Posts by Rabbi David Wolpe

More than 50 years ago, Rose Macaulay wrote a book about the delight we take in looking at archeological and antiquarian sites. In “Pleasure of Ruins” she catalogues the various reasons human beings like to look at the remains of other civilizations, from wonder at what they have accomplished to delight at having outlived them. Visiting the oracle of Delphi when on sabbatical, I felt the strange thrill of being in a place so sacred to the ancient Greeks, where Socrates learned that he was the wisest man for acknowledging his own ignorance, where generations came to discover their fate….

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Despite the vitriol in our public debates, what you believe is less important than what your beliefs have made of you. The Kotzker Rebbe taught that you can stand under the chuppah, the wedding canopy, and say one hundred times “I betroth you” but until you say ‘li’ — “to me” — it means nothing. Our beliefs are theoretical until they touch us. We find it easy to criticize the beliefs and prejudices of others. But how difficult it is to reckon with our own biases and anger. Even as I write these words I know people will read them…

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For thirty years I have been writing a “Musings” column of roughly two hundred words each week for The Jewish Week. In time these columns went out electronically as well, titled “Off The Pulpit” and now appear in the Times of Israel. The Jewish Week is going digital, so this will be the final column to appear in an actual “paper.” This week leads up to Tisha B’av. (Wait, there is a connection here!) The destruction of the Temple forced the Jews to transcend the physical message. We had to contend with the destruction of our central structure and recognize…

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The Rabbis ask — why is God said to love the righteous? Because their worth is due neither to their heritage nor to their family. Not anyone, they goes on to explain, can be a Priest in the Temple or a Levite, but anyone, Jewish or not Jewish, can be righteous and therefore loved by God (Num R. 8:2). This may be the crucial Jewish teaching for our time. The deep premise of identity politics is that your group defines you. While Judaism certainly understands that being a Jew is part of what makes us who we are, it is…

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In December 1950, a Polish construction worker unearthing the foundations of a building found a buried cannister. Miraculously, the legacy of a great spirit was preserved in that improbable vessel. Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw ghetto, who did not survive the war, posthumously gave his teachings to our world. Known as the Esh Kodesh, Holy Fire, his is a mystical and complex Torah. They are lessons clearly wrung from the depths of suffering. As Nehemiah Polen writes, “That he did not allow himself to be crushed by the events of the war was surely his greatest…

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This I believe: You can combat the anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic elements in Black Lives Matter and still fight side by side with the black community against racism. You can be a staunch Republican and still believe that most Democrats are neither foolish nor unAmerican. You can be a staunch Democrat and still believe that most Republicans are neither cruel nor narrow. You can be a devout atheist and still be convinced that religious people can be both informed and honest. You can be a devout believer and still be convinced that atheists can be both moral and deep. You can…

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Throughout the desert, the Israelites rebel, quarrel and fight. They demand meat, have fond (and false) memories of Egypt, seek to usurp the leadership of Moses and demonstrate repeated ingratitude to God. To a reader who comes to the story for the first time, it can often seem that Berthold Brecht’s quip about unsatisfactory government, that one should dissolve the people and elect another, is the only solution. Indeed, God proposes it more than once. In experiencing the long days of the pandemic however, we can perhaps develop more sympathy with the situation of our forebearers. For a difficult, prolonged…

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David had the strength to defeat Goliath. Yet he had moments of despair, as expressed in the Psalms “I am worn out calling for help” (Ps. 69:3). Jeremiah was a prophet of legendary power and will, but he called out “Oh, that I had a refuge in the wilderness that I might leave and go away from the people” (Jer. 9:2). Elijah fought with the Priests of Baal and defeated them. Yet he cries to God: “I have had enough, O Lord, take my life.” (1Kings 19:4). If you have low moments in this difficult time, you are not alone….

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In an angry age, may we say a word against anger? “Every person who becomes angry, even if a sage, his wisdom departs from him. If he is a prophet, his prophecy departs from him. (Pes. 66b).” There are many reasons to be angry in this world, and to feel anger at injustice is a natural and salutary thing. But to act in anger or to express yourself when angry is far more likely to be destructive than productive. Expressing anger rarely quenches it – it generally increases it. As the old saying has it, the only people who hear…

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“To gather the congregation you shall blow tekiah (summons) and not truah (alarm)” (Num. 10:7). There are many ways to unite people. One is to frighten them. When pointed at a common enemy, people tend to gather in frightened solidarity. The Torah teaches in this week’s reading that the proper way is through summoning people to what is good and right rather than scaring them about what is wrong and bad. Gatherings of hope are better than gatherings of fear. Unity from love is greater than unity from hate. Bringing people with the sound of tekiah is the way to…

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