Search
-
Read Rabbi Knopf’s Recent Posts
- Shabbat for Shabbat’s Sake: Parashat Sh’lakh Lekha 5782 June 25, 2022
- Embrace the Wilderness: Parashat Beha’alotekha 5782 June 21, 2022
- Message to the Class of 2022 June 20, 2022
- Punk’s Not Dead, It’s Jewish: Shavuot 5782 June 7, 2022
- ‘Earn This’: Last Day of Passover 5782 April 24, 2022
Tag Archives: holidays
Punk’s Not Dead, It’s Jewish: Shavuot 5782
I couldn’t be more excited for the new FX/Hulu miniseries Pistol, which promises to tell the true story of one of my favorite bands, The Sex Pistols. I first discovered The Pistols as a teen, when my natural disposition toward … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged holidays, Judaism, justice, music, politics, Punk rock, religion, resistance, social justice, society, Torah
Leave a comment
‘Earn This’: Last Day of Passover 5782
Over the course of the past year or so, I’ve committed to filling in what I call my “pop culture blindspots,” making a point to watch movies with a significant cultural footprint that I, for various reasons, haven’t seen. One … Continue reading
Judaism for the Wise and Wicked: Passover 5782
Questions are perhaps the defining feature of the Seder. The ceremony, with its unusual rites and symbols, appears to have been specifically designed to arouse questions, particularly from children. To all these questions, let me add one that I want … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Conservative Judaism, conservative rabbis, holidays, Judaism, Passover, Pesah, religion, Torah, wisdom
Leave a comment
To Be, or Not To Be: Sukkot 5782
When I first became a father, I felt the predictable mix of joy, excitement, and fear. Other fathers had told me to expect all of those feelings, particularly the fear. Babies are fragile and needy and apparently don’t come with … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections, Sermons
Tagged arba minim, holidays, Judaism, religion, spirituality, Sukkot, Torah, wisdom
Leave a comment
Let’s Talk About How We Talk: Yom Kippur 5782
One of the noteworthy features of our Yom Kippur liturgy is that the viddui, the list of transgressions we confess ten times over the course of this holy day, is dominated by sins of communication. Al het sh’hatanu b’vitu’i s’fatayim, … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged holidays, Judaism, politics, religion, social media, society, Talmud, Torah, wisdom, Yom Kippur
Leave a comment
Our Masks: Kol Nidrei 5782
We’ve each come up with our own tricks to make the past year and a half a little more bearable. One of mine is that, sometimes, when I’m wearing a mask, I like to pretend I’m a ninja, or a … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged holidays, Judaism, positive psychology, psychology, religion, spirituality, Torah, wisdom, Yom Kippur
Leave a comment
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
1 Comment
A call for justice and peace in Israel and Palestine from an imam and a rabbi
As our respective communities celebrate the Islamic Holy Day of Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan) and the Jewish festival of Shavuot (which commemorates the receiving of the Torah), we call upon Muslims, Jews and people of conscience everywhere to denounce … Continue reading
Posted in Articles and Op-Eds
Tagged holidays, Israel, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, justice, palestine, peace, politics, religion, social justice, society
Leave a comment
30 Days of Liberation 2017
The Talmud teaches that, during the 30 days before Passover, we should learn about matters related to the holiday. In that spirit, I composed a brief message for each of the previous 30 days, drawing from the wisdom Passover imparts. I hope you find these … Continue reading
Posted in 30 Days of Liberation, Reflections
Tagged faith, God, holidays, Jewish holidays, Liberation, Passover, personal, Pesah, religion, spirituality
Leave a comment
Illumin8 2016
1st Night – Playing with Fire During the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Holy Temple had been used for the worship of Greek gods. When the Maccabees captured it, they set about rededicating it for the service of the God … Continue reading
Posted in Illumin8, Reflections, Uncategorized
Tagged Chanukah, faith, Hanukkah, holidays, Jewish holidays, positive psychology, psychology, religion, spirituality
Leave a comment