Rabbis Share Sneak Previews of Holy Days Messages

[additional-authors]

Kelly Hartog

September 6, 2018

Ahead of the High Holy Days, the Journal reached out to local area rabbis to ask them what themes they would be embracing in their Rosh Hashanah sermons for 5779 and what they’d like their communities to focus on in the coming year.

Click on the names to read their excerpts.

Rabbi Stan Levy and Rabbi Laura Owens
B’nai Horin

Rabbi Denise Eger
Congregation Kol Ami

Rabbi Mordecai Finley
Ohr HaTorah

Rabbi Moshe D. Bryski
Chabad of the Conejo

Rabbi Lori Shapiro
The Open Temple

Rabbi Adam Kligfeld
Temple Beth Am

Rabbi Gabriel Botnick
Mishkon Tephilo

Rabbi Jason Weiner
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Rabbi Stewart L. Vogel
Temple Aliyah, Woodland Hills

Rabbi Nicole Guzik
Sinai Temple

Rabbi Mark Borovitz
Beit T’Shuvah

Rabbi Richard Camras
Shomrei Torah, West Hills

Rabbi David Woznica
Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin Rabbinic Chair
Stephen Wise Temple

Rabbi Dennis Linson
Temple Judea of Laguna Hills

The Rabbis of Adat Ari El

Rabbi Michelle Missaghieh
Temple Israel of Hollywood

Rabbi Zach Shapiro
Temple Akiba of Culver City

Did you enjoy this article?

You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review

Marion Haberman

The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC

Tabby Refael

What Ever Happened to the LA Times?

Dan Schnur

Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?

Ryan Torok

You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House

Marion Haberman

No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center

Larry Greenfield

Latest Articles

Mamdani Needs to Pay a Price for Harming Jews

David Suissa

Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Geller’s Feminist Education

Ari L. Noonan

Rabbi Artson Honored by WLCJ, Mem Global’s Embark Names Executive Director

Jewish Journal Staff

I Can’t Always — A poem for Parsha Va’etchanan

Rick Lupert

A Bisl Torah — Senseless versus Sensible

Rabbi Nicole Guzik

Moment in Time: Tisha B’Av – A Time to Comfort

Rabbi Zach Shapiro

Poussin’s Menorah Chimes Without Jews at Midnight

July 23, 2026

Print Issue: Haredim at War | July 24, 2026

July 23, 2026

The Haredim who break out of their bubbles to join the IDF are often caught between faith, family and country. Here are some of their stories.

The Inversion of History

July 23, 2026

Molly Crabapple has written a work of great inversion and of ultimate betrayal.

From ‘The Chosen’ to ‘Imaging Torah’: Jeremy Kagan’s Journey to Bring Torah to Life

July 23, 2026

For the director/artist, creating images inspired by Torah is a way of engaging with the stories, ideas and interpretations that have shaped Jewish life for thousands of years.

Three Dates to Dataland

July 23, 2026

I took three different dates, ages 6, 72 and 35, to see Dataland, the unusual digital art experience in downtown Los Angeles.

Hakol Shalom, All Is Shalom

July 23, 2026

This is the transcript of the speech Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson gave at the 2026 AJU Gala on May 19, 2026.

A Slice of Aussie Heaven for the Jewish Day of Love

July 23, 2026

A classic Australian dessert chocolate coconut slice features a rich, dense, fudgy chocolate base packed with dried coconut, finished with a thick cocoa frosting and generously dusted with even more coconut.

Recipes that Celebrate Love for Tu b’Av

July 23, 2026

This roundup has recipes from two matchmakers: one is perfect for a special date night, the other is the perfect representative of lasting love.

Table for Five: Va’etchanan

July 22, 2026

Secret Sauce

The Haredi Soldiers Caught Between Faith, Family and Country

July 22, 2026

For decades, the question of Haredi enlistment has remained one of Israel’s most sensitive and unresolved conflicts.

Why Are Jews Not Suing Mamdani for Slander and Defamation?

July 22, 2026

At the very least, the case would provide a global stage to debunk the genocide lie that is devastating world Jewry.

The Empty Plaza and the Eternal Bond

July 22, 2026

This Tisha b’Av, as we mourn over the Temple once more, it is an occasion to consider what resonance the remnants of the Temple structure hold for us today.

Rosner’s Domain | A Leftist (Not) by Choice?

July 22, 2026

Coalition supporters want to define Eisenkot as a leftist because leftist is a title most Israelis do not want their Prime Minister to hold. But this definition has inherent limitations.

Love for the Sake of Love: A Lesson from Tisha b’Av

July 22, 2026

Last week, I moderated a panel of interfaith leaders fighting antisemtism and supporting Israel as part of the American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council’s conference.

Life, Love and Tisha b’Av

July 22, 2026

As if life needed one more complication, my anniversary with life, my birthday, usually falls somewhere inside the Three Weeks, that narrow corridor of Jewish time when celebration starts to feel suspicious.

Accidental Pilgrim: My Moroccan Adventure

July 22, 2026

Does Morocco have genuine warmth toward Jews, or is it a way to reignite lucrative Jewish tourism? Does it even matter?

Hitting New Lows

July 22, 2026

Jews, it seems, can’t stop hitting new lows.

What the Changing Narrative Around Israel Reveals About the Fragmentation of the West

July 22, 2026

Anti-Israelism has become a kind of cultural and political loyalty test that has almost nothing to do with the actual policy questions at stake. If the postwar liberal order is fragmenting, the story of Israel is a symptom of that fragmentation, not its cause.

Echoes of Oct. 7 in ‘The Odyssey’

July 20, 2026

The film reminded me that an ancient poet could write about massacres but also about moral courage, while terrorists who dream of killing Jews can only think of going right to the massacre.

Censoring Global Jewry

July 19, 2026

This tale of censorship is bad for books and portends a death knell for literature.

Rabbis Share Sneak Previews of Holy Days Messages

Kelly Hartog

Did you enjoy this article?

You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.