Rabbis deliver “words of Torah” each Shabbat, musing and commenting on the weekly Torah portion. Here are some of the texts I’ve shared with my community.
Maidenhead Synagogue Parashat Bamidbar - 16 May 2026 / 29 Iyyar 5786 The book we begin this morning sits in an interesting place in our biblical library. For over a hundred and fifty years, biblical scholars have noticed that the Torah – the five...
A reflection on the double portion of B'har-B'chukotai Maidenhead Synagogue – 8 May 26 The Torah portion this week teaches us how to walk through difficulty without losing our souls. A single question runs from one end of the parasha to the other:...
Maidenhead Synagogue 11 April 2026 / 24 Nisan 5786 Leviticus 10 There is a moment in this morning's parashah that I have returned to again and again in recent weeks, not as a scholar but as a human being trying to make sense of what it feels like...
Maidenhead Synagogue, Shabbat Vayikra - 21 March 2026 / 3 Nisan 5786 There is a particular kind of tiredness that does not come from lack of sleep. It is the tiredness that accumulates when the world produces, week after week, new reasons for...
Maidenhead Synagogue Erev Shabbat Vayakhel-Pekudei 13 March 2026 / 24th Adar 5786 For rabbis, Shabbat poses an intriguing challenge. We are expected to teach that Shabbat is a day of rest and rejuvenation, but often, we arrive at Friday evening...
Maidenhead Synagogue Shabbat Tetzvah - Zachor 28 February 2026 / 11 Adar 5786 I am not often furious when I read the news. I’ve been trying for a while to detach myself from the relentless noise of the news cycle and from the carelessness with...
Maidenhead Synagogue – 13 February 2026 / 27 Sh’vat 5786 Have you ever wondered why we have laws at all? We could, in theory, have complete freedom: no rules, no constraints, no obligations to anyone. But the cost would be enormous. The 1789 French...
Maidenhead Synagogue, 23 January 2026 - Sh'vat 5786 - Parashat Bo (Book of Exodus) Today, I have allowed myself to be more political than usual. I do so because I believe that what is happening in our Western democracies is not a partisan issue but...
Maidenhead Synagogue 10 January 2026 / 21 Tevet 5786 Most of us know what it feels like to be “on fire”. Not in the glamorous sense; more in the modern sense: the constant heat of expectations, the pressure to perform, the endless stream of...