Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz

Parashat Beha’alotcha 2016 / Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz  Our God makes demands of us.  Our God makes demands of us.  As modern Jews, we may be unaccustomed and even uncomfortable with the above statement. We relish in a world of autonomy, even permissiveness, and we associate Divine demands with another world entirely—one of unbridled zealotry and narrow-minded fanaticism.  Yet it is true, our God makes demands of us.  Our God demands our relentless pursuit of justice. ‘ Tzedek tzedek tirdoff ’—‘justice, justice you shall pursue’ (Deut. 16:20). Our God demands abiding love. ‘ V’ahavta le’arecha kamocha ’—‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Lev. 19:18). Our God demands lives guided by wise lovingkindness—‘ torat chesed al leshonah ’—‘the law of kindness shall be upon her tongue.’ (Prov. 31:26) Our God demands our unwavering commitment to peace. ‘ Sur me’rah v’aseh tov, bakesh shalom v’rad’fehu ’—‘Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and...

Sermon Sinai Synagogue, Parashat Beha’a lot’cha  Playing with Fire  When I was reading my Facebook newsfeed three days ago, someone shared the lovely and heartwarming story from the Bradford Jewish community. The local Muslim community generously stepped up to raise funds for the synagogue’s leaky roof in a fantastic gesture of interfaith friendship. I immediately shared the story. I have a lot of Muslim friends on Facebook and I wanted to spread the goodwill. When I refreshed my newsfeed afterwards, still aglow with having my faith in humanity restored, I read about the gruesome Woolwich murder…  I wondered for a long time whether this should be addressed in a sermon and if so, how. The media has covered the story in gruesome detail and pundits and ordinary people alike have descended to give their opinions. How do we see this – as a murder or as a terrorist attack? Were the two men ‘lone wolves’ or part of a wave of organised radicalisation? How does this gruesome ac...

A Taste of Limmud Parashat Beha’alot’cha Roadmap The vacation season has arrived and many will hit the road. In days past, it would have been tempting to bicker over a wrong turn or missing a crucial exit. Today we are lucky to have the foolproof technology of a GPS to guide us. Parashat Beha’alot’cha provides the Children of Israel with their GPS and presents us with a microcosm of the spiritual roadmap that is Torah. We read a seemingly chaotic text which brims with a large number of events. Our weekly reading starts out with instructions for the Menorah, then describes the duties of the Levites, only to follow with offering the second chance of ‘ Pesach Sheni ’. Then the narrative informs us of the guidance of the ‘ Anan ’, the Cloud of Glory which rests over the Tabernacle, the spiritual compass of the Israelite community. Further on, it mentions the construction of silver trumpets to organise the community, and Moses’ management crash course instructing him to delegate seventy el...