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| Home » Writings, Speeches, Broadcasts » Diary of a Chief Rabbi » 1999 |
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| The Real Battleground of Survival is Education |
| 1/12/1999 |
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Diary of a Chief Rabbi
I had a lovely experience the other day, opening a new computer centre at one of our Jewish primary schools. It's fascinating to see how children take to the new technology, entranced by its almost magical possibilities. Already they had created a school website to which many of the children had contributed. They understood how it could be accessed by their friends in other schools - even by people halfway across the world.
We are living through a revolution, ... |
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| The Sanctity of Human Existence |
| 1/11/1999 |
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Diary of a Chief Rabbi
The proposal for a National Holocaust Day has met with mixed reactions from the Jewish community. It should not have done. It is a brave idea that has been misunderstood.
The Holocaust was a defining event in history. There were other chapters of Jewish tragedy. Nor have Jews been the only victims of hate. There have been, before and since, other attempted genocides. We are nearing the end of a century in which human blood has been shed on a horrendous scale.
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| Our Schools are the Seedbed of Renewal |
| 1/10/1999 |
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Diary of a Chief Rabbi
If you sometimes wonder about the state of Anglo-Jewry, think of the festival we have just celebrated, Sukkot.
Not so long ago, lulavim and etrogim were relative rarities. The rabbi certainly had his set of arba minim, which was passed round the synagogue. So too did a few of the more dedicated members of the congregation. But the procession around the bima was quite small. Today, in community after community, synagogues are thronged with lulavim. It's an exhi... |
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| The Connection Between Spirituality and Songs |
| 1/9/1999 |
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Diary of a Chief Rabbi
The sociologist Peter Berger called them "signals of transcendence" - moments when you feel lifted beyond yourself and infinity seems almost within reach. That, for me, was the mood in the Edgware Synagogue for choral Selichot this year.
The shul was packed. I've rarely seen so many people gathered in a single building to pray. It was lovely to see so many people from different communities, spanning the religious spectrum, coming together in harmony. The music... |
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