Posts by Rabbi David Wolpe

Isaac Asimov’s science fiction classic “The Foundation Trilogy” is about a man named Seldon who, envisioning the coming apocalypse, creates a haven to build a great encyclopedia of human knowledge. This seemingly simple task hides a much grander scheme, and the underlying message is his abiding faith that knowledge coupled with wisdom can save us from the abyss. There was a Seldon in Jewish history. As the Talmud tells the story, while Jerusalem burned, Rabbi Johanan Ben Zakkai was smuggled out of the city in a coffin. There he entreated of the Roman emperor Vespasian to give him “Yavneh and…

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Why did the people of Babel build their tower to the sky? The prevailing interpretation is that they were afflicted with hubris, the sin of pride. But another interpretation is preserved in Jewish commentaries. The story of the Tower is preceded by Noah’s flood. Imagine how terrified the people of Babel must have been. They were the post-apocalyptic generation. Perhaps the sky would fall again. In this reading, the Tower of Babel arose not from arrogance but from fear. It was designed to be a pillar to hold up the sky. Perhaps with the tower holding aloft the heavens, the…

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In an age of polarization, it is useful to remember how often great spirits have avoided the bitterness that poisons our discourse. “With malice toward none with charity toward all.” Lincoln avoided the recriminations one might have expected in the wake of a savage civil war. The same majestic spirit was apparent in Nelson Mandela’s demeanor after his release: “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” In the Torah, we read of Moshe’s self-possession in the…

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Is believing the best about yourself always a virtue? The greatest religious figures are often those most convinced of their inadequacies. A man once approached A.J. Heschel and said “I love my family, I pay my taxes, I keep a good job. What do I need to repent for? I am a pretty good person.” Heschel replied, “Good for you, but the same is not true of me. I am always thinking the wrong thing, saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing. I need God, and I need to repent.” Somehow, I believe that the goodness of Heschel outshone…

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Sometimes we know things not by their presence but by their effects. In building the periodic table, Medeleyev filled in gaps based on what he had already figured out. Certain elements, though he had not actually found them, had to be there given what he had already discovered. Similarly, for early astronomers, the orbit of Uranus could only be made consistent by assuming the existence of another planet, which was not spotted until much later. A modern example is the proghorn antelope, the fastest runner in North America. It runs much too fast for any possible predator, easily outrunning coyotes…

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Are you allowed to lie? The Bible tells us to “stay far from falsehood” (Ex. 23:7). But the Talmud records an argument between the school of Hillel and Shammai concerning whether one should praise a bride as beautiful if she is, well, less than beautiful. The school of Shammai says no, and that of Hillel says yes, but the Hillelites try to escape the contradiction by insisting that on her wedding day, every bride is beautiful. In the Torah, God misquotes Sarah’s words to Abraham, tactfully leaving out Sarah’s claim that her husband is too old to have a child…

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On either side of the ark in the Temple were two keruvim, delicately carved golden angels. In the book of Exodus (25:20), we are told that they are to face each other. In the book of 2 Chronicles (3:13), it is recorded that they faced away from each other. No gesture is more powerful than turning toward or turning away. There are moments in our lives when we face another and moments when we turn aside. The keruvim symbolized periods of intimacy with God and periods of distance. At the heart of the Temple was a reminder that closeness alternates…

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Why does the Torah begin with a bet? The question receives many answers in Jewish tradition. One common answer is that since bet is the second letter, it shows there is no true beginning to study; it is an everlasting enterprise. Elie Wiesel answers it this way: “Bet is a house [both because of its shape and because it begins the word Bayit, home]… The Book of Books is a shelter, a dwelling place. A place in which men and women laugh and weep, read and write, work and sleep. A place in which people love one another before they…

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“For God brought about the victory. Once Beowulf had struggled to his feet, the holy and omniscient ruler of the sky easily settled the issue in favor of the right.” What is striking about those lines from the renowned medieval poem Beowulf is how they embody the idea that God helps Beowulf once the warrior struggles to his feet. Beowulf must initiate his own salvation. God responds to human self-assertion. That same idea is beautifully expressed one thousand years before in God’s message to the prophet Ezekiel. When in the beginning of the book (2:1) Ezekiel begins to prophecy, God…

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Years ago on a trip to Paris with my then 16-year-old daughter, we visited a score of museums: The Louvre, of course, the magnificent Quai Branly, the Rodin museum, the Pompidou center, and the Hugo house. Each had a small if cursory security check. Then we sought out the small, very fine Jewish museum in the Marais. Here, we passed through a double glass door that did not allow you to continue to the front until the back had closed. The saddest part was my daughter’s insouciance. “Did you notice the security?” I asked. She nodded, “Dad, it’s the Jewish…

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