Editorial & Opinion | Musings

Time And Tide

05/22/2013 | David Wolpe | Musings

There is a poignant story of a rabbi who learned the meaning of life from children building sand castles. As he watched the intensity with which they built, he could not help but realize that in a few hours, everything they created would be washed away. Yet it did not diminish their focus or joy.

Half Life

05/14/2013 | David Wolpe | Musings

A symbolon was a means of identification in the ancient world. If I send someone I know off to another city to meet up with another person I know, I give each of them half of a plate or bowl or stone. When they meet each can identify the other by fitting the pieces together.

Walk Humbly

05/08/2013 | Rabbi David Wolpe | Musings

How do we walk into synagogue?

The Barefoot Prophet

05/01/2013 | Rabbi David Wolpe | Musings

When God appears at the burning bush, what is the first thing Moses is told to do? Take off his shoes.

Let The Healing Begin

04/24/2013 | David Wolpe | Special To The Jewish Week | Musings

The tragedies of the past week remind us why religious community matters:

1. In the face of death, religion maintains that life is meaningful. Not only because of the belief that human beings never fully disappear, but because it teaches that this pageant, with all its pain and anguish, need never resolve into despair. Life still matters; we always matter.

2. A religious community provides comfort and help. Long after others have forgotten, the congregation will be there, with everything from meals to a shoulder to a prayer.