{"id":63786,"date":"2021-10-08T03:20:41","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T08:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=63786"},"modified":"2021-10-08T03:20:41","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T08:20:41","slug":"off-the-pulpit-the-gift-of-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-the-gift-of-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: The Gift of Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

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This is partly a symptom of a tragic view of human beings \u2014 that they cannot or will not change. When someone apologizes, the instant response is to distrust its sincerity. When a person does change a position or outlook, we tend to ask \u2014 well, what is in it for him?<\/p>\n

Judaism is premised on the idea that people can change and do change. It sometimes seems unexpected, even incongruous, but as Buckminster Fuller said, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it\u2019s going to be a butterfly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up, I never thought I would be a Rabbi. I never thought I would be a vegetarian. I never thought I would live on the West Coast. I could go on and on. We pigeonhole people at our own peril. Give yourself and others the space to change and the gift of growth.<\/p>\n

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

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