{"id":46806,"date":"2018-12-28T16:33:36","date_gmt":"2018-12-28T22:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=46806"},"modified":"2018-12-28T16:33:36","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T22:33:36","slug":"off-the-pulpit-cheap-but-precious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-cheap-but-precious\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: Cheap but precious"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Wolpe_edt.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-35326 size-thumbnail lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Wolpe_edt-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Wolpe_edt-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Wolpe_edt-350x350.jpg 350w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 150px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 150\/150;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-35326 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Wolpe_edt-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Wolpe_edt-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Wolpe_edt-350x350.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a>In a Talmud seminar Talmud with Prof. David Weiss Halivni we once came across a misquotation from a well known Talmudist.&nbsp;When we questioned Prof. Halivni, he asked us in turn how many had complete sets of Talmud in our homes.&nbsp;We all raised our hands.&nbsp;How many had two, or three?&nbsp;Several kept our hands up.&nbsp;\u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cthis man did not have an entire set in his town.&nbsp;He quotes from memory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">There was a time in human history when material for learning was scarce and precious.&nbsp;Now it is ubiquitous.&nbsp;It is difficult for a new generation to imagine the reverence that once greeted the acquisition of a book or the avidity with which we used to sort through used bookstores to find a treasure we had heard of but never seen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Yet the availability of learning should not actually make acquiring knowledge any less valuable.&nbsp;As famed Bengali writer&nbsp;Rabindranath Tagore writes in his novel, &#8220;Farewell my Friend<i>&#8220;<\/i>: \u201cI shall recognize a real jeweler in the man who knows the worth of a jewel even when he gets it cheap.\u201d Knowledge may come cheaper these days, but knowing is still priceless.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>(Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.)<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; 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