“From generation to generation, each person should consider themselves personally liberated from Egypt.” For we were all strangers in the land of Egypt. In 1934, my grandmother was becoming a stranger in a land she no longer recognized, living in Berlin under Nazi rule. As a young child of 11, she was still allowed to…
Tag: Sermon
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…
Our Hope For Israel Will Not Be Lost
Pedaling from one Reform Synagogue to another we learned that the government does not financially support Reform congregations and therefore they need to raise money to establish a true alternative to the ultra-orthodox rabbinic authority. A problem that persists today. Years ago I was once biking in Israel though the forests outside of Jerusalem. Wearing…
The Crisis in Israel
a sermon delivered on March 3, 2023 This past Monday, Elan Ganeles, who grew up in West Hartford was murdered on his way to celebrate the wedding of his best friend’s sister. He was traveling on a road through the West Bank that is one of the primary roads to get to the Dead Sea,…
Confronting Antisemitism Together
Delivered on Kol Nidre 5773 | 2022 On May 3, 2019 following the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and subsequently the attack at a Chabad in Ponway, California, I gave a sermon during which I announced that we would hire an armed guard to protect us. May 3rd, 2019 was the…
Why Israel?
Rosh Hashanah Morning 5783/2022Congregation Mishkan Israel, Hamden, CT 75 years! Next April we will celebrate Israel’s 75th birthday. I’m sure our local celebrations will feature Falafel, Israeli Salad, hummus, and Israeli music. While we will acknowledge that Palestinians call this day their “Catastrophe, the Nakba,” and for them this is a day of mourning, we…
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…
I Will Bereave You
Two weeks ago I gave an impassioned sermon about the right to be who we want to be, to love who we want to love, and to have autonomy over our bodies. I felt sad afterward. These aren’t the sermons I want to give. I want to stand on the bima and tell you it…
The Arithmetic of Failure
Since the pandemic began, we have been a society fixated on numbers. First we were concerned about the raw numbers of people getting sick, and then hospitalized, and then those who have died from COVID. Looking at individual numbers are important for each of these represents a soul who has become sick, a person who…
Rabbi Brian Immerman 