Category: Rabbis blog

Rabbi's Corner Shemot  - Freedom of thought Disclaimer: This article does not contradict the Halachic imperative to listen to sound medical advice and to follow the law of the land. It aims to promote intellectually honest debate, to be unafraid to ask hard questions and the notion that we are free to think for ourselves. This week Talk Radio was "deplatformed" by YouTube for 12 hours. This effectively removed the ability for this mainstream Radio station from streaming its content on YouTube during that period. YouTube have acted unilaterally because they believe that Talk Radio has broadcast information and ideas that are contrary to the consensus on Covid and therefore constitutes medical misinformation. All this despite the fact that Talk Radio are governed by Ofcom which is considered to be an excellent  regulator who have not found Talk Radio in breach of its broadcast code. The problem is that Talk Radio have not put on air any conspiracy theories or Covid deniers. What they are "guilty"...

Vayechi-  Being Happy with our lot - The situation in which you find yourself Ethics of the Fathers teaches us "Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot" How many of us truly live up to this dictum? Are there not times in our lives when we think to ourselves (or share with a loved one) "If only my life would be different ...". The statement in Ethics of the Fathers makes no exceptions to the rule and when life gets tough (and it does for all of us at some point) then experiencing joy with what we have can be a real challenge. We find Jacob at the end of Parshat Vayigash experiences this very dilemma: But first a brief preamble on the story. The twelve tribes are finally united and reconciled. The Israelite clan of 70 have descended to Egypt, They have been given the most fertile land in the Delta Nile which is the best area to pasture their flocks...

Rabbi's Corner Vayigash- Releasing ourselves from resentment and toxic emotions. In Vayigash the epic saga of Joseph and the brothers comes to a climax. Yehudah confronts Joseph with one of the most extraordinary speeches recorded in Tanach .Note that most dialogue in tanach is recorded in pithy statements. Yehudah's dialogue in contrast is the longest speech in the book of Genesis - 17 verses !. Yehudah's speech is carefully crafted for maximum impact to appeals for mercy from Joseph. The two main components being 1) that Yehudah would take Binyamin's place 2) building a vivid picture of an innocent father (Jacob) brought to his grave in inconsolable grief having lost both his sons (from Rachel). Ultimately the speech triggers Joseph to reveal himself to the brothers with one of the most emotionally charged words in all Tanach:  "I am Joseph is my father alive?" The brothers are initially shocked, stunned into silence. Their guilt over selling Joseph is laid bare in front of them. There is...

Miketz - Are you still dreaming? Children have dreams and aspirations. Teenagers continue to dream and often with the impetuosity of youth they feel frustrated that their dreams are not immediately realised. As adults we dream but then life gets in the way! We can easily become impeded by the administrative and mundane aspects of life that drag us down into the quagmire. For some this leads to giving up on their dreams and in the words of Henry David Thoreau (19th century philosopher, essayist and naturalist) "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation". But does it have to be this way? Our Torah believes very strongly in dreams. The book of Genesis is filled with dreams. The dream of Jacob's ladder with angels ascending and descending. Joseph's dreams (1 the brothers sheaves of grain bowing to his and 2 the sun moon and stars bowing to him). Then we have the dream of the chief cupbearer to Pharoah interpreted by Joseph to...

Vayeshev- Chanukah  One of the fascinating aspects of Chanukah is derived from an unusual facet of the laws of lighting the Menorah. a) The Talmud informs us that to fulfil ones basic obligation one need only light one light each of the 8 nights of Chanukah. Thus a total of 8 candles over the course of the festival (excluding the shammes which is not part of the count and only serves the main candle) b) The "next level up" known as the hiddur Mitzva (beautification of the Mitzva) is for each member of the household to light one candle each night. c) The highest level known as "Mehadrin min Hamehadrin" (lit the beautification of the beautification) is to light one candle on the first night and add one candle each night until 8 candles on the final night.  Thus a total of 36 candles excluding the Shammes. This is the view of the school of Hillel. The School of Shammai reverse the order so...

Vayeitzeh - running away  The Parsha begins with Jacob running away from his home to escape the jealous murderous rage of his brother Esav. He is following the instructions of his parents. It is not clear what other options were available to Jacob as surely self preservation overrides his continued spiritual development in the rarefied and holy atmosphere at home. Jacob encounters a Holy place on his journey where we are told he sleeps the night and experiences a prophetic vision. Angels are ascending and descending. God stands over him and promises that He will look after Jacob whilst he is away from the Holy land. It seems that Jacob was not prepared for the world "out there". Whilst at home he was protected from the dangers that society presents to his spiritual development. But this is not the fulfilment of his true purpose. Perhaps his parents were doing more than instructing Jacob to save his life - seemingly obvious thing to do as...

Toldot In this weeks Parsha we encounter the story of the birth of Yaacov and Esav. The Torah describes to us the difficulty Rivkah had with her pregnancy. "But the children struggled in her womb, and she said, “If so, why am I thus?” She went to inquire of the LORD" 25:22 The commentators struggle with this phrase "If so, why am I thus?" Rashi drawing on the ancient Midrash Rabba explains Rivka's complaint as "why is it that I longed and prayed to become pregnant?”. In other words Rivka was in tremendous religious turmoil over the pain her pregnancy was causing her. Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar (1696-1743) in his commentary Ohr Hachaim challenges this interpretation. For Ohr Hachaim it is inconceivable that such a righteous person as Rivkah would complain about her pain. He writes "the righteous are willing to bear great pain in this world for the sake of the eternal good". Rabbi Sacks ז"צל would express this idea as follows "He who has a why in life can bear almost...

Above is a screen shot of the "Teams" session I did. Two separate classrooms and the coordinator from the governments "Bridging the Gap" project. School "Visit" Shul may be closed and we are unable to host our usual highly enjoyable school visits but this Week Rabbi Bergson 'visited' online the St Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic school in Burnley where he spoke to both juniors and infants about what it means to be Jewish today. The theme was ’ Friendship & love’  and the children produced art work based on the session that will be put inside and outside the school. Topics covered were wide ranging including, Synagogue and prayer, Shabbat, Festivals, modesty, Jewish identity. A favourite question was if I liked being a Rabbi! ...

The Afternoon Check in After reading about the death of Sarah and the subsequent burial, mourning and eulogy for her the Torah immediately turns its attention to the narrative of Abraham instructing his loyal servant Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac. The rest of the Parsha is dedicated to the intricate details of how Rebecca was identified by Eliezer via a special test he devised which revealed her extra levels of kindness and sensitivity. Eventually Eliezer returns with Rebecca and many camels laden. As they reach Isaac the verse states “And Isaac went out to commune in the field towards evening,” Our sages comment that Isaac was praying the afternoon prayer which we know as Mincha. The Talmud tells us that Mincha is especially precious time to pray as this was when Elijah the prophet prayed in his show down against the false prophets of Baal (an ancient pagan deity) and he was answered immediately (see I Kings 18  one of the most famous chapters in all Tenach). Rabbi...

Vayera – Sermonette Last week I wrote about "the journey into the unknown" being the quintessential of any journey of faith. If we are fixed in our ways and mindset then we can't make that soul-journey towards God. This is because any spiritual journey we embark on requires openness to inner change. This was the legacy of Abraham and Sarah. This week in Vayera we encounter a different aspect of the journey of faith. That is - how far are we willing to go in our commitment to Hashem. Abraham answers this question with the test of the Akeidah. This was the ultimate test as it went against all reason and rationale. Abraham had been promised a son that would be the progenitor of an eternal people. Abraham stood on a platform of hope and Divine goodness and love which he spread so effectively throughout the ancient, civilised world. Yet God was effectively commanding him to abandon his entire life's work with one...