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Our Torah Portion “Noach” reports twice on the downfall of humanity in the eyes of God. In the response to the first, God sends the waters of the flood, which erases all life on earth and God’s answer to the…
Rabbi Adrian Michael Schell
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Rabbi Adrian Michael Schell
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Category Torah
A first thought for 5780 – Shabbat Shuvah
This Shabbat is Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat that falls between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Our tradition teaches that the gates of repentance are always open, and we are constantly reminded that it is never too late to change one’s…
A final thought for 5779
For the last Shabbat in 5779, our Torah comes with one of the readings I love most in the entire year. In parashat Nitzavim we find the following directive: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and…
Indifference to our world is intolerable, unethical and it breaches our morality
Chaverim, In this week’s column I’d like to share with you an excerpt from my sermon I delivered last Friday. The sermon was about the powerful dictum of Parashat KiTeitzei, wich asks us not to remain indifferent — “Lo tuchal…
Parashat Eikev: Cut away the foreskin of your hearts
Chaverim, See, the heavens and the heaven’s heavens belong to Adonai your God, the earth and everything on it. Yet Adonai fell in love with your ancestors and God chose you, their descendants, from all peoples, just as today. So,…
Parashat Va’etchanan: Listen O Yisrael
Chaverim,Moses looks at the Promised Land by the banks of the river Jordan, and continues his final speech to the Israelites before he dies. He pleads with God to allow him to enter the Land of Israel, but he is…
Devarim: A story is a powerful instrument for overcoming despair
Chaverim, In the first portion of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses begins a series of farewell addresses to the Israelites. The task before Moses is an enormous one; he wants to remind the Israelites of what came before—interpreted now through…
Parashat Masei: The grass only looks greener from far away
Chaverim, This week’s portion summarises the entire route followed by the Israelites from when they left Egypt until they were ready to enter Eretz Yisrael. The parsha begins, “Moshe wrote their going forth according to their journeys.” At the end of…
Parashat Matot: Thought and action should be unified.
If a man vows a vow to God, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. (Bamidbar 30:3) Chaverim,…
Pinchas: The achievement of Zelophehad’s daughters
In this week’s Torah portion, the daughters of Zelophehad petition to inherit their father’s portion. The story of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah (Numbers 27:1-11) encapsulates the challenges that women faced and what they had to do in order…