Sermons

Unlocking the Box Buried Within: How Psychology and Judaism Give Us the Keys to the Hope We Thought We Lost 

Rosh Hashanah | Rabbi D'ror Chankin-Gould | September 26, 2023

Unlocking the Box Buried Within: How Psychology and Judaism Give Us the Keys to the Hope We Thought We Lost Rabbi D’ror Chankin-Gould | Anshe Emet Synagogue | Rosh Hashanah Day I 5784/2023 | Blum  “There is always a way out.” In July of 2018, the world watched as twelve Thai boys on a soccer team Continue Reading »

“Leave Your Raft Behind” • Rosh Hashanah 5784 / 2023

Rosh Hashanah | Rabbi Benjy Forester | September 26, 2023

Rabbi Benjy Forester Anshe Emet Synagogue Rosh Hashanah 5784 / 2023 Sanctuary Service “Leave Your Raft Behind” I’m told that when the great scholar and activist Abraham Joshua Heschel would interview candidates for the Jewish Theological Seminary Rabbinical School, he liked to ask them what 3 things they would take with them to a desert Continue Reading »

Parsha Tatzria-Metzora

Tazria-Metzora | Rabbi D'ror Chankin-Gould | April 22, 2023

Parsha Shemini

Shemini | Rabbi Michael Siegel | April 15, 2023

Vayechi: The “Immortal” Words of Abraham Joshua Heschel: Thoughts on His 50th Yahrzeit

Vayechi | Rabbi Michael Siegel | January 7, 2023

There is a story told of two friends who had grown old together.  Serious baseball fans, they would discuss games throughout baseball history and argue controversial calls.  One question eluded them, though: Was there baseball in heaven.?  They made a deal with one another.  Whoever would die first would have to come back and tell Continue Reading »

Chayei Sara: The Normalization of Anti-Semitism is No Laughing Matter

Chayei Sarah | Rabbi Michael Siegel | November 19, 2022

The Normalization of Anti-Semitism is No Laughing Matter:  Sermon on Chayei Sara 2022  Anshe Emet Synagogue  Rabbi Michael S. Siegel I remember my first Selichot service at Anshe Emet.  There I was, fresh from the Seminary, wearing my brand-new white robe.  My job was to recite a prayer with the congregation. I left my seat Continue Reading »

Tetzaveh: The Clothing of Deception, The Clothing that Reveals

Tetzaveh | Rabbi Michael Siegel | February 12, 2022

Aliana is my first Bat Mitzvah with Panamanian roots, so in her honor and that of her family, both here in Chicago and those in Panama, I thought to speak this morning about something that had to do with Panama.  My problem is that my knowledge of Panama is limited.  Truth be told, the only Continue Reading »

Terumah: Keeping the Menorah Lit: The Danger of the “A” Word: Apartheid

Terumah | Rabbi Michael Siegel | February 5, 2022

How well do you visualize?  When someone tells you about something that is going to be remodeled, and they say, Well, we are going to take this wall down and move this couch here, a chair there.  We are going to change the color from this to this.  Of course, we are changing the light Continue Reading »

Mishpatim: Repro Shabbat

Mishpatim | Rabbi Michael Siegel | January 29, 2022

Back in the old country, back in the day of our great-great-grandparents, they knew the word “America”, but more often than not, the term that they used for this country was the goldinah medinah.  The golden land, a place so rich that the streets are paved with gold. But when they arrived in this country, Continue Reading »

Toldot: Changing the Meaning of a Phrase: Acknowledging the Hands of Esau in Our Time

Toldot | Rabbi Michael Siegel | November 6, 2021

Changing the Meaning of a Phrase: Acknowledging the Hands of Esau in Our Time Rabbi Michael S. Siegel: November 6, 2021  It is remarkable how a well-known saying can lose or change its meaning over time. Consider these nursery rhymes that many of us recited to our children: Baa Baa, Black Sheep, have you any wool? Continue Reading »