DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997                TAG: 9704250576

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   45 lines

RABBI WOLPE TO SPEAK AT CONGREGATION BETH EL

Rabbi David Wolpe, a prolific writer and leading authority in conservative Judaism, will be a scholar in residence this weekend at Congregation Beth El.

Wolpe will give three talks, which are open to the public, tackling each with his trademark openness.

``He's young. He's in his, I guess, late 30s,'' said Beth El Rabbi Arthur Ruberg. ``His father is a well-known rabbi with a large congregation, and Wolpe grew up as a skeptic and sort of an intellectual rebel.''

Wolpe's first book, ``The Healer of Shattered Hearts: A Jewish View of God,'' focuses on his return to his ancestral faith. His latest is titled, ``Why Be Jewish?'' and that will be his topic on Friday night.

``He explains in modern terms the value of religion, and particularly of Judaism, for modern skeptical people,'' Ruberg said. ``Why would a person in 1997, in a world where there are options and no one is fated to stay in any one religion or ethnic group and there is plenty of traffic both ways, why in today's world would you choose a minority religion like this one?''

Wolpe will address another hot topic on Saturday afternoon: the Messiah and Judaism. He will discuss the personal Messiah versus the messianic age, and how Judaism and Israeli politics are affected.

Christians accept Jesus as the Messiah, but Jews are still waiting. Orthodox Jews expect a descendant of King David to arrive as Messiah, while Reform Jews believe in the coming of a messianic age of peace and bliss, but not a personal Messiah. Conservative Jews take a middle ground.

``Do we bring the Messiah by our actions or does God send him?'' Ruberg said. Wolpe will also talk about Jews and conservative Christians, prospects for cooperation and whether friendship should be sought, Ruberg said.

The Southern Baptist Convention infuriated the Jews last summer by resolving to renew efforts to convert them to Christianity.

Wolpe teaches at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he also serves as assistant to the chancellor. He is widely quoted as an expert on Jewish theology and has appeared on CNN, CBS This Morning and A&E's ``Mysteries of the Bible.'' ILLUSTRATION: WANT TO GO?

Rabbi David Wolpe will speak at 8 p.m. Friday, at 1 p.m. Saturday

and at 10 a.m. Sunday. All events will be at Congregation Beth El,

422 Shirley Ave., Norfolk.

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