In Judaism, mysteries have a habit of becoming controversies, none more so than in the case of Shavuot, otherwise known as Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks. Shavuot generated one of the great arguments in Jewish history. It is not too much to say that on its outcome the future of Jewish people turned. [...]
The human body contains 100 trillion cells. Within each cell is a nucleus. Within each nucleus is a double copy of the human genome. Each genome contains 3.1 billion letters of genetic code, enough if transcribed to fill a library of five thousand books. Each cell, in other words, contains a blueprint of the [...]
To listen to the Chief Rabbi read and discuss this essay on BBC Radio 2, please click here. As an answer to the question what makes us human, even in the age of neuroscience, it’s hard to improve on the Bible’s answer. First comes the good news of Genesis 1. We are each, regardless [...]
On Sunday we will commemorate Yom HaShoah, the day set aside in the Jewish calendar for Holocaust remembrance. Always a moving and important day, this year’s Yom HaShoah has added significance as we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, when in April 1943, seven hundred and fifty Jewish fighters led the first [...]
Pesach, or Passover, is the Jewish festival of freedom. I can remember as a child the vivid atmosphere that used to build up as it approached. The house was frantic with activity. During Pesach not only are we not allowed to eat any leavened food; we cannot have any in the house. So for [...]
Below is a transcript of the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks’ address at the service to commemorate and mark National Holocaust Memorial Day 2013. This service was took place at City Hall, home to the London Assembly and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The sheer scale of the Holocaust can sometimes overwhelm us. On [...]
It is the religious time of the year. Step into any city in America or Britain and you will see the night sky lit by religious symbols, Christmas decorations certainly and probably also a giant menorah. Religion in the West seems alive and well. But is it really? Or have these symbols been emptied [...]
To be a Jew is to read. To learn, to study, to exercise the mind in pursuit of God and truth, is the holiest act. The Talmud, in a passage that dazzlingly illustrates the world of the sages, tells of a certain Rav Hamnuna who was taking a long time over his prayers and [...]