Sermon by Rabbi Julie Roth – East of Eden
If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend the new Netflix TV show, ‘East of Eden’, inspired by the 1952 novel by John Steinbeck, set in the years between the Civil War and World War I. I admit, I binge-watched the seven episodes in two days. As a rabbi, I was captivated by this midrash on the central stories of this week’s parshah, B’reisheit, and the in-depth exploration of the key themes of the story of Cain and Abel. Each character in this multi-generational family struggles with moral inheritance and the question of whether they ultimately have a choice about who they will become. (more…)
