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 Hashana 26a) quotes the proverb, ein kategor na’aseh saneygor, “the accuser cannot become the defender.” Gold is a reminder of the sin of the golden calf. When the High Priest enters the Holy of Holies it would not be appropriate for him to wear items...

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 ways from the blessings of the Exodus in the same way as our ancestors did. According to the Midrash, the Jews of the Exodus were not especially spiritual. Indeed, some of them were as involved in idolatrous practices as their Egyptian hosts. Yet, G-d took...

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 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 action of the Israelites. However, they became smitten with sickness and afflictions and...

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 having cloven hoofs but not chewing the cud. Both signs are needed for an animal to be kosher. The camel does it the other way round. It chews the cud but doesn’t have a cloven hoof. It is just as non-kosher as the pig. Why...

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 burned on the altar, which generated ashes that need to be cleared. At the beginning of this week’s parasha we read that the first mitzva of the day for the Kohen in the Temple was Terumat HaDeshen, clearing away the ashes from the previous day....

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 Maftir of Parashat Zachor. The Israelites won their battle against the Amalekites, who retreated, defeated. The direct battle against Amalek continued in later generations. However, even after the Amalekite nation disappeared, Amalek came to symbolize the ugly face of evil in the world. The battle...