

Breaking Bread with the Enemy: When Should We Talk, and When Should We Walk?©
Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 2025/5785 - Rabbi David Baum I have to share something I’ve never shared before. It was during the first...

Rabbi David Baum
May 13, 20257 min read


Not Handed, But Earned: The Ongoing Story of the Silver Platter©
One of the poems I always read on Yom HaZikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, is called "The Silver Platter" by the Jewish poet Natan Alterman....

Rabbi David Baum
May 1, 20254 min read


You Are What You Eat—and What You Don’t: Keeping Kosher in the Land of Bacon-Wrapped Everything©
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash Parashat Shemini 2025/5785 Why do you keep kosher? Why don’t you keep kosher? Why is it hard for...

Rabbi David Baum
Apr 30, 20256 min read


Why We Remember, Why We Fight, Why We Live: Yom HaShoah U’Gevurah Reflections
Photo by Majkl Velner on Unsplash After the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, my grandfather Frank z'l, a Holocaust...

Rabbi David Baum
Apr 24, 20255 min read


No Liberation Without Revelation: The Crisis of Moral Clarity in the Age of Campus Activism©
I want to begin with a quote and gauge how you all feel about it. Would you ‘like’ it if no one knew? On a base level, maybe you hope...

Rabbi David Baum
Apr 22, 20257 min read


What We Talk About When We Don’t Talk: Silence At The Seder©
Parashat Vayikra/Leviticus - 2025/5785 Click here for the Video Version on YouTube Moshe says to his friend David, "I've been doing a lot...

Rabbi David Baum
Apr 8, 20258 min read


We Are Not Boring: The Secret History Jewish America©
Parashat Ki Tissa 2025-5785 We Are Not Boring: The Secret History Jewish America by Rabbi David Baum Congregation Shaarei Kodesh...

Rabbi David Baum
Mar 17, 20258 min read


Who Lit Your Fire? The Power of Jewish Inspiration
Who in your life lit the flame of Judaism for you? Maybe it was a rabbi or a teacher, or it could have been a family member who didn’t...

Rabbi David Baum
Mar 13, 20254 min read


The Edifice Complex: What Really Matters in a Synagogue©
Parashat Terumah 2025/5785 Shabbat Shekalim When I was 16, I stepped into the famous Krakow synagogue along with other teens on the March...

Rabbi David Baum
Mar 6, 20254 min read


Empty Chairs, Broken Hearts: The Torah’s Response to Kidnapping and Loss©
Parashat Mishpatim - Rabbi David Baum When we were in Israel this summer, we visited Israel's Library of Congress. As you walk into the...

Rabbi David Baum
Feb 20, 20253 min read


Baum's Branches: Symbols of Survival and Hope - Parashat Bo
This week, on Monday, January 27, we observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I reflected on a powerful message through a sermon...

Rabbi David Baum
Jan 30, 20254 min read


Annual Meeting Dvar Torah by Rabbi David Baum - January 29, 2025 - Parashat Bo
One of the things I often hear from our chaverim/congregants who have made a connection with Shaarei Kodesh is a version of this...

Rabbi David Baum
Jan 30, 20254 min read


Protecting Our Hearts: Confronting Evil Without Losing Ourselves
Rabbi David Baum, Congregation Shaarei Kodesh Shabbat Va-era 2025-5785 Early in the film Selma, which tells the story of the famous march...

Rabbi David Baum
Jan 27, 20257 min read


More Than a Number - A Name: Reclaiming Our Humanity After the Release of the Hostages©
This Shabbat is bittersweet, much like the book of Exodus. Today, we are overjoyed with the prospect that the hostages will be returning...

Rabbi David Baum
Jan 19, 20256 min read


What If You Were The Last Jew On Earth?©
Parashat Vayehi - Rabbi David Baum, Congregation Shaarei Kodesh Click Above to Watch What if you were the last Jew on earth? What if you...

Rabbi David Baum
Jan 14, 20259 min read


Asarah B'Tevet (the Fast of Tevet) and the California Fires
During these past two weeks, we have seen the blessings of the fire as we lit our Hanukkiot, but we have also seen the destruction that...

Rabbi David Baum
Jan 10, 20255 min read


When Hanukkah’s Spark Meets Christmas Lights: Finding the Spark of Jewish Identity and Resilience this Hanukkah©
Parashat Vayeishev, Rabbi David Baum December 21, 2024 - 20 Kislev 5785 (click on the picture above for the video version of the sermon...

Rabbi David Baum
Dec 24, 20247 min read


Defying Gravity: Timeless Tales of Frenemies from the Torah to Today©
Rabbi David Baum - Parashat Vayishlach Delivered on Shabbat morning, December 14, 2024 Congregation Shaarei Kodesh (AI-Generated picture...

Rabbi David Baum
Dec 16, 20247 min read


Putting the ‘Jewish’ back in Jewish-American: Thanksgiving and Jewish Identity©
Parashat Chayyei Sarah I have had many memorable Thanksgivings, but there is one I will never forget. Alissa and I were dating long...

Rabbi David Baum
Dec 5, 20248 min read


Healing the Divide: Learning to See Through Each Other’s Eyes©
Parashat Vayera 2024 Mayor Ed Koch’s famously said: “If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12...

Rabbi David Baum
Nov 21, 20247 min read

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