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Showing posts from July, 2019

Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko - Sinai Sermon - 27th July 2019 (Mattot 5779)

Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko - Sinai Sermon - 27th July 2019 from Sinai on Vimeo .

Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko - Sinai Sermon - 20th July 2019 (Pinchas 5779)

Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko - Sinai Sermon - 20th July 2019 from Sinai on Vimeo .

Ask The Rabbi: Mattot 5779

Since my interviews last year, I have consistently maintained that if there is something odd or confusing encountered in any of the changes to our services that have come up while I have led services, that I would much prefer that the questions be asked directly to me than spoken about in frustration where I an unable to aid in the dialogue. If something comes up, I encourage you to email me at: rabbi@sinaileeds.uk with the heading “Ask the Rabbi” and I will happily answer them in order in this space. This week, the question was “why do you have a silent Amidah on Friday evening ( Erev Shabbat ) and an out-loud Amidah for Saturday morning ( Shacharit Shabbat )? First of all, we have to ask what the Amidah is. Although the Talmud does give us multiple answers in chapters 4 and 5 of Tractate Berakhot (Blessings) the primary answer is that it is an ersatz or a stand-in for temple sacrifice. When the second temple was destroyed by the Romans 70 ce, the sages had the centuries-long

Bli Neder!

It is a charming little superstition to hear when I visit friends in Israel: “Are you coming to supper Yom Rishon?” “I intend to be there. Bli neder !” Bli neder . Without pledge. We actually know the substantive derivation of the root nun-dalet-resh quite well, as it forms the name of one of our most cherished moments: Kol Nidrei . “All Pledges.” In about twelve weeks we will gather together to hear three repetitions (yes, three! Stay tuned!) of this most sacred prayer which ultimately amounts to a legal document covering us for all the times we forgot to say, “ Bli neder !” But really, what’s the big deal? The passage of Parashat Mattot that we will be reading Saturday morning goes into what feels like absurd detail regarding the status of a pledge. Essentially, if a pledge is made by someone that according to the societal rules of the times was able to make that vow, then the pledge cannot be broken and must be carried out. It really seems quite simple, doesn’t it

SERMON@SINAI (Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko 1st Sinai Sermon) 6th July 2019

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I Like It!

This past Shabbat, along with Jonathan Lewis and my wife, Katrin, I attended Shirei Chagigah in North London at the Alyth Synagogue. Aside from being transformative in its own right and allowing me to meet over half of my UK Reform rabbinical colleagues, the conference seemed tailor-made to address some of the questions that we will all wrestle with over the next weeks, months and even years. As we were introduced to melodies including quite a few unfamiliar to me, the natural questions of musical taste and preference in synagogue settings arose. This moved conversation inevitably to the complexity of introducing new melodies or musical styles into a community. Perhaps it is comforting to know that these issues are universal. There were more discussions on how to teach new music and then deal with the resistance within a congregation than any other single subject. And within our discussions on “change” since I arrived, this is probably the element of change that is most crit