Delivered Yom Kippur Morning, 5783/2022Congregation Mishkan Israel, Hamden, CT Sarah bent down and dipped her rag into the bucket of blood. She slowly started painting her doorpost which turned a dark, burnt red color. As she dipped her rag again she wondered, will we really go free tomorrow? As the blood dripped down the door…
Tag: Racial Justice
Do Not Remain Indifferent
It is not enough to simply say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ though it is an important first step. We must transform our world so that black lives do matter, in every corner of society. This transformation happens not in the streets, but within each of us, as we explore who we are and who we want to be, by examining how our society functions and how it could function. Jews know this transformation – we do it every year on Yom Kippur when we engage in chesbon hanefsh – when we examine our actions from the past year in order to be better in the next.
The Power of Fire
We strike the match to the matchbook and from nothing a flame emerges and dances before us. Just like God we create – light appears where once there was none. We marvel at our creation as it quickly creeps toward our fingers – and then light not one but two wicks. Zachor v’shamor – remember…
A Jewish Perspective of Racial Justice
Rabbi Immerman delivered this sermon at Temple Emanuel in Denver, CO on Rosh Hashanah morning 5777 Four hours. For four hours we let Michael Brown’s body lay in the hot sun on a St. Louis street in 2014. When I started reading the news that night, the next day, weeks and months afterward, and still…
Rabbi Brian Immerman 