JOURNEYING FROM LOCKDOWN On the face of it, the episode of the spies was a tragedy. The Children of Israel were on the threshold of the land of Israel. They had asked for reconnaissance about the land, which G-d and Moses agreed to give them. Twelve distinguished representatives set off on their expedition. The negative report of ten of them, led to the forty-year wandering in the desert. But what would have been the alternative?  Had they not failed, the people would have advanced straight to the land, led by pillars of fire and clouds of glory. The land of...

A JEWISH WHISTLE BLOWER’S CHARTER Hardly a week goes by without the news media broadcasting or publishing a story about untoward practices. It is the stuff that sells newspapers and increases viewer ratings. Journalists will justify their revelations on the basis that it is “in the public interest.” Are there Jewish criteria for whistle blowing? Are there guidelines within the Halacha for appropriate or possibly inappropriate revelations? Certainly, from the perspective of this week’s sidra, Miriam is judged to have gone too far in sharing critical comment about Moses with her brother, Aaron and is punished. In 1873, a young...

TRAGEDY AND HOPE Two deaths deeply affected me this week The first was the brutal death of George Floyd. The second was the tragic passing of Rabbi Dr Norman Lamm, former President of Yeshiva University, New York. The way George Floyd was killed demonstrated the dehumanisation that racism brings about, that is at large in American society. As Jews, we know, only too well, what it is to be the victims of racism, and our hearts go out to George’s family. I hope and pray that the outpouring of emotion we have seen, will lead to the road of healing...