RabbiAdrian

RabbiAdrian

What Makes Us Whole?

In Parashat Emor, we find one of the Torah’s more difficult passages — a section that limits which kohanim, which priests, can serve at the altar. A priest with a visible difference — blind, lame, injured, or with a disfigurement — is instructed not to offer the sacred sacrifices.

To modern ears, this can feel jarring. It brushes up against our values of equality, inclusion, and dignity. But maybe we can approach this not as a closed door but as a doorway into deeper conversation.

Planting Hope in Fragile Soil

This Shabbat, we find ourselves at a crossroads of deep reflection and joyful celebration. The Torah portions of Tazria and Metzora speak about illness, healing, isolation, and return. They tell of individuals who are cast out of the community because…

The Shoreline of Memory

On the Seventh Day of Pesach, when the festival meets Shabbat and memory meets hope, Rabbi Adrian M. Schell offers a tender reflection from the edge of the sea—both literal and spiritual. In this sermon, we walk alongside Barbara and…

In the Shadow of Beauty

Shabbat Ki Tissa brings us face to face with a rare figure in our tradition—Bezalel, an artist whose name itself means “in the shadow of God.” Bezalel’s job was special: crafting the Tabernacle, creating beauty as an act of holiness.…