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Read Rabbi Knopf’s Recent Posts
- A Temple For All – Parashat Ki Tissa 5783 March 12, 2023
- Don’t Hate One Another More Than Necessary March 10, 2023
- Antisemitism bills shouldn’t stifle free speech February 13, 2023
- With Israel’s Democracy In Danger, We Must Not Silence Critics January 23, 2023
- Saving Democracy is a Jewish Obligation November 1, 2022
Tag Archives: High Holy Days
When the Party’s Over — Shemini Atzeret 5783
My friend and drumming teacher, Chris Parker, once taught me a lesson about music that has always stayed with me: “Music,” he said, “is sound organized in time.” In other words, sound without time is just noise. Time without sound … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged grief, High Holidays, High Holy Days, holidays, Judaism, music, religion, Shemini Atzeret, spirituality, Sukkot, Torah, wisdom, yizkor
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Are You a Hero? — Yom Kippur 5783
By now, you’ve heard quite a bit about my sabbatical; perhaps more than you wanted to know. Apologies if that’s the case. On Rosh Hashanah, I talked about how I tried to embrace the spirit of Shabbat by refraining from … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged david bowie, High Holidays, High Holy Days, holidays, Judaism, religion, society, spirituality, superheroes, Torah, wisdom, Yom Kippur
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Why Are You Here? — Rosh Hashanah 5783
As a people that is well over three thousand years old, Jews have collectively lived through many eras of upheaval. We have endured revolutions and conquests; crusades, inquisitions and expulsions; the rise and fall of empires; civil wars and world … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged High Holidays, High Holy Days, holidays, Judaism, justice, politics, religion, rosh ha-shanah, rosh hashana, rosh hashanah, social justice, society, Torah
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Back to the Future: Rosh Hashanah Day 1 5782
The year was 1944. As the second World War raged overseas, my grandfather (of blessed memory) was a young army private, based at Camp Croft, South Carolina. To that point, he hadn’t been deployed overseas because he served as a … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged family, High Holidays, High Holy Days, holidays, Judaism, memory, religion, rosh hashanah, society, Torah, war, wisdom
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From Great to Good: Rosh Hashanah Day 2, 5777
In the 19th Century, British philosopher Thomas Carlyle argued that history is mainly about the accomplishments of great people. Since then, many thinkers have pointed out the flaws in Carlyle’s “Great Men” theory, but, whether intentionally or not, history is … Continue reading
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Tagged culture, current-events, faith, health, High Holidays, High Holy Days, Jewish holidays, Jewish thought, personal, religion, rosh hashanah, spirituality
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One Community, One Campus: Rosh Hashanah Day 1, 5777
Of all the enemies our ancestors faced in antiquity, perhaps none were more fearsome than the Assyrians. Around 900 BCE, Assyria began to conquer much of what was at the time the known world. The empire Assyria built stretched from … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged American Judaism, Conservative Judaism, faith, High Holidays, High Holy Days, Jewish holidays, Judaism, religion, rosh hashanah, spirituality, synagogue, synagogues
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King, The High Holy Days, and the ‘Threat to Justice Everywhere’
Last Wednesday [August 28, 2013] was the fiftieth anniversary of the 1963 “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” and Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech. In the lead up to this day, many spoke about … Continue reading
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Tagged ethics, freedom, High Holidays, High Holy Days, holidays, justice, Martin Luther King, responsibility, rosh hashanah, social justice, Torah
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Rabbi Michael Rose Knopf 