Off the Pulpit Archives

When I was in college people would tell me that it was not ‘real life.’ Everyone had a definition of ‘real life’ – it began when one was married, or had a job, or had children. We promote this idea of...

There is a Talmudic teaching that one should do something and the reason will follow – mitoch shelo l’shma, bah l’shma. Part of this counsel is the understanding that often emotion follows action, rather than preceding it. Act joyously and...

When a family returns from a funeral in the Jewish tradition, there is a meal, seudat havra’ah, the meal of consolation. It is the first step in returning to life after loss. At the end of shiva, the seven days...

The renowned English psychoanalyst, Donald Winnicott, famously proposed the idea of the “good enough mother.” Winnicott taught that parents should understand that they cannot provide everything the child demands. Yes, the child will grow frustrated, but the developing child’s frustration...

There are various legends of the Golem, the creature of clay who is brought to life by a wonder working rabbi. The most famous involves that of Rabbi Judah Loew, the famed Maharal of Prague. In these legends, it is...

It is not easy to demonstrate miracles, but here are three things about the modern state of Israel that make one wonder: 1. The people who created the state came almost entirely from dictatorships and autocracies and yet created a...

“Why are you doing that?” “What’s that for?” Modern society makes us captives of teleology. That is, we think we should be acting for a reason and aiming toward a goal. We are supposed to be living purpose driven lives...

Two words spoken in the Torah sum up an entire world view. Negating those words, contradicting them, proving them untrue, is a noble and necessary mission. The words are “Lo Nukhal.” In Genesis Jacob comes across a group of shepherds gathered...

We do not know why Abraham is chosen. Later however, God describes the special nature of Abraham’s mission: “I have singled him out that he may instruct his children and posterity” (Gen. 18:19). In other words, God saw in Abraham...

Judaism begins in walking. God tells Abraham to ‘lech,’ go, and he and Sarah walk for many miles to the land that will be Israel. Jewish law is called halachah, which means walking. Angels are sometimes referred to as omdim,...