David Wolpe

Wolpe was born in 1958 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and later earned a B.A. in English literature at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania, commonly called Penn, is a private research university and Ivy League member in Philadelphia. It traces its origins to a 1740 charity-school project; Benjamin Franklin proposed his academy in 1749, classes began in 1751, and a 1791 merger established the institution under its present name. Penn has 12 schools, with undergraduate education concentrated in arts and sciences, engineering, nursing and Wharton. Enrollment totaled 29,384 in fall 2025, and the fiscal 2025 endowment was $24.81 billion. As of October 2026, J. Larry Jameson was president, with his term scheduled to end on June 30, 2027.Open the full entry.⁠[1]

His father, Gerald Wolpe, was a Conservative rabbi; when David was 10 the family moved to Philadelphia after his father became rabbi of Har Zion. He has said that as a teenager, after seeing the documentary “Night and Fog,” he became an atheist for a time.⁠[2]

He was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1987 and that year began eight years of teaching at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles; in 1995 he became an instructor in Jewish thought at JTS and assistant to Chancellor Ismar Schorsch.⁠[1]

In 1997 he became senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles; he recalled that it then had about 1,000 member families.⁠[3]

During Passover 2001 he relayed in a series of sermons the view of most archaeologists that the Exodus did not happen as the Bible describes, “if it happened at all”; after a front-page Los Angeles Times story, the Los Angeles Jewish community was in uproar.⁠[4]

Orthodox rabbi Elazar Muskin and others responded and radio host Dennis Prager strongly disagreed, while columnist Rob Eshman argued the views were within the Conservative mainstream.⁠[4]

The following Sabbath he answered critics before about 1,300 people, saying he was not sorry and that “The Torah is about the spiritual truths of the Jewish people, not about the particulars.”⁠[5]

In September 2008 HarperOne published his sixth book, Why Faith Matters, answering charges such as that religion causes violence or that science and religion are at odds; he said it was not a polemic against the New Atheists but an account of his own journey.⁠[2]

The sixth annual “Top 50 Rabbis” list from Newsweek and the Daily Beast, published on April 2, 2012, ranked him first; he had been No. 2 on the 2011 list.⁠[6]

On May 28, 2013, he wrote to the congregation that Sinai Temple’s rabbis had unanimously decided, under the halachic principle of kavod habriot, honor due all of God’s creation, to conduct same-sex weddings once California law allowed.⁠[7]

Iranian members were divided: philanthropist Parviz Nazarian voiced support, while architect M. Michael Naim wrote an open letter against it. Wolpe said he was sorry for those hurt but felt it was time.⁠[7]

In 2014 he published David: The Divided Heart, a biography of King David; reviewer Robin Russin wrote that it focuses on the story’s literary and psychological meaning and called it a “lively and thoughtful appreciation.”⁠[8]

Early in the pandemic in 2020 he hosted a weekly Torah reading, “Clubhouse Torah,” on the audio app Clubhouse, gaining thousands of followers.⁠[9]

He appeared on episode 270 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, whose description calls him a rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles; topics included God, atheism, the Holocaust, evil, Judaism, the Torah, gay marriage, free will, suffering, mortality, faith, and Israel and Palestine.⁠[10]

On April 7, 2022, he announced that he would step down on June 30, 2023, and become rabbi emeritus, with Nicole Guzik and Erez Sherman as joint successors; he said that although his contract ran to the end of 2024, his successors were ready and he wanted new challenges.⁠[3]

He said membership was close to 2,000 families before the pandemic and about 1,400 in 2022.⁠[9]

In May 2023 the Anti-Defamation League named him its first rabbinic fellow, to bring a Jewish perspective to its work against hate, which he wanted to “speak with a Hebrew accent.” He also became senior advisor to Maimonides Fund’s viewpoint diversity project and planned a year at Harvard Divinity School.⁠[11]

In December 2023 he left the antisemitism advisory group formed by Harvard President Claudine Gay, saying on X that campus events and the presidents’ “painfully inadequate testimony” before Congress convinced him he could not make the difference he had hoped; he criticized an ideology casting Jews as oppressors but called Gay “both a kind and thoughtful person.”⁠[12]

In a statement Gay thanked him for his advice and friendship and said he had deepened the university’s understanding of antisemitism on campus.⁠[13]

At Christmas 2023 he published “The Return of the Pagans” in The Atlantic, describing nature worship on the left and the worship of wealth, power and tribal solidarity on the right as two forms of “paganism.” Manny Tejeda y Moreno, editor-in-chief of The Wild Hunt, wrote that the essay lacked familiarity with ancient and modern Paganism.⁠[14]

Replying to an invitation to dialogue from Holli Emore, head of Cherry Hill Seminary, Wolpe said the article did not address current pagan communities and intended no offense, and declined further discussion.⁠[15]

Maimonides Fund announced in August 2024 that Wolpe and Mijal Bitton would become its inaugural Scholars in Residence from September 2024, undertaking research and development projects.⁠[16]

X: Public account: https://x.com/RabbiWolpe (opens in a new window)⁠[10]

Anti-Defamation League: Official website: https://www.adl.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[11]

Maimonides Fund: Official website: https://maimonidesfund.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[16]