Sermons by Rabbi Zauzmer

2026 Sermons

Rabbi Zauzmer: The Wrong Reason to Malign (January 17, 2026)
On the Shabbat before MLK Day, Rabbi Zauzmer reminded us that while we can criticize the policies of our elected officials, we should celebrate religious diversity in leadership.

2025 Sermons

  • No Matter the Outcome, You Must Vote (October 25, 2025)

    As the early voting period begins, Rabbi Zauzmer reminds us of our Jewish obligation both to vote and to choose the best available candidate.

  • The Joy of Vulnerability (Sukkot, 2025)

    Rabbi Zauzmer leads a discussion on why Sukkot is known as the holiday of joy, encouraging us to let our walls down.

  • Heschel's Secret Mission to the Vatican (Yom Kippur, 2025)

    With the rapid rise of a new kind of antisemitism, we are not the first generation of Jews who have navigated this challenge. Rabbi Zauzmer compares our time to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel's, imploring us to follow his example with three steps we can take in the fight against antisemitism.

  • Hope After Hopelessness (September 27, 2025)
    When our hopes do not pan out, we often look back and wonder, were we wrong to have hope in the first place? Rabbi Zauzmer explores this question and encourages us to muster up the strength to hope again.

  • The Intersection of Confidence and Humility (Rosh Hashanah, 2025)
    Remembering Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on her fifth yahrzeit, Rabbi Zauzmer urges us to disagree better and to see the humanity in everyone.

  • Repeating Our Mistakes)
    On the day before Tisha B'Av, Rabbi Zauzmer discusses repeating patterns — for the Israelites, for us today, and for our society — and how we can stop making the same mistakes over and over.

  • Take Every Opportunity (July 5, 2025)
    The Torah commands a sabbatical year for the land, called shmita, allowing the earth to rest like we do during Shabbat. Through various commentaries on this custom, Rabbi Zauzmer leads a discussion with the congregation on the importance of this ritual practiced once every seven years.

  • A Shabbat for the Land (May 24, 2025)
    The Torah commands a sabbatical year for the land, called shmita, allowing the earth to rest like we do during Shabbat. Through various commentaries on this custom, Rabbi Zauzmer leads a discussion with the congregation on the importance of this ritual practiced once every seven years.

  • The Enemy Within (April 26, 2025)
    Rabbi Zauzmer implores us to call out antisemitism not only from the other side of the political spectrum, but from within our own political home as well.

  • Embracing Memory (Passover Yizkor, 2025)
    Rabbi Zauzmer leads a discussion about Joseph's vulnerability, questioning when we decide to filter ourselves and when we risk sharing it all.

  • Knowing Our Story (March 22, 2025)

    With a fast-moving news cycle and TikTok-length attention spans, we don't always prioritize studying our history. Rabbi Zauzmer implores us to learn the stories of our past, teaching that we cannot fully understand the present without the context of the past.

  • The Case for Bodily Autonomy (February 22, 2025)

    Citing examples from the Torah, other Jewish texts, and today's world, Rabbi Zauzmer argues that we cannot lose sight of protecting reproductive rights, even as so many other issues dominate Jews' minds at this time.

  • To Mask or Be Seen (January 4, 2025)
    Rabbi Zauzmer leads a discussion about Joseph's vulnerability, questioning when we decide to filter ourselves and when we risk sharing it all.

2024 Sermons

  • To An Anti-Israel Protester (May 4, 2024)

    Rabbi Zauzmer brings us into an imagined conversation with an anti-Israel protestor on campus, giving us guidance for how to speak to our own friends even through vehement disagreement.

  • The Difference Between History and Memory (April 30, 2024)

    The last time we gathered for Yizkor was October 7. Now, we must keep the memories of those killed on that horrific day alive – not as history, but in our personal memories.

  • Counting Each New Day (April 24, 2024)

    Rabbi Zauzmer leads a participatory discussion about the meaning behind counting the Omer and encourages us to be grateful for each new day.

  • The Oscars Speech That Could Have Been (March 16, 2024)

    Rabbi Zauzmer responds to Jonathan Glazer's acceptance speech at the Oscars and explores the parallels that do exist between the Holocaust and Israel's current situation.

  • Show Us Your Imperfections (February 17, 2024)

    Since October 7, we have been more willing to share with one another when we are not okay. Rabbi Zauzmer encourages us to show up in community with all our flaws and our hurts, even when they are of a more personal nature.

2023 Sermons

  • The Unknown Future (December 30, 2023)

    We all wish we could know what lies ahead. Rabbi Zauzmer leads a discussion about the anxiety that comes from our inability to know the future.

  • Gratitude in the Midst of Darkness (November 25, 2023)

    Rabbi Zauzmer shares how challenging it might have been to find gratitude on Thanksgiving during this dark time and offers us two suggestions to consider.

  • The Courage to Speak Up (October 27, 2023)

    During this time of heightened antisemitism and anti-Zionism, Rabbi Zauzmer shares her frustration toward what's going on at college campuses, especially her alma mater, UPenn. She discusses what the young people at PAS are doing to speak up, and implores everyone to follow their example.

  • Welcoming Guests (September 30, 2023)

    On Sukkot, it is traditional to invite guests to our homes and sukkot to celebrate the holiday with us. There is even a custom of inviting biblical guests to spiritually join us each night.

  • Saying What Matters Before It's Too Late (September 25, 2023)

    We often wait until we are on our deathbeds to say the most important things to those we love, sometimes leaving us without the opportunity to say them at all. Yom Kippur is our wake-up call to have these conversations now.

  • What ChatGPT Teaches Us About Living with a Whole Heart (September 16, 2023)

    Some think artificial intelligence will drastically improve our world, and some think it will destroy us, but it's up to us to figure out how to live in a world with AI. Rabbi Zauzmer explores Jewish perspectives on AI and encourages us to strengthen the muscles which make us human, not machine – our emotions, our empathy, and our compassion.

  • Can We Complain? A Group Discussion (June 24, 2023)

    When is it appropriate to complain? Exploring the Torah portion, Pirkei Avot, and other commentaries, Rabbi Zazumer leads a spirited discussion regarding the Jewish perspective on complaining.

  • The Empty Seat at the Seder Table (April 13, 2023)

    Perhaps there was always meant to be a fifth question and a fifth cup of wine at the Seder. Rabbi Zauzmer explores the empty space created by these fifths and invites us to consider who we imagine sitting in the empty chair around our own seder tables.

  • Leaps of Faith (February 18, 2023)

    Living a Jewish life, or any life of meaning, requires us to be adventurous and take leaps of faith. Rabbi Zauzmer shares stories from her recent honeymoon to Asia and explores the ultimate Jewish leap of faith found in this week's Torah portion.

2022 Sermons

  • Looking Back While Moving Forward (November 12, 2022)
    Throughout history, we have seen Jews and non-Jews leave their homes in a rush. Rabbi Zauzmer explores the story of Lot's wife and why she looked back when she left the sinful city of Sodom. Is it dangerous to look back on our past or can we gain something beneficial?

  • Anger: Lose It or Use It (October 13, 2022)
    Anger is part of our shared human experience and the core of what Yom Kippur is about. Rabbi Zauzmer describes three categories of anger and derives lessons from God's anger to help us manage our own.

  • Lessons of Come from Away (October 1, 2022)
    On the closing weekend of the hit Broadway musical Come From Away, Rabbi Zauzmer discusses lessons we can learn from the true story about what it means to gather by necessity and to gather by choice.

  • Honey Moments (September 25, 2022)
    Rabbi Zauzmer explores the meaning of honey on Rosh Hashanah and throughout the year.

  • What Do Dry Bones Have to Do with Passover? (April 8, 2022)
    Every year on the Shabbat during Passover, we read a selection from the Book of Ezekiel about dry bones, and commentators have long struggled to understand the connection to the holiday.