46 | SEPTEMBER 2 • 2021 

continued from page 44
ROSH HASHANAH

to people about their experiences 
and priorities to meet them where 
they are. “I try to think ‘what 
could I bring them from Jewish 
tradition, from my own experi-
ence, that could be inspiring, that 
could be a message that could 
stay with them or that they could 
return to in times of happiness, 
trouble or indecision.
’”
Kaluzny is rereading the Torah 
portion and talking to colleagues 
all over the country as she seeks 
to craft a message that responds 
to what we’ve been through as 
individuals, a community and a 
nation. She’s also reading mem-
oirs to get inspiration for what 
will ultimately become the mes-
sages she shares in her sermons. 
“I have to brew it in my head 
first, and once it’s brewed for a lit-
tle bit, then I can put it on paper,
” 
she says. “I think people are 
approaching these High Holidays 
with great anticipation that good 
things are coming,
”

SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Though some colleagues start 
writing their sermons months 
ahead of the holiday, 
Rabbi Yechiel Morris 
of Young Israel 
of Southfield says 
his usually comes 
together a week or 
two in advance. His 
focus on the High 
Holidays is the same 
every year, he explains.
“
As a rabbi, you’re always look-
ing for a hook of what people are 
thinking about, but the message 
is always the same,
” he says. “The 
issues are different, but the goals 
and messages and values, that’s a 
constant.
” 
It’s simultaneously a time to 
praise members and congratulate 
them for what they do, to feel 
proud of their commitments to 
God, but also to try and push 
them to strengthen their connec-
tion to God, their fellow Jews and 
their Judaism, he says. 

“The big messages are taking 
stock of who we are as Jews and 
thinking about what’s important, 
and not to become complacent 
no matter where we are in life,
” he 
says, adding that he focuses very 
little on politics and world affairs 
during his sermons. 
“It’s more about your person-
al and familial and communal 
growth as a Jew.
” 
He’s hoping people leave ser-
vices reflecting on how to keep 
growing, adapting and maintain-
ing their commitment — making 
Judaism a priority in their lives. 
He also plans to talk about resil-
ience, staying strong, and moving 
forward.
“My nephew was one of the 
45 people who died in Israel this 
past year during the stampede,
” 
he says. “One of the big themes 
is thinking about the upcoming 
year and how life is fragile and 
making the most of every oppor-
tunity.
” 

BEING PASTORAL
At the Congregation for 
Humanistic Judaism of Metro 
Detroit, Rabbi Jeffrey 
Falick is readying 
for four big services. 
He says he starts 
thinking about his 
topics for the follow-
ing year just after 
the holidays, but 
has struggled with 
this year’s message, 
which he wants to have address 
the global trauma that has 
impacted people on so many lev-
els and in so many different ways. 
While he used to sit at cof-
feeshops and write, because of 
the pandemic, he’s sitting at his 
dining table preparing his mes-
sage, he says. He’s selected four 
different aspects of the human 
condition to talk about, and plans 
to explore how our perspectives 
have changed, and can change, as 
the result of the pandemic. 
“This has been a part of life 

that has just been whipping us 
backwards and forwards in every 
direction, and the whiplash we’ve 
gotten, we have to learn from,
” 
he says. 
“This year, I’m really focusing 
on being pastoral in my approach 
because I think that’s what people 
need. Helping people dig inside, 
that’s the point of talking about 
these things from the standpoint 
of perspective.
”

OUR ADAPTABILITY
Rabbi Michael Moskowitz’s plan-
ning phone calls for High Holiday 
sermons started ear-
lier this summer. He 
and his colleagues, 
both at Temple Shir 
Shalom and around 
town, challenge 
each other and share 
ideas. He’ll give two 
sermons over the 
High Holidays, and 
he plans to focus on the strength 
and adaptability that’s part of the 
Jewish experience. 
Moskowitz says he delves into 
books that he put aside during 
the year for this purpose, and 
tries to put together sermons that 
encourage people to reflect and 
also empower them to adjust. He 
reads with an eye toward what he 
might teach. 
“Often, there are books that 
have struck me that maybe I 
touched during the year that I put 
aside and now want to grab hold 
of,
” he says, pointing to books by 
the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, 
and also Caste: The Origins of Our 
Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, 
which he started reading last year. 
“I believe the Jewish experience 
is a success story. Whether we go 
to ancient times to today, it’s not 
about a fear of failure; it’s about 
how do we continue in the most 
effective way, and how do we 
make sure that those memories 
and that history are something we 
utilize not just to reflect on but to 
grow ourselves and grow upon as 

individuals, a community and a 
people,
” he explains. “For me, the 
imprint is put on us, of responsi-
bility — on our soul.
”

POWER OF HOME 
This will be Rabbi Daniel 
Horwitz’s first year at Adat 
Shalom Synagogue’s pulpit. As 
part of his prepara-
tion for addressing 
the community, he 
carves out a few 
hours twice a week 
for writing, reading 
and researching as 
his busy schedule 
with small children 
allows. 
He’s considering talking about 
how the disruption of the pan-
demic can make room for people 
to evaluate the “normal” they 
were living, and how they can 
seek to enhance their lives and 
move toward a new, better nor-
mal for themselves.
He’s also looking at talking 
about the power of home. “This 
was a huge draw to come back 
to Metro Detroit — what does it 
mean for you to have home and 
a loving, supportive community,
” 
explains Horwitz, who recently 
moved back to Metro Detroit 
from Florida. 
“I want them to be thinking 
about something, and I want 
them to be feeling something,
” he 
says of people who take part in 
the services. “What I want them 
to feel is that they were seen, and 
that doesn’t mean they have to 
dress up fancy — but it’s in a year 
of people living on screens, one 
of the hardest things for people in 
general and in life is to be made 
to feel invisible.
”
He says he wants people to 
extend the feelings of being 
seen and potentially the sense of 
home to others. 
“I would want them to think 
about what role each of them 
could potentially play to help 
others feel seen.” 

Rabbi 
Yechiel 
Morris

Rabbi 
Jeffrey 
Falick

Rabbi 
Michael 
Moskowitz

Rabbi 
Daniel 
Horwitz

