Person in the Parsha: Va’etchanan

July 16, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“WHAT. ME? WORRY?!“

I am a worrier. My friends and family tease me about it.

I sometimes worry about personal matters, and sometimes about professional concerns. More...

Off the Pulpit: Toothpaste and Travel

July 16, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

In my house growing up we only used used Crest toothpaste. That may seem a negligible datum, but in fact it shaped my childhood. I learned that no other toothpaste was used by smart, responsible people. When...

Person in the Parsha: Devarim

July 09, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“THE PATH TO ELOQUENCE”

It is an experience common to all freshmen. One comes to a new campus, knows no one, and tries to orient himself by identifying the...

Off the Pulpit: Laughter and Love

July 09, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

In years of interviewing bar and bat mitzvah students, a few patterns have recurred. One of the questions I ask is — if your best friend were sitting here, what would she or he say about...

Person in the Parsha: Matot-Masei

July 02, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“HONESTY AND INTEGRITY”

 Every so often, I come across a sentence of another person’s writing which expresses one of my own thoughts in a language far superior to...

Off the Pulpit: Unkind Thoughts

July 02, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

In decades of serving as a rabbi, I cannot tell you for sure which phenomenon in the synagogue is most commonly helpful, but I can tell you which is the most commonly destructive – the assumption...

Person in the Parsha: Pinchas

June 25, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

 “ZEALOTRY AND TOLERANCE”

Jewish people teach Jewish values to their children, and to all who wish to be informed about their faith. If one is asked “Should I...

Off the Pulpit: Heart Shells

June 25, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

When my brother and I were kids, we would go into the front yard and play egg toss. The idea of the game was to move farther and farther from one another and toss the egg so...

Person in the Parsha: Balak

June 18, 2021

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST: ITS RELEVANCE TODAY”

Ugaritic. Sumerian. Akkadian. Hittite.

These are words that I never heard in all the years of my traditional Jewish education....

Off the Pulpit: Why Jew Hatred Is Different

June 18, 2021

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

In the history of most group hatred, there is a limit – geographical, economic or cultural. Some people may express hatred of Asians, but they do not wish to wipe China and Japan off the map....