Rabbi Lea Mühlstein explores how the opening verses of Genesis and Rashi's early commentary frame the land of Israel as a sacred trust rather than an absolute claim. She challenges the reduction of Zionism to a single political label, arguing that true Zionism can coexist with Palestinian self‑determination and a responsibility to justice. Listeners will leave with a nuanced view of identity, ownership, and how theological ideas shape contemporary political discourse.

In this talk the speaker unpacks the halachic rule “Tadir v’she’Eino Tadir, Tadir Kodem” – the idea that regular practices take precedence over occasional ones. By tracing the rule through Shabbat blessings, Torah‑reading order, and even ancient Temple sacrifices, they show how it points to a deeper ethic: make the ordinary sacred. Listeners will leave with a concrete way to shape personal and communal Jewish life around steady, meaningful rhythms rather than waiting for rare, spectacular moments.

What does a Talmudic debate about using an elephant as a sukkah wall have to do with grief?

In this Erev Sukkot sermon, Rabbi Lea Mühlstein reads the rabbis' discussion in Sukkah 23a alongside Sherri Mandel's children's book The Elephant in the Sukkah, where a boy makes room for a singing elephant by letting it become one of the walls. Drawing on Mandel's work with bereaved children, she suggests that loss at first feels too big to contain, and that with others' support we can build a new vessel large enough to hold it.

After the Days of Awe, Sukkot becomes a season of post-traumatic growth: a joy that doesn't ignore reality, but lets the elephants in.