Kriyat Habonim Blog

The events of the Holocaust clearly exposes dehumanisation on both sides in its purest sense, that of the Nazis and of the Jews. Whether it is subconscious or not, today we as humans dehumanise the Nazis as if they weren't themselves part of the same human race. We...

This coming week’s parsha is VaYikra (“and He called”) and is the first parsha of Leviticus. The parsha lays out the reasons one must make a sacrifice (i.e. for peace and sins) but the one most interesting to me the laws of “guilt offerings”. These are offerings that...

The past week’s parsha is Pekudei and is the final parsha of the Book of Exodus. This week’s parsha spends a lot of time acting as a manual. It is not a manual for how we should live our lives but rather how we should go about building the Tabernacle and the Tent of...

This week’s parsha is Mishpatim and consists of 53 mitzvot, the promise of the Land of Israel to the Israelites and Moses ascending Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. The parsha details God laying down the law to his children many of them specific, archaic and...

Shabbat Shalom all! It is that time again in the week that we sit back, relax and hang with our family or friends. But it is also time for this week’s parsha. This week’s parsha is Yitro and some pretty big events occur. For starters Jethro (Moses’ father-in-law)...

This week’s parsha is that of Be’Shalach (‘when he let go’) and is the 16th parsha of the Torah. The parsha begins with the Israelites fleeing from Pharaoh, the story of the Red Sea splitting, the story of Moses and the rock and ends with the battle of Joshua and the...

This week’s parsha is Bo (Come). This parsha mainly consists of: the final 3 plagues in Egypt, the handing over of the first Mitzvah and also the beginning of the Jewish lunar calendar. The main question that arises for me from this parsha is that at multiple times...

This week’s parsha is that of Va’eira in the Book of Exodus. It is in this parsha that the back and forth between Moses and Pharaoh ends with the 10 plagues (which we all know from the Pesach story, and will therefore be focussed on during Pesach). What is more...

Chanukah presents are great, but it’s the presence of Chanukah that really matters. Chanukah has always been one of everyone’s favourite chaggim - and rightly so! Who wouldn’t love an eight-day binge fest on sugary, extra jammy doughnuts, deep fried latkes and...