Rabbi Sherman - Honorable Mensch-ion

After the most uplifting moments of Neilah and the final blast of the shofar, we would think that we get to rest. Yet, we do the exact opposite. We run to build our sukkah and prepare for our next set...

The palpable energy at Sinai Temple on Rosh Hashana was contagious. Each service was filled to capacity, young and old coming together in prayer, song, and community. The need was real. We will do so once again on Kol Nidre...

Rosh Hashanah is a holy day of sounds, sights, and tastes. We will hear the 100 blasts of the shofar, and we will see the entire community gather. Yet, let us not forget the taste of our apples dipped in...

Someone once told me they open their siddur before a big exam to pray for a good grade. When I asked, “Does it work?” They answered, “Only if I prepare for the test.” Prayer and preparation go hand in hand....

Each commemoration of 9/11 feels different. The further time progresses, the more difficult it is to feel the physical closeness to the day. Yet, as time passes, the clarity of tomorrow appears from behind a cloudy veil. I have now experienced commemorations...

In our tradition, teshuva, often translated as repentance, comes from the the root meaning to be settled. Yet, during the process of repentance, the last thing we feel is settled (if done right). Maimonides in his Laws of Repentance explicitly...

When we say we give tzedakah, we say we give charity. In reality, according to the literal translation of the word, we are giving righteousness. The Torah teaches us this week, “You should surely give…but your heart should not grieve...

As I meet with b’nai mitzvah each week, I tell them that one day, many years from now, they will find their Dvar Torah in a drawer. When they reread their words, the relevance will be as clear as the...

On a recent trip to visit family, I had the opportunity to go down memory lane and show my children all the summer fun I experienced with my parents: Biking down the boardwalk, riding the waves in the Atlantic Ocean, and going on the same waterslides I went on over three decades ago. It was a new generation of cousins doing the same things, having the same conversations, and creating the same memories I was given as a child. Everything appeared the same and everything appeared different. The slides were not as big as I thought they were, the boardwalk was not as long as I had imagined, and the water was not as deep as I thought.

Who is responsible for blessings and who is responsible for rebuke? Just a few weeks ago, we read of Bilam, who was supposed to curse the Jews but blesses them. This Shabbat, it is Moses, the leader of the Jewish people, who rebukes his own community.