Joseph and their life of many genders[1]In this paper, I focus on an exceptional figure in the Torah narratives of the ancestors; a character who completely confounds binary gender assumptions: Joseph, the first-born child of Rachel and Jacob. In an effort to draw out Joseph’s gender nonconformity, when I am not mentioning Joseph by name, […]
On June 9, I attended on Zoom a webinar organised by Rabbis for Human Rights. Founded in Israel in 1988, and comprising Israeli rabbis from across the denominational spectrum, Rabbis for Human Rights ‘is dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.[1] Its activities include: providing a ‘protective presence’ during […]
This week, we are reading the parashah that is at the heart of the Torah: K’doshim (Leviticus chapters 19 and 20). Known in English as ‘the Holiness code’, the majority of the commandments outlined in Leviticus 19 concern ethical behaviour and our relationships with others. Progressive Jews are particularly enamoured of Leviticus 19 for this […]
Counting the DaysCounting the daysIn IsraelFor the safe return of The hostagesIn GazaFor the bombs To stop fallingFor sufficient aid To get throughSo many daysSince October 7How many more?The countingOf the days of the OmerForty-nine daysFrom the second day of PesachFestival ofFreedomTo the eve of ShavuotThe Feast of ‘Weeks’The ‘Day of First Fruits’The first harvest […]
PRAYER FOR REFUGEES AT PESACH Eternal God, our Creator and Liberator, as we celebrate together at our seder and rejoice in our many blessings, we pause to remember those across the world whose lives are blighted by the curses of poverty and persecution. We think of the many millions in flight from tyranny, violence and […]
Anyonein southern Israelwho found themselvesin the pathwayof the depraved assailantson October 7a targetto be pursuedtrappedkilledmutilatedcapturedassaultedraped Citizensmigrant workersoverseas visitorsyoung peoplewaking upat a music festivalto a deadly dawnfamiliestheir homesinvadedas they slept in their bedsor sat at their breakfast tablesand then set ablazeas in the pogromsvisited on their grandparents and great grandparentstwelve hundred murdered in a single daytwo […]
Telling the taleof the Exodusaround the seder tableand making it personal:‘In every generation,each personis obligedto regard themselvesas if they had personallygone out of Egypt’ (Haggadah) Each person isobligedto rememberto feelthe blood rush of liberationto savourfreedomon our tonguesour teeth crunchingon the brittle breadbaked in hasteas the slaves took flight And alsoto taste the marorimbibe the bitternessof […]
Bare winter treesbranches etched into the skyfrost crunching underfootthen deluges of wind-driven raindrenching every step.And yetsignsof rebirthsnowdrops poking through the weathered detritus of long-gone autumnand at the full moonTu Bishvatthe 15th day of Sh’vatRosh Ha-Shanah La-IlanotNew Year for The Treesreminding me – usthat in every buried rootthe sap is risingnew life is stirringin a few […]
‘Thought’ on Mikkeitz – Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah LJ E-Bulletin, 12.23 COP28, which brought together 50,370 delegates (including 2,456 fossil-fuel lobbyists), 15,063 registered NGOs, and 1,293 Media organisations, concluded on 13 December after two weeks of intense deliberations in a compromise: an agreement to transition away from fossil fuels, but no commitment to phase them […]
We dedicate the 1st flame to the people of Tibet, a proud nation that was annexed by China in 1951, and remains subject to Chinese authority. We dedicate the 2nd flame to the Muslim Uyghurs, and the other ethnic and religious minorities in the Xinjiang province of China, who are being subjected to ethnocide – […]