Off the Pulpit Archives

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....

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,...

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...

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....

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...