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October 12, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Rabbi Ari Saks Sermon for Parashat Lekh L’kha – October 12, 2013* Installation Weekend of Rabbi Moshe Saks Temple Israel, Scranton PA I want to thank the leadership team and my father, my Abba, Rabbi Moshe Saks, for extending the invitation to speak this morning about Parashat Lekh L’kha. But before I begin, I wanted to share a quick observation about my Abba, which you may or may already not know. He’s a man who loves logistics. He loves figuring out how to get from point A to point B, sometimes when you don’t even ask him to. My wife Rachel and I have developed a routine when talking to my Abba about making plans to come visit him, my Ema, and my sister[...]
Category : Rabbi Sermons Shabbat Tag : Abraham Abram leadership lekh l'kha lekh lekha Philadelphia Eagles rabbi Rabbi Moshe Saks sermons shabbat Temple Israel
September 14, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Rabbi Ari Saks Congregation Beth Mordecai Yom Kippur Sermon 5774 (September 14, 2013)* Standing behind the doors of the closed ballroom in one of the finer hotels in Spokane, Washington, I nervously prepared myself for one of the scariest, most vulnerable moments in my 17 years of life…running for Religious Education Vice President of Pinwheel USY, the local region of United Synagogue Youth. My hands sweaty, my heart in my stomach, I opened the doors and did this…cue Mordecai Ben David music…That’s right, I danced into a room full of teenagers rocking out to Mordecai Ben David’s classical religious single, “Moshiach, Moshiach, Moshiach! (or Messiah, Messiah, Messiah!)” Though I don’t remember exactly what I said – I probably blacked out after that[...]
Category : Holidays Sermons Uncategorized Yom Kippur Tag : holidays sermons Yom Kippur
September 13, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Rabbi Ari Saks Congregation Beth Mordecai Kol Nidrei Sermon 5774 (September 13, 2013)* When you turn on the TV at night, there are many options from which to choose. Personally, I have seen too many episodes of reality TV competition shows, like Top Chef or Project Runway than I’m proud to admit. Though they are hardly my first choice, the unfolding drama is hard to resist. One of the themes that often come up in each of these competition shows is just how much the competitors don’t like teams. They are individual artists with their own aesthetics, or to use language that we have developed here, they have their own unique Torah of how to be an artist and they don’t[...]
Category : Holidays Sermons Yom Kippur Tag : sermons Yom Kippur
September 5, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
The Necessity of Vulnerability for Connection Rabbi Ari Saks Congregation Beth Mordecai Rosh Hashanah Sermon 5774 (September 5, 2013)* It was a cool Rosh Hashanah morning in early September. All of the worshippers of the small schul in the center of town had already been davening, praying together for a few hours. They were currently davening the Mussaf Amidah, the central prayer in the second half of the service which we, here are Beth Mordecai, will soon pray together. Every worshipper was deep in their thoughts, shuckling back and forth as the words flowed from their lips…zohrenu l’hayyim tovim kol v’nei v’ritekha – God, remember us the children of your covenant for good. Little Deborah, all of 9 years old, stood watching as the men and women of[...]
Category : Rabbi Rosh Hashanah Sermons Uncategorized Tag : Rosh Hashanah sermons
March 23, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
From Transformation to Redemption: Stepping into the Red Sea and Beyond (Shabbat Hagadol, March 23, 2013)* Rabbi Ari Saks Congregation Beth Mordecai Perth Amboy, NJ On a cold, blustery afternoon in mid-town Manhattan I sat down with Cantor David Levine, zikhrono livrakhah, may his memory be for a blessing, to discuss the upcoming High Holiday season. I was impressed with his breadth of knowledge on hazzanut, the art of cantorial music, and I was excited by his willingness to try new ideas to make the service more engaging and meaningful. Yet the most inspiring moment of my time with our beloved hazzan was[...]
Category : Passover Rabbi Sermons Shabbat Tag : cantor david levine egypt hazzanut high holidays mareh kohen passover pesah rabbi melinda zalma redemption Rosh Hashanah shabbat slavery transformation tzror hamor Yom Kippur