Tag: Torah sparks by Rabbi Schell
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A travelling companion for Elul – Psalm 27
There’s a particular feeling that comes with the start of a long journey. Maybe you’ve felt it. That moment when the bags are packed, the destination is set, and you’re standing on the threshold, full of confidence. You’ve got the map. You know the way. Nothing can possibly go wrong. It’s a wonderful feeling, that…
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False Prophets and Hard Conversations
Let me tell you about something that happened a few weeks ago. It was late, I was tired, and I was scrolling online. I stumbled upon a video, a short, compelling documentary about South Africa and its political history with Israel and the PLO. It was about a subject I thought I knew, but this…
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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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Parashat Balak: Spiritual audacity
Balak feared what he could not control. He saw the Israelites from afar, numerous, restless, full of stories he didn’t know. And so he did what frightened rulers have often done. He summoned a voice to curse them. He hired Balaam to speak them out of existence. But something extraordinary happened. The prophet who came…
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Miriam’s Silence, Our Voice
“Miriam died there and was buried there. The community had no water, and they assembled against Moses and Aaron.” (Numbers 20:1-2)
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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…
