Person in the Parsha: Ki Tisa

February 15, 2019

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“THE INEVITABLE COMEDOWN“

It was over forty years ago, but I remember the feelings very well. They were overwhelming, and were not dispelled easily.

It was just after I had completed all of...

Off the Pulpit: Advice for In-laws?

February 15, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

“Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife” teaches Genesis 2:24. I have always thought that verse was directed toward parents and even more, in-laws.

It is a familiar scenario....

Person in the Parsha: Tetzaveh

February 08, 2019

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“Clothes Make the Man”

My interest in the relationship between a person and his or her clothing goes back to my early days in graduate school. I was taking a course on human...

Off the Pulpit: The First and the Last

February 08, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

The first mitzvah in the Torah is to be fruitful and multiply. The last mitzvah is to write a Sefer Torah. In some sense, these are the same mitzvah.

Judaism entrusts its adherents with the...

Person in the Parsha: Terumah

February 03, 2019

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“ONE OF THE ANGELS“

My grandmother was one of the angels. Like every Jewish grandmother, she loved each and every one of her grandchildren. As her oldest grandchild, I believed that I was...

Off the Pulpit: Commanded not to covet?

January 31, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

How can we be commanded not to covet? After all, wanting something is natural. Yet the tenth commandment teaches us not to covet.

There are many answers in the Jewish tradition. One points to the idea...

Person in the Parsha: Mishpatim

January 25, 2019

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“CAREERS“

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” That was once the standard question to ask an eight- or nine-year-old when trying to make conversation with him or her. Somehow,...

Off the Pulpit: Don’t Grovel!

January 25, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

In the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” God comes out of the sky and growls at the prostrate knights: “Oh, don’t grovel – one thing I can’t stand is people groveling.”

Well, Monty Python...

Off the Pulpit: Artists and Passengers

January 20, 2019

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

The medieval poet Moses Ibn Ezra used the following simile: We are like passengers on a ship, believing we are stationary when in fact we are headed toward a destination. Similarly, we do not realize that as...

Person in the Parsha: Yitro

January 18, 2019

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“THE SEEKER“

“This is the most shocking and astounding phrase in the entire Torah!” These were the words uttered, in Hebrew, by the aging and ailing rabbi who was visiting Baltimore for medical...