Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

Over the past several weeks, two high profile organizations made stunning changes in leadership. Travis Kalanick, the founder and CEO of UBER, the ride sharing company, was forced to step down as its leader amidst accusations that he has fostered a workplace culture of abuse, discrimination, disrespect of women and sexual harassment. This led the…

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Face Book, gave the Commencement Speech this year  at Harvard University. It caused quite a stir in the Jewish world. At the conclusion of his hour long speech Zuckerberg, said that whenever he faces a challenge he recites a prayer that he also sings to his daughter at bedtime.  He…

On Friday evening, April 6, 1962, Leonard Bernstein was to conduct the New York Philharmonic in a performance of Brahms D minor Concerto. The guest soloist was Glenn Gould, one of the most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. Before the concert began, Mr. Bernstein did something that initially puzzled and frightened the audience.…

Isn’t it amazing the things from childhood that stick in one’s mind?  Why do we remember some things, and not others?  Psychologists tell us that events which are emotionally charged with surprise, joy, anger, shame, or fear are more frequently recalled than neutral ones.  As Maya Angelou says, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you…

Can drinking wine help you at work? This was the question that blared from the headlines of this Monday’s Business Section of the Chicago Tribune.  Maybe some of you saw it. Upon reading the article one found that it was not about the benefits of drinking wine at work. The piece was about the lessons…

Before the Sinai Desert was returned to Egypt in the Peace treaty of 1978,  it was possible to take a bus directly from Tel Aviv to the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Sharm el Sheik.  I boarded that bus alone  on my Spring Break of 1972 when I spent a year in Israel.  I intended…

This week we complete the reading of the Book of Leviticus in our synagogues around the world. It is a difficult book for us to read, because it deals mostly with subjects – animal sacrifice and ritual impurity – that are far removed from contemporary concerns. Traditionally this was the book with which young children…

I am going to give you a quiz tonight. Are you ready? Which one of the following common Jewish surnames does not belong in the group:  Katz; Rappaport; Kahan; Kagan; Kornfeld. ……….  The answer: Kornfeld does not belong with the others.  The rest are all surnames that are associated with being from the priestly class…

Dave and Mike, both in their 90s had played professional baseball together and, after they retired, they remained close friends. Dave suddenly fell deathly ill. Mike visited Dave on his deathbed. After they talked a while and it became obvious that Dave had only a few more minutes to live, Mike said, “Listen, old friend.…

We Jews seem to do things backwards! We read and write the Hebrew language right to left instead of left to right.  We open a book from the back cover. We remember the day of a person’s death not the day of a person’s birth. A few years ago I spoke about why our High…