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 […]
sid.schwarz Articles Elie Wiesel, human rights, moral witness, political activism, Soviet Jewry
Although I had the privilege of hearing Elie Wiesel speak at least a dozen times and had the opportunity to once have a private meeting with him in conjunction with a book that I was writing, my thoughts about him actually relate to how much impact he had on those who never met the man. […]
sid.schwarz Articles American Jewish life, building spiritual communities, Jewish spirituality, new paradigm, social entrepreneurship
During the first week of March some 60 people gathered under the aegis of a new national initiative called the New Paradigm Spiritual Communities Initiative (NPSCI). NPSCI is sponsored by Clal: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership as part of its mission to make Jewish into a public good. Funded by the William […]
sid.schwarz Sermons and Speeches Chanukah, White House
Remarks at the White House Chanukah Party by Rabbi Sid Schwarz, Senior Fellow, Clal: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and Founding Rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, Bethesda, MD. December 9, 2015. Thank you Mr. President. I know that I speak on behalf of everyone present tonight in expressing our gratitude for […]
sid.schwarz Sermons and Speeches Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestinians, Yitzhak Rabin
For people who care deeply about the State of Israel, the future of the Jewish people or about the prospects for peace in the world, the twentieth anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin provided much to think about. People of my generation readily remember where they were when they heard the news about the […]
sid.schwarz Sermons and Speeches building spiritual communities, Jewish Renewal, Jewish spirituality, Reb Zalman, the rabbinate
Note: In January 2014 I was invited to deliver the keynote address at the Ohala national convention, the association of Jewish Renewal Rabbis that was held in Boulder, CO. It was significant because my charge from the leadership of the organization was to speak about Jewish Renewal in light of the fact that the charismatic […]
sid.schwarz Articles democracy, Israel, Netanyahu, racism
There is a wonderful phrase in Hebrew that drips with sardonic, Jewish wit. It is when someone says “gileta et America”, meaning “so you discovered America!”. It is said to someone when they say something so obvious that everyone has known it for years, but the person who shared it put the thought out in […]
sid.schwarz Articles activism, clergy, homelessness, Interfaith, social action, spiritual role model
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a life counts for a million or more. Last week I attended a memorial service for Reverend John Steinbruck who died on March 1st at the age of 85. When I moved to Washington D.C. in 1984 to take the post as the executive director of the […]
sid.schwarz Articles Haiti, human rights, Jewish identiity, Jewish service missions, Jewish social justice
When I accepted an invitation from the Israeli organization, Tevel B’Tzedek, to travel to Haiti a few months after the devastating earthquake in 2010 to do some teaching for their disaster relief team on the ground, little did I know that it would lead to one of the most fulfilling projects of my rabbinic career. […]
sid.schwarz Articles Ecology, Environment, Shmita, Sustainability
There are times when even atheists have trouble denying that there is a “hand of God” at work in history. How else to explain the coincidence of the largest ever gathering of humanity to assemble around the world to highlight the urgency of global action on climate change the week before Rosh haShana 5775, a […]