Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

                Over the past year many words have crept into our day-to-day language…. “Pandemic”, “lockdown”, “masking” “social distancing” and “PPE” are some of the words that we used infrequently or did not know. When asked about whether the Corona virus will ever go away, scientists often respond that it will be “endemic”. I’m…

    Inspired by opening day, which was yesterday, I found myself writing these lyrics: To the tune of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game) Take me out to the temple dad Take me out to the shul, Let’s hear some prayers and Torah chants, Maybe the rabbi will break out in dance  …

  Tomorrow night marks the beginning of Passover.  I am certain that most of us  will be keenly aware that this seder will be the second time we hold our Seders during the Pandemic.  Once again many of us are not  able to join loved ones in person this year. The year has taken a…

  Photo: Chris Liverani [Unsplash.com] Very few people study the book of the Torah we begin this week, the Book of Leviticus, or Vayikra. I pity the poor bar or bat mitzvah student who has to summarize and find ways to relate to these portions , which deal mostly with the laws of animal sacrifice in…

  The Erection of the Tabernacle and the Sacred Vessels 1728  This week we conclude our reading of the Book of Exodus. The Book of Exodus begins with our enslavement in Egypt, and follows with the story of the Ten Plagues, our leaving Egypt, and our receiving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. The final…

   Laura Ockel on Unsplash Probably most of us remember that this Sunday, February 14 is Valentine’s Day, or rather Saint Valentine’s Day. More than just a holiday celebrating love, it has become an economic powerhouse, a day eagerly awaited by retailers. Despite the pandemic, or perhaps because of it, this year consumers are expected…

  Despite the frequent frustrations, the constant worries and the maddening delays in deploying the Coronavirus vaccine, some of us have managed to get our first injection. Surely, many of us feel, we ought to recite a blessing when receiving what most consider a life-changing vaccination. But what blessing should we say? Rabbi David Wolpe…

In 1963, the German born American Rabbi Joachim Prinz,  who had a long history advocating for civil rights, participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Rabbi Prinz  spoke prior to  Dr.  King that morning. He said, “When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in…

  This week we begin to read the Book of Exodus, parasha Shemot. It begins with the Jewish people enslaved in Egypt by a Pharoah who, the Torah informs us, did not know of the contributions of the Jewish people to Egyptian society. The parasha proceeds with the liberation of our people and culminates in…

  When I was 9 years old, my father had to go to the hospital to repair a hernia. These days a hernia repair is an outpatient procedure followed by a few days of bedrest.  In my father’s day a hernia repair was treated quite differently.  My father was in the hospital for an entire week, was…