Rabbi Wolpe - ADL Impressions

Early in my career, after years of teaching, I became a pulpit rabbi. I asked a variety of rabbis how they lead. One was broadly inspirational and philosophical. Another rabbi explained to me that education was the key. At the next lunch, I sat with a rabbi who began, “It is all about the budget. It doesn’t matter what they say they care about or even what they claim to know, just look at how they spend.” We have just concluded the great revelation at Sinai. Israel is surrounded by the thunder and lightning, the majesty of God’s presence. Now…

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This week’s section of the Torah is primary in importance as it contains the Ten Commandments. It might seem surprising then, to learn that this section is named after a non-Jew, Moses’ father-in-law, Yithro. We know of the Torah’s concern that Jews care for the stranger, since ‘the stranger’ is mentioned 36 times in the text, and we are even commanded to “love the stranger” (Deut. 10:19). What might be less obvious is the Torah’s insistence on the reverse: there are people of goodwill who, although not Jewish themselves, will always fight for Jewish values and the Jewish people. When…

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If we translate the Torah literally, a strange asymmetry appears in the story of the Exodus. Verse 14:10 reads: “As Pharoah drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and Egypt was coming after them.” Commentators note that while the Israelites are described in the plural, Egypt is described in the singular – not “Egyptians were coming after them,” but rather, “Egypt.” For the Israelites saw Egypt as being unified for one purpose – to capture, kill, and re-enslave the people Israel. Yet, the Israelites were not unified. According to our Sages, some wished to surrender, some wished to…

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It is one of the most puzzling verses in the Torah: “Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.’ God made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people. (Ex. 11:2,3).” Really, the Egyptians thought well of the Israelites? Moses was “Gadol Meod” – very great in their eyes? The text says God caused it, but we always look for natural explanations as well. Why on earth would the Egyptians, having suffered through the plagues,…

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We are used to the idea that there were ten plagues, but why did God need more than one? Presumably, once Pharoah and the people of Egypt saw the Nile turn to blood or frogs magically multiply across the land someone would have said, “Ok! We get the idea. This slavery thing is bad.” Even before God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (which doesn’t happen until the 6th plague), the drama should have been over. Socrates argued that if people only knew what the right thing was to do, they would act accordingly. The question was just one of knowledge. Well, it…

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God speaks from the fire in the burning bush, but Moses knows that God is not in the fire. God speaks to Elijah after the fire on Carmel, and the text tells us explicitly that God is not in the fire. Yet fire as a Divine medium recurs, and we associate fire with the Divine because of its ungovernable force, sweeping away everything before it. These past two weeks, my home city of Los Angeles has learned yet again the power of fire to devastate homes and lives. Like Moses, we do not see God’s self in the fire, but…

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Sometimes, the best way to understand the message of a book is to look at the beginning and the end. Genesis starts with the creation of the world and ends with Jacob blessing his children. From this, we learn that God is Sovereign over all, but the Torah will be about the family and nationhood drama of a particular people. But the brackets of Genesis also teach a remarkable and enduring lesson about human potential. At the beginning of Genesis, blessing is the province of God. God blesses Adam and Eve in the garden, Noah with salvation, and Abraham and…

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Joseph, having been sold into slavery by his brothers, is liberated from captivity in Egypt and attains a position of great prominence. Why doesn’t he let his family know where he is? The great commentator, Ramban, puts it sharply: “Even if it was his will to make his brothers suffer a little, how could he not have compassion on his aged father…How could he not send one letter to his father to inform him (that he was alive) and to comfort him, because Egypt is only about a six day trip to Hebron? Respect for his father would have justified…

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