My heart is dancing in Jerusalem

“And to Jerusalem, Your city, may You return in compassion, and may You rest within it, as you have spoken.”

Jewish Liturgy

Hi All,

This song* is about those many communities which have return to Eretz Yisrael , namely Jews from Yemen, Iraq, Morrocco, Ethiopia & Russia. When me and Rachel (that is my twin sister) visited Israel last year, we both seriously thought about making Aliyah (that is return to Israel). Whilst we are still thinking about it,things have changed a bit in both of our lives, so neither of us are moving just yet. But we both along ,I think, will all of us here, are strong supporters of Israel and Zionists (this does not make us into rabid fanatics, nor does it mean we don't believe or want a lasting peace for both Israelis and Arabs). So long may Israel  live, prosper and be a light to the nations of this world. 

*Dancing in Jerusalem 

Words and Music by Sam Glaser 
©2012 Glaser Musicworks

Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89) & Sotah

Hi All,

A couple of weeks ago I said we'd be doing posts reflecting on the weekly Parashah. Alas we've got a bit sidetracked, so a few have been missed (well 2, 3 if you include this weeks as well!). Don't worry, we fully intend to keep these D'var Torahs going. So briefly, here is one about Naso (Numbers 4: 21-7:89), which was for the week ending 30th May 2014: 

What leaps out to me for this reading is the idea  of the Sotah (unfaithful or 'wayward'  wife) in Numbers 5, 11 to 31, which is a 'trial by ordeal' and to modern eyes can seem as primitive & barbaric  as the idea of drowning witches to see if they were witches; except in this case the trial was to ascertain suspected adultery. Furthermore this legislation is solely against women and not men or should it be said there is no mechanism for women to do the same against their husband, if he was suspected of adultery.  Whilst it is reassuring that, as the Talmud notes (there is an entire tractate  dedicated to this ritual, although the discussion lasts only  a couple of pages),  this practise was abolished in Judaism over 2,000 years ago and in any case would be unenforceable, like much Biblical legislation, due to the lack of a Temple and Sanhedrin , is there any reason for G-d to have put this into the Torah and what is the importance for it today? 

We can never fully know the mind of G-d, but clearly one of the themes that Numbers deals with is trust. Specifically the lack of it; both at the macro and micro level. Israel doesn't trust G-d. That's the macro. Among Israel people don't trust each other, indeed later on even Aaron and Miriam will turn against Moses, because they don't trust him and don't trust G-d; in Numbers 11 and then 16 to 17 there are accounts of similar jealousies, rivalries and claims of others to speak on behalf of G-d.  You will note that in all of these examples the jealous, distrusting parties are wrong .Within this theme then, perhaps, is a subtle criticism of the jealous husband, namely that if he is prepared to put his wife through such a bizarre ( & humiliating ritual), then that is a poor reflection on him and his lack of trust. Perhaps this connects to this overall theme of Numbers, namely that in any relationship, trust is the key and we need to be more trusting. Equally perhaps Israel should have been more trusting  of & therefore more faithful to  G-d.

As we should be today. 

Indeed in  Sotah, (49a and 49b)  the phrase (repeated 3 times) is used :

In whom can we trust? In our Father in Heaven!

Discuss. 

Prayer at the Kotel

Greeting from Israel,

As many of you have gathered I'm on a business trip here until Friday .(I hope to be back before Shabbos)  .  
A few thoughts whilst I am here -

1. Israel is as majestic as ever, both her people and her land. It has been great to catch up  with the family that live over here. The Israeli technology and business ethic is one of the best in the world- yet another reason to oppose these ludicrous, vicious and anti-Semitic 'boycotts' of the homeland of the Jewish people. Israel is strong, confident and secure, especially the younger people in society. Thanks to the IDF and the fact that whilst people in the west have very short memories, us Jews won't forget that previous boycotts led to persecution, pogroms & ultimately the gas chambers of the third reich. We won't let that happen again. The boycotts need to be fought wherever and whenever they spring up.

2  This morning (it is 12.30 pm here),  I visited  Jerusalem and prayed at the Kotel (the western 'wailing' wall as it is popularly known as). The Kotel is what remains of  the 2nd Holy Temple of G-d, since the Romans trashed the place circa 70 CE. The Temple is G-d's house here on earth, where her holy presence -the Schechinah- dwells [yes I said 'her' because the Hebrew is feminine and not masculine] and whilst praying  the Shema -Shema Yisrael Adonai eloheinu Adonai ehad  or 'Hear O Israel the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd alone', I certainly felt this divine majesty . I placed the prayer that I am my family had written before the trip into one of the cracks in the majestic stone blocs of the Kotel.  The prayer was for peace for our people and Israel, for my family and friends whom I love so much; for my wife, my children, my sisters and brothers and all my other relations, both living and departed. I prayed especially for my sister Hannah & her partner, that they will both be happy and that my sister may continue to be happy and feel the  Schechinah and  Adonai Shalom, after previously being so uncertain and unhappy in life.  I concluded my brief time at the Kotel with Psalm  23 - 

Mizmor le'David,  Hashem roei lo echsar.  Binot desheh yarbitzaini, al mei menuchot yenahaleini.  Nafshi yeshovev yancheini bemagalei tzedek lema'an shemo.  Gam ki elech be'gei tzalmavet, lo ira ra ki ata imadi, shivtecha u'mishantecha hema yenachamuni.  Ta'aroch lefanai shulchan neged tzorerai, dishanta vashemen roshi, cosi revayah.  Ach tov va'chesed yirdifuni kol yemei hayai ve'shavti be'veit Hashem lorech yamim. A Psalm of David. The L-rd is my shepherd;​ I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures:​  He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul:  He leads me in the paths of righteous​ness for his name's sake.  Thoug​h I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death,  I will fear no evil: for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies:  you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows​.  Surel​y goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:  and I will dwell in the house of the L-rd for ever.  Amen, so be it truly  DK

Any questions ?

Hi All,

The sun is out , the sky is blue. The summer is here and hopefully it will stay! (:

As we will be blogging a bit lighter during these times of great sunshine*, which will hopefully be for much of the week, if you have any questions please leave them in the thread below and me, David, Sam & Esther will attempt to answer them. 

So fire away in the comments section on any topic, however frivolous or serious…


* Dave's away on business, I'm busy writing, Esther's gallivanting around the country and Sam's just being Sam.

RIP Rik Mayall

Rik  Mayall has passed away at the age of 56; the comic genius was married with 3 children. He will be missed. Here  is one is his most hilarious characters, Lord Flasheart -

Shalom for Jerusalem

So Pope Francis has managed to get the President of Israel and Abbas together for a multi faith shindig at the Vatican; I've got to admit whilst people call us the '3 Abrahamic religions', I do struggle with the idea that we all worship the same deity... well we don't actually do we? I don't pray to Jesus or Allah. I say this not to be unecumenical or nasty, it is simply the truth. It does not turn one into a Christophobe or an Islamaphobe to say so. Besides which both Islam and Christianity-with some honourable exceptions, such as those who believe in dual covenant theory- see Judaism as being 'replaced' in some form or another, which is how these religions justified their self creation in the first place and the subsequent and sometimes not so nice treatment of those of us who couldn't see the new world vision of these respective faiths . 

But I guess I'm being a party poop and should applaud such an historic occasion where 3 big world faiths got together and prayed together. I hope this stunt does whatever it was supposed to do, which if it is about bring peace... I applaud. 

New Planet, old conversation

Hi All, 

Much to my delight, via the BBC, a new planet has been discovered :

"There is a new class of planet out there that astronomers are calling the "mega-Earth".It is an object with a hard surface like our own world but much, much bigger.The necessity for the new designation follows the discovery of a planet which has a mass some 17 times that of Earth.Known as Kepler-10c, it orbits a star about 560 light-years away."

What is fascinating about this discovery is that this is a planet (see picture below) which is twice the diameter of the earth, which makes it the size of a mini gas giant, but because of its mass, means it is more likely to be  a rocky planet like earth, than a gas giant like Jupiter or Neptune (technically you could call Neptune an 'ice giant'). And if the planet is earth like, then there may be life there. Of course with a strong gravity on the planet, life would be very different to that which we are used to on earth, but it could be life nonetheless. Whilst we as Orthodox Jews believe that "This, The Torah of Moses, shall not be abrogated, nor shall there be any other Torah from G-d save it", we are also comfortable with science,except some of our more strident Haredi, who aren't really the only authentic voice of Orthodoxy, but a new brand of Judaism dating back only 200 years ago. Indeed Moses Maimonides went so far in the preface to his book  'Guide for the Perplexed' : "Knowledge of the Divine cannot be attained except through knowledge of the natural sciences."