Sermons of Rabbi Eric Linder.https://geekyrabbi.com/https://geekyrabbi.com/three-years-after-october-7/https://geekyrabbi.com/three-years-after-october-7/Three years ago today, on October 7, 2023, Jews around the world, who were meant to celebrate their love for Judaism and for the Torah (Simchat Torah), were instead horrified by the news that Hamas had attacked Israel.Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2026-yom-kippur-morning-survival-is-not-enough/https://geekyrabbi.com/2026-yom-kippur-morning-survival-is-not-enough/I want to revisit a reading from Rosh Hashanah: these Romans, all the legions of the East from Egypt and Syria, the islands of the sea and the rivers of Parthia, gathered here to trample down Jerusalem, when they have become a…Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2026-yom-kippur-evening-xenia/https://geekyrabbi.com/2026-yom-kippur-evening-xenia/We have a text that is thousands of years old. It is comprised of a number of books that make up the whole. Its text mixes together narrative, history, and philosophy, and reflects on humanity's relationship with the divine. It is…Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2026-rosh-hashanah-morning/https://geekyrabbi.com/2026-rosh-hashanah-morning/In a moment, I am going to give you 10 seconds to look around the sanctuary. I want you to make note of anything you see that is brown. Ok, go. (8 ... 9 ... 10)Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2026-rosh-hashanah-evening/https://geekyrabbi.com/2026-rosh-hashanah-evening/Sometimes, the Torah's teaching is not just what the words say, but what they look like in the scroll. The best example of this is in Exodus during the singing of Miriam's song, when the Israelites are crossing the Red Sea. Even…Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2025-yom-kippur-morning-live-every-day-like-its-your-last/https://geekyrabbi.com/2025-yom-kippur-morning-live-every-day-like-its-your-last/There is a famous story from Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) in which Rabbi Eliezer taught: Repent one day before your death. His disciples asked him, But Rabbi, how does a person know which day will be their last?Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2025-yom-kippur-evening-checkers-chess-and-new-choices/https://geekyrabbi.com/2025-yom-kippur-evening-checkers-chess-and-new-choices/In 1863, two checkers champions — yes, you heard me right, checkers champions — James Wyllie and Robert Martins, played a 40-game match. Of those 40, 21 were the exact same game from start to finish. Twenty-one times, move for…Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2025-rosh-hashanah-morning-israel/https://geekyrabbi.com/2025-rosh-hashanah-morning-israel/There’s an issue that weighs heavily on all of our minds and hearts this morning. It’s a subject that many of us feel passionately about, and we have heated arguments with friends and family who aren’t on the same side as us.Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2025-rosh-hashanah-evening-gotta-go-through-it/https://geekyrabbi.com/2025-rosh-hashanah-evening-gotta-go-through-it/We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re gonna catch a big one. We’re not scared. Uh-oh — a dark cave. Can’t go over it. Can’t go under it. Gotta go through it.Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2024-yom-kippur-morning/https://geekyrabbi.com/2024-yom-kippur-morning/The rabbi was called upon to settle a dispute between two congregants. The first entered the rabbi's study and poured out complaint after complaint. He had facts and figures, historical precedents, and a long list of grievances.…Sat, 12 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2024-yom-kippur-evening/https://geekyrabbi.com/2024-yom-kippur-evening/This evening, I want to begin by sharing a story of conflict and resolution, choices and consequences, and the balance between prosperity and peace.Fri, 11 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2024-rosh-hashanah-morning/https://geekyrabbi.com/2024-rosh-hashanah-morning/The queen of an ancient land cultivated a garden. It was known throughout the world as a great spectacle of flowers, plants and trees. A duke visits her kingdom, and asks permission to walk around. He takes it all in with…Thu, 03 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2024-rosh-hashanah-evening/https://geekyrabbi.com/2024-rosh-hashanah-evening/The Kotzker Rebbe taught: The day that you were born was the day that the Holy One, blessed be, decided that the world could no longer exist without you.Wed, 02 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2023-yom-kippur-morning-antisemitism/https://geekyrabbi.com/2023-yom-kippur-morning-antisemitism/What a wonderful morning! מַה טֹּובוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹֽב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶֽיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל We sing these words at every single morning service, today included. The words of this poem are found in the book of Numbers, and its tale is…Mon, 25 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2023-yom-kippur-evening-be-better/https://geekyrabbi.com/2023-yom-kippur-evening-be-better/My three year old son Aaron knows most of the characters from Star Wars. Upon first learning about a new character, he is insistent to know whether each character is a good guy or a bad guy. Yoda is a good guy. Luke ... good guy.…Sun, 24 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2023-rosh-hashanah-morning-habits/https://geekyrabbi.com/2023-rosh-hashanah-morning-habits/Every Friday evening and Saturday morning as part of Shabbat, we celebrate God's act of creation. After creating the world and its inhabitants in six days, God rested. And so, on our day of rest, we take a step back and admire…Sat, 16 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2023-rosh-hashanah-evening-brushstrokes/https://geekyrabbi.com/2023-rosh-hashanah-evening-brushstrokes/In the art world, John Andrew Perello is better known by the nom de plume that he sprays on his graffiti pieces: JonOne. Born in New York, he developed a passion for art, and started engaging in graffiti. He would paint, or "tag",…Fri, 15 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2022-yom-kippur-morning-its-about-time/https://geekyrabbi.com/2022-yom-kippur-morning-its-about-time/My two-and-a-half year old son, Aaron, has a new morning routine. Upon waking up, he excitedly opens his bedroom curtains and exclaims, It's daytime!Wed, 05 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2022-yom-kippur-evening-regret-is-holy/https://geekyrabbi.com/2022-yom-kippur-evening-regret-is-holy/Ashikaga Yoshimasa was a shogun, living in the 15th century. One of his favorite possessions was a Chinese tea bowl. A story suggests that he accidentally dropped it on the floor, and immediately It shattered into many broken…Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2022-rosh-hashanah-morning/https://geekyrabbi.com/2022-rosh-hashanah-morning/This is a story about a town not too different than ours. Its citizens were generally friendly, good, menschy people, but over the past few years, their demeanor changed. No one knows the exact cause: It could be the beginning of…Mon, 26 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/2022-rosh-hashanah-evening-it-is-good/https://geekyrabbi.com/2022-rosh-hashanah-evening-it-is-good/1968 was a difficult year. Racial discord and foreign conflicts created an atmosphere of tension and anger. Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were both assassinated. The United States was embroiled in the war in North…Sun, 25 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/a-new-life-during-2-minutes-of-silence/https://geekyrabbi.com/a-new-life-during-2-minutes-of-silence/The commemoration of Yom HaShoah in Israel is an incredibly powerful thing. At 10:00 AM, sirens go off across the entire country, and everything comes to a standstill. Teachers stop teaching, people stop working. Cars on roads and…Fri, 29 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/what-whoopi-goldberg-can-teach-an-athens-ga-elementary-school/https://geekyrabbi.com/what-whoopi-goldberg-can-teach-an-athens-ga-elementary-school/In early January, the school board of McMinn County, Tennessee voted to ban Maus. This book is a graphic novel that appropriately and powerfully teaches about the Holocaust to children (and adults).Sat, 05 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/response-to-capital-riot-truth-shall-sprout-from-the-earth/https://geekyrabbi.com/response-to-capital-riot-truth-shall-sprout-from-the-earth/During the process of creation, a midrash suggests that God consulted with the angels in order to determine whether or not to create human beings. Each angel argues their case: The angel of Lovingkindness says yes, let them be…Sat, 09 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/it-remains-a-dream-ki-teitzi/https://geekyrabbi.com/it-remains-a-dream-ki-teitzi/Fifty seven years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. stood at theLincoln Memorial, and delivered a speech that is indelibly woven into our ideals and our hopes.Fri, 28 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/https://geekyrabbi.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/Tomorrow, we celebrate America’s independence; our freedom. Whereas July 4 is by no means a Jewish holiday, its themes of independence and freedom are central to Judaism.Fri, 03 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/count-each-person-each-person-counts/https://geekyrabbi.com/count-each-person-each-person-counts/This week's Torah portion is a continuation of the first census. At the beginning of the book of Numbers, God says, Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every…Fri, 29 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/in-the-summer/https://geekyrabbi.com/in-the-summer/Camp sermon corona In the summer of 1992, I had just graduated High School. I was excited to start college as a music student at Florida State University (I transferred to UF after one year), but I was pretty nervous about living…Mon, 11 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/after-death-comes-life/https://geekyrabbi.com/after-death-comes-life/There are some people that know the Torah memorized. These individuals know where each verse begins and ends, and are aware of each and every trope. But even these individuals read the Torah portion every week, even though they…Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://geekyrabbi.com/its-interesting/https://geekyrabbi.com/its-interesting/It’s interesting to me that in the past month, we celebrated Passover, Christians celebrated Easter, and right now, Muslims across the world are celebrating Ramadan.Tue, 21 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT