Abortion

In 1973  the USA Supreme Court decided in Roe v Wade to strike down Texas laws that criminalized abortion. Read more

Shabbat Behar: Valuing the Land

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Shabbat Emor: Alienation

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Ethical warfare

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine raises important moral issues about warfare. Some people believe that all violence is wrong under all circumstances. Read more

Shabbat Kedoshim: About sex

The part of the Torah we read this week, Kedoshim,  contains more moral and ethical laws than any other part of the Torah, that you will be familiar with. Read more

Solzhenitsyn Was Right

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), was one of the most impressive Russians of the past century. Read more

Shabbat Acharei Mot: Arrogance

Previously in Leviticus Chapter 9, the two sons of Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu had watched and participated in the dedication of the priests and the tabernacle. Read more

Real freedom

America is obsessed with slavery and its ramifications and rightly so. But it is less concerned with the idea of freedom and what that means. Read more

Don’t let the Seder be a bore

The text of the Hagadah that we use today, goes back a thousand years although its origins are Mishnaic, two thousand years ago. Read more

Failed priests and prophets

There seems to me to be a permanent state of conflict in all religions between religious authority and individual spirituality or mysticism. Read more

Shabbat Metzora and Shabbat HaGadol: A Special Shabbat

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Mazel

I was reading the Roman historian Suetonius (around 69-122 CE) on the twelve Roman Caesars, and I came across this, “Tiberius abolished foreign cults in Rome particularly the Egyptian and Jewish, forcing all those who embraced superstitions to burn their religious vestments and other accessories.” Read more

Shabbat Tazria: Rosh Hodesh Nisan – Purity

Having dealt with the sacrificial system and its ceremonials, the Torah now turns to human beings and how they should take steps to care for their physical as well as spiritual lives. Read more

The lesson of the Ukraine

The brutal violence of Putin (against dissidents as well as Ukraine) cannot be justified on any moral grounds whatsoever. Read more

Tsav: Eat together

There are four obligations on Purim. To read the Megillah of Esther, to give charity to the poor and gifts to our friends, and to have a celebratory meal, a seudah. Read more

Did it really happen?

The Book of Esther is a great story, of incompetent government, attempted genocide, personal intrigue, salvation, and celebration. Read more

Shabbat Vayikra: Ethical Leadership

The Book of Exodus that we have just completed, provided us with two examples of leadership. Read more

Binding Isaac

I was reeling from the inhuman aggression of the maniacal Strangelove Putin on an independent country causing the deaths of hundreds of children when I thought of the words of Leonard Cohen in “The story of Isaac.” Read more

Shabbat Pikudei: The Messiah

The term Mashiach is usually associated with the apocalyptical idea of a Messiah who will change the world to make it a more peaceful and honest place. Read more

Death

Last week’s article about Organ Donation got me thinking about death and to what extent it matters and to whom. And the invasion of Ukraine made me wonder what is worth dying for. Read more

Shabbat Vayakhel & Shekalim: Amazons and the Oral Law

There are many ways of looking at the Bible, as history, theology, literature, and archeology. Read more

Organ donor

“ Is it true that if I donate an organ to another person I will not be allowed to be buried and go to heaven?” Read more

Shabbat Ki Tisah: Idolatry

The focal point this week is the Golden Calf, and the betrayal of  God at the very moment God is trying to impose standards on the Israelites through a constitution from Sinai. Read more

Origins of orthodoxy

I have just read Jacob Katz: On the Origins of Orthodoxy. It is an important collection of articles by and about the late Professor Katz, transcripts of interviews, as well as a bibliography. Read more

Shabbat Tetzaveh: Who needs Priests?

The Torah goes into intricate detail in the Books of Exodus and Leviticus about the priests, their role in the Tabernacle ceremonials, their benefits and tithes, and their special rules of behaviour. This week, the Torah talks about the Priests’ clothes and oracles. Read more

Talmud for dummies

I do not waste my time on TikTok ( indeed I have all but cut myself off from any social media simply to save my time for more important things). Read more

Shabbat Terumah

We are now reading about the construction of the Tabernacle.  Its design and its contents. Its dimensions are similar to many ancient religious structures that have been found across the ancient Middle East both in the construction of palaces and temples, and they mirror the dimensions of Noah’s Ark and the three levels of Sinai. Read more

Gerontocracy

Old age, Senior Citizens, Geriatrics are all rather pejorative terms for people who have reached a certain age or stage in their lives. Like me! Read more

Shabbat Mishpatim: What happpened at Sinai?

One of the challenges to traditional Judaism comes from academic analysis of the Torah as if it were either a Book of History or literature that one can decipher from a rational, point of view. Read more

Time

We have just celebrated another New Year. I was not specifically thinking of 2022, although that too. Or of Tu BiShvat, the Fifteenth Day of the Month of Shevat. The New Year for Trees. One of four different New Years as recorded in the Talmud ( Rosh Hashana ). Read more

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