Shabbat Eykev Do as you would be done by

The weekly reading of Eykev follows the pattern of the previous three weeks. Read more

Shabbat Balak – Listening to Magicians

It seems strange that the whole part of the Torah we read this week should be named after a Midianite/Moabite King, Balak, and devoted to a non-Jewish magician Bilam. Read more

Shabbat Chukat: The Unknowable

There are various words for law in the Bible. Read more

The Evolution of Shavuot

Shavuot, more than any other festival, illustrates the ongoing way in which a Biblical festival and, indeed, many Biblical laws have evolved in unusual, unpredictable ways. It reinforces the reality (much disputed) that Jewish Law and custom are constantly renewing, evolving and changing. Read more

Shabbat Metzora – Shabbat HaGadol:  Elijah

“Behold I will send you Elijah (Eliyahu) the prophet before the great awesome Day of God and he will reconcile fathers to children and children to fathers” (Malachi 3:24). Read more

Shabbat Bo: Lessons from the Exodus

There are two themes amongst the many in this week’s Torah that stand out as being particularly relevant at this moment in time. Read more

Shabbat Shemot: Knowing, Forgetting, remembering

A new king arose who did not know of Joseph (Exodus 1.8). Read more

Doing good deeds or praying – which is more important?

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Any problem for a Jew wishing a Christian “Merry Xmas”?

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Shabbat Mikeytz: End of Days

This week’s Torah reading starts when Joseph had been in jail for a crime he had not committed. Read more

Shabbat Vayeytzey: Initiative

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Shabbat Toldot: Esau or Ishmael

Last week, we read about how Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury their father. And in fact, they lived together at the same place, Be’er Lechai Roi. Their coming together seems to have been complete. Read more

Does Judaism have a problem with people being ambitious?

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Shabbat Lech Lecha: Bad people and good

We are living under conditions that remind us of how much we Jews can be hated and to what extremes our enemies can go in order to express such hatred. Read more

Once a Jew, always a Jew?

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Yom Kippur thoughts

Rabbi Raymond Apple shares his thoughts. Read more

Teshuvah is for everyone

No moment in Jewish history was as breathtaking as the revelation at Sinai. Read more

Shabbat Ki Tavo: The Land of Israel

“When you enter the land that your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take the first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that your God giving you, and put them in a basket and go to the place that God chooses and to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, “I acknowledge this day before your God that I have entered the land that swore to our fathers to assign us.” ( Deuteronomy 26:1-2). Read more

Synagogue or Temple

This month of August is the season of travelling, going on vacation in the northern hemisphere. Read more

Is the Messiah simply a nice dream or will it really happen?

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Sadness and Joy

Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of Av, reminds us of the greatest catastrophes in our history. Read more

What is one to make of Albert Einstein’s statement that “The Jewish God is simply a negation of superstition”?

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Utopia

In 1551 the English diplomat and scholar Sir Thomas More, living in the reign of King Henry 8^th, wrote a book called Utopia. Read more

Shabbat Mattot & Massei: Where should you live?

As the children of Israel approach the land of Israel, they had to pass through what is now Transjordan. The domains of Sihon the Emorite and Og of Bashan. Read more

How does the international date line impact on Jewish observance?

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What is the meaning of life?

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Shabbat Behar & Behukotai – The Good the Bad and the Ugly

The book of the Torah called Vayikra or Leviticus, is also called the Book of Purity. Read more

Shabbat Vayikra: Sacrifices

At this time of the year, the Torah readings are all to do with sacrifices. I shall confess that the thought of killing animals does not fill me with any great enthusiasm. Read more

Shabbat Vayakhel Pekudei: Repetition is Good

It is an interesting phenomenon that the major events of the Torah that play a crucial role in the life of the people from a philosophical point of view are repeated in slightly different ways. Read more

Do we have a guardian angel?

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