This coming Sunday marks the Shloshim of Rabbi Lord Sacks, Moreh Morenu HaRav, R. Ya’akov Zvi ben R. David Arieh, zecher tzaddik livracha. A major tribute is being broadcast on Sunday at 7.00 pm, (www.RabbiSacks.org/shloshim) which include contributions from leading figures in the Jewish and non-Jewish world (including HRH the Prince of Wales). The event will end with a Hadran – a Conclusion to the study of the Six Orders of the Mishna, learned across the Jewish world in Rabbi Sacks’ name. The message I have recorded for the Hadran is an edited version of what appears below. RETURN AND...

CREATING HOLINESS One lesser known facet of Rabbi Lord Sacks z”l was his extensive knowledge of music, both classical and modern. We were once discussing that the word, sulam in Jacob’s dream, is translated more accurately as a stairway than a ladder. “Oh, you mean like Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven!” When Jacob wakes up, after dreaming of the stairway to heaven with angels ascending and descending, he exclaims: “How awesome is this place. This is none other than the House of G-d and this is the Gateway to Heaven.” [Bereishit 28:17] Jacob realized that the place he had chosen...

LETTING THEM KNOW THAT WE LOVE THEM The sidra begins by telling us that Isaac and Rebecca were childless and that they prayed for a child. “And Isaac prayed to Hashem opposite his wife, for she was barren” (Bereishit 25:21). Rashi (d. 1105), explains that Isaac and Rebecca stood in opposite corners of the room whilst they prayed. The Siftei Chachamim adds that it is not appropriate to pray directly facing another person. The question remains, though, why are we told that Isaac prayed in his wife’s presence? Rabbi Zvi Shiloni suggests that an explanation is apparent if we consider...

SWEETS FROM THE CHIEF RABBI Last Sunday morning, I had the honour to represent Chief Rabbi Mirvis at the Cenotaph. Before we filed out to stand behind the balustrade, the representatives of the leading faiths in this country were all standing in a socially-distanced group in the quadrangle of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office building. One after another, they came up to me to express their shock and loss at the passing of Rabbi Lord Sacks and the impact he had made on their lives. It was, in effect, a paraphrase of the verse in this week’s parsha (cited...