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

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June 27, 2008
Korach’s Rebellion: Real Intentions and Ultimate Motives
What is the meaning of this Torah portion in our day and age? This Torah portion does not pertain just to rebels and revolutionaries. This Torah portion also relates to present-day politics. It suggests that we must pay careful attention to the difference between the words of our elected officials and their actions. Even more importantly, we must critically assess what are the true intentions and the ultimate motives behind the publicly stated agendas of our elected officials and candidates for their office. The story of Korach teaches that there is just about always a private agenda. Especially in an election year, it is very important for all of us to know what are those private agendas
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June 20, 2008
Those Who Get to Enter the Promised Land Are Those Who Overcome Their Fears
The message of this [Shabbat's] Torah portion is clear. We must not cave into our fears. We must overcome them. If we want to get the most out of life, if we want to realize our full potential, we must be willing to risk failure and to face the unknown. We must not give in to fearfulness. We must overcome our fears, whatever they may be. Why? Because only those who transcend their fears get to enter the Promised Land.
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June 6,2008
A Jew Always Stands at Sinai
Sinai is not just an event of the ancient past. The blessings before and after the reading of the Torah are in the present tense Barukh Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh haOlam notein et ha Torah. "Praised are You, Adonai, Sovereign of the universe, who gives the Torah." God offers us, gives us the Torah every day. The question is: Will I accept it? Will I be loyal to it and live up to it?
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May 30, 2008
Why the Book of Ruth Still Speaks to Us Today
The book of Ruth is about the commanding voice of love. Ruth teaches that all of life's hardships and obstacles can be overcome -- through love and through extraordinary acts of human kindness. What message could be better than that?
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May 23, 2008
IS PEACE BETWEEN PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS ANY CLOSER?
Two weeks ago, Israelis celebrated and Palestinians mourned the 1948 war that created a Jewish state and led to the flight of 750,000 Palestinians. As The Economist reports, “After sixty anniversaries the fate of the two sides is as lopsided as ever. Israel is not just an established state but a dynamic and prosperous one. By contrast, the lot of the Palestinians is wretched. The state they were promised under the 1947 UN partition plan remains tantalizingly beyond reach.”
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May 16, 2008
CONQUERING POVERTY: A JEWISH APPROACH 2008
Jewish ethics teaches that poverty is an unjust condition and a violation of human dignity. Therefore, our Jewish tradition unequivocally asserts: any society that calls itself just must take care of its most vulnerable. We must help the poor to recapture their dignity and we must conquer poverty once and for all.
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April 25, 2008
The Ten Plagues and Climate Change
For the sake of the children at the Passover Seder, we generally tend to make light and make fun of the story of the Pharoah and the Ten Plagues. This is actually a disservice to the Torah narrative and its deeper meaning. In context, the Ten Plagues can only be described as terribly frightening as they increase in terrible severity .What the Torah wants us to understand is that the Ten Plagues are nothing less than a series of cataclysmic environmental disasters.
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April 18, 2008
How to Make Your Passover Seder More Meaningful
The most important secret of making your Seder more meaningful and successful 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 07, 2008
Why The Book Of Esther Still Speaks To Us Today
The Book of Esther encourages Jews to stay Jews. It emphasizes a proud but secular Jewish Identity. It teaches that Jews cannot wait for God to save them. Jews must take their fate and future into their own hands. The Book of Esther teaches it is important for Jews to acculturate into the majority culture in which they live. It is important for Jews to rise to positions of high authority within the dominant culture. The Book of Esther reassures the Jewish reader of the 4th century BCE that even as a small, dispersed minority the Jewish people would indeed survive and actually flourish in the Diaspora, because of very smart, quick-thinking and dedicated Jews, Jews like Mordechai and Esther.
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January 25, 2008
Mishkan T’filah: Some reflections on its need and purpose
Mishkan T’filah teaches us that the meaning of the prayer experience is not to be found in tradition or creativity alone, nor in community or individuality alone, nor in Hebrew or English alone -- but in the beauty of their combination. Mishkan T’filah reminds us that it is far more fun to go on the journey of life together rather than alone, that belonging to, and praying with, community confers special gifts which we all need as we go about our daily lives: inspiration and hope, strength and resilience, comfort and peace.
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January 11, 2008
Introduction To Mishkan T’filah
The most significant feature of Mishkan T’filah is that just about every single prayer is given a two-page spread...if you are oriented toward Jewish tradition, you focus on the right side of the page. If you are oriented toward contemporary Jewish spirituality, you focus on the left side of the page ... is this format really necessary? This format is a mirror image of who we are as the Reform movement of Judaism in the early 21st century. The right hand side of the page speaks to tradition and community. The left hand side of the page speaks to creativity and individuality. If that crazy combination is not Reform Judaism as we know it today, what is?
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January 4, 2008
Be On The Lookout For Your Burning Bush
All we have to do to make a difference in his world is to believe we can. And what we have to do is to be on the lookout for a burning bush. You understand I don't mean a literal bush. I mean each of us must be on the lookout for that spark, that catalyst, that noble cause, that insight, that personal revelation which rocks your world. For whatever it is that passionately summons you to care and to act -- as Moses cared and acted -- that is your burning bush.
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December 28, 2007 These Are the Names: Our Women Heroes

December 21, 2007 The Immortality of Influence

November 30, 2007 How to Find New Meaning in Prayer

October 12, 2007 What Does It Mean to "Walk With God"?

October 05, 2007 The Revolutionary Principles Behind the Biblical Story of Creation

September 28, 2007 Why Can’t We See God's Face?

September 14, 2007 Reflections On Shabbat Shuvah (The Sabbath Of Return) 2007: There Are More Years Behind Me Than There Are Ahead Of Me

September 07, 2007 Rosh Hashanah: The Tipping Point

June 15, 2007 When you cave in to your fears, You don't get into the promised land

June 1, 2007 When You’re Dealing with a Miracle, You've Got to Get the Location Right: Was it the Red Sea or the Sea of Reeds?

May 25, 2007 The Book of Ruth: What It Teaches About Love, Community, and Interfaith Marriage

May 18, 2007 How to Know God