Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz

From left to right: Rabbi Henry Karp, Emeritus Rabbi Quad Cities, Rabbi Jeffrey Lipschultz, Rabbi Rock TriCity Jewish Center, Rabbi Dr. Jackie Tabick, Convenor of the European Reform Beit Din, Rabbi Steven Wernick, CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz, Rabbi Agudas Achim Congregation and Rabbi Jeffrey Portman, Emeritus Rabbi Agudas Achim Installation Sermon Agudas Achim (Parashat Tazria-Metzora) Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz Heartland Now that I live in the United States of America, and in the Midwest, to be specific, a lot of things have started to make sense. Perhaps my most enduring observation now that I live in the American heartland is the size of this country. When my husband and I drive to Wisconsin for a short Spring break vacation, we were kvetching that in the time it took for us to cross state lines, we would have crossed three national borders in Europe. America’s size is a shaper of destinies. It indelibly affects...

Kol Nidre Sermon 2017 / 5778 Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz, Agudas Achim Congregation Today Is A Good Day to Die “Today is a good day to die.” Today is a good day to die. This aphorism is often, inaccurately, ascribed to the 19 th century Native American warrior Crazy Horse from the Oglala Lakota tribe. Victorious in the battle of Little Big Horn, Crazy Horse proved not only a brave and gifted military commander but was also known for his ethical conduct and his kindness towards the poor and vulnerable. Whether Crazy Horse spoke those words or not is almost irrelevant: these words gain an aura of credibility because they match the deeds of a great man. What does it mean to say ‘today is a good day to die’? Who of us would dare utter this, fearing that the consequences might play out in our actual lives. Few of us are ready to die at all; when confronted with our own mortality, we cling to life tenaciously. This is the natural order of things. In fact, the Torah ...