-
Surrounded By People But All Alone: D’var Torah for Parshat Bereishit
Surrounded By People But All Alone When the first person was brought into the world, was he alone? In the parsha of Bereishit, Hashem declared: “לֹא טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ אֶעֱשֶׂה לּוֹ עֵזֶר כְּנֶגְדּוֹ” “It’s not good for Adam to Read more... -
The Ultimate Festival of Joy: D’var Torah for Sukkot
The Ultimate Festival of Joy Every year, thousands of people stayed up all night and no one felt sleepy. This was for the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah, the celebration of the drawing of water, which took place in temple times during Read more... -
Thought for the Day: Yom Kippur 5787
Kol Nidre Reminds Us Who We Are Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, begins on Sunday evening with the Kol Nidre service. This year it will be a particularly poignant one for British Jews, as we Read more... -
The Longest and Shortest Words in the Torah: Dvar Torah for Parshat Ha’azinu
The Longest and Shortest Words in the Torah Very few people know what the longest and shortest words in the Torah are. The longest word in the Torah is in the Book of Shemot: “וּבְמִשְׁאֲרוֹתֶיךָ” “And in your kneading troughs” Read more... -
Thought for the Day: Rosh Hashanah 5787
BBC Thought for the Day – Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis – BBC Sounds 11 SEPT 26 What Are Anniversaries For? Every one of a certain age can remember exactly where they were 25 years ago today, when they learned Read more... -
The Chief Rabbi’s Rosh Hashanah Message 5787
In 2025, Netflix released a documentary entitled “Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever.” It followed Bryan Johnson, a billionaire entrepreneur who has devoted his life to slowing, and even reversing, the ageing process. His regimen involved aggressive Read more... -
Learning Happiness and Optimism from Selichot: D’var Torah for Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech
This coming motzei Shabbat, in Ashkenazi circles, we will be commencing our annual season of Selichot. Of course, Sephardim have already commenced the Selichot from the beginning of Elul, and we will all carry on with our Selichot until Yom Read more... -
Life in the World To Come: D’var Torah for Parshat Ki Tavo
There are numerous references in the Torah from which we can learn that there is ongoing life for the soul in the world to come – though the Torah never actually spells out the details of that life in its Read more... -
Don’t Be Like an Ammonite or a Moabite: D’var Torah for Parshat Ki Teitzei
What was wrong with the Moabites and the Ammonites? We’re told that they were not to be brought into the assembly of God: “עַל דְּבַר אֲשֶׁר לֹא קִדְּמוּ אֶתְכֶם בַּלֶּחֶם וּבַמַּיִם” “Because they didn’t offer you bread and water” This Read more...
