NSW Parliament passes new laws to protect places of worship

The NSW Parliament has passed legislation ensuring people can attend their places of worship without being blocked, harassed or intimidated, with police retaining powers to move on protesters who interfere with access.

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The Lost Ark

So many people love conspiracy theories, fantasies, and lost causes. Read more

Shabbat Chayey Sarah

Was Hagar Abandoned? Read more

Online course on Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Israel’s Bar-Ilan University has launched a groundbreaking new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), The Jewish Philosophy of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.” Read more

Shabbat Eykev

Sir Thomas More

I was always interested in history. Having been brought up in England, I have a particular interest in its history. Read more

Fasting

In The Economist of June 20^th, there was an interesting article under the heading “Do longevity drugs work.” Read more

Shabbat Pinchas

Qualities of Leadership Read more

The pope’s ‘divisions’ and the war against the Jews

In an era when religion seems to be in steep decline throughout Europe and North America, it might strike some people as curious that the election of a new pope would be treated as such an earth-shaking event. Read more

Shabbat Eykev Do as you would be done by

The weekly reading of Eykev follows the pattern of the previous three weeks. Read more

Shabbat Vayeytzey: Initiative

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Shabbat Toldot: Esau or Ishmael

Last week, we read about how Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury their father. And in fact, they lived together at the same place, Be’er Lechai Roi. Their coming together seems to have been complete. Read more

Unimaginable pain

The unimaginable pain on seeing the evidence of children tortured, limbs cut off and burnt to death, screams for an explanation. Why did God let this happen? Read more

Once a Jew, always a Jew?

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Yom Kippur thoughts

Rabbi Raymond Apple shares his thoughts. Read more

Teshuvah is for everyone

No moment in Jewish history was as breathtaking as the revelation at Sinai. Read more

Shabbat Ki Tavo: The Land of Israel

“When you enter the land that your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take the first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that your God giving you, and put them in a basket and go to the place that God chooses and to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, “I acknowledge this day before your God that I have entered the land that swore to our fathers to assign us.” ( Deuteronomy 26:1-2). Read more

What is one to make of Albert Einstein’s statement that “The Jewish God is simply a negation of superstition”?

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What is the meaning of life?

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

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

Shabbat Tazria & Metzorah: Healthy in body and mind

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

Q. Why do (Orthodox) synagogues not allow the use of organ music?

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Shabbat Vayakhel Pekudei: Repetition is Good

It is an interesting phenomenon that the major events of the Torah that play a crucial role in the life of the people from a philosophical point of view are repeated in slightly different ways. Read more

Why?

Innocent worshippers were shot outside a synagogue. Read more

Shabbat BeShalach: Women at Sea

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

Does Judaism have any list of banned books?

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Can I reconvert to Judaism?

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Shabbat Shemot: Who is God?

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

Shabbat Vayeytzey: Dreams and Fears

Jacob flees his parents’ home because he fears that Esau will kill him for taking the blessing from Isaac. Read more

Was the fruit of the Tree of Life from which Adam and Eve ate really an apple?

Ask the rabbi. Read more

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