Sadness and Joy

August 4, 2023 by  

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

Messianism and the 9th of Av

July 28, 2023 by  

Regardless of how well or poorly Jews have integrated into their host societies, in each generation, they have fasted over the two destructions of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BCE and 70 CE. Read more

Shabbat VaEtchanan: Law or Lore

July 27, 2023 by  

The reading from the Torah this week is remarkable in that it combines the two most important texts in the Torah. Read more

Shabbat Devarim: The books of the bible

July 21, 2023 by  

Why do we call the fifth book of the Torah that we start this week Devarim but non-Jews ( and some Jews) call it Deuteronomy? Read more

Utopia

July 21, 2023 by  

In 1551 the English diplomat and scholar Sir Thomas More, living in the reign of King Henry 8th, wrote a book called Utopia. Read more

Constantine or Licinius

July 16, 2023 by  

Of all the Roman emperors, I would say that Constantine, more than any other, was responsible indirectly for the two thousand years of Christian oppression of the Jews. Read more

Shabbat Mattot & Massei: Where should you live?

July 13, 2023 by  

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

Fast of Tammuz

July 7, 2023 by  

We have just had the Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz. It commemorates the Roman siege of Jerusalem and the moment at which the Romans destroyed the walls and a prelude to the destruction of the Second Temple. Read more

Shabbat Pinchas: Succession

July 6, 2023 by  

Pinchas was the grandson of Aharon, the zealot who took the law into his own hands. Read more

Blasphemy and Brian

July 2, 2023 by  

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

Shabbat Chukat Balak: Faith or magic

June 29, 2023 by  

This week we have two very different weekly readings of the Torah combined into one. Read more

Charter Schools and Isidore of Seville

June 23, 2023 by  

I have always been a fan of Charter Schools (naturally, there are poor ones too). Read more

Shabbat Korach: Quakes, Fires, and Almonds

June 22, 2023 by  

The earth opened up, fire from heaven, and sticks sprouted almond blossoms and nuts. Read more

Talmud on a desert island

June 16, 2023 by  

One of the longest-running radio program series on the BBC is Desert Island Discs.   Read more

Shabbat Lech Lecha: All About Spirit

June 15, 2023 by  

This week’s Torah reading is dominated by the story of the 12 men sent by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan. There’s a dispute as to whether they went to tour, to undermine, or to spy. The Torah uses all three words. Read more

Happiness

June 9, 2023 by  

The American constitution says that Americans have the right to happiness. What is happiness? Can the pursuit of happiness be a right, an experience, a state of mind, or an aspiration? Read more

Shabbat Bha’alotecha: Arguments

June 8, 2023 by  

The Torah this week starts very optimistically with the events that come at the end of the first year when they are within sight of the Promised Land. Read more

Divorce

June 2, 2023 by  

Both in the Torah and in the Talmud, marital difficulties are the topic du semaine. Read more

Shabbat Naso: Wine and Women 

June 1, 2023 by  

The case of the Sotah, the woman suspected of adultery, is a very difficult issue to understand. Read more

Shavuot and the Culture Wars

May 25, 2023 by  

As far as the Bible was concerned, the festival of Shavuot ( Pentecost) that we celebrate this weekend was no more than a harvest festival.  Read more

The Coronation

May 19, 2023 by  

Whatever one may or may not think of monarchy, the coronation of King Charles was a magnificent pageant. Read more

Shabbat B’Midbar: War and Conscription

May 18, 2023 by  

The Book of B’MidbarIn the Desert, includes the preparations made to invade Canaan, which consisted of determining how many able-bodied fighters there were, the leadership, and the configuration of tribal and military units with their own banners and formations.

Read more

Evolving Judaism

May 12, 2023 by  

Many people think that Judaism is so conservative that it simply doesn’t change, and we are still rooted in a tradition that is 3000 years old.

Read more

Shabbat Behar & Behukotai – The Good the Bad and the Ugly

May 11, 2023 by  

The book of the Torah called Vayikra or Leviticus, is also called the Book of Purity. Read more

Hypocrites

May 5, 2023 by  

We Jews have always been outliers. Now it seems everyone else wants to catch up with us and claim victimhood, discrimination, abuse, and alienation and the only way to cope is to be mean to everyone else. We are admired and despised, and we are our own worst enemies. Read more

Shabbat Emor: Mourning

May 4, 2023 by  

The Torah contains no specific rules about death and mourning for ordinary people. Read more

Israel at 75

April 28, 2023 by  

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

Shabbat Acharei Mot & Kedoshim: Morality

April 27, 2023 by  

For many of us reading the third Book of the Torah, Leviticus( Vayikra), is not a particularly inspiring or easy exercise. Read more

Memorials to the Holocaust

April 21, 2023 by  

This week we witnessed another impressive Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel when the country came to halt to remember. As well as the return of the annual March of the Living pilgrimage to Auschwitz. Elsewhere? Hardly anyone noticed. Read more

Shabbat Tazria & Metzorah: Healthy in body and mind

April 20, 2023 by  

The chapters of the Torah that we are reading now are concerned with health and what happens when our bodies do not function effectively or normally. Read more

« Previous PageNext Page »