I am going to let you all in on a little secret that many of you may know – I can, in fact, play the guitar. I have one sitting in my office at this very moment, a beautiful Taylor that I very much enjoy playing. I use it regularly to lead worship for our…
On Finding My True Helping Partner
On Rosh Hashanah 2012 I stood on the bima and pointed out to all of the Jewish mothers and grandmothers in the room that my ring-finger was woefully bare. I used this “date gathering scheme” to talk about the difficulties of the first date; the simple trivial conversations that we hope will turn into deeper,…
Choosing the Moral Path
Last Thursday I was meeting with several community rabbis and a scholar as part of an AIPAC event, and after several depressing conversations about the Middle East, Israel, and Syria, I found myself asking out loud, “so is there any hopeful analysis?” “Well….” Came the response. Not exactly what I was hoping for. As we in…
Israel’s Worst Enemy
On the 20th yartzeit of Prime Minister Rabin and while Rabbi Ascherman heals from his wounds, we must not let their efforts towards peace be in vain.
Community Allows us to Overcome our Adversity
We all experience personal struggle, the tension between expectation and reality because life is not perfect. No matter how hard we work, at our jobs, our families, our relationships, or at our faith, we all struggle when any aspect of life does not go as we had planned. We need others to help us through adversity. Our community, whether it consists of our family, friends, or our congregation, helps us overcome the challenge we face in our lives.
How will we remember our history?
This sermon was originally delivered on 6/19, the day after the tragic mass shooting of people praying at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. In 2008 I served as the director of Education for Camp Kalsman, a URJ camp located an hour outside of Seattle and had the amazing opportunity to write a letter in…
On Civil Discourse
This originally appeared in the June/July 2015 Temple Emanuel Bulletin Friends, I write to you from a place of fear. I speak not of the fear of an Iranian nuclear bomb striking Israel (a very real fear, especially given Iran’s support of Hezbollah), but rather the fear of the fissures rippling through the American Jewish…
Counting Everyone in Society – Ban the Box
What and how we count figures into our lives every day…. Every time someone is profiled and arrested we perpetuate a cycle in which 1 in 3 black men are removed from society and their children are left with single moms and the streets. For the rest of their lives we stop counting them….God commands us to count people and reminds us that all people are created b’tzelem Elohim, in God’s image. On this Shabbat, this Shavuot, and this Memorial Day, we must work harder to count everyone in our society. Every member of our community, every member of our city, and every member of country.
Opening Prayer for the Colorado State Senate
On January 30, 2015 I delivered the following prayer at the opening of Colorado State Senate: Makor Chayyim, Source of all life, we arrive at this moment filled with gratitude, awe, and anticipation. With gratitude we arrive in this sacred chamber each morning. We give thanks for the opportunity to make our great State of…
Prayer for Peace for all who live in Israel/Palestine
I gave this prayer to conclude a JStreet event at Temple Emanuel on 12/18/2014: Avinu Shebashamayim, God who is in Heaven, may You guide our hands to work towards creating peace in Israel/Palestine for all who dwell there. May you intend our minds and hearts to work towards peace together with all who seek peace…
Rabbi Brian Immerman 