WUPJ Library

Recent Issues Parashat Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1) By: Rabbi Rene Pfertzel, Keren Or, Lyon, France and Finchley Progressive Synagogue, London, UK Religion has a very bad reputation nowadays. Dreadful actions are perpetrated in the name of religion, not only in the Middle East, but also in our developed, well-educated first world. Religion is used as a […]

Recent Issues by Rabbi Dr. Gábor Lengyel, Kehilat Ez Chajim , Hanover, Germany, and Guest Lecturer at the Leibniz University, Hanover Parashat Pinchas is a very difficult chapter where Pinchas, the priest, plays the leading role. It was Pinchas who, towards the end of the wandering through the desert, put an end to the immoral ways […]

by Rabbi Shaul (Paul) R Feinberg, PhD, Emeritus Associate Dean, Associate Adjunct Professor of Education, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion , Jerusalem It is customary to wish persons going on a journey: “ Tzeit-khem l’shalom, oovo-ackehm l’shalom – go peacefully, in wholeness, and return peacefully, in wholeness.” Such a greeting reminds me of the […]

By Rabbi Fred Morgan, Senior Rabbi, Temple Beth Israel , Melbourne, Australia Pinchas opens with one of the most confronting stories in the Torah. The tale actually begins in the previous week’s portion, Balak . The Israelite men are seduced by the Moabite (also called Midianite) women. They engage in orgiastic sex, an idolatrous practice […]

by Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield, Head of the Movement for Reform Judaism in Britain “We are getting breaking news of a terrorist outrage in Shittim.  Reports say that a Midianite woman has been brutally murdered by an Israelite.  We can go over to our correspondent in Shittim, Mo Ab.” “There’s uproar here in Shittim.  The […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Uri Lam, Congregação Israelita Mineira , Minas Gerais, Brazil When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him and he spoke his message: (…) “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your dwelling places, Israel! Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside […]

Recent Issues Before You Sing Mah Tovu Again, Please Read This! // Parashat Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9) By: Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs , Former World Union president, author of What’s in It for Me? Finding Ourselves in Biblical Narratives , and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford, CT, USA. He can be reached at […]

By Rabbi Dr. Charles Middleburgh, Leo Baeck College, London If you think really hard, I wonder how many animals you can think of that occur in the Bible and fulfill a role? First there was the snake in the Garden of Eden, then there were the pairs of every species that went into the Ark with Noah – […]

by Rabbi John Levi, Melbourne. Australia Someone with a very acute sense of humour obviously wrote this week’s Torah portion. First of all, don’t blame Moses (or Ezra) for the story of Balak and Balaam and the recalcitrant and talkative she-ass and the angel. It might be helpful to mention that most biblical scholars believe […]

By Rabbi Richard G Lampert Rabbi Emeritus, North Shore Temple Emanuel Chatswood, Sydney, Australia “Mah Tovu Ohalekha Ya’akov, mish’k’notekha, Yisrael” “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel” These words are surely familiar to all who attend shul services. Every morning service throughout the year commences with these words, spoken by […]

by Rabbi Raphael W. Asher, Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Tikvah , Walnut Creek, CA Every time I read the blessings of Bilaam I want to punctuate each with a “ Yasher koach ,”kudos,  for this Moabite prophet who three times shouted Israel ’s praises from the highest peaks. “ A star rises from Jacob !” (Nu. 24:17) […]

by Rabbi Rich Kirschen, Anita Saltz Education Center , World Union for Progressive Judaism Today was one of those hot, dusty and very uncomfortable days in Jerusalem, and the news from inside the city as well as from around the world only increased the feeling that “the heat is on” in this complex capital of […]