her congregants: We, all of us here together, are the creators and sustainers of this fragile and precious community.
Rabbi Alicia Magal, spiritual leader of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley, is developing her sermon with the idea of waking up. She, too, will talk about new ways of creating community in, what hopefully, will soon be a post-COVID world.
Weve been in a kind of sleep over the past two years and are just now slowly awakening, she plans to tell her congregation. While we arent out of the woods yet, she will encourage people not to remain spiritually asleep to new possibilities.
It is time to wake up to new ways of interacting and showing up in our family, our community and the wider world, which includes our responsibilities as citizens of a world that is imperiled on many levels, with the poor, refugees, the war-wounded, the choking environment and the melting icebergs.
Cave Creeks Congregation Kehillah Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman will talk about how all of these same problems and responsibilities can leave many of us feeling overwhelmed, which sometimes leads to paralysis.
There is so much for us to do to heal the injustice and pain in the world and also to heal the earth. Small things, in the communal aggregate, do move us forward. Kindness, compassion, commitment, teshuvah, as always, are sorely needed.
Temple Solel Rabbi John Linder said, At a time of great despair, Jews must do what weve always done lean into hope, The hope that he will speak about will be focused on our temples youth and families, our countrys democracy and our obligation to be agents of change.
Temple Kol Ami Rabbi Jeremy Schneider in Scottsdale will be discussing mental health and the toll two-and-a-half years of a pandemic and its pursuant isolation have taken on his congregation. While we did a pretty good job of checking in on others, have we checked in with ourselves? What steps are we taking to address anxiety and depression?
He will tell his audience how important it is that in our annual gathering to make atonement, we also make sure we are at-one-ment with our mental health and ourselves.
Chabad of the East Valley Rabbi Mendy Deitsch plans to address the multi-dimensional human being and its inner strength to deal with todays world issues.
Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan will talk about spiritual renewal and how to achieve it through prayer and positive psychology, which studies the traits that help people thrive. It is based on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work and play, he explained.
Temple Brith Shalom Rabbi Susan Schanerman in Prescott will be celebrating her first High Holidays with her new congregation. She looks forward to meeting the entire congregation and plans to focus on personal themes of self-forgiveness, crafting the self and coming home to Judaism.
In Chandler, NefeshSoul Congregation Cantor Roger Eisenberg, who will be writing and delivering his first ever High Holiday sermon, will focus on the concept of gratitude.
Even in times of grief, we can be grateful for the compassion of those who comfort us. Even in times of fear, pachad, we can find hope in yirah, in the humility of awe, he will tell his congregants.
Rabbi Stephen Einstein, who will be leading services for Congregation Beth HaMidbar in Yuma for his eighth year, will talk about change and remembrance.
The above is only a small sampling of what will be discussed in synagogues across the city. Much of it is serious fare, but on the lighter side, Einstein also will talk about Yom Kippurs 100-plus rules for practicing business. JN
There are many rabbis and temples in Greater Phoenix, more than we had room to include. Please visit our digital Community Directory 2022for a comprehensive guide to all of our local spiritual resources.
Go here to read the rest:
- Argentine native brings global perspective as Shir Hadash rabbi - The Jewish News of Northern California - June 10th, 2023
- Hey kid, do you want to be a rabbi? Facing a shortage, Conservative movement looks to teens - Forward - June 10th, 2023
- A former rabbi on autism, nonbinary identity and faith - Times Union - June 10th, 2023
- Rabbi Manis Friedman Addressed the Shidduch House - COLlive - June 10th, 2023
- Rabbi recounts fear and heroism during deadliest antisemitic attack in ... - June 8th, 2023
- A Legacy Of Leadership And Love: Rabbi Gershon Edelsteins Enduring ... - June 8th, 2023
- Rabbis of LA | Rabbi David Vorspan: The Rabbi Who Never Will Quit - Jewish Journal - June 8th, 2023
- Crime and Murder" - Rabbi Pintos harsh criticism of hurtful teachers - The Jerusalem Post - June 8th, 2023
- Rabbi Shimshon Rafael HIrsch on the parasha: Moshe and Elitism - Arutz Sheva - June 8th, 2023
- Science, Demons, and Salamanders in the Mind of a Great Rabbi ... - Mosaic - June 8th, 2023
- Evening of Song & Inspiration to Feature Rabbi YY Jacobson - COLlive - June 8th, 2023
- Rabbi Harold Kushner was a humble author and teacher - Online Athens - June 8th, 2023
- Brooklyn rabbi who fled to Israel in 2010 when he was accused of molesting children appears in court - Daily Mail - June 6th, 2023
- Why I, as an Orthodox rabbi, am committed to LGBTQ+ inclusion - St. Louis Jewish Light - June 6th, 2023
- Praying in the 21st Century With Theologian Rabbi Arthur Green - jewishboston.com - June 6th, 2023
- Trio gets 15 years in federal prison for armed carjacking spree, including of rabbi in Solon - cleveland.com - June 6th, 2023
- Who Was Rashi? | My Jewish Learning - June 4th, 2023
- Reform Rabbi Draws on His Jewish and Latino Heritage - San Diego Jewish World - June 4th, 2023
- Emmaus Freddy-winning Fiddler production powered by authentic education from local rabbi - lehighvalleylive.com - June 4th, 2023
- The Rabbi in Uniform - COLlive - June 4th, 2023
- Why I, as an Orthodox rabbi, am committed to LGBTQ+ inclusion - Forward - June 4th, 2023
- Recollections of Rabbi Yosef Goldberg - COLlive - June 4th, 2023
- Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch: We are losing the soul of the Reform movement - The Jerusalem Post - June 4th, 2023
- 'I was at shul but the problem was the rabbi wasn't' - The Jewish Chronicle - June 4th, 2023
- Turning the Page: Why a Shul Rabbi Authored a Jewish Childrens Book - Jewish Link of New Jersey - June 4th, 2023
- Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, an architect and guardian of Haredi-secular relations - The Times of Israel - May 30th, 2023
- Who will succeed Rabbi Edelstein as next leader of the non-Hasidic Haredim? - Haaretz - May 30th, 2023
- European rabbi urges auction house to withdraw Hitler items from sale - The Jerusalem Post - May 30th, 2023
- Young Long Island Rabbi Donates Kidney to a Senior Congregant - 'There was no question about what we needed to ... - Chabad.org - May 30th, 2023
- Kentuckys longest-serving rabbi honored after announcing 42-year retirement - WAVE 3 - May 30th, 2023
- Ahavas Achim's Matthews to be ordained as a rabbi - The Daily News of Newburyport - May 30th, 2023
- Live broadcast - Rabbi Pinto's spiritual revolution in Miami - The Jerusalem Post - May 30th, 2023
- I was there as an Indian, says the Rabbi-lawyer who recited Torah at the New Parliament - Moneycontrol - May 30th, 2023
- Temple Beth David Ready To Welcome New Rabbi - Cheshire Herald - May 30th, 2023
- Chief Rabbi tells the General Assembly of journey towards healing ... - The Church of Scotland - May 30th, 2023
- Legacy of 12th-century rabbi, doctor and thinker Moses Maimonides on display in NY - The Times of Israel - May 24th, 2023
- Rabbi Hershel Billet on the future of American Jewry - The Times of Israel - May 24th, 2023
- Bennett wins defamation lawsuit against rabbi who claimed he wasn't Jewish - The Times of Israel - May 24th, 2023
- Compatible Kidney Donor Turned Out to be His Chabad Rabbi - COLlive - May 24th, 2023
- Around the world: Prayers and spiritual commitments for Rabbi ... - The Jerusalem Post - May 24th, 2023
- Rabbi Lader reflects on career ahead of retirement - Cleveland Jewish News - May 24th, 2023
- OPINION: As a rabbi in a small town, I understand the Jewish class ... - The Jewish News of Northern California - May 24th, 2023
- New sefer Torah in West Houston dedicated in honor of Rabbi's father - Jewish Herald-Voice - May 24th, 2023
- This lawmaker and rabbi was scheduled to deliver an invocation. His colleagues replaced him with a Christian - Forward - May 24th, 2023
- Rabbi Pinto's Visit to Dubai with Sheikhs, Businessmen and ... - The Jerusalem Post - May 24th, 2023
- Jewish Rabbi Had A Vision Of Jesus On The Cross | God TV News - GOD TV - May 24th, 2023
- Topeka Rabbi speaks about the importance of Jewish American Heritage Month in Kansas - KSNT News - May 24th, 2023
- Rabbis in the United States | Jewish Women's Archive - May 17th, 2023
- Rabbi - New World Encyclopedia - May 17th, 2023
- It was only 50 years ago this month that the first female rabbi was ... - May 17th, 2023
- RABBI | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary - May 17th, 2023
- Seeking answers in Judaism? It turns out, a rabbi can help. - May 17th, 2023
- Plane encounter between singer Noa Kirel and top rabbi goes viral - The Times of Israel - May 17th, 2023
- Airplane encounter between Noa Kirel and a top rabbi goes viral - The Times of Israel - May 17th, 2023
- Red carpet rolled out in Dubai: Rabbi Pintos welcome by senior governme - The Jerusalem Post - May 17th, 2023
- The Hampstead rabbi hiking Mount Everest with a Sefer Torah - The Jewish Chronicle - May 17th, 2023
- Rabbi Pinto was asked about the judicial reform; Watch his answer - The Jerusalem Post - May 17th, 2023
- This rabbi is betting $5,000 he can convince you to go vegan - Forward - May 17th, 2023
- Memory Lane: Rabbi Zvi Gottesman, Spared from the Massacre ... - Boro Park 24 - May 17th, 2023
- King Charles praised for helping chief rabbi observe Shabbat at coronation - The Times of Israel - May 6th, 2023
- Film tracks the match made in prison that turned a convict into a rabbi on a mission - The Times of Israel - May 6th, 2023
- Haredi calls for boycott of bread giant after board chair protests leading rabbi - The Times of Israel - May 6th, 2023
- Rabbi Harold Kushner asked God tough questions and shared the answers ... - May 5th, 2023
- On the brink of a rift in the nation: Rabbi Pinto calls for the strength - The Jerusalem Post - March 28th, 2023
- Religious and gay: When coming out means going up against your homophobic rabbi father - Haaretz - February 25th, 2023
- Rabbi Falk to leave Green Road Synagogue in June - Cleveland Jewish News - February 11th, 2023
- The 50 Most Influential Rabbis in America - Newsweek - January 25th, 2023
- Orthodox pilgrimage to the grave of Kabbalah rabbi buried in Istanbul picks up after COVID slump - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - January 23rd, 2023
- Science News Roundup: Meat cultivated from cow cells is kosher, Israel's chief rabbi rules; Space startups funding halved in 2022 as investors shift... - January 23rd, 2023
- Film about rabbi, civil rights activist to be screened Feb. 5 at Fox Theater - The Bakersfield Californian - January 10th, 2023
- The Granada massacre of 1066: When a Muslim mob crucified a Rabbi and murdered almost the entire Jewish population in a city - OpIndia - December 31st, 2022
- www.the-temple.org - December 27th, 2022
- Sunday Sitdown: Local rabbi reflects on meaning of Hanukkah on first night celebration - WAVY.com - December 25th, 2022
- Why Is Naftali Bennett Suing This Rabbi for Defamation? - Israel News - Haaretz - December 13th, 2022
- Spanish rabbi shares story of bridging religions with Mandel JDS - Cleveland Jewish News - December 11th, 2022
- Rabbi: Lets recommit to one another and get the polio vaccine | Opinion - NJ.com - October 15th, 2022
- A Shared Scripture Conversation between a Rabbi and a Pastor - Alpena News - October 15th, 2022
- A Kosher Vape? Meet The Rabbi-Certified Jewish Vape Brand, Oy Vapes! - Herb.co - October 15th, 2022
- Judaism and feminism: how far we have come, how far we need to go The Stute - The Stute - October 15th, 2022
- Six Greater Phoenix rabbis, other clergy highlight Arizona's 'draconian' abortion bans - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix - October 15th, 2022
Comments