Rosh HaShannah Eve
Take Off Our ShoesLeon Wieseltier, the literary editor of the New Republic, wrote a book a number of years ago called Kaddish. It is a meditation on the year that…
Shabbat Shuva
Something momentous has happened in Naperville, and I want to share that with you this evening. I have been attending a class called “Total Body Fitness” twice a week for…
Parasha Nitzavim-VaYelekh
The Hidden and RevealedThis week, every time I turn on the television or open a newspaper, or read online, I hear about – the crisis in the National Football League.…
Parasha Shoftim
Some of the people I admire most are working class people. There is the waitress who serves you with a smile after standing on her feet for eight hours; the…
Parasha Re-eh
Our parasha this week instructs the Israelites not to offer sacrifices in any place that they may see, but only at the places that G-d may indicate. Earlier in the…
Parasha Ekev
Some Thoughts on the Deaths of Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall This week we lost two great American actors: Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall. Fellow Americans and people from all…
Parasha Ve-et-cha-nan
The Answer to our PrayersYesterday morning our adult study group read the first chapter of the Book of Lamentations – the scroll that we read on Tisha B’Av. The first…
Parasha Devarim
I Am For Peace .....Since I last spoke from my pulpit so much has happened that it is difficult to know just where to start. While I was on vacation…
Parasha Korach
Silencing Your Critics When does a controversy that erupts at a student organization at a small college make the front page of the New York Times? -- When that controversy…
Parasha Beha-ah-lo-techa
The Purpose of One's LifeThis week during our studies we have taken on the big questions of life. For our Tikun lel Shauvot study, Bernie’s subject was “The Purpose in…