Slavery today

We tend to think of slavery as something belonging entirely to the past. Read more

Shabbat Metzora – Shabbat HaGadol:  Elijah

“Behold I will send you Elijah (Eliyahu) the prophet before the great awesome Day of God and he will reconcile fathers to children and children to fathers” (Malachi 3:24). Read more

Ben Hecht

We Jews have always been a fractious, divided people ever since the days of Moses. Read more

Shabbat Tazria: Naaman

The Torah this week goes into detail about what is called Leprosy, but it can be understood to mean any infectious skin disease. Read more

Lilith

There are many stories about evil spirits who are supposed to surround us and interfere in our lives. Read more

Shabbat Shmini: You are what you eat

After dealing with the sacrificial system and with the roles that priests play within it, the Torah turns to the laws of kashrut. Read more

Free speech

In my youth, I always regarded free, reasoned, civilised speech to be one of the most important and positive features of Western societies. Read more

Shabbat Tzav Para: Humans First

We continue reading this week about the sacrifices. This is a controversial issue that challenges us to this day. Read more

Self Defence

Elliot Horowitz’s overview of Purim over the ages, Reckless Rites and the Legacy of Jewish Violence, has a subtext. It is a quote from the English poet W.H. Auden: “ Those to whom evil is done, Do evil in return.” Read more

Shabbat Vayikra & Zachor: Amalek

The Shabbat before Purim is always called Shabbat Zachor the Shabbat to Remember. Read more

Why Purim matters

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 Pekudey: The Messiah

As we come to the end of the book of Exodus and look back at the structure of the book it contains three elements. Read more

Who was Job?

One of my earliest and happiest memories and the first play I ever attended, was The Story of Job performed at Carmel College in 1953. Read more

Shabbat Vayakhel & Shekalim – Community or Individuality?

This week’s Torah starts with the word Vayakhel. It means ‘gathering together’. Read more

Here we go again

Anti-Judaism was always driven by two agents, religion and politics. Read more

Shabbat Ki Tisah: Leadership

The main theme of this week’s reading from the Torah is the episode of The Golden Calf. Read more

Palmyra Tadmor

Many years ago, in Israel, my family and I stayed at a drab Government Hotel in Herzliya called The Tadmor! Read more

Shabbat Tetzaveh: Pants

Many years ago, I was told a story about my father by somebody who belonged to the same congregation as his family in London. Read more

Who is afraid of education?

Education has been a core value in Judaism from the very start. Read more

Shabbat Trumah: Repititions

The word Trumah , which is the title of this week’s reading from the Torah, refers to three different types of either obligatory or voluntary donations that were designed to fund the construction of the Tabernacle and maintain its running costs. Read more

South Africa. Time to leave?

Why is South Africa leading the outpouring of hatred towards Israel? Is the writing on the wall? Is it because of endemic anti-Semitism? Or is there something more to this than meets the eye?
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Shabbat Mishpatim: Laws and Words

After the so-called Ten Commandments (which are principles) we come to a section called Mishpatim. Read more

Eulogy for a friend

Mordell Klein (1943-2024) was my oldest friend! A brilliant, charismatic, multi-faceted man of many talents and contradictions. Read more

Shabbat Yitro: Belief

“I am Ad’nai, your God, who took you out of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2).  Read more

Shabbat Beshalach: Ancient events modern lessons

When Moshe led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, they headed due east. Read more

How Kabbalah changed Judaism

There has always been a strong mystical strain of Judaism, going as far back as the prophet Elijah and the chariot that took him up to heaven. Read more

World In Crisis

According to Bartelby in the Economist last week, we are heading towards a global disaster. Read more

Shabbat Bo: Lessons from the Exodus

There are two themes amongst the many in this week’s Torah that stand out as being particularly relevant at this moment in time. Read more

Mourning

Most of us are in a state of mourning at this moment. If not for our personal losses, then for the nation’s deaths, wounded and abused. Read more

Shabbat Vaeyra: Persuasion

This week, we read about the process through which Moses and Aaron try to persuade the pharaoh that he should let the children of Israel go. Read more

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