Person in the Parsha: BAMIDBAR

May 19, 2017

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“MY TEACHER, MY FATHER”

It was November, 1938. Dark clouds were gathering over all of Europe, and particularly over the Jewish communities in countries like Poland and Lithuania. Although few foresaw...

Off the Pulpit: The Key to the Treasure

May 19, 2017

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

In his short story “Scheherazade,” novelist John Barth writes that “the key to the treasure is the treasure.”

I think about this sometimes when I listen to the Torah reader on Shabbat. The ability to read...

Off the Pulpit: The Hidden Image

May 17, 2017

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

Do you know the legend of the angels and the Divine image? A group of angels heard that God intended to create human beings in God’s own likeness, and they thought human beings unworthy. So they...

Person in the Parsha: Yom Yerushalayim

May 11, 2017

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“ZION AND JERUSALEM“

Historians have long distinguished between two types of great leaders. On the one hand, there are those who are gifted with mighty talents and unusually powerful personalities....

Person in the Parsha: EMOR

May 11, 2017

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“A LIFE OF SANCTIFICATION“

The conditions under which we live are many and varied. Some of us live in very comfortable, even idyllic, surroundings. Others struggle with diverse hardships, including poverty,...

Off the Pulpit: When the Light Goes Out

May 05, 2017

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

In the past week very heavy winds struck Los Angeles, and in our chapel a window broke and the Ner Tamid came crashing down. Ner Tamid is usually translated as “eternal light” and it is supposed...

Off the Pulpit: Special Edition for Shabbat

April 28, 2017

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

Many tales are told of chasidic wonder workers who could magically see events far away. Today of course technology enables what was once a miracle.

The merit of the rabbis was that seeing far did not...

Off the Pulpit: Why Should Secular Jews Give to Jewish Causes?

April 28, 2017

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE

Recently I was asked what I would say to a secular Jew who wondered why he should donate to Jewish causes. This was my answer:

If you travel throughout the United States, indeed throughout the world,...

Person in the Parsha: ACHAREI MOT-KEDOSHIM

April 27, 2017

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“IT’S ALL COMMENTARY”

I am proud of my large library of Jewish books.

My collection, which my wife half-jokingly refers to as my addiction, began on my 11th...

Person in the Parsha: Tazria-Metzora

April 21, 2017

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINBEB

“GOING AT IT ALONE“

“No man is an island.” “It takes a village.” These are just some of the clichés that are used to convey the importance of social groups, of...