This morning I turned on the television to get a briefing on the news from yesterday and I switched it to "Morning Joe". Joe was broadcasting from a bar at the Democratic National Convention and he had as his guest Rabbi David Wolpe of Los Angeles who was giving the benediction tonight at the convention. They were talking to him about all of the people who gave invocations and benedictions at both of the conventions and how "prayers" had long been a part of the political fabric of the nation.
The Rabbi was very fluent and funny and rose to every occasion in the banter which followed. He was impressive and they seized on the subjects which interested the Rabbi, the panel, and the audience. They asked him about our relationship with Israel, and whether Iran posed a real threat to the people of Israel. He did not hedge. I was shocked when he said that half of his congregation were Iranians who had fled the country. This truly is one world with ties to everyone.
I wanted to know more about him and I checked him out online. He was named most influential rabbi in America by Newsweek Magazine as well as being named One of the 50 most influential
Jews in the world by the Jerusalem Post. I would say that he comes close to being awesome in anyone's theological frame of reference.
It all goes back to the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:9 when the Lord asked the guilty Cain where his brother was. Cain answered the question we are still asking, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
The question has not been answered to the world's satisfaction but the prayers of invocation and benediction are still being heard!
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