Making the Rabbi Sweat

For every Jew who goes to synagogue on only the High Holy Days, there’s a rabbi keenly aware of that fact. Sometimes even sweating over that fact.

“I go through a number of different sermons — lots of paper crumpling, lots of false starts,” admitted Eli Herscher, senior rabbi of Stephen S. Wise Temple, in Los Angeles. “It’s the one time of year you know you’re going to see everyone, so the stress is around figuring out what you want to teach and talk about that feels sufficiently important.”