Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
It is a mitzvah to reaffirm the covenant on Shavuot. Through the reading of the Ten Commandments at services, which recalls the establishment of the covenant and the contemplation of the importance of Torah and its lifelong study, (talmud-Torah), we renew…
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 the past few weeks we have achieved several milestones in our congregation and celebrated wonderful happy moments in the lives of many of you. Often, we use the Hebrew expression “Yasher Koach“ to congratulate one another when a person…
The point of being Jewish is to have a relationship with God. Yet, a relationship implies a certain give and take. In biblical times it seems that the different kinds of sacrifices were our (human) contribution in this reciprocal partnership.…
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…
Chaverim, The last few weeks, we have studied the book of Ezekiel in our breakfast study every Shabbat. This Shabbat we conclude our studies on Ezekiel and therefore it is a wonderful coincidence that the Haftarah is of the same…
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,…
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.…
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…