Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch Of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue

“If you shall follow my laws...” begins this week’s parashah. “That word ‘if’ is one of the most consequential words,” says Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch. “It connotes all of the uncertainties of life.”

“Bigger people have a responsibility to smaller people.” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch discusses the obligations outlined in this week’s parashah, Emor. “To diminish people who are not quite as big in responsibility or social status violates the image of God...

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch delves into what the this week’s parashah has to say about labor and providing for those less fortunate: “Why do we have obligations to those who cannot support themselves? The Torah is emphatic: it's about human dignity.”

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch has always been a bit intimidated by this week’s parasha, Tazria-Metzora, which deals with treating those afflicted with disease. “It lays out a path for these people to be quarantined and then let back into society. Healing is not...

"New York's streets are silent now, but our city will come back noisy as ever," says our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch. "As we rebuild, we, ourselves, will be rebuilt."

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch asks what kind of person each of us will be when we emerge from social isolation and finds guidance from Jewish tradition.

On the Shabbat before Passover, each Israelite household was commanded to watch over a lamb for four days before using its blood to mark their doorposts. “God wanted the Israelites to earn their freedom — even if it was simply by keeping watch,” says...

“We read in the Book of Daniel, ‘thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.’ We must pass this test — or there will be incalculable human suffering,” says Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch. “Have patience. Keep these monotonous days in perspective. They...

We never really think about how connected we are with everybody else,” says Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch. “This week's Torah portion emphasizes that Moses assembled the entire people of Israel in order to complete the tabernacle. Like the Israelites, to...

As we focus on “social distancing” and staying healthy in the challenging months ahead, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch urges us “to focus on the things that really matter to us: life, family, friends, meaning, purpose.”

“When we are anxious and afraid, we often act unintelligently — with little wisdom and with pervasive cruelty,” says Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch. As the coronavirus looms, what we need is a good, strong dose of courage, sense and heart.

“These days, trust in our most critical institutions is in distressing decline,” says Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, who discussed how public confidence has eroded when it comes to the media, the courts, schools, churches and synagogues. “Inspiration does not...

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch discusses his long depressing, uplifting week — including the march against anti-Semitism on Sunday, his remarks to Fieldston students on Thursday, and his advice to parents for raising proud Jewish children.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch remarks on the overlap of Hanukkah and Christmas this year.

“We are numb to the damage that our culture of shame wreaks,” says Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, as he examines the lengths we go to protect our dignity in this week’s parasha. “Dignity is the very essence of what makes us human. The Talmud tells us that when...

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch examines generational tensions, both modern day and through the lens of this week’s parasha, Va’yerah. Ultimately, whether you are a critical Baby Boomer or a sophomoric millennial retorting, “Okay, Boomer!” time speeds by. “You...

After accidentally dating a d’var Torah “3019,” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch began to think about the world in 1,000 years and how future generations will look back on our time.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch questions our country’s health in the wake of the NBA-China controversy. “The general manager of the Houston Rockets sent a rather bland tweet upholding the struggle for democracy in Hong Kong – and chaos ensued. What could be more...

On Yom Kippur, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch discusses the ways we seek to escape – and give meaning and purpose – to the anxiety of life. Some choose the path of science and technology, but does it liberate or paralyze? Some take the opposite approach...

With new political outrage, scandals, lies, and shootings every day, it’s understandable that some of us might suffer from moral fatigue, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch said on the eve of Yom Kippur. “The more sensitive we are, the greater the frustration. But...