CELEBRATING LGBTQ+ PRIDE

European Union for Progressive Judaism Pride Shabbat, 3rd July 2021 – 23rd Tammuz 5781
Shabbat shalom everyone. It’s an honour and a great pleasure to be invited to speak today at this first European Union for Progressive Judaism Pride Shabbat morning service.

I would like to take this opportunity to express heartfelt solidarity for all those living in countries where LGBTQ+ people do not have the protection of equality laws and experience homophobic and transphobic abuse and persecution, both by the authorities and in popular culture.[…]

Thoughts on Parashat Balak

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man, said ancient Greek philosopher, Heraklitus. This great metaphor says that change is at the essence of everything, both in the world of nature and the human world. […]

Thoughts on parashat Chukat

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world,” said Ludwig Wittgenstein, an Austrian-British philosopher of Jewish origin. Very true: it is often the case that we cannot truly understand a phenomenon until we have a linguistic representation.[…]

Thoughts on parashat Shelach

Reason, feelings, senses… Since antiquity philosophers, thinkers and writers have wandered about these notions relating to intellectual and spiritual phenomena. What should we follow and when? Are there any general rules in this matter or does everything depend on the situation? […]

Thoughts on Parashat Beha’alotecha

When we look around at the life of our society, we often wonder why these or those problems and injustices take place. We find answers here and there, in the media, in the scientific literature, or in the opinions of other people. These answers are true to varying degrees.[…]

Thoughts on Parashat Nasso

Why do people need religion and what is it for? From the traditional, moral perspective the main goal of religion is to provide individuals with the fundamental distinction between good and evil, and to teach them what is right and what is wrong. Another goal of religion is to unite social life (religious rituals serve that purpose very well) and to bring peace between people. From the existential perspective[…]