Every end means a new beginning. At the end of our Morning Yom Kippur service we are only 4 services away from the end of our spiritual journey over the last 10 days, the end of our fast and indeed that new beginning for our cleansed and shining souls. There is something uplifting in YomRead More
“The words of the mouth are more potent than those of the heart. For it is from the mouth that we utter blessings and curses, and from the mouth that we go out to war and peace. Therefore, one should be careful with one’s mouth and speak only words of truth and kindness.” (Talmud, ShabbatRead More
A few weeks ago, I was walking with the family along a busy Jerusalem street, heading for the shuk, the market. In front of us, sitting on the pavement, where it seemed she might have been for some time, a woman was begging. As I noticed her a man who looked like he too couldRead More
Can you smell the air right now? What does it smell of? Apple and honey? Something is in the air. A new beginning? Are you relieved that last year with all its ups and downs, broken hopes and losses, bad news from around the world has finished? Just pause here. Just breathe this air ofRead More
No more excuses Taylor Lewis bar-mitzvah Parashat Nishavim is about excuses. We are told off for making them or even thinking about making them. But are excuses so bad for us? Is it even possible to live our lives without having a few excuses to hand? In my career as a Rabbi the best excuseRead More
When I first arrived at EHRS in April 2020, the world looked a little different. It was a rather small world for a little while. But life needed to carry on in multiple ways that we had to make work, including families wanting to apply for Jewish schools. We found ways to monitor attendance andRead More
There is something breath-taking for me as a child of the late 1970s, who used to communicate with her friends only via the landline and didn’t have a mobile phone until my early 20s, about the exploration of outer space. The landing of the space-station Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the Moon brought lotsRead More
Through the course of recent history, Jewish people, have been called many names. My favourite one is “people of the book”. It is because this name captures the essence of our tradition: look at us celebrating two of the most important lifecycle events, Bat-Mitzvah and Aufruf, around the Torah scroll. So, probably, it does notRead More
Balak 2023 Pride Shabbat and confronting our biases I love animals so Parashat Balak with the speaking donkey could have been one of my favourite, if at the same time it wasn’t such a sad story. We see a mighty king being threatened by the sight of our ancestors’ camp and choosing to address perceivedRead More
Our Parashah Shelah Leha from the book of Numbers is one not to be missed. In it, the lives of a whole generation, and probably the future history of the Israelites as well, were changed. And it all started so well. After so many challenges, quarrels and a long journey the people had almost reachedRead More
What a Parashah we have this week: one big drama after another. Our Torah reading today from Chapter 11 describes one of the toughest moments in Moses’ leadership, and he had many. People complaining yet again about how much better their lives were in slavery back in Egypt! It tells us that the journey toRead More
Ask your average Jew what Shavuot is all about, and they might not have much of an idea, beyond cheesecake. Ask someone who has chosen to become a part of the Jewish people, like many of our Cornerstone students, and they would have a much clearer idea! One of the many things I will missRead More