…only for their own people are chauvinists. They create false expectations, narrow and self-regarding emotions, and bravado rather than real courage. Moses had to show (as he did when he rescued Yitro’s daughters from the local shepherds, see Ex. 2:17) that he cared for non-Israelites as well as Israelites. Jeremiah was told by God to become a “Prophet to the…
…have, well, Noach, of course, the only person in the whole of Tanach, who’s called a tzaddik. We have Iyov, “Job”, the most righteous person in the whole of Tanach, who isn’t Jewish. We have Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law, who teaches him how to lead, who isn’t Jewish. And to my mind, the most poignant and in some ways the most moving…
Hidden beneath the surface of parshat Pinchas, the Sages uncovered a story of great poignancy. Moses, having seen his sister and brother die, knew that his own time on earth was coming to a close. He prayed to God to appoint a successor: Let the Lord, God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over this community who…
One reason religion has survived in the modern world despite four centuries of secularisation is that it answers the three questions every reflective human being will ask at some time in his or her life: Who am I? Why am I here? How then shall I live? These cannot be answered by the four great institutions of the modern West:…
…of time with courage and confidence. BESHALLACH: There are no fast tracks. Lasting achievement takes time. You can never get there by the shortest road. The harder it gets, the stronger you become. YITRO: If you find yourself in a situation of conflict that threatens to break something apart, framing a covenant will help keep people together. There are certain…
…“a priest of God most high.” (Gen. 14:18). Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law, was a Midianite priest who gave his son-in-law sound advice as to how to lead. In the book of Jonah, during the storm, while Jonah the Hebrew Prophet was sleeping, the Gentile sailors were praying. When the Prophet arrived at Nineveh and delivered his warning, immediately the people repented,…
…natural family, as well as his identity as one of the children of Israel. It is a cliché to say that leadership is a lonely undertaking. But at the same time no leader can truly survive on their own. Yitro told Moses this many years earlier. Seeing him leading the people alone he said, “You and these people who come…
…revolutionary: the supreme power intervenes in history in defence of the powerless. Shemot Vaera Bo Beshallach Yitro Mishpatim Terumah Tetzaveh Ki Tissa Vayakhel Pekudei Vayikra (Leviticus) In Vayikra, the book of Leviticus, God sets out the mystery and majesty of holiness, summoning the people with whom He covenanted to a life driven by its energy, lit by its radiance, transformed…
…Beyond the Politics of Anger (The Daily Telegraph) The Home We Build Together (book) The Home We Build Together (animated video) The Universal and the Particular Not in God’s Name (Book – especially Ch. 11: The Universality of Justice, the Particularity of Love) Covenant & Conversation, Parshat Yitro: Particular Paths to a Universal God Video: Rabbi Sacks on Particular vs…
…Yitro) Neighbours are usually people like us. It’s strangers not like us we need to learn not to hate (Thought For the Day, 19 October 2018) The Trace of God (Covenant & Conversation, Noach) Short Quotes from Rabbi Sacks To love God is to recognise His image in a human face, especially one whose creed, colour or culture is different…