RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES Earlier this week, New Zealand’s Maori king announced that whales will be recognized as ‘legal persons’ and he hopes that governments will enforce this proposal. While lawyers will ponder over the fascinating legal implications of such a declaration, the king is right to highlight the interdependence we have with the natural world,...
ECLIPSE AND REBIRTH Next Monday, a total eclipse of the sun will be visible in North America. On Monday evening, as the month of Nisan begins, a partial eclipse will be visible over parts of the UK. The coincidence of an eclipse with Rosh Chodesh or the New Moon is obvious. Every month, the moon...
HOPE I had the pleasure and privilege this week of hearing the Rt Hon Gordon Brown deliver the first Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Memorial Lecture to a packed auditorium at Kings College London. The 400 plus audience listened spellbound as Brown proceeded to deliver a powerful, eloquent, and often witty lecture on the importance of...
THE SOUND OF SILENCE There is a lot of complex information packed into the 1,673 words in this week’s parasha – more words than in any other parasha in the entire book of Vayikra. Even more significantly, the text is divided up into as many as 18 paragraphs, more than one would expect. Rashi, quoting...
THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT ISRAEL BUILT More verses are devoted to the description of the instructions and construction of the Mishkan than any other project in the entire Bible. After no less than five parashot of detail, the project finally comes to an end in this week’s parasha. We are told: “So, all the...
