THE OLDEST BIBLE IN THE WORLDComing to London next week is a most remarkable book. It will be on display at Sotheby’s for a week before moving on to other selected locations around the world before being auctioned in New York in May. With an estimate reserve of $30-$50 million, it may well become the most expensive book in history. Why would anyone want to spend $50 million on a book? Let’s consider the background. The Torah, which we received at Mt. Sinai, in the events, described in last week’s and this week’s parasha, is written on parchment in a...

DISASTER AID The devastating destruction that has taken place in Turkey and Syria is absolutely heartbreaking. The picture of the newborn baby pulled from the wreckage in Syria, is an image that will come to define this tragedy. Although the baby was in the rebel-held area of northern Syria, no effort is being spared to provide assistance. We all recognize that earthquakes do not respect borders or frontiers and people must be helped whoever and wherever they are. Humanitarian aid has flooded in but so much more is needed. Your contribution will be very much appreciated. You can donate through...

PREVENTIVE MEDICINE I grew up in Stamford Hill in a shul known as Grove Lane or Stamford Hill Beth Hamedresh. It was the custom there, every Shabbat, to make a Mi Shebeirach LeCholim – a prayer for the sick, at the end of the layening. We follow this practice as well in St John’s Wood. However, every year, on Shabbat Shira, as this Shabbat is known, my shul shifted the place of the prayer for those who are unwell, from the end to the middle of the Torah reading. At the end of the fourth portion of this week’s parasha,...

HOUSE-BOUND There is a gap between Liberation and Exodus. After the tenth plague struck, Pharaoh implored the Israelites to leave immediately. Nevertheless, the Exodus did not take place untilthe morning. Indeed the Israelites were commanded: “And no person shall leave the entrance of his house till morning.” (Shemot 12:22) The late Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik (Festival of Freedom, pp. 31-32) sees a profound significance in the fact that the Israelites did not rush into liberation mode but had to wait, patiently, until day broke. History, he says, records many instances of slaves’ bloody and ruthless insurrections against their masters. Ancient Rome...