{"id":60228,"date":"2021-03-19T03:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T09:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=60228"},"modified":"2021-03-19T03:01:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T09:01:01","slug":"off-the-pulpit-a-friend-i-never-knew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-a-friend-i-never-knew\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: A friend I never knew"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

Let me tell you about a friend I never knew. He was born in Jerusalem in 1906 and died in 1972. His name was Rabbi Mordechai Hacohen. His father was a renowned kabbalist who led services at the Western Wall for some 50 years.<\/p>\n

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After my father\u2019s death one book that I discovered from his library that he had distributed to us was Al-Hatorah. It is a compact Hebrew volume of nearly 600 pages and contains the Torah teachings, anthologized and original, of Rabbi Mordechai HaCohen, published in 1956. As I leafed through, I saw my father had marked passages. Over the last several years, I have read it many times looking for inspiration, sermon material, and to see the trail my father left in his notes.<\/p>\n

This scholar whom I never knew has both aided me in my learning and shown me what my father learned and treasured. Rabbi Mordecai HaCohen is my teacher to be sure. But for such a precious service, I must also call him my friend.<\/p>\n

(Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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