Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

Hole-y Matzo!  I am currently reading Taking the Stand, Alan Dershowitz’s account of his professional life as a Harvard Law Professor as  a, high profile attorney, and as an ardent defender of Israel.  Dershowitz was retained by Jim Bakker, the famous televangelist who had been convicted of fraud in relation to his ministry in 1989.…

Life and Death are in the Hands of the Tongue A midrash tells us that the King of Persia took ill and was advised by his doctors to drink the milk of a lioness in order to be cured. A man came before the King and volunteered to bring the king fresh lion's milk. The…

(With much talk about Secretary of State John Kerry's peace initiative coming to a conclusion, I wanted to share with you this sermon I delivered on March 7, which I thought I had posted but found this morning in my unsent “draft” box.)  Prospects for Peace This evening I would like to share a discussion…

Leaders for our Time One of the most troubling episodes in the entire Torah is found in this week’s parasha. I am referring to the deaths of two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Abihu. They have just been initiated into the priesthood and have been instructed about the proper conduct of worship in the Tabernacle.…

Mistakes Christians Sometimes Make about Jews In our megillah reading tomorrow night, Haman says to King Ahasverus, “There is a certain people- scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws….”  Those…

This Shabbat I will be away from the synagogue on a Family Retreat with members of Congregation Beth Shalom. We will be spending the weekend at Camp Shai in Wisconsin, just below the North Pole, by my reckoning. This week I am sharing a dvar Torah that I gave on January 17th, 2014, but did…

Rome and Jerusalem Last week I spoke about The Rabbinic Action Committee trip to Rome.  I showed slides of the Jewish Catacombs of Rome, the Fosse Ardeantine memorial, ancient Jewish manuscripts of the Vatican library, our visit to the Ostia-Antica synagogue – the oldest remains of a synagogue outside of the Land of Israel. I…

Embracing our Differences On January 1 I participated in a panel at Wentz Concert Hall for the ninth annual World Peace Day Interfaith Prayer Service.  The theme of the day was “Embracing Differences in Our Changing Communities”.  My first thought was, “Who better than a rabbi to speak about the consequences of failing to embrace…

A “Ribbiting” Debate Just a few weeks ago,   the American Studies Association, an academic organization, voted overwhelmingly to sever ties with all Israeli academic institutions.  This is part of a larger boycott movement in the West that has been the source of great concern to Israel and its supporters.  In recent weeks a Dutch water…

How To Hold A Grudge This letter appeared in the Sunday NY Times advice column called “Social Q’s” on July 5: We had dinner with another couple at an elegant restaurant. I wore a beautiful and very expensive Chanel dress. When I walked in, the woman we were meeting said, “Oh, I have that same…