About Moral Courage: From the Study of Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis
“Moral Courage” shares Jewish ideas and conversations — inspired by the works of Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis — that make Jewish wisdom more accessible, inclusive and relevant to today’s complicated world. Rabbi Schulweis was a longtime pulpit rabbi at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California, from 1970 until his passing in 2014, who made Judaism approachable and accessible. He believed that humanity could do divine work in the world, trying to make it a better place. He was a cofounder of the anti-genocide program Jewish World Watch, and said that Jews have a moral responsibility to help those who are suffering, wherever they are. He was also the founding Chair of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, recognizing Christians who saved Jews from the Holocaust. His is a voice that we need now—to give us direction and hope, in an otherwise troubled time. Executive Produced by Sad Clown Productions and Mayim Bialik. Hosted by Rabbi Ari Averbach.
A Conversation with Rabbi Gerry Serotta, Senior Rabbi / Rabbi Emeritus (Formerly leading Shirat HaNefesh and Temple Shalom in Maryland)
In this episode of Moral Courage: From the Study of Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, host Ari sits down with Rabbi Gerry Serotta—a veteran voice in civil rights, interfaith organizing, and progressive Jewish advocacy. Growing up in segregated Miami surrounded by a family deeply committed to social justice, Rabbi Serotta traces his journey from choosing the rabbinate over medical school to active involvement in the civil rights and anti-war movements.
The discussion explores the early inspiration of figures like Eleanor Roosevelt and Dr. Martin Luther King, the foundational concept of Tikkun Olam, navigating difficult conversations within congregations and campus communities, and the power of universalism through a Jewish lens. Rabbi Serotta also shares personal reflections on interfaith coalition building, overcoming the "sin of indifference," and maintaining the courage to stand up for core values.
Show Notes
Key Topics & Highlights:
Formative Years & Roots in Activism: Growing up in segregated Miami Beach, early experiences with voter registration in Liberty City, and his mother's social justice leadership and creative Passover Haggadot.
Choosing the Rabbinate: Choosing rabbinical school over medical school after being inspired by activist clergy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Reverend William Sloan Coffin.
Courage & Pastoral Balancing: Navigating pushback from congregations and sponsors, being fired after a youth anti-war Shabbat service, and why a good rabbi should "always have his bags packed."
Evolution of Tikkun Olam: Rabbi Serotta's role in popularizing the concept of Tikkun Olam in the 1970s through New Jewish Agenda and its roots in classical Jewish values like Mipne Darchei Shalom.
Interfaith Dialogue & Universalism: Lessons from decades of campus ministry and heading the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington; combating the "sin of indifference" (Lo Tochal Lehit'alem); and finding shared values across faiths.
28 Jul 2026
A Conversation with Rabbi Shai Held, American philosopher, theologian, author, and Bible scholar, co-founder, President, and Dean of the Hadar Institute.
Rabbi Ari Averbach hosts Rabbi Shai Held for a candid conversation on God, suffering, prayer, and love in Jewish life. Held shares how theology “chose him” through a childhood of cognitive dissonance (secular home, yeshiva schooling), why he teaches text-first, and how opening honest, adult conversations about faith can revive American Jewish spirituality. He contrasts predicate theology (“God as verb”) with a more traditional theism (“God in our response”) and explores what that means for prayer, action, and pastoral care.
Diving into Psalms of lament—especially Psalm 77 and Psalm 44—Held shows how remembering the Exodus can both comfort and intensify pain, legitimizing protest as authentic piety. He discusses hospital rooms and funerals where humility matters: sometimes people need presence, sometimes theology. The aim is a richer Jewish vocabulary that invites curiosity across differences, whether between denominations or in interfaith dialogue.
Major Publications & Media
Judaism Is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life (2024): His widely discussed book exploring the central role of divine and human love within Jewish theology and ethics.
The Heart of Torah (2017): A two-volume collection of deep, ethically driven essays focused on the weekly Torah portions.
Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence (2013): A critical study of the renowned 20th-century theologian's religious philosophy.
Answers WithHeld: He hosts a podcast produced by the Hadar Institute, engaging with various theological and text-based topics.
Accolades
Covenant Award: Recipient of the prestigious Covenant Foundation award for excellence in Jewish education.
National Recognition: Repeatedly named one of America's 50 most influential rabbis by Newsweek and one of the world's 50 most prominent Jewish figures by the Jewish Daily Forward.
26 Jun 2026
A Conversation with Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Reform Rabbi, Author, and Executive coach
Rabbi Denise Eger joins Rabbi Ari Averbach to trace her 38‑year rabbinic journey from Memphis to the pulpit, and the hidden struggles of LGBTQ students in seminary. She recounts organizing secret support networks, her ordination in 1988, and serving as rabbi of Beth Chayim Chadashim during the height of the AIDS crisis—pastoring the sick, educating institutions, and building community care when mainstream support was absent.
The conversation follows Eger’s leadership in changing Reform movement policy and practice around LGBTQ inclusion, including public visibility that helped shift Hebrew Union College and the Central Conference of American Rabbis toward nondiscrimination and support for same‑sex marriage. She reflects on Rabbi Harold Schulweis’s moral courage to learn and change, the importance of in‑reach (kiruv) to welcome Jews who feel excluded, and the long work of expanding Jewish belonging.
Turning to today, Eger warns about cancel culture, virulent antisemitism, and online radicalization of youth, calling for sustained moral courage from clergy and lay leaders. She closes by honoring LGBTQ ancestors and celebrating Pride, sharing liturgy from her Mishkan Ga’ava collection that remembers those who fought and sacrificed so future generations could live openly and with dignity.
LINKS:
Morality Legality and Homosexuality — A Rosh Hashanah Sermon by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis
Rosh Hashanah 5753, September 27, 1992
TEXT (https://hmsi.info/morality-legality-and-homosexuality-a-rosh-hashanah-sermon-by-rabbi-harold-m-schulweis-3/)
AUDIO (https://hmsi.info/morality-legality-and-homosexuality-a-rosh-hashanah-sermon-by-rabbi-harold-m-schulweis-2/)
Mishkan Ga'avah: Where Pride Dwells—A Celebration of LGBTQ Jewish Life and Ritual (https://www.ccarpress.org/9780881233582/mishkan-gaavah-where-pride-dwells/)
Edited by Rabbi Denise L. Eger
(https://www.ccarpress.org/author/denise-l-eger)Foreword by Loren Ostrow
(https://www.ccarpress.org/author/loren-ostrow)
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