David Wolpe

It makes sense to choose Elijah because in the Bible he does not die – he is carried up to heaven in a whirlwind (II Kings 2:11). Since Elijah did not die, he should be the one to return.

No matter what we say, the motivation for gossip is almost always titillation and status, not justice.

Understandably many find the Passover story inspiring and the details of ritual purity due to skin ailments uninspiring in the extreme.

Eight is a time for beginnings. Seven represents fullness, completeness. There are seven days to creation, seven days to a week. Then comes the eighth.

Of all the sacrifices, why must the one that offers thanks be eaten that day? Why no leftovers?

The Torah enables us to learn from the simple layout of the paragraph.

Although the Torah tells us that the cloud fills the sanctuary, there is predictable pushback against the idea of the cloud of glory being physical.

Those of us who are troubled by the disunity in the Jewish community may take some comfort from our history.

We can learn two powerful lessons about the human psyche by understanding the calf as a symbol and not as an embodied god.

We know the word. But just because we know what it is called doesn’t always mean we know, more deeply, what it is. There are worlds to unpack in that familiar term.