Off the Pulpit Archives

A grandfather solves the most troubling problem of the first book of the Torah. From the beginning there have been clashes between brothers: Cain and Able, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers. Sometimes the clashes are...

Hanukkah is made memorable largely by the latkes, the dreidel, the songs and the jelly donuts – the atmosphere of the holiday. Distinguished from the Hanukkiah that we light in the window, these are a matter of custom, not of...

When I speak to high school students, I tell them that the only word that gives you freedom is ‘no.’ The one who cannot say ‘no’ is a slave. Both boys and girls (especially the latter) are socialized to believe...

Remember the days of old; consider the years of past generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will teach you.” (Deut. 32:7). We need the historical awareness the Torah recommends. Are we really “more polarized...

I would like to speak in favor of the most endangered resource in our public lives: the assumption of good intentions. Throughout my rabbinate I have found myself in disputes, sometimes as a moderator and sometimes as a party to...

We know less about Isaac than any of the other patriarchs. In the major events of his life he is acted upon – being bound for the Akedah and having Jacob steal the birthright by fooling Isaac in old age....

This was a week of losses. The horrible shooting in Pittsburgh preoccupies all of us, and the question of how to respond. Yet another loss we suffered this week points the way. In our community we lost Max Webb at...

Recently in Japan I had lunch at a Zen Temple (the all-vegetarian cuisine was outstanding). My friends and I were seated next to one another. One of the adepts explained that we were not across from each other to discourage...

In his book “The Art of Rivalry” Sebastian Smee writes about the often bitter rivalries that existed between the great artists of the twentieth century. Matisse and Picasso, Manet and Degas, Pollock and De Kooning, and Freud and Bacon were...

Yes, Sukkot is over, but Rabbi David Bashevkin drew my attention to a beautiful comment that you can remember until next year! During the grace after meals on Sukkot we recoite the blessing asking God to rebuild the “fallen Sukkah...