The two aspects of Parashah Massey I want to discuss with you today are the 42 journeys and encampments and the cities of refuge. The journeys and encampment are more readily appreciated if we first consider the full magnitude of the Exodus. Most of us will have seen the 1956 epic film, ‘The Ten Commandments’ … Read more
Traditionally, Parashat Korah is a popular portion for with those delivering sermons. Rashi’s opening commentary for this parasha is often misquoted to suggest that it must be read accompanied by a sermon. And why is it so popular? There are very clear lessons to be learned from it, concerning the role and meaning of leadership, … Read more
The Red Heifer and the purification of tumah We read in (Numbers 19:2) “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer, faultless, wherein is no blemish and upon which never came yoke.” The question I asked myself … Read more
Religion without guilt I once more want to visit today the teaching of my Rabbi Shlomo, a man whose understanding of human nature and religion shaped my life. I try to imagine what he would have to say about this week’s parasha, the longest in the Torah, and its many rituals: the ordeal of the … Read more
At a meeting of the college faculty, an angel suddenly appears and tells the head of the philosophy department, “I will grant you whichever of three blessings that you choose: wisdom, beauty or £10million.” Immediately the professor chooses wisdom. There is a flash of lightning, and the professor appears transformed, but he just sits there … Read more
When I was first offered this sermon, (my very first by the way!) I was really excited and couldn’t wait to look it up in the Chumash to see what the arashat was all about. I must say my initial reaction was pretty negative. Just more sin offerings, leprosy, dashing of blood on the altar, … Read more
Given that we have had three scrolls today because it is Rosh Chodesh, I am not going to discuss any of the readings today but would just like to say a little about the short meditation at the end of the Amidah. It’s a piece that we almost never read out loud, and which I … Read more
Why do people do what they do? Well, if we’re thinking in terms of jobs in an industry of some sort then some people do what they do for money alone, others for the combination of money and intellectual satisfaction; few people do unpaid work for obvious reasons, especially if they are already on a … Read more
For most of us, there are two types of Torah readings that we find harder to identify with: those which have to do with mass killings and those which describe the building of and serving in the Temple. Progressive Judaism, as some of you know, has given up on the Jerusalem Temple ever being rebuilt … Read more
Our Torah parashah this morning contains an embarrassment of riches for sermons. Most of it is of a legal character, establishing a basis for many of the fundamental principles of Jewish law, which we discussed in our Torah study group on Thursday evening, I would like to address the verses that we heard read not … Read more
