It seems at the moment, on an almost weekly basis, we are celebrating or commemorating significant anniversaries – the founding of the NHS, beginning women’s suffrage, Windrush (marked this weekend), end of the first world war, founding of the State of Israel, and so on. Of course, it is no Read more…
This morning I read the following extract from an essay by Martin Buber entitled, ‘Teaching and Deed’ (an essay in which Buber is fairly clear that deeds must have the underpinning of learning): In Jewry, the way which leads to that promised time, the way of man’s contribution to ultimate fulfilment, Read more…
I was a panellist at the Big Questions when the ‘Jesus and Mo’ T-shirts were sported by the students from the LSE. I find the provocation of the t-shirts problematic but I do not believe they should be prohibited. Regardless of what Maajid Nawaz’s original intention in reposting the cartoons Read more…
As the Big Questions show airs today I have prepared a few sources and resources about the various issues which were touched upon – some of which reflect my position as a rabbi working within Liberal Judaism and others which simply present a more nuanced and, in my opinion, coherent comment Read more…
A brief summary to the Human Rights Act and religion is here: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/what-are-human-rights/the-human-rights-act/freedom-of-thought-belief-and-religion/index.html I also recommend to readers to look at the UK Human Rights Blog and the Law and Religion UK Blog. There is also useful information on the EHRC website.
As today is the Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I’m posting a few sources (used previously and first studied at the Conservative Yeshiva) which are used in discussion of the right to privacy (which is more fully discussed by Rabbi Elliot Dorff in his chapter contained in Read more…
With the debate about the European Convention of Human Rights and The Human Rights Act once again in the public eye, I have been thinking about what an authentic Jewish stance towards the subject of Human Rights might look like. An excellent article appeared in the JC last week by Read more…
This Saturday morning many synagogues, including The LJS, will take the opportunity to mark the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10th December). The Universal Declaration was established in the wake of the Holocaust (in 1948), one of the most devastating periods in the history of humanity. It Read more…