Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz

Parashat Mishpatim Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz Seeking Out The Grays One of the things that my husband and I love about America is passion and vision of the American people. As we like to joke among ourselves, Americans don’t do anything in half-measures. Coming from a culture of placid consensus-building for which we efven have an administrative term – ‘the polder model’ (named after Dutch reclaimed land, polders) – it is clear to us that Americans have fire in their bones and it makes this new country vibrant, innovative and inspiring. As our current timeframe has become more polarized, American passions, for better or worse, have become more inflamed. We can notice this not only in the febrile news cycle but also in our daily interactions. Some of this is a blessing: people are more civically engaged, voter turnout is higher and it forces all of us to confront complex issues. At the same time, there’s no denying that these are draining and fraught times and Internet con...

Parashat Mishpatim 2018 Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz Mezuzah written by Rabbi/Soferet Yonah Lavery-Yisraeli Do We Trust The Torah? Can you think of a moment in your life when you decided to trust the Jewish tradition? Sharing a personal perspective, I can cast my mind back to a moment when I was asked to trust a sacred and transformative moment. It was during my conversion ceremony. Prior to my immersion, I was asked by my sponsoring rabbi the following, to which I was called to reply. ‘Have you come here of your own free will?’ ‘Yes’. ‘Do you pledge allegiance to the God of Israel?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you pledge allegiance to the Torah of Israel?’ ‘Yes’. ‘And do you pledge allegiance to the People of Israel?’ ‘Yes.’ Answering yes to that triad of questions was emotionally powerful in a way that transcended the legal underpinnings of the procedure (even sharing it now still moves me). Of course, establishing informed consent was a legally binding and necessar...

Parashat Mishpatim/Shabbat Shekalim (Judith Trust Inclusivity Shabbat) Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz The Other Side of the Coin I have a few questions for you. Why do you come to synagogue? Do you have friends here at Sinai? And if you have friends here at Sinai, how important is the social aspect of Sinai to you? Everyone wants to be comfortable. It’s human nature to connect with our peers and like-minded friends. Similar in worldview, age, belief-system, ethnic background, socio-economic status and level of ability. And usually, this seems good enough in our lives – isn’t this what friendship is about? But maybe it’s actually not what being part of Sinai is about. Having friends in the community is vital – we are all part of this community because we want to be uplifted by those we have bonded with. But what is powerful about ‘community’ is actually how it orchestrates and facilitates encounters between people who we might not ordinarily connect with. Tots, teens and senior c...

Sermon Leo Baeck College / Sinai Synagogue Leeds Parashat Mishpatim The Shadow Side of Torah If last week’s parashah (Yitro) was the wedding ceremony, this week’s reading should be the honeymoon. Last week’s parashah was so easy to fall in love with. There was the wisdom of Yitro, the romance of Revelation and the drama of the Ten Utterances to woo the reader. We collectively experienced the marriage between God and the people of Israel as we became His bride and as He presented us with His ketubah. So, a romantic honeymoon seems to be in the making! There is much to love in Parashat Mishpatim. God and Israel are starting to build their relationship and working out the details of living a covenanted life together. Up to this point, there is much to be happy about. Mishpatim is the parashah that gives us such moral classics as ‘do not oppress the stranger for you were strangers in Egypt’ (Ex. 22:20) and ‘you shall neither side with the mighty to do wrong—you shall not giv...

Image by Google Sermon Finchley Reform Synagogue Shabbat Mishpatim, 29th of January 2011 Tipping the Balance Suppose you would participate at a high profile global summit on ‘fighting racism, combating climate change and encouraging economic development’? Ah, and throw in ‘immigration issues’ and ‘sustainable living’ for good measure. And you were asked to present your solution to all these momentous problems in a grandiose plenary session attended by the world’s heads of state. Meanwhile, the media is abuzz. Progress of the global summit is being reported, blogged and tweeted around the world. CNN and the BBC have descended on site with film crews. Angry demonstrators assemble to picket the summit. The proposed change is not radical enough, the change is too radical. It is a cacophony of voices and opinions. And you? You have to offer a vision and hold the line. Could you do it? It seems boldly, if not presumptuously ambitious, doesn’t it? This scenario could be considered analogous ...