We begin the yearly cycle of the Torah starting with Genesis and the Garden of Eden. Such an innocent idealized world before human beings started to mess things up. And yet out of the mess something good and spiritual emerges as humans struggle to answer the fundamental question of how to live an ethical and spiritual life. I do not…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
Water and Joy
Water and Joy The last days of the festival of Sucot have, over time, turned from a sort of last-minute postscript called Shmini Atzeret, the farewell get-together to round things off the season of festivals with, into the joyful Simhat Torah. But why is joy so important? The Torah actually specifies that joy is the foundation of Judaism. “If bad things will befall you…
Sucology
The Festival of Sucot doubles up as the Festival of Ecology. Yes, indeed. You might think that ecology is a modern notion. But there are very specific laws in the Torah about treating the agricultural world with respect and consideration; about not destroying fruit trees or needlessly laying waste even under battle conditions. Scorched Earth is not a biblical tactic. And there…
Honey
As we approach Rosh Hashanah, and think of dipping our apples into honey in the hope of a sweet year, it’s a good time to talk about honey itself. Honey has many benefits. It cures, it is hallucinogenic and of course, it is sweet. Xenophon of Athens was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. He died in 354 BCE. He tells the story…
King Charles 3rd
Carmel College was a Jewish Public School my late father had founded in England in 1948. I had the honor to be its headmaster and then Principal from 1971 -1984. We celebrated our 25th anniversary (a year late) in 1974. And 25-year-old Prince Charles as he was then, spent a day with us on our beautiful Thames side campus in Oxfordshire.…
New Moon
There was a popular Israeli song in the forties that my father loved, and he taught his pupils at Carmel College We always used to sing it at the last Shabbat meal of the academic year. “Hayamim Cholfim, Shana Overet, VeRak haManginah Tamid Nisheret,” “The days go by, the years pass on, and only the tune remains.” And we naughty pupils…