It's lovely to have you with us.

The gates are open.

For the next 25 hours, we stand inside Yom Kippur.

We confess, we remember, we ask for forgiveness.

We face what we have done and what has been done to us.

And tomorrow evening, as the light begins to fade, we will reach Neila, the locking of the gates.

Then, precisely as the gates are closing, we will pray, Open the gate for us.

And hopefully welcoming you.

It's lovely to have you with

us.

If you rest your hand on your heart, do you feel the pain? In each beat, with the faint echo of your breath, can you feel something that seemingly does not belong to your body, but still somehow beats in your heart? Our sages tell us that we were standing at the foot of Mount Sinai when we received Torah.

But what if our inheritance had already begun to take shape on another mountain? This morning, we heard that moment.

a father, a son, a mountain, a knife raised, and then, at the very last possible moment, not lowered.

Isaac lives, but the story does not end on the mountain.

Sarah is absent from the story.

And hopefully welcoming you.

It's lovely to have you with us.

This week's Torah portion, Nitzavim, may be my favorite portion.

And this is because for me, it contains the heart of progressive Judaism.

It begins with one of the most powerful declarations of inclusion in Torah.

You stand this day, all of you.

Moses then names them young and old, men and women, stranger in the camp, no matter their occupation or social status.

Everyone stands within the covenant.

It's lovely to have you with us.

Kitetsu is the Parashat that marks one year since I arrived at the Ark.

It was later in the Gregorian calendar, in the first week of September, but our Jewish calendar marks time differently, and Torah has another rhythm.

So, one Torah year ago, I came here to this bimah and talked to you about this parashah.

And I brought sticky notes with me.

If you don't remember, the sermon is still available on our website and YouTube.

Go there and find it.

It's lovely to have you with

us.

Two weeks ago, while traveling with my family, we spent our evenings playing a Cluedo style board game.

Every evening began the same way.

The board was set, the pieces were in place, someone rolled the dice, and suddenly, we were racing around the board, collecting clues, and trying to solve a mystery.

As I prepared this sermon, I realized this week's Torah portion feels a little like opening a box of Cluedo.

Parashat Re'eh is full of laws that at first glance seem disconnected.

And hopefully welcoming you.