Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

A rabbi is brought to speak before a congregation that is seeking a new spiritual leader. “What will you be talking about?” the president asks the rabbi as they walk to the synagogue. “Sabbath observance — the need for Jews to make this day truly holy, without shopping, without spending money.” “I wouldn’t do that,”…

In Pirke Avot – the Ethics of the Fathers – we find the following saying of Ben Azzai: Run as fast as you can to do a minor mitzvah.. for one mitzvah leads to another. The Hebrew for “one mitzvah leads to another” is “mitzvah gorreret mitzvah”.  In this pithy statement there is only one…

The Gift of Life One evening a number of years ago my family was sitting at dinner when one of our sons asked my wife and I an intriguing question — “If you and mom never met each other, whose child do you think I would be?” Well obviously, if we never met he would…

Averting the Severe Decree?   On the face of it, unetaneh tokef is a pretty fatalistic prayer.  Listen: “As a shepherd herds his flock, and causes them to pass beneath his staff. So YOU pass us before you, and count and number and record every living soul You define the limits of every creature’s life…

  Who is he anyhow, an actor?” “No.” “A dentist?” “…No, he's a gambler.” Gatsby hesitated, then added cooly: “He's the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919.” “Fixed the World Series?” I repeated. The idea staggered me. I remembered, of course, that the World Series had been fixed in 1919, but if…

  In Parashat Beshallach we come to the climax of the story of the exodus from Egypt.  Pharaoh has once again changed his mind about letting the people of Israel go, and is now in hot pursuit of the Israelites with his chariots and armor.  Ahead of the Israelites lies and impassable sea — behind…

 Martin Luther King and the Prophetic Tradition This week’s parasha begins the Book of Exodus.  Tomorrow we will read in the Torah about the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt and G-d’s call to Moses to lead the Israelites out of bondage.  Monday is Martin Luther King Day, a celebration of the birthday of that…

A week ago we were witness, via our televisions, to the horror that unfolded in Mumbai, India, over a period of several days, as Muslim radical terrorists attacked Western targets throughout the city of 19 million people.  It was a coordinated attack unlike any other we have seen, capturing the world’s attention for four or…

  Open My Lips So I May Speak Your Praise Adonai Sefatai Tiftach ufi yagid tehilatecha    There is a story behind the words that precede our amidah.  First, one has to understand that the Amidah, said three times a day by traditional Jews, is a substitute for the sacrifices in the Temple that can no…

Finding Your Passion Parashat Haazinu October 10, 2008 Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph What does it mean, to love “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”?  We know love when we feel it, but love is often difficult to express in words.  Fortunately, for that we have the poet.…