YTRÔ

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YTRÔ

January 25, 2016 Daniel Pels

To Thank Before We Think

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

The Ten Commandments are the most famous religious-and-moral code in history. Until recently they adorned American courtrooms. They still adorn most synagogue arks. Rembrandt gave them their classic artistic expression in his portrait of Moses, about to break the tablets on seeing the golden calf. John Rogers Herbert’s massive painting of Moses bringing down the tablets of law dominates the main committee room of the House of Lords. The twin tablets with their ten commands are the enduring symbol of eternal law under the sovereignty of God. Continue reading YTRÔ

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BESHALACH

January 18, 2016 Daniel Pels

Renewable Energy

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

The first translation of the Torah into another language – Greek – took place in around the second century BCE, in Egypt during the reign of Ptolemy II. It is known as the Septuagint, in Hebrew Hashiv’im, because it was done by a team of seventy scholars. The Talmud however says that at various points the sages at work on the project deliberately mistranslated certain texts because they believed that a literal translation would simply be unintelligible to a Greek readership. One of these texts was the phrase, “On the seventh day God finished all the work he had made.” Instead the translators wrote, “On the sixth day God finished.”[1] Continue reading BESHALACH

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BÔ

January 14, 2016 Daniel Pels

The Spiritual Child

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

The American writer Bruce Feiler recently published a best-selling book entitled The Secrets of Happy Families.(1) It’s an engaging work that uses research largely drawn from fields like team building, problem solving and conflict resolution, showing how management techniques can be used at home also to help make families cohesive units that make space for personal growth. Continue reading BÔ

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VAERÁ

January 7, 2016 Daniel Pels

Spirits in a Material World

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

The Torah sometimes says something of fundamental importance in what seems like a minor and incidental comment. There is a fine example of this near the beginning of today’s parsha.
Last week, we read of how Moses was sent by God to lead the Israelites to freedom, and how his initial efforts met with failure. Not only did Pharaoh not agree to let the people go; he made the working conditions of the Israelites even worse. They had to make the same number of bricks as before but now they had to gather their own straw. The people complained to Pharaoh, then they complained to Moses, then Moses complained to God. “Why have you brought trouble to this people? Why did you send me?” Continue reading VAERÁ

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SHEMOT

December 28, 2015 Daniel Pels

Turning Curses into Blessings

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

Genesis ends on an almost serene note. Jacob has found his long lost son. The family has been reunited. Joseph has forgiven his brothers. Under his protection and influence the family has settled in Goshen, one of the most prosperous regions of Egypt. They now have homes, property, food, the protection of Joseph and the favour of Pharaoh. It must have seemed one of the golden moments of Abraham’s family’s history. Continue reading SHEMOT

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VAIECHI

December 21, 2015 Daniel Pels

On Not Predicting The Future

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

Jacob was on his death-bed. He summoned his children. He wanted to bless them before he died. But the text begins with a strange semi-repetition:
“Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.” (Gen. 49: 1-2)
This seems to be saying the same thing twice, with one difference. In the first sentence, there is a reference to “what will happen to you in the days to come” (literally, “at the end of days”). This is missing from the second sentence. Continue reading VAIECHI

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VAYGASH

December 17, 2015 Daniel Pels

Reframing

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

Maimonides called his ideal type of human being – the sage – a rofe nefashot, a “healer of souls.” Today we call such a person a psychotherapist, a word coined relatively recently from the Greek word psyche, meaning “soul,” and therapeia, “healing.” It is astonishing how many of the pioneering soul-healers in modern times have been Jewish. Continue reading VAYGASH

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MIKETZ

December 11, 2015 Daniel Pels

To Wait Without Despair

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

Something extraordinary happens between last week’s parsha and this week’s. It is almost as if the pause of a week between them were itself part of the story.
Recall last week’s parsha about the childhood of Joseph, focussing not on what happened but on who made it happen. Throughout the entire roller-coaster ride of Joseph’s early life he is described as passive, not active; the done-to, not the doer; the object, not the subject. Continue reading MIKETZ

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VAYESHEV

December 1, 2015 Daniel Pels

How to Change the World

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

In his Laws of Repentance, Moses Maimonides makes one of the most empowering statements in religious literature. Having explained that we and the world are judged by the majority of our deeds, he continues: “Therefore we should see ourselves throughout the year as if our deeds and those of the world are evenly poised between good and bad, so that our next act may change both the balance of our lives and that of the world.” We can make a difference, and it is potentially immense. That should be our mindset, always. Continue reading VAYESHEV

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VAYSHLACH

November 25, 2015 Daniel Pels

Feeling the Fear

A partnership of the Sinagoga Edmond J. Safra – Ipanema with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

It is one of the most enigmatic episodes in the Torah, but also one of the most important, because it was the moment that gave the Jewish people its name: Israel, one who “wrestles with God and with men and prevails.”
Jacob, hearing that his brother Esau is coming to meet him with a force of four hundred men, was terrified. He was, says the Torah, “very afraid and distressed.” He made three forms of preparation: appeasement, prayer and war (Rashi to Gen. 32: 9). He sent Esau a huge gift of cattle and flocks, hoping thereby to appease him. He prayed to God, “Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother” (32: 12). And he made preparation for war, dividing his household into two camps so that one at least would survive. Continue reading VAYSHLACH

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