Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz

Parashat Ki Tavo 2017 Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz Choose and Treasure Judaism is the path of contradiction so that we may find unity. In few cases does the dialectical philosophy underlying Jewish thought become more apparent than in the ‘ birkat havdalah ’, the blessing of Havdalah in which we say ‘ hamav’dil bein kodesh lechol, bein or le’choshech bein Yisra’el la’amim, bein yom hashivi’I lesheshet yemei ha’ma’aseh ’ – ‘distinguishing between the sacred and the secular, between light and darkness, between the people Israel and others, between the seventh day and the six working days of the week.’ Siddur Sim Shalom pointedly translates ‘bein Yisrael la’amim’ as ‘between the people Israel and others’, fudging their translation, perhaps, on account of residual discomfort. Interestingly, Mishkan T’filah is more direct, rendering ‘bein Yisrael la’amim’ as ‘between Israel and the nations.’ The discomfort, however, is not without base – Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the foun...

Parashat Ki Tavo Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz Hitting Rock Bottom Just when you think it couldn’t get worse, it gets worse. This has been a sentiment for many of us watching a world slide into increasing chaos and darkness over the last number of years and I’ve grown both accustomed and weary of pondering the question of how to address the tragedies of the world in yet another sermon. Shabbat is supposed to be our happiest day in the Jewish calendar. The happiest and holiest, only bested by Yom Kippur. Yet the Jewish tradition is brilliant in its ability to acknowledge that joy and pain are not mutually exclusive and that Shabbat may also be a time to reflect on what is painful and difficult. This is especially the case when both world events and the weekly parashah prompt us to do so. Most of you will be made aware of the ongoing refugee crisis. I gave a sermon on the topic a few Shabbats ago, and since this is the time of year where rabbis think abo...

Leo Baeck College Sermon Ki Tavo Esther Hugenholtz The Fruits of Our Joy It’s easy for Jews to feel overwhelmed during the month of Elul, especially for us ‘professional Jews’. We fret about how many sermons we still have to research and write, we stress over the amount of liturgy we have to practice and we agonise over our own feelings of inadequacy when it comes to facilitating our own ‘teshuvah’ during this time of good deeds and introspection. There is a measure of irony in this month of Elul-induced angst. It seems that the more we throw ourselves into the process of creating meaning for others, the higher the risk is that we neglect to create meaning for ourselves. We feel unbalanced. Between the heftiness of crafting a d’rasha with the necessary gravitas and managing the logistical challenges of the High Holy Days, we lose sight of what is most important: existential joy. This week’s parashah, Ki Tavo, opens with an unfolding consciousness of existential joy. ‘... ki tavo el ha...