“On this Day of Atonement, we sense our human vulnerability as never before,” says Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch. “Remain steadfast. Even now, in the dimness of the cave — at this, the most isolated, dark and lonely time of our lives, keep the faith. You will see the sun again.”
On Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch delivered a message of hope and moral clarity: “We will never surmount the racial breach in our country without a willingness to step into and repair it. Judaism commands us to take sides. Stand on the right side of history, on the side of freedom, fairness and dignity. For these reasons, I state proudly and without reservation that Black lives matter.”
“Justice was her first name,” said our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch on Rosh Hashanah, mourning the death yesterday of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “How fortunate to be able to devote one’s entire professional life to the pursuit of justice! Tzedek, tzedek tirdoff, the Torah commands.”
“We’d like to start fresh, but that is impossible,” says Rabbi Samantha Natov. “During these High Holy Days, we can learn from our mistakes and rebuild out of regret. Our regrets give us raw material to start with as we move towards a sense of wholeness.”
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.”
