Where did you go just now? Was it a place past? Did you sit in discomfort? Do you delight in nostalgia? Rabbi Karen Perolman remembers why it is we come together on this night of nostalgia: to return to pain and healthfully return to the past to live firmly in the present. Yes, nostalgia can manage stress and pain. As we live in the current nostalgic era, Jews have been rebooting for 5,787 years, gathering on the first of Tishrei to recite the same prayers, hear the shofar and allow ourselves to be pulled into the past all to explore the spiritual work done on these days of return. Listen further to discover the power of nostalgia, spiritual time travel as we turn our hearts toward the past to create a flourishing future.

Rabbi Matthew D. Gewirtz heralds in 5787 with nuance, tears, laughter, soul-shaking depth and wisdom in his Rosh Hashanah sermon. Rabbi Gewirtz calls out our behavior to litmus test each other, a litmus test cloaked in broad generalizations that alienate us from each other and the truth. Through meaningful personal stories, including his recent time in Israel’s West Bank, Gewirtz calls for integrity, kindness, listening and courage. 5787 begins in behavior that continues to unravel October 7 wreckage and menshlekeit, the ability to behave kindly and with love towards one another. Listen further for spiritual inspiration.

Touching upon the themes of holding fear, clearing blurring eyes and looking to truly see, Rabbi Matthew D. Gewirtz finds himself trying to understand the different complex elements that comprise the fabric of Israeli society and his own soul.

Rabbi Matt spent his Sabbatical having deep conversations with cab drivers about Israeli society, confronting those who control what it means to be a Jew in Israel, meeting with Israeli literary heroes, politicians, members of the military, TBJ kids, Jews, Arabs, Christians and strangers. Rabbi Matt discovers hope through his dear friends Chen & Michal, who still feel trauma and dance again. Through his love of Shlomo Artzi, Rabbi Matt finds personal redemption through his daughter Sadie while sharing the experience with a fellow concert-goer and Artzi himself. The humanity of Rabbi Gewirtz, crying while landing in Israel with blurry eyes, spent his time clearing the blur.

We are charged with taking our job to see clearly seriously and look with clarity.

On the Shabbat before Tisha B'av, the saddest day in the Jewish Calendar, Cantor Beth Reinstein explores what grief has to teach us.

“Back in elementary school, I didn’t know how to own my differences – I hid from what I now know are actually my superpowers.” Join author Sadie Gewirtz for her book launch, in conversation with Rabbi Karen Glazer Perolman.

Cantor Beth Reinstein explores the connections between the festival of Shavuot through the lens of the Shofarot liturgy from Rosh Hashanah. Tying together song and spoken word, Cantor Reinstein invokes the call of the shofar to ask us what Torah we need to hear as we celebrate Divine revelation for Shavuot.

In a powerful and refreshing take on the golden rule, Rabbi Hannah M. Ellenson does not demand we resolve or solve everything, only see humanity in each of us; listen, care, and affirm the image of God, even when difficult to see.

Cantor Lucy B. Fishbein explores the role of fire to welcome Shabbat, how to tend it, and how it can destroy. Fire is not one thing and is never neutral in Torah nor in our lives. It is in this tension of safety, danger, and calling with consequence that our tradition lives asking how to tend to the shared fire.

Cantor Fishbein sings Yih'yu L'ratzon by Michelle Citrin accompanied by the TBJ Band.