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Oct 13, 2024, 5:44 PM

Repentance and Plan B- Kol Nidre 5785

When I was a boy, in Hebrew school, I heard a hasidic tale that I’d like to retell in the name of my teachers, Elaine Hercenberg and Marjorie Maidman. On Erev Yom Kippur, so the story goes, someone knocked on...

Oct 9, 2024, 10:32 PM

Tears of Grief, Tears of Joy- Rosh Hashanah 5785, Day 1

I need to start my sermon this morning with a warning: I’m going to be talking, in part, about last October 7 and my experience of that day, with details of what happened that day both to me and...

Oct 9, 2024, 10:10 PM

Different Days, Different Names, But the Same Idea- Rosh Hashanah 5785, Day 2

Rosh Hashanah literally translates to “the head of the year”; we mark it as the day when we flip the calendar, and turn from the month of Elul to the month of Tishrei. However, believe it or not, Rosh...

Sep 23, 2024, 6:17 PM

(Not) Knowing the Words- Ki Tavo 5784

One of the most striking passages in all of Tanakh is found in parshat Ki Tavo, which we read this Shabbat. The words of the bikkurim ceremony, when the Israelites bring the first fruits of their crops as an...

Sep 19, 2024, 8:26 PM

Small Actions with Big Impacts – Ki Teitzei 5784

Parshat Ki Teitzei, which we read this morning, enumerates several seemingly miscellaneous mitzvot. Some of them, to be honest, aren’t the most pleasant ones to think about. For example, in our parsha we learn about the law of the...

Sep 9, 2024, 11:14 PM

Creating Order Among Disorder- Shoftim 5784

Parshat Shoftim teaches us initially how the judicial system is to be set up for the Israelites once they enter the promised land. The people are to appoint judges and officials to adjudicate the legal claims of the Israelites,...

Aug 26, 2024, 10:54 PM

Satiety and Satisfaction in Summer – Eikev 5784

My family and I spent the last week at my parents’ house in Maryland for a quick vacation. We get down there about once a year for a week or so, and it’s always a good time. My parents...

Aug 5, 2024, 9:43 PM

The Desert Transformation – Matot-Masei 5784

Eight years ago this week -- almost to the day -- I found myself in Israel, co-staffing a 10 day Birthright Israel trip with a bus full of eager twentysomethings. We spent a week and a half galloping around...

Jul 29, 2024, 11:38 PM

Divine and Human Partnership – Pinchas 5784

If you were to visit me in my office (which you’re all cordially invited to do - preferably by appointment), you’ll see on the wall my teudat smicha - my ordination document. In quite flowery language in Hebrew and...

Jul 16, 2024, 5:23 PM

Bringing Forth Our Best Selves- Hukkat 5784

Our parshah this week, parshat Hukkat, is not, shall we say, the “sunniest” of parshayot. This week we learn of the strange ritual of the red heifer, to be performed when a person contracts impurity through contact with the...

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About Me

Ben Einsidler serves as rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom in Framingham, Massachusetts. He received rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College in Boston, where he previously earned Master’s degrees in Jewish education and Jewish studies. He completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education as part of the chaplaincy team at Beverly Hospital, and has participated in fellowships with Hadar, the iCenter, and the Shalom Hartman Institute. Rabbi Einsidler is proud to be a long-time volunteer with the Community Hevra Kadisha of Greater Boston.