Where does charity begin?
January 13, 2023 by Jeremy Rosen
We are all being bombarded constantly with requests for money, at home, at work, on the streets, and on the internet. Read more
Shabbat Shemot: Who is God?
January 12, 2023 by Jeremy Rosen
Throughout the Torah, God has been referred to anthropomorphically. Read more
What is wrong in Israel
January 8, 2023 by Jeremy Rosen
Corruption is an evocative word. Its original usage in Latin was something spoiled or ruined, mainly comestibles but in Christianity, the human flesh. Read more
Shabbat Vayehiy: Favouritism
January 5, 2023 by Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
Is there a set formula for negotiations? We see two examples in this week’s reading from the Torah. Read more
Maoz Tsur
December 9, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
As children at Chanukah time, as we lit the candles, we would sing “ Maoz Tzur Yeshuati, the cat’s in the cupboard and she can’t see me. How many kittens has he got? Ten or Twenty I forgot.” Read more
Shabbat Vayetzey: Frenemies
December 8, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
The dramatic encounter between Jacob and Esau has come to be regarded as a model for relations between Jews and non-Jews. Read more
Circumcision
December 2, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
The month of Kislev that we have just entered is when we celebrate Chanukah and the rebellion against Greek overlords more than 2,000 years ago. Read more
Shabbat Vayeytzey: Dreams and Fears
December 1, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
Jacob flees his parents’ home because he fears that Esau will kill him for taking the blessing from Isaac. Read more
Educating children
November 25, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
“Spare the rod and spoil the child” goes the old English saying. It is based on the book of Proverbs 13.24 “He who holds back the stick must hate his child”. Read more
Shabbat Toldot: Deception
November 25, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
The Torah is very clear about deception. “Do not deceive or lie to each other”( Leviticus 19.11). Read more
Anger
November 11, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
Wherever we turn, anger seems to be the prevailing mood. Read more
Shabbat Vayeyra: Who Was Hagar?
November 10, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
The character of Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant, Avraham’s concubine, and Ishmael’s mother, has always fascinated me. Read more
Pope John 23rd
November 4, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
Of all the religious non-Jews of my lifetime that I admire, John 23rd ( Pope from 1958-1963) tops my list. Read more
Shabbat Lech Lecha: Moral ambiguity
November 3, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
Women play an important part in the narrative of Genesis. Read more
Rabble Rousers
October 30, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
The conflict in the Middle East over the Mandate Territories has festered now for a hundred years. Read more
Shabbat Noah: Tower of Babel
October 27, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
The Biblical narrative about the Tower of Babel was based on or inspired by the Mesopotamian Ziggurats, huge, step-like pyramids built initially some four thousand years ago. It seems that they were temples of some sort. But, as always, I look for the message behind the text and try to see the context. Read more
In the beginning
October 21, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
We begin the yearly cycle of the Torah starting with Genesis and the Garden of Eden. Read more
Sucology
October 7, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
The Festival of Succot doubles up as the Festival of Ecology. Read more
Shabbat Haazinu: Jewish song
October 7, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
“Listen to the song,” we are told in this week’s Torah reading, Haazinu. Read more
Divine Royalty
September 30, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
“Adonai, what is a human being that You should care about him, what is a mortal, that You should consider it? A human is no more than a breath, a life is like a passing shadow” (Psalms 144.3.).
What can express the vulnerability, the insignificance of human beings, more succinctly than that? Read more
Shabbat Vayeylech and Shuva: Why God hides
September 29, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is always called the Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat of Return. Read more
Honey
September 25, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
As we approach Rosh Hashanah and think of dipping our apples into honey in the hope of a sweet year, it’s a good time to talk about honey. Read more
Shabbat Nitzavim: Free will and choice
September 22, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
“When someone hears this covenant that God is making with you today, he may feel blessed that he can choose to do whatever his heart desires.” Deuteronomy.29.18 Read more
Shabbat Ki Tavo: Rewards and punishment
September 15, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
The Torah this week contains blessings and warnings. Read more
King Charles III
September 13, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
Carmel College was a Jewish Public School my late father had founded in England in 1948. I had the honour to be its headmaster and then Principal from 1971 -1984. Read more
New Moon
August 28, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
There was a popular Israeli song in the forties that my father loved, and he taught his pupils at Carmel College. Read more
Shabbat Re’ey: False Messiahs
August 25, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
Amongst the fascinating laws in this week’s Torah is one that is significant in what it says about miracles, signs, and False Messiahs. Read more
Kissinger: Good or Bad?
August 19, 2022 by Jeremy Rosen
Whatever you may think of Henry Kissinger, he has been the most influential secular Jew by birth (outside Israel) in world affairs in recent times. Read more