Cantor Elizabeth Sacks

Cantor Elizabeth Sacks is the senior cantor at Temple Emanuel in Denver, CO.

Torrah and Kippah
Sukkot

A Time for Building Up

D'Var Torah By: Cantor Elizabeth Sacks
Each year on Sukkot, we read these famous words of Ecclesiastes ( Kohelet): “A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven. …a time for tearing down and a time for building up.” ( Kohelet 3:1,3). To speak of building during a holiday dedicated to erecting a temporary structure seems fitting. And yet, the order the ideas in this verse is at odds with our Sukkot experience. Surely, “a time for building up and a time for tearing down” would align more closely with sequence of the holiday. So why this order? And what exactly are “we tearing down and building up”?
Torrah and Kippah
Haazinu

A Song You Will Remember

D'Var Torah By: Cantor Elizabeth Sacks
In last week's portion, Vayeilech, we read, “Then Moses recited the words of the following poem to the very end, in the hearing of the whole congregation of Israel” (Deut. 31:30). This verse concludes last week’s portion, Parashat Vayeilech and in doing so, creates one of the most dramatic cliffhangers in our entire Torah. Surely this forthcoming poem, Moses’ actual last words to the Israelites, will be emotional, inspirational, and transformational.
Torrah and Kippah
Vayeilech

Going Out and Coming In: Transitions of Leadership

D'Var Torah By: Cantor Elizabeth Sacks
In our High Holiday machzor, we read a poem entitled, “The Sacred Pilgrimage,” by Rabbi Alvin Fine: "Birth is a beginning and death a destination. But life is a journey ..." The familiar verses of this poem could easily be the underlying emotional narrative of Parashat Vayeilech. In this week’s portion, Moses is in the midst of this process; for in Parashat Vayeilech, Moses officially retires and begins to prepare for his death.
Torrah and Kippah
Ki Tavo

The Dramatic Effects of Sound and Silence

D'Var Torah By: Cantor Elizabeth Sacks
In the story of Elijah, this classic text describes the prophet’s encounter with God: “... the Eternal was not in the fire. And after the fire—a soft murmuring sound [ kol d’mamah dakah]” (I Kings 19:11-12). The sound of silence—or close to it. The power of the soft whisper, the energy of the absence of sound. Jewish tradition, and the Torah specifically, uses many examples of the drama that can be achieved with sound,
Torrah and Kippah
Nitzavim

The Tension Between Hubris and Humility

D'Var Torah By: Cantor Elizabeth Sacks
In its brief 40 verses, Parashat Nitzavim immediately presents us with tensions between confidence and condemnation, promise and punishment, and ultimately, between humility and hubris. Throughout the text of these two compact chapters—Deuteronomy 29 and 30—Moses consistently oscillates between inspiring the Israelites toward their future and forewarning them about their inherent (and perhaps inevitable) flaws.