Tag: Progressive Judaism
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Welcome Is Not Enough
There’s a difference between opening a door and sharing the room.This week’s Torah portion — with its “mixed multitude” and the bold question Lamah nigara? (“Why should we be excluded?”) — has something urgent to say about Pride Month and trans inclusion in Jewish life.Rabbi Adrian Schell argues that queer and trans Jews aren’t a…
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A Letter to Myself: Reflections on my father’s first Yahrzeit
In the twelve months since my father’s passing, our community has accompanied around twenty individuals on their final journeys. For a rabbi, walking with the bereaved is a constant, but this year the weight of it felt different. There was a strange, heavy resonance between my private study, where I sat with my own grief,…
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Stop Creating Monsters
Rabbi Adrian Schell welcomes Secretary of State Steve Reed to Wimbledon Synagogue for Shabbat Vayishlach. This sermon explores the spiritual antidote to populism by connecting it to Jacob’s wrestling with Esau. In this crucial discussion of faith and politics, the Rabbi challenges us all to see the humanity in the ‘other’—the refugee, the opponent, or…
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Our Civic Covenant: Faith and Democracy
In a time of deep societal division and rising anxiety, Rabbi Adrian Schell delivers a powerful address for Civic Shabbat, “A Covenant of Courage.”Drawing on the ancient call to Abraham in Parashat Lech Lecha and the prophet Micah’s vision of peace, Rabbi Schell explores the urgent challenge of our time: the breaking of our “civic…
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How Can We Rejoice? A Sukkot Message Two Years After October 7th
My sermon for Erev Sukkot addresses a direct and painful collision in the Jewish calendar: the beginning of ‘z’man simchateinu’, the season of our joy, falls on the exact second anniversary of the October 7th atrocities. It explores how the sukkah itself, with its flimsy walls and lesson in vulnerability, will not let us hide…
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Probabilities Don’t Hug You Back: A Neilah Sermon for a World Without Guarantees
This Neilah sermon begins with a story from the town of Chelm, where a drought has caused a crisis of faith, and the people demand proof that God is listening. Into this debate steps Jossele, who argues that while he can’t be certain about God, he knows that a life of kindness, forgiveness, and charity…
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Take Words With You: A Jewish Guide to a Hopeful New Year
Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the work of ‘teshuvah’ (return) can feel daunting. But what if the essential tool for change isn’t guilt, but language? Rabbi Adrian Schell explores the ancient Jewish “technology” of using words—for apology, for prayer, and for rewriting our own stories—as we prepare for the new year. Drawing on the…
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When Conscience and Command Collide: Faith and Ethics in the Akedah (Binding of Isaac) Story
When Conscience and Command Collide: Faith and Ethics in the Akedah (Binding of Isaac) Story In this powerful sermon for the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5786, Rabbi Adrian Schell of The Wimbledon Synagogue offers a profound re-reading of the Binding of Isaac (the Akedah). What if Abraham’s journey up the mountain was not an…
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That Verse in Deuteronomy: Reclaiming a Torah of Pride, Not Pain
A single verse in this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tetzei, has been used for centuries to exclude and shame transgender and queer people. But is that what the Torah truly intends? In this Pride Shabbat sermon, Rabbi Adrian Schell explores our tradition as a vast, ancient house we inherit—a place of beautiful, light-filled rooms, but…
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Progressive Synagogues from Southwest London Joined Pride in London to Celebrate Queer Jewish Visibility
A statement for visibility. Queer Jews and their allies belong at Pride.
