Tag: Sermon writing

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Israel Rabbinic Reflections

Rosh Chodesh Elul: Two Reform Rabbinic Perspectives on Teaching About Israel and Finding Ourselves in the Wilderness

The Reform Israel Rabbinic Cabinet has created a monthly forum where two rabbis will share with Reform rabbis their thoughts on teaching and preaching about Israel in the month ahead. For Rosh Chodesh Elul, Rabbi Melissa Simon has shared her thoughts, and Rabbi Dan Moskovitz has shared a Davar Acheir, a second perspective. 

Writing About Israel in Advance, by Rabbi Melissa Simon 

When I was asked to write this piece, my first question was “How late can I submit it?” This was not just because I have a tendency to procrastinate, but rather because every passing hour seems to see shifts and changes in the reality on the ground in the Middle East. So how can someone write about Israel in advance?  Writing about Israel in advance requires flexibility, an awareness of the possibility of a last-minute edit or rewrite, and creativity. It means identifying goals or themes and then ideating around them. Sometimes these initiatives can lead to meaningful adaptations and ideas.  

Over the first seven months of 2024, I organized and led three trips of Hillel campus staff from the United States, Canada, and Poland to Israel to better understand the post-October 7 reality. We painstakingly crafted a journal full of poetry, songs, prayers, and art. But then we faced a challenge: we desperately wanted to believe that our hostages wouldn’t still be held captive by the time the trip took place, yet it was a possibility (and sadly a reality throughout each trip). What did we do? We found an image that resembled a torn piece of tape, like the one Rachel Goldberg—the mother of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin—has been wearing attached to her clothing, what she calls “an emblem of pain,” marking the days of captivity of her beloved son, who was tragically murdered by Hamas. In solidarity, many of us around the world have been wearing the torn tape with the unbelievably increasing total number of days. We printed the blank tape image at the top of each day’s journal page and invited the participants to fill out the number of days each morning. It became a painful yet powerful ritual each day, as we marked the difficult passage of time. It centered the people of Israel and their reality at the forefront of our minds and hearts. 

The take-away I have from this experience is that however difficult it is, we must talk about Israel, we must write about Israel, we must engage in the work of Israel education—even when it is hard, even if our old systems and plans have failed us, even if we fear we will make a mistake. 

We need to center Israeli voices in our work, and we need to travel to Israel to experience the changed realities. We need to read books and articles, listen to podcasts, and watch TV and movies in order to add to our knowledge. We need to be creative with how we engage with Israel, and we need to be expansive in how we understand the people, land, and State of Israel. 

The greatest danger is the silence. The fear of getting it wrong causes some people to freeze and to fail to act. Our Jewish communities need prophetic and strong voices. They need sermons that make sense of what is hard to understand. They need classes that explain history and how present realities have come to be.   

Yes, sometimes you might need to edit that sermon right before services because something has shifted in world events. Yes, sometimes you might need to throw out the lesson plan to hold space to deal with a challenging reality. Yes, sometimes we can confess that we too are confused or scared or challenged. 

But even when it is hard—perhaps precisely because it is hard—we need to write, speak, and teach about Israel today and every day. 

Davar Acheir / Another Perspective: Always in the Wilderness, by Rabbi Dan Moskovitz 

Thank you, Rabbi Simon, for your thought-provoking and honest reflections on the challenges of writing about Israel amidst the daily uncertainty and dynamism of a post-October 7 world.

I too have been putting off my High Holy Day sermon topic selection let alone outlining and drafting, which by Elul is usually at least in my head if not on paper. Shabbat sermons and divrei Torah have been similarly “eleventh hour” as events impact perspective on a daily basis.  

And yet some things about Israel and the experience of Jews in the diaspora never change, even as they appear new to us as twenty-first-century Jews. For over seventy-five years, the miraculous existence of the State of Israel, to say nothing of Jews in the West in general; the nature, character, and acceptance among the community of nations of both the Jewish State and the Jewish People has been fragile and under attack from enemies “foreign and domestic.” The fantasy we tell ourselves is that the forces unleashed on October 7 are new and different, rather than revealing something that has been there all along, and that our people have faced for millennia.  

Franklin Foer’s piece in the Atlantic, “The Golden Age of American Jews Is Ending,” makes the point that what we are experiencing now is not the exception but rather normative of attitudes toward Jews and becoming normative toward Israel. I draw some degree of strength from that sad reality. We have been here before and are still here.  

I think of the tens of thousands of sermons and articles written by our rabbinic predecessors in their own precarious times; the strength (koach) and wisdom they gave their communities in dire moments such as these that guided our people through the wilderness. Maybe that is the burden and the blessing of being a Jew or a Jewish State—we are always in the wilderness striving toward a promised land, a promised time, but we never quite get there. In the striving, in the wilderness journey, our true character is formed and the dangers to our survival are revealed so we can confront them.  

The Reform Israel Rabbinic Cabinet asks that if you choose to respond to these authors, you do so only with kavod harav—respect for the rabbi sharing their wisdom, experience, time, and talent. 

Rabbi Melissa B. Simon is the director of Israel education for Hillel International and lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Rabbi Dan Moskovitz is the senior rabbi of Temple Sholom in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 

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Israel Rabbinic Reflections

Rosh Chodesh Av: Two Reform Rabbinic Perspectives on Embracing Conversations about Israel

The Reform Israel Rabbinic Cabinet has created a monthly forum featuring the thoughts of two Reform rabbis on Israel. This content provides Reform rabbis with material for teaching and preaching about Israel in the month ahead. For Rosh Chodesh Av, Rabbi Jeremy Barras has been invited to share his perspective, and Rabbi Keren Gorban shares a Davar Acheir, a second perspective.

The Many Faces of Zionism, by Rabbi Jeremy Barras

A few days after this year’s CCAR Convention in Philadelphia, I wrote a note to my colleagues urging us to respect each other’s views on Israel. For many years, as someone who stands to the right of many in the Conference on such issues, I have been frustrated by what I perceived as a lack of support for Israel amongst our colleagues. In the past I would spend parts of the workday debating with one colleague or another. Over time, I realized these exchanges were not productive. On the contrary, they often unnecessarily caused hurt feelings.

For the past few years, and especially since October 7, I have softened my approach even further. It became perfectly clear to me after October 7 that we each care deeply about what happens in Israel, and we each share equally in the pain and suffering that October 7 and its aftermath have caused. I will admit that I felt a tinge of resentment when the war began, and many of us called on the Biden Administration to support Israel in her time of need. For the past twenty years, some of us—including myself—have been criticized for being so active in AIPAC. Now that we have seen such incredible support from our government for Israel, I resented that some of us have been working tirelessly on Capitol Hill to build these relationships that have produced such incredible results, all the while taking criticism for being “too right wing.”

That is how I felt in the days immediately following October 7. I no longer feel that way. As the war drags on, I feel that each one of us brings an important approach to support for Israel. What is important is that we each feel like we are fulfilling our responsibility to support Israel in the way we best see fit.

Recently, I finished reading Yehudah Mirsky’s excellent biography of Rav Kook. I have always been drawn to Rav Kook and his willingness to open the bounds of traditional Judaism to the innovations of modern Zionism. Mirsky beautifully describes Rav Kook’s ability to see the holiness in the commitment of secular Zionists. While the ultra-Charedi world dismissed the secular Zionists as antithetical to Judaism, Rav Kook recognized that through Zionist activity a Jew could be brought into the realm of spirituality.

From my perspective, October 7 intensified Jewish identity for Jews around the world. Overnight, we found ourselves frightened for our futures. But that fear caused us to look deeply at why we care so much. And when the encampments were disassembled and the protesters finally gave way, we could not help asking ourselves a couple of questions: What is it about being Jewish that is so important to us? Why do the lies and vitriol of our enemies hurt us so profoundly? And in these moments, when we ask these questions, we may each draw different conclusions. This is no different than the early Zionists. There were so many different schools of thought on how the goals of Zionism should be achieved. But ultimately, it was clear that all of them were necessary to build the State of Israel. Likewise, today, just as Ben Gurion argued with Begin, and A.D. Gordon debated with Rav Kook, our differences should not stifle our contributions, they should complement them. No matter what our views are, we will do better to begin with the baseline that we each love the State of Israel, and our differences no matter how profound, are imbued with the holiness of the Zionist spirit. 

Davar Acheir, Another Perspective, by Rabbi Keren Gorban

We have entered the season when we remember, mourn, and seek comfort after the destructions of Jerusalem. The second of those destructions, our tradition teaches, resulted from שנאת חינם, sinat chinam, the free-flowing hatred and intolerance of others and their ideas, positions, and priorities. As Rabbi Barras rightly notes, the strength of our community depends on us valuing pluralism and learning from diverse perspectives.

I think it’s critical for us to recognize that our community also benefits from including the perspectives of those who identify as anti-Zionist and non-Zionist. When I meet with someone who tells me that they don’t believe in God, I invite more conversation: “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in.” Invariably, I don’t believe in that God either, but they and I can only discover our shared values and beliefs when we approach each other with respect and curiosity. From their opposition, I strengthen my own connection to God and learn more about how to teach theological complexity. They deepen their understanding of what people might mean when they refer to God, even if they ultimately decide that a relationship with God isn’t meaningful.

Likewise, we, as rabbis and as a movement, need to invite anti-Zionists and non-Zionists into conversation about the Zionism they oppose. These are not debates with the goal of proving one side right and the other wrong. These have to be open, curious, respectful opportunities to learn more about our hopes, visions, frustrations, etc., for and with the State of Israel. We will not always agree—in fact, we may often disagree—but let it be the result of deep understanding and love for each other rather than שנאת חינם, sinat chinam.

The Reform Israel Rabbinic Cabinet asks that if you choose to respond to these authors, you do so only with kavod harav—respect for the rabbi—sharing their wisdom, experience, time, and talent.

Rabbi Jeremy Barras is Senior Rabbi at Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest, Florida. He also serves on the CCAR board of trustees. Rabbi Keren Gorban serves Temple Beth El in Tacoma, Washington.

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General CCAR Rabbis Reform Judaism

Rabbi-Hacking Part I: Hacking the Sermon

“The day is short and the task is great.” Rabbi Tarfon’s observation applies to us as much as it did to our predecessors. Our work is endless and our time is limited. How do we make the most of that time? How do we ensure we have enough for our families, our communities, and ourselves?

The next four blog posts will feature unique resources that can help in doing so. The title—“Rabbi-Hacker”—is derived from the popular website “Lifehacker.” While often used incorrectly as a term of derision, the word “hacking” comes from the software industry and early days of personal computing, where hackers found shortcuts and creative “workarounds” to solve problems.

The website Lifehacker is devoted to the idea that we can use technologies and the experiences of others to meet our personal and professional goals more efficiently. These technologies are not just electronic. They include systems and thought processes developed and tested over time. I am confident we can learn from them, even as our goals and responsibilities as rabbis are unique and multi-faceted. They include speaking, teaching, writing, and leading an organization. Drawing from my own experience and research, the next four blog posts will look at ways we can “hack” each of them.

WHAT IS SCORRE

Many of us use the Alban Institute as a resource for pastoral and leadership resources. We may not know, however, about some of the other extraordinary resource centers in the Christian world that can teach and benefit us as rabbis. One of them that I experienced for four days this year is known as the SCORRE Conference. SCORRE stands for “Subject, Central Theme, Objective, Rationale, Resources, Evaluation.” Developed by writer, minister and comedian Ken Davis, it consists of a comprehensive system for preparing, developing and delivering speeches and sermons.

I spent four of the most meaningful and productive days of my life at the SCORRE conference in Orlando this past May, where we learned the system and then spent several hours in sessions where we used it to prepare and deliver speeches, and were then critiqued by instructors and other participants. It was like two years of homiletics packed into three days. The system is deceptively simple, and enormously effective. I cannot do it justice in one blog posts, but I will try to distill its essence.

HOW TO USE IT

The essence of the SCORRE method is two-fold. First, it relies on the idea that every speech or sermon demands the listener take some of action. That action can be changing our perspective, learning a new technique for doing something, or taking an action like voting or petitioning. A speech or sermon written with the SCORRE method does not teach simply to impart information. It teaches in order to persuade or cause an action.

Second, and most importantly, every speech or sermon must be summarized in one sentence. The sentence can be one of two kinds: an enabling proposition, or a persuasive proposition. A persuasive proposition always has the words “should” and “because” in it. An enabling proposition always has the words “can” and “by” in it. This central sentence does not have to appear verbatim in the speech, but we always need to write it down. The SCORRE process gives us a blueprint for writing it.

First, we pick a subject. It could be “Abraham” or “generation to generation” or “memory.” Then we pick a central theme within that subject. What about “Abraham” or “memory” do we want to discuss? Perhaps we want to focus on Abraham’s hospitality when he welcomes the three strangers. Perhaps we want to zero in on the way memory is incorporated and relived in a Passover seder. After we pick the central theme, we decide on our objective. This is where we decide our “thesis” or takeaway message. If our subject was “memory” and our central theme “memory and ritual,” our objective could be “We can honor the memory of our ancestors by practicing these three rituals.”

The rationale is another name for the points of a speech. It hangs on a key word, which is always a plural noun. In the case above, the word “rituals” is the keyword. The precise rituals we highlight would be our rationale. The rationale always matches the key word in grammatical form, so they would always be nouns.

Resources are the illustrations. They are the examples or midrashim or personal stories. They reinforce the rationale.

Evaluation is a reminder to constantly improve. It is the discipline to ask questions after we have finished and to seek constructive input from others.

EXAMPLES

This year I used the SCORRE methodology for each of my High Holy Day sermons. My preparation time was significantly less than in years past, and the messages were both more focused, clearly delivered and (if I may be so bold) effective. I also felt more confident in tackling a difficult subject, as the methodology gave me a way in to focusing a message around it. For example, I decided to talk on Kol Nidre on the “Giving God a Chance.” My enabling proposition was “We can challenge ourselves to think more deeply about God by confronting three key obstacles.” Notice the proposition has the “can” and “by” in it. The key word is “obstacles.” They were 1) theodicy, 2) prayer and 3) fundamentalism.” The illustrations fit each point. Under theodicy I talked about the Newtown shootings. Under prayer I talked about Unetanah Tokef. Under fundamentalism I talked about religious orthodoxy.

The exact proposition did not appear in the sermon, and the three-fold structure was not terribly obvious. Simply the disciplining of outlining and writing it helped keep my writing on target.

I know this brief overview may make SCORRE seem overly simplistic. But the opposite is true. A clear framework gives us room for intellectual exploration. The SCORRE method works in more than sermons and speeches. I use it in my bulletin articles, blogs and even books. If you would like to talk about further, do not hesitate to email or call me. It will save you time and help make our sacred message more clear and meaningful. If you are really interested, I would highly recommend the SCORRE conference, which is this May in Orlando. I’ll be returning, as its organizers have become friends and mentors, and we can always use Unknownmore practice and growth.

Rabbi Evan Moffic is the rabbi of Congregation Solel in Highland Park, IL.