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

A murder during the British Mandate

Alexander Rubowitz, a sixteen-year-old Jerusalemite, left his home on May 6, 1947, and never returned. Read more

Shabbat Chukat: The Unknowable

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

Shabbat Korach – Rosh Chodesh: Miracles

One of the amazing features of the Torah, over and above its significance as the foundation of Judaism, is the way it conveys human nature with all its greatness and pettiness, triumphs and failures. Read more

Shlomo Ben Yosef (1913-1937)

Once again, we find ourselves torn between negotiation or warfare. Read more

Shabbat Shelach Lecha – Mental Fortitude

The reading this week is mainly concerned with the 12 men sent by Moses to tour the land of Israel prior to the invasion. Read more

Frantz Fanon

As a student I was a fan of Frantz Fanon, a black Frenchman born in Martinique. He was a psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary, and writer whose work was and remains influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, critical theory, and Marxism. Read more

Shabbat Beha’alotecha – A Just War

Amongst the many topics in this week’s Torah reading is the seemingly incidental one of the two silver trumpets. Read more

Chief Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz

As South Africa goes to the polls to re-elect a corrupt, evil, disaster of a regime,  one feels so sorry for those naïve idealists hoped for something better. Read more

Shabbat Behukotai: What am I worth?

As we reach the end of the book of Leviticus, we’ve run through a series of laws, ethical and ritual, that relate to other human beings, the Land, and God. Read more

R. Akiva Winner or Loser?

Rebbi Akiva, born in 50 CE, was one of the greatest rabbis of the Talmud. He was also one of the most controversial. Read more

Shabbat Behar: Why Homeland Matters

“God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai and told him to tell the Children of Israel that when they come to the Land of Israel, they should give the land a rest (a Sabbatical)…every seventh year.” Read more

Josephus Hero or Traitor

The man we know as Josephus (the Romans called him Flavius Josephus ), was an aristocratic Judean, born in Jerusalem in 37 CE and died in Rome somewhere around 100 CE. Read more

Shabbat Emor: Differences that Bind

The book of Leviticus is concerned with difference. Read more

Shabbat Kedoshim: Morality

Chapter 19 of Leviticus, known as Kedoshim, Be Holy, includes a range of laws that concern ethical standards that were relevant then and today. Read more

Shabbat Acharei Mot: Forbidden Sex

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Slavery today

We tend to think of slavery as something belonging entirely to the past. 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

Ben Hecht

We Jews have always been a fractious, divided people ever since the days of Moses. Read more

Shabbat Tazria: Naaman

The Torah this week goes into detail about what is called Leprosy, but it can be understood to mean any infectious skin disease. Read more

Lilith

There are many stories about evil spirits who are supposed to surround us and interfere in our lives. Read more

Shabbat Shmini: You are what you eat

After dealing with the sacrificial system and with the roles that priests play within it, the Torah turns to the laws of kashrut. Read more

Free speech

In my youth, I always regarded free, reasoned, civilised speech to be one of the most important and positive features of Western societies. Read more

Shabbat Tzav Para: Humans First

We continue reading this week about the sacrifices. This is a controversial issue that challenges us to this day. Read more

Self Defence

Elliot Horowitz’s overview of Purim over the ages, Reckless Rites and the Legacy of Jewish Violence, has a subtext. It is a quote from the English poet W.H. Auden: “ Those to whom evil is done, Do evil in return.” Read more

Shabbat Vayikra & Zachor: Amalek

The Shabbat before Purim is always called Shabbat Zachor the Shabbat to Remember. Read more

Why Purim matters

Purim matters so much this year. It tells a never-ending story. We were threatened with destruction. We responded by finding ways to combat the threat.  We did not capitulate. We called out evil as it was. Read more

Shabbat Pekudey: The Messiah

As we come to the end of the book of Exodus and look back at the structure of the book it contains three elements. Read more

Who was Job?

One of my earliest and happiest memories and the first play I ever attended, was The Story of Job performed at Carmel College in 1953. Read more

Shabbat Vayakhel & Shekalim – Community or Individuality?

This week’s Torah starts with the word Vayakhel. It means ‘gathering together’. Read more

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