Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz

Deze column verscheen eerder in  april 2011 op Nieuw W!J . Het was een echte politieke soap voor mij de afgelopen dagen. Ik zat zo’n beetje elk uur gekluisterd aan een computer in de bibliotheek van mijn rabbinaal seminarie. Enigszins obsessief compulsief checkte ik de websites van de grote kranten. De vraag van de week was of ik nog wel mijn kosjere kippetje kan blijven eten wat met veel liefde en respect op de Sjabbattafel placht te verschijnen. Op initiatief van de Partij voor de Dieren (PvdD) werd een wetsvoorstel gelanceerd om het ‘onbedwelmde’ rituele slachten te verbieden. De term ‘onbedwelmd’ is op zich al een sterk staaltje Orwelliaans-populistisch woordgymnastiek. De reguliere ‘bedwelmde’ slacht is niet zo zachtaardig als de term suggereert. Hierbij word er namelijk een stalen pin door de kop van het slachtvee geschoten. Dit wil nog wel eens misgaan. Maar in hoeverre kan men redelijkheid tegenover populisme zetten? De stellingen zijn al ingenomen en op de fora van de onl...

Photocredit: google Sermon West London Synagogue Parashat Acharei Mot The Feast of Freedom Freedom is not a privilege inherited. Freedom is a right passionately fought for, each generation anew. The poignant words of the Haggadah, echoing the Mishnah, remind us of this difficult truth: ‘one is obligated to see him or herself as if he or she left Egypt’. Freedom is not only the theory of history books, but a reality to be lived daily. So close to Pesach, it is fitting to remember the moral courage of Rabbi Werner van der Zyl, whose yartzeit we commemorate. Rabbi van der Zyl escaped the dire straits of Nazi Germany. In 1956, true to the spirit of his Hochshule fur die Wissenschaft des Judentums , Rabbi van der Zyl founded the institution at which I am privileged to train. We are much indebted to his courage and vision. These last few months, the call for freedom has been sweeping across the world. We have seen dictators topple and nations unchained. Often this call is a still, small voic...

Photocredit Sermon Parashat Metzora Finchley Reform Synagogue The House of our Souls and the Soul of our Houses “A plague on both your houses!” cried the mortally wounded Mercutio in Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Juliet’s fiery cousin, Tybalt Capulet strikes down Mercutio, friend of Romeo Montague. The feuding between the two famous families turned deadly. The love of their progeny is forever tainted by hate. This week’s parashah speaks explicitly of plagues upon houses—quite literally. Our Torah portion states: “When you enter the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I inflict an eruptive plague upon a house in the land you possess…” (Lev. 14:34) Parashat Metzora, like last week’s parashat Tazria, graphically describes various forms of ritual impurity. The parashah appears obtuse. We no longer live in an ancient agricultural society nor do we practice a Judaism that has a sacrificial cult at its core. (And we can be thankful for that!) Yet our Torah describes an i...

Deze column verscheen eerder in maart 2011 op Nieuw W!J . Ik moet blij zijn maar het wil niet zo lukken. Morgenavond begint Poerim, het vrolijke joodse ‘carnaval’ waarin de boekrol Esther wordt gelezen, we ons verkleden en stomdronken worden: dit alles ter viering dat ‘we’ het weer een keer overleefd hebben. Zoals bij veel carnavals worden tijdens het Poerimfeest de gezagsverhoudingen op z'n kop gezet. In het bijbelverhaal weet de joodse koningin Esther het genocidale plan van de kwade Haman te torpederen en redt zij daarmee haar volk. Met Haman loopt het minder goed af. Hij komt te bungelen aan de galg die hij had opgezet om zijn snode plannen mee uit te voeren. Op Poerim volgt een aantal weken later het Pesachfeest waarin we de uittocht uit de Egyptische slavernij herdenken. Ook hierin worden de genocidale plannen van een dictatoriale snoodaard - farao - gedwarsboomd. Ditmaal is dat de held Mozes. Farao wilde alle pasgeboren Hebreeuwse jongetjes verzuipen in de Nijl. Ook hier ve...

photo credit Sermon Finchley Reform, Parashat Tzav Duty and Sacrifice He is prepared to die. It is his job. He brings his sacrifice, his burnt-offering. We do not know his face or his name. We know nothing of his place of birth, his family or his interests. What is his favourite food? What film did he see last? Did he kiss his wife goodbye before he left to minister to his dreadful task with grim determination? How can one begin to speak about the open wound of disaster? Words do not seem fitting yet silence becomes an accomplice in forgetting. No words can quiet the tremors of Japan’s earthquakes. When faced with a disaster of such Biblical proportions, questions of meaning push to the fore. As audacious (and perhaps even fruitless) as the task seems, it is our duty to find perspective on these events. At the same time, we should be cautioned to remember that neither justification nor comfort can be found in the inadequacy of mere words. The official death toll runs in the tens of tho...

Photocredit Finchley Reform Synagogue Parashat Pekudei This sermon explores the overarching theme touched upon in last week's sermon: can we draw an analogy between the power struggles in Torah and the pressing events of today's world? Accountability It’s been quite an intrepid journey, a political saga. These past five weeks, we have witnessed a people and its leadership wrestle with each other. Five weeks ago in parashat Terumah, the building of the Tabernacle was birthed in idealism. The people generously laid their riches at the feet of Moses and Aaron. But something transpired. The outpour of popular devotion was used to furnish not only the Mishkan itself but was also used to bolster the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Did the nascent Israelite democracy shift towards a theocracy? In parashat Tetzaveh we saw the Israelite donations transformed into priestly wealth. The High Priest, Aaron, is made a glorious garment. Yet Moses is silent. What happened between the sibling-r...

Image from weheartit This sermon was published previously on the website of Leo Baeck Collge Parashat Vayakhel Power to the People ‘Don’t you know, they’re talking ‘bout a revolution, it sounds like a whisper.’ Folk singer Tracy Chapman’s warm voice trills with restrained anticipation during the first bars of this famous song. I heard it as an idealistic teenager and was instantly inspired. It was Tracy Chapman’s music that encouraged me to learn how to play the guitar.   The days of revolutionary spirit seemed long gone. But revolutions can appear suddenly and unannounced, like a thief in the night. At first, they sound like whispers, but then their clarion call grows triumphant. These last few weeks we witnessed history in the making. With baited breath we watched the footage as Tunisia burst into flame, shortly followed by Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya. The initial euphoria over protesters marching on Tahrir Square ousting Egypt’s Mubarak was dampened by grisly reports of Gad...