The Voices of Emanu El Podcast

Emanu El Houston
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Judaism

The Voices of Emanu El is the podcast from Congregation Emanu El in Houston, Texas. Each week, you’ll hear sermons and reflections from our clergy team, and engaging conversations that explore our faith, traditions, community and the music of Emanu El. Whether you’re joining us for the first time or you’ve been part of our community for years, these are the voices of Emanu El.

  1. 15h ago

    Before Anyone Was Listening

    The world was singing long before we arrived. What might we hear if we slowed down enough to listen? In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Oren Hayon connects the familiar sounds of a Houston evening with the reconstructed songs of insects that lived 165 million years ago. Through Parashat B'reishit and the Book of Job, he explores a quietly radical idea: the world’s goodness doesn’t depend on our noticing it—or posting, measuring, or approving it. Listen for a fresh perspective on creation, the gift of Shabbat, and our place in a chorus that was already underway before we joined it.

  2. 5d ago

    Time, Torah, and Return: Simchat Torah and Jewish Time

    On Simchat Torah, Holocaust Museum Houston CEO Gary Weisserman explored what it means to finish the Torah—and immediately begin again. In Time, Torah, and Return: Simchat Torah and Jewish Time, he reflects on the Jewish understanding of time as layered: We return to the same texts, holidays, and stories, but never as the exact same people. Drawing on Jewish ritual, history, memory, and the powerful transition from Moses’ death at the end of Devarim to the opening words of B’reishit, Gary considers how Jewish continuity depends not on simple repetition, but on inheritance, interpretation, and transmission. In a season when Simchat Torah holds both celebration and painful memory, this teaching offers a moving reminder: Our individual time is short, but the story continues.

  3. Oct 5

    V’shinantam L'vanecha: Teach them Faithfully to Your Children - Yizkor 5787

    In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Josh Fixler explores V’shinantam L’vanecha, the sacred responsibility of transmitting faith, memory, values, and Jewish identity from one generation to the next. Through the lens of memory, mourning, and legacy—including a remembrance of his grandmother, Audrey Friedman Marcus, whose work had a profound impact on Jewish education—Rabbi Fixler invites us, in this Yizkor sermon, to consider what we inherit from those we remember and what we choose to pass forward.

  4. Sep 30

    A Sukkot Sermon of Sermons: From Fear to Courage and Hope

    For Sukkot, in this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Josh Fixler shares teachings and reflections from fellow rabbis whose High Holy Day sermons spoke to this moment. Together, their words offer a blessing for communities of interdependence, service, awe, hope, imagination, and openheartedness. Explore the difference between pachad, the fear that triggers fight or flight, and yirah, the awe-filled perspective that helps us move forward with wisdom. Rabbi Fixler invites us to remain courageous in our convictions, curious about one another’s sacred stories, and hopeful about the future we can help create. Sermon links: Rabbi Evan Traylor, Congregation Beth Elohim, Brooklyn, NY | Rosh Hashanah Day 2, September 13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMEV3KfD_sg Rabbi Allie Klein, Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, South Orange NJ | Rosh Hashanah Morning, September 12  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkKt92KECz0&t=1559s  Rabbi Rachel Timoner, Congregation Beth Elohim, Brooklyn, NY | Rosh Hashanah Morning, September 12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl_u_yRAAEs Rabbi Emily Hyatt & Rabbi Elizabeth Sacks, Temple Emanuel, Denver, CO | Rosh HaShanah Morning, September 12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMP_0kkr2YQ&t=1s  Rabbi Eliana Fischel, "The Light Beyond The Noise," Washington Hebrew Congregation, Washington, DC| Rosh Hashanah Morning , September 12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euTo84K3g8o&t=1252s Rabbi Sarah DePaolo, Congregation Shir-Ha-Ma'a lot, Irvine, CA. | Kol Nidrei Sermon, September 20, unpublished Rabbi Healy Slakman, "Don't Blink," Temple Micah, Washington, DC | Yom Kippur Morning, September 21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jStuWBY4wIg Rabbi Kelly Whitehead, "Imagining the World To Come," Temple Micah, Washington, DC | Erev Rosh Hashanah, September 11  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKyDVG2I1lk Rabbi Alissa Platcow, "Trusty Tallit Still Unfinished," Westchester Reform Temple, Scarsdale, NY | Erev Rosh Hashanah, September 11, 2026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhGvNTq72sU&t=265s Rabbi Joel Mosbacher, "Fear and Covenant," Temple Shaaray Tefila, New York, NY | Yom Kippur Morning, September 21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6nqm8nzN5I

  5. Sep 28

    Carrying Out Our Scrolls

    Rabbi Oren Hayon’s Yom Kippur Yizkor sermon is a tender reflection on loss, remembrance, and the people who leave an irreplaceable mark on our lives. In episode of The Voices of Emanu El, through memories of Rabbi Roy Walter and teachings from Jewish tradition, Rabbi Hayon explores how grief “rearranges the furniture of the heart”—and how those we mourn remain present in the wisdom, love, and light they helped awaken within us.

  6. Sep 25

    What Are You Doing?

    In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Pam Silk confronts the pace and distractions of modern life. Using Our Town as a starting point, Rabbi Silk considers how hurried living, constant connectivity, and the pursuit of efficiency can keep us from being fully present with the people we love. She turns to Jewish wisdom—including Shabbat, teshuvah, tefilah, and tzedakah—to offer a countercultural practice of pause, presence, and purposeful attention. A sermon about reclaiming time, restoring margin, and choosing connection over constant motion.

  7. Sep 23

    A Single Bundle: Reflections on Belonging to a Tribe

    In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Oren Hayon considers the Jewish commitment to remain connected—even across deep disagreement, disappointment, and distance. Beginning with the Kol Nidre prayer’s invitation to include the avaryanim, or transgressors, Rabbi Hayon explores the meaning of Jewish peoplehood: a “joinable tribe” with a shared history, homeland, language, and inheritance. Through stories of the revival of Hebrew and teachings from Jewish tradition, he argues that belonging is not approval, and that loving a community means accepting responsibility for it. A thoughtful reflection on accountability, humility, unity, and the challenge of not giving up on one another.

  8. Sep 18

    Around the Loss

    In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Pamela Silk reflects on grief, memory, and the enduring presence of those we love. Recorded on September 13, 2026, during our High Holy Days Cemetery Service at Emanu El Memorial Park, this sermon draws on stories of Rabbi Roy Walter, zt"l, the sound of the shofar, and the Torah’s teaching about carrying the holiest objects on human shoulders. Rabbi Silk offers a tender meditation on loss: We do not move forward by setting our losses down. We grow the strength to carry them—with our hearts, our souls, and the love that remains.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
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About

The Voices of Emanu El is the podcast from Congregation Emanu El in Houston, Texas. Each week, you’ll hear sermons and reflections from our clergy team, and engaging conversations that explore our faith, traditions, community and the music of Emanu El. Whether you’re joining us for the first time or you’ve been part of our community for years, these are the voices of Emanu El.

Information

  • Creator
    Emanu El Houston
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    82
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Voices of Emanu El Podcast

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