WUPJ Library

Rabbi Gersh Lazarow | Temple Beth Israel, St Kilda, Victoria “And Joseph recognised his brothers but the brothers did not recognise him.” In one of the great reversals in Tanakh, Joseph, whom we saw at the end of Vayeshev, languishing in prison, becomes in Miketz, a ruler of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. It happens […]

Rabbi Rami Shapiro | One River Foundation Too often when reading Torah, we get hooked on the drama and miss the message. Parashat Vayeshev is a case in point. The story is so rich and well known—Joseph and his coat of many colors, Joseph sold into slavery, Joseph falsely accused of rape and thrown into […]

Rabbi Michael Zedek | Emanuel Congregation, Chicago, USA One of my most beloved teachers would offer, “Is the Bible the religious text of Western civilization because it is a great book, or is it a great book because it is the religious text of Western civilization?” Self-evidently, rabbis insist on the former conviction, and the […]

Rabbi Stacey Blank | Kehilat Shir Chadash, Tzur Hadassah (outside of Jerusalem) Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism, famously wrote, “If you will it, it is no dream.” The beginning of every great project is a dream. The idea of a Jewish State in the land of Israel had been a dream for almost 2000 years since the […]

Rabbi Dan Moskovitz | Temple Sholom, Vancouver, Canada My wife and I have three children, two boys and a girl. Ever since they were old enough to realize that they outnumbered us — that we were, in sports speak, in a “zone defense” — each one has tried to get over on the other two […]

Rabbi Uri Lam | Congregation Beth-El, Sao Paulo, Brazil And so, when it will come to me later Maybe death, the anguish of those who live Maybe loneliness, the end of those who love I can tell about the love (I lived): That is not immortal, since it is flame But let it be infinite […]

Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld | Congregation Albert, Albuquerque, USA In this week’s Parasha, Vaiera, it is as if we meet two different Abrahams. One a man of faith and strength, willing to stand up for justice, even against God. The other a man of faith who blindly follows God, regardless of the justness of the command. […]

Rabbi Dr. Ulrike Offenberg | Juedische Gemeinde Hameln, DEU The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you shall be […]

Rabbi Stan Zamek | United Jewish Congregation, Hong Kong And of all that lives, of all flesh, you shall take two of each into the ark to keep alive with you; they shall be male and female. From birds of every kind, cattle of every kind, every kind of creeping thing on earth, two of […]

Rabbi Dan Moskovitz | Temple Sholom in Vancouver, Canada One Yom Kippur, a rabbi was warning his congregation about the fragility of life. “One day everyone in this congregation is going to die,” he thundered from the bimah. Seated in the front row was an elderly woman who laughed out loud when she heard this. Irritated, […]

Rabbi Dr. Rena Arshinoff, PhD | Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada We are commanded to rejoice during Sukkot. The holiday of Sukkot is filled with traditions and symbolism. We partake in dwelling in the sukkah, shaking the four species, giving thanks for the harvest, expressing joy, inviting others, and showing hospitality. While […]

Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro, Rabbi Emeritus Sinai Temple, Springfield, Massachusetts Once upon a time – when I was in college – I had a friend who was the classic renegade. It was the late 1960’s and he was full of passionate disdain for the political leaders of the day and for the War in Vietnam. […]