Off the Pulpit: Why don’t we bless one another?

December 10, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

At the end of Genesis and the end of the Torah, Jacob and Moses offer extended blessings. We take this in stride – after all, they are biblical titans, and obviously they have both the power...

Person in the Parsha: Vayigash

December 03, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“RECONCILIATION“

I have known more than my share of families that are torn by discord. I think most of us, perhaps even all of us, are familiar with families...

Off the Pulpit: Two Dreams, Two Miracles, One Meaning

December 03, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

Joseph has two dreams – one of sheaves and one of stars. The first is a dream of material and the second a dream of spirit.

We read the Joseph story on Chanukah, which tells of two...

Person in the Parsha: Miketz

November 26, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“JOSEPH, CHANUKAH AND WISDOM“

 Wisdom is the rarest of all important human qualities. Observers of the contemporary state of affairs often remark that wisdom, which is especially necessary...

Off the Pulpit: A Thanksgiving Prayer

November 25, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

The first words I say in the morning, in accordance with the Jewish tradition, are Mode Ani, “I thank You.” I walk out of my house and am greeted by the dawn. I step from a house...

Person in the Parsha: Vayashev

November 19, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“THE WISDOM OF THE EAST”

There are jokes which are very funny on the surface, but which, upon reflection, can be quite painful and disturbing.

One of...

Off the Pulpit: More than one way to be a slave

November 19, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

Pharaoh “intensified the labor” of the Israelites. The tyrant’s motivation was deeper than random cruelty. In ‘Mesillat Yesharim,’ Path of the Upright, his famed book on ethical conduct, Rabbi Moses Luzzato writes that this was a...

Person in the Parsha: Vayishlach

November 12, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB 

“UNHERALDED HEROES”

You don’t hear much about them, and sometimes you don’t even know their names. But they are the true heroes and heroines in our lives and...

Off the Pulpit: The Secret of Memory

November 12, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

Renowned historian Yosef Haim Yerushalmi once noted that the Jewish people were the first in history who saw memory as a religious obligation. In his aptly titled book “Zakhor” (“Remember”), he traced the ways in which...

Person in the Parsha: Vayetzei

November 05, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“TEARS“

Many years ago, when I was studying for my doctorate in psychology, we had a number of fairly strict requirements in addition to our courses in psychology. For...