Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

October 21, 2026

The Moral Dilemma of Exit vs. Voice (Parashat Lech L’cha 5778/2017)

This was my D’var Torah for Parashat Lech L’cha on Shabbat morning, October 28, 2017 (5778). I have been thinking about two things this week that present in a way the same moral dilemma. For the past couple of weeks, the revelations of sexual harrassment and assault from Harvey Weinstein, the movie executive, have sparked… Continue reading

Abuse, Anger, Current Affairs, Equality, Ethics, Feminism, Hope, Justice, Leadership, Lech L’cha, Middot, Midrash, Parashat Hashavua, Power, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
October 21, 2026

A Vision for Beth Abraham: The Two Houses of Avraham and Sarah

This is a version of a visioning piece I worked on in 2019 for our synagogue which is called Beth Abraham, the “House of Abraham” or as I call it the “House of Abraham and Sarah.” I shared this version as a D’var Torah for Parashat Lech L’cha on Shabbat morning, November 9, 2019 (5780).… Continue reading

Blessing, Chesed, Current Affairs, Dreams/Dreaming, Education, Ethics, Food, Friendship, Gratitude, History, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Joy, Justice, Leadership, Lech L’cha, Love, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Prayer, Rabbi, Social Theory, Spirituality, Temple Beth Abraham, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, Vayera
October 21, 2026

Compassionate and Descended From Compassionate Ones — Two Midrashim About Avraham and Sarah

These were my words of introduction to the Torah portion Lech L’cha on Shabbat morning in 5782, October 16, 2021, the morning of a Bat Mitzvah at our congregation! Shabbat Shalom and Boker Tov (Good Morning), welcome to everyone! This synagogue is called Beth Abraham or as I like to call it Bayt Avraham v’Sarah,… Continue reading

Chesed, Lech L’cha, Parashat Hashavua, Torah, Vayera
October 21, 2026

Moral Adventure

This was my D’var Torah for the second day of Rosh Hashanah in 5776 (2015). Part of the idea I have to credit to Rabbi Sharon Brous for a Rosh Hashanah sermons of her I read sometime before then, called “Moral Conundrum Ahead“, which is where I think I first got the idea of “moral… Continue reading

College, Ethics, High Holidays, Holidays, Justice, Leadership, Lech L’cha, Middot, Money, Parashat Hashavua, Power, Rosh Hashanah, Social Theory, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA, Vayera, Yamim Noraim, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
September 16, 2026

Spiritual Finders and Keepers — Rosh Hashanah D’var Torah First Day 5787/2026

What do telephone booths make you think of? Ancient times…. Superheroes? Phone booths make me think of a particular superhero named Joy Cousminer, a Jewish New Yorker who founded a credit union in the South Bronx in 1970 in a phone booth. Joy was teaching single mothers for their GED, and she discovered they had… Continue reading

9/11, Calendar, Civil Rights, Current Affairs, Hashavat Aveidah, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Israel, Rosh Hashanah, Talmud, Temple Beth Abraham, Tikkun Olam, Torah, USA, Yamim Noraim
September 16, 2026

Teshuvah, Tzedakah, and… Tefillah (Prayer)? Rosh Hashanah D’var Torah Second Day 5787/2026

I have been responsible for leading High Holy Day services start-to-finish in some way almost every year since 1988, when I was not far from here, south of Worcester in Webster, Massachusetts. So my High Holy Day career is even longer than my rabbinic career. For about the first half of that longer career, the… Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Dreams/Dreaming, Elul, Ethics, High Holidays, Holidays, Israel, Middot, Prayer, Rosh Hashanah, Spirituality, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Yamim Noraim
September 7, 2026

Looking Up (Rosh Hashanah 5780/2019)

This was one of my Divrei Torah for Rosh Hashanah in 2019 (5780). When I was 22 years old, a man looked up at me, and changed my life. This was connected to the thing that I thought was going to change my life that year, which was a Wexner Graduate Fellowship to go to… Continue reading

Calendar, Equality, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, High Holidays, Holidays, Leadership, Power, Rosh Hashanah, Teacher-Student Relationship, Torah, Young Jewish Adult
September 6, 2026

Atalanta (How To Approach the Metaphor of God as King)

This is a D’var Torah I shared in Shabbat services a few weeks before Rosh Hashanah on September 10, 2022. This is a reflection on the metaphor of malchut (kingship or royalty) for the Divine, which features so centrally in the prayers of the High Holy Days. The week I wrote this was also the… Continue reading

Calendar, Feminism, High Holidays, Holidays, Power, Rosh Hashanah, Theology, Yom Kippur
September 3, 2026

What I’ve Learned (So Far) About Teshuvah From “The Good Place”

This is what I said in an episode I recorded for our podcast Tov! about the TV show “The Good Place” and Jewish ideas, just before Rosh Hashanah in 2023. You can listen to this specific episode on the Tov! website here or on YouTube here. Or find Tov! on any favorite podcast app. Hey!… Continue reading

Calendar, Ethics, High Holidays, Holidays, Jewish Education, Maimonides, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Teshuvah, Torah, Tov! Podcast, Yom Kippur, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
August 27, 2026

Get Up and Shine, For Your Light Is Coming — Beyond the Cliche (Ki Tavo 5785/2025)

This was my D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tavo, and specifically the haftarah from Yeshayahu (Isaiah) chapter 60. I shared it on Shabbat morning, September 15, 2025. This is my very favorite Haftarah. I remember the first time I heard it, not in a synagogue but at the Twin Cities performance of the Hasidic Song… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Blessing, Community Relations, Hasidism, Israel, Ki Tavo, Music, Parashat Hashavua, Shabbat, Torah
August 18, 2026

Being Here in the Digital Age (Rosh Hashanah 5774/2013)

This was my Dvar Torah for the first day of Rosh Hashanah in 2013. Though some of the specific examples are dated in 2026, it stands up even in the age of Instagram and AI. Over the past couple of years, I have developed a nagging but interesting physical issue. It’s a tingling sensation I… Continue reading

Calendar, Current Affairs, Ethics, Friendship, High Holidays, Holidays, Love, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Science, Social Theory, Technology, Teens, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
August 5, 2026

Even the Bitter Part of the Watermelon (Parashat Re’eh 5784/2024)

This was my D’var Torah for Parashat Re’eh on Saturday, August 31, 2024. When I was at my parents’ home for a week in July, they had in the fridge a container from the store with perfect precut slices of watermelon. Vertical wedges, like carrot sticks sort of, and the container contained the perfect amount… Continue reading

Devarim, Parashat Hashavua, Re’eh, Theology, Torah