This Sunday, our guest preacher was Rabbi Dr. Laura Duhan Kaplan, Director of Inter-Religious Studies, Professor of Jewish Studies and Interim Academic Dean at the Vancouver School of Theology.

Rabbi Laura chanted Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 and Psalm 19 in Hebrew during the service, then read Nehemiah and preached (in English) on both those texts. Her sermon opened with a personal story of her own love of the three spiritual practices mentioned in Psalm 19, then she introduced the world of Nehemiah, responding so generously to the invitation of Rev. Cari to “untangle” the beautiful Jewish tradition from the horrors unfolding in the Holy Land.

This is a valuable opportunity to hear Rabbi Laura open up Scripture’s witness in order to appreciate three Jewish spiritual practices that invite us to cling to God’s vision of shalom for all God’s children.