Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Chaverim, Once again we are mourning and raging after an anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue over the weekend. I have been and remain determined not to give any anti-Semite the victory they want in any way. Whenever they want to…
Beginning with the second night of Pesach we count the Omer until we arrive in our calendar at Shavuot. To help you with the counting, we have prepared a leaflet for you with a calendar, the blessings and the numbers (download link below and available in the Shul).
Many of us know that Passover takes place during the Hebrew month of Nisan. In contrast, most of us do not know that the month of Nisan also includes another observance which begins on the second day of Passover. In…
25 years after the first democratic election. Many things have changed since then, and still much more needs to change, bringing more healing and more equality to our country. Therefore, it is no wonder that campaigning has returned to South…
The portions of Tazria and Metzora are perhaps, for many of you, very uncomfortable portions of the Torah, dealing with all kinds of issues related to ritual purity and impurity. Ritual impurity, or tumah, has nothing to do with hygiene.…
Shabbart Parah Adumah ?! The Shabbatot surrounding holidays are often permeated with the holiday themes, creating the mood for an upcoming festival, reflecting or enhancing festival themes, or easing the transition from a holiday back into the weekly flow of Shabbat.…
Each month in the Jewish calendar symbolises many things, one of which is the general energy for that month. The energy of the month fills through every aspect of our lives, if we pay attention. The month of Adar, the…
It is an interesting co-incidence that on this Shabbat we commemorate all the violent and destructive attacks on the Jewish people in the past while we also begin with the reading of the third book of our Torah—Leviticus, Vayikra in…
The Torah portion Vayakhel presents Moses’ speech to the Israelite community at one of the many special gatherings during their wanderings in the desert. The speech opens with a brief restatement of the commandment to keep the Sabbath. However, the…
Friends, Our Torah portion speaks about the ner tamid, which is often translated as the “eternal light” but it would be better to understand it as “always light” because it always had to be tended to. The Hebrew suggests this…