Sermons
A Letter to My Children (Rosh Hashanah Sermon 2017/5778)
To my dearest children,
There comes a time in every family’s life where the playthings and the good times must be put on hold for a short time so some serious words can be said. There comes a time in every Jewish family where parents have to sit down with their children and speak of what it means to be a Jew in a Gentile world. My parents sat me down to have this talk as did their parents before them and theirs before them. I wish I would never have to, but now is the time to speak of what has unfortunately become, in the case of the Jewish People, an eternal truth.
Clap Along If You Feel that Holiness is The Truth (Yom Kippur Sermon 2017/5778)
Yom Kippur is not supposed to be a sad holiday. We have other holidays that are sad. We have Tisha B’Av, a night and day of fasting that memorializes the destruction of the Temple. It takes place in the middle of the summer because nothing says summer vacation better than being told to put down your margarita to mourn the loss of building 2,000 years ago.
On a much more serious note, there’s Yom HaShoah, where we read the names of the victims of the holocaust. It is a serious day indeed. Even Passover has its elements of anger like at the end of the Seder we open the door for Elijah, the harbinger of the messiah and we recite “Pour out your wrath” upon those that seem to keep the world from redemption.
Baruch Atah - You Are Praised: Yom Kippur 2017/5778
Hillel the Elder wasn’t born the great sage of Israel or the key founder of our rabbinic tradition. The legend has it that the poor student would garner just enough wages each day to provide sustenance for his body and to pay his entrance into the Beit Midrash, where study of the richness of Jewish tradition was found.
Holding on and Letting Go: Yom Kippur 2016/5777
Holding on and Letting Go: Yom Kippur 2016/5777
Rabbi Joshua Hoffman
Judaism Rising - Yom Kippur 2016/5777
Rabbi Noah Zvi Farkas, Yom Kippur 5777
Words from Under the Table: Yom Kippur 2016/5777
A famous story told by the Hasidic master, Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav.
On Race and Refugees: The Drought of Compassion - Rosh Hashanah 2016/5777
Rabbi Noah Zvi Farkas, Rosh Hashanah 5777