Posts by Rabbi David Wolpe

The Torah teaches in rapid succession that if you see someone’s sheep or ox astray, you should return it. If you see someone trying to raise their fallen ox, you should help them. Don’t take the eggs of a bird in front of its mother. And when you build a house, put a railing on the roof so no one falls (Deut. Ch. 22).  TIn other words, empathy. Imagine how your neighbor feels having lost his sheep. Or how he feels trying to raise an ox by himself. Or how a mother bird might feel watching her young taken. Or…

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During the Limmud South Africa conference I had a chance to go on a two day safari. The experience of seeing rhinos and elephants and lions and zebras outside of a zoo is exhilarating. But it is also a religious obligation. The Jerusalem Talmud reminds us that we will be called to account for the pleasure we might have enjoyed but did not. Presumably the reasoning is that God has given us gifts and it is an expression of gratitude to enjoy them. The world is filled with magnificent and varied creatures; to see them and admire their grace is…

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In his youth the great scholar Rabbi Hayim of Volozhin was an indifferent student who decided to abandon his studies and go to a trade school. On the night he told his parents of his decision, the future Rabbi had a dream. He saw an angel holding a stack of beautiful books. “Whose books are those?” he asked. “They are yours,” answered the angel, “if you have the courage to write them.” There is no end to beginning. Rabbi Akiba did not start to learn until he was 40, yet he became the most renowned of all the talmudic sages….

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A lot depends on our similarities. Unless we worked the same way, all designs would fail, medicine be ineffective, and human society become impossible. Yet we also affirm that each individual is unique. No two people look, think or act exactly alike. Both human sameness difference are profoundly true. The Rabbis compared faces to minted coins. A king of flesh and blood, they said, stamps coins and they all look alike. The Divine stamps us and each is different. We are all still faces, but none is a copy. Part of the wisdom of living is to keep each message…

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We are all in favor of kindness, unity and accord. But let us pause for a moment to praise gruffness, disunity and argument.  Mordecai Kaplan put it this way: “Who would want the prophets to have joined Dale Carnegie’s course in ‘How to win Friends?’” Kaplan’s point is that the prophet’s had to be contrary, difficult and at times antagonistic. They would have made poor diplomats and, truth to tell, if they were Rabbis the congregation would not have renewed their contracts. Yet the prophetic message had to be delivered in a thunderous voice to arouse the people. There are…

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Growing up in my parent’s home, there was only one thing that was permitted to be thrown inside the house — challah.  Each Friday night after the blessing on the bread, my father would break up parts of the challah and throw it around the table. He began with my mother, who became very adept at snagging her piece. Some memorable catches were executed, as well as some incomprehensible misses. But by that simple gesture we began each Shabbat meal in an atmosphere of joy. Religious ritual is often solemn. Solemnity has its place. Butsimcha shel mitzvah — the sheer exhilaration…

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On Tisha b’Av, we are reminded of the destruction of the Temple and other tragedies in Jewish history. Ritual is both an aid to memory and an insistence that our sorrow be within limits.  Shiva prescribes that the mourner must stay home for seven days, but only for those days. The walk around the block after shiva is a return to the world. The meal after the funeral begins this process; limitations on mourning are not suggestions. You are not permitted to say Kaddish after the designated time. Tisha b’Av is a fast day, but afterwards you are not to…

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The Roman poet Horace wrote, “it is your affair when your neighbor’s house in on fire.” For two kinds of people, it is of concern for two types of reasons.  Some worry about the neighbor’s house being on fire solely because theirs might catch fire. Such people judge every social event in terms of how it might affect them. How will this policy touch upon my taxes, my school system, or my health care? Such a view is not wrong, but it is limited. The second is the one who is also concerned because someone else is suffering. This is…

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Judaism is often called a tradition of deed, not of creed. It is certainly true that Judaism emphasizes one’s actions. The Torah assumes that the heart will always be divided and no one can erase the negative thoughts or bad intentions that accompany us throughout our lives. We show our nobility not by being consistently pure in thought, but by choosing to act in accord with our higher ideals. Action helps shape character. Habit is the means by which we bind ourselves. Even things unimaginable at one point in life can become habits later on: changes in exercise or diet…

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Jacob fools his father and steals his brother’s birthright. Esau swears to kill him. Decades pass. Jacob hears that Esau is coming with 400 men. Yet when they meet, instead of vengeance, they fall on each other’s necks and weep. Why?   My father pointed out to me many years ago that in the ancient world there were few if any mirrors. People did not see their own faces, except perhaps distorted in a pool of water. Suddenly both Jacob and Esau, who were twins, although not identical, see one another. What must they have felt? I imagine that after…

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