For A Good Year: Selected High Holy Day Sermons of Rabbi Larry Raphael

This book is for people of every faith.

This book is for those who believe and those who are not sure.

This book is for hope in uncertain times.




For a Good Year is like a quiet conversation with a thoughtful rabbi. He tells stories from ancient texts and contemporary literature. He asks questions that are good to ponder. And he lets you in on a few secrets: how a sermon is born, how a rabbi grapples with issues that really matter, how to make choices that are sustaining all year long.




- Wonder what makes tradition relevant today?

- Curious how personal faith can evolve over a lifetime?

- Looking to enrich your daily life?




Here are sermons on the eternal themes of the High Holy Days with ideas that stand the test of time and challenge us to become our best selves. Meet familiar concepts from new perspectives and find yourself rethinking how to choose a life that combines tradition and social action to repair hurt in the world. Plus, find more words of wisdom from Rabbi Norman J. Cohen, PhD, Rabbi Jessica Zimmerman Graf, Rabbi Hara Person, Rabbi Marc Lee Raphael, PhD, and Rabbi Gary Zola, PhD.




Rabbi Larry Raphael (1946-2018) was a leader in training Reform rabbis, cantors and educators. A member of the faculty and a dean at Hebrew Union College in New York for decades, he also served congregations large and small, created programs of Torah study for adults, was a board member for many Jewish and interfaith organizations and edited two volumes of Jewish mystery fiction, Mystery Midrash (1999) and Criminal Kabbalah (2001). A consummate teacher, here Rabbi Larry offers life lessons for all.