For those that have ever been travelling you will understand the way in which strangers shape your experiences. The stories that we most often remember from our travels involve a kind stranger often a meal and always kindness to a whole new level. We all have these stories, I want to share one from when I was in Year 12. I had planned to meet my parents in rural Western Australia , Kununurra to be exact. I was flying on a Friday and after a delayed flight to Perth my flight t

Go! Go for yourself. These are the famous words that open this week's parsha. A story of a journey, of Avram making his own way through life and leaving his old life behind him. Or is it? This week we will focus on how context shapes the way in which we understand the text and how arbitrary breaks in the text may affect our perception of this story. The parsha opens: וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲ

For some existential reason we like to pinpoint periods of time easily divided and multiplied into meaningful round units that we can easily commit to memory. This allows us to identify certain thought and ideas with a certain time and place. How do I know giving is good? Because I have a positive memory associated with giving. However, the subjective nature of the passage of time means that only significantly extraordinary periods are remember as the future unfolds. And yet

This is the last parshah of the year. V’zot HaBracha is the concluding chapters of the Five Books. Devarim 34:1 - 4 “Moshe went up from the plains of Mo’av to Mount Nevo, (to the) top of the summit facing Jericho. God showed him the Land, the Gilead as far as Dan… God said to him “This is the Land I swore to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya’akov, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you should not cross over there.” Moshe is at

It is well established that God does not have a body. It is written in the text: וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לֹ֥א תוּכַ֖ל לִרְאֹ֣ת אֶת־פָּנָ֑י כִּ֛י לֹֽא־יִרְאַ֥נִי הָאָדָ֖ם וָחָֽי׃ "But,” He said, “you cannot see My face, for man may not see Me and live.” Let us abandon this thought, let us challenge it, deconstruct it and see what we come up with at the end. Let us follow a line from Descartes: Today, then, since I have opportunely freed my mind from all cares, and since I am in the secure