Post List

Asking the right questions

The major theme in this portion focuses on returning to G-d; the Hebrew word shuv comes very often into these passages, returning to the Land, to G-d and to Torah obedience. This passage reflects so much the final thoughts on the whole Chumash journey, it takes a good hard look at the whole scenario and proposes a way ahead. It begins in the Garden, and as the 5 books of…

Parashat Ki Tavo (When you enter)

Parashat Ki Tavo כִּי תַבוֹ opens with the offerings of Habikkurim (first fruits), that have been brought to the Tabernacle to acknowledge G-d’s goodness in the provision of the produce, and to affirm that He is its true owner. HaShem is also thanked for the gift of the land, Eretz Yis’rael. The Birkhat ha-Mazon (blessing after meals) we say today is similar in nature, thanking G-d for both the food…

Ki Tetze

“You are not to sow two kinds of seed between your rows of vines; if you do, both the two harvested crops and the yield from the vines must be forfeited. You are not to plough with an ox and a donkey together. You are not to wear clothing woven with two kinds of thread, wool and linen together.” On the surface these commandments appear to be very strange. After…

Living in the Kingdom

This portion is all about the principles of government in Israel, ‎how to rule yourselves. In Devarim 16 we are told to appoint ‎judges and officers in our gates/towns. The portion also includes ‎the crucial section on ‘a better prophet’ and how/when/if a king is ‎to be appointed. It teaches us about justice and righteousness, ‎the need for witnesses who are unbiased and truly neutral, how ‎evidence needs to be…

Parashat Va’etchanan

“You shall love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” Luke 10: 27. At the beginning of the sidra today, Moshe reminds ‘Am Yis’rael’ that he pleaded with G-d to allow him to cross the Yarden into the promised land. He then goes on to give a series of commands (mitzvot)…

‘Impulse’ – Parashat Pinchas

How many of you remember the advert for the deodorant ‘Impulse’? It showed a young lady doing her ablutions and then spraying on this deodorant and then going out. As she passes a young man, he gets a whiff of this and then runs off, finds a flower shop, buys some flowers and runs back to find her to give her the flowers, which she takes whilst blushing. And the…

Parashat Balak

G-d is on my side… whose side? Balak King of the Moabites is honoured with this portion named after him, so again there is a key truth to learn from him as a role model. He looked at Israel and realised the writing was on the wall, destruction was assured due to our might and power, so he tried to get a little extra help against us. On comes Balaam…

Parashat Chukat

Tragedy strikes the lives of some of Israel’s greatest leaders in this week’s parashah. Moshe and Aharon are denied entry into Eretz Yisrael and soon afterward Aharon dies on top of Mount Hor. It is recorded that “entire community saw that Aharon was dead” and “they mourned Aharon thirty days, the whole house of Israel.” Although the people had often contended with Aharon, they felt a sudden sense of loss…

Parashat Korach

Humility! “Is it a small thing to you that the G-d of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the L-RD, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; “and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking…

Parashat Sh’lach L’kha

Parashat Sh’lach L’kha is perhaps one of the saddest of all our weekly portions. We not only read about how our people rejected the Holy Land, but we also read about the tragic subsequent judgement in which a whole generation was condemned to perish in the wilderness. Indeed, our sadness is exacerbated by the thought that it really ought not to have been so – that our ancestors might have…

Weekly Drash