Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

   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…

  Levitt Home in Naperville It seemed to come earlier this year. The weekend before Thanksgiving my neighbors began to put up their Christmas decorations. “Just taking advantage of the warm weather,” my next-door neighbor Steve said to me when I complimented the lights he and his son were stringing on the eaves of their…

  Peter Paul RubensThe Reconciliationof Jacob and Esau Last week we read in the Torah about Jacob fleeing from his home in Canaan in fear of his life. He had stolen his brother Esau’s blessing and Esau had vowed to kill Jacob once their father died. Jacob camps for a night on his way to…

  Sculpture of Leah by Michelangelo Before Generation Z, before the Millennials, before Generation X, there were the Baby Boomers. My generation and the generation of many of you… The “Baby Boomers” were also dubbed “The Me Generation” because of our perceived unhealthy focus on fulfilling our own needs. The American historian and   social critic…

  One of the most enduring myths of our country is that of the “self-made man”. Benjamin Franklin has been described as “the original self-made man”. In his autobiography, Franklin describes the journey he made from being the son of a candle maker to re-invent himself, through the virtues of “industry, economy and perseverance” as…

  In 1688 a Swiss physician named James Hofer coined the term “nostalgia” from the Greek “nostos” meaning “homecoming” and “algos” meaning “pain”. The syndrome was characterized by sadness and a persistent longing for a person, an object or a place. Hofer called nostalgia a “disease”. It was thought to be particularly widespread among soldiers.…