Category: Uncategorized
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Why the Pittsburgh Shooting is Different
We woke up on Thursday morning to the sickening news that 12 people had been killed by a gunman inside a California country-western dance bar that was hosting an event for college students. The painful, undeniable fact is that becoming the victim of gun violence in the United States has become a part of our…
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Stephen Heyman is a freelance journalist based in Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Yanna, moved to the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh from Paris, France two years ago. Both he and his wife were technically Jewish but had no idea of what that meant. They had never attended services at a synagogue or had a…
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Message to My Congregants about the Pittsburgh Massacre
I sent the following internet message to CBS congregants on October 31 My Dear Congregants, Middy and I were leaving Israel Saturday night when we read the shocking news about a gunman in Pittsburgh who had killed eleven people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We had spent the week in Israel…
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Remarks at the Gathering to Remember the Victims of the Tree of Life Massacre
On Monday evening, October 29 our congregation gathered in our sanctuary to honor and remember the eleven Jewish men and women slain at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Below are my remarks at that ceremony. My Dear Friends, We come together this evening, devastated, shaken, angry, and in disbelief over the destruction perpetrated…
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Yom Kippur Day Sermon 2018
Reaching Out To One Another There is nothing that comes easier to us than speech. And yet, our tradition understands how fraught speech actually is — how hard it is to speak words that build up and enrich and not words that put down and devalue; how hard it is to speak words that heal…
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Kol Nidre Sermon 2018
The Changing Nature of Community “Tell me, Rabbi, how would re-joining the synagogue make my life better?” That question was addressed to Rabbi Paul Kipnes of Congregation Kol Ami in California after he approached a former congregant about rejoining his synagogue. I don’t think that question would would have occurred to anyone a generation or…
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Rosh Hashanah 2018 Sermon First Day
“Why Have You Deleted Me From Your Life?” There is a wonderful story by the American author Ernest Hemingway. He tells about a Spanish father who wants to reconcile with his son. The son has run away to Madrid and his father has not seen or heard from him in some years. In order to…
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Rosh Hashanah 2018 Evening Sermon
Giving the Stars their Names Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” Watson replies, “I see millions of stars.” Watson ponders for a minute, and…
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"Until a Hundred and Twenty"
An elderly couple walked into a CVS and told the pharmacist they wanted to get married. “Do you sell heart medication?” they asked. He said that of course they do. “Then how about medicine for circulation?” The druggist replied, “All kinds.” “Do you have drugs for rheumatism, arthritis, memory problems and scoliosis?” The pharmacist assured…
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A Matter of Attitude!
A man had a satisfying dinner at a restaurant. When he was finished with his meal, the waiter asked him if everything was all right. “The food was delicious,” replied the man. “I only wish that I was given more than one piece of bread.” The next time he dined in the restaurant, there were…
Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph 