Shabbat Sermon: Where Do We Find God? with Guest Speaker Rabbi Israel de la Piedra

Such an important question, “where is God?” It seems so basic, yet do we ever stop to ask ourselves this question? Probably only rarely, if at all. It must be at the same time the most basic of questions yet the one question we never really ask ourselves. We think we know the answer to the question. But do we ever think about it? Is God everywhere? Is God’s presence something that is unrelated to what we do or not do? Can we help bring God’s Presence to dwell among us? If so, what can we do?

About Rabbi Israel de la Piedra

Rabbi Israel has been working with the sick, the old and the dying for the last fifteen years. He was the Rabbi and Spiritual Director at Miami Jewish Health (MJH), a large senior residential and rehabilitation facility in Miami, from 2014 to 2021. He was awarded the “Clergy of the Year” award by the Ministering to the Elderly Conference in Miami in 2021 for his work at MJH. After his return to Boston in late 2021, Rabbi Israel worked as a hospice chaplain at AccentCare Hospice and currently serves as the rabbi at Hebrew Senior Life’s Simon C. Fireman Community in Randolph, MA. Rabbi Israel received his rabbinical ordination from Hebrew College in 2013. Prior to becoming a rabbi, he had a long career as an economist with the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC and in two African countries. Rabbi Israel and his wife Aliza are proud members of Temple Emanuel and keep homes in Kiriat Motzkin (near Haifa) in Israel and in Canton, MA.