THE GREAT SHABBAT Why is this Shabbat called Shabbat HaGadol – ‘the Great Shabbat?’ The first reference to this name is found in Siddur of Rashi, our great medieval commentator (p.171.) He makes the calculation, based on our Sages, 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 take a lamb, the deity of the Egyptians, keep it in their homes for four days and slaughter it. Siddur Rashi cites Midrashim that the Egyptians were seething with rage at the...
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, and that the largest mammals on the planet deserve to be respected. The Torah is also aware of our place in the scheme of creation. According to the Sages, it challenges us as to whether we have the right to automatically assume that we are...
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 passes between the earth and the sun. Because the moon’s orbit is 5 degrees from the sun-earth plane, although the moon becomes invisible, the sun can still be seen. On the infrequent occasions when the three bodies are aligned, a total or partial eclipse will...
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 hope in society and the challenges and opportunities we face to alleviate poverty – especially child poverty in this country. What was especially impressive was that Brown spoke for over an hour without a single note! Gordon Brown drew heavily on Jonathan Sack’s teachings. Sacks...
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 the Midrash, explains that the text is broken into so many small sections to indicate that Moses needed to reflect on what G-d had said in one section before moving on to the next section. The Midrash adds: “And if this was necessary for Moses,...
