WORDS THAT BREATHE

Is Zionism a yes, a no, or complicated? Rabbi Paul Kipnes makes the case against “no,” explains why “yes” alone isn't enough, and asks us to stay in covenantal relationship with Israel.

A Yom Kippur sermon on what a rabbi's toddler granddaughter taught him about presence, honest words, boundaries, and holiness in ordinary moments.

A Rosh Hashanah Eve sermon on whether prayer still matters — told through Hannah, an elderly woman in Kyiv who never stopped praying for the world.

A nine-year-old gives away the foul ball he dreamed of catching — a Rosh Hashanah story about kindness, empathy, and what holds our broken world together.

Rabbi Paul Kipnes draws on the Talmudic tale of Honi the Circle Maker and the memory of Judy Friedman for a Rosh Hashanah lesson on planting chesed and hope.

When life feels faru’a - unrestrained and uncertain - Torah invites us to gather ourselves again. A reflection on Ki Tissa, leadership, the golden calf, grief, and the grounding wisdom of Rabbi Dr. Andrea Weiss.

Friends, in just a few moments we will rise for Kaddish. Before we do, I need ten minutes of holy honesty. These past weeks, many of us have watched events unfold in Minneapolis and beyond, and we have felt the ground shift under our feet. We have said the names Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, and we have struggled with the same question echoing in so many Jewish hearts: How can this be happening here, and what does our Jewish tradition ask of us now? This is not a partisa

In a fearful world, Judaism still calls us to bring blessing into brokenness. Rabbi Paul Kipnes asks: What does it mean to be a Jew today?

If Kol Nidre is really an Aramaic legal formula, why do we keep singing it?

How to find hope when the world feels hopeless.

How to respond when life out there is so full of stress that we often want to pull back, circle the wagons, and just take care of ourselves.

How wonderful to gather together for a wonderful start of Jewish New Year 5784, abound with simchas and blessings, with hopes and dreams....

It was Yom Kippur, 1944, toward the end of the Nazi reign of terror. But the Jews imprisoned in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp, most...

Opening the ark on Rosh Hashana morning last week were Lynn Klinenberg, her daughter Susan Glick and her daughter-in-law Ellen...

Sermon: That Time My wife was spit on... in Jerusalem... by a Jew. AKA: Rejecting Tribalism, Embracing Discomfort

Also known as:Rejecting Tribalism, Embracing Discomfort

What’s with the raging wildfires and destructive flooding, the mass shootings and mindless meanness all around? How many more need to die to motivate Your mercy, to finally get You to act on our behalf? What the heck is going on with You, God?

How I found faith that got me through these tumultuous years.

May we be written for a good year in the Book of Life! And perhaps that will happen if we go back to basics. If we go back to kindergarten and be our best selves.

During Kol Nidre, we began a three-part conversation about God. (View it in theKol Nidre service at OramiLIVE.com ). In Part One, which I...