WEARING TWO HATS The high point of the year for the High Priest was Yom Kippur. On that day, he would perform the entire Temple service. In fact, he would change, no less than five times, from his elaborate gold garments to simple white garments made from linen. Why? Rav Hisda in the Talmud (Rosh...
THOUGHTS ON THE HAGGADA “And G-d will pass over the opening” (Exodus 12:23) We are told in the Haggadah that in every generation we should try and picture ourselves as if we are leaving Egypt. The Chassidic writers point out that this is not simply an exercise in imagination. We too, can benefit in some...
WHY IS TODAY CALLED SHABBAT HAGADOL – ‘THE GREAT SHABBAT?’ The first reference to this name is found in Siddur Rashi (p.171.) The calculation is made that the Exodus took place on a Thursday. Hence, the 10th Nisan that year would have been a Shabbat. This was the time that the Israelites were commanded to...
KOSHER BACON? Probably the most famous – or infamous – non-kosher item is the pig. In Yiddish, if you wanted to call something completely non-kosher you would say it is chazer-treif – “as non-kosher as a pig!” On the list of the kosher and non-kosher animals in this week’s parasha, the pig is mentioned as...
TEMPLE WASTE DISPOSAL A number of households in St John’s Wood have recently been given new food waste bins. We are now required to separate food waste, mixed recycling and regular household rubbish for the weekly collection. Disposal of waste was a matter of practical concern in the Temple and Tabernacle. Every evening, offerings were...
REMEMERING AMALEK President Zelensky has no need to be reminded this Shabbat of the cruelty of Amalek. The inhumane and indiscriminate attacks made by Russia on civilians, even a children’s hospital, graphically conjures up the attack by Amalek on the most vulnerable section of the Israelite camp. We recall that brutality in this week’s special...
