Off the Pulpit: The Telling

April 05, 2023

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

In “The Arabian Nights,” Scheherazade saves her own life by weaving so entrancing a tale that the Sultan keeps her alive night after night to hear the next chapter.By our stories we live Haggadah means “telling.”MOn...

Person in the Parsha: Shemini

March 31, 2023

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“AND AARON WAS SILENT”

He was an old man, and in many ways came from a very different world than I. And yet he taught me more than anyone...

Off the Pulpit: In Every Generation

March 31, 2023

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

From the villages of Eastern Europe comes an old, classic joke. Shmuel comes in the door with a sad face, telling Esther that the Czar has decreed that every Jew must convert and become Christian. “What...

Person in the Parsha: Tzav & Shabbat HaGadol

March 24, 2023

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“SHABBAT HAGADOL AS INDEPENDENCE DAY”

I remember well when the age at which one could vote or drink was 21. From my perspective when I was a child, and...

Off the Pulpit: Creation, Revelation & Redemption

March 24, 2023

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

Jewish tradition is built around three axes: Creation, Revelation, and Redemption. Traditionally, these have been seen as making the world, giving the Torah and coming of the Messiah. Each also tells us something about our attitude...

Person in the Parsha: Vayikra

March 17, 2023

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“COURTESY AND CONFIDENTIALITY”

“There is no such thing as privacy anymore.”

“There are no secrets anymore.”

These are two complaints that are heard frequently nowadays.

Off the Pulpit: A Remarkable Interpretation

March 17, 2023

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

From Ancient Greece comes a story of rival artists, Zeuxis and Parrhasius, who competed to create the most realistic painting. Zeuxis drew grapes so realistic birds flew down to peck at them. Parrhasius brought his picture...

Person in the Parsha: Vayakhel-Pekudei

March 10, 2023

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“Words, words, words,” he shouted at me. He was a young man, raised as an observant Jew, but now in rebellion against his traditional upbringing. His parents had asked me to meet with...

Off the Pulpit: Foolish Advice

March 10, 2023

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

The first service a child doth his father is to make him foolish.” So wrote the 17th century poet George Herbert.

In the Midrash, we are told of a man who left a strange provision in...

Person in the Parsha: Ki Tisa

March 03, 2023

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“THE HINDU PRINCESS AND THE GOLDEN CALF”

She was a Hindu princess. She was one of the brightest students in my graduate school class. We studied psychology, and she...