Pesach in every generation

Every year on Pesach at the Seder, we read “In every generation they stand against us to destroy us.” Read more

Shabbat Hagadol

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Brandolini’s Law

It was the historian Salo Wittmayer Baron who coined the phrase “The Oy Vay version of Jewish history.” Only looking at the bad and ignoring the glimpses of good. Read more

Shabbat Vayikra

Semicha Read more

Varieties of Judaism

We Jews have always liked to argue about religion and who is kosher and who is not. Read more

Shabbat Vayakhel Pekudei

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Little Things

When I was six years old, my father had founded Carmel College, and he moved the family into the English countryside west of London. Read more

Shabbat  Ki Tisah

What does God look like?
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Zachor Purim

This coming Shabbat, before Purim, is always called Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of remembering. Read more

Shabbat Tetzaveh

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Desecration

The Epstein scandal is possibly the most serious example of the abuse of power and wealth in recent years in an open society. Read more

Holocaust Day Scandals

I have always been conflicted about the response to the Holocaust. As a young boy, I was shocked to see pictorial evidence of how cruel human beings can be to each other. Read more

Shabbat Yitro

Mount Sinai Read more

New Year for Trees

The fifteenth of Shvat in Hebrew is Tu B’Shvat. This year it is on Monday the 2nd of February. Read more

Shabbat Beshalach

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The Haskalah

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Shabbat Bo

Shabbat Vaeyra

Hearing but not Listening Read more

Litvak or Chassid?

Someone close to me explained why he thought I was so dismissive, particularly of religious views I did not agree with. Read more

Shabbat Shemot 

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Handel’s Messiah

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Shabbat Mikeytz

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A minor fast

Perhaps the least important notable date in the Jewish calendar is the Tenth of Tevet , which occurs ten days after Chanukah. Read more

Shabbat Vayigash

Belief Read more

Chanukah Madness

On the First Night of Chanukah (my spelling), I took a walk down to the memorial at the corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street in New York (Yes, I am still here), where every year, Chanukah Chabad builds what they claim is the largest Menorah (or Chanukiah) in the world. Read more

Shabbat Miketz

More on Frailty Read more

A different Chanukah

When we talk about being Jewish, we become aware the very term is ambiguous and ill-defined. Read more

Shabbat Vayeyshev

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Excessive Weddings

It has been part of my life as a rabbi to attend weddings; more often than not to “perform.” Read more

Shabbat Vayishlach

Run or stand? Read more

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