Don’t kiss!
March 10, 2023 by Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
The dominant theme of the Torah this Shabbat is the episode of the Golden Calf. Read more
Nicanor Day
March 3, 2023 by Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
The Tabernacle was the House of God, symbolising the Divine Presence. Read more
Why?
February 17, 2023 by Jeremy Rosen
Innocent worshippers were shot outside a synagogue. Read more
Israeli Theocracy
February 10, 2023 by Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
“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 Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
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 Jeremy Rosen
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 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






