Adat Shalom - Rabbi Blair Nosanwisch

“The anxieties that we have about the Jewish future are real. We're still in the early stages of a seismic shift in who we are and who we are becoming. But we are not the first Jewish generation to confront changing tides, and I know in my bones that we will not be the last. We can live a Judaism right now that we and our children and our children's children want to dwell in.”


Adat Shalom - Rabbi Aaron Bergman

“We are the ancestors of the future. What will our descendants say about us? That we lived in fear and rage? That we used cruelty as an expression of our values? Or that we lived with hope and with equanimity and courage and compassion? That we gave them a gift of optimism and resilience and gratitude and joy in being Jewish.”


Congregation Shaarey Zedek - Rabbi Aaron Starr

“If America matters to us, citizenship cannot merely be something we possess. It must be something we practice. We have voices. We have relationships. We have votes. We can organize, advocate, persuade, listen, and build coalitions. And we can show up.” 

Temple Israel - Rabbi Josh Bennett

“We vow to teach our children to swim, not in the water that they grew up in, but the water we're actually in right now. We vow that no argument, no election, no headline will get in the way of us showing up for the Jewish people and one another. We vow that this Jewish community is strong. And that's not a phrase that we just say here from the bimah. It's something we build even with people in this room that you don't agree with.”


Temple Israel - Rabbi Marla Hornsten

“Hope is not made of bronze. Hope is something we create. Every time we listen instead of walking away. Every time we hold up the arms of someone who is tired. Every time we refuse to give up on one another. This is what our people have always done.” 


Temple Israel - Rabbi Jen Lader

“Because today and every day, we are all responsible for each other. And nobody has to do the hard work of turning inward all by themselves. That list is our cheshbon hanefesh, our accounting of our soul. It's not a highlight reel. It's not a catalog of everything wrong with us. It's an accounting, an honest account of what we did this year, what it cost, and what we could do differently if we had had the chance.” 


Temple Kol Ami - Rabbi Natalie Shribman (Kol Nidre)

“We are reminded that uncertainty is the undercurrent of our lives. But even with uncertainty, we need to enjoy our lives, to love, to feel, to have mercy, and to live a life of kindness. Not despite our uncertainty and opposition, but because of it.”

Temple Kol Ami - Rabbi Natalie Shribman (Yom Kippur Morning)

“My God, the body you've given me is holy. And despite my struggles to live within it, I choose to honor my body and soul as one. I will strive to care for my body and forgive it, to settle in my skin, and perhaps to even love it. You created me body and soul with wisdom. Grant me the strength to dwell within my body just as it is, just as I am.” 

Temple Shir Shalom - Rabbi Michael Moskowitz

“There’s a difference between drawing a boundary and demonizing the person on the other side of it. One protects community, the other breaks it. Exclusion without love doesn’t just lose the person pushed out. It teaches everyone still inside how disposable they might become the moment they ask the wrong question.” 


Temple Shir Shalom - Rabbi Daniel Schwartz

“What story will remind me to be kinder? What story will remind me to welcome the stranger or to feed someone who is hungry? What story will remind me of the person I want to become? May we leave this Yom Kippur changed. May we fill our minds with stories worth remembering, stories that become a part of us. And may the lives we live become stories worth telling.” 

Nu?Detroit is committed to making the High Holiday sermons of Metro Detroit congregations accessible to the broader community.

We welcome sermons from all Metro Detroit Jewish congregations, regardless of denomination or perspective. To be included, video sermons must be publicly accessible as standalone recordings on platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. We also welcome written sermons submitted by congregations.

Our goal is to create a resource that reflects the diversity of voices, perspectives, and teachings within our Jewish community.

If your congregation's 2026 High Holiday sermons are missing from this collection, please contact us: so@nu-detroit.com.