High Holiday sermons should aim to make congregants feel good about being Jewish, especially when speaking about Israel.
The stakes are high.
Let’s be honest. For most of the people who attend High Holidays services this is the only time they will be in shul the whole year. It might be the only sermon they will hear.
It is our chance to inspire and uplift them. It is our chance to encourage them to deepen their connection to Judaism and the Jewish people. It is our chance to convey something we discovered and that motivated us to want to become rabbis: that Judaism is intellectually challenging and stimulating; that being a part of the Jewish people offers meaning and fulfillment; that it is a calling that is the path to working to create a just world. It is our chance to make them want to deepen their commitment and to explore this magnificent and beautiful tradition.
