Mishkan Blog
Love is A Radical Act
This sermon was delivered at our service on April 19th. You can listen to this drash on Contact Chai podcast or watch on our YouTube channel. **** There is a text that comes near the end of the seder, after we have told the miraculous story of the Exodus and eaten...
Small Steps to Redemption
This sermon was delivered at our service on April 5th, 2025. You can watch it now on our YouTube channel or listen on Contact Chai podcast. **** I don’t know if you have seen the photos (or maybe you were there), but last weekend nearly a thousand people gathered...
Turn Spring Cleaning into Spiritual Cleansing! Passover Prep Ideas
Passover has a way of sneaking up on us, and it can feel like there isn't enough time to properly prepare, let alone make that preparation feel meaningful. We've spoken with many of you who have "never done this before!" and "don't know what I'm doing!" and yet, you...
Building A Community And Harnessing The Power of AI
This sermon was delivered at our service on March 21st, 2025. You can listen to this drash on Contact Chai podcast or watch it on our YouTube channel. **** This week’s Parshah is all about AI — artificial intelligence. What, you don’t think they had AI when the Torah...
Making an Idol of Our Safety
This sermon was delivered at our service on March 15th, 2025. You can listen to this drash on Contact Chai podcast or watch it on Mishkan's YouTube channel. **** As the sun dipped below the skyline on Thursday, we gathered together to celebrate Purim (maybe you joined...
Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There
This sermon was delivered at our service on March 1st, when we celebrated the BMitzvah of Selah Helphand. You can listen to this drash on Contact Chai podcast or watch it on Mishkan's YouTube channel. **** I’m really happy that Selah talked so much about art, both in...
Repro Shabbat — Chicago Abortion Fund
These remarks were delivered as part of Mishkan's 2025 Repro Shabbat service on February 21st. You can listen to excerpts from this sermon on Contact Chai podcast or watch on Mishkan's YouTube channel. **** My name is Alicia Hurtado, and I am here today on behalf of...
Forgiving Those We Cannot Forgive
This sermon was delivered at our Saturday morning service on February 15th, 2025. You can watch R'Steven's drash on Mishkan's YouTube channel or listen on Contact Chai podcast. **** Perhaps you have also had this experience, but sometimes I go to therapy and don’t...
Creating The Conditions For A Miracle
This sermon was delivered at our service on Friday, February 7th, 2025. You can watch this sermon on Mishkan's YouTube channel or listen on Contact Chai podcast. **** Here’s a joke, thank you to 6th grader Ben Hirschberg for sharing it: How did Moses comb his hair? He...
Refuse To Be A Bystander
This sermon was delivered at our Saturday Morning Shabbat service on February 1st, 2025. You can listen to this drash on Contact Chai Podcast or watch it on Mishkan's YouTube channel. (Pictured: Roman Kent, Holocaust survivor, 1929 - 2021) **** Last week, I was in...
You Were Once An Immigrant, Too
This sermon was delivered at our Friday service on January 24th, 2025. You can watch it now on our YouTube channel or listen on Contact Chai podcast. **** For reasons that will become clearer in a few moments, I want to dedicate my D'var Torah to my mother's first...
The Oldest Trick in Pharaoh’s Book
This sermon was delivered at our Saturday morning service on January 18th, 2025. You can listen to this drash on Contact Chai podcast or watch on our YouTube channel. **** For those of you who have not yet seen it, I apologize in advance for spoiling a major plot...