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
Bamidbar sermon: In the last year of the last millennium, I became a deputy at the Board of Deputies on behalf of the Union of Jewish Students. It wasn’t the most exciting of leadership positions to take up, and I don’t remember much about most of the meetings other than the sense of playful camaraderieRead More
In the summer of 2006 I was at a conference in Stockholm, where I had previously studied for a year. After the Shabbat morning service, during Kiddush, one of the wardens, who had known me when I studied there, came over to say hi. He asked after my mum and grandpa who he had givenRead More
I got a call from the head teacher at my kids school last week. I won’t lie, I was scared. What had one of them done? Had someone hurt them? Thank God, it was nothing terrible! Eliana, who is in year 6, had, along with her classmates, been writing a haggadah. In pairs the kidsRead More
“Because of our traditions, We’ve kept our balance for many, many years. Here in Anatevka we have traditions for everything… how to eat, how to sleep, even, how to wear clothes. For instance, we always keep our heads covered and always wear a little prayer shawl… This shows our constant devotion to God. You mayRead More
It’s Shabbat of the Cow. Shabbat Parah. A strange name for a Shabbat, particularly as it is here to announce the approach of (say it quietly) Pesach. Why cows? Well in the first torah reading we heard Nurit read so beautifully this morning, we heard the wrath of God unleashed after the famous incident ofRead More
On Monday night we will start celebrating Purim. It is going to be fun! After a long winter, which still doesn’t want to give way to spring, the continuing recession, the rise in the cost of living, the anniversary of the war in Ukraine, violence and social unrest in Israel, tragic earthquakes in Turkey andRead More
These 53 laws of Parashat Mishpatim come straight after the Israelites received the 10 commandments, which is generally considered to be the Jewish moral and ethical Constitution. The laws range from observing Shabbat to not charging interest on loans to the poor, taking care of widows and orphans, which in those days meant people who,Read More