WORDS THAT BREATHE

At Congregation Or Ami, teens carried Torah on Kol Nidre and sounded the final shofar of Yom Kippur. Why we invite them to lead now, not someday.

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

A blessing for rabbis, cantors, educators, and every Jewish professional and volunteer who carried their community through the High Holy Days.

A pre-Yom Kippur prayer by Rabbi Paul Kipnes for the volunteers, staff, clergy, and teams who carry a congregation through the High Holy Days.

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.

A blessing for rabbis, cantors, educators, and every synagogue professional and volunteer who carries their community into the High Holy Days of 5787.

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?

The mother died four days after her daughter became Bat Mitzvah. And then I had it out with God.

Rabbi Paul Kipnes remembers his teacher Sara Lee, Professor Sara S. Lee, longtime director of the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at HUC-JIR, and the High Holy Day lesson that changed how he leads: it comes around every year, so plan ahead.

Lessons learned while taking their last breaths. Reflections on bikkur cholim (visiting the sick) with David and Jerry. A Yom Kippur sermon.