Recent Posts
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Cup of Salvation Classic: No Buttons to Push to Arouse the Gods
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WHILE THE CUP OF SALVATION PODCAST IS ON HIATUS, ENJOY THIS CLASSIC EPISODE!
At first glance, Psalms 115:6, which describes pagan gods as not hearing or smelling, seems to state the obvious. In that case, why would Rabbi Wolicki claim, “I believe that this is one of the most powerful verses in this entire series of Psalms”? What’s the connection between the sense of smell and worship? How does this play out in the pagan world and in our relationship with G-d?
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Cup of Salvation Classic: Relying On My Rabbit’s Foot – Inside the Pagan Mind
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“Pagans were not stupid.” With these rousing words, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki claims that our usual assumption that pagans were merely silly and foolish prevents us from understanding the real polemic against them in the Bible. If we understand what they were actually thinking, many seemingly innocuous verses in Scripture come alive with meaning. Along with David Nekrutman, Rabbi Wolicki examines Psalms 115:5, and it’s emphasis on an idol’s inability to see or speak (no, these terms are not random). Along the way, Rabbi Wolicki tells a story about an umpire who broke his glasses on the second pitch of a softball game in Virginia… and whether saying that “He’s being punished” is a religious or a pagan attitude.
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Cup of Salvation Classic: In G-d (and Money) We Trust
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WHILE THE CUP OF SALVATION PODCAST IS ON A FOUR WEEK SUMMER HIATUS, ENJOY THIS CLASSIC EPISODE!
At first glance, Psalms 115:4 seems to say nothing but the blindingly obvious: “Their idols are silver and gold; the work of human hands.” But Rabbi Pesach Wolicki tells David Nekrutman that King David uses a surprising term for “idol” which changes everything; that instead of repeating something we already know, he is teaching something important about human trust, toil, expectation, and disappointment. What does this have to do with United States currency? Leave it to David and Rabbi Wolicki to figure it out.
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(51) G-d’s Mysterious Gift to Us
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Sometimes, we’re fortunate enough to experience a direct and obvious gift from G-d; other times, we are brought low and experience suffering. Should we welcome suffering, or ask for it to be removed? Should we look at it as something good, something bad, or something else entirely? How do we praise G-d when He has created a situation which is objectively bad, but has had a positive effect upon our spiritual lives? Join David and Pesach to discover a deep message about how we must understand life’s trials and tribulations, and the mysterious and ambiguous plans that G-d has for each one of us.
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(50) Redemptive Suffering
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Unusual Biblical grammar does not mean that the Bible was poorly written; it means that we have to work to uncover its deeper meaning. Psalms 116:6, which has always perplexed translators, exemplifies this notion. David and Pesach dig into the text, and discover the surprising truth that this verse is dealing with the redemptive aspect of suffering. Although we never wish to have major suffering in our lives, and usually cannot explain the reason for suffering, we nonetheless can affirm that suffering often gets us back to the basics in our relationship with G-d, by helping us to ignore the frivolous and unimportant parts of life that tend to take over our consciousness.
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(49) The Silver Lining of Suffering
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Psalms 116:6 is usually translated, “The L-rd protects the unwary; when I was brought low, He saved me.” But once again the translators missed the boat, and in so doing ignored a huge lesson about the theological significance of suffering. While many think that this topic is primarily addressed in the books of Job and Lamentations, the Psalms of Praise, Hallel, has it’s own “suffering theology.” Join Rabbi Pesach Wolicki and David Nekrutman for another enlightening and passionate discussion that again shows that the message of the Bible is far deeper than you imagined.
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