Kriyat Habonim Blog
Sukkot
The festival of sukkot can be interpreted in different ways depending on which branch of Judaism we identify with. Traditionally, sukkot commemorates the years that Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, and celebrates the way in which God...
Yom Kippur
This week concludes the 10 days of atonement in the Jewish calendar, culminating in Yom Kippur. Whether one practices cultural, reform, or orthodox Judaism, Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and most of us conform in some way to its laws and...
Benjy’s Speech at the Vigil for Pittsburgh
A Boger of Habonim Dror, went to the vigil for the victims of the Pittsburgh Massacre. You can read below his inspiring speech.
Holocaust Memorial Day
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...
I think we’re on shnat?? – HDUK/B SHNOG #1
It’s one week in, and Shnat Club 7 are already taking to kibbutz life like a butternut squash to a roasting tin. We’ve eaten more vegetables in the past week than Daniel Birtles, the Vegan guru himself, has had in the last 2 years. When we aren’t being shushed by...
Guilty until proven innocent?
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 Manual of the Tabernacle and Movement?
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...
Mishpatim and the Refugees
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...
Justice and Morality and the 10 Commandments
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)...
A Lesson on Leadership from Moses and Sacks
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...