In his Kol Nidre sermon at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch asks his congregation to guess which verse the sages deem the most important in the Torah, revealing an obscure verse that offers wisdom for the new year 3
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Rabbi Hirsch is joined by NYT columnist Bret Stephens to discuss the White House’s Israel stance, American political trends that seem to be leaving Jews behind, and a new ideology that values identity and victimhood over character and achievement. 0
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Rabbi Hirsch reminds his congregation of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue that the climate change on American campuses has been incremental, and that it is not too late to reverse the catastrophe. 0
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Reflecting on his congregation’s recent mission to Israel, Rabbi Hirsch recounts a morning spent picking strawberries that moved him profoundly and left him hopeful for the future of Israel. 0
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Rabbi Hirsch cries out about the need for moral teachers, moral training, and constant moral discipline to counteract the failure of America’s top leaders and educators to respond to October 7th. 43
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Rabbi Hirsch looks at the atrocities of history through the lens of Jewish intellectual Stefan Zweig in his Rosh Hashanah sermon which reminds us that events are not inevitable, and that repentance, prayer and charity can avert the severe decree. 48
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Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch delivers the keynote address for Re-Charging Reform Judaism, a conference of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue that convened clergy, educators and lay leaders to address the existential challenges facing the Reform Movement. 69
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Rabbi Hirsch finds inspiration in the recent discovery by Israeli archaeologists of textile scraps containing the brilliant color of purple, the same as mentioned in the Torah in reference to King Solomon’s court. 57
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Rabbi Hirsch reminds his congregation that throughout history the Jewish people have chosen life, and that today the tradition demands that we combat humanity’s evil impulses and instill the values of tolerance, compassion, respect and freedom. 63
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In the context of the recent elections in the US and Israel, Rabbi Hirsch interrogates the integrity of the democratic political system, and the growing extremism that is happening here and throughout the western world 94
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