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Category Archives: Torah

Torah Thoughts Informed by my AshkeSephard Worldview

Daily Video Updates

March 23, 2020by shalommorris 1 Comment

Dear All, With so many of us stuck at home and isolated from one another I’ve decided to put together some videos for you from within London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue. […]

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Musings, Torah, Travels

Ashamnu – S&P Addition By Subtraction

September 19, 2019by shalommorris 2 Comments

Throughout the month of Elul and the High Holy Days we recite the selihot (apology) prayers. One of the most important elements of this service is the vidui, or confession. […]

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Torah

Bemidbar – Making Census of the S&P

July 1, 2019by shalommorris Leave a comment

ב  שְׂאוּ, אֶת-רֹאשׁ כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, The rabbinic name for Sefer Bemidbar is the same as its English name, ‘Numbers.’ The rabbis called it Sefer Hapikudim, ‘The Book of Countings,’ as […]

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Academics, Musings, Torah, Travels

Ki Tetze -King Henry VIII’s Yibum

August 23, 2018by shalommorris Leave a comment

This week’s Torah reading is central to one of the greatest controversies in the history of England, the Levirate marriage of King Henry VIII, and Sephardim helped to cast the […]

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Academics, Torah

Shofetim – Sephardic Burial Customs

August 16, 2018by shalommorris Leave a comment

One of the few practices that every Jew performs is the ritual washing of hands upon leaving a cemetery (Shulhan Arukh, YD 276:4). The rinsing is meant to spiritually cleanse […]

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Torah

Re’eh – Reform and the Western Sephardim

August 9, 2018by shalommorris Leave a comment

“Two Jews, three opinions” is nothing new to the Jewish community. However, a Biblical prohibition would seem to indicate that this isn’t a laughing matter. The verse states “Ye are […]

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Academics, Torah

‘EKEB – Bendigamos: The Soul of the S&P

August 2, 2018by shalommorris 4 Comments

There is only one Biblically mandated blessing and it appears in this week’s parashah. This singular obligation is to recite Birkat Hamazon, Grace after meals. The verse states: And thou […]

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Torah

Tu B’Ab – Sephardic Love and Independence

July 27, 2018by shalommorris Leave a comment

The 15th day of the Jewish month of Av is a minor festival called Tu B’Ab. It is considered a joyous day, when in Biblical times young people went out […]

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Torah

Debarim – Traveling the S&P

July 20, 2018by shalommorris 2 Comments

Over the past ten years I’ve visited about fifty sites relating to the history of the S&P. These include historic and living synagogues, cemeteries, schools, and locations in Spain and […]

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Torah, Travels

Mas’ei – Port Cities of Refuge

July 13, 2018by shalommorris 6 Comments

Port cities are central to the history of the Spanish & Portuguese Jews. To escape the Inquisition the Western Sephardim found safety in international centres of trade, such as Amsterdam, […]

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Torah

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