Who is wise? One who learns from all people
בֶּן זוֹמָא אוֹמֵר, אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם, הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
(Ethics of the Fathers, Pirkei Avot 4:1)
Each week, one of our members shares some thoughts related to the sedra – to read them, click on the links below.
If you would like to share your thoughts on the weekly sedra, please contact Carolyn in the shul office on 020 8868 7204.
Haazinu 5783
The Book of Devarim consists mostly of Moses’ departing address to the Israelites before they enter the land of Israel.…
Nitzavim-Vayelech 5783
In this week’s double sedra, Moshe speaks to the people at the edge of the crossing of the river Jordan…
Ki Tavo 5783
The Parsha begins with the mitzvoth of the first fruits and the completion of the tithe cycle. These are offerings…
Ki Tetze 5783
This week’s Sedra (once my barmitzvah portion) is packed with 74 commandments, 27 positive and 47 prohibitive. Verses 22:9-12 are…
Shoftim 5783
“Justice, justice shall you pursue…” These are the opening words at the start of this week’s sedra, continuing with Moses’…
Re’eh 5783
I spent virtually all my working life investing to make money for my clients. Some of those investments were loans…
Ekev 5783
This Parshah’s name, “Eikev,” means “because”. Moses continues his closing address to the children of Israel, saying “It shall come…
Va’etchanan 5783
In this week’s sedra, Moses completes his review of the Israelites’ journey to the Land of Israel. He explains to…
Devarim 5783
Parashat Devarim – the first in the last book of the Torah – is always read on the Shabbat before…
Matot-Masei 5783
Journeys – notable for departures or arrivals? Today’s double parshah includes the full enumeration of the 42 separate legs of…
Pinchas 5783
In this week’s sedra G-d awards Pinchas, son of Eleazar, son of Aharon, great-nephew of Moses, ‘a Covenant of Peace’.…
Chukat-Balak 5783
This week’s sedra, Chukat Balak, tells the story of the Moabite king Balak, who hires Balaam to curse the Israelites.…
Korach 5783
After the calamity of the ‘spies’ in last week’s Sedra, this week we read about another terrible event in the…
Shelach Lecha 5783
Promised Land Delayed Just about everybody knows that the Israelites were condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years,…
Beha’alotecha 5783
דַּבֵּר֙ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֔ן וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֵלָ֑יו בְּהַעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙ אֶת־הַנֵּרֹ֔ת אֶל־מוּל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה יָאִ֖ירוּ שִׁבְעַ֥ת הַנֵּרֽוֹת ‘‘Speak to Aharon and say to him: ‘When…
Naso 5783
The Sedra begins with Moshe being told to take censuses of the Kohathite, Gershonite and Merarite families of Leviim. Having…
Bamidbar 5783
Bamidbar – you can count on this sedra This sedra starts the book of Numbers which is appropriate because it…
Behar-Bechukotai 5783
Having just spent five weeks in Israel, there are many verses in these sedrot that speak to me. “And they…
Emor 5783
In this week’s sedra, we learn about the laws relating to the Cohanim (priests) and High Priests. It also covers…
Acherei Mot – Kedoshim 5783
This week we commemorated Yom Zikaron and celebrated Yom Haatzmaut. We take a day to recognise the sacrifice that has…
Tazria-Metzora 5783
A headline in today’s Observer states ‘Attack ad. on Sunak leaves Labour voters cold’. It refers to the recent campaign…
Shemini 5783
This week’s Sedra is called Shemini meaning “eight” (as it refers to the eighth day after the seven days of…
Chol Hamoed Pesach 5783
Having cast off the yoke of cleaning for Pesach, and survived the sedarim and the discussions they tend to engender,…
Tzav 5783
The name of this week’s Parshah, “Tzav,” means “command”, and continues the theme of the book of Leviticus / Vayikra…
Vayikra 5783
This week’s parsha is all about the offerings that were made in the Mishkan. There was usually a donor from…
Vayakhel-Pekudei 5783
Phew! So much happening this Shabbat, it’s hard to know where to start. Maybe an overview of the two parashot?…
Tetzaveh 5783
Last week I went with my granddaughter Mya to the Spain and the Hispanic World Exhibition at the Royal Academy.…
Terumah 5783
On the surface, this week’s sedra, Teruma, would not make an exciting film. But let’s remember the “Raiders of the…
Mishpatim 5783
Our Parsha begins “And these are the statutes that you shall place before them.” Rashi comments that usually “and these”…
Yitro 5783
There was an eighties American sitcom called ‘The Golden Girls’. One of the characters, Sophia Petrillo, an elderly Italian grandmother,…
Beshalach 5783
Beshalach is a sedra with some amazing miracles in it. The most obvious of these is the splitting of the…
Bo 5783
In Sedra Bo, we see the unfolding of the last three plagues, the laws of Pesach and the departure from…
Va’era 5783
This week’s sedra is so full of drama, including the first seven plagues, that it would make a great musical…
Shemot 5783
In Chayei Sarah, Avraham sends his servant to find a wife for Yitzhak. The servant sits by a well in…
Vayehi 5783
Vayechi is the last sedra in the book of Bereshith. I would like to focus on the very first verse…
Vayigash 5783
When my mother was young, there was no television, but there were exciting dramas at the cinema. Many were left…
Miketz 5783
The famous story of Joseph continues this week and it begins with Pharoah’s dream of seven fat cows eaten by…
Vayeshev 5783
The Gemara suggests that a prophet’s purpose was to drive his listeners to repentance and therefore a better life. It…
Chayei Sarah 5783
The story of Eliezer’s challenge is a familiar one. Abraham sends Eliezer on a mission to find a suitable wife…
Vayishlach 5783
This week’s sedra, Vayishlach, would make an exciting film. It has everything: from death, violence, abduction and revenge, to the…
Vayetze 5783
Earlier this week I attended a concert performed by ‘Zeppelin Symphonic’ at the Palladium, a combined orchestra and band playing…
Toldot 5783
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Or a combination of both? Our forefathers, Abraham and Isaac, illustrate these two…
Vayera 5783
The Sedra begins with a strange sequence of events. We encounter Avraham on the third day after his circumcision, sitting…
Lech Lecha 5783
In this week’s Sedra we learn about the 1st Jew – Avram. Avram was born into a family and world…
Noach 5783
Last week we read Bereshit and towards the end of the sedra in verses 5:29-32 we are told of the…
Bereishit 5783
Here we are again at the turning of the year and at the beginning of another Torah reading cycle. Starting…