IKAR Sermons & Talks

Perverters of Justice and Pluralized Karma - Rabbi Sharon Brous

The warnings famously issued in this parashah are not Biblical fantasy—they are living reality. When we allow powerful people to deceive, mock and instrumentalize those m

The War Before the War - Rabbi David Kasher

Sifting through a dense catalog of state regulations in search of some inspiration for the High Holy Days - with some help from the Ba'al Shem Tov and Abraham Maslow.

Like a Ripple - Rabbi Lebell

We live in a vast, complex world. It’s beautiful, but wracked with devastation and suffering. Infinitesimal in the face of it all, one wonders how they could possibly mak

Even When You’re Far Away, I’m Right Here - Rabbi Sharon Brous

As we prepare to bring our oldest to college, I feel for Moses, struggling to say goodbye to his own children as they stand poised to enter the Promised Land, knowing thi

The Prayer Problem - Rabbi David Kasher

Stories from Rabbi Kasher’s early prayer days. A rabbinic list of ten types of prayer. And a prayer reframe from the Sfas Emes.

The Transformative Power of Shared Grief - Rabbi Sharon Brous

Tisha b’Av is a day of communal grief-- we fast, lament and hold the memory of the greatest catastrophes the Jewish people have endured. The danger in revisiting the trag

We’ll Find Water - Rabbi Morris Panitz

What’s the first step of a spiritual journey? According to the Me’or Einyaim (18th century Hasidic Master), it’s not a grand gesture or a dramatic departure. Instead, it’

In Praise of Old Age - Rabbi David Kasher

The Legend of Serah bat Asher. And a commandment we too often overlook.

SERMON Brown M&Ms - Rabbi Joseph Shamash

Recovery and Bilaam’s addictive tendencies.

Desire Revisited - Parshat Beha'alotcha

The Israelites have begun complaining. They say they miss the meat and melons they had back in Egypt. Really?! After God freed them from slavery and is raining down manna

There Were Twelve Flags of Israel - Shabbat Bamidbar

Thoughts on the dangers and the blessings of flag-waving

Restored with Love: Lessons from Megilat Rut - Rabbi Keilah Lebell

In such a turbulent time we need to remember what love looks like. The unique mutual devotion of the biblical heroines Naomi and Ruth teaches us that our interpersonal re

On Mourning and Lag b’Omer - Rabbi Ronit Tsadok

After the tragic shooting in Buffalo rooted in White Supremacy and hate, we look to the Omer, a time on the Jewish calendar associated with mourning. The themes of Lag b’

"I am a private person." - Rabbi David Kasher

A Jewish response to the recently leaked Supreme Court draft opinion intending to overturn Roe v. Wade. Find the transcript on our website: https://ikar.org/sermons/im-a-

The Question of Jewish Identity - Rabbi David Kasher

 Reflections after a recent trip to Israel.

The Unsung Heroines of Our Liberation Story - Rabbi Tova Leibovic-Douglas

Our Passover story was made possible by a quiet revolutionary spirit manifested through four female archetypes.

Leaving Egypt in a Warming World - Rabbi Morris Panitz

Egypt is not just a place. It’s our addiction to fossil fuels, our extractive relationship to the Earth, our rendering of Creation solely and soullessly as an instrument

Covid Torah - Rabbi David Kasher

One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that we have all become better readers of Leviticus. Source sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nKrbAHi8Kx9U8WJSm8nJC2

The Complicated Wisdom of Jewish Time - Rabbi David Kasher

Reflections on mourning from Moed Katan and Parshat Shemini. In memory of Steven J. Kasher, Z"L. 

Don’t Look Away - Rabbi Morris Panitz

You know the cycle. Front page headlines retreat to the back pages and eventually disappear from both the paper and our attention. Even the most horrifying headlines, tho