Twenty years ago, during my final year of rabbinical school, I delivered this sermon to the community. Each graduating rabbi was invited to offer reflections, and I remember how nervous I felt standing at the pulpit, sharing words that were still very much in formation.
Two decades later, I read them with a different kind of awareness. While my labels have shifted—I no longer think of myself as a “Conservative rabbi,” just a rabbi—the questions I wrestled with then about God, relationship, belonging, and Judaism still accompany me. What has changed is not the presence of doubt, but my capacity to sit with it more gently, more honestly, and with greater compassion for myself and others.
I share these words now as a mindful reflection on growth over time—how we evolve without outgrowing our questions, and how the seeds planted years ago continue to teach us who we are becoming.
As you read, consider: What beliefs, questions, or uncertainties from an earlier chapter of your life are still with you today? In what ways have you grown—not necessarily by resolving them, but by learning to live with them more wisely?
Shabbat shalom.
