mstreiffer

Finding God: A Sermon for Yom Kippur Morning 5773

There was a cartoon going around Facebook last week that I really related to. It showed Bart Simpson writing lines on a blackboard. But instead of writing “I will not pull my sister’s hair” or “I will not eat my homework,” this time, Bart had a little kippah on his head, and he was writing:ContinueContinue reading “Finding God: A Sermon for Yom Kippur Morning 5773”

The Life That We Would Like to be Living: A Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5773

The Architect Frank Lloyd Wright tells about a memory. He was nine years old, and he was walking across a snowy field with his no-nonsense uncle. The boy wandered this way and that, collecting reeds and taking in the scenery, while his uncle walked straight across the field. Upon reaching the top of the hill,ContinueContinue reading “The Life That We Would Like to be Living: A Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5773”

Books, Bullies, Beit Shemesh: A Sermon for Parashat Bo

My two older sons recently did something very strange and surprising: they started reading a lot! The reason is that they found a book – or actually a series of books – that they really like. It’s called Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It’s a fictional, first-person account of something most of us would ratherContinueContinue reading “Books, Bullies, Beit Shemesh: A Sermon for Parashat Bo”

Kaddish for Jastrow

It was about a month ago that our dog Jastrow died. He was 3. He escaped from the yard and got hit by a car. Our kids were devastated. So were we. Jastrow’s name was the proof of my rabbi-nerdiness. (Only other rabbis realized that he was named for the Marcus Jastrow Dictionary of theContinueContinue reading “Kaddish for Jastrow”