The Spiritual Connection Between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel
Set Apart but Not Alone
Passover, Loss, and the Freedom in Embracing Impermanence
Akiva and Levinas: Two Faces of Revelation – Rabbi George Gittleman
Jewish Identity - Then and Now
Rabbi George presents to the Jewish Interest Group at Oakmont, February 19, 2023. Video Credit: Howard Sidorsky.
Martin Luther King Jr. Sermon - 20 January 2023
Unpacking the Joseph Story - 6 January 2023
Seven Days of Silence in Mexico - 9 December 2022
Thanksgiving and the Jewish American Experience - 18 November 2022
Fasting as Protest and Other Stories - Kol Nidre Sermon
A Memory Time of Crying Out - Rosh Hashanah Morning
Awakening to Love - Erev Rosh Hashanah
Lamed Vavnik Pt. 2 : 2 September 2022
The 36 People That Hold Up the World
Opening the Heart
Invading the Holy Land? - 22 July 2022
Judaism and Reproductive Rights - 1 July 2022
Judaism and Reproductive Choice
Every American movement of Judaism (including the Orthodox Union) is against absolute abortion bans and insists on the importance of women being able to access abortion care for their mental and physical well-being. The Rabbis of the Talmud are clear: abortion is permitted, and in some cases required, for the health and safety of women... Read More.
Rabbi's Tisch : Marni Schwartz and the Life Long Learning Fund - 10 June 2022
A Jewish Environmental Ethic : Maimonides and the Guide for the Perplexed - 5 June 2022
Sermon - 27 May 2022
Be Here Now! - 28 January 2022
Dr. King and the Exodus - 21 January 2022
What the Light of Hanukkah Sheds on Our Lives - 3 December 2021
The Myth of History - 26 November 2022
Rebekah - Bringing the Women of the Torah from the Background to the Foreground - 29 October 2021
In Memory of Marnie Schwartz : Yizkor - 16 September 2021
A Call to Listen : Kol Nidre - 15 September 2021
God, a Conversation : Shabbat Shuvah - 10 September 2021
The Goodness of Creation : Rosh Hashanah - 7 September 2021
Perhaps There Is Hope? Rosh Hashanah - 6 September 2021
Loving God Through the Use of Your Mind : In Memory of Marshal True - 23 July 2021
25 Years with You - 9 July 2021
Her Right Foot : The Statue of Liberty and the Jewish-American Experience - 2 July 2021
Pride Month and Vulnerability - 25 June 2021
Origins and Meaning of the Holy Ark - 28 May 2021
Israel : Enduring Connections and Conflicts - 21 May 2021
Blasphemy : Tearing a Hole in the Linguistic Fabric of Being - 30 April 2021
Reflections on the Chauvin Conviction, George Floyd, and Torah - 23 April 2021
Human Nature - 16 October 2020
When Is Enough, Enough? - 31 July 2020
The American Flag and the Jewish Experience - 3 July 2020
Created in God's Image : Judaism, CST, and the Struggle for LGBTQ Equality - 19 June 2020
Revelation - 29 May 2020
The Pandemic and the Silver Lining of Impermanence - 15 May 2020
Israel : A Protection from the Nations or a Light Unto the Nations - 1 May 2020
Yom Hashoa - 20 April 2020
Holy Fire - 20 March 2020
Purim : The Adult Story - 6 March 2020
The Role of Religious Imagination in Healing the World - 28 February 2020
The Plague of Locusts - 31 January 2020
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. : His Legacy and his Vision as it Applies to Today - 17 January 2020
Rabbi George's Sermons - 2019
Friday, December 20, 2019: "Trump's Executive Order and Jewish Identity"
Trump's Executive Order and Jewish Identity from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
Yom Kippur 2019: Wednesday, October 9 – Read Rabbi George’s Sermon: Choosing Life
Rosh Hashanah 2019: Sunday, September 29 – Rabbi George’s Multi-Generational Erev Rosh Hashanah Sermon
Rabbi George's Sermon-Her right foot- The Statue of Liberty and the Jewish-American Experience from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
Rosh Hashanah 2019: Monday, September 30 – Rabbi George’s Rosh Hashanah Day Sermon
Rabbi George's Sermon- The Meaning of Shalom As We Enter the New Year from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
Friday, August 30, 2019: “How Tribal are We?”
How Tribal Are We? from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
Friday, August 23, 2019: “What does it mean to be a loyal Jew?” Read it HERE.
Friday, July 19, 2019: “Hide or fight, what does our tradition tell us to do?“
Hide or Fight, what does our tradition tell us to do from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
June 7, 2019: “The Rarest Color Blue”
6/7/19 - The Rarest Color Blue from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
June 2, 2019: “Protecting the Vulnerable” at the Center for Spiritual Living
2019-06-02 - Protect the Vulnerable - Rabbi George Gittleman from Center for Spiritual Living SR on Vimeo.
March 31, 2019: “Holy Fire”
March 31, 2019 | Rabbi George Sermon, "Holy Fire" from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
January 4, 2019: “The Seventy Names of the Divine”
Rabbi George Sermon, January 4, 2019 | "The Seventy Names of The Divine" from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
Rabbi George's Sermons - 2018
November 30, 2018: “The Key to Happiness”
Rabbi George Sermon, November 30, 2018 | "A Key to Happiness" from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
November 27, 2018: Podcast “Explore the Space with Rabbi George – Crisis Leadership” To listen, click HERE.
November 1, 2018: Hundreds Gathered at Solidarity Interfaith Service for Synagogue Shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
"Three Poems for the Evening of Yom Kippur", Rabbi George Gittleman Sermon | Kol Nidre 5779 from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
"Lost and Found" Rabbi George Gittleman Sermon | Rosh Hashanah 5779 from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
Holiness: A Humanist View from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
April 11, 2018: Yom HaShoah Sermon: “Resistance”
Resistance from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
March 2, 2018: Shabbat Sermon: “Pot Brownies at the Oneg? Marijuana Dispensary as a Fundraiser? Is Cannabis Kosher?”
Pot Brownies at the Oneg? from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
Rabbi George's Sermons 2017 and Earlier
October 20, 2017: “Who By Fire”
Who By Fire? from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
October 2017: Rabbi George joins with other religious leaders discuss how faith communities are helping cope with the North Bay wildfires. Listen to it Here.
Rabbi George on “Religions and the Environment” At the CST forum on climate change and population growth. Read it Here.
September 20, 2017: Erev Rosh Hashanah Sermon “Avinu Malkeinu“
Avinu Malkeinu | Erev Rosh Hashanah from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
September 29, 2017: Kol Nidre Sermon “The Windphone”
The Windphone | Kol Nidre from Congregation Shomrei Torah on Vimeo.
October 2016: Rosh Hashanah Sermon: “The True Voice of The Holy One”. Listen to the evening service HERE. Listen to the morning service HERE.
October 2016: Kol Nidre Sermon “Values” Read it HERE.
June 15, 2016: Rabbi George Speaks at the Multi-denominational “Vigil for Orlando”
January 25, 2015: Rabbi George’s remarks at the CST forum on Climate Change and Overpopulation “An Open and Urgent Question”. Read it Here.
September 2015: Kol Nidre Sermon “Let me not die while I’m still alive”. Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2015: Rosh Hashanah Sermon “To Be Human…” Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2015: High Holy Day Sermon “L’Chaim“. Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2014: Yizkor Sermon “The Poetics of Loss & Memory”. Listen to it HERE.
September 2014: Kol Nidre Sermon “Do You Love Me?” Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2014: Yom Kippur Sermon in memory of Rabbi David Hartman “A Blessing in the New Year”. Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2014: Rosh Hashanah Sermon. Listen to it HERE.
Shabbat Sermon “Newton”. Read it HERE.
September 2013: Kaddish & Yiskor Sermon. Read it HERE.
September 2013: Rosh Hashanah Sermon “Interbeing”. Read it HERE.
September 2013: Yom Kippur Sermon “Vulnerability”. Read it HERE.
September 2012: Yom Kippur Sermon “Valley of the Shadow”. Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2012: Rosh Hashanah Sermon “Hineini, Here I Am”. Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2011: Yiskor Sermon “The Death of Moses”. Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2011: Rosh Hashanah Sermon “Yom HaDin – Day of Judgment”. Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
April 2010: Yom HaShoah Sermon “To Be Human in a Place Where There is No Humanity”. Read it HERE.
April 2009: Sermon “How Open is Our Tent”. Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2010: Rosh Hashanah Sermon "The Whole World is a Narrow Bridge". Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
September 2010: Erev Rosh Hashanah Sermon "Life Hanging in the Balance". Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
"Torah Then and Now". Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
Yom Kippur 2008 (5769): "In Search of Sin". Read it HERE. Listen to it HERE.
Erev Rosh Hashanah 2007 (5768): "Meta: Loving-Kindness". Read it HERE.
"My Heart is in the East but I, I am at the Edge of the West"
"Remembering What Makes Life Worth Living"
"A Response to the War in Iraq"
"A Memory That Leads to Redemption"
Sat, September 23 2023
8 Tishrei 5784
About Rabbi George
Rabbi George Gittleman joined Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa, California as their first full-time rabbi in 1996.
George and his spouse Laura, a hospital administrator and artist, are blessed with two adult children, Sophia and Levi. Their family dog, Emmy, can sometimes be found lounging in the Rabbi’s Study by day. The Gittleman’s cherish their life in Sonoma County.
A native of Kentucky, Rabbi George earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History from the University of Vermont in 1984.
In 1991 he embarked on his rabbinical journey after 8 years in computer sales, obtaining a Masters in Hebrew Letters and Ordination from the Reform Seminary, Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in 1996.
Rabbi George is also a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the prestigious Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and a graduate of the Rabbinic Leadership Program and the Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Certificate Program of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.
Civic engagement is an important part of Rabbi George’s work. Currently he is a member of the Santa Rosa Police Chief’s Community Ambassador’s Team, on the Board of the Redwood Empire Food Bank, a member of the Clergy Council of the North Bay Organizing Project and a leader of the new Interfaith Fast Initiative.
Rabbi George is married to Laura, an artist and Nurse Executive for Kaiser, and they are blessed with twin adult children, Levi & Sophia.
Rabbi George's spirituality is grounded in nature. When he is not in the synagogue, you can find him hiking the hills or coastline of Sonoma County, birding, animal tracking or fly fishing.
