Sermons

At first glance, this week’s parasha seems a little remote, a little out of touch with the modern world.

Is there anything in this for us, today?

So it was with a bit of a heavy heart that I sat down to try to figure out what relevance I could draw...Read more...

This week’s parashah, Acharei Mot, begins with God speaking to Moses after the death of Aaron’s sons, they had catastrophically got too close to the Eternal. It consists of dire warnings of tragedies that will occur again unless the Priests take certain steps to prevent them. There follows several chapters about being in the right state to approach God including the rites and rituals of atonement, giving the message of “this is what you...Read more...

If you have seen the movie “The Greatest Showman” feel free to let your mind wander for thirty second while I attempt to summarize it. Or you can listen with great care and attention and decide for yourselves if you agree with me.

With music and dancing, the movie tells the ever so slightly Hollywood-ed up life story of P.T. Barnum, the founder of the circus, who defined...Read more...

The simple message of this week’s parashah is that the fertility of the land depends on us keeping God’s commands.  God’s protection is triggered by our conduct.  Verses 10 to 12 explain that the lands of Egypt and Israel work differently.  In Egypt, water comes from regular floods and people can use canals to move water to the fields; their survival is under their own control.  But in Israel, water comes from...Read more...

This week God tells Moses to climb the majestic cloud covered mountain in order to receive the tablets of stone.

Mountains are sites of divine revelation throughout the ancient world even in cultures very different to our and it’s really not difficult to see why. There is something incredibly spiritual about nature – it is often the place where people report feeling closest to God.

I love the outdoors, and whilst I don’t...Read more...

I never knew that gender could be an issue in Judaism. It was not until I started my rabbinic studies in my early twenties that I was made aware of the challenges I might face, of the limitations that could be placed on me in my role as a Rabbi, because of my gender. My childhood rabbi, Francois Garai, one of the most open-minded rabbis I know, never brought it up as an issue.  Sure I knew that some of our...Read more...

As a physicist, I wish to make two predictions:

 Halley’s Comet will next come closest to the sun in July 2061.

Tomorrow’s weather... will be here.

Are all forecasts prophecies? Are solving scientific equations and interpreting the results anything more than modern approaches to fortune telling? More on this in a while.

In many ways, Deuteronomy chapters 12 and 13 are an explanation, and an...Read more...

1973 was in many ways a good year : The 1st female jockey to win a horse race in the USA,The open university awarded its first degrees, women were admitted to the floor of the Stock Exchange for the first time, and the Austin Allegro was launched and the cod war ended . But it has to be said in terms of fashion and music it really left a lot to be desired. My Barmitzvah was on the 28th July of that year and I have to tell you...Read more...

Did you choose to come to synagogue this morning?

Did those who stayed away choose not to come?

Did we make a choice of our own free will? Do we have free will?

Like many others I have been attending Jonathan Bergwerk’s sessions on Audacious Jews. During a discussion on the philosophy of Spinoza I found myself wondering if we really do have free will or are our so...Read more...

Jacob, Esau & Peanut Butter Sandwiches

This is the third version of this sermon. And as I am writing it there may even come a fourth but...Read more...

Rainbows & Making a Difference

Even though I’m definitely not what you could call...Read more...

So all the Al chet-ing, the self flagellation – if you still follow the custom of beating on your heart as we recite it, as I see our rabbis and a few congregants do [I haven’t since I left Egerton Road United 50 years ago] – is past. To paraphrase approximately...Read more...

I mentioned on Rosh Hashanah that last month I was at a two-day seminar with other Jewish lay-leaders and professionals, including four of us from this community. I explained that one of the initiatives of the Reform Movement, launched at...Read more...

Today we have read from the Torah. Do we sometimes stop to ask what exactly is the Torah?

Some believe that the Torah is the word of God, literally, and work hard to justify some of the more unpleasant aspects of the writings.Read more...

Did the parasha today take you back to your primary school days? You know, where the first English lesson after the long summer break was always to write something about your holiday and where you went – hopefully we all wrote somewhat more descriptively about the...Read more...

SERMON FOR SHAVUOT 2016

The fridge is full of curd cheese and eggs. It is the ritual of the cheesecake, the time of year my husband takes over the kitchen. I don’t do deserts and I don’t make them either, but he loves them especially the good old cheesecake.

So out comes the little used man-apron and the ceremony of The Making of the Cheesecake. Which is then followed by the Praising of the Cheesecake and finally the...Read more...