"I love you / You love me / We're a happy family!"

It's in your head, now.  Or, like the endless loop of school shootings on the news night after night, maybe it never left. And perhaps, infuriatingly, this earworm still has something to teach us. In this pre-Shavuot sermon, Rabbi Deena shows us how the texts and themes of the holiday demand that we wake up to America's gun violence epidemic and take decisive action.

Join the Mishkan rabbis and Justice Team this Saturday, June 11th, at the March For Our Lives to address gun violence. You can meet us at the Pre-Rally Shabbat Service.

This sermon was originally delivered during the Saturday Morning Shabbat service on June 4th.  For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

"Whenever truly terrible things happen in the world, I think to myself, 'Maybe I should try being religious.'"

With all of Mishkan's rabbis off duty or under the weather, self-described "fifth string rabbi" Rebecca Stevens steps up to speak from the heart about what it is like to live through this difficult time. God warned us that They would curse us if we didn't follow Their commands. Are we listening yet?

This sermon was originally delivered during the Friday Night Shabbat service on May 27th.  For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

Rabbi Lizzi is joined by Arya Marvazy, the Senior Director of Programs for the Jews of Color Initiative.⁠ Arya (he/him) is a first-generation American born to Iranian-Jewish immigrants from Tehran. For nearly 15 years, Arya has cultivated his leadership in Jewish communal service at Hillel on campus, Hillel International, and JQ International. A proud queer Jew, Arya is passionate about empowering diverse Jewish identity, enriching equitable Jewish community, and ensuring inclusive pathways toward Jewish continuity.

Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets are available now to Fiddler on the Roof at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, from May 17th - 22nd. Use Mishkan's special offer code ROOF45 for $45 Middle Balcony tickets.

This conversation was originally streamed during the Virtual Friday Night Shabbat service on May 20th.  For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

A lot of us are (correctly!) furious about the right-wing attack on our bodily autonomy.  In fact, Mishkan is joining the march this Saturday in support of abortion rights. Yet the same Torah and tradition which inspire us to march for reproductive justice also demand that we never harm anyone — not even our enemies, and not even emotionally! So how do we love a neighbor who doesn't return the favor? Rabbi Deena drops the drash.

Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets are available now to Fiddler on the Roof at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, from May 17th - 22nd. Use Mishkan's special offer code ROOF45 for $45 Middle Balcony tickets.

This message was originally delivered at the  Saturday Morning Shabbat service on May 6th.  For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

During the Omer, we pray "for the sake of the unification of God." But isn't God already One? Rabbi Lizzi drops some drash.

Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets are available now to Fiddler on the Roof at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, from May 17th - 22nd. Use Mishkan's special offer code ROOF45 for $45 Middle Balcony tickets.

This message was originally delivered at the virtual Friday Night Shabbat service on April 29th. You can watch it on our YouTube channel.  For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

We've made it through the Narrow Place, but are we fully free, yet? Builder couple Martin Friedman and Felicia Savage Friedman — expert facilitators in racial justice and Raja yoga — join Rabbi Steven for to explore how each of us living authentically is connected to our collective liberation.

Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets are available now to Fiddler on the Roof at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, from May 17th - 22nd. Use Mishkan's special offer code ROOF45 for $45 Middle Balcony tickets.

This message was originally delivered at the virtual Friday Night Shabbat service on April 22nd. You can watch the whole thing on our YouTube channel.  For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

This message was originally delivered at the Mishkan's virtual seder on April 16th, 2022. You can watch the whole thing on our YouTube channel. Mishkan also invites you to our post-Passover party, The ReLeavening, on Saturday April 23rd at Half Acre Brewing. Yes, there will be pasta. And beer. And burgers. And you?

Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets to The Prom are available now! Use Mishkan's special offer code PARTY49 for $49 tickets, valid for April 19 and 20 (evening only), and April 21, in the Orchestra, Dress Circle and Loge seating area.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

Passover is a story about freedom. But what even is freedom? Rabbi Deena breaks it down ahead of Mishkan's virtual Passover seder.

Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets to The Prom are available now! Use Mishkan's special offer code PARTY49 for $49 tickets, valid for April 19 and 20 (evening only), and April 21, in the Orchestra, Dress Circle and Loge seating area.

This sermon was originally delivered at the Friday Night Shabbat service on April 8th, 2022. You can watch it on our YouTube channel. For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Read the transcript of this sermon on our blog.

Are your spirits getting stale? Is your soul feeling a little overproved? Toss out that chametz and tune into Rabbi Deena's drash on the benefits of a spiritual spring cleaning.

Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets to The Prom are available now! Use Mishkan's special offer code PARTY49 for $49 tickets, valid for April 19 and 20 (evening only), and April 21, in the Orchestra, Dress Circle and Loge seating area.

This sermon was originally delivered at the Saturday Morning Shabbat service on April 2nd, 2022. You can watch this interview on our YouTube channel. For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Read the transcript of this sermon on our blog.

"I have to be honest, I am sitting with a lot of feelings that are making it hard to lean into the peace of Shabbat."

In the wake of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill and Texas Governor Greg Abbott's threats against trans children and their families, Rabbi Steven delivers a passionate drash connecting the oppression of the LGBTQ+ community to the soul-crushing slavery our ancestors were born into which obscured the truth of their identity as bearers of the image of God.

Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets to The Prom are available now! Use Mishkan's special offer code PARTY49 for $49 tickets, valid for April 19 and 20 (evening only), and April 21, in the Orchestra, Dress Circle and Loge seating area.

This episode is the sermon from Mishkan's Friday  service on March 25th. You can watch this interview on our YouTube channel. For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Read the transcript of this sermon on our blog.