(RNS) — Robert Nosanchuk, senior rabbi at Mishkan Or in Beachwood, Ohio, thinks of sermons at the High Holidays like snapshots of their times: “They capture a moment in time of relationship between … the congregants, the clergy and the world at large,” said Nosanchuk, who leads the Cleveland area’s oldest Reform congregation.
The sermons, he added, put the ancient Jewish teachings in perspective, showing “how they might operate in a world that is trembling.”
Starting at sunset on Monday (Sept. 22) with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, synagogues and other Jewish communities entered their High Holidays, one of the busiest times of their calendar. The 10-day observance ends with Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, considered the holiest day of the year for Jews. Yom Kippur starts this year at sundown Oct. 1.
Later in October, Jewish communities will observe Sukkot (Oct. 6–13), a seven-day festival celebrating the harvest season, followed by Simchat Torah (starting at sunset Oct. 14), marking the end of the annual cycle of Torah readings.
During the High Holidays, synagogues typically see attendance soar as congregants reflect on the past year and seek guidance for the year ahead. For the occasion, rabbis across the country craft sermons befitting the crowds and, often …