Rosh Hashanah 5786-2025 Once there was a small village preparing for the king’s visit. The townspeople decided to fill a giant barrel with wine and present it to the king upon his arrival. They concluded that each family of the town would bring one flask filled with wine and pour it into the giant barrel…
Tag: Rosh Hashanah
Preserving Jewish Peoplehood
Rosh Hashanah 5786-2025, Congregation Sukkat Shalom In early June, I stood with Missy and 17 Sukkat Shalom community members in the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca in Toledo, Spain, where Jews were persecuted and expelled 600 years ago. I could see the pain in everyone’s eyes. For four days we had toured places where…
Embracing the Paradox of Love
Congregation Sukkat Shalom Yom Kippur 5785/2024 Our Torah begins with the story of creation: “In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth, the earth was chaotic and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water— God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God…
Planting for the Future by Counting our Blessings Today
Rosh Hashanah 5783 – 2022 “How awesome is this place – מַה־נּוֹרָ֖א הַמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה!” (Ma Norah HaMakom HaZeh!) It is awesome to see everyone, we are so glad that you are here both in person and online. In our Torah we find Jacob, wary from a long journey, seeking a comfortable place to rest. He…
The Power of Community
“The essence of the minyan is the reciprocity of the social contract – the shared obligation that binds all ten individuals to one another, transforming them from a number of individuals into a community.”
Our modern minyan causes us to create more than a congregation, it helps us to form community
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.
Leading a Values-based Life
I am standing in the middle of Cherry Creek State Park on a beautiful morning. I look west toward the mountains which sit enveloped in a summer haze. The green trees in the distance rustle in the wind. I pick up a shell from my pocket and drop it in the lower barrel of the…
Rabbi Brian Immerman 