Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

This week’s Torah reading is from the beginning of the Torah — The Book of Genesis. On Simchat Torah, just celebrated on Monday evening, we concluded the final paragraphs of the Book of Deuteronomy which noted the death of Moses on the border of the Land of Israel. Our Torah reading concludes at that point.…

Two unlikely headlines in the paper in our national press seem worthy of the satirical newspaper, “The Onion”. The first headline is “Donald Trump wins Republican Nomination for President”. The second headline is “Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize for Literature”. I, along with many of us sitting here, am hoping for a third unlikely…

One of the themes of Rosh Hashanah is birth and renewal.  We proclaim on this day, Hayom Harat Olam, “Today is the Birthday of the World”. Our tradition holds that the world was created 5777 years ago. Of course, nothing in Judaism is without controversy. In fact there is a debate in the Talmud between…

I’d like to begin my sermon this evening by telling you a story. The story takes place in the 1980’s, before the widespread use of personal computers, before smart phones, before ipads and fitbits and all of the technology that we now carry around in our pockets or wear on our wrists. The story begins…

These final weeks leading up to the High Holidays we are reading The Book of Deuteronomy. The Book of Deuteronomy is part farewell address by Moses, part exhortation to the Children of Israel, part legislative program intended to be put into effect when the Israelites settle the Land of Canaan. Part of this legislation lays…

At the Academy for Jewish Religion, all rabbinic students were required to take a course in Homiletics. For those of us who are not clergy and may not be familiar with this word, “Homiletics” is a fancy way of saying “sermonizing”. Our teacher for the course, Rabbi Richardson, had a long and successful career as…

In July of 1854 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, author of the American classics  which  I am sure some of you know —  “The Song of Hiawatha”, “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “Evangeline” — visited the Jewish cemetery of Newport, Rhode Island.  At the time of the visit, cemetery tourism was a popular past time for Americans, and…

Friday Night, August 12, 2016/ 9 Av, 5776 On behalf of Congregation Beth Shalom, I would like to welcome Rosanne Kearny and Don McCallum and Kelly Callahan into our community and into the Jewish people.  You might not be fully aware of this, but this morning you joined a very complicated people . Even our…

Shabbat Shalom.    It is wonderful to return home to Congregation Beth Shalom after my vacation. Middy and I had a great time, both resting at home and traveling to the Northwest. Over a period of ten days in July we visited Seattle, Washington, Mt. Ranier, Portland, Oregon and the Oregon coast. I know I speak…

Our Parasha this week opens with G-d commanding Aaron to light the seven branched Menorah. The Menorah stands in the Ohel Moed, Tent of Meeting, in front of the Ark that holds the Ten Commandments.  Aaron is to light the Menorah daily, so that it burns from evening till morning.  Just as we light the…