Story of yesterday, Yom Kippur 5784
The first of the three Torah readings for Yom Kippur was taken from the Book of Exodus, or Names (Shemot).
Jeremy’s Notes
T’rumah: unholy acts in holy places?
One evening last week, an East Asian looking student was walking home from a gym in Sheffield when a man standing in a doorway shouted at her, “Chinese bitch!” In
Sh’mot: sins of the parents
“…for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
Vayiggash
The last four parashiyot in Bereshit deal mostly with the story of Joseph. However, when discussing the parsha of Va-yeishev two weeks ago, Melanie Feldman focussed on the story of
Va-yeishev
“I am distressed for you my brother Jonathan; Greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.”
Vayetze – my favourite
We probably all have favourites of one kind or another: a favourite aunt or uncle, a cousin, perhaps a brother or sister whom we somehow gel with better than our
Lech l’cha
Our cat Queenie loves nothing more than to be cradled in the arms of one of the family and to bury his head in the crook of our elbow or in
Bereshit: what a beginning and how!
Words, words words – Devarim is full of them: eloquent, beautifully crafted words uttered by the man who protested to God over forty years before, as the burning bush burned and didn’t burn away, that he had no way with them, that he was an inarticulate stutterer. Now, back once more in Bereshit, where it all begins, God creates the world
Ki-tetze
“Thou shalt not deliver unto his master a bondsman that is escaped from his master unto thee; he shall dwell with thee, in the midst of thee, in the place
High Holy Days 5780/2019
Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur will be celebrated in Cornwall this year as follows.
Re-eh
What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel,
Va’ethannan
The names we give today to the five books of the Torah are revealing. In the beginning is Bereshit, which, with vibrant intensity balanced by serene elegance, launches the Torah,
Mas’ei: map of the past, map of the future
Forty years of wandering through wilderness, mountains and desert are coming to an end and the future is about to arrive. What stories of hardship, inspiration, rebellion and faith we
Pinchas
Balak and Balaam are a right pair, two nasty pieces of work determined to curse and persecute an innocent people. Balaam is a right pair in himself, a two-sided coin,
Sh’lach l’cha
Can you have too much of a good thing? Certainly, the Israelites had. After complaining about their limited diet. God sends them quails, so many that the people gather staggering
Naso
Was perhaps Spike Milligan supposed to represent a Nazirite when he emerged from a hole in the desert, jumping up and down, half naked, three-quarters mad and one whole funny
B’chukkotai
In one or two recent services, we have discussed the challenges of some of the laws appearing in the weekly readings when we examine them in the light of contemporary
Emor
Kedoshim, the parsha before Emor, is reminiscent of Mishpatim, which comes shortly after the Israelites have left Egypt, in that it delivers a whole raft of instructions and laws, all
Acharei Mot
Your mother, stepmother, sister, half-sister, aunt, granddaughter, sister-in-law and daughter-in-law are not relatives you should marry or have sexual relations with according to the instructions given through Moses to the
Sh’mini
Instructions for the many sacrifices mandated by God continue apace in Tzav. It cannot have been easy to remember and follow all the stages of each of these sacrifices to