teshuvah — Rabbi Adam Lavitt — Sermons & Writing

The Blessing of Imperfection (Yom Kippur Day 5782)

During the rest of the year, while we may have moments of transcendence from time to time, we mostly muddle through each day’s measure of joy and pain. More often than I like to admit, I speak and behave in ways I later regret. I get impatient and defensive, and am misled by my desires. The last year and a half of the pandemic has broken our hearts and distorted our self-image - we feel more self-conscious about our bodies, and struggle with what we might consider normal social interactions. We are less certain about who we are, what we believe, and where we belong.

sermonAdam LavittSeptember 16, 2021angels, mortality, transformation, teshuvah, hope

Dressed for Redemption (Shabbat Nitzavim)

The ways we get ready for Shabbat and holidays - dressing, eating, and speaking with more intention- reminds us of our aspirations towards physical and spiritual renewal, and show we’re ready for a different world. When we enter the world prepared for change, we are no longer waiting for the world to get better: we are making a change ourselves.

Adam LavittSeptember 3, 2021Rosh Hashanah, teshuvah, inner work, tran

Belonging to Longing (Shabbat Ki Teitzei)

The way I respond to the deepest yearnings in my life — more often than I’d like to admit — is to refresh the New York Times homepage, or eat chocolate. We distract ourselves so we don’t have to acknowledge how far we are from who we want to be. Judaism offers us another way to respond: teshuva – often translated “repentance” and which literally means “turning” or “transforming.”

Adam LavittAugust 21, 2021Elul, teshuvah, transformation, meditation, love, relationships

Second Chances (Shabbat B'ha'alotecha)

In one way or another, we have all been “far off” unable to mark important moments in our lives and those of friends and family – birthdays and shivas, holidays and Shabbat, graduations and weddings – in ways that felt real, with a celebratory hug or comforting touch. So Torah reminds us today we need not feel permanently exiled, like we missed out on something we can never make up. Instead, God invites to come back, to try again another time…. More important than doing things at the right time, is our willingness to try again later, to return to community as we’re ready and able.

Adam LavittMay 28, 2021teshuvah, community, Passover, forgiveness

Choosing Life from the Belly of the Whale (Yom Kippur Day)

Over the last few months, like Jonah, we have each descended into the murky depths. And as we peered out at our world — through computers and TV screens — we, like Jonah, were dumbstruck as we witnessed the histories upon which our nation was built: the ongoing racial violence carried out by our institutions, a living legacy of slavery and dehumanization; the disparities in health care that have resulted in disproportionate losses to COVID amongst communities of color; environmental degradation wrought by corporations built on greed and plunder.

Adam LavittSeptember 28, 2020teshuvah, Yom Kippur, Jonah, Blacklivesmatter

Choosing Life as a Nation (Erev Yom Kippur)

As Jews, on Yom Kippur, some of us dress in white, or fast and abstain from water, to intentionally wake ourselves up to life’s fleeting nature. As we observe Yom Kippur this year, we can’t help but think about how many people do not intentionally choose to be reminded of this, but instead have it forced on them by unjust policies and hateful acts.

Adam LavittSeptember 27, 2020voting, John Lewis, Blacklivesmatter, teshuvah

Shabbat Eikev

It is too easy in normal times – when we feel safe, healthy, undisturbed to mistakenly think we are self-sufficient, to, in Isaiah’s words this week, “walk by the blaze of [our own] fire.” During times of great disruption, like our ancestors faced, like we face today, we see the walls of the familiar structures around us laying in ruin. We confront our own vulnerability, our deep dependence on each other; are reminded anything that happens to any part of the great web of life in which we and the natural world are bound, affects all of us.

Adam LavittAugust 6, 2020teshuvah, COVID, vulnerability

Shabbat Chayyei Sarah

At the beginning of our Torah portion, the image we have of Abraham is a sad one: Having banished Hagar and Ishmael, he returns home without Isaac, only to receive the news that his wife Sarah has died. In a few pages, the tribal patriarch, the leader of his clan, loses all those closest and most dear to him. As he mourns everyone he has lost, we wonder, is it too late for Abraham? is this what he has to look forward to? A life of isolation, cut off from his own family and the promise of the future?

Adam LavittNovember 22, 2019family, teshuvah, Abraham, Chayyei Sarah

I’m Only Happy When it Rains

Every year, I do my best to engage with the process of teshuvah (repentance) during the High Holidays. A few weeks ago, I made resolutions, asked for and received forgiveness, cast away my sins, felt spiritually renewed…and then the craziness of the year began, as it does each year: right now, my partner and I are settling into our new apartment and unpacking boxes. I am starting new jobs while getting acquainted with a new city. Despite my best intentions, I’ve lost sight of the higher self with whom I am trying to align. Like many of us, I am overwhelmed with the business of life at this time of year.

Adam LavittOctober 20, 2014teshuvah, repentance, Heshvan, new beginnings

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