We live in a time of mutual incomprehension. People do not argue with one another as much as serially lecture each other. We listen to anticipate an answer, not to comprehend. Victory has become more urgent than understanding. Passover reminds us of the practice of genuine discussion. We ask questions, we posit different types of people, recount and try to learn from a story we think we already know. We eat strange foods in part because changing routine is a powerful way of looking anew at the world. We recall our history to teach us that however differently we may think…
Posts by Rabbi David Wolpe
When The Messiah Comes
Elijah is the prophet who will announce the coming of the Messiah in Jewish teaching. In the bible Elijah does not die – he is carried off to heaven in a chariot – and so the tradition expected his return. We anticipate Elijah’s arrival most eagerly at certain times: at the end of Shabbat, the end of Yom Kippur, at a brit milah and at the Passover Seder. Although there are specific reasons for each of the four times, there is also a general reason. All four times are also times when families traditionally gather together. We often hear that…
Invisible Work
While traveling in Southeast Asia I learned that certain cultures refer to housework as “invisible work” because if it is done you cannot see it. Only if it is undone do you realize it is needed. Entropy operates in our daily lives. Left alone, my house will get dirty. As we all know, it never seems to get spontaneously clean. The job of maintaining our environment takes a lot of work. At no time do we realize this more vividly than at Passover. Passover is the decathlon of cleaning. It is hard to believe all the crevices and nooks that…
Who Is God?
When you were two years old could you imagine what it was to be an adult? Not only could you not imagine it, but you didn’t understand what it was that you could not imagine. In the Jewish tradition, the distance between Divine and human is far greater than between a two year old and an adult. What do we mean when we speak of God? We speak of something far beyond anything we know or ever can know. Invoking God requires submission of the intellect, humility before an infinite whose garment hem the greatest spirits barely brush. As…
Is That Clear?
Every intellectual or academic discipline has its apostles of obscurity. There are novels which cannot be read without a teacher or a guidebook. Much modern poetry defeats the most resolute attempt to unravel its enigmas. And even when pundits try to make things clear, we often feel them the way Byron did when commenting on the poet Coleridge’s account of German philosophy: “Explaining metaphysics to the nation/ I wish he would explain his explanation.” A great deal of Jewish commentary is devoted to explaining the explanation. The Talmud explains the Mishna. Rashi explains the Talmud. Later commentators explain Rashi….
How Old Are You?
When the famed writer Isaac Bashevis Singer reached the age of sixty, he told his friend he knew he would live to 120. “How can you be so sure?” his friend asked. “Because” explained Singer, “when I went for my checkup my doctor told me I was half dead.” Many cultures discuss what is appropriate to each age. 30 is the age of strength in the Talmud, the age of courting according to Greek thinker Solon, the age when Confucius ‘planted his feet firm on the ground.’ At sixty, the age of Singer’s quip, the Talmud says he is becoming…
No More Masks
Purim is a holiday of masks. A mask doesn’t fully change you, but it obscures identity, distorting who you are. A mask permits you to assume a slightly different way of being in the world. The boy who dresses as Mordechai can act old and wise, but everyone recognizes him as a boy playing a role; the girl who dresses as Esther can play at being bold, heroic and a queen, but everyone knows she is still a little girl. There are many reasons why Purim is associated with masks, but surely a deep meaning is that it is a…
An Ancient Right To Privacy
In an internet age, there is a great deal of discussion about the right to privacy. The Torah already contains a provision for privacy – a creditor may not enter a debtor’s home even to fetch what is due to him (Deut. 24:10-11). The prohibition on entering another’s home unannounced is then embraced by the Rabbis of the Talmud as a general principle. R. Shimon lists entering a house – even one’s own – unannounced is one of four things that God detests and people do not like either! And not to enter a house…
A Sage On Freedom Of Speech
One of the characteristics of great sages is that they rise above their times and express truths despite the prevailing climate of opposing opinion. The following was written in the 16th century: “Even if his words are spoken and directed against faith and religion, do not tell a man not to speak and suppress his words. Otherwise there will be no clarification in religious matters. On the contrary, one should tell a person to express whatever he wants…and he should never claim that he would have said more, had he been given the opportunity…Thus my opinion is contrary to what…
The Greatest Beauty
There is a poignant story of Reb Aryeh Levin, a saintly and renowned Rabbi of Jerusalem who passed away in 1969. Once before the holiday of Sukkot, when people were busily seeking the perfect etrog (the fruit used for the Sukkot celebration) Reb Aryeh was seen heading into an old age home. A student asked him why, when visiting an old age home was possible at any time of the year, he would not use his precious moments before the holiday to choose the perfect etrog. Reb Aryeh told him that there are two times when the Torah uses…
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