The Election and Our Shared Resilience
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar As I’ve written about before, to be Jewish, to be in relationship to the Jewish people, entails a Jewish identity that is concerned not exclusively with traditionally “religious” considerations, but with the grand sweep of history, too: with the way in which the Jewish people and the loved ones in relationship […]
Shabbat as Our Anchor and Honoring Our Community
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar We’re in the middle of a trying week, with a highly consequential election nearly upon us, settling down from the rhythms of the Jewish holiday season back into the traditional rhythms of our year where, week in and week out, the primary anchor we have as a spiritual community, to quiet […]
Sukkot, Voting, and the Call to Build a Better World Together
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar We are amidst the joyous season of Sukkot — Sukkot is Zman Simhatenu (literally: the time of our joy), the season which immediately follows the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe, or, alternatively, the Days of Intensity. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days that are felt intensely: we gather, we […]
The Jewish Story: Resounding Through the Shofar
Rosh Hashanah 5785 by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This year has changed my relationship to what it means to be Jewish. Every year, during the High Holidays, I give a sermon, in one version or another, making the case for getting more deeply connected to Jewish communal life. I make this case because I genuinely believe […]
How to Pray, I Think
Erev Rosh Hashanah 5785 by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I want to start my teaching this evening with one of the most well-worn stories of the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, about a boy and his flute.¹ When Rabbi Israel was about to enter into his synagogue in Medziboz, he stopped outside the door […]