This is my Rabbi’s word for the LJS October 2014 Newsletter: Recently I have spent quite some considerable time thinking about the transmission of Liberal Judaism from one generation to the next. Judaism is a religion of transmission, or put differently the handing on of our heritage is central to Read more…
Last night the LJS hosted 250 people of all faiths and none, including: the local MP, Karen Buck, Westminster City Councillors, representatives of the Israeli Embassy, members of the clergy and congregations from our local community and further afield, including representatives of Christian communities, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Hare Krishna. Interfaith Read more…
I wrote in my weekly message to The LJS community about the campaign ‘Enough Food For Everyone IF’ – which is seeking to do everything possible whilst the UK holds the G8 presidency to bring an end to hunger of the 1 billion people who do not have enough food Read more…
Last Shabbat, we read Ki Tissa (including the golden calf story) and we celebrated the Bat Mitzvah of Lotte – here is my sermon: Lotte, your davar Torah was a tough criticism of Moses and Aaron. According to you, Aaron is a crowd pleaser who leads without example and Moses Read more…
This is a cross post from my Thought for the Week for The LJS. Dear Friends, I know I’m not alone in being astonished by the news regarding the amount of horsemeat that has found its way into our food disguised as beef product. The comments that I heard, regarding Read more…
If you’re looking for some opinion pieces about Equal Marriage from Liberal rabbis in advance of the vote tomorrow in parliament: A few pieces from my blog The archbishop, the cardinal and a rabbi: marriage equality Slideshow at JFS.. Political discourse… Some other pieces by Rabbi Aaron Goldstein Praying for Read more…
My (slightly edited) sermon from Shabbat Vayetzei, including a Bar Mitzvah of James: James, your davar torah touched on some really very important issues about dreams. I want you to imagine that you live in your home with your family, a kind and generous brother, friends and relatives around you. Read more…
Two weeks ago I took a group of our teenagers, from the Kabbalat Torah class, on a trip to Amsterdam. We took the train from Kings Cross and met beneath the statue called ‘The Meeting Place’. The statue stands many feet tall and is the image of a couple in Read more…
I can remember, as a child, we used to sit down for dinner on Friday night and the topic of conversation would frequently turn to a social justice issue. My parents, with their strong social conscience, never avoided the opportunity to discuss any topic that their three children raised. Sometimes Read more…
In a rather unfocussed way I’ve been tuning in and out of the discussion unfolding about poverty in the UK. I briefly read the paper produced by the Centre for Social Justice which deals with a specific issue of whether we should redefine the meaning of poverty since there will always Read more…