Category: Rabbis blog

Exhausted from RH YK Sukkot, cooking, building sukkas, no sleep and so on (and of course kids off school!) Simchat Torah is only a few days away and often we find ourselves exhausted, shulled out for some, not in the mood to get our dancing shoes on! so here are just a few thoughts on Simchat Torah Simchat Torah we conclude the annual cycle of the Torah reading and restart anew with Bereishit. To celebrate the custom of circling the Bimah with circuits (Hakafot) developed paralleling the circuits made with willows and the Arbah Minim around the Temple Altar. Simchat Torah with its numerous customs can be traced back at least a 1000 years to the medieval period Many of us find it very difficult to dance with the Torah. It seems strange, unseemly or awkward. When we go to a Wedding or other Simcha we understand exactly the cause of the joy and can easily join in. But if we have not followed...

Baruch Dayan Haemet Today's announcement of the loss of Her Majesty the Queen has sent ripples of shock, sadness, and grief throughout the country and around the world. We both mourn her loss yet treasure and celebrate her life.  She has been "the queen" throughout the lives of most of our nation. Her total dedication and self-sacrifice to a higher cause - the nation- serves as an example to all of us of how life can and should be lived for something greater than just self. King Solomon wrote in Kohelet regarding visiting a house of mourning that "a living one should take it to heart".    The Targum (Ancient Aramaic interpretive translation) notes "by going into the house of mourning the righteous man sits down and takes to heart the words of death; and if there be any evil in his hand, he will leave it and return in repentance before the Lord of the world." How much more so is this the case...

Koshering our souls In this week’s Parshah we are introduced to the laws of Koshering utensils. The backdrop to these laws is the fascinating story of the war waged by the Israelites against the Midyanites: This war of aggression was specifically commanded by God to avenge the spiritual fiasco fomented by the Midyanites which almost brought about the demise of the Jewish people and ended in a plague killing twenty-four thousand people. The background to that narrative was the failure of Bilaam (a great non-Jewish prophet and political figure) to curse the people (his curses were transformed into the most profound messianic blessings!). Bilaam knew that the people could not be defeated militarily because the Israelites had already overcome the great tribal kings of the region Sichon of Emori and Og of Bashan (today the famous Golan Heights). Moab and Midyan were subservient to these kings paying tribute so military aggression was out of the question.  That is why initially Bilaam attempted in his...

What lies behind Anger? Most of us get angry at sometime or another. Sometimes our anger can be over what appears to be legitimate reasons - someone close to us who we trust and rely on lets us down. And sometimes a person explodes with anger over seemingly trivial reasons. Sometimes we can get angry for no apparent reason which surprises even ourselves. There are many ways we can express the anger ranging from constructive to destructive but how many of us stop to introspect and ask why we are getting angry in the first place? Psychologists today often explain how anger is a secondary emotion. In other words, we are prone to resort to anger in order to protect ourselves from or cover up other more vulnerable feelings that we (or subconsciously) feel threatens our very identity. A primary feeling is what is felt immediately before we feel anger. We almost always feel something else first before we get angry. But the transformation of...

This week I went to the HQ of Lancashire Fire and rescue to join a meeting with the Chief Fire Officer to speak about Judaism. In my introductory remarks I noted that Judaism teaches the sanctity of life and how firefighters are performing an extraordinary service to humankind. I was asked about Jewish Firefighters which is a fascinating and complex halachic topic.  But in general firefighters are dealing with "Sofek Pikuach Nefesh"- potential life-threatening situations which overrides the laws of Shabbat. On a spiritual level I suggested that Judaism is about becoming a spiritual fire fighter! This was based on a famous Midrash regarding our forefather Abraham: "And G‑d said to Abraham: 'Go from your land, your birthplace, and your father's house...'" (Genesis12:2) — To what may this be compared? To a man who was traveling from place to place when he saw a palace in flames. He wondered: "Is it possible that the palace has no owner?" The owner of the palace looked out and said,...

A short Meditation on Shema Shema is more than just a declaration of faith. It is a meditative tutorial in connecting to the Oneness of Hashem. Shema means to actively listen. But the root also means to gather as in "And Saul gathered the people" וַיְשַׁמַּ֤ע שָׁאוּל֙ אֶת־הָעָ֔ם (I Samuel 15:4) When we recite the Shema we are supposed to gather together  every aspect of our selves and personalities before God to try and reveal the underlying oneness. Judaism does not believe in amputating aspects of ourselves. Our job is to take the negative and sublimate it to God, transforming it into the service of Hashem. For example a person has a desire for something forbidden, this is just a distortion of what the soul truly wants which is a relationship with Hashem. When we truly face ourselves with sincerity and come humbly before Hashem in all our vulnerability then we are able to lift up every part of ourselves and reconnect it back to Hashem. If Hashem is One then we are...

I just returned from a fascinating trip to Munich for the 32nd Conference of  European Rabbis. Nearly 400 Rabbis attended and came from all over Europe as well as Israel (including both Sefardi and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis) , USA and Iran! Above is a photo taken just after the conclusion of the conference on a tour of  Dachau concentration. To my left is the chief rabbi of Iran, Rabbi Yehuda Gerami. We discussed how challenging Jewish life is under the current Islamic regime in Iran and how the community must remain low profile. It goes without question that they are unable to truly celebrate their connection to Israel something we take for granted here in the UK and elsewhere in the free world. As we celebrate the Queens's Jubilee it behoves us to reflect on the freedom of religion we enjoy here in the UK and to thank God for this great gift He has bestowed upon us through the vehicle of...

Bechukotai- The blessing and the curse This weeks Torah portion begins with the blessings for listening to God and obeying the Mitzvot followed by the curses for not following the Torah: "If you follow My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them, I will give your rains in their time, the Land will yield its produce, and the tree of the field will give forth its fruit. Your threshing will last until the vintage, and the vintage will last until the sowing; you will eat your food to satiety, and you will live in security in your land …" and "and if you despise My statutes and reject My ordinances, not performing any of My commandments, thereby breaking My covenant, then I too, will do the same to you; I will order upon you shock, consumption, fever, and diseases that cause hopeless longing and depression. You will sow your seed in vain, and your enemies will eat it..." We read this Torah portion each year...

Acharei Mos begins with the mention again of the tragic death of Aharon's two sons Nadav and Avihu who were taken by God in their prime as a result of offering a "strange fire" before God. Aharon's response (recorded at the time of the event in Parshat Shemini)  is silence "Vayidom Aharon". The Torah does not psychoanalyse his response and so we are left to speculate. On one level, Aharon's silence is a kind of numbness to the threat of overwhelming emotion. Silence can be a form of shock that sets in to protect a person from fully absorbing the horrific information- the loss of his two children no less. Yet on a deeper level, Aharon's silence is a deep acceptance of God's judgement. Aharon completely surrenders to Divine Providence. There are no words. The message for us is profound. There are certain times in our lives when words are too limited to express our experience. Words and even song express a certain intelligibility. But silence...

To listen to a preview of the Rabbi's Pesach Message for Radio Manchester (Broadcasting on Sunday Morning) click here Sale of Chametz Form  - PLEASE COMPLETE BEFORE THURSDAY 14 APRIL Please see this link for the Sale of Chametz Form for Pesach 2022. There are also hardcopies at the reception of the Shul. Kosher Pesach Sameach. Haftorah Initiative The  NEXT Haftorah workshop is taking place Monday April 25th after the service (7:00PM). ...