Rabbi Sid Schwarz
Rabbi, social entrepreneur, non-profit CEO, author
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September 9, 2017

Jews and the “Faith” Question

sid.schwarz Articles, Sermons and Speeches Bill Moyers, Chautauqua Institution, communities of meaning, crisis of faith, Faith communities, Interfaith, Jewish identity

I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Chautauqua Institution (CI) about the “Crisis of Faith” in America. For those unfamiliar, CI was founded in 1874 by Methodist Bishop John Vincent as a summer camp for Sunday School teachers on the shores of Lake Chautauqua near Jamestown, NY. Today, CI functions like a summer […]

May 19, 2017

Networks Rising

sid.schwarz Articles building spiritual communities, Clergy Leadership Incubator, CLI, communities of meaning, Hayim Herring, Kenissa, networks, organizational change, REALITY, ROI, Schusterman Foundation

Sometimes you read a book to learn about something new. But at other times you read a book to find language for that which is already part of the way you function in the world. I had the latter experience reading the new book by Rabbi Hayim Herring, Leading Congregations and Nonprofits in a Connected […]

April 4, 2017

Introducing the Kenissa Network: A 21st Century Pathway into Jewish Life

sid.schwarz Articles, Megatrends Book Tour building spiritual communities, communities of meaning, emerging Jewish communities, new paradigm, social entrepreneurship

Twice in the past year I have published articles in eJP to introduce the work of the New Paradigm Spiritual Communities Initiative. Last week we had our second annual National Consultation, welcoming another 50 “creatives” into this unique network and we used the opportunity to re-brand the project as Kenissa: Communities of Meaning Network (http://www.kenissa.org/). […]

March 17, 2017

Taking “Service” to the Next Level

sid.schwarz Articles Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, community service, ELI Talks, Haiti, Jewish Civics, Jewish service missions, PANIM, Repair the World

Community service in the Jewish community has come a long way. I had the privilege of being on the ground level in the 1990’s when the Jewish community got on the bandwagon. The passage of the National and Community Service Trust Act was signed into law in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. Building on the […]

March 14, 2017

Jews and Racism in America

sid.schwarz Articles, Sermons and Speeches Abraham Joshua Heschel, Beloved Community, Black History Month, racism, white privilege

Note: These are excerpts of remarks at a Shabbat morning service at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation (Bethesda, MD) which featured many elements marking Black History Month.   Two weeks ago, I was at a conference in New York City sponsored by T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. It was called “No Time for Neutrality” […]

February 22, 2017

Preparing Rabbis to be Change Agents

sid.schwarz Articles leadership, professional education, rabbis, synagogue transformation

A few weeks ago I was at a, first of its kind, gathering in Austin, TX. The leaders of more than ten national religious denominations came together to explore why their congregations were losing membership so rapidly over the last decade. The gathering included leadership from the Methodists, Episcopalians, United Church of Christ, Lutherans, Unitarian […]

February 10, 2017

Changing the World from the Inside Out

sid.schwarz Articles cosmic unity, holiness, Mussar, Shma, social justice, spirituality

This year’s winner of the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice is a book titled Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change by Rabbi David Jaffe. The book is an inspiring integration of Musar literature and practice with numerous examples […]

January 9, 2017

Something’s Happening Here

sid.schwarz Articles covenantal community, Jewish innovation, Jewish Megatrends, new paradigm, spiritual community

In 1967 Buffalo Springfield issued an anti-Vietnam War song called “For What It’s Worth” that began with, “There’s something happening here. What it is, ain’t exactly clear.” The lyric expresses what I was observing in the Jewish communal landscape over the last decade that inspired me to write Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the […]

November 23, 2016

A Time for “Eternal Vigilance”

sid.schwarz Articles authoritarianism, democracy, Donald Trump, Glass ceiling, Kristallnacht, political activism, Thomas Jefferson

Trauma is everywhere. I know. My experience would not be shared if I lived in Youngstown, OH; Lansing, MI; or Green Bay, WI. But I don’t. I live in suburban Washington DC and I am a rabbi who works with and among Jews. My synagogue was packed on the shabbat after the election. Many came […]

October 14, 2016

Spiritual Heroes: A Kol Nidre Sermon

sid.schwarz Sermons and Speeches activism, human rights, moral courage, role models, social justice, Soviet Jewry

For many years, the organization that I led-PANIM- ran 4-day seminars on Jewish values and social activism for teens who came to Washington D.C. from around the country. When I would speak to the students, my lead-off question would be: Who are your spiritual heroes? It was a question that gave pause. Most American teens […]

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