Howard's Sermon

Rosh HaShannah Morning 5772

Last night I spoke about fear, and how to overcome our fears through faith.  Today I want to share something really scary with you.  As many of you already know, I did something this summer that my rabbinic friends and colleagues around the nation think is just crazy.  At our annual golf tournament, I auctioned off complete and total control over the topic of one of my High Holy Day sermons.  Who does such a thing?!  I thought it would be fun, and it would guarantee that at least one member of the congregation would be interested in at least one sermon I offer over the holidays.

Well, after a short bidding period, your president, Howard Rosenhoch won the prize.  This was a good thing because I had heard that another person (you know who you are) was determined to pick the New York Yankees as my theme.  This would have been my worst nightmare, because sadly for many of you, I am not a Yankees fan.  By contrast, Howard was taking the responsibility he won seriously, and even wrote about it in his president’s column.  I told my colleagues it was all working out fine.  

Then I get this e-mail from him.  One simple little e-mail.  ‘Rabbi,’ he writes, ‘I couldn’t come up with a topic, but as I was cleaning out my desk I found this article.  Maybe you can do something with that.  I’m sure there are lots of topics you can find there.’

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