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Two Nations in One Womb
To hope for a kiss and brace for a bite: Toldot, Interfaith Week and the stubborn work of remembering without hatred.
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Hearing Requires Room for Every Story
Hearing is never a passive bureaucratic gesture. Twice a day, Jewish liturgy commands us to engage in a profound act of spiritual attention: “Hear, O Israel.” We know the Shema not as a polite request, but as the central spiritual imperative of our tradition. To hear is to bear witness to the Eternal, to internalise…
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Welcome Is Not Enough
There’s a difference between opening a door and sharing the room.This week’s Torah portion — with its “mixed multitude” and the bold question Lamah nigara? (“Why should we be excluded?”) — has something urgent to say about Pride Month and trans inclusion in Jewish life.Rabbi Adrian Schell argues that queer and trans Jews aren’t a…
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The Holiness of Doing Nothing
Parashat Behar opens with one of the Torah’s most radical ideas. Every seventh year, the land of Israel must observe a shmita [sabbatical year]. No sowing, no pruning, no harvesting. The fields are simply left alone. Not because the land is broken, but because rest is not a reward for good work. Rest is a commandment.
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We Will Not Hide Our Light
Rabbi Adrian M. Schell addresses the Wimbledon Synagogue community following the horrific knife attack on the streets of Golders Green. The fading surprise at such violence is perhaps the most terrifying reality of all. Our response cannot simply be to retreat behind higher fences.Exploring Parashat Emor and its demand for “one standard for stranger and…
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We Will Not Hide
Again! I found myself staring at the news alerts yesterday, feeling that familiar, heavy tightening in my chest. Another attack. This time, a knife on the streets of Golders Green. The shock is instinctive, but if I am brutally honest with myself, the surprise is fading. And that fading surprise is perhaps the most terrifying…
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Beyond Silhouettes: Choosing People Over Labels
There is a particular comfort in “we and them” because it tidies a complicated world. The holiness of a community is found in its ability to recognise the individual within the mass. This requires a refusal to see a “refugee” or “man” as a monolith, insisting instead on seeing the Tzelem Elohim [Divine reflection] in…
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From Yom HaZikaron to Yom Ha’Atzma’ut
This week, as we mark Israel’s 78th year of independence, the movement from grief to sovereignty feels more demanding than ever. The pain across the region remains acute, the political reality deeply fractured. What does it mean for us, sitting here in London, to mark this anniversary today?It means that our response to loss cannot…
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How we use our voices matters
How we use our voices matters. Where we stand is never neutral. This week’s portion, Tazria-Metzora, asks: can silence be as corrosive as harmful words? I explore the thin line between being a bystander and becoming a sacred witness. Read this week’s reflection on why our testimony is a vital act of repair for our…
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What We Feed the Mind
The current debate about children and screen time is real, and the concerns are serious. Studies on sleep disruption, on shortened attention spans, on the psychological effects of algorithmic content designed to provoke outrage or insecurity, all of this belongs in the conversation. Yet the instinct to simply ban or limit, while understandable, misses something.…
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