Kriyat Habonim Blog

When I was on Shnat I remember talking to an Australian friend about Tu Bishvat recalling our experiences as children – mine planting seeds in the bitter cold, spade hitting frozen soil, tree unlikely to grown and his in the scorching sun, scrabbling at the dusty...

This week in Egypt’s attempt at a comedy news show, the Jews have escaped. One of the most famous of all the biblical narratives happens in this week’s Parsha Beshalach. The splitting of the Red Sea is an infamous metaphor of the glory of Hashem and the ability of the...

They say that darkness is simply the absence of light and is not an entity in itself. Much like evil, it only exists when the do-gooders of the world are apathetic and silent. It makes me wonder, where were all the Jews during the 10 plagues in Egypt? In Parshat Bo my...

It’s December once again! School holidays are approaching, the local shops and streets are filled with festive decorations, you wake up with that dreaded fear - Will I have to scrape ice off my car today? I bloody hope not! And the big worry, what am I going to do for...

So it is that time of year again in the Jewish calendar when we are re-introduced to our new protagonist of the Jewish narrative, Joseph. A popular figure in the Jewish world, maybe not with his brothers though. We all know the story of Jospeh the dream interpreter,...

We’ve all made decisions in our lives, whether right or wrong, that have come back to bite us in the butt. Some call it Karma some call it bad luck, either way it’s a pain in the ass. In this week’s parsha it seems like the spirit of Karma may be catching up with our...

In this week’s Torah portion we find our international man of mystery, the pre-Hugh hefner playboy himself, Jacob on the lookout for a wife. He has returned to the homeland of his mother to find a suitable partner, but you know what they say; Every mother hopes her...

This week in our epic tale of love and tragedy we find one of our protagonists on the search for love. Of course Isaac did not go himself, Avram sent a servant with a criteria for choosing the future mother of a nation. He would go to the well in the land which Avram...

We last saw our Journeyman on his quest to the Holy Land. We now find him and his future nation settling in the land with a whole new set of challenges and fabled adventures. In this week’s Parsha God informs Abraham of his intention to bring fire and brimstone to the...

“How you climb amount is more important than reaching the top.”  ...and God said to Abraham, “cut the tip of thy willy and forever be self-conscious in groupeth showeriths...and get rid of the ham in your name....Abram, you will be the father of a nation.” Yes people...