Religion

Don’t get lost in the wilderness

Aug 22, 2019 Go comment!

Much has been said and written about the galut mentality, the subservience felt by generations of Jews living in the diaspora. As second-class citizens for so many generations in Eastern Europe and in Arab countries, Jews allegedly came to lose their self-esteem. Finally, in our own time, the old ghetto Jew would be replaced with a proud, strong, independent Israeli. No more would Moshke the Jew cower before Poretz the country squire.
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Seeing light where others see darkness

Aug 15, 2019 Go comment!

The Talmud tells us that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, Rabbi Joshua, and Rabbi Akiva went up to Jerusalem. When they reached Mt Scopus, they tore their garments as an act of grief and mourning for the Temple that had been destroyed there. When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the place where the Holy of Holies was situated.
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Are we really independent?

Aug 08, 2019 Go comment!

Tens of thousands of Jews will converge on Jerusalem’s Western Wall this week as our people mark Tisha B’Av, our national day of mourning. On this day in history, both our holy temples were destroyed, and a host of other calamities have occurred throughout the centuries.
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Danger of making incidental significant

Aug 01, 2019 Go comment!

While encamped on the eastern side of the River Jordan, the tribes of Reuben and Gad, owners of cattle, observed that the Land of Jazer and Gilead was suitable for the rearing of livestock. Knowing that the people of Israel were about to cross over the Jordan to enter the land of Canaan, they asked that they be allowed to remain and settle on the east side of the river.
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It’s wiser to be an activist than a critic

Jul 25, 2019 Go comment!

In the aftermath of Pinchas’ slaying of Zimri and Kozbi at the end of last week’s Torah portion, we read this week how some of the Jewish people complained about him. They found it difficult to believe that someone who came from a lineage such as his could have been genuinely disgusted by Zimri’s acts. So, G-d reminded them that although on one side of his family, Pinchas’ ancestors were non-Jewish idol worshipers, on his father’s side, he was descended from Aaron the high priest.
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Crouched in wait for destiny

Jul 18, 2019 Go comment!

The Talmud (B’rachot 12b) records that certain sages raised the idea of including an extra section in the Sh’ma, above and beyond the three we read already. This, they suggested, should be taken from this week’s sidrah (portion) Balak. The only reason they refrained from doing so is that it would make the Sh’ma too long for the community.
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The mystery of the red cow

Jul 11, 2019 Go comment!

The information age has given us an unprecedented ability to understand ourselves, one another, and the world around us. I’m a person with eclectic interests, and have, in my spare time, learned about film criticism, history, engineering, battery design, photography, psychology, design, philosophy, sociology, and lockpicking (I know, right?) All of this has been done without stepping foot in a lecture, but by watching experts on YouTube, and taking online courses.
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Who needs rabbis anyway?

Jul 04, 2019 Go comment!

A small group of daring though deeply spiritual people gathered in the Sinai desert 3 330 years ago with a bold proposition: to create a framework wherein man and G-d engage directly without any space or need for further human intervention – “we are all holy in the eyes of G-d”.
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Learning to live under water

Jun 27, 2019 Go comment!

Each of the 12 tribes had a great spiritual leader. Moses dispatched them to scout the land of Canaan in advance of its intended conquest.
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Positively brilliant

Jun 20, 2019 Go comment!

In this week’s parsha, some of the Jewish people are taken to task for complaining. First, they complained of exhaustion as a result of their travels in the desert, and second, they complained about the manna that Hashem gave them as food. In both cases, Hashem was actually being kind to them! He made them travel quickly in order to enter the land of Israel, and the manna He fed them was a miraculous food that gave energy, satiation, and helped them to think.
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Shavuot: always receiving

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

The year was 1935, and the Spanish government was making elaborate plans to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the Rambam’s birth, seemingly a great honour and proud moment for Jews everywhere.
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The power of shaping people’s sense of self

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

Shavuot, 49 days after Passover, marks the jubilant end to the exodus. On Passover, the people of Israel left Egypt, but it is only on Shavuot that they become G-d’s chosen people by accepting the Torah at Sinai.
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The precious tradition of all night Torah study

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

I recall my sense of excitement the first time I was allowed to come to shul with my father on Shavuot for the all-night Torah vigil. I felt so big!
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The diamond with 70 facets

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

Shavuot celebrates zman matan torateinu – the time of the giving of the Torah. From time to time, I am asked if progressive Jews have a different Sefer Torah to orthodox Jews. At first, the question just bowls me over. Open the ark in any shul, orthodox or progressive, and you will find the identical scrolls with the identical scribal texts so sacred to our people. But I get the question behind the question: if we have the same Torah, how is it possible that we often differ in the way we read it?
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Shavuot: seeing the face of G-d

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

The Jewish festival of Shavuot – the Feast of Weeks – celebrates the encounter between G-d and the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. As described in the Biblical book of Exodus, the newly freed children of Israel receive the Ten Commandments, establish a covenant with G-d, and become a holy nation – a distinctive, set-apart people, committed to live as a model of justice and righteousness.
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Winning Shavuot competition recipes

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

Jews love food, but not all of us love cooking. However, whether you are a budding chef or not, there is nothing better than a recipe that always gets rave reviews. KosherWorld called on the community to participate in a Shavuot Cooking Competition and the response was overwhelming.
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For lactose intolerant Jews, Shavuot is a challenge

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

(JTA) Many modern-day Jews aren’t all that familiar with Shavuot, which celebrates the day when the Israelites first received the Torah from G-d, and falls seven weeks after Passover marked their exodus from Egypt.
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Mystery of the milchik festival

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

When you ask a Jewish six-year old what their favourite festival is, you will probably get the answer that it’s Purim. It’s definitely the most fun – dressing up, giving, and receiving gifts, making noise when you hear Haman’s name.
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How Shavuot came to be associated with cheesecake

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

When Jews think of Shavuot, cheesecake is almost as obvious an association as learning through the night. Shavuot is simply not the same without cheesecake. But how did this decadent dessert become a Jewish holiday tradition?
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A commanding voice

Jun 06, 2019 Go comment!

And, Charlton Heston came down from Mount Sinai and gave us the Torah. Oops! Sorry, make that Moses. And, he was carrying the tablets with the Ten Commandments. The big 10, read in shuls around the world this coming Sunday morning for Shavuot, appear in the Book of Exodus, and are repeated in Deuteronomy as part of Moses’ review of the past 40 years.
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