Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
In this sermon, Rabbi Adrian Schell continues the courageous conversation taking place in his community, addressing grief, moral disorientation, and hope in turbulent times. Drawing on Numbers Chapter 10, he explores the symbolic power of the silver trumpets: tools that…
The dust of the sanctuary says: You belong here too.
We know the wilderness well in our tradition. It's the place where Israel wandered, lost and disoriented. A place of testing and trial, but also of revelation. Sinai happened in the wilderness, not in the comfort of a promised land. Elijah found God not in the fire or the storm, but in the still small voice, alone, broken, and afraid in the desert.
So, what does it mean for someone today to find themselves in such a wilderness?
The Sabbath and Shmita teach us that the land is not merely our resource, but our partner in God's covenant—a caregiver that Resh Lakish likens to a devoted handmaiden raising the king's children. When we honour the earth's need for rest, we rediscover our own worth beyond productivity, learning to breathe not as owners, but as kin in a world yearning to be 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.
On the 80th anniversary of VE Day, this sermon reflects on the powerful intersection of Parashat Acharei Mot–Kedoshim with a moment of both liberation and loss in Jewish and world history.
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I have just returned from a few days away in Germany. It was good, and it was needed. The truth is, Pesach – as joyful and rich as it is – carries with it a weight that few of us…
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…
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 this Pesach sermon, Rabbi Adrian M. Schell reflects on a deeply personal and poignant Seder night in Berlin, where a table of rabbinical students, each carrying their own stories and silences, unknowingly held the broken pieces of our collective…