WUPJ Library

Rabbi Dr Ulrike Offenberg | Reform Jewish Community of Hamelin, Germany This year the parashot of Tazria and Metzora are bound together to a double parashah, and neither of them has ever been one of the favourite Torah readings of Liberal Jews. We hear about skin afflictions, swellings, rashes, body discharges and how the priest […]

Rabbi James Bennett | Congregation Shaare Emeth, St. Louis, USA In the midst of the global challenge of the CoVID 19 pandemic, our Torah portion, Shemini, could not be more relevant. The ancient wisdom of the Torah reminds us of the dangers of arrogance, haughty self-interest and selfishness, disregard for communal welfare, and the absence […]

Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld | Congregation Albert, New Mexico, USA   Perhaps, this year, the question we should be asking at Seder is:   ׁ?מה נשתנה הפסח הזה – Ma nishtanah haPesach hazeh? Why is this Pesach different from all other Pesachs?   With the COVID-19 pandemic there are some obvious answers. • Going out to […]

Rabbi Dr Barbara Borts | Associate Lecturer, Dept of Music, Newcastle University, UK The root tzv in the Tanakh means, of course, command, and the parashah for this week opens with the imperative form of the root – Tzav! Command! ‎ Most people are perhaps better acquainted with the noun form derived from the root, namely, mitzvah. Mitzvah means ‘commandment’, but, if you ask most American Jews what a […]

Rabbi Neal Borovitz | Rabbi Emeritus at Temple Avodat Shalom, New Jersey, USA The third book of Torah, similar to the book of Exodus/ Sh’mot, which we have just completed, is known to us by two names. In English we refer to the book by the descriptive name given it by the ancient Jews of […]

Rabbi Joel Oseran | Beth Hillel Roma, Italy         We read this Shabbat the double Parashot Vayak’heil-P’kudei which conclude the book of Leviticus. The rabbis are always quick to find meaning in repetitive use of word forms and so they find special meaning in the word Vayak’heil. In our Torah reading for […]

Rabbi Rami Shapiro | One River Foundation Torah is a human document written by multiple authors over centuries. As such it reflects both the best and worst of human imagining. We see evidence of both in this week’s parasha: the God who kills and the God who forgives. What so troubled the Israelites that they […]

Rabbi Paul Golomb | Senior Scholar of  Vassar Temple, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA Make sacral vestments for your brother Aaron…These are the vestments they are to make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe…On the hem [of the robe], make pomegranates…with bells of gold between them all around. (Ex. 28: 2,4,33) A few months before the celebration […]

Rabbi Stacey Blank | Kehilat Shir Chadash, Tzur Hadassah, Israel In Israel, it is common for girls to mark bat mitzvah with a party or other kind of special celebration.  Though it is still unusual, there are more and more young women who mark their twelfth birthday with a ceremony in the synagogue in which […]

Rabbi Stephanie M. Alexander | Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, Charleston, USA. We’re often taught that it’s what’s on the inside that counts, beauty is only skin deep, and we should never judge a book by its cover. But what about when there’s a disconnect between what we’re told is on the inside and what we see on the outside — […]

Rabbi Yuval Keren | Southgate Progressive Synagogue, London, UK Whenever we think of a Biblical role model for a leader – we think of Moses, our teacher. Yet even Moses was not entirely flawless, and even Moses sometimes needed help and guidance, and even Moses sometimes failed. When he first received his mission as he […]

Rabbi Becky Hoffman | Associate Rabbi and Religious School Director, Kol Tikvah, Woodland Hills, CA We know the end of the story. Despite the size and power of the Egyptian army, the Israelites will become a free people. The victim will become the victor. The weak will defeat the mighty. But there is one odd […]