Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

This coming Sunday we have two special days on the calendar. This Sunday, of course, we celebrate Mother’s Day. That, everyone knows. But this Sunday also marks the newest of Jewish holidays, Jerusalem Day. Jerusalem Day celebrates the re-unification of the City of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty after the Six Day War in 1967. So,…

Today, the 5th of Iyar on the Jewish calendar, marks the 70th birthday of the State of Israel. As we know,  for almost 2000 years the Jewish people had been praying for G-d to return us to Zion, “to gather those who are dispersed across the four corners of the earth and lead us upright…

The ancient Romans regarded bridge building as a sacred pursuit. The position of bridge builder was an important one in ancient Rome, a city which spanned the holy Tiber River and was in need of bridges to unite the city. The ancient Romans called their priest the “pontifex” which means bridge builder. The word “Pontiff”…

This evening, in honor of the start of the Book of Leviticus in our annual Torah reading, I am going to talk about food. Food, you ask? We thought the Book of Leviticus is about sacrifices and the laws of purity! But, what are sacrifices if not food? All ancient peoples worshipped their gods by…

This week’s Torah portion finds us at the end of the Book of Exodus. Moses returns from his audience with G-d on Mount Sinai with a set of instructions on how to build the Mishkan – the portable sanctuary that the Jewish people will take with them as they leave Mt. Sinai and travel to…

This week’s prophetic portion is NOT about mystical visions of G-d experienced by the prophets. It is not about dire warnings of prophets for the people of Israel to repent or face punishment from G-d. This week’s prophetic portion is NOT about a prophet bring hope and comfort to the oppressed Jewish people. No, this…

It is wonderful to be back with all of my congregants after my month long Sabbatical from CBS. So much has happened since I was last here in December. The last time we met the Jewish people were enslaved in Egypt, the Egyptians endured ten plagues, Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea.  AND…

There is a verse from the Psalms (62:12) which states, “One thing G-d has spoken, two things I have heard”. The Talmud explains that this refers to the fact that a Biblical verse can have more than one meaning. This statement itself was expanded upon by later rabbis who declared that each verse of Torah…

Are you an American Jew – or a Jewish American? In a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times, the writer Mark Oppenheimer notes that Presidents from Reagan to Trump have assiduously avoided the use of the noun “Jew” and instead have used the adjective, “Jewish” when referring to members of our community. In…

I began this sermon by playing the song below: The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow from the play “Annie” According to the Talmud, whether the sun would come out tomorrow was a real concern of the very first human being.  “When Adam, on the day of his creation, saw the setting of the sun he…