Responding to antisemitism in America (adapted from sermon for the 1st day of Rosh haShanah, 2019 / 5780)
I began my sermon with a brief description of my trip to Pittsburgh this January to spend a shabbat filling in for Rabbi Jonathan Perlman at the New Light Congregation, which lost 3 congregants in the terrible Tree of Life massacre. (If you are curious why I have chosen the spelling ‘antisemitism’ (uncapitalized and without a hyphen), see here. ) ….Rabbi Perlman’s community, called New Light, used to have its own building, but a few years ago they sold their building and began to rent space from the Tree of Life synagogue. Rabbi Perlman says he had never heard live gunfire before, but the moment he heard the sound, he knew what it was and that he had to hide and get others into hiding. He was able to hustle the other three people with him at the front of the room into a safe area, an electrical storage closet behind the wall where the aron kodesh, holy ark is. So in that storage closet, which was pitch-black because they couldn’t find the light switch -- were four people: R