Rabbi – Rabbi Micah Streiffer

Do We Have to Forgive? Lessons From a Gourd Plant

Do we have to forgive? There’s a story in the Talmud (Ta’anit 2a-b) that says that Rabbi Elazar ben Shimon once insulted a man – called him ugly. And then immediately realized that he had done wrong. He got down off his donkey and pleaded for forgiveness. He said, “נַעֲנֵיתִי לְךָ, מְחוֹל לִי! – IContinueContinue reading “Do We Have to Forgive? Lessons From a Gourd Plant”

“As the Waters Cover the Sea”: A Prayer for Peace and Humanity

This is the sermon that I delivered on Yom Kippur morning 5785 (2024) at Am Shalom Congregation in Barrie, Ontario. This poem is called “Birkat Shalom – Blessing of Peace” by Marcia Falk נשאל מעין השלוםיזל כטליערף כמטר השלוםותמלא הארץ שלוםכמים לים מכסים Let us ask of the wellspring of peace:May peace drip like dew,AndContinueContinue reading ““As the Waters Cover the Sea”: A Prayer for Peace and Humanity”

Finding Your “Calling”

Two Jews, two Protestants, and two Catholics walk into a hospital. It sounds like a joke, but it’s actually the way I spent the summer of 2005. Like many rabbinical students, I participated in an intensive unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), learning how to be a chaplain. My compatriots in this endeavour did indeedContinueContinue reading “Finding Your “Calling””

Hineini: Celebrating Jewish Choices

NOTE: This is the sermon that I delivered on Yom Kippur Morning 5778 (2017). It gives the thinking behind my decision to begin officiating at Jewish weddings that include a non-Jewish partner. In ancient times, long before they were synagogues or rabbis or prayerbooks, there was the shofar. In those days, the shofar was soundedContinueContinue reading “Hineini: Celebrating Jewish Choices”