In this week’s D’var Torah for Toldot, the Chief Rabbi asks what can be learnt from Eisav’s favourite outfit. What is your most favourite outfit of clothing? For what special occasion did you wear it? In Parashat Toldot we are told, “Vatikach Rivka Et Bigdei Eisav Bnah Hagadol Hachamudot – Rivka took her …
This is a season of anniversaries. Rosh Hashanah is an anniversary — it marks the very first day on which human beings were brought into the world. Hashem started His days of creation on the 25th of Elul, and Adam was created on Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is also …
During this most painful year, in addition to the trauma of the terrorist atrocities, the capture of hostages and the tragic war, we have been subjected to a constant barrage of falsehoods. Of these, none has been so insidious as the morally inverted claim of genocide, the modern-day blood libel. …
In Parshat Ki Teitzei, the Torah gives us a crucial imperative: we must remember, and we must never forget. This instruction might seem redundant — after all, if you’re remembering, you’re not forgetting, and if you’re not forgetting, it’s because you’re remembering. Yet, the Torah emphasises this dual command: …
Every time we walk into our homes, we’re reminded of the fact that the peace of our homes is built on compromise. Now why do I say this? In Parshat Shoftim, there is a famous commandment: ‘Tzedek, Tzedek tirdof’ – ‘justice, justice, you must pursue’. Many commentators throughout the millennia …
If people are thirsty, should we take water to them, or should we wait for them to come and ask for it? The prophet Isaiah in the Haftarah for Parshat Re’eh tells us ‘Hoy kol-tzame lechu lamayim’– let everyone who is thirsty come to the water. But elsewhere, Isaiah tells …
What’s the best advice you can give to a good person? I’ll tell you the answer that the prophet Isaiah gives. In the Haftarah for Parshat Eikev, he declares ‘Shim’u elai rodefei tzedek mevakshei Hashem’ – listen to me, all those of you who pursue justice, who love Hashem, all …
The source for this is a passage of the Torah we all know by heart, it’s in the first paragraph of the Shema, which we read in Parshat Vaetchanan. ‘Veahavta et Hashem, Elohekha, bekhol levavkha, ouvkhol nafshekha, ouvkhol meodekha’ – You must love the Lord your God with all your …
From the Parsha of Devarim we have wonderful words of encouragement for the Jewish people right now. Moshe declared ‘Hashem elohei avotechem yosef aleichem kachem elef pe’amim’. May the Lord, the God of your fathers, increase your numbers 1000 times over. The Midrash intriguingly, tells us that this is a …
