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Sermons from IKAR Rabbis

IKAR


    • Jun 1, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekdays NEW EPISODES
    • 24m AVG DURATION
    • 651 EPISODES

    4.9 from 110 ratings Listeners of IKAR Los Angeles that love the show mention: always thought, sermons, thought provoking, rabbi brous.


    Ivy Insights

    The IKAR Los Angeles podcast is a remarkable source of spiritual nourishment and thought-provoking content. Rabbi Brous, the featured speaker in most episodes, captivates listeners with her brilliant sermons that are both enlightening and inspiring. Her ability to connect traditional Jewish teachings with modern-day issues is truly remarkable, making the sermons relevant and accessible to people of all backgrounds. I have given this podcast a well-deserved five-star rating because of its amazing content and impactful messages.

    One of the best aspects of this podcast is the sheer brilliance and depth of the sermons delivered by Rabbi Brous. Each sermon is carefully crafted, filled with wisdom, and thoughtfully explores important questions about morality, justice, and spirituality. The topics covered range from social justice to personal growth, always challenging listeners to reflect on their own actions and values. Rabbi Brous has an incredible ability to take complex ideas and distill them into relatable stories that resonate with audiences from all walks of life.

    Another great aspect of this podcast is the humor and humanity that shines through in each episode. Despite discussing weighty subjects, there is often a lightness to the sermons that makes them engaging and enjoyable to listen to. Rabbi Brous has a knack for infusing her talks with humor, which not only keeps listeners engaged but also serves as a reminder that spirituality doesn't have to be somber or inaccessible.

    However, one minor drawback worth mentioning is the occasional inconsistency in sound quality during certain episodes. While it does not detract significantly from the overall listening experience, it can be slightly frustrating when struggling to hear some parts due to low volume or muffled audio.

    In conclusion, The IKAR Los Angeles podcast is an exceptional resource for individuals interested in exploring spirituality and engaging with current issues from a Jewish perspective. Rabbi Brous's compelling sermons showcase her brilliance as a speaker while maintaining accessibility for audiences beyond just the Jewish community. Although there are occasional audio issues, the overall quality of the content and its impact on listeners far outweigh any minor drawbacks. I highly recommend this podcast to anyone seeking thought-provoking sermons that challenge, inspire, and provide a fresh perspective on life's most pressing questions.



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    Latest episodes from IKAR Los Angeles

    What I Need You To Hear - Rabbi Morris Panitz

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2025 17:35


    When trauma is acknowledged, not denied, not justified, not dismissed through comparison, only then can something new and hopeful be imagined.     Read the sermon here.

    Four Things I Know - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2025 22:20


    After the antisemitic murder of two young beloveds on a DC street, there are four things I know. Parashat Behar-Behukotai 5785

    It's Precisely Now that We Dream Big - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2025 24:34


    A strange, mysterious half-story told in the Torah hints at a failure of leadership and a failure of law, and calls us to be brave and bold, especially when our dreams seem furthest from reality.

    A Letter to the Pope - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later May 11, 2025 65:16


    A blessing for strength in spirit and body for a new Pope in a time when spiritual and moral leadership matters more profoundly than ever.

    “What Faith Means to Me” - Rabbi Brous in conversation at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2025

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2025 65:16


    In a world roiled by seemingly unprecedented division and doubt, the longing for spiritual meaning and for a life rooted in faith appears to be growing ever stronger. In this session, speakers share their perspectives and experiences of faith, and the role faith and faith-driven communities can and should play in calming stormy seas. This is an archive of a live event from 5/7/2025 that took place as part of Milken Institute's Global Conference.

    Rabbi Brous at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2025 - The Amen Effect Author Talk

    Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025 47:06


    To thine own self be true: Sharon Brous has let this advice illuminate her path to becoming a rabbi. She was raised with a strong social, but not religious, Jewish identity. The more she studied and admired the humanity in the sages' writings, the more Brous felt her voice was silenced simply because she is a woman. Today, as an ordained rabbi, Brous's decades of hands-on pastoral care in Los Angeles has cleared “a path to become myself.” Her book, The Amen Effect—and how to get it—is embraced by seekers of every stripe and urges us to seek human connection in an increasingly isolated and divided world.

    Don't Tell Me There's Nothing We Can Do About It - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2025 21:53


    …Because there is a space between stimulus and response. What we do in that space is our choice. So please: tell me you're scared. I'm scared too. Tell me times are tough. Tell me we're facing a narrowing landscape of possibilities. But please do not tell me there's nothing we can do. There's always a choice to make. Parashat Tazria-Metzora 5785—May 3, 2025

    BBE: Psychedelic Imagery in the Torah

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 66:20


    On today's episode of Best Book Ever, Rabbi David Kasher is joined by Madison Margolin to talk about psychedelic experiences in the Torah. Madison is the author of Exile & Ecstasy: Growing Up with Ram Dass and Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground. She's also Co-founder of the Jewish Psychedelic Summit and DoubleBlind, a print magazine and digital media startup covering psychedelics and where they intersect with mental health, environmental justice, social equity, and more, Madison also teaches on Judaism and psychedelics, such as with Tzfat's LiveKabbalah or Psychedelics Today, and offers consulting and guidance for those on the Jewish-psychedelic path.

    One if by Land, Two if by Sea - Rabbi Hannah Jensen

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2025 17:41


    This week was the 250th anniversary of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. In his story we see so many echoes of our current moment. What lessons can we take with us right now? And how does our parsha's story of Aaron, the high priest, help us step forward to carry out the tasks we are called to do?

    Revisiting Creation - Rabbi Morris Panitz

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2025 17:36


    Find the text study sheet here. 7th Day of Passover 5785 | Parshat Beshallah

    The Heart of Judaism: Preparing for Liberation - Rabbi Bradley Artson

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2025 15:45


    From 4.12.2025 Prepare to embrace the bold vision of Passover (that we are all heading toward freedom, that pharaohs crumble and fall) requires focus. Let's affirm the twin pillars of the Hebrew Bible (chesed/lovingkindness and tzedek/justice) to gird ourselves for the battle ahead!

    Sacred Symbols, Eternal Story - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2025 19:25


    Ours is not the first generation in which telling this story, reiterating these foundational ideas, is risky. Dangerous, even. And perhaps that is the greatest reason of all to tell this story truthfully.  April 5, 2025 – Pesah 5785

    A Rabbi, A Guy, and a Goddess - Best Book Ever with Rabbi Kasher

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2025 64:12


    Guy Branum joins Rabbi David Kasher to discuss Ashera and the presence of a goddess in the Torah.

    (Don't Just) Tend Your Own Garden - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2025 16:19


    Let us not turn to the garden—or the theater, or the studio—to escape this world, but to enrich the soul, to strengthen our hearts to plant for a better future. Making art, tending gardens, telling stories, especially from within the narrowest constraints—all of these can be sacred acts of defiance.

    The Amen Effect - Session 4 with Rabbi Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2025 59:40


    This is an archive of IKAR's Adult learning class: The Amen Effect with Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Shabbat Sermon - Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2025 25:21


    "From the depths of our anguish, a cry for peace" - Rabbi Elad-Appelbaum in conversation with Rabbi Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2025 55:16


    Lunch & Learn from Shabbat 3.21.2025 - Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum in conversation with Rabbi Sharon Brous.

    The Amen Effect with Rabbi Brous - Session 3

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2025 64:13


    An archive of Rabbi Sharon Brous's The Amen Effect class from 3.11.2025

    The Amen Effect with Rabbi Brous - Session 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2025 59:42


    An archive of Rabbi Sharon Brous's The Amen Effect Class from 2.25.2025

    Transforming Elijah - Rabbi Morris Panitz

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 16, 2025 16:50


    The rabbis radically reinvent Elijah. From violent zealot to gentle peace builder. The path to the messianic era depends on this transformation.

    I Am Not Your Pawn - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2025 22:29


    Using Jews as a wedge to break apart the world order is not new.  We must be honest about what's happening here.

    Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah in conversation with Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2025 87:19


    On March 3rd, we welcomed Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah, Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the forefront of a burgeoning new peace movement in conversation with Rabbi Sharon Brous.

    Seeking the Hiding God - Rabbi Panitz in conversation with Prof. Arnold Eisen

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2025 58:49


    Rabbi Morris Panitz is joined by Professor Arnold Eisen to discuss his new book. "Seeking the Hiding God: A Personal Theological Essay invites readers to join the author in asking, perhaps for the first time, what they actually believe about ultimate matters of faith and doubt – and rewards fellow- searchers for ultimate meaning with reassurance that the search itself can be a source of personal fulfillment, vibrant community, and great joy."

    We Are Guardians of the Seeds of a Better World - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2025 18:46


    When your most precious resource faces grave risk, you create a sanctuary to protect and nurture it. You hold close the seeds, so that when the conditions are right, you can replant and rebuild.

    Lunch & Learn with Roots/Shorashim/Judur

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2025 62:12


    Hear from Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Khaled Abu Awwad, leaders of Roots/Shorashim/Judur, an Israeli-Palestinian grassroots initiative for understanding, nonviolence, and transformation. They represent a unique network of local Palestinians and Israelis who have come to see each other as partners in the work to make changes to end the conflict. They share with Rabbi Sharon Brous and Melissa Balaban their personal stories of struggle and transformation as well as their vision of mutual national recognition and reconciliation.

    The Amen Effect with Rabbi Sharon Brous - Session 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2025 62:07


    In a time of loneliness and isolation, social rupture and alienation, what will it take to mend our broken hearts and rebuild our society? Join Rabbi Brous in a series of text studies that explore the Jewish sources that form the core ideas behind her new book, The Amen Effect.

    Finding North - Rabbi Deborah Silver

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2025 18:18


    We are lost and disoriented. How can the core values of this week's Torah portion supply us with a compass to navigate the landscape of moral injury?

    silver rabbi torah finding north
    Don't Eat the Tainted Grain, redux - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2025 18:51


    Yitro reminds us, in the twisted reality of our time: do not quiet your intuition. Defy the new norms. Live from your deepest moral convictions, not your most callous political calculations. And do not eat the tainted grain— no matter how hungry you are. Keep searching for an alternative food source. There is always another food source.

    So Much is Unknown. Do What You Know. - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2025 16:49


    Four postures our tradition warns against, in the face of grave threat: Do not snail. Do not capitulate. Do not meet become the mirror image of your enemy. Do not render yourselves preemptively powerlessness. Instead: do what you know.

    We Cannot Go Numb in this Darkness - Rabbi Hannah Jensen

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2025 19:39


    We are all struggling in this moment of deep darkness - either riding the constant emotional rollercoaster or already feeling numb. The thing is that both of these will destroy us. Instead, we need to stay connected to our humanity and each other to get us through. That is the only way we will find ourselves back in the light. 

    Know Your Reps: Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell with Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2025 57:02


    Why a Mother and Daughter Visited Israel and Palestine Together

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2025 56:26


    How do American Jews navigate complex conversations about Israel and Palestine across generations? And what does it take to truly listen to each other? Rabbi Sharon Brous sits down with IKAR's CEO Melissa Balaban and her daughter Emma Wergeles to reflect on their recent trip to Israel and the West Bank with Encounter. From different generational perspectives, they share what challenged them, what moved them, and why direct engagement with both Palestinian and Israeli perspectives is essential for for any hope of a lasting and just peace.

    Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God - Rabbi Morris Panitz

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2025 15:03


    This is the moment to remember who we are, to ground ourselves in the story that stands in determined opposition to the story of tyranny. To tell of a God who cares about the vulnerable. To become again a people whose faith compels us to protect the frightened. 

    Preparing for Festivities and Funerals - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 19, 2025 17:36


    After 15 months of catastrophic loss, unspeakable heartache, and the utter undoing of not one but two peoples—in body and spirit, we stand—at this moment—at an inflection point. May this be the beginning of the end of the suffering. May it be the beginning of the path toward a just peace. Read the sermon here.

    Reflections on HOME, From Amidst the Fire - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2025 20:34


    Even as the fires burn, let us hold on another, give voice to what we have lost, and turn toward what remains.

    The Names We Carry - Rabbi Morris Panitz

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 5, 2025 19:00


    How did Joseph, a man hardened by one life experience after the next, soften his heart to forgive his brothers? A remarkable midrash imagines a conversation between Joseph and Benjamin that changes everything. Ten names and all the worlds of meaning, of missing, of memory they contain.

    Treachery Or Truth? - Rabbi Deborah Silver

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 29, 2024 15:39


    What is Joseph's legacy? And what can we learn from the character with the most costume changes in all of the Torah?

    We Cannot Escape One Another - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2024 18:46


    Jacob tried to flee from his estranged brother. Did he fear more the battle, or the potential reconciliation? What happens when victimhood is built into our self-definition? What do we lose when we stay at the table, and what might we gain? What will it take for us to understand that there is no future until we see one another? Vayishlah 5785

    "Olive Days" - Author Jessica Elisheva Emerson with Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2024 32:23


    Saving Abigail - Author Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali with Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2024 62:20


    The Mouth of the Well - Rabbi Hannah Jensen

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2024 18:43


    There is a teaching in Pirkei Avot that says that the mouth of the well was made during the first Shabbat of creation. We have long accepted it to be Miriam's well, but what if it's the well from this week's parsha - the one Jacob encounters after his dream, and where he meets Rachel for the first time? If it's that well, then maybe we, like Jacob, have to find the well, roll off the stone, and discover what exists underneath. 

    Shabbat Sermon - Rabbi Morris Panitz

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2024 17:56


    Shabbat Sermon - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2024 21:39


    Love the Stranger - Rabbi Morris Panitz

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2024 16:56


    Loving your neighbor, who is like you, whose identity you share, is not enough. You must stretch the boundaries of love to wrap into its embrace the stranger, the people in our society who are furthest away from power. To counter the frenzy of rhetoric and the aspirations of policy that demonize these human beings, we need to love them fiercely. We need to love them fully. 

    Dreams Don't Die - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2024 20:54


    Now we must learn the lesson our ancestor Avram learned: one day our dreams will be realized. Just not today. And not tomorrow. And maybe not for many years. But just as hope doesn't die, dreams don't die. The dream we share for America didn't die because our dream— the dream of a just and merciful multiracial democracy in which all people live in dignity— that dream is the right dream. It is the only future… it's just now clear that it will take much longer to achieve than any of us had hoped.

    Gifts Of The Flood - Rabbi Deborah Silver

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2024 13:30


    There's an eerie resonance between the Noah narrative and this week. What does Noah's Flood teach us about navigating chaos and coming once more to land?

    From Blame and Shame to Cherished Belonging - Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2024 24:12


    After the death of a beloved child in our community to suicide, we reaffirm our commitment to combatting shame with tenderhearted love, to meeting one another in the dark, to never giving up on each other. May Benjamin Ellis's memory be a blessing.

    Shemini Atzeret - Tom Fields-Meyer

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2024 13:18


    Home and Hevel - Jacob Schatz | Sukkot II

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2024 15:02


    Sukkot reflects our people's ancient narrative, balancing the transience of a wandering nation and the fragility of life with our yearning for home and the Eternal Divine. How does our tradition compel us to relate to those who yearn for home, but who are left to wander?

    Have Faith in Grief - Rabbi Morris Panitz | Kol Nidre 5785

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2024 27:14


    The only way forward is one broken heart next to another, crying together, awakening to the reality that grief is our common bond.

    We Are a Storytelling Animal. We Must Tell a Better Story - Rabbi Sharon Brous | Yom Kippur 5785

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2024 33:54


    We must be careful lest we get trapped in a bad story-- one that repeats grave harm. Instead, let's write something new.

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