Mindful Torah...and more

I posted three sermons connected to the Yamim Noraim /Days of Awe last month, and I've been meaning to post this one as well.  Even though the holidays are long since over, I hope that you find this meaningful. L'shalom, SPN -------------------------------------------------------- Last week I spoke about some of the implications of being human and being created in God's image. After all, there is a great deal of responsibility riding on our all-too-human shoulders. On Erev Rosh Hashanah I cited a midrash in which the angels argue with God about whether or not the first human being should be created and debate whether or not the creation of Adam will be good or bad for the world. In the end, the midrash acknowledged that human beings would act in both good and evil ways, make both war and peace and speak both truth and lies. And so we humans constantly must make choices in our lives. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, in my exploration of the musical S...

Dear Online Hevre/community,   This following is the text of a sermon which I delivered on the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5775, though I have tried to expand and clarify some of the ideas in the original version.  In some ways this is a work in progress, because it has been in the process of being written as I have lived my life for almost the last 30 years.  I welcome any comments or uestions you might have, so please don't hesitate to contact me with your comments. I wish you a good New Year and a joyous festival of Sukkot, if you celebrate that particular holiday. SPN -------------------------------------------------------------------------  Rabbinic tradition teaches that Rosh Hashanah celebrates the creation of the first human being. Throughout Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur I want to explore what it means to be a human being created in God's image and how it relates to creating a better world as “partners with God.” I especially want to focus on the imp...

This sermon being delivered tonight at my congregation, The Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms (www.jfhf.org) in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. ----------------------------------- This evening is the start of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of a new Jewish Year. However, the day is not called Rosh Hashanah in the Torah, it was the rabbis who later assigned that name. In the Torah the day is referred to as Yom ha'Zikaron , the Day of Remembrance. But what is it that we are remembering on this day? According to the rabbinic tradition, Rosh Hashanah celebrates the creation of the world. To be more exact, it celebrates the creation of the Adam, the first human being. In the Biblical and Rabbinic tradition, the human being was seen as the pinnacle of creation. Yet, knowing what we do about human beings and human nature today, do we believe we are the pinnacle of creation? Do we believe that the world was created for our sake? Does the universe exist merely to be ...