‘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 […]
There are two creation narratives in Genesis, B’reishit. Genesis 1 presents a hierarchical account with humanity as the apex of creation empowered to dominate and subdue the other living creatures (Gen.1.28). Genesis 2 gives a more holistic account in which the human formed from the dust of the ground, has the more modest role of […]
‘We will dance again’DefianceFrom the pit ofLossGriefMourningThe night ofDancingEclipsedBy a dawn ofBlood. And nowThe cycle hasTurnedOne year onAre we readyTo danceAgain? The joy of Life Does not yetLift our feetToo much lifeLostThe impulse for JoyStolenWith the captivesThenlike them AbandonedIn the long ache ofWaitingWaiting. But perhapsRecalling our ancestors’Long treks throughEvery wildernessWe canRejoiceIn the TorahRootedResilientThrough every ragingUprooting […]
Yom Kippur 5785Yoma‘The Day’Out of theDaylight ofEvery dayA cave of a dayGlowingIn the white-blankGlareOf EternityDrawing us inTo its mysteriesSearchingUs out in itsFierce gazeA spotlightInto our souls.And yetEven in the harshLight of scrutinyYomaThe DayShadowedBy the freight ofThe pastThe DayOut of timeBurdenedBy timesFurrowed in fearAnd tremblingTrappedIn an atticIn a cellarIn a ghettoCrammed with deporteesIn a campCloakedWith the […]
Festival of ‘Tabernacles’And ‘Ingathering’Season ofTemporarySheltersSet up in fieldsAt harvest timeThis yearReapingThe harvest ofTwelve months ofDestruction. Burnt-outHomes inShatteredKibbutzimVillage-islands ofCollectiveLifeLabourDemocracyTheirSurvivingBatteredInhabitantsScatteredTo liveTemporarilyElsewhere. AndIn anotherElsewhereFlimsy tentsTemporarySheltersIn the rubbleRuinedHomesSchoolsHospitalsOpen to the elementsTheir battered inhabitantsWanderersIn the wilderness ofConcrete and dustCarrying their livesOn their backsAs they bear the pain ofEndlessDisplacement.And all thisDevastationDefyingThe ever-presentGaze ofThe EternalSummonedBy our handsGraspingPalm-branchWillowMyrtleFragrant etrogAnd wavingNature’s bountyIn all directionsEastSouthWestNorthHeavenwardsAnd […]