After accidentally dating a d’var Torah “3019,” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch began to think about the world in 1,000 years and how future generations will look back on our time.
“It may be that it is near impossible to agree on truth,” says Rabbi Samantha Natov, who challenges us: if truth is subjective, then why is it important for us to prioritize honesty?
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch questions our country’s health in the wake of the NBA-China controversy. “The general manager of the Houston Rockets sent a rather bland tweet upholding the struggle for democracy in Hong Kong – and chaos ensued. What could be more American – or Jewish – than to ‘fight for freedom?’”
Rabbi Samantha Natov tells the story of a woman who imagined grandiose plans for a bright future and urges us to push ourselves to start taking the first steps toward change. “While our blueprint for change that we imagined over the High Holy Days can be a touchstone we return to for inspiration, strength and direction, we cannot simply reflect upon these plans; we need to put them into action.”
On Yom Kippur, Rabbi Shira Gluck discussed Parashat Nitzavim, in which Moses called up the Israelites to be “fully present” to affirm their covenant with God. “Nitzavim calls to each one of us to assume our place in the assembly of Israel. As your newest rabbi, I am here to help each of you find your place.”
On Yom Kippur, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch discusses the ways we seek to escape – and give meaning and purpose – to the anxiety of life. Some choose the path of science and technology, but does it liberate or paralyze? Some take the opposite approach: resignation. “There is a third way,” he says, “the Jewish way: finding meaning, purpose and joy in the world as it is, and ceaselessly working to create a better world.”
