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Rabbi Karen Glazer Perolman announces that joy alone is no longer enough. Joy without empathy, belonging and conflict is not sturdy enough to withstand the challenges of our world and be in relationships. The complexities of October 7, war with Hamas, hostage release and ceasefire are the Unetaneh Tokef for our own identities, asking what will happen in the time we still have? Who is willing to listen? Who needs to be right for the sake of being right? Who wants to forgive? Who is still holding a grudge? Who is going to walk away and who is going to stay? What are we willing to risk letting the healthy heat burn, to survive, for the sake of those who come after us? Rabbi Perolman’s invitation is to stay. It is too easy to walk out the door and leave. Re-engage because a healthy heat means everyone can be heard.

On this Kol Nidre, Rabbi Gewirtz says “Avinu Malkeinu, send us the prophets, the ones who love us enough to tell what we never, ever want to hear.” Compelling us to connect to what we really need and yearn for from the deepest parts of our being, propelling us to be real as God listens to our prayers and intense longing, Rabbi Gewirtz addresses AI and focuses on our necessity to be whole, healthy, fulfilled, not lonely in our own homes and recover through this essential check in on Kol Nidre.

Twilight is among the great works of creation. Rabbi Hannah Ellenson’s 5787 Rosh Hashanah sermon takes twilight as a miracle both day and night, and yet not day nor night. Rabbi Ellenson draws a correlation that we are living in liminal spaces, in between with ever-changing conditions, in moments that are neither here nor there, and somehow, this is when we are most ourselves. Whether through the examples of Jacob and Esau’s human kinship and wilderness between Egypt and Israel for the Jewish people, Rabbi Ellenson brings us towards serenity during twilight, literally, spiritually and within our relationships.

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.

Rabbi Pesner preaches at TBJ about how to together create a world as it should be, one overflowing with social justice where love drives out hate and light drives out darkness. Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner serves as the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and as senior vice president of the Union for Reform Judaism. Named one of the most influential rabbis in America by Newsweek magazine, he is an inspirational leader and tireless advocate for social justice. Rabbi Pesner is a visiting scholar at Harvard University, speaks regularly on college campuses, has trained students on all four campuses of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and gives speeches in interfaith and secular venues all over the world. Rabbi Pesner serves as a board member of the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. He is a member of the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council for the Department of Homeland Security.

Dr. David Jefferson Jr. is the Director of the Center for Africana Studies at Kean University and a professor of religion and philosophy. An ordained minister and widely respected speaker, his work explores faith, culture, and social responsibility through multiple lenses. Listen to Dr. Jefferson's sermon about how it's good to be in the picture and how to stay in the picture. Emphasizing you are not forgotten, and your life is still in God's frame, you are asked to declare I'm still in the picture. Within the sacred frame of Shabbat, God's holy pause, we are all called to stay in the picture as one family. Cantor Lucy B. Fishbein sings Chava Mirel's "May We Find Peace" to conclude.

Naamah Kelman-Ezrachi is an American-born Israeli Reform rabbi who was named as Dean of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion campus in Jerusalem starting in July 2009. In 1992, Kelman made history as the first woman in Israel to become a rabbi when she received her rabbinic ordination. In this inspiring episode Rabbi Kelman’s sermon calls for a “divinity that is renewed and renewing,” filled with change and shared values. Cantor Lucy B. Fishbein sings Elana Arian’s “Lo Vashamayim Hi” with the TBJ band featuring Cantor Becky Mann. “It is not in Heaven”, referring to the Torah that is not distant and mysterious, is rather accessible and meaningful to humans on earth.

Rabbi Hannah Ellenson speaks on a covenant that ties generations together. One that is defiant in the face of injustice with acts of moral courage. One where leadership is meeting God, trusting in moments both filled with fear and courage.