Open Door | February 2012
Published on the site: February 1st, 2012What’s in a Name? The Apple that (maybe) Wasn’t
Arguably, the most famous apple since time began was not, perhaps, an apple at all. As we.....
Sussex Jewish News | February 2012
Published on the site: February 1st, 2012LISHMAH – JEWISH LEARNING FOR ITS OWN SAKE
Would you like the opportunity to participate in a mini-Limmud every week? Following a period of consultation, at the AGM of the.....Sussex Jewish News | January 2012
Published on the site: January 1st, 2012Trouble-Making Judaism
Judaism is many things – and also means different things to different Jews and different Jewish denominations. I’ve written a book called Trouble-Making Judaism, which will be published.....Open Door | December 2011
Published on the site: December 1st, 2011
Since the synagogue building closed for redevelopment after Yom Kippur, the congregation has been a hive of activity in every place: at Ralli Hall, where we celebrated Sukkot and Simchat.....
Kemptown Rag | December 2011
Published on the site: December 1st, 2011FLAMES OF HOPE
We are in the midst of the dark days of winter – but there is light just over the horizon: at the winter solstice, on the darkest.....Sussex Jewish News | December 2011
Published on the site: December 1st, 2011Winter challenges and opportunities
We are in the midst of the darkest time of the year. Some people welcome the darkness and the opportunity it offers to hibernate. Some look.....THE MEANING OF A MITZVAH – Sussex Jewish News November 2011
Published on the site: November 1st, 2011What is a mitzvah? An obligation; a duty; a commandment. The Hebrew root, Tzadi Vav Hei means to ‘command’ and is first found in the Torah in.....
THE AUTUMN FESTIVALS OF THE JEWISH CALENDAR
Published on the site: October 7th, 2011
Yom Kippur is the day when Jews across the world, gather together from sunset to sunset to confess their sins and failings, and journey towards forgiveness and atonement. But the.....
LISTENING TO THE VOICES OF THE SHOFAR | Sussex Jewish News October 2011
Published on the site: September 27th, 2011
In Temple times, the first day of the seventh month of the Jewish year was known simply as zikaron, a ‘memorial’ (Leviticus 23: 24); ‘yom t’ru’ah, ‘a day of blasting’.....
Address for dedication of a leaf on the Tree of Life in memory of Archie and Elizabeth Fay
Published on the site: September 20th, 2011
From the Rabbi
On 3rd June 1944, three days before D-Day, the Reverend Archie Fay, who became involved in our congregation 70 years ago, gave.....
A Palestinian state will give us peace of mind
Published on the site: September 9th, 2011A two-state solution is a spiritual as well as political necessity.
By Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah
TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF IN THE BOOK OF OUR LIVES | OPEN DOOR SEPTEMBER 2011
Published on the site: September 6th, 2011
There are many ways of interpreting the word which is the theme of this issue of Open Door: ‘Leaves’. I would like to invite you to reflect on ‘leaves’ as.....
SJN July 2011 | The time for the dream of peace to become a reality
Published on the site: July 1st, 2011
I want to tell you about a dream I had in the early hours of the morning of Sunday 5 June. Somehow, I was outside a building - a building,.....
DUSTING OURSELVES OFF AND PREPARING FOR A NEW BEGINNING
Published on the site: April 1st, 2011
So, spring has sprung, and as the light and warmth increases, we open our doors and windows to the world outside, and get down to some serious spring-cleaning.
It is interesting.....
REMEMBERING THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS APRIL 2011
Published on the site: April 1st, 2011
This year the first day of Pesach coincides with the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which began on 19th April 1943 – Erev Pesach that year. To put the.....
Letter to the The Guardian 1st February 2011
Published on the site: February 1st, 2011The Guardian, Tuesday 1 February 2011
The Guardian's collusion with al-Jazeera in publishing selected items of confidential information on the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians has been extremely foolish (Comment,.....
HAFTARAT BO – Jeremiah 46:13-28 – The meaning of Omnipotence – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS January 2011
Published on the site: January 4th, 2011
An isolated visionary, whose words were rarely heeded, the prophet Jeremiah spent forty years prophesying in Judah, during the late seventh century and early sixth century BCE, when the two.....
HAFTARAT VA-Y’CHI – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS DECEMBER 2010
Published on the site: December 1st, 2010
What should a father who say to his children before he dies? Parashat Va-y’chi relates Jacob's blessing of his sons as his death approaches. Similarly, the Haftarah relates King David's.....
AN ETHICAL TAKE ON THE JOSEPH STORY – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 2010
Published on the site: November 27th, 2010
The narratives of B’reishit are wonderful stories about relationships and behaviour. Often they reveal a disturbing, shadow-side of the human personality, particularly disturbing as much of the focus is on.....
A COMMENTARY ON THE ‘YOTZER’ BLESSING’ – 27th November 2010
Published on the site: November 27th, 2010
Traditionally, the name of a prayer or portion of the Torah is drawn from the first key word. The Yotzer begins – after the six-word blessing formula: ‘Yotzer or u’vorei.....
TOWARDS A NEW BEGINNING – OPEN DOOR 12.10. 2010 – 01. 11. 2010
Published on the site: October 12th, 2010
December 1st marks the 10th anniversary of my first day as Rabbi of our congregation. As it happens, this year, the festival of Chanukkah begins that evening, with the lighting.....
OF CYCLES AND SPIRALS – OPEN DOOR 09. 10. 2010
Published on the site: October 9th, 2010
Jewish life is a tale of cycles: the cycle of the week from Shabbat to Shabbat; the cycle of the months from Nissan to Adar; the cycle of the year.....
HAFTARAT B’RIESHIT – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS OCTOBER 2010
Published on the site: October 2nd, 2010
The connection with Parashat B’reishit is evident in the very first verse (Isaiah 42:5):
Thus says the Eternal God, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who made the earth.....
ALL ABOUT TREES – TU BISHVAT AND CHANUKKAH – 12. 09. 2010 – 01. 10. 2010
Published on the site: September 12th, 2010
What does Chanukkah, the ‘Festival of Lights’ have in common with Tu Bishvat, the ‘New Year for Trees? On the face of it, not a lot… Well, there are some.....
THE SUKKAH AND THE MISHKAN – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SEPTEMBER 2010
Published on the site: September 2nd, 2010
The Haftarah reading for the second day of Sukkot focuses on the dedication of King Solomon’s Temple during the festival of Sukkot – referred to simply as he-chag, ‘the feast’.
But.....
LESSONS IN PRAYER FROM HANNAH – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SEPTEMBER 2010
Published on the site: September 2nd, 2010
The Torah reading for the first day of Rosh Hashanah – Genesis 21 – opens with the birth of Isaac to the previously barren Sarah. Similarly, the corresponding Haftarah relates.....
SPACE – OPEN DOOR 06. 08. 2010
Published on the site: August 6th, 2010
Space: it's the infinite beyond; what we used to call ‘the heavens’; it’s everything around us - most of which, we have filled up ... The account of the creation.....
KI TAVO – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS AUGUST 2010
Published on the site: August 2nd, 2010
The haftarah for Ki Tavo, Isaiah chapter 60, is the sixth of the Seven Haftarot of Consolation, which begin on the Shabbat following Tishah B’Av, and conclude on the Shabbat.....
MATTOT-MAS’EI – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS JULY 2010
Published on the site: July 2nd, 2010
During the three-weeks from 17th Tammuz, when the Babylonians breached the walls of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, until 9th Av – Tishah B’Av – when they razed the Temple, there.....
HAFTARAT KORACH – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS JUNE 2010
Published on the site: June 1st, 2010
The parashah, Korach (Numbers 16: 1-18:32), centres on the rebellion of Korach, Datan, Aviram and On against Moses and Aaron: Korach, because, as a first cousin and fellow Levite, restricted.....
NEW MILESTONES ON THE JOURNEY FROM PESACH TO SHAVUOT – OPEN DOOR 04. 05. 2010
Published on the site: May 4th, 2010
The journeys of the Jewish people define our very existence – from the time our first ancestors, Abraham and Sarah, left lower Mesopotamia – present-day Iraq – to journey to.....
WAS SAMSON A NAZIR? – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS MAY 2010
Published on the site: May 2nd, 2010
The Haftarah for parashat Naso relates part of the famous tale of Samson (Judges 13:2-25), reminding us that like other significant biblical women, Samson’s mother was ‘barren’. However, in her.....
OF REWARD AND PUNISHMENT – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS MAY 2010
Published on the site: May 2nd, 2010
In parashat B’chukkotai we find the ‘small print’ of the b’rit, the covenant: The people will be rewarded with prosperity, peace and the presence of God if they obey, and.....
WHEN WE DON’T PUT THEORY INTO PRACTICE – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS APRIL 2010
Published on the site: April 2nd, 2010
The double portion, Acharey-Mot K’doshim, includes at its heart, arguably, the most important verses in the Torah. Known, appropriately as the ‘Holiness Code’, because it is predicated on the understanding.....
OF IDOLS AND THE ETERNAL – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS MARCH 2010
Published on the site: March 2nd, 2010
This week’s parashah, Ki Tissa, tells the famous story of the eigel masseichah - ‘molten calf’ (Exodus 32:1ff.): Moses away on Mount Sinai, and fearing that they have been abandoned,.....
THE IMPORTANCE OF TELLING TALES – OPEN DOOR 02. 03. 2010
Published on the site: March 2nd, 2010
It is impossible to define Judaism in a simple way – and the word doesn’t have a Hebrew equivalent. If we reflect on our complex Jewish inheritance, we can.....
ENTERING THE COVENANT IN EVERY AGE – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS FEBRUARY 2010
Published on the site: February 1st, 2010
Because it is Shabbat Sh’kalim, the Haftarah, II Kings 11:17-12:17, relates to the second scroll reading from Ki Tissa – Exodus 30:11-16, which is about the half-shekel poll tax levied.....
VA’EIR – SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS JANUARY 2010
Published on the site: January 2nd, 2010
The second portion of Sh’mot, the Book of Exodus, Va-eira, continues the very familiar story of the Exodus of the Israelites. The story is so familiar that it is easy.....
TAZRI’A-M’TZORA AND THE IMPERATIVE TO SET APART
Published on the site: December 30th, 2009
With the double parashah, Tazri’a-M’tzora, the concerns of the Book of Leviticus turn to child-birth, bodily emissions, skin eruptions and house ‘plagues’. What has all this got to do with.....
VA-YEIRA – QUESTIONING ABRAHAM
Published on the site: December 30th, 2009
What is your view of our first patriarch, Abraham? Va-yeira presents him in many different ways: He is the epitome of hospitality (Ch. 18); he is the proud father (Ch......