Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

Every Sunday morning, I visit our Sunday school classes. Each class prepares questions they want me to answer. I have had so many great questions. What does the word “Rabbi” mean? Why did G-d create the world? Where was the first synagogue? Who was the first Rabbi? If G-d did not want Adam and Eve to eat…

    It can be tough to be the son of a well-known father.  Sometimes sons follow in their famous fathers’ footsteps – Michael Douglas and Kirk Douglas, George W. Bush and George HW Bush, Peyton Manning and Archie Manning, are three examples that come to mind. At times some sons seem to rebel against…

  Our Torah reading for this week opens on a sad note. We are told that at age 127, Sarah has died. As you remember, Abraham and Sarah are the first Jewish people. At G0d’s command they leave their home in Aram Naharaim and travel to the Land of Canaan. There, G-d promises to give…

  In this week’s parsha, Abraham receives a blessing from G-d promising to make his descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven and the sands of the seashore. Earlier in the Torah G-d promises to make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth. Why are the Jewish people compared to dust,…

  Last week the lawmakers in the United Kingdom banned the use of botox-style injections and lip fillers for anyone under the age of 18. Government estimates showed that there were over 41,000 non-surgical cosmetic procedures performed on under 18 year olds last year. The pursuit of beauty has accelerated world-wide under the influence of…

    In the Book of Kings G-d appears to King Solomon in a dream. Solomon, then a young man, has just ascended to the throne of Israel following the death of his father, King David. In this dream, G-d asks Solomon what G-d can give him. Solomon  tells G_D  that he is just a…

  The Book of Deuteronomy is full of words related to “hearing”. The most famous verse in the Five Books of Moses is related to the sense of hearing –“Hear O Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One.” There are many other references to “hearing” or “listening” in the Book of Deuteronomy, including…

  This morning I am going to give a sermon on something I have never given a sermon on before. Or  I am going to give a sermon on the meaning of our Yizkor service. I realize that many of you still have both parents living, and therefore do not recite Yizkor. But please,  bear…

  A story is told of a man who stopped attending his usual synagogue and was now frequenting a minyan in another synagogue.   One day he happened to  bump into  the Rabbi of his previous synagogue, and the rabbi asked him where he  was praying these days. The man answered: “I am praying at…

  When I became your Rabbi 13 years ago, I was asked by a congregant about my goals.  I answered that one of my goals was to help Congregation Beth Shalom develop a closer relationship with Israel.  As a University Junior I had been a student at the One Year Program at Hebrew University in…