Jewish Year
Pebbles on the Beach
A sermon in memory of my father Paul Janes, whose first Yarzheit (in the Hebrew calendar) was this week. We made it to Penarth whilst on holiday. It was a moment of peace after the Read more…
Judaism
We need to talk about poverty and the Jewish Community needs to back Marcus Rashford
It was December 2012 and the Conservative Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd MP, suggested that wealthy pensioners (or at least those with enough income) could give their winter fuel payment to charity instead of Read more…
Jewish Year
Sermon for Yom Kippur 2020 (5781) – Is there a Jewish theory of change?
As lockdown really started to kick in and the challenges of what it meant to not leave your home for days, social isolation, money worries and bereavement, kicked in, organisations, charities and even synagogues were Read more…
Jewish Year
Rosh Hashanah 2020 – Our souls are at stake too
Many of you will know the famous story of the Maharal of Prague and his Golem – the lump of clay that he animated to be a living-but-not-human-being. The story goes that through mystical incantations Read more…
Human Rights
Some Quick Thoughts on Facemasks
The conversation about facemasks is probably as emblematic of our age as any. I’m not talking about the extent to which the science demonstrates the protective effect of a facemask. We are all (children and Read more…
community
Structural Oppression, #metoo and Egypt (sermon)
This week I wrote to an academic colleague who is a mentor to me and a friend. I was trying to explain what it means to be a feminist reader of rabbinic literature as a Read more…
Judaism
Talmud, אונאה and antibullying week
I’m teaching rabbinic students a text in the Talmud that is famous for a story it contains (more on that another time). But a question that I keep asking myself is why the idea of Read more…
community
To be – to choose life – to be written in the book of life
To be – to choose life – to be written in the book of life. A sermon this year for Rosh Hashanah – there’s so much to think about and reflect upon. I’m sure my Read more…
community
Trust – When Grandstanding and Miracles Are Not Enough
“It turns out that trust is in fact earned in the smallest of moments. It is earned not through heroic deeds, or even highly visible actions, but through paying attention, listening, and gestures of genuine Read more…
Uncategorized
Rav Yosef, When Memory Fails and the Broken Tablets
About 18 months ago I gave a sermon about Deuteronomy 10:1-2 and Menachot 99a:12. I want to talk about this thought provoking text again today because I want to reflect on the centrality of texts Read more…
Jewish Year
The Search for Goodness – Parashat Balak
ומעץ הדעת טוב ורע… Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat thereof you will surely die. (Genesis 2:17) What Read more…
israel
This is my God whom I will glorify – Culture and Counter-Culture
A B Yehoshua shot me a cheeky look as he reflected on how all the great Zionist thinkers in the early days were writers – Ahad Ha’am, Jabotinsky etc. Here was one of the greatest Read more…