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Posts by Rabbi David Wolpe

How We See Others


The ability to see flaws is both innate and easy; the crack or stain presents itself to our eye. The ability to see virtue is less easy, but practicing a vision of merit in others can change us as well. When I read the following testament, my sense is not that the author, almost 1,000 years ago, as naïve; I read him as a noble soul. A sage said: “I never met a man in whom I failed to recognize something superior to myself: if he was older, I said he has done more good than I; if younger, I…

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The Talmud on Mental Health


The Talmud writes of the compensation due to one who is injured: “One who injures another is liable to pay compensation for that injury due to five types of indemnity: He must pay for damage, for pain, for medical costs, for loss of livelihood, and for humiliation.” (BK 83b). These are the words of the Mishna. The Gemara goes on to elaborate all these types of losses. Notice that the final loss is humiliation. To be injured has social implications, and some injuries are more damaging to one’s social standing or self-esteem than others. In recognizing this, thousands of years…

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The Plain Pine Box


From The Talmud (Moed Katan 27a-b): “In former times, the faces of corpses of the poor were covered to hide the marks of poverty: only the faces of the rich corpses were uncovered. In former times, the poor used a bed made of reeds to carry the deceased while the deceased of the rich were carried on stately, ornamental beds. In former times, the food brought to the house of mourners was carried in silver and gold baskets for the rich mourners while for the poor mourners the food was placed in baskets of willow twigs. In former times, the…

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Changed by Dreams


More than one biblical story pivots on the occurrence of a significant dream, or a vision of the night. The Talmud takes dreams seriously, although it understands their limitations: “even a dream that will be fulfilled contains some nonsense (Ber. 55a).” Maimonides writes that the Patriarchs experiences prophesy only in dreams. This statement leads to an objection from Nachmanides, the Ramban. According to Maimonides, Jacob’s wrestling with the angel must have been a dream. If so, asks Ramban, why does Jacob limp afterward? A later scholar, the Ritva, has a beautiful answer. Powerful dreams can touch us and change our…

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Which is Holier?


Are the holidays holier than the rest of the year? One could make the argument that holiness inheres in specialness. On the holidays, we wear our best clothes, gather to pray special prayers, and try to focus on things spiritual. Once the holidays end, life returns to the run of daily concerns that make up life. But there is a Jewish principle, tadir ushaino tadir, tadir kodem — when a mitzvah is frequent, and another infrequent, the frequently observed mitzvah takes precedence. This side argues that holiness is found in the commonplace. Surely there is nothing holier than greeting one…

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How to Celebrate Thanksgiving


One way of being grateful is to throw oneself into an empathetic future. Sure, relatives can be difficult to sit with at the Thanksgiving dinner table. What will I feel when they are gone? How will I yearn for these moments, even those that irritate or upset me, when I can no longer be with people whom I love? It is a paradox of human nature that we realize this truth but seem unable to absorb it. My late teacher Rabbi David Lieber once told me that we can foreknow things but we cannot forefeel them. As we gather around…

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The First Time


This week records something remarkable in the Torah. Sarah and Abraham both die and for the first time in Jewish history, there is a next generation. The admonition we read in the Shema – “And you shall teach it to your children” (Deut. 11:9) – is the building block of the future. Isaac in that special sense has a harder task than Abraham, because it is often harder to continue than to begin. After all, Abraham and Sarah brought something new in the world following the word of God; Isaac must first follow the word of Abraham and Sarah. Together…

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An Angel Teaches Politics


It may be that the most important biblical passage for our time is found in the book of Joshua: “…he looked up and saw a man standing before him, drawn sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and asked him, ‘Are you one of us or of our enemies?’ He replied, ‘No! I am captain of the Lord’s host.’’ (Joshua 5:13,14). “No!” The angel does not accept Joshua’s categories. Not everyone must be on one side or another; God has no team. In every group, there is some justice, some wisdom, some goodness. Certainly, there are things to oppose…

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Become Yourself


Have we grown into the person we were meant to be? Have we realized our potential or betrayed it? The story is told of the renowned scholar, Rabbi Hayim of Volozhin, that when young, he was an indifferent student. One day, he decided to abandon his studies and go to a trade school instead. He announced his decision to his parents, who reluctantly acquiesced. That night, the young man had a dream. In it, he saw an angel holding a stack of beautiful books. “Whose books are those?” he asked the angel. “They are yours,” was the answer, “if you…

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Naked


When God calls in the garden, Adam explains, “I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” The midrash comments: “naked of mitzvot.” The theme of being stripped bare is common in modern art. The sculptures of Giacometti, the writings of Kafka, and Coetzee’s Michael K. all depict people reduced to the essence, and they are afraid. We cover ourselves with possessions, with titles, with connections and refinements to help us feel safe. We fear being naked, not in the physical sense, but in the metaphysical sense — denuded of all the things that protect us from the vagaries…

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