WUPJ Library

This week, in Australia and in Israel, we observe two significant events for honour and remembrance, both on the 25th of April.  In Australia, we offer our annual memorial service for the ANZACs – members of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps who fought together valiantly during the First World War.  Dawn services and ceremonies throughout the nation provide opportunity for reflection and solemn commemoration.

by Rabbi Mark Goldsmith, Alyth – North Western Reform Synagogue , London, UK The birth of a child is always an amazing thing – no matter that children have been born in huge numbers since time immemorial – it is still a little miracle every time a child is born.  In a Midrash interpreting our […]

We often think that e-mails or text messages are like oral conversation; that once the words are pronounced they disappear, but it is not the case. They stay in the minds of people that have been hurt, and the pain is difficult to erase. A little click can cause a great shock: let us take our time, zeman nakat, let us hurry slowly so that we be motsi shem tov – uttering good words, words of good.

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg, Temple Sinai Congregation of Toronto , Ontario, Canada A Time for Silence and a Time for Speaking The famous words of Ecclesiastes (3:1) remind us that ” a season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven” . Some of the actions associated with these experiences […]

By: Raphael W. Asher, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Bnai Tikvah , Walnut Creek, California, USA Pretty nearly full disclosure: My critical take on some of the excesses of the kashrut establishment come from family lore involving my two grandfathers (z”l). One was the Landesrabbiner in Hesse, Germany in the pre-war years. When some Kosher ingredients became […]

Recent Issues By Rabbi Alan Londy, D.Min., Rabbi of the New Reform Temple, Member of the Rabbinic Circle of the WUPJ Progressive Judaism is one of the key elements for the vitality and survival of the Jewish people.  It arose from a group of serious Jews who were concerned by the challenges of the modern […]

I have a love-hate relationship with this climactic passage in Parashat Shmini. The literary critic in me loves the spare wording, the way the story leaves so much to the imagination of the reader. I find Aaron’s silence in the face of literally unspeakable tragedy to be deeply moving. And there is the enduring mystery here: have Nadav and Avihu committed a crime so terrible that the only appropriate penalty is death?

When my children were younger I used to have pangs of anxiety around their birthdays and Hanukkah. I loved the celebration. I found great pleasure in their excitement. It was fun getting together with extended family for cake ice cream. My fear was related to the presents and three simple words: “some assembly required.” The […]

by Rabbi Stephen Berkowitz, Mouvement Juif Libéral de France , Paris T he midpoint of the Torah, in terms of the number of its words, may be found in this week’s paracha: Shemini. This word-center is located between דָּרֹשׁ- דָּרַשׁ ( darosh – darash) [Leviticus 10: 16 , “Then Moses inquired דָּרֹשׁ- דָּרַש about the goat […]

by Rabbi Matt Cutler, Congregation Gates of Heaven , Schenectady, NY A magician stands before a crowd. He warns the audience that he is going to suspend the laws of nature and rational logic. “Watch me pull a rabbit out of this hat!” he says and then waves a magic wand over the hat and […]

Parashat Shemini has special relevance for me as it was my bar mitzvah portion. Although a barmitzvah so soon after Pesach caused many headaches for my mother, who was already baking and cooking lunch for the guests several weeks in advance, I was determined that this was the portion for me. Well, when the alternatives […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Mark L. Winer, President of the Florida Democratic Party Caucus of American Jews and President of FAITH: the Foundation to Advance Interfaith Trust and Harmony We Jews live in a complicated, “BOTH/AND” world. We have BOTH never enjoyed more acceptance and freedom than at this time in history—AND yet the number […]