May 6 Sermon from Rabbi Chernow-Reader
My phone rings with a friend of mine calling. She is in tears because she is pregnant. She already has children and always thought she wanted a bigger family. But not right now. It’s just not the right time. Her marriage is falling apart and she doesn’t think they...
Rabbi Krichiver’s testimony to the Senate Education Committee in opposition of HB 1041
Thank you Mr. Chair and members of the committee for your time today. My name is Rabbi Brett Krichiver. I am the Senior Rabbi of Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, a board member of the Indiana Board of Rabbis, a participating member of the Center for Interfaith...
I May Dwell Among Them
And God said the Moses, ‘Say to the Israelite people: You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now then, humble yourselves, and I will consider what to do with you.’ So they did. And Moses set up the Tent of...
Colleyville, TX showed us our strength (in honor of Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker)
After the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, we gathered together in this sanctuary and I read these words from our prayerbook, “It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch. A fearful thing to love, hope and dream, and to lose.” In that...
Moses on Management
This week we begin the book of Shemot, or Exodus with the birth and upbringing of Moses. For a character that will occupy such a large place in our collective imagination, scarcely anything is mentioned about who he is, or where he is from. “A Levite man and woman...
It’s All About Perspective
Judaism has many gifts to offer the world. The Sabbath, the Psalms, centuries of musical legacy, and of course, bagels. But our most important contribution is a concept called, “machloket l’shem shamayim.” The phrase comes from the ancient rabbinic literature....
Yizkor Sermon
Sinai and Grief: We wander in the desert together In psychiatrist Elisabeth Kulber-Ross’s book “On Death and Dying,” she identifies five stages of grief that people experience after the loss of a loved one. While every person grieves in their own way, there are...
Yom Kippur Sermon
Avinu Malkeinu in 5782 As you hear the beautiful notes that Cantor Marer just sang, what comes to mind? Is it hearing the Avinu Malkeinu a specific location? Was it a particular High Holy Days when this prayer was especially meaningful to you? Was it who was sitting...
Yom Kippur Sermon
Finding Tears of Strength Almost two years ago we gathered together at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church to support one another in the aftermath of a terrible attack on a church in Sri Lanka. The interfaith community had been so kind and responsive to all of us...
Rosh Hashanah sermon
A New Look At Old Commandments I remember the discomfort I first felt, when I was told there was a stained glass window of Moses holding the Ten Commandments in our building. These days it is somewhat out of the way, hidden from direct view, but long-time IHC’ers...
