Off the Pulpit Archives

In Jacob’s dream, why do the angels who ascend and descend need ladders? Aren’t angels supposed to be able to fly? The angels teach us that realizing dreams requires a step-by-step approach. While they take a moment to conceive, dreams...

In his essay on Sir Walter Scott, C.S. Lewis paints a remarkable picture of a man in distress. Scott was in poor health. His wife had died three weeks before. He was under great financial pressure to finish his book....

In the 15th century book Eine Haqore, Joseph ibn Shem Tov tells of a self-regarding preacher. He began by telling the congregation that his talk would be divided into three parts: the first both he and they would understand. The...

Jewish events are notorious for starting late. As The Zionist leader Nahum Goldmann once said, “I tried my whole life to come late to a Jewish meeting and never succeeded.” Conversely, Jewish law depends upon precision in time. Sabbaths and...

The God of Israel became real to the Israelites in the desert. A seemingly barren world gave birth to a people and a mission. To some however, the desert is not charged with meaning, but empty and frightening. Naturalist Edward...

Why is it customary for a mourner to lead the prayer service? In his book Kaddish, Leon Wieseltier quotes Solomon Luria’s opinion that a mourner should lead because “the King of Kings prefers broken vessels.” This lovely formulation is based...

On Yom Kippur, the people of Sharon, a region subject to earthquakes, pleaded with God that their houses not become their graves. One way to understand this prayer is that our blessings not become our curses. Wealth is a great...

Ludwig Wittgenstein, perhaps the premier philosopher of the twentieth century, led a difficult and often tortured life. In his biography, The Duty of Genius, Ray Monk quotes Wittgenstein explaining to his disapproving sister why despite his fabulous talents, he decided...

Which is true: • “Nothing ventured nothing gained” or “fools rush in where angels fear to tread?” • “He who hesitates is lost” or “look before you leap?” • “Out of sight out of mind” or “absence makes the heart...

The scholar of ancient Greek thought, F. Cornford, summarized Socrates claim to greatness as twofold. First, because of his discovery of the soul, and second, because Socrates fashioned a morality of spiritual aspiration, to take the place of the current...