Sermon Archives

July 17, 2020

Our Past, Present, and Future
Matos--Masei (5780)

There is a parcel of land on River Road in Bethesda where indisputably the bodies of kidnapped and enslaved Africans were once buried in a cemetery known as The Moses African Cemetery.   This week for the second week in a row I joined with others to raise a voice in public protest about the desecration of these bones by developers who are building more...Read more...

This Shabbat marks the first Shabbat that our community can gather again for in-person services.  We thank Hashem for this opportunity to gather in a safe manner for prayers.  At the same time we recognize that for many of us it is still too dangerous even to gather in this manner and we continue to pray for the day when all of us can gather like in the days of old.
 
This past week we have been davening outdoors with...Read more...

June 19, 2020

Dear Ohev Community,

Please see below for a D'var Torah from Rabbi Herzfeld.

Today is the holiday of Juneteenth, which celebrates the day that enslaved Blacks in Texas discovered that they had been freed in 1865. As I learn more about this holiday I am reminded of Pesach - our own holiday of freedom - and the spiritual challenges it has presented to many Jews throughout history who celebrated...Read more...

June 5, 2020

Dear Ohev Community,

Please see below for a Dvar Torah from Rabbi Herzfeld.

Parashat Naso opens with the instructions to conduct a census of all of Israel. The word used in the Torah to refer to counting people, for which our parsha is named, is "לשאת," or "to lift up." Rashi suggests that one of the reasons that God commands us to count ourselves is because it is an opportunity for...Read more...

On January 27, world leaders will gather to mark the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz’ liberation. They will gather in a world with growing antisemitism. We see this from the right and left; different races and nationalities; from fringes and even elected officials; from the uneducated and even in elite schools; in national stories and sadly in our day-to-day lives.

This week I met with teens from our...Read more...

Last week Elishva Appelbaum taught a great Netziv on this week’s parsha that I want to revisit. He asks why Rivkah is afraid of Yitzchak, as evidenced by her reaction to him the first time that she seems him. This is much different than the dynamic of the marriages of Avraham his father, and Yaakov his son; only Yitzchak’s wife is afraid of him. The Netziv answers that Rikvah had to be afraid of Yitzchak to ensure that...Read more...

So, let’s be real, why are we waving a Lulav and Etrog in the air?  

Truthfully, I have always loved the ritual of arbah minim and I look forward to it with great excitement every year.  It has never bothered me at all or felt strange, but I know that not everyone feels the same way.  Some people in this room have told me that it strikes them as weird and makes them slightly uncomfortable to pick up fruits and...Read more...

I recently had an experience which helped me think differently about keeping kosher.  

I was invited to a well-known upscale restaurant called The Inn at Little Washington.  For what its worth it’s a Michelin Three Star restaurant, which of course means nothing to me as it's not a kosher restaurant.  Still, for very important reasons, I felt it was essential for me to attend.

The organizers insisted...Read more...

Two weeks ago we celebrated our new Torah scroll with a hachnasas Sefer Torah, aka, a Torah parade.

At the parade a person was watching me celebrate and without realizing who my wife was, she approached my wife and told her, “That man always looks happy, but this is the happiest I have ever seen him.”

Indeed, aside from some amazing life moments, like my wedding, births and b’nai mitzvah of our children, I don’t...Read more...

Ohev bat mitzvah celebrations are opportunities to celebrate the accomplishments of girls who grew up in our community, and we know each work super hard for this day. Their commitment is inspiring. What a blessing to be celebrating with these girls and their families!
 
These bat mitzvah girls will all lead Women’s Tefillah services in the main Sanctuary on the morning of their bat mitzvah. Since we are...Read more...

Some of you might have noticed my new shoes.  I bought them in Pastores, a small village in Guatemala, which specializes in making shoes.  I bought them to support the local Guatemalan economy and also to remember our trip to Guatemala.  They are a conversation starter and I want people to ask about the shoes so that I can tell them about our very special experience in Guatemala.

In total there were 30 of us in our...Read more...

So I recently finished writing a Torah scroll, and I delivered the Torah to an expert sofer in Brooklyn for finishing touches.  For me it was a big project in many ways, but having finished the Torah scroll, I turned my attention to writing mezuzot.

There are a few reasons why I want to write mezuzot.

First and foremost, it is a mitzvah.  It says in the Torah, “u-ketavtem al mezuzot beitekhah, and you shall write...Read more...