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Rabbi Gershon's Friday Night Sermons
Read Rabbi Gershon's past Friday night sermons.

June 25, 2010
Balak: The Torah Reflects on Anti-Semitism
Balak is a symbol of anti-Semitism, the irrational hatred of Jews. Balaam is a symbol of philo-Semitism, the respect and appreciation for the Jewish people. The message of this Torah portion is that anti-Semitism will always be defeated.
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May 2, 2010
Revisiting the Ten Commandments
We can learn a lot about the Ten Commandments just by the visual image that pops off the page. What's the difference between the first five Commandments on the left and the second five Commandments on the right? The second five Commandments contain far fewer words. Far fewer words means there is less need to explain them, less need to justify them.
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February 9, 2010
Rabbinic Reflections on the Death of Nadab and Abihu
Our rabbis were in search of knowledge, wisdom, and truth. To their credit, they were prepared to let the chips fall where they may. They concluded that God is overwhelmingly just but not always. They concluded there is a system of reward and punishment in this world, but it does not operate as it should in every instance. Our world is flawed.
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February 2, 2010
Women of the Wall
I can't get my head around the sight of any Jewish women being arrested for wearing a tallit or reading from the Torah scroll, especially in our beloved Jewish homeland. The Kotel, the Western Wall, is the most sacred icon of the Jewish religion. The Kotel belongs to all Jewish men. The Kotel certainly belongs to all Jewish women as well.
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January 22, 2010
The State of Mind Called “Pharoah”
In my view, what makes the Pharoah truly interesting and significant is not his historical meaning but his symbolic meaning. What does Pharoah symbolize? The Pharoah symbolizes a particular state of mind. Pharoah symbolizes everything that is unhealthy and self-destructive in human nature. The symbol of Pharoah calls attention to all the ways we bring a plague on ourselves.
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January 15, 2010
What is the Meaning of God’s Name?
Our traditional names for God were coined in the first century. But we live in the twenty -first century, and those names don't work for many of us. In a post-Holocaust world, it doesn't make sense to speak of God as a parent, a father. In a world where our scientific and technological capabilities have become so advanced, it doesn't ring true to speak of God as the King of Kings. Renaming God is a good thing. It makes it possible for us to think of God in ways that are honest, truthful, and adequate for our time
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January 8, 2010
These are the Names
More than any other Torah portion, Parashat Shemot brings out that it is not only men, but women too, who possess tremendous courage and quick-thinking intelligence. You know, we owe a great debt to Batyah, Miriam, Puah, Shifrah, and Yocheved. If it were not for these women, the liberation of the Jewish people might never have occurred...We have been taught to remember the names of the Torah's heroic great men. Let us remember the names of the Torah's heroic great women as well.
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January 1, 2010
What is the Torah Trying to Tell Us?
Our rabbis derive a beautiful teaching from the title of this parashah. The Hebrew verb "vayechi” means "and he lived," referring to Jacob. But why give a title about life to a parashah in which both Jacob and Joseph pass away? Our rabbis teach: it means that even after death, our loved ones live on through the legacy they leave behind. The Talmud has a lovely expression for this: "The righteous are always called living." And Mitch Albom puts it beautifully in his classic book, “Tuesdays with Morrie": 'Death can end a life, but it can never end a relationship.’ The juxtaposition of "vayechi" and the passing of Jacob and Joseph speak to the immortality of our loved ones’ shaping influence upon us.
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December 18, 2009
Chanukkah Is All About Increasing the Light
On Chanukkah, our task is to bring more light into the world. Our task is to bring more light into someone's world. Think of yourself as a Chanukkah candle. Think of your light kindling the light of another candle. This is our challenge, not just at Chanukkah time, but all the time.
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December 4, 2009
Do You Know Who Needs You?
As we sit by the warm glow of our Chanukkah menorot, may we dream as Jacob dreamed, of building our own stairway to heaven. For you must know that we are the stairway! We are the bridge that connects heaven with earth. We are God's messengers who bring God's love, wisdom, and compassion into the world.
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November 27, 2009
What Do We Celebrate When We Celebrate Thanksgiving?
Now is the time to see the world and its infinite needs. Thanksgiving calls upon us to volunteer, even though we are busy. Thanksgiving calls upon us to give charity, even though things are tight. And if we are lucky enough to possess wealth, Thanksgiving summons us to share our wealth through philanthropic contributions.
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November 13, 2009
Profiles in Extraordinary Acts of Human Kindness
Parashat chayyei Sarah gives us a warm and beautiful vision of interpersonal relationships. It is a vision in which family members do incredibly loving acts for other family members. It is a vision in which strangers do incredibly loving acts for other strangers. You can't read this Torah portion without feeling inspired by the goodness in some people's hearts. You can't read this Torah portion without asking yourself, 'Gee, when was the last time I did an incredibly loving gesture for somebody?'
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October 30, 2009
Will You Walk in the Footsteps of Abraham?
Whenever we bravely stand up for what we believe is just and right, we walk in the footsteps of Abraham. Whenever we tackle life's uncertainties and unknowns with a calm and adventurous spirit, we walk in the footsteps of Abraham. Whenever we take necessary risks with courage and face our fears head on and overcome them, we walk in the footsteps of Abraham. May we all choose to walk in Abraham's footsteps. For when we do, we bring blessing to our family, blessing to our house of God, and blessing to our world.
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October 23, 2009
Social Action Showcase 2009
Just after Adam and Eve eat the apple from the Tree of all Knowledge, God goes looking for them and asks, Ayekah? "Where are you?" Of course, God knew where Adam and Eve were geographically, literally. God was asking a different question, a metaphoric question. Yes, God was asking, "Where are you, Adam and Eve, when I need you to perfect the work of creation? What are you doing, Adam and Eve, to make the Garden of Eden better than the way you found it? God asks the very same question of you and me each and every day. Ayekah? Where are you?" What are you doing to make a difference in the world? How are you helping God to make a better world?
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October 16, 2009
What Does It Mean to be Created in the Image of God?
God made a good world. But God did not make this world perfect. It is our task to finish the job, to complete the task. God wants us to contribute to the betterment of the world. The principle of betzelem elohim teaches that you and I are nothing less than co-partners with God in the perfection of Creation. With the great God-like qualities we possess, also come great responsibilities.
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October 2, 2009
What Do We Celebrate When We Celebrate the Festival of Sukkot?
When we celebrate Sukkot, what do we celebrate above all? We celebrate the truth that true shelter is God's guidance, nature's goodness, and each other's love.
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September 25, 2009
The Meaning of Teshuvah
What is Teshuvah? Teshuvah means to return to God and to our highest and best selves. Teshuvah means to turn your life round. Teshuvah is making yourself a better person today than you were yesterday. Teshuvah is transforming yourself from the person you are into the person you always wanted to be.
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September 11, 2009
What does the Covenant Mean to You?
Just as Moses summoned the Hebrews to renew the covenant as they were about to enter the promised land, so we are summoned every High Holy Days not just to re-enact the covenant between God and the Jewish people but to renew our personal commitment to it. Download Text of Sermon (PDF 11K)

September 4, 2009
The Inner Landscape of the Blessing and the Curse
We all have the power to choose our outlook on life. We choose to see the cup as half-full or half-empty. We choose whether or not to see the silver lining in every cloud. We can choose to curse the darkness or we can choose to bless the light. We can choose to see daily life as a blessing or we can choose to see daily life as a curse. Download Text of Sermon (PDF 11K)

June 26,2009
Israel and the Settlements
Israel's settlements on the West Bank are a mistake. But freezing them is not the panacea that the Obama administration believes it to be. Peace in the Middle East will come only when both sides make mutually reinforcing reciprocal concessions. So what would I have Israel do? I believe that Israel should accede to the wishes of the Obama administration and freeze all settlements building activity. Then I believe Israel and the American Jewish community can rightfully call upon President Obama to insist upon a reciprocal concession from the Palestinian side. Download Text of Sermon (PDF 39K)

May 29, 2009
What’s the Purpose of Judaism’s 613 Commandments?
Even though we concede that not all 613 commandments derive from God, it is still possible to hear the voice of God, to sense the presence of God, in many of them. Not all the commandments come directly from God. Nevertheless, some of them help us to reach God. Some of the commandments may not be from God, but they help us get to God. Download Text of Sermon (PDF 16K)

May 22, 2009
The Relationship between Israel and the Obama Administration
That Vice President Biden and Senator Kerry, both long-time supporters of Israel, should publicly call upon Israel – and at the AIPAC convention no less -- to implement its responsibilities under the roadmap, and among them to accept a two-state solution and to freeze Israel’s settlement activity on the West Bank is a telling sign that the President, the congress, and the American people want Israel to do more to help the United States achieve its strategic foreign policy goals in the Middle East. Download Text of Sermon (PDF 21K)

May 15, 2009
Why the Book of Ruth is My Favorite Book in the Entire Hebrew Bible
Written in the late fifth/early fourth century BCE, the Book of Ruth still has much to teach us in the 21st century about love and extraordinary kindness, about prayer and action, about bringing God's presence into this world and into your heart.
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April 17, 2009
What Does the New Kosher Certification Have to Do with Jewish Ethics?
In response to the shameless mistreatment of both workers and animals at Agriprocessors, Rabbi Morris Allen and several of his Conservative colleagues have begun an alternative, non-Orthodox program of kosher certification that goes beyond the traditional food production criteria to include standards of social justice. Called Heksher Tzedek, literally "Certification of Justice," this bold, new initiative expands the requirements for the seal of contemporary kosher certification to include fair wages and benefits, safe working conditions, humane animal treatment, corporate integrity, and environmental protection policies.
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April 10, 2009
What Does It Really Mean To Observe Passover?
We have not truly celebrated Passover until we take something that is broken in this world and make it whole again. We have not truly celebrated Passover until we take something broken in ourselves and make that whole again too!
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March 20, 2009
The Seven Secrets of Highly Successful Passover Seders
The most important secret of making your Seder more meaningful is to understand that the Seder is dinner-theater. The Seder is a dramatic play in four acts. This play tells the Passover narrative through story and symbol, ritual, prayer and song, food and wine. And we are the actors in this play!
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March 13, 2009
The Financial Meltdown and Idolatry
The financial crisis to which we have all become hostage is the result of greed, the worship of money, by prominent individuals, institutions, and banks. From the criminal Ponzi schemes of Bernie Madoff, and now R. Allen Stanford, to the invention of mortgage-backed securities and other risky financial instruments, to tawdry bank lending practices, to unregulated derivatives trading, to the conflicts of interest at the Securities and Exchange Commission, to the credit reporting companies who failed to do their job -- it's all about following the money, it's all about making lots of money, and not caring one whit who gets hurt in the process. This is idolatry.
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March 06. 2009
The Madoff Scandal and Anti-Semitism
We can be proud of the historical fact that Jews were uniquely tolerated in the Middle Ages precisely because they so successfully fulfilled crucial economic functions for the Christian world. We can be proud of the historical fact that Jewish involvement in finance and commerce made possible the emergence of capitalist society. We can be proud of the historical fact that Jewish financiers used their newfound wealth to create and sustain a most impressive system of communal institutions charged with responsibility to take care of the poor.
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January 16, 2009
Israel’s War against Hamas, Part Three - The Role of the United States in the Peace Process
This is why the United States should help the American people and the world to understand that it is Iran that really rules Gaza, not the Palestinians. Gaza is an Iranian base at Israel's southern border. This is why the United States must bring into the light that neither Iran nor Hamas has any vision for the Palestinians' future beyond that of being pawns in their ideological war against Israel. I feel sorry for the Palestinian people. They have been kidnapped by Hamas.
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January 9, 2009
Israel’s War Against Hamas, Part Two
What is Israel's strategic objective in its offensive against Hamas? Israel's stated objective is to destroy Hamas' capacity to fire any more rockets at Israel's southern towns and heavily populated cities. Israel wants to establish a new balance of power in which Hamas' capacity to harass and antagonize Israel is greatly weakened. Having failed to win its war with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, Israel wants to re-establish its principle of deterrence. This message of deterrence -- that Israel has regained not only its will to fight but also its vaunted military prowess-- is aimed not only at Hamas, but also at Iran.
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January 2, 2009
Israel’s War against Hamas and the Problem of Collective Punishment
Sooner or later, Israel had to take defensive action to defend the lives of its citizen. If Mexico launched rockets into Texas, or Canada fired missiles into Michigan, we would all expect and demand that the United States government take decisive action to stop such attacks on the American population. Israel was provoked and had the right to respond.

The Torah is opposed to collective punishment. This is one reason why I strongly disagree with the hawks in the American Jewish community who have no sympathy for Palestinian suffering or the loss of innocent Palestinian life. They say that collective punishment is unavoidable in times of war. This is probably true and it underscores the point that there is no military solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Both sides engage in collective punishment. If both sides want to stop the collective punishment of their own peoples, they must be willing to compromise.
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December 26, 2008
What I Learn About Life from the Story of Joseph
All of us have dreams. Like Joseph, we must never stop dreaming, never give up on our dreams. Im tirtzu ein zo aggadah -"If we will it, it is no dream." And perhaps this is the most inspiring teaching of all to be derived from Joseph and his brothers. All of Joseph's dreams came true.So can ours.
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December 19, 2008
Chanukkah and the Price of Privilege
When the Maccabees defeated the Greek Empire and retook control of the Jerusalem Temple, they rededicated it to the Jewish faith. This is how Chanukkah got its name. The word "Chanukkah" means "dedication." Dedication is the true meaning and the real spirit of this Festival of Lights.
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October 17, 2008
What I Learn About Life From The Book Of Ecclesiastes
So now I believe we all understand why our rabbis chose the reading of Kohelet during the festival of Sukkot. This book and this festival complement each other. Both Sukkot and Kohelet fully speak to the duality of life. On the one hand, life must be approached with a sense of sober realism. There is no denying that life can be unfair, uncertain, and all too brief. On the other hand, there is also no denying that life is rich with love, with beauty, with joy, with laughter, and with purpose.
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October 10, 2008
Sukkot: The Problem with Possessions
Material possessions are nice to own. But the problem with possessions is that they own us. They possess us. After a while, we start thinking the way to happiness is by owning lots of stuff. Sitting in the sukkah reminds us that the most important things in life -- love and friendship -- money can never buy.
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October 3, 2008
How to Make This New Year Different from the Last – The Legacy of Randy Pausch
This is Pausch’s message to all of us. Life is precious and life is unpredictable. We never know what will come out of left field. Therefore, we must make the most of life. Pausch inspires us to live every day fully and wisely. Pausch teaches us to fill every day with optimism, with humor, with fun, with loving what you do, and with loving who you love.
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September 26, 2008
What Is the Direction of Your Life?
On Yom Kippur, every person must take a stand. Are you in on this Covenant or not? Will you keep the faith or not? On Yom Kippur we are called upon to stand, to rise to our full height, not just physically, but also morally and spiritually. On Yom Kippur, take a stand for conscience: What do you stand for? What do you stand against?
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September 19, 2008
How to Prepare Your Heart for the High Holy Days
It's time for us to prepare our hearts for the High Holy Days. We need to prepare because we have private pains and secret sorrows to address. We need to prepare because we are all looking for ways to get back home. We're all in need of forgiveness. Is there anyone here in this sanctuary tonight who does not yearn for inner peace? Is there anyone here who doesn't crave a new and fresh start?
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September 12, 2008
Overcoming Compassion Fatigue
God wants us to understand that all it takes to make a difference in this world is for just one person to possess the necessary conviction, caring, and compassion. All it takes is just one person. Why not you?
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Septembet 5, 2008
Justice, Justice You Shall Pursue
The imperative of "justice, justice you shall pursue" has not only defined Jewish ethics. It has shaped the Jewish psyche. The Torah teaches us that the pursuit of justice is not just up to the judiciary, to the judges of a society. It is up to the people to make justice happen. Justice is up to us. Everyone has a stake in, and a moral obligation to pursue, justice in this world.
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June 27, 2008 Korach’s Rebellion: Real Intentions and Ultimate Motives

June 20, 2008 Those Who Get to Enter the Promised Land Are Those Who Overcome Their Fears

June 6,2008 A Jew Always Stands at Sinai

May 30, 2008 Why the Book of Ruth Still Speaks to Us Today

May 23, 2008 IS PEACE BETWEEN PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS ANY CLOSER?

May 16, 2008 CONQUERING POVERTY: A JEWISH APPROACH 2008

April 25, 2008 The Ten Plagues and Climate Change

April 18, 2008 How to Make Your Passover Seder More Meaningful

March 07, 2008 Why The Book Of Esther Still Speaks To Us Today

January 25, 2008 Mishkan T’filah: Some reflections on its need and purpose

January 11, 2008 Introduction To Mishkan T’filah

January 4, 2008 Be On The Lookout For Your Burning Bush