Blog | Rabbi Sid Schwarz

February 20, 2013

Rabbi Sid on Video

sid.schwarz Videos dreams, Jewish community, videos, vision

February 14, 2021

Me and Jewish Supremacy

sid.schwarz Articles American Jewish Yearbook, anti-semitism;, Charles Liebman, chosen people concept, ethnocentrism, excommunication, gentiles, intolerance, Jewish supremacy, Jonathan Sacks, Mordecai Kaplan, Passover Haggadah, racism, religion and social tranformation, The Dignity of Difference, Torah blessings, white privilege, white supremacy

Several years ago, I was leading services at my congregation in the month of February and we dedicated the shabbat to Black History Month. In addition to my dvar torah, which was on the theme of “Racism in America”, we sponsored an afternoon of learning that featured a panel of three people of color, breakout […]

January 15, 2021

America: A Crisis of Faith

sid.schwarz Articles American civic division, American Jewish life, American tribalism, crisis of faith, Donald Trump, erosion of American democracy, healing the American divide, Israel

I’m an old-fashioned news hound. I can’t start my day without reading the newspaper. The Washington Post is my paper of choice. And I read the hard copy that gets thrown on my lawn every morning around 5am. But then, as I start my workday, I work in a professional bubble of my own creation. […]

December 8, 2020

Wrestling with our Demons

sid.schwarz Articles blessings, face to face, God Wrestling, panim el panim, reconciliation, Self-doubt;, stealing the birthright, unconditional love, vulnerability

Genesis Ch. 32 contains the well-known story of Jacob’s night of wrestling the angel in advance of his reunion with his brother Esau. They have not seen each other since Jacob stole Esau’s birthright and ran away to save himself from Esau’s potential revenge. It is tempting to use the story as a lesson about […]

November 10, 2020

A Rabbinic Call to Uphold Truth and Democracy

sid.schwarz Articles assault on truth, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, moral courage, rabbinic courage, truth, US elections; democracy

By Rabbis Sharon Brous, Laura Geller, Jack Moline, Sid Schwarz and Shmuly Yanklowitz

To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. This political moment is a time for rabbis and clergy of all faiths to speak out forcefully to protect both truth and democracy.

October 17, 2020

Jewish Communities of Meaning: An Emerging Trend

sid.schwarz Articles communities of meaning, Covid 19, emerging Jewish communities, Jewish community, Jewish Federations, Jewish identity, Jewish start-ups, Kenissa: Communities of Meaning Network, legacy Jewish organizations

I have spent a considerable amount of time over the past 20 years in the synagogue transformation space. I currently direct CLI, a two-year fellowship for rabbis on visionary thinking and change management. On our website, we curate a monthly synagogue innovation blog which includes some truly transformational ideas that are re-imagining synagogues for the […]

September 29, 2020

Longing for Face Time

sid.schwarz Articles Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, American tribalism, Beloved Community, compassion, covenantal community, Covid 19, Eclipse of God, Emmanuel Levinas, Face Time, Golden Rule, holy community, Ira Eisenstein, Martin Buber, panim el panim, PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, reaching out to the "other"

Every good sermon has at least one compelling metaphor. Here is mine for this evening; it is visual (a camera shot of the empty sanctuary). When I learned back in July that Adat Shalom would only be holding remote services for the High Holydays, I was overtaken by a deep sadness that I felt in […]

June 28, 2020

Jews and Racial Justice: Making Amends or Avoiding Responsibility?

sid.schwarz Articles Blacks; African-Americans; Communities of Color; Dr. Martin Luther King, civil rights, racial justice

David Axelrod, a former top aide to President Barack Obama often credited with masterminding his two successful campaigns for the presidency, recently published a column in The Washington Post that hit me between the eyes and sat heavily on my heart. Axelrod and I about the same age. He was too young to have been active in […]

May 18, 2020

Synagogue Innovation in the Age of Corona

sid.schwarz Articles Adaptive Leadership, Clergy Leadership Incubator, CLI, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Pandemic, rabbis, religious innovation, Synagogue innovation

I know that I am not alone in being impressed at how quickly the Jewish community was able to provide program content via the web as much of North America moved to “shelter in place.” As we begin to adjust to our new, surreal lives, more is being written about the shape of our post-pandemic […]

April 13, 2020

Pesach in a Time of Pandemic

sid.schwarz Articles Covid 19, Dayenu, Elijah the Prophet, layers of meaning, Pesach, Rituals, symbolism of ancient rituals

Pesach is a time of the year when I am, once again, overwhelmed by the beauty of our tradition’s sacred texts, liturgy and rituals. They are prisms of meaning. For generations, Jews used these sacred texts and rituals to give meaning to their life experience. More frequently than not, the life experiences of our ancestors […]

February 4, 2020

Joy in the Rabbinate

sid.schwarz Articles Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, Beth Israel, Clergy Leadership Incubator, Finding a Spiritual Home, Kenissa: Communities of Meaning Network, PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, Rabbinate, René Cassin Fellowship Program, RRC, Vocation

There is a delicious irony in being asked to write the lead article for an issue devoted to “Joy in the Rabbinate” as I mark 40 years since being ordained. I say that because if one were to read the essay that accompanied my application to RRC in 1975 it could well have been titled […]