Following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, Rabbi Hirsch worries about the future of democratic intuitions, reflects on the anti-Zionism and antisemitism and the left’s abandonment of liberalism […]

“The contrast between our high self-image and the base evil we are capable of has long baffled and intrigued the greatest minds of our species,” says Rabbi Ammi Hirsch. The […]

On Yom Kippur, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch shared the range of emotions experienced by Jews since October 7, 2023, including anger, love, sorrow, mutual responsibility and determination to recover. Addressing young […]

“What is the most important verse in the Bible?” asks Rabbi Ammi Hirsch on Erev Yom Kippur. “You have all these grand ethical principles: monotheism, equality, justice, humanity, mercy, loving-kindness, […]

“For Jews, our deepest anxieties for the safety of our people — the product of centuries of repressed traumas — have reawakened and our confidence in the West’s ability to […]

Rabbi Ammi Hirsch opens the Rosh Hashanah evening services with a message of resilience: “There is a stone slab in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It was carved around the […]

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch reflects on the unsettling feeling that world events are driving history. Yet he reminds us of Judaism’s central plea: You must not remain indifferent. “Compassion is not […]

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch shares his grief over the crushing loss of the six Israeli hostages and prays for the speedy return of the hostages still alive in captivity.

In this week’s parashah, God commands, ‘See, this day I set before you blessing and curse.’ Rabbi Dalia Samansky asks, “What does it mean to SEE rather than HEAR?” She […]

“Have you been following the emergence of what may be as many as a trillion cicadas throughout the Midwest and Southeast?” asks Rabbi Ammi Hirsch. Maybe not. “New Yorkers don’t […]

“This is an existential moment, not only for Israel, but for us in North America. We are in the midst of a great ideological struggle, the outcome of which will […]

Rabbi Ammi Hirsch has been warning for years that America’s campuses have been devolving into hotbeds of radical and illiberal theories. “The reason that the protests have descended into outrageous […]

“Our Sages teach: ‘Fire does not ignite in a lone stick of wood, but in a pile of kindling.’ American campuses have been drying up for a long time,” says […]

After a scary night that saw 300 missiles and attack drones launched at Israel by the Iranian regime, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch delivers a message to the congregation and a prayer […]

On our recent mission to Israel, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch scheduled time for our congregation to pick strawberries. But he didn’t expect that morning to be among the most moving of […]

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi at New York City’s historic 116-year-old Stephen Wise Free Synagogue and one of America’s foremost Reform Zionist leaders, delivered remarks at a rally on April […]

“In many ways it is still October 7th. Time froze,” says Rabbi Ammi Hirsch, offering his perspective of where we are five months later, on the Shabbat before embarking for […]

In this week’s parashah, we read about “the eternal flame” — the lamp that burned continuously in the Tabernacle. “The light of the eternal flame, according to our Sages, is […]

Rabbi Ammi Hirsch offers impressions from his two long days of jury duty: “There is no such thing as perfect justice. Everything human is filled with human imperfections. The entire […]

Rabbi Ammi Hirsch takes a satirical look at antisemitism.

“When we consider our way of life, the great American institutions of higher learning play a critical role. Conformity and groupthink portend the dangerous decline of liberalism and, with it, […]

“God’s first act was the creation of light, but human corruption restricts our vision, diminishing the radiance of existence,” says Rabbi Ammi Hirsch. “Our task is to recapture that light. […]

“There is a three-year-old girl named Avigail in the Gaza dungeons. Whenever I think of her, I am devastated,” says Rabbi Ammi Hirsch. “How did it come to this — […]

Reflecting on the massacre of over 1,400 Israelis by Hamas, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch wonders: “What culture, what mindset, what belief system produces — or condones — such brutality?” This week’s […]

A week after Hamas massacred more than 1,000 Israeli civilians, “we gather for Shabbat on the day that Hamas has termed ‘A Day of Rage,’” says Rabbi Ammi Hirsch. “These […]