As the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians continues decade after decade, to pray for peace seems a hopeless and naïve folly. And yet, today it is more urgent than ever that a resolution is achieved that acknowledges the needs of both peoples for peace and justice, sovereignty and security. And so, we pray:El Malei Rachamim, […]
Shof’tim: Justice is impartial – Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah (PJ E-Bulletin, 08.25)As a child, I used to love visiting the almost deserted City of London on a Sunday morning with my family. I recall looking up at the statue of Justice that adorns the dome of the Old Bailey, and marvelling at the image of […]
Ein Ha-Chayyim, Source of Life, we have gathered here this evening from different places – physically, spiritually, emotionally – to celebrate Brighton Pride, and also our pride in ourselves, and in our wonderfully varied lives.As we welcome the heavenly messengers of peace who inaugurate Shabbat, let us also welcome the earthly messengers of justice and […]
Cauldron ofdespairamid destructionhorizons of rubblebroken bodiessummer heatdissolvingevery sign offamished life. From pastto presentas we readthe ancient sacred book our screensdeliver lamentationsday after devastating dayin Gaza. How did it come to this?fury roaring throughinconsolable griefragingrevengefor the twelve hundred massacredin a single daythe two hundred and fifty-one wrenched awayfor depraved atrocitiesand sexual violence. Whenand howwill the horror […]
‘The season of the giving of our Torah’ The voice of the Eternal that spokein thunder on Mount Sinai overwhelmed by another thunder the roaring howl of war Eternal teachings shrouded in clouds ofdust hidden under mountains ofrubble a wilderness ofshatteredhomes schools hospitals no one and nothing can stand in this wasteland the people of […]
This Shabbat, we have opened the fourth book of the Torah. Its English name, ‘Numbers’, reflects its concern with numbering and ordering the tribes for their journey through the wilderness. The Hebrew name, taken from the first significant words that distinguish the book and its first portion, parashah, from all others, is B’midbar. We read […]
Another Pesacharrivesbut no Passoverthe memory ofliberationovertaken byanother godthe fortress stateand its henchmena state of perpetual warthe blood ofthe massacredon October 7desecratedthe young blood of the nation’s defenderssacrificedon the altarof the rightof mightthe remaining hostagesabandonedempty spacesat seder tablesnever to be filled. Meanwhilein Gazaa peopledoubly-oppressedfrom withinand withoutcrushedblood shedcries outfrom the rubbleno doorpostsno lintelsto offer a signno provisionsleftnot […]
This week’s parashah, T’tzavveh opens with a significant phrase: ‘You, you shall command [Attah t’tzavveh] the Israelites’ (Exodus 27:20a). While the Torah relates many engaging stories, it is also the repository of the mitzvot, ‘commandments’, that define the relationship between the Jewish people and God. The grand narrative of the Exodus from Egypt may be […]
At Chanukkah, the Festival of ‘Dedication’, as we recall our ancestors’ struggle against tyranny by kindling light, we invite the gathering flames to inspire our own struggles against oppression and injustice. This year, almost fifteen months since the horrors of October 7, 2023 and its aftermath, we dedicate our nightly kindling to all those whose […]