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Rabbi David Wolpe

Parashat Beha'alotcha

The Torah We Never Learned 

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Off The Pulpit: Current NewsletterRabbi David Wolpe   "A Time For Silence"
by Rabbi David Wolpe

The world will not keep quiet.

Stores play music, billboards blare, our cars, iPods, and cellphones bombard us with words, images, and music. Still, silence and absence are among our most important teachers. As a great pianist once remarked, his playing uniquely was distinguished less by the notes than the space between the notes. Mystics studied not only the black letters of the Torah, but the white spaces between them. Stillness, absence, silence — the first letter of the Ten Commandments was an aleph, which has no sound.

Ecclesiastes was certainly correct that “there is a time to speak and a time to keep silent.” Silence corresponds sometimes to a deep need inside of us for peace, for a brief cessation of the tumult that disguises our hunger and distracts our sadness. Even our tradition of words knows that words are not always welcome. The Midrash on Koheleth tells a story: The wife of Rabbi Mana died. Rabbi Abin came to pay a condolence call. Rabbi Mana asked, “Are there any words of Torah you would like to offer us in time of grief?” Rabbi Abin answered, “At times like this the Torah takes refuge in silence.”


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Download Past Off The Pulpit newsletters below.

 

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Writings By Year:  2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

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December 2010
Return to Top
Fastened to Flesh and Bone
Good Work
On Not Being a Blockhead
November 2010
Return to Top
Not Optimistic But Very Hopeful
The Knife and the Scalpel
October 2010
Return to Top
The Knife and the Scalpel
Acts of Love
Laughter
Back To Stone?
September 2010
Return to Top
Life Giving Contradictions
Thinking About Death?
A High Holiday Story
The Watchtower
August 2010
Return to Top
The Drive-By Sin
Why the Land of Israel?
I Am Honest
July 2010
Return to Top
Be Dissatisfied
The Neverending Story
Guarding The Dream
Deep Questions
June 2010
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Transformational Teaching
RSVP
May 2010
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Wisdom is Easy.  Change is Hard.
Israel's Real Story
When NoOne is Watching
Slower is Better
April 2010
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The Top of the Tell
What You Get to Choose
Fixing Politics
Stand Up Straight
March 2010
Return to Top
What to Pray For
The Shape of Human Hearts
February 2010
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Animal Rights and Wrongs
Laughter Lasts Longer
Wearing the Mask of Truth
Their Stories Are Ours As Well
January 2010
Return to Top
Yearning To Learn
Going It Alone
Condemning Others
Loving Far, Too
 
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2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010 - 2011
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
 
 
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