In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Oren Hayon reflects on Parashat Emor and the doubled command to “speak” and to “say.” What looks like redundancy in the Torah becomes a profound teaching about how wisdom must be shared with adults and passed along to children.

Rabbi Hayon lifts up the idea that almost all of us are Jewish teachers — parents, grandparents, educators, clergy, camp counselors, and caring adults — whenever we choose to show kids why Jewish life matters to us. He weaves in the teaching of Pesach Sheni, the “second Passover,” to remind us that it is never too late to begin living our Judaism in a way our children can see and learn from.

Through stories, Torah, and heartfelt challenge, Rabbi Hayon invites us to notice how our words, priorities, and presence reveal what we value most to the kids who are always watching.

In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Oren Hayon tells the Jewish story of Isfahan, an ancient community in Iran whose roots stretch back 2,500 years and whose legend begins with exiles carrying soil and water from Jerusalem.

From that evocative image, he invites us to consider the “eternal artifacts” each of us carries — memories, values, and commitments that guide us through a fractured world and help us rebuild after loss.

Rabbi Hayon reflects on how Jewish history lives in the tension between destruction and renewal, and how our choices today shape the future our children will inherit.

In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Josh Fixler dives into one of Tanakh’s strangest stories: the death of Uzza as he reaches out to steady the ark of the covenant. Framed like a Benoit Blanc-style mystery, moving from Parashat Sh’mini to the haftarah in Second Samuel, he asks not “whodunnit” but “whydunnit”—and ultimately admitting that some suffering defies explanation.

Rabbi Fixler then turns to David’s ecstatic dancing, Michal’s rebuke, the denied dream of building the Temple, and modern echoes in the aftermath of October 7th. Along the way, he draws on Saul Bellow, Yehuda Amichai, and survivors who insist “od nirkod shuv – we will dance again,” painting a picture of a Judaism that refuses to give up its dancing shoes even in the shadow of tragedy.