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