Rosh Hashanah Day 2 5786
September 24, 2025
[Note from Sept 25
This sermon sparked a fair amount of conversation after services and in my household. I do have some caveats on my lesson from yesterday.
The sermon below applies ONLY among people that actually want to listen to another human being.
If you come to lecture someone else and tell them why they are wrong, you will not be getting any closer to truth.
It applies to conversations where both parties wish to get closer to the truth, it is far more effective.
If you are coming from a completely false premise like 2+2=5 or vaccines cause autism or that Israel is a settler-colonialist enterprise then this sermon is moot. It is hard to have a conversation or debate with someone that has imagined their own facts.
As a reminder, while we may all be entitled to our own opinions, a great tragedy of this moment is that far too many mistake their opinions for facts!
If you are trying to find the most authentic way to celebrate Shabbat or the best way to care for another human being or what actually happened at Sinai, then this sermon has something to say to you.
This sermon is about the Jewish predilection for debate and argument FOR THE SAKE OF HEAVEN.
I pray that this will add to the conversation about how we can best serve our Creator, while treating others with the respect they deserve.]
Sermon begins here:
Long before most of us arrived this morning, our Machzor shared challenging words with us. These words are part of the daily worship. They are not unique to the High Holy Day season, but instead ask us EVERY SINGLE DAY, what EXACTLY are we doing here--not just in this room but on this earth. Yesterday these questions inspired my teaching on our inherent value as Jews, today I’d like to focus on Truth with a capital T, on the complexity of this world and how Jewish faith allows us to accept this challenge.
Each day I ask myself these questions. What are we? What is our life?
I sometimes think back to dark, cold days as a student at Brandeis, considering entering Rabbinical School, reading these words and wondering if I would ever feel comfortable sharing Jewish wisdom with any community. Was I depressed or just trying to imagine my place in the world? In truth, the answer to both was likely yes. Truly understanding ourselves is a lifelong journey. Standing in this sacred room, with this holy congregation, attempting to reach the holy presence of our Creator, our tradition shares that the Brit, the Covenant, is the answer to the question of our purpose. It reminds us of our inherent value, but demands that we not rest on our laurels, and instead requires us to live a holy life.
One of my favorite teachings from Reb Simcha Bunim of Peshischa
Everyone must have two pockets, with a note in each pocket, so that he or she can reach into one or the other, depending on the need. When feeling lowly and depressed, discouraged or disconsolate, one should reach into the right pocket, and, there, find the words: “For my sake was the world created.”בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם
But when feeling high and mighty one should reach into the left pocket, and find the words: “I am but dust and ashes.” וְאָנֹכִ֖י עָפָ֥ר וָאֵֽפֶר
https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/129984.3?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
If the internet cooperates with me, I’ll have a gift for you in the coming days. It is a wooden coin with those words inscribed upon it. If you keep it in your pocket, this sermon will be part of your life every day! You will be reminded of this sacred teaching, that we are inherently valuable AND simultaneously are a tiny speck of the universe. As Rabbi Simcha said, the challenge
I was listening recently to one of my teachers, Rabbi Shai Held speak about one of HIS teachers, Rabbi Soloveitchik of blessed memory. Rabbi Held spoke about a common understanding of Hegel’s philosophy, that we have a thesis, followed by an antithesis, followed by a synthesis of the two. The assumption is that two seemingly contradictory truths are reconciled into one perfect solution. Yet, Judaism, Jewish law, Jewish thinking so rarely works that way. [The podcast i reference is this one: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/questions-that-cant-be-answered-the-theology-of/id1731175248?i=1000723712629]
Judaism demonstrates that there are multiple places in our lives where compromise is not possible. We cannot simply find the middle ground. We must look uncomfortably between two seeming opposites and understand that there is truth in both places. This can be confusing, as the Jewish news always loves to report that the Committee of Jewish Law and Standards has simultaneously permitted and forbidden particular religious rituals and practices. In reality, they show how different communities can practice differently and still be united in one big tent.
In our own Conservative Jewish world, as we accepted women’s more universal obligation to mitzvot, different communities followed this practice in different ways and at different times. More recently, with COVID, different communities accepted zoom minyanim with different requirements--yet all were considered part of our halachic tradition, even as they had differing rationales for their boundaries. For some, it seems impossible to hold these differing practices but the Jewish world has held together, even as we have had these variants for hundreds and even thousands of years.
On a more humorous note, you have all heard the joke where two people come to the rabbi with a business dispute. After listening to one, he says, “Yes, you are right.” After listening to the other, he say, “Yes, you are right.” His wise wife says that the two are disagreeing and cannot both be right, and his response is, of course, “Ah-ha--You are right!”
We see the same unity of community without complete unity of practice in the Ashkenazi rabbi’s discomfort with Levirite marriage--when a married man dies childless, his widow is theoretically supposed to marry his brother. They are supposed to have children in the late man’s name. On Tuesday that relationship would be forbidden, but the following week it is now required?!? How can that be? In the Sephardic world, where a man being married to more than one wife was historically acceptable, the brother was often expected to follow through AND he could still marry his own chosen wife. In the Ashkenazi world, where men have traditionally only been married to one wife, the rabbis strongly encouraged halitzah, a ritual freeing the brother and his widow from this relationship.
Ashkenazi and Mizrachi Jews have remained connected as Jews, even as there were practices that diverged. Smaller examples include whether we lift the Torah (hagbah) before we read from it (Sephardic) or afterwards (Ashkenazic) or even what extra foods are prohibited on Passover.
Even farther back, the Talmud speaks regularly about the School of Hillel and the School of Shammai. In virtually all cases, we follow Bet Hillel. The explanation given is that they were generous in their teaching. When they would teach a practice, they would first teach Bet Shammai’s perspective before sharing their own. There are 18 decrees where we follow Bet Shammai’s practice. In Talmud Shabbat, there is a strange story that Bet Shammai took over the Sanhedrin one day, blocking the doorway to ensure they had a majority and forced 18 laws through. One of those laws was to discourage Jews from drinking any wine made by gentiles (stam yeinam). According to some, that day was as dark as the day of the Golden Calf. Even as the laws were upheld by Hillel and the Jewish people, the methodology of using force instead of argument to dictate the law was seen as a stark violation of Jewish tradition. [Source https://www.mayimachronim.com/the-18-decrees-of-beit-shammai/]
As Americans, holding two seemingly contradictory ideas seems challenging. Too many have forgotten how to have a conversation, to debate ideas without forgetting the holiness and the humanity of others. We call this space a sanctuary and I believe VERY strongly that it should be a space of holiness separate from the world around us. I pray that we can continue to model here the possibility of respectful dialogue, of holding space for loving other human beings even if we disagree with their opinions. With Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai, we see that even seemingly respectful dialogue can sometimes end in more tragic circumstances. No matter our perspectives, we cannot steamroll others, but instead must find ways to acknowledge their humanity.
Of course, all that is dependent upon their being two simultaneous truths. When one is a lie and one is a truth, there is no middle ground for a very different reason!
Returning to Reb Simcha Bunim, how do we hold these two truths? There is no synthesis, no compromise to say that we are simultaneously dust and diamonds, specks on the fabric of the universe AND also that the world was created for us. We are not somewhat meaningful. Your presence is vital to this world. The world cannot exist without you. AND somehow, simultaneously, we are tiny, a speck on a speck of the universe.
The world today seems to love the absurd compromise OR holding only an extreme. Judaism demands that we hold more in our hearts, our minds and our souls. Our tradition teaches that there is not always a perfect compromise, but a recognition of the messiness of the world, a recognition that we can love one another, even as we are frustrated with another. We can desire for the betterment of our community and for those around us, for peace in the Middle East AND the destruction of Hamas and its murderous ideology. We can care about the security and wellbeing of Jews here and abroad, WHILE recognizing the humanity of all peoples, regardless of where they are from.
There are numerous theories about antisemitism, perhaps the world's most enduring hatred. I have two slightly absurd theories. One is that our belief that any decent person has a place in the world to come is a threat to the exclusive theologies of so many faiths. The second is that our history of argument, of holding more than one truth simultaneously, is also a threat to those who believe that their truth is more vital, more correct than any other.
For many in this world, their truth can only be valid if my truth is invalidated. Their covenant can only be holy if mine is erased or transformed. Judaism says NO. We can both exist. We can both believe wholeheartedly in our faith without denying the authenticity of another. Do I believe in the resurrection of Jesus or the Mohommad’s revelations--NO--but I can believe that it is true to the followers of those faiths. AND I believe that they can find their own salvation (as long as they are decent people).
Standing here, I have a huge request for you. I ask you if you can acknowledge that other people might disagree with you and also be right. In this way, we return to our ancestors who regularly argued with our Creator. We remember Abraham who tried to save Sodom and Gomorrah. We remember Rebecca who questioned how Jacob and Esau could fight in her womb. We remember Israel, Jacob, Jeshurun, our forefather with many names, whose identity and connection to our people continues to inspire us, demanding that we fight for TRUTH, while trying to hold strong to our faith and humanity.
I close today with words from Talmud Taanit 7a:8-12
R’ Hama b. Hanina said, “What is the meaning of the verse: 'Iron sharpens iron, so too does a man sharpen the countenance of his friend.' (Proverbs 27:17)?"
This teaches you that just as one iron sharpens the other [lit. “its friend, chaverav], so too do two scholars sharpen each other with [joint study of] halacha. (https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/2191.3?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en)
As we observe this sacred day, may our holy conversations and holy debate sharpen one another, inspiring us to find truth and love one another in the process. We are a holy community, we must live as one! May you all be written and sealed in the Book of Good Life.
To see the video (for now) of this sermon. You can watch on youtube at, the link should take you to about 1:52 of the service, when the sermon was given. https://www.youtube.com/live/S-RIVfVkpH0?si=ZnWspQYqgGhEHbka&t=6821
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