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Read Rabbi Knopf’s Recent Posts
- Justice, Truth, and Peace: How to Keep Our Republic January 28, 2020
- Celebrating Jewish Culture in Troubled Times November 7, 2019
- Nature Abhors a Vacuum. But Antisemitism Loves One. October 13, 2019
- The Promises of Israel October 12, 2019
- Where the Oppressed Shed Tears October 5, 2019
Category Archives: Sermons
Justice, Truth, and Peace: How to Keep Our Republic
The following was a keynote address at the Religious Freedom Day celebration at Richmond, Virginia’s “First Freedom Center,” January 16, 2020. Good morning. It is an honor to be with you today for this celebration of our most cherished freedoms. I … Continue reading
Posted in Public Statements, Reflections, Sermons
Tagged culture, current-events, faith, freedom, history, inclusion, Pluralism, politics, religion, society
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Celebrating Jewish Culture in Troubled Times
Keynote address at University of Mary Washington’s Jewish Cultural Celebration (November 6, 2019) Good evening. It is such an honor and a joy to be with you this evening for this celebration of Jewish Culture. It is especially meaningful to … Continue reading
Posted in Public Statements, Reflections, Sermons
Tagged anti-semitism, culture, current-events, faith, history, immigration, justice, peace, personal, politics, race, racism, religion, social justice, society
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Nature Abhors a Vacuum. But Antisemitism Loves One.
Sermon from Yom Kippur — October 9, 2019 In late April of 1913, a night watchman at an Atlanta pencil factory discovered the bruised and bloody corpse of a 13 year-old employee named Mary Phagan in the factory’s cellar. As news … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged anti-semitism, culture, current-events, faith, Islamophobia, justice, peace, personal, politics, religion, security, social justice, society
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The Promises of Israel
Sermon from Kol Nidrei — October 8, 2019 It is striking that we initiate Yom Kippur with Kol Nidrei, a liturgical poem that both highlights the promises we make and alludes to the fact that we have an unfortunate … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged American Judaism, community, culture, current-events, faith, history, human-rights, Israel, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, justice, middle-east, peace, personal, philosophy, politics, religion, social justice, society, spirituality, terrorism
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Where the Oppressed Shed Tears
Sermon for Day 1 of Rosh Hashanah 5780 — September 30, 2019 According to tradition, the powerful, piercing cry of the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah is meant to awaken us from our spiritual and moral slumber, the mindless and purposeless … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged culture, current-events, faith, Guatemala, immigration, Jewish People, Jewish thought, politics, religion, society
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Bad Faith Broke Us. Only Good Faith Can Fix Us.
Sermon for Rosh Hashanah Day 25780 — October 1, 2019 Just over 400 years ago, in August 1619, a ship called The White Lion landed at Point Comfort, now Fort Monroe, in Hampton, about 60 miles downriver from us here … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged american jews, American Judaism, culture, current-events, faith, history, politics, race, racism, religion, society
Everyone Has a Right to Sanctuary – Parashat Matot-Mas’ei 2019
Parashat Mas’ei, the last portion of Ba-Midbar, is both backward and forward looking in nature: It is backward looking, because it begins with a recapitulation of all the places the Israelites sojourned in the wilderness; and it is forward looking … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections, Sermons
Tagged asylum, cities of refuge, current-events, faith, history, immigration, numbers, parashah, personal, politics, religion, society, Torah, torah portion
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