SAVING THE WORLD Is there any connection between the report on climate change issued this week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Google’s launch of its own Chatbot, Bard? I think there is. The challenges of climate change are enormous. The UN report warns us that unless we take urgent action, we...
REHEARSING THE CORONATION With the coronation just weeks away, extensive preparations are in full swing. There are even reports that a replica of parts of Westminster Abbey has been built inside Buckingham Palace so that the King and Queen can rehearse key parts of the ceremony. Rehearsals are part of this week’s parasha. We are...
SHOULDERING THE LOAD In Rembrandt’s famous painting of Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law, hanging in the Berlin Art Gallery, the prophet is depicted as holding the tablets above his head about to smash them to the ground. Moses does this intentionally as he does not want to present the tablets to the nation...
CHARLES THE THIRD AND AARON THE FIRST Preparations for the King’s Coronation are well in place. The meticulously planned ceremony, which the British do so well, is being organised down to the very last detail. Some of these details are derived from the biblical coronation of the kings of Israel. These were, in turn, derived...
THE LOST ARK Steven Spielberg’s fantasy movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” draws its inspiration from the holy Ark, described in this week’s parasha. The Ark disappears from Jewish life at the end of the First Temple period. Some sources suggest it was buried somewhere under the Temple Mount to avoid it falling into enemy...
