Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

Sanctifying G-d’s Name The parasha for this week, R’eh, begins with Moses telling the Israelites that G-d has placed before them a choice. Do they want to live a life of blessings and prosperity? Or, do they wish to live lives that are cursed?  If one wishes to be blessed, one must follow the commandments…

  This week’s parasaha, Ekev, contains the proof-text of for the Birkat Ha-Mazon, that is, the Grace after Meals.  “When you have eaten and been satisfied,” the text says, “you shall bless Adonai, your G-d for the good land which G-d has given you.”  The Torah does not tell us HOW we should bless G-d,…

Back From Vacation Shabbat Shalom. It is great to be back here this evening with Congregation Beth Shalom. Middy and I missed you.  We had a wonderful vacation, what I called our “Cultural Tour of the Midwest and the South.” We embarked on a road trip that took us to Springfield Illinois to explore Lincoln…

Walking Modestly Before G-d   In 2001, Rabbi Aurthur Green wrote a book entitled These Are The Words.  In it he defines and discusses 149 Hebrew words that he believes are the core words of Judaism, words that everybody needs to know in order to understand Jewish civilization.  As our editor so beautifully states, these…

Take Me Out to the Ball Game A couple of new Jews arrived in town from Boston this year, and they hold the promise to make winners out of Chicagoland’s professional baseball teams.  The first of course is Theo Nathan Epstein, formerly of the Boston Red Sox and now of the beloved Chicago Cubs.  Theo’s…

The Power of Money In this week’s Torah reading, Moses instructs twelve spies, one for each of Israel's tribes, to investigate the characteristics of the land the people are about to enter.  The Torah describes these twelve men as “notables” and “all leaders of the people”.  The spies travel throughout the land of Israel during…

All of us acknowledge that to err is human.  Yet, most of us go through life assuming that we are right about almost everything – from the big things, like global warming or whether there should be a death penalty, to the little things, like how to load a dishwasher or how to make a…

In a proclamation dated 5th of May, 1868, General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, declared that the 30th of May, 1868 would be the nations official memorial day. On that day in 1868 flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery in…

Be Mindful and Multiply Recently I met in my office with a young Jewish couple who were trying to find a rabbi to marry them this New Years Eve.  After getting to know one another, they asked me to perform the ceremony, and I readily agreed.  They then asked me a question.  What are your non-negotiables? …

             Kashrut — The Hidden Wisdom of the Torah                   The first ten chapters of Leviticus deal with the laws specific to the Sanctuary. The remainder of Leviticus deals with what might be termed the Laws of Daily Life. In the eyes of the Torah, nothing human is secular. G-d’s laws embrace the totality…