Category: Torah
-
Community News
REMINDERThe 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 welcome your support. At moments of transition, whether celebrating or when we are in need of…
-
50 days that can help so many
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 major ways to empower all parts of our society and to fulfil the dream of…
-
Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei and International Women’s day: Examples of gratitude
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, the topic of Moses’ message is the building of the Tabernacle. Moses solicits gifts—gold, silver, copper,…
-
Ki Tisa: A second chance
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. The question comes after Moses has negotiated twice with God on behalf of the Israelites, with…
-
How can we remember on Shabbat Zachor?
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 it’; two instructions which appear to be contradictory. This challenge is further compounded by the fact…
-
Shabbat Teruma: Make Me a sanctuary
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 in his life, always had a smile for others and the will to continue to follow…
-
Parashat Bo: Ask questions and grow
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 Bet David, have our Back to School service and the opening of the cheder for 2018.…
-
Let us not allow “collective forgetting”
One of the most haunting and alarming verses in the Torah comes at the beginning of this week’s portion of Sh’mot: “A new king arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph”(Ex 1:8). The Torah imagines that despite Joseph’s insight and intelligence which saved Egypt from ruin, Egypt forgot that story so completely, that the…
-
Parashat Miketz: Jew by choice should feel pride and be viewed as courageous
In this week’s portion, Miketz, Joseph moves from being falsely imprisoned to becoming second in command in Egypt. As Joseph settles into his new life, he is given a new name by Pharaoh: Zaphenath-paneah. This name reflects Josephs new status in life and the journey on which he has embarked. We, as a congregation, as the Jewish…
-
Parashat Vayishlach: “Encountering God”
In our Torah portion for this week, we are told of Jacob’s fears, and of his wrestling with a man-angel who changes Jacob’s name to Israel. Following that struggle “Jacob therefore named that place Peni’el–‘For I have seen God face-to-face(פנים-אל-פנים / Panim-El-Panim), yet my life has been spared” (Genesis 32:31).In Jacob’s struggling with an angel,…
