Category: Torah
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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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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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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 Korach: When Cain Speaks Again
In this week’s parasha, we encounter more than a leadership challenge. Some mystical sources reveal Korach as the reincarnation of Cain, while Moses carries the spirit of Abel. That ancient sibling tale of envy, wounded entitlement, and primal rage reappears in the sands of the wilderness. Cain’s jealousy began with offerings. His gift from the…
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Marching With the Sound of Hope
In this sermon, Rabbi Adrian Schell continues the courageous conversation taking place in his community, addressing grief, moral disorientation, and hope in turbulent times. Drawing on Numbers Chapter 10, he explores the symbolic power of the silver trumpets: tools that call to community, to action, and to memory. Just as the Israelites finally moved when…
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“When the Dust Speaks: A Reflection for Pride Month”
The dust of the sanctuary says: You belong here too.
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Finding the Way Back from the Wilderness
We know the wilderness well in our tradition. It’s the place where Israel wandered, lost and disoriented. A place of testing and trial, but also of revelation. Sinai happened in the wilderness, not in the comfort of a promised land. Elijah found God not in the fire or the storm, but in the still small…
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The Sabbath of the Land, the Sabbath of the Soul
The Sabbath and Shmita teach us that the land is not merely our resource, but our partner in God’s covenant—a caregiver that Resh Lakish likens to a devoted handmaiden raising the king’s children. When we honour the earth’s need for rest, we rediscover our own worth beyond productivity, learning to breathe not as owners, but…
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What Makes Us Whole?
In Parashat Emor, we find one of the Torah’s more difficult passages — a section that limits which kohanim, which priests, can serve at the altar. A priest with a visible difference — blind, lame, injured, or with a disfigurement — is instructed not to offer the sacred sacrifices.To modern ears, this can feel jarring.…
