Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
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 as kin in a world yearning to be whole.
Chaverim, Many Reform siddur editors have been bothered by the biblical language of retribution as they appear in our Torah portion Bechukotai and in various parts of Deuteronomy. The same holds true for many congregants. On the Shabbatot when these…
Chaverim, friends It has taken the orthodox community in Johannesburg almost 3 ½ years to realise that Bet David has an openly gay rabbi. To be honest, I am not so sure if this news went around earlier, but to…
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 our parashah, God vows to enact a series of blessings and curses for the Israelites—blessings if they observe the commandments, and curses if they do not. In her interpretation, Rabbi Lisa Exler explains that the blessings are “curiously framed”…
The torah portion for this Shabbat is Bechukotai (Lev. 26.3-27.34): God promises that if Israel will keep the commandments, they will enjoy material prosperity and dwell secure in their homeland. But God also delivers a harsh warning of the exile,…