Rabbi David Wolkenfeld

Sermons

  • Emor / Yom Ha’atzmaut 5774: “These Are the Festivals of the Lord, Holy Occasions When You Declare Them”

    When my family lived in Jerusalem 6 years ago we met and befriended a Christian family who lived in our neighborhood. We met at the local playground where we took Noam almost every day. I don’t like to stereotype, but a very tall very very blonde family of English speakers attracted a certain amount of…

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  • Tazria 5774: “From Purity to Sanctity”

    Ivory Soap is 99.44 % pure. What does that even mean? 99.44% pure what?  Is it even clear why that’s a good thing? To be quite frank, I’m much more concerned that my soap will be effective at cleaning me. And if it has a pleasant smell, shouldn’t that be more important than how “pure”…

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  • Pekudei 5774: “Torah is Portable”

    If you’ve seen the YouTube video advertising the Purim shpiel, you know that my greatest accomplishment in the six months that I’ve been at Anshe Sholom is making sure that shul finishes on time…For a Yekke, that’s the sweetest compliment I could ever ask for.  And for a Yekke there may be no more appealing…

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  • Vayakhel 5774: “The Mishkan and the Wide World Beyond”

    “The first six days after Shabbat are always the hardest.” I saw that quote and it strikes me as speaking to a question which is actually quite profound. What is the relationship between Shabbat and the work that we do during the other six days of the week? How should we feel when Shabbat ends and…

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  • Ki Tissa 5774

    The Septuagint, the ancient translation of the Torah into Greek, was written by 70 scholars who were locked into 70 different rooms and told to produce a translation of the Torah. Miraculously, they produced the identical translation. Each scholar had made the same adjustments and word choices when translating from Hebrew to Greek. We of…

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  • Tetzaveh 5774

    If I had a bell. I’d ring it in the morning/  I’d ring it in the evening, all over this land/  I’d ring out danger, I’d ring out warning/  I’d ring out love, between my brothers and my sisters/  All over this land.   Pete Seeger wrote those lyrics with Lee Hayes over fifty years ago. Since Pete’s death two…

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  • VaYeshev 5774: “Power Corrupts”

    There was a rabbinic conference in Europe last week featuring representatives from the Council of European Rabbis, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. This conference was the victim of some very unfortunate timing. Orthodox rabbis from three continents gathered and signed an agreement affirming the Israeli Chief Rabbinate as a moral “guiding light”…

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  • VaYishlach 5774: “Place”

    I once read a pop-psychology book that suggested that people either privileged sight or hearing as metaphors for comprehension. Someone who privileges vision might say things like, “I see what you’re saying” or “Is this clear to you?” Someone who privileges hearing would say, “I hear what you’re saying” or “Does this sound right to you?” The book…

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  • VaYetzei 5774: “Prayer for the Government”

    In 1872, the British scientist, Fancis Galton, formulated a clever way to test the efficacy of prayer. The British royal family, and Queen Victoria in particular, was the beneficiary of the prayers of millions of subjects of the British Empire. Every week, Anglican congregations in East Africa, the Caribbean, India, and across the United Kingdom recited prayers…

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  • Toldot 5774

    One of the most distinct features of Jewish history, as recorded in the Torah, is that numerous women suffered from infertility before eventually conceiving and giving birth to healthy children. Our matriarchs Sarah, Rivka, and Rachel struggled for a long time with infertility, and so did Hannah, the mother of Shemuel. The contemporary Bible Scholar,…

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