This piece was originally delivered as a sermon titled “The Cries of Isaac and Ishmael” at Central Synagogue on the first day of Rosh Hashanah in 2025.

I have been a rabbi for 25 years, 20 of them at Central Synagogue, and I have never been so afraid to talk about Israel.

I want to tell you about my unconditional love for the Israeli people and our beleaguered homeland, still desperately struggling to bring its hostages home, still trying to eliminate Hamas — terrorists that not only refuse to lay down their arms but intentionally trap their own people inside a combat zone.

But if I tell you these things, all of which I believe, some of you will just stop listening. And decide that I’m no longer your rabbi.

I also want to tell you how my heart breaks over the civilian deaths, and tragi

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