SHABBAT REST AND SHABBAT STRENGTH It was very special seeing so many of you in shul last Shabbat, both on Friday night and Shabbat day, raising your voices in prayer and song. When we come together at times of crisis, we all feel stronger. Please join us again this Shabbat. Large numbers of our soldiers on the front line are unable to have prayer services. Our songs and tefilot represent them as well as ourselves. A passage in this week’s parasha shows us the special capacity of Shabbat to be a source of strength and comfort to our people in...

IN G-D’S IMAGE President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak together with other world leaders have condemned the actions of Hamas in unambiguous terms. These voices were echoed unequivocally in our shul last Tuesday in the powerful speeches of Lucy Fraser MP and Tom Tugendhat MP upholding Israel’s absolute moral right to protect itself. This Shabbat, we commence the book of Bereishit and read the story of man, created in G-d’s image. Yet only three chapters later, Cain kills his brother Abel and by the end of the parasha, man’s wickedness is so great, G-d “regrets” the creation of...

HERITAGE If you were asked to choose the perfect Torah verse to start a child’s Jewish education, what would it be? Perhaps the opening of the Bible? “In the beginning, G-d created Heaven and Earth.” Or maybe, the first of the Ten Commandments? “I am the L-d, Your G-d.” In fact, the Talmud (Succah 42a) says it is the verse from the last parasha, read on Simchat Torah, followed by the Shema: “Torah tziva lanu Moshe morasha kehilat Yaakov” “Moses commanded us the Torah, the heritage of the community of Jacob.” (Devarim 33:4) The core of our Jewish identity is...

TAKING THE ARBA MINIM The Arba Minim are taken every day of Succot, except on Shabbat. Whilst there is nothing intrinsically Shabbat-unfriendly about a Lulav, the rabbis of the Talmud decreed, that just like a shofar, a Lulav and Etrog are not taken on Shabbat. The concern is that individuals may carry their Lulav in the public thoroughfare and thereby break Shabbat. Even though many places now have an Eruv, the restriction on taking the Lulav still applies The mitzva of taking the Lulav is fulfilled simply by picking up the Lulav and the other species. Nevertheless, there is an...

GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY In this week’s parasha Moses calls on heaven and earth to be witnesses to the Jewish people. “Listen, Heaven and I will speak, and hear, Earth, the words of my mouth.” (Devarim 32:1) The Midrash explains that the people are to look to the natural world as symbols of faithfulness to G-d and to emulate them. “Even though they were not created to receive reward or punishment, they do not deviate from their assigned mission How much more, you, who receive reward and punishment, should not deviate from your assigned mission.” (Sifra, Haazinu, 306.) At first glance, the...