Shabbat Sermons
2024
1/5/2024 – Women at War, in Ancient Egypt and Contemporary Israel
1/19/2024 – Confronting the Tenth Plague
2/8/2024 – Abortion in Torah and in Arkansas
2/16/2024 – Securing the Sanctuary
2/23/2024 – All the People of Israel
3/8/2024 – Dressing for Temple
3/22/2024 – Wiping out the Enemy
3/29/2024 – Reimagining Haftarah
4/5/2024 – Let My People Go: Ukraine on the Brink
4/12/2024 – The Perils of Childbearing in Arkansas
4/19/2024 – Let My People Go: The Plight of Israeli Hostages in Gaza
4/26/2024 – Let My People Go… To College!
5/31/2024 – Blessings and Curses in the Lives of Palestinian, Bedouin, and Druze Citizens of Israel
6/7/2024 – The Gvurah of Annabelle Imber Tuck
6/21/2024 – Bruce Greenberg: Humble, Like Moses
7/26/2024 – Zealotry in the Name of Israel
8/2/2024 – When Women Cry Out
8/16/2024 – Finding Hope When Optimism Fails
8/30/2024 – Many Ways to Worship
9/6/2024 – A Nation Like All the Others
9/13/2024 – Who Should Defend the Country?
10/4/2024 – Imperfection is a Feature, Not a Bug
10/25/2024 – The Genders of the First Human in Creation
11/8/2024 – What I learned from Cuba’s Jewish Community
11/22/2024 – Hebron, Then and Now
11/29/2024 – Jewish Fertility and Infertility
12/6/2024 – Demonizing Immigrants
2023
1/13/2023 – Redeeming Captives
1/20/2023 – Internalized Oppression
2/3/2023 – Black History and Jewish History
2/10/2023 – Who is a Jew
2/17/2023 – Abortion Rights: Judaism Sees the Pregnant Person
3/10/2023 – Israel and the Golden Calf, 2023
3/24/2023 – Torah as a Source of Strength
4/7/2023 – Freedom is Not Free
4/14/2023 – God’s Presence in the Sanctuary
4/21/2023 – First They Came for the Trans Kids
6/9/2023 – Humble Like Moses
6/30/2023 – A Cemetery Plot for My 60th Birthday
7/28/2023 – Finding Comfort at a Troubling Time in Israel
8/4/2023 – 1+1=1 The Mystical Magic of Shabbat
8/11/2023 – Holiness: An Antidote
8/26/2023 – Justice, Justice: The Death Penalty for the Pittsburgh Mass Murderer
9/22/2023 – Convincing God to Be Forgiving
10/13/2023 – My People Are Drowning
10/27/2023 – Sacrifice and Its Reward
11/10/2023 – Israel: People Over Land
11/24/2023 – Grateful for the Israeli Spirit
12/15/2023 – Enduring Hard Times
12/22/2023 – Judah, Netanyahu, and Responsibility
12/29/2023 – The Challenging Family of Israel
2022
1/14/2022 – The Music of Prayer
1/21/2022 – Jewish-Adjacent
1/28/2022 – So Many Mitzvot, So Little Time
2/11/2022 – Let Every Student Shine Like the Gems of the Priestly Breastplate
2/18/2022 – Mercy, Anger, and Mass Incarceration
2/25/2022 – Tzedakah and Each Person’s Values
3/11/2022 – Ukraine: When Sacrifice is Required
3/18/2022 – An Infrastructure for Inclusion of People with Disabilities
3/25/2022 – Rabbis Need Rabbis
4/1/2022 – The Bat Mitzvah at 100 and Women Rabbis at 50
4/22/22 – Eating to Save the Planet
6/10/22 – Our President, Amanda Orgel: A Lesson in Allyship
6/17/22 – The Middot (Soul Traits) of Annabelle Imber Tuck
7/29/22 – Journeys in Israel: 2022
8/5/22 – On the Eve of Destruction
8/12/22 – Comfort in Times of Tribulation
8/19/22 – Dispossessing the People of Israel
8/26/22 – Perpetuating Evil
9/2/2022 – Right Here in Arkansas: The Idolatrous Legacy of Lynching
9/16/2022 – God Loves You and Me
10/28/2022 – The Laws of Noah
11/3/2022 – The Future of Israel: Jewish and Democratic?
11/18/2022 – Marriage Equality: Israel Edition
11/25/2022 – Legacy
12/2/2022 – Perceiving God’s Presence
12/9/2022 – Rape, Violence, Pregnancy, and Power: From Dinah to Dobbs
12/16/2022 – Growing or Flip-Flopping?
2021
1/8/2021 – Disobeying Immoral Orders
1/15/2021 – Inaugural Blessings
1/22/2021 – Limited Liberation
2/5/2021 – Coveting the Covid Vaccine
2/12/2021 – “Jewish Space Lasers:” No Laughing Matter
2/19/2021 – Purim Jews and Passover Jews
2/26/2021 – Holy to Adonai: We Are All Priests
3/5/2021 – The Meaning of a Sanctuary, after a Year away from Ours
3/26/2021 – Harassment, Bullying, and Jewish Institutions
4/2/2021 – Conservative and Reform Judaism: Similarities and Differences
4/9/2021 – Arkansas’ Oppression of Transgender Youth: What Congregation B’nai Israel Can Do
4/23/2021 – Deference to the Old: What We Have Learned from the Pandemic
4/30/2021 – Seasons of Celebration
5/7/2021 – What I Have Learned in the 45 Years since My Bar Mitzvah
5/14/2021 – Violence in Israel
6/25/2021 – Being an Ally
7/9/2021 – What We Learn Along the Way
8/13/2021 – Zealotry in the Pursuit of Justice: Judge Robert A. Katzmann, z”l
8/20/2021 – Honest Weights and Measures
8/27/2021 – Jewish Supremacy
9/10/2021 – Learning and Not Learning from History
9/17/2021 – An Ethical Will
10/1/2021 – Equal Creation, Equal Work, and Equal Pay
10/8/2021 – The Curse of Ham or the Curse of Japhet
10/22/2021 – Abortion Rights, Bound to the Altar
11/5/2021 – Keep Digging Wells for Equitable Water Rights
11/12/2021 – Home
11/26/2021 – Slavery and Its Legacy
12/10/2021 – My People Were Migrants, Too
12/17/2021 – Living in the Face of Death
2020
1/3/2020 – A Jewish Journey in Spain
1/17/2020 – What Kind of Jewish Names Are Shifrah and Puah
1/31/2020 – Our Votes Count in Israel
2/14/2020 – Hiding Our Jewish Identity
3/7/2020 – King Achashverosh What We Should Remember
3/14/2020 – Bitachon: Trusting God during a Pandemic
3/20/2020 – Israel’s Response to Coronavirus, and Ours
3/27/2020 – Sacrifice
4/3/2020 – The World as It Is
4/10/2020 – How Long? How Long, O God?
4/17/2020 – Justice, Justice: Even During a Pandemic
4/24/2020 – Feeling Guilty during the Pandemic
5/1/2020 – Prison Inmates: Among the “Neighbors” We are Commanded to “Love,” Especially Now
5/8/2020 – The Jewish Priority of Saving a Life
5/15/2020 – Enduring Disappointment
5/29/2020 – Face Masks: Liberty or Duty?
6/12/2020 – A Cloud and a Pillar of Fire: A Tribute to Carol Pfeifer Parham, President, Congregation B’nai Israel, 2018-2020
6/26/2020 – Rebels With a Cause
7/10/2020 – Re-Evaluating Heroes in a Turbulent Time
7/24/2020 – How Will We Retell the Story of 2020
7/31/2020 – Who or What is Essential?
8/7/2020 – The Ethics of Reopening Arkansas Schools
8/14/2020 – Passover in August?
8/28/2020 – Preparing for Unusual High Holy Days
9/4/2020 – Avinu Malkeinu: Praying to End a Plague
9/11/2020 – When the Sages Fired the Gatekeeper
10/30/2020 – Maintaining the Covenant with All Americans
11/6/2020 – Religious Certainty and Religious Liberty
11/13/2020 – What We Owe Indigenous People
11/20/2020 – Rebekah: Too Much or Not Enough?
11/27/2020 – Jacob: Merciful or a Loser
12/4/2020 – Combating Pandemic Fatigue
12/18/2020 – Joseph and the Cupbearer: The Potential of Formerly Incarcerated People
2019
1/4/2019 – Plagues in Ancient Egypt and in Contemporary America
1/18/2019 – Let My People Go
1/25/2019 – Thou Shalt Not Covet
2/1/2019 – The Foundation of Our Laws
2/15/2019 – Government Shutdown
2/22/2019 – Celebrating Washingtons Birthday Founders Matter
3/8/2019 – Desecration of God’s Name at Judaism’s Holiest Site
3/15/2019 – Dual Loyalty
3-22-2019 – Connecting Ritual and Ethical Mitzvot
4/12/2019 – Evil Speech
4/26/2019 – The Holiest Day of the Year
5/10/2019 – Teaching the Heart What It Already Knows
5/17/2019 – How Should We Translate Pirkei Avot? Why Does it Matter?
7/5/2019 – What Adults Can Learn from Jacobs Camp
7/26/2019 – Inspiration from Israel
8/2/2019 – Reform Judaism in Israel
8/16/2019 – Holocaust Analogies
8/30/2019 – Jerusalem Blessing and Challenge
9/6/2019 – The Death Penalty and the Torah in 2019
9/13/2019 – Lincolns Lessons as the High Holy Days Approach
9/20/2019 – The Immigrants Gratitude
10/4/2019 – The Beauty of a Southern Jewish Heritage
10/11/2019 – Reparations: A Jewish Perspective
10/26/2019 – Hospitality Comes with Challenges
11/1/2019 – God Prefers Diversity
11/15/2019 – Sarah Hagar Isaac Ishmael
11/22/2019 – The Legality of West Bank Settlements
2018
1/5/2018 – Parenting through Challenges and Triumphs
1/12/2018 – Plagues in Ancient Egypt and in Contemporary America
2/9/2018 – Celebrating Lincolns Birthday: Law and Liberation
2/23/2018 – Blot Out the Memory of Parkland
3/16/2018 – Pre-Passover Purification
4/27/2018 – What We Leave for the Poor
6/15/2018 – How Would Miriam Have Responded to Korach Rebellion?
6/22/2018 – Pfeifers of Arkansas A Presidential Legacy
7/20/2018 –What Deuteronomy Teaches Us about Memory
7/27/2018 – Thou Shalt Be a Mensch
8/10/2018 – Reform Judaism Founded in the Torah
8/17/2018 – Justice Justice Threats to Democracy in Israel and Arkansas
8/24/2018 – Wickedness Done Right
8/31/2018 – Environmentalism in Israel 2018
9/7/2018 – Morality Begins at Home Obvious but Difficult
9/14/2018 – The Fast of Gedaliah
9/21/2018 – The Blessing of a Smile
10/5/2018 – Nothing Works the First Time
11/16/2018 – Knowing God
11/23/2018 – Going Home
12/31/2018 – Death Teaches Us about Life
2017
1/6/2017 – The Founder of Judaism
1/13/2017 – Jacob’s and Joseph’s Jewish Funerals
1/20/2017 – Salvation’s Source May Be a Surprise
2/17/2017 – Appointing Judges
3/5/2017 – Honest Together Stronger Together
3/31/2017 – Are We Sinners?
4/14/2017 – Syrian Refugees: Hearing the Cry for Freedom at Passover
4/17/2017 – Today’s Golden Calf
5/5/2017 – Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father
5/19/2017 – Environmental Justice
6/23/2017 – Loyal and Disloyal Opposition
6/30/2017 – Living by Separate Laws
7/14/2017 – Summer Study in Jerusalem: A Jet Lagged Report
7/21/2017 – Life Is A Journey
8/25/2017 – Catch 67: Can Justice Be Incremental?
9/1/2017 – Learning from Torah’s Worst Passage
9/8/2017 – Zionism and Tikkun Olam: Risking Idolatry
9/15/2017 – Those Not Standing Here This Day
9/22/2017 – Joy Doesn’t Come Easily
10/13/2017 – What We Can Learn from the Creation Story
10/27/2017 – Why Circumcision?
11/3/2017 – Welcoming the Stranger: America’s Responsibility to Immigrants
11/10/2017 – What Makes a Place Holy?
12/15/2017 – Bearing Chanukah Light in a Dark Time
12/29/2017 – Judaism’s Original Funeral Ritual
2016
1/15/2016 – Two Leap Years at Once
1/22/2016 – Miriam, Deborah, and the Glass Ceiling
2/5/2016 – Slavery in 2016
2/12/2016 – Gold Inside and Out
3/11/2016 – Rabbi Report from Israel – Gold Inside and Out
3/18/2016 – BDS: We Must Remember and Never Forget!
4/8/2016 – Equanimity and Election Year
8/26/2016 – The Merit of Our Ancestors
8/30/2016 – Expecting a Miracle
8/5/2016 – Faith in a Summer of Hatred and Murder
9/2/2016 – Jews and the American Labor Movement
4/29/2016 – Keeping Pace with the Whole Community of Israel
7/8/2016 – Marriage in Israel 2016 Style
9/9/2016 – One Is Silver and the Others Gold: Precious Gifts of Mishkan HaNefesh
9/23/2016 – Report from our Congregational Mission in Israel
11/11/2016 – After the Election
11/18/2016 – Angels in Judaism
11/25/2016 – Remembering Shimon Peres
12/2/2016 – When the End Justifies the Means
12/30/2016 – The Real Miracle of Chanukah
2015
1/2/2015 – Visiting Israel in Difficult Times
1/16/2015 – Facing Terror and Anti-Semitism in Europe. Again.
2/6/2015 – Jethro and the Ten Commandments
2/13/2015 – Personhood of the Fetus
2/20/2015 – Time or Money
3/6/2015 – Lessons of the Broken Tablets
3/13/2015 – Rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple
3/20/2015 – Responding to Israel Elections Without Anxiety
3/27/2015 – How a Reform Jew Violates Passover
5/1/2015 – Benefits of Hebrew Literacy
5/8/2015 – Who May Lead God’s Holy Congregation?
6/12/2015 – When Honesty Isn’t the Best Policy
7/3/2015 – How Goodly ARE Thy Tents, O America?
7/10/2015 – Zionism Outside Israel
7/31/2015 – The Capitol Grounds
8/14/2015 – Identifying a False Prophet
8/28/2015 – Torah Is Not As Bad As It Seems
9/4/2015 – AntiZionism in Early American Reform Judaism
9/8/2015 – The Laws of Repentance
9/11/2015 – Carrying the Torah to the People
9/25/2015 – Counting Our Harvest
10/17/2015 – Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die: The Limits Of God’s Power
10/23/2015 – Why Does God Choose Abraham
11/6/2015 – Who Owns the Land of Israel
12/18/2015 – It’s God’s Will
12/25/2015 – Pagan Symbols Sacred Meaning
2014
1/17/2014 – Not All Jewish Heroes are Jewish
2/14/2014 – Love and Forgiveness
2/21/2014 – New Reform Perspectives on Jewish Dietary Laws
2/28/2014 – The Boring Parts of the Torah
3/14/2014 – Purim Paradoxes
4/11/2014 – Did the Exodus Really Happen? Does it Matter?
5/2/2014 – Anti-Semitism in 2014
5/15/2014 – The Difference a Prayer Book Makes
5/30/2014 – Many Ways to Serve One God
6/13/2014 – Optimism in the Face of Real Obstacles
7/4/2014 – America and the Jewish People
7/11/2014 – Extremism in Judaism
8/8/2014 – Why Does the Shema Keep Changing?
8/22/2014 – The Center of Judaism
8/25/2014 – Women Equality in Torah: Justice Delayed
8/29/2014 – Justice, Justice: America’s (and Arkansas’) Prison Crisis
9/5/2014 – Why So Much Change at a Historic Reform Temple
9/19/2014 – L’shanah Tovah. But Will It Be Happy?
9/26/2014 – Apologizing and Forgiving
10/24/2014 – The Promise of the Rainbow
11/14/2014 – Should We Be Afraid?
11/21/2014 – Terror in a Jerusalem Synagogue
12/12/2014 – Say Little and Do Much: A Post-Election Reflection
2013
7/5/2013 – What will the new Rabbi change?
7/12/2013 – Hope in the Face of Hardship
7/26/2013 – Are Miracles Real?
8/2/2013 – The Most Important Jew Who Ever Lived
8/9/2013 – Guilty Beyond Doubt: The Torah’s Standard
8/16/2013 – What We Owe Our Fellow Animals
8/23/2013 – Blessings and Curses: Rejected Theology?
8/30/2013 – The Blessing of Conversion
9/6/2013 – Priest, Prophet or Pastor: The Rabbi on the High Holy Days
10/4/2013 – Why Did Reform Judaism Change?
10/18/2013 – The Continuing Blessings of Classical Reform Judaism
11/8/2013 – What is the Bar Mitzvah Revolution?
11/15/2013 – Why Is Chanukah so ‘Early’ and Passover so ‘Late’ this Year?
12/20/2013 – A Jewish View of Jesus
Rosh Hashana Sermons
2013
A Pigeon Must Love Her Home
Sacrifice is Binding
2014
2015
Every Single Sheep
For the Sake of Heaven
2016
A Day Pregnant With Possibility
Ishmael Hates Isaac; Or Does He?
2017
If Ever We Needed a Day of Remembrance
The Sources of Our Comfort
2018
King David: The Cost of the King’s Private Sins
Thriving on Our Raft, Together
2019
The Law Is According to Hillel
The Trouble with Celebrating the Civil Rights Movement
2020
We Need to Be Together
Holding onto Hope
2021
The Future is Bright, and We Can Make it Brighter
We Are All Americans
2022
How Many Trees in the Garden?
Celebrating the Birthday of a Traumatized World
2023
Avinu Malkeinu: A Metaphor with Meaning
The Book of Life: Can We Believe?
2024
Crisis and Creativity, Persistence and Patience
Suddenly, A People
Yom Kippur Sermons
2013
Life After Death
Reproach Your Neighbor as Yourself
The Avinu Malkeinu Paradox
2014
Going Home Again
Jewish Ethics for Everyday Living
Together for the Holidays: You, Me, Us, and God
2015
America’s Original Sin
Solemnity and Joy on Yom Kippur
2016
What’s Next?
Who Are Our Kids?
The Evil Inclination, for Good and Ill
2017
Being a Jew and Living Jewishly: Rising to Two Challenges
Divine Equilibrium
First Buy the Tissues
2018
Sin: Deal with It!
Deaths Heroes?
Thou Shalt Change Thou Shalt Not Change
2019
Jewish Power and Powerlessness
Do You Still Feel Me Hugging You
Jonah Not Noah Yom Kippur Prophet
2020
Give Me (and Everyone Else) a Break
Grieving during a Pandemic
Other People’s Business
2021
What We Can Change
What We Cannot Change
Living with the Blessing of Memory
2022
The Broken Tablets Go First
Dreaming of a Better Future
We Need Our Beloved Dead
2023
Our Obligation to the Future
The Mitzvah of Attending a Funeral
We’re All in This Together
2024
Focusing on Our Own Failures while the World is on Fire
Grieving Personal Loss Amidst a Grieving Community