Temple Sholom Podcast

Recorded live on Oct. 30, 2026

What if the path toward peace begins with something as simple as two children playing together?

Reflecting on his first trip to Israel and the Palestinian city of Nablus at age 18, Rabbi Antman recalls discovering far more similarities than differences between the people he encountered. But when he returned home, his hope for a shared future was dismissed as naïve.

Drawing on the biblical story of Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, and Ishmael in Parshat Vayera, Rabbi Antman explores how generations of resentment and division can obscure our shared humanity. Against the backdrop of Israel's recent election and the possibility of an unprecedented Jewish-Arab political coalition, he asks whether reconciliation is truly impossible or whether we have simply stopped imagining it.

From two brothers separated by their mothers' pain to two peoples struggling to envision a future together, Rabbi Antman challenges us to reconsider what it means to hope boldly, even when the odds seem impossible.

Recorded live on Oct. 23, 2026.

What does it mean to have courage in a world where tragedy seems to strike again and again? And how do we find the strength to act rather than look away?

In this powerful and deeply moving sermon, Rabbi Conover brings the biblical matriarch Sarah into the present day, telling the story through Sarah's own voice. Reflecting on the devastating toll of gun violence, Sarah confronts not only the failures of society but also her own painful history of fear, anger, and cruelty toward Hagar.

Drawing on God's command to Abraham, Lech Lecha, Rabbi Conover explores the connection between looking inward and taking action in the world. While laws and policies matter, creating a safer and more compassionate society also requires something deeply personal: the courage to recognize the humanity in others, notice those who are struggling, and refuse to look away.

Ultimately, this sermon challenges us to consider how courage begins, not simply with speaking out, but with truly seeing one another and building a world where every child matters.

What does Judaism have to say about voting, democracy, and the responsibility we have to one another?

In this special election-focused episode of Beyond the Bimah, Temple Sholom clergy explore the intersection of Jewish values and civic engagement. As the Jewish calendar turns toward new beginnings and elections approach in the United States and Israel, they reflect on how the work of teshuvah, self-examination, and renewal can inform the choices we make as citizens.

From ancient Jewish teachings about leadership to the importance of thoughtful conversations, respectful disagreement, and preparing for the ballot box, the rabbis consider what it means to participate in democracy with intention. Could voting be more than a civic responsibility? Could it also be a sacred act?

Recorded live on Oct. 16, 2026.

What do we do when the dove comes back with nothing? In Parashat Noach, Noah sends the dove from the ark, and when it returns empty, the Torah says he "added, and sent" it again. Rabbi Gellman names three doves of his own still out over the water: the Israeli election, the November 3 vote, and Synagogue of Service, a project a year in the making that taught him "naming it and kicking it off was not completion." Drawing on a 1924 letter from Lake View clergy and Rabbi Tarfon's teaching that we are not required to finish the work but are not free to stop, he points to the olive leaves already coming back. The dove that doesn't return isn't failure. It means there's dry land.

Recorded live on Oct. 9, 2026.

What if the villain of the Garden of Eden story was actually the hero all along?

In this creative and humorous retelling of Genesis, Rabbi Conover invites us to hear the story of Adam, Eve, and the forbidden fruit from an unexpected perspective: the serpent's. Through a playful midrash, the Bible's most notorious snake makes his case for being humanity's unsung hero, claiming credit for everything from human curiosity and knowledge to the invention of fashion.

But beneath the humor lies a deeper challenge. As we begin reading the Torah anew with Bereishit, Rabbi Conover reminds us that Jewish tradition encourages us to question, interpret, and reconsider the stories we think we know. What might happen if we extended that same curiosity to the people in our own lives? Perhaps someone we've written off as the villain has a side of the story we haven't yet heard.

Recorded live on Sept. 25, 2026.

What if the cure for exhaustion is a friend calling to say, "Come outside, we're going to jump in the lake"?

Rabbi Antman begins with a worn-out night in early September and a spontaneous moonlit swim off the Montrose Peninsula. From there, he turns to Sukkot as the festival of water. He traces the thirst of the Yom Kippur fast to the ancient simchat beit hashoevah, the water-drawing celebration that the Talmud says no one has truly seen joy without. He also looks at the arava, the willow, the plainest of the four species in the lulav, whose beauty comes from what it grows beside. Rabbi Alan Lew's image of the season from Tisha B'Av to Sukkot as a river carrying us home ties it together.

After the hard work of the Days of Awe, Sukkot hands us simple things: water, a flimsy roof, and a table of friends. Then it commands us to rejoice in them. Rabbi Antman leaves us with an invitation to take the call and get off the couch, no matter how tired we are.

Recorded live Sept. 20, 2026

What if repairing our democracy begins not with how we vote, but with how we treat one another?

On this sacred night of reflection and teshuvah, Rabbi Conover asks what has happened to our sense of common decency and the common good. Drawing on Torah, her own family’s story, and the commandment not to hide ourselves from another person’s need, she explores the choices we make when confronted with someone who is lost, struggling, or even someone we consider an enemy.

Because returning what is lost and returning to who we are meant to be share the same Hebrew root. Before we can repair the world around us, Rabbi Conover challenges us to examine ourselves, resist indifference, and choose dignity, compassion, and responsibility toward one another.

Recorded live on Sept. 21, 2026

What does it mean to keep showing up, especially when the work feels slow, difficult, or unfinished?

In this Yom Kippur sermon, Rabbi Scott Gellman reflects on the long work of building a more just and compassionate world and the Jewish imperative to remain committed even when we may never see the work completed. He explores what it means for Temple Sholom to be a Synagogue of Service, a community where our values are expressed not only through what we believe, but through how we show up for one another and the world around us.

Recorded live on Sept. 21, 2026.

What does it mean to gather with those who are no longer physically with us?

During Yizkor on Yom Kippur, Rabbi Max Antman reflects on our deep human desire to remain connected to those who came before us. Drawing on Jacob’s final wish to be “gathered with his people,” he explores how memory can bring us close to parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers, mentors, friends, and others whose lives continue to shape our own.

Through prayer, candlelight, and remembrance, Yizkor creates space for every kind of relationship, including those filled with love and those that were more complicated, allowing us to gather with the souls of the departed and carry their presence forward in the lives we continue to live.

Recorded live on Sept. 18, 2026.

What if repairing what we've broken doesn't require a grand gesture, but simply the courage to begin?

On Shabbat Shuvah, Rabbi Conover reflects on the ways we stumble, the possibility of turning back, and the surprising power of words to begin the work of repair. Through the story of a shoemaker working late into the night by the light of a nearly spent candle, she explores a powerful lesson for the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: as long as the candle is still burning, it is still possible to mend. Pasted markdown

As Yom Kippur approaches, Rabbi Conover reminds us that teshuvah doesn't demand that we fix everything at once. We can return step by step, stitch by stitch, using our words to move back toward the people, relationships, and parts of ourselves from which we have wandered.

Recorded live on Sept. 12

When the world feels like it is constantly on fire, how do we move from simply responding to each crisis to building something that will endure?

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Conover draws on the unlikely examples of a tiny hummingbird fighting a forest fire and a beaver returning to a restored river to explore a defining Jewish impulse: to build, even in the face of fear. From the Israelites constructing the Mishkan in the shadow of a burning Mount Sinai to generations who rebuilt Jewish life after moments of upheaval, she reflects on what it means for us to take responsibility for the future.

As Temple Sholom looks toward its own future, Rabbi Conover offers an invitation for this generation: we have spent years being the hummingbird, showing up when something precious is burning. Now, it is time to become the beaver and build, together.

This episode concludes with Cantor Ben-David singing “L’dor Vador” by Josh Nelson, the sermon anthem for the first day of Rosh Hashanah.

Recorded live on Sept. 11

What if the moments we most want to forget are the ones with the greatest potential to change us?

In this Erev Rosh Hashanah sermon, Rabbi Max Antman explores cheshbon hanefesh, the Jewish practice of taking an honest accounting of the soul. From the ancient story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza to Judah’s reckoning with his past, he reflects on what becomes possible when we acknowledge our mistakes rather than turn away from them.

As a new year begins, Rabbi Antman invites us to look at ourselves and our communities with honesty, not in pursuit of perfection, but so that our failures can become opportunities for growth, repair, and a more just and peaceful future.

This episode concludes with Rabbi Antman singing "Hashkiveinu" by Double Chai, the sermon anthem for Erev Rosh Hashanah.

Recorded live on Sept. 4, 2026

Rabbi Gellman scrolled to the bottom of his own version history and did not like the guy he found down there. In this sermon for the last Shabbat of 5786, he makes a case that will annoy anyone hoping to walk into Rosh Hashanah as a brand new person: you don't get a fresh scroll. Also inside — the commandment almost nobody knows is the very last one in the Torah, the reason a single crooked letter can invalidate a year of a scribe's work, and the medieval rabbi who quietly rewrote a mitzvah because he was paying attention to how people actually live. Turns out the Reform argument has been sitting in a fourteenth-century footnote this whole time.

Recorded live on August 28, 2026

What does it mean to discover Jewish family thousands of miles away?

Marcy and Keith Shapiro share their extraordinary journey to the remote mountains of Northeast India, where they met members of the B’nei Menashe, a community that traces its ancestry to the ancient tribe of Menashe.

From synagogues in the mountains of Mizoram to an emotional flight carrying new olim to Israel, they reflect on Jewish identity, belonging, and what it means to reunite families after generations of separation. Along the way, the ancient words of Parshat Ki Tavo and Isaiah take on striking new meaning as a story of exile and ingathering unfolds before their eyes.

Recorded live on Friday, Aug. 14

What happens when our ability to do everything at once keeps us from truly experiencing anything at all?

On this first Shabbat of Elul, Rabbi Antman reflects on our culture of constant multitasking and distraction, from smartphones and endless notifications to an unexpected three days without a phone at Jewish summer camp. Drawing on Parshat Shoftim, Shabbat, and the spiritual practices of Elul, he explores what we gain when we quiet the noise, focus our attention, and give our souls room to breathe.

What are you bringing with you into the new year?

In this special Rosh Chodesh Elul episode of Beyond the Bimah, Rabbi Conover and Rabbi Antman reflect on the experiences that shaped their summers and what those moments can teach us as we begin the spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days.

Recorded live 8/7/2026

It was going to be painted over anyway. Nobody would ever have seen it. I kept going. Rabbi Scott Gellman on the voice that says it could be better, the Torah verse that treats adding as a sin, and why the month before the High Holy Days is the most dangerous time of year to be honest with yourself.

Recorded live on July 31, 2026.

What would it mean to build a society around love rather than fear?

In this sermon, Rabbi Max Antman explores Parashat Eikev, where the Torah commands us not only to love God, but to love the orphan, the widow, and the stranger through tangible acts of care. Drawing on the 2011 Israeli social justice movement, the writings of Rabbi Shai Held, and the transition from the grief of Tisha B’Av to the joy of Tu B’Av, he argues that Judaism’s vision of love is anything but passive.

In a world shaped by violence, division, and distrust, Rabbi Antman calls for a revolution rooted in empathy, human dignity, and relationships that move us from compassion to action.

Which sirens do we need to hear, and which ones do we need permission to block out?

In this sermon, Rabbi Conover reflects on a recent trip to Israel, the constant vigilance of listening for missile alerts, and the very different sirens of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Drawing on the Shema, Jewish tradition, and the demands of life in a world competing for our attention, she explores how to remain informed without becoming overwhelmed.

We cannot let everything in, but we cannot shut everything out. Rabbi Conover asks what it means to listen with precision, opening ourselves to the voices that truly need us while protecting the clarity, joy, and presence that allow us to respond with compassion.

Every renovation show has the same twist: demolition always comes before the beautiful reveal. Turns out, so does the Jewish calendar. On Shabbat Chazon — the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av — Rabbi Gellman traces a scandalous dinner party that (according to the Talmud) brought down the Second Temple, a Hasidic master's vision of what comes next, and why the real prep for the High Holy Days starts not in September, but right now.