Off the Pulpit Archives

There are different kinds of worth. This is illustrated in the old story of an entrepreneur who approaches a fisherman with an idea for a business. He can sell his catch for a higher price, buy a bigger boat, franchise,...

Do you know when to bow? When to stand up? Do you avoid synagogue because it is alien? You’re an immigrant. Not to the US of course, but to Jewish prayer. I realized this many years ago when I saw...

Can we talk money? I mean, religion and money. Every religious organization I know has to raise money. Synagogues raise money all the time, because dues, high as they may seem, never cover the expenses of the synagogue. Yet people...

Although the morning blessings are now recited in synagogue, originally each was tied to a morning activity. The blessing “who opens the eyes of the blind” was said when we first opened our eyes. “Who clothes the naked” was when...

When God exiles humanity from the Garden of Eden at the beginning of the Bible, God stations a spinning sword at the mouth of the garden. That sword prevents humanity from reentering the garden. Back in 1927, slightly more than...

In the seven days of creation, the second is distinguished by not being called “good.” Why is that? According to one commentator, it is because on the second day God separated the waters (Gen. 1:6). It is one thing to...

Our treatment of animals is increasingly part of the public conscience. So let’s remember why, according to the Rabbis, Moses was chosen for leadership. In the Midrash we are told: When Moses shepherded the flocks of his father in law...

Why is it so hard to forgive? We have each committed sins, we all need to be forgiven, yet for many who have been hurt, it is a great struggle to forgive. One reason is that to forgive means giving...

Yom Kippur is a full day but its spirit is captured by the night. Although the Kol Nidre prayer begins before the sun has set, when we walk out of the synagogue, the sky is dark and our souls are...

On Rosh Hashana we celebrate the creation of the world and ten days later, on Yom Kippur, we recite Yizkor, a prayer of memory for those we have lost. It might seem that we go right from joy to sadness,...