Editorial & Opinion | Musings

Wisdom Of The Ages

12/26/2012 | David Wolpe | Musings

Wisdom is sometimes an accompaniment of years.

The Past Can Be Prelude

12/18/2012 | David Wolpe | Special To The Jewish Week | Musings

The challenge, frustration and color of life is that each day is promising at its beginning and irrevocable at its end.

A Patient Spirit

12/13/2012 | David Wolpe | Musings

In Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” General Kutuzov exasperates his comrades by refusing to take action against Napoleon. “Maneuver,” they urge him,

Quantum Leap

11/27/2012 | David Wolpe | Special To The Jewish Week | Musings

Sir James Fraser, author of the anthropological classic “The Golden Bough,” once formulated the second principle of magic as follows:

Giving Thanks

11/20/2012 | David Wolpe | Musings

When the cantor repeats the Amidah, there is one prayer the congregation must say for itself — the Modim, the prayer of thanksgiving. One statement in the Talmud teaches that in the time of the Messiah, all the sacrifices will be abolished save one — the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Even in the perfect age, there will be a need to offer thanks.

Love As Sacrifice

11/13/2012 | David Wolpe | Special To The Jewish Week | Musings

The first mention of love in the Torah occurs in Genesis 22 when God tells Abraham to offer up Isaac, “whom you love.”

Why should The Torah choose this improbable moment to mention love for the first time? For a moment let us set aside all the other questions involved in the very difficult story to ponder why love is introduced here.