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WRITINGS
Some of my thoughts, articles, and sermons.
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On Sigd
This week is a week full of Jewish celebration. I don’t mean Thanksgiving – although we could explore its Jewishness for the Americans...
rabbinathan
Nov 28, 20192 min read
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To be Jewish is "to eat and to argue"!
Carmine – this morning you have stepped forward and led us in prayer and read from the Torah. It is your coming of age – the moment that...
rabbinathan
Nov 9, 20194 min read
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On violence and technology
In his 1972 book, la violence et le sacre (Violence and the Sacred) the French anthropologist Rene Girard explores violence and how it is...
rabbinathan
Oct 26, 20195 min read
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On our need for a green revolution
This morning’s Torah portion is taken from parshat Nitzavim, a famous passage from almost the very end of the Book of Deuteronomy,...
rabbinathan
Oct 9, 20194 min read
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"I want to see children"
“There must be in everyone’s life, an instance of misunderstanding that cannot be put right without inflicting a greater hurt – perhaps a...
rabbinathan
Oct 8, 201910 min read
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Rosh Hashanah morning, 5780
Many synagogues have a high percentage of members who are High Holydays Jews, or as they are otherwise known, twice a year Jews. We have...
rabbinathan
Sep 30, 20197 min read
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Erev Rosh Hashanah 5780
There’s an old story from a Rosh Hashanah in a synagogue of yesteryear. The shul had ushers, one of whom greeted an older, elderly, woman...
rabbinathan
Sep 29, 201910 min read
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How can our lives pass so fast?
On this day thirteen years ago – September 14th 2006 – which must roughly be around the time that Sara, our bat mitzvah today was born –...
rabbinathan
Sep 14, 20194 min read
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Great to be back!
Great to be back! Great to be back at the American Club after a gap of several years Great to be back as a UHC community after the long...
rabbinathan
Aug 30, 20194 min read
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On our anti-biblical streak
This week’s Torah portion, Vaetchanan, includes both the Shema and the Ten Commandments. As your mind inevitably wanders off at some...
rabbinathan
Aug 14, 20195 min read
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On capital punishment
“Let him have it!” I don’t watch television these days, but my childhood was haunted by the flickering black and white television that...
rabbinathan
Jul 31, 20194 min read
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On the Shikse problem
Jewish men have long had a Shikse problem. That is to say, the allure of a non-Jewish woman is nothing new to our times. In the Torah the...
rabbinathan
Jul 24, 20194 min read
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On honouring parents
Our sages hasten to remind us that all of the 613 Mitzvot found in the Torah are equally important. This helps us not to neglect ones...
rabbinathan
Jul 10, 20195 min read
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On populism
If you ask yourselves, what is the defining “ism” of our age, it may well not be capitalism and thank God it is not Corbynism. And yet,...
rabbinathan
Jul 3, 20194 min read
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On living in tribes
Theodor Herzl passed away in Europe at the young age of 44 in 1904. Known as the Father of the State of Israel, it would take another...
rabbinathan
Jun 8, 20196 min read
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On International Women's Day
If you looked into the sky last night you would have seen the new moon of Adar Sheni – the leap month – the thirteenth month that...
rabbinathan
Mar 8, 20194 min read
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Our gifts are divine
Vayakhel reminds us that while everyone is invited to donate and contribute to the building of the tabernacle, the construction itself...
rabbinathan
Feb 22, 20192 min read
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On washing hands
My late mother was no doubt not the only parent who impressed upon her children, “cleanliness is second only to godliness”. As with much...
rabbinathan
Feb 20, 20192 min read
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On parental blessings
With this week’s parasha, Vayehi, we complete the reading of the book of Genesis and bring the story of the family of Jacob to a close....
rabbinathan
Dec 19, 20183 min read
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Rosh Hashanah Morning 5779
The Torah portion that we will be reading this morning is Genesis 22.1-19, the story of the binding of Isaac (Akedat Yitzhak). God tests...
rabbinathan
Sep 10, 20187 min read
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