Don’t kiss!

March 10, 2023 by  

Here is a hilarious if sacrilegious clip, in the spirit of Purim, from over five years ago when no one had even heard of something called Covid. Read more

Shabbat Ki Tisa: What does God look like?

March 9, 2023 by  

The dominant theme of the Torah this Shabbat is the episode of the Golden Calf. Read more

Nicanor Day

March 3, 2023 by  

It’s the festival you might never have heard of, Nicanor Day, the 13th of Adar, the day before Purim. Read more

Shabbat Tetzaveh & Zachor: Amelek

March 2, 2023 by  

The Shabbat before Purim is always called Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat when we remember. Read more

Why I am a liberal

February 24, 2023 by  

I recently came across a book called “The Call of the Tribe: Essays” by the Peruvian Nobel Prize Winner Mario Vargas Llosa. Read more

Shabbat Terumah: The Lost Ark

February 23, 2023 by  

The Tabernacle was the House of God, symbolising the Divine Presence. Read more

Why?

February 17, 2023 by  

Innocent worshippers were shot outside a synagogue. Read more

Israeli Theocracy

February 10, 2023 by  

In the febrile political polemic of our times, language is a victim as people use words loosely, inaccurately, and without thinking of their significance or meaning. Read more

Shabbat Yitro: Pacificism

February 9, 2023 by  

“And if you make for Me an altar of stones, do not build it out of hewn stones, because if you use your sword in making it, you will profane it” (Exodus 20:22). Read more

New Year for trees

February 3, 2023 by  

This week we celebrate Tu BiShvat, the New Year for trees. TuBishvat as we celebrate it today, is a post-biblical creation of the great sixteenth-century mystic  Isaac Luria of Safed and is concerned with life and nature. Read more

Shabbat BeShalach: Women at Sea

February 3, 2023 by  

Rashi, commenting on this week’s amazing events at the Red Sea, quotes the Midrash ( Mechilta 15:22) that at the Red Sea, God was seen by the humblest maidservant in a more powerful way than even the greatest of the prophets. Read more

A Different Generation

January 30, 2023 by  

At a recent family gathering, I was surprised to hear how a negative image of my maternal grandfather had been passed down to some of his great, grandchildren.  Read more

Shabbat Bo: Mezuzah

January 26, 2023 by  

This week we read about the preparation of the Israelites to leave Egypt. They were told to prepare a lamb for each household to eat together on the night that the Egyptian firstborn would be killed, and they would be let free from slavery. Read more

National Anthems

January 20, 2023 by  

There is something so dated, archaic, and non-sensical about National Anthems, and indeed flags, that takes us back to a world of ancient tribal warfare, conquests, and long-lost identities. Read more

Shabbat Vaeyra: Hard Hearts

January 19, 2023 by  

Moses and Aaron are locked in a power struggle with Pharaoh, who seemingly holds all the cards.  Read more

Where does charity begin?

January 13, 2023 by  

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  

Throughout the Torah, God has been referred to anthropomorphically. Read more

What is wrong in Israel

January 8, 2023 by  

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  

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  

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  

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  

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  

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  

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  

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  

“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  

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  

Wherever we turn, anger seems to be the prevailing mood. Read more

Shabbat Vayeyra: Who Was Hagar?

November 10, 2022 by  

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  

Of all the religious non-Jews of my lifetime that I admire, John 23rd ( Pope from 1958-1963) tops my list. Read more

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