Why Purim matters

March 15, 2024 by  
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Purim matters so much this year. It tells a never-ending story. We were threatened with destruction. We responded by finding ways to combat the threat.  We did not capitulate. We called out evil as it was. Read more

Shabbat Vayehi – Fear not

December 28, 2023 by  
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As we complete the book of Bereishit, Genesis, this week, Jacob has died, and the brothers now turn to Joseph and say, “Our father asked us to beg you to forgive us for what we did to you”( Genesis 50:15-21 ). Read more

About miracles

December 8, 2023 by  
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I am wary of miracles. Not that amazing, unpredictable, and seemingly miraculous things do not happen all the time. Read more

Elegy for New York

December 1, 2023 by  
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I made the mistake, once, of thinking New York was the best place for Jews outside Israel. Read more

1984 is now

November 24, 2023 by  
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In August, Adam Gopnik published an article in the New Yorker of the August 28, 2023, issue, with the headline “The Biggest Losers.” Read more

Shabbat Toldot: Esau or Ishmael

November 16, 2023 by  
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Last week, we read about how Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury their father. And in fact, they lived together at the same place, Be’er Lechai Roi. Their coming together seems to have been complete. Read more

Unimaginable pain

November 10, 2023 by  
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The unimaginable pain on seeing the evidence of children tortured, limbs cut off and burnt to death, screams for an explanation. Why did God let this happen? Read more

Succot: Fun or Politics

September 28, 2023 by  
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Succot is the most innovative and multifaceted of all our Festivals. Coming after the solemn Holy Days it is the most fun, too. And it concludes with a day of national unity, something that seems as unlikely and remote now, as it ever did in the past. Read more

Clive Marks ז״ל Lamed Vavnik

September 1, 2023 by  
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In my long life in Jewish affairs, I have met very few prominent public figures who were or are righteous in the true sense. Read more

Shabbat Ki Tavo: The Land of Israel

August 31, 2023 by  
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“When you enter the land that your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take the first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that your God giving you, and put them in a basket and go to the place that God chooses and to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, “I acknowledge this day before your God that I have entered the land that swore to our fathers to assign us.” ( Deuteronomy 26:1-2). Read more

The British Mandate

August 18, 2023 by  
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The British Mandate of Palestine was established on July 24th, 1922. Read more

Synagogue or Temple

August 11, 2023 by  
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This month of August is the season of travelling, going on vacation in the northern hemisphere. Read more

Shabbat Eykev: Chosen People

August 4, 2023 by  
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It still amazes me how often I hear non-Jews claim that we Jews are so arrogant and exclusive because we claim to be the Chosen People. And they happily ignore that Christianity and Islam proudly claim to be the Chosen People of God or Allah. Read more

Sadness and Joy

August 4, 2023 by  
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Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of Av, reminds us of the greatest catastrophes in our history. Read more

Shabbat Mattot & Massei: Where should you live?

July 13, 2023 by  
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As the children of Israel approach the land of Israel, they had to pass through what is now Transjordan. The domains of Sihon the Emorite and Og of Bashan. Read more

Blasphemy and Brian

July 2, 2023 by  
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In 1997 “The Life of Brian” by Monty Python comedians was a tremendous hit in Britain and a scandal. Read more

Israel at 75

April 28, 2023 by  
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I have recently read two great books. “Israel’s Declaration of Independence: The History and Political Theory of the Nation’s Founding Moment” by Neil Rogachevsky and Dov Ziegler (Cambridge University Press). Just published. And the 2019 “A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion” by Tom Segev (Picador). Read more

Firstborn

March 31, 2023 by  
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I am a firstborn male. And I fast on the eve of Pesach because all the Egyptian firstborns were struck down by the tenth plague and I (metaphorically) survived! Read more

Shabbat Vayikra: Sacrifices

March 23, 2023 by  
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At this time of the year, the Torah readings are all to do with sacrifices. I shall confess that the thought of killing animals does not fill me with any great enthusiasm. Read more

Shabbat Vayakhel Pekudei: Repetition is Good

March 16, 2023 by  
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It is an interesting phenomenon that the major events of the Torah that play a crucial role in the life of the people from a philosophical point of view are repeated in slightly different ways. Read more

Don’t kiss!

March 10, 2023 by  
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Here is a hilarious if sacrilegious clip, in the spirit of Purim, from over five years ago when no one had even heard of something called Covid. Read more

Shabbat Ki Tisa: What does God look like?

March 9, 2023 by  
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The dominant theme of the Torah this Shabbat is the episode of the Golden Calf. Read more

Why I am a liberal

February 24, 2023 by  
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I recently came across a book called “The Call of the Tribe: Essays” by the Peruvian Nobel Prize Winner Mario Vargas Llosa. Read more

Why?

February 17, 2023 by  
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Innocent worshippers were shot outside a synagogue. Read more

Israeli Theocracy

February 10, 2023 by  
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In the febrile political polemic of our times, language is a victim as people use words loosely, inaccurately, and without thinking of their significance or meaning. Read more

Shabbat BeShalach: Women at Sea

February 3, 2023 by  
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Rashi, commenting on this week’s amazing events at the Red Sea, quotes the Midrash ( Mechilta 15:22) that at the Red Sea, God was seen by the humblest maidservant in a more powerful way than even the greatest of the prophets. Read more

National Anthems

January 20, 2023 by  
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There is something so dated, archaic, and non-sensical about National Anthems, and indeed flags, that takes us back to a world of ancient tribal warfare, conquests, and long-lost identities. Read more

Shabbat Vayehiy: Favouritism

January 5, 2023 by  
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As we come to the end of the Book of Bereishit (Genesis), we can look back and see a thread in the narrative of human beings grappling with the moral and spiritual challenges that we all face. Read more

Sylvester

December 30, 2022 by  
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I only became aware of the controversy surrounding the New Year when I was in Israel as a young man and discovered that the rabbinate was refusing to give kashrut certificates to hotels that held New Year’s Eve parties. Read more

Shabbat Vayigash: Negotiations

December 29, 2022 by  
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Is there a set formula for negotiations? We see two examples in this week’s reading from the Torah. Read more

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