Category: Rabbinic Thoughts
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The Commandment of Joy
There is a kind of seriousness we sometimes mistake for holiness. We approach our religious lives, especially as the High Holy Days draw near, with a sense of profound obligation, of weighty duty. There is a time for solemnity, of course. Yet, our tradition is wary of a service that becomes so heavy it crushes…
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17 Elul
Our sages teach, “Not study but practice is the main thing” – reminding us that learning must lead to action, and we truly live our values through what we do. #highholidays2025 #Elul #action #integrity
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That Verse in Deuteronomy: Reclaiming a Torah of Pride, Not Pain
A single verse in this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tetzei, has been used for centuries to exclude and shame transgender and queer people. But is that what the Torah truly intends? In this Pride Shabbat sermon, Rabbi Adrian Schell explores our tradition as a vast, ancient house we inherit—a place of beautiful, light-filled rooms, but…
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700 DAYS
There are numbers that feel heavy to say, heavy to hold. This Friday marks 700 days. Seven hundred days since families were shattered and hostages were taken into captivity in Gaza. After so many months, as the world’s attention shifts and fades, hope can feel thin, and the act of remembering can feel like a…
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A travelling companion for Elul – Psalm 27
There’s a particular feeling that comes with the start of a long journey. Maybe you’ve felt it. That moment when the bags are packed, the destination is set, and you’re standing on the threshold, full of confidence. You’ve got the map. You know the way. Nothing can possibly go wrong. It’s a wonderful feeling, that…
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False Prophets and Hard Conversations
Let me tell you about something that happened a few weeks ago. It was late, I was tired, and I was scrolling online. I stumbled upon a video, a short, compelling documentary about South Africa and its political history with Israel and the PLO. It was about a subject I thought I knew, but this…
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From Sun Loungers to Soul Searching
It’s mid-summer. Many of us are still brushing sand from our shoes, planning weekend barbecues, or scrolling through photos of mountains, beaches, and ice creams. The air feels slow, even the synagogue seems to exhale a little in August. And then comes Eikev, this week’s portion, nudging us softly, but persistently, toward reflection. Moses, in Eikev, warns…
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Hope That Starts in the Rubble
Shabbat Chazon and Tisha B’Av This Shabbat is called Shabbat Chazon, the Shabbat of Vision. But it’s not the comforting, inspiring kind of vision we might expect from a sacred day of rest. The vision we receive comes from the prophet Isaiah, and it is raw, disturbing, even bitter: a vision of a people who…
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Parashat Balak: Spiritual audacity
Balak feared what he could not control. He saw the Israelites from afar, numerous, restless, full of stories he didn’t know. And so he did what frightened rulers have often done. He summoned a voice to curse them. He hired Balaam to speak them out of existence. But something extraordinary happened. The prophet who came…
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Miriam’s Silence, Our Voice
“Miriam died there and was buried there. The community had no water, and they assembled against Moses and Aaron.” (Numbers 20:1-2)
