This is not going to be a political sermon – but I shall be talking about Margaret Thatcher. Dangerous territory? Well, I’m going to try to avoid falling into the love her/loath her binary trap. In fact, that’s the main reason I want to speak about her today – to challenge the view that the […]
How many Jews are there in England and Wales? With the publication of the 2011 census figures, it is now possible to give a very precise answer to that question: 263,346.[1] But of course, the figure is actually a little misleading. What the 2011 census tells us is the number of people willing to disclose […]
During the past week and a half, the news has been dominated by events in Gaza and Israel. Thank goodness, that after eight days of relentless violence, a ceasefire brokered by the Americans and the Egyptians came into force on Wednesday evening. Of course, the ‘news’ is not news to us. For one thing, there’s […]
I am sure we all know what we’re doing here today: we’re celebrating Shabbat and celebrating Ella’s Bat Mitzvah, the moment when she becomes responsible for her own Jewish life. But there is something else going on today that may not be so obvious, which is related to Ella’s coming-of-age. For the Jewish people, history […]
L’Chi Lach: ‘Go for Yourself’ The Bat Mitzvah of Ruth Today, as Ruth becomes Bat Mitzvah, we are celebrating the completion of one journey, and the beginning of another. On one level, preparing for this moment has taken just a few short months since Ruth began to meet Harry for her weekly lessons. On another […]
[audio https://rabbiellisarah.benjaminbenjamin.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/60secondsermon9sept12.mp3] There’s been a lot of talk about the ‘legacy’ of the Olympics and Paralympics. Perhaps, the most important legacy centres on how we think about ourselves as human beings and treat others. During both the Olympics and Paralympics, we witnessed amazing human qualities: sporting excellence and feats of skill, of course – and also: […]
The summer – what we’ve had of it, weather-wise, is over. At least there were the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in July, then the Olympic Games – and now the Paralympics: enough going on to ensure that the weather has not been the primary topic of conversation. And yet, it is hard not to regret […]
After a jubilant 70 day journey for the Olympic torch and a spectacularly unique opening ceremony, the much awaited London Olympics have finally got underway. For the next two weeks in the Olympic Park and a variety of other venues, sportsmen and women, representing 204 nations will – to the very limits of their skill, […]
I would like to begin my reflections with a question: what is a synagogue? During the past nine months our synagogue building has been closed – and it will be some time before we inhabit it again. But we have continued being a synagogue. So, again: what is a synagogue? Here we are on Shabbat […]
Today is Rosh Chodesh Nissan – the new month of Nissan. Nissan is a very special month – not just because we celebrate the festival of Pesach in the midst of it. Nissan is the first of the Hebrew months. We read in Exodus chapter 12 (:1-2): in the preamble to the instructions for celebrating […]