Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Since Abraham, Israelites and Jews have been on physical, spiritual and moral journeys. This week’s Sidra, Bechukotai, contains in its first ten verses three applications of the Hebrew root HaLaCH (to go) which contain a beautiful insight into how Jews…
In the past few weeks we have achieved several milestones in our congregation and celebrated wonderful happy moments in the lives of many of you. Often, we use the Hebrew expression “Yasher Koach“ to congratulate one another when a person…
The point of being Jewish is to have a relationship with God. Yet, a relationship implies a certain give and take. In biblical times it seems that the different kinds of sacrifices were our (human) contribution in this reciprocal partnership.…
REMINDER The 46th Annual General Meeting of Bet David and the 44th AGM of Bet David Kehillah will take place at Bet David on Wednesday 25 April 2018 at 18:00. We look forward to seeing you at the AGM and…
At Bet David, we have found an additional way to give meaning to the traditional way of counting of the Omer. When we count the omer, we give 50 days of hope. I believe that education is one of the…
Chaverim, The double portion Vayakhel-Pekudei 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,…
Chaverim, This week’s Torah portion interrupts the description of the building of the Tabernacle with a narrative section that includes the story of the Golden Calf, and — although perhaps less famously — the most chutzpadik (impertinent) question in the whole Torah.…
Chaverim, I have always been intrigued by the commandment ‘you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget it’ (Deuteronomy 25:19). Simultaneously we are told to ‘blot out the remembrance’ and to ‘not forget…
Chaverim, Last week, I shared with you the sad news of the passing of Michael Brookstone, a member of our Introduction to Judaism programme. Many of you met this gentle man, who despite the many hardships he had to endure…
Chaverim, It is a wonderful coincidence that our Torah reading, parshat Bo, the section that deals with the culminating plagues and the exodus, turns three times to the subject of children and the duty to educate them, when we, at…