Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
A joke is told about the New York man driving around desperately seeking a parking place. He can’t find one, and so in desperation, he says, “Oh God I pray that you give me a parking space, if you give…
On Tuesday morning I attended with several of our ITJ students an “Exclusive Women’s Breakfast” organised by Sharon Wapnick, WIZO. Dr Einat Wilf, the invited guest speaker, led a discussion on “Is there a place for feminism in the Middle…
This week’s Torah portion begins with the phrase, V’eileh toldot Yitzchak ben Avraham, “This is the line of Isaac son of Abraham” (Genesis 25:19), indicating that the text is now going to focus on Isaac, the second of the Patriarchs…
Last Tuesday I was invited to Radio Today to take part in a discussion about “Charter of Compassion” with Gillian Godsell and Archdeacon Michelle Pilet from the Anglican Church in Parkhurst. Conversation that inspired more about this subject, and I discovered…
There so many subjects that I could write about this week: 20 years since Itzhak Rabin was murdered, America’s main modern Orthodox rabbinical association voted last week to ban women clergy, the mitzvah day in the end of the month, the projects…
Have you noticed how “matriarchal” Genesis is? It is true that the “founders” of Judaism are the three patriarchs – three men – but it was their mothers and not their fathers who determined who carried the mantle. Abraham had…
Our parashah for this Shabbat continues with report of Abraham’s and Sarah’s journey. Both welcome the three unknown visitors and learn from them that Sarah will soon bear a son, despite of her old age. As the visitors had predicted,…
A haredi Orthodox lawmaker in Israel compared the Women of the Wall organization to the Muslim Murabitat, a banned group of women who harass Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount. “The Murabitat women receive money from the Islamic Movement to create provocation and…
“Mitzvah”, a wonderfully expressive Hebrew word, has two distinct meanings. The first is a commandment of the Jewish law; the second is a meritorious or charitable act. For the “Mitzvah Day 2015” on 22 November 2015, various religious groups have…
The Torah tells us very little about Abram’s early life. We are only informed that he and Sarai, along with his nephew Lot, were brought by his father, Terach, from Ur to Haran. After Terach’s death, Abram was commanded by…