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By Rabbi Carl M. Perkins:

SHABBAT SERMONS
Click here to read selected Shabbat sermons

MESSAGES OTHER THAN SERMONS
Click here for letters to the community on various topics at various times

HIGH HOLIDAY SERMONS BY YEAR
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998

2009 - 5770

• “Greetings on Erev Rosh Hashanah” — Erev Rosh Hashanah
• “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” — Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “Snapshots from an Interfaith Trip to Israel” — Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “Let’s Start Over, Together, Here, Now” — Kol Nidre
• “Kherpat Ra’av: The Shame of Hunger” — Yom Kippur

2008 - 5769

• “Do You Like Lobster?” - Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “The Walled Garden” – Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “Why Are You Here?” — Kol Nidre
• “What Do We Wish For?” — Yom Kippur

2007 - 5768

• “Does Religion Poison Everything? (A Response to God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens)” - Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “Ascending the Hierarchy of Holiness” – Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “Compiling a Yom Kippur ‘Life List’” — Kol Nidre
• “Writing Ourselves into the Book of Life” — Yom Kippur

2006 - 5767

• “It’s Not Over” – Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “Jewish Identity in Wal-Mart Country–and Elsewhere” – Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “Re-Shaping Our Souls” — Kol Nidre
• “Being Present” — Yom Kippur

2005 - 5766

• “Finding A Place to Pray” – Erev Rosh Hashanah
• “Poverty” – Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “The Tenth Trial” – Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “The Art of the Apology” – Kol Nidre
• “Is Jewish Survival Enough?” – Yom Kippur
• “Yizkor, Shmini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah” – Shmini Atzeret Yizkor

  2004 - 5765

• “Getting Started” – Erev Rosh Hashanah
• “Who is an Authentic Jew?” – Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “Israel: The Reality” – Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “To Tell The Truth” – Kol Nidre
• “Two Kinds of Hillel Sandwich” – Yom Kippur

2003 - 5764

• “Changing (or Re-Charging) our Spiritual Batteries” – Erev Rosh Hashanah
• “Yom Tov and Yom Norah” – Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “Je me souviens: I Remember Who I Am” – Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die” – Kol Nidre
• “Be an Important Person” – Yom Kippur

2002 - 5763

• “Blessings for Good and in Vain” – Erev Rosh Hashanah
• “The Tower of Terror” – Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “Maintaining Hope in Difficult Times” – Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “Teshuvah—Better Late Than Never” – Kol Nidre
• “Names” – Yom Kippur

2001 - 5762

• “Bearing Unspeakable Loss” – Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “What is Zionism?” – Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “Three Ways Our Memories Can Fail Us: And What To Do About It” – Kol Nidre
• “Lessons From the Obituary Page” – Yom Kippur

2000 - 5761

• “Americans or Jews? and Other Questions in the Wake of the Lieberman Nomination” – Rosh Hashanah Day 1
• “The Zionist Dream...and the Reality” – Rosh Hashanah Day 2
• “Taking Time to Smell the Roses” – Kol Nidre
• “Three Hidden Truths: Living With Uncertainty” – Yom Kippur

1999 - 5760

1998 - 5759

OTHER MESSAGES

On various occasions Rabbi Perkins has sent messages to the synagogue community—in anticipation of an upcoming holiday, during times of community crisis, and during moments of reflection during his sabbatical and other trips to Israel. You can read those by linking to the messages below:

• Musings from Israel (July 21, 2004)
• On the Road in Israel (February, 2005)
• “It’s a Very Small Jewish World” (April 10, 2005)
• Words of “Spiritual Guidance”, delivered to Needham Town Meeting (November 8, 2004)
• Pesach Greetings from Jerusalem (April, 2004)
• The Story of Hanukkah v. The History of Hanukkah: What Really Happened – And Does It Matter? (Erev Hanukkah, 2004)
• “So, Rabbi, what did you do on your sabbatical?” (September, 2005)
• Tribute to Cantor Emeritus Harry Gelman (June 22, 2008)
• Dvar Torah on Parashat Mikketz (Hanukkah, 2008), published in Solomon Schechter Day School “Shavuon”
• Remarks Delivered in the Wake of the Madoff Scandal (Meeting of the Board of Directors, December 18, 2008)

The following 3 letter were written from Israel during the conflict with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006:

• “Is This How a War Begins?” (Jerusalem, July 16, 2006)
• “Routine Shellling” (Jerusalem, July 21, 2006)
• “Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu” (Jerusalem, July 27, 2006)