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Read Rabbi Knopf’s Recent Posts
- Leaning Into Love: A Jewish Message for Lent/Easter 2020 April 27, 2020
- Wearing a face mask? You’re doing a mitzvah. Make a brachah! April 14, 2020
- What God Needs Now: A Brief Pandemic Passover Reflection April 12, 2020
- A Eulogy for Helen Zimm (z”l) April 8, 2020
- Reflections on the COVID-19 Pandemic March 23, 2020
Tag Archives: immigration
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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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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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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The Responsibilities of Privilege
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about luck. It all started this past summer, when my friend Nadya invited me to her naturalization ceremony. Now, I’d never been to such a ceremony before. But I assumed it would be a … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged current-events, history, immigration, personal, politics, prayer, religion, repentance, responsibility, social justice, society, tefillah, teshuvah, tikkun olam, tzedakah
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Witness and Lament: Remarks at Solidarity Tisha B’Av
Temple Beth-El, Richmond, Virginia, July 22, 2018 כָּל֨וּ בַדְּמָע֤וֹת עֵינַי֙ חֳמַרְמְר֣וּ מֵעַ֔י “My eyes are spent with tears, my heart is in tumult.” These are the words of the biblical book of Lamentations, traditionally believed to have been authored by … Continue reading
Posted in Public Statements, Sermons
Tagged current-events, ethics, faith, immigration, Islam, justice, morality, politics, religion, social justice
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