Off the Pulpit: Only God, My Dear

August 16, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

“My beloved is radiant… the winter is passed.” So does the Song of Songs, Judaism’s preeminent poem of passion, speak about the warmth and glow of the one who is loved. Such similes endure throughout the...

Off the Pulpit: Tu B’Av

August 16, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

Tonight begins Tu B’av, the Jewish holiday that celebrates love. I am in Venice, Italy for a conference and will be chairing a discussion of love in the modern world. There are many sorts of love:...

Person in the Parsha: Devarim

August 09, 2019

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 senior students...

Person in the Parsha: Va’etchanan (Shabbat Nachamu)

August 09, 2019

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“A SABBATH OF CONSOLATION”

I was very fortunate as a young boy, and in one particular way I knew it. Very few of my friends had living grandparents. Their families had...

Off the Pulpit: Peace or discontent?

August 09, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

There are powerful competing ideologies of religious meaning, one promoting acceptance and the other, discontent. Are we supposed to accept the world, be at peace with its foibles and tragedies, or are we to fight always against...

Off the Pulpit: Normal Mystics

August 01, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

The rabbinic scholar Max Kadushin came up with a marvelous title for the Rabbis of the Talmud. He called them “Normal Mystics.”

Mystics throughout history have seen visions denied to the rest of humanity. Many retreat...

Off the Pulpit: Effortful Eloquence

July 26, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

When God calls to Moses at the burning bush, Moses protests that he cannot go to Pharaoh because he has a speech impediment. If the Torah were a children’s fairy tale book, God would have simply...

Off the Pulpit: Broken Whole Hearts

July 18, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

When someone suffers the loss of a person whom they love, there is always a certain wonder and even resentment that the world seems not to notice. The heavens do not open, the sun still...

Person in the Parsha: Pinchas

July 18, 2019

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“BEWARE: WE CAN GET USED TO ANYTHING”

My wife’s maternal grandmother was a wise old woman. She was raised in the Old City of Jerusalem, where she accumulated her wisdom from...

Person in the Parsha: Balak

July 12, 2019

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“BAD MAN. CAN’T BE A GOOD PROPHET!“

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