Sermon Sparks
High Holiday Resources for 5785
We offer these texts, sermon ideas, articles, talking points, and insights about the Israel-Hamas war and its reverberating effects to make it a little easier to meet the needs of your community at a tremendously difficult time.
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Vayeshev, Yosef’s brothers, and Gaza
"More and more I begin to believe that we are as defined by those calls for help we do not answer than as by those calls that we do."
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Resources for Responding to Israel-Gaza War
We offer these texts as starting points for rabbis and cantors to speak to their communities after this first full week of war. When we have no real answers to provide people in this painful time of uncertainty, the best we can do is offer teaching that orients and grounds us.
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Tishrei: Guide to Immigration Justice Teachings for Rabbis and Cantors
The connection between Sukkot and immigration is incredibly rich.
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Israel Resources for Clergy: High Holidays 5784
Resources for Jewish clergy preparing to talk and teach about Israel on the High Holidays.
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Shabbat Hazon: Massachusetts Reimagining Communities Sermon & Study Toolkit
T'ruah invites Massachusetts clergy to use this toolkit as a way to connect the decarceration of women and girls in the Commonwealth with Shabbat Hazon.
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Connecting Parshat Tazria-Metzora to the Moment in Israel
A resource for clergy speaking about Israel at 75.
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Israel at 75 Resources for Clergy: Shabbat of April 21-22, 2023
As Jewish clergy we have an obligation to raise our moral voices against injustice being perpetrated at home and abroad.
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Kernels of Inspiration for the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) 2022
Five chaverim share thoughts on a social-justice-themed sermon they might give in the upcoming High Holiday season. We hope that their insights will move your intellectual gears as you prepare to deliver sacred messages to your community. Each chaver will share a topic, the text they are basing their sermon around, and the takeaway they...
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Reflections from Three Generations of T’ruah Leaders on the 20th Anniversary of the September 11 Attacks
T’ruah’s growth over the last 20 years is intertwined with the events of September 11, 2001. We asked three writers who represent three “generations” of T’ruah leadership — Rabbi Gerry Serotta (founding), Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster (maturation), and rabbinical student Becky Jaye (future) — to reflect on the 20th anniversary of the attacks. As 9/11 recedes...
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