Surely No Farewell to David Wolpe

To err is human, and to disagree is Jewish,

was the axiom with which David Wolpe ended his long sermon series labeled “Off the Pulpit.”

Truth is a see-saw from which what is only “truish”

will make us fall, as Jacob’s brother Esau did when he decided greedily to gulp it.

Because half-truths can be extremely tasty, to ourselves we tend to feed ‘em,

and though they ought to make us gulp, we gulp a lot of them  unedited, like  Edom.

So let us all now praise good rabbis who leave us – for now – with Jewish knowledge in full force,

continuing, while we debate, to find good outcomes for our hearts and souls –and peace of course.

Rabbi David Wolpe published his last “Off the Pulpit” sermon on the eve of Shavuot 5783, 4/25/23:

A Final Musing, With Thanks

Thirty years ago, I began publishing 200-word columns, first in print in the NY Jewish Week and then online. In 2004, an early collection of them was published by Behrman House called “Floating Takes Faith.” Now as I step down as Senior Rabbi of Sinai, it is time to bring this column, having written some 1,500 of them, to an end.

From the beginning, I aimed at the refrigerator. Perhaps this or that musing would be stuck on the door as a helpful thought. If this column gets pasted to a refrigerator – or a computer, or a bathroom mirror – it will be as a reminder that all things, good and bad, must end.

It has been a great pleasure sharing thoughts each week, and God willing, I will continue to do so in many other ways. For now, however, these columns called “Musings” or “Off the Pulpit” have run their course. I hang my kippah up in the hope that they have enlightened, amused or even inspired a bit over the decades, and with deep thanks for your kindness – B’vracha, with Blessing – David Wolpe

David Suissa wrote: (“David Wolpe: Fearless Rabbi,”  Jewish Journal, 5/25/23):

After 26 years of leading Sinai Temple and dealing with some of the most difficult issues in our community, Rabbi David Wolpe is ready for new challenges.

“Life is so much more interesting when you say yes,” Max Webb Senior Rabbi at Sinai Temple David Wolpe told me on a recent Zoom call. Indeed, I’ve known Wolpe, who is retiring this month, for most of the 26 years that he’s been at Sinai, and I can attest to his affinity for saying yes.

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Gen. 25:30 states:

ל  וַיֹּאמֶר עֵשָׂו אֶל-יַעֲקֹב, הַלְעִיטֵנִי נָא מִן-הָאָדֹם הָאָדֹם הַזֶּה–כִּי עָיֵף, אָנֹכִי; עַל-כֵּן קָרָא-שְׁמוֹ, אֱדוֹם.   30 And Esau said to Jacob: ‘Let me gulp, I pray thee, some of this red, red pottage; for I am faint.’ Therefore was his name called Edom.