WUPJ Library

By Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Movement Rabbi, Movement for Reform Judaism, UK In Parashat Ekev (עקב), Moses continues his speech to the Israelites, outlining the consequences of obeying or disobeying God’s commandments. The rewards of obedience include continuing to enjoy the benefits of the covenant – health, abundant produce and fertility. The Israelite’s enemies will be […]

by Rabbi Pauline Bebe, Communauté Juive Libérale , Centre Maayan – Paris, France The very name of this parasha – EKEV – is a drash in and of itself; no need to go further. Sometimes a mere utterance is worth a long speech. As one of my teachers, Rabbi Lionel Blue, used to say: you […]

By Rabbi Dr. Walter Rothschild, Landesrabbiner of Schleswig-Holstein, rabbi of Or Chadasch , Vienna There is a big, very big, question hidden in Deuteronomy 9:5.  The Israelites, says God, are not to give themselves any credit for the fact that their opponents are driven out of the Land which they, the Israelites, are now to […]

Sh’ma Yisrael! – The Voices WE Hear By Rabbi Norman T. Roman, Rabbi Emeritus Temple Kol Ami of West Bloomfield, Detroit, Michigan (USA) We sometimes overlook a special talent, such as Moses demonstrated, especially in the last book of the Torah, D’varim – Deuteronomy. While this week’s Parasha, Va-etchanan, gives us further insight into his […]

Recent Issues Parashat Vaethanan (Nachamu) 3:23-7:11 By: Rabbi Roberto Graetz, Temple Isaiah , Los Angeles, USA The cycle of weekly Torah readings and the prophetic readings in the Haftarah is in many ways daunting. We just finished three weeks where the prophets spoke harsh words of admonition ( puranuta ). On this Shabbat known both […]

by Rabbi Philip Cohen, Ph.D., rabbi of Agudas Israel Congregation , Hendersonville, North Carolina Parashat V’etchanan contains the restatement of the Ten Commandments first articulated in the book of Exodus. The major difference between the two versions regards the command for Shabbat, and this difference is noteworthy. In the first version of the Decalogue, Shabbat […]

by Rabbi Sheryl Nosan-Blank, Founding Rabbi of The Nefesh Project We Jews know hate well. Against impossible odds, we survive consuming flames of anti-Semitism. Against lurking fears, we are sometimes urged to safeguard embers of hate for people, or peoples, who’ve hated us. Hate, like love, is pervasive and powerful. This week’s readings challenge us […]

By Rabbi Rich Kirschen, Director of the Anita Saltz International Education Center , The World Union for Progressive Judaism, Jerusalem So one day my daughter walks up to me and tells me that she thinks Judaism is a lot of baloney.  And then she goes on to tell me how in fact the Rambam (Maimonides, […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Dr. Deborah Kahn-Harris, Principal, Leo Baeck College , London, UK “Every Head is Ailing and Every Heart is Sick” [Is 1: 5]: A Reflection for Shabbat Chazon/Erev Tisha b’Av Writing from London in mid-July (the WUPJ’s deadline for the d’var Torah is a month before publication), the weeks leading up to […]

Recent Issues Parashat Devarim 1:1-3:22 By: Rabbi Uri Lam – Congregação Israelita Mineira – CIM (Jewish Congregation from Minas Gerais), Brazil Moses addressed to all the People of Israel “Language is my Fatherland, but I have no Fatherland, I have a Motherland and I want a Brotherland Concrete poetry, chaotic prose.” (Caetano Veloso, Língua, 1984) […]

by Rabbi Uri Lam, Sociedade Israelita da Bahia (SIB / Jewish Society of Bahia, Brazil) Only those who live a known life, becomes older, distinct from the species among they live . (“The Bee”, Fernando Pessoa) The weekly portion which opens the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) contains in itself an intriguing peculiarity: since Moses assumed […]

By Rabbi Haim Shalom, incoming Rabbi at Menorah Synagogue, Cheshire Reform Congregation in the North West of England Every year on the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, the day that commemorates the falling of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews, we read the same Parasha and the same Haftarah. […]