Reflections

Welcome to our community’s reflections – here we archive the drashot and ideas shared during our gatherings. A drasha (drashot in plural) is an explanation of the weekly Torah portion, these not only give us insights to ponder, but can draw parallels with our current lives. At every service usually one person shares their view on the weekly parasha in a drasha. However, at Ruach Shalom we sometimes all prepare a 1-minute drasha to share at a service – this is a wonderful way to get many insights into one portion of the Torah.

Reflections on “My Jewish home”
by Marcella Levie
14 November 2022
I have always been fascinated by the question: “Where is my home?” “Where do I belong?” The need to belong is a basic need of every human being and the question of belonging is perhaps the most important question we can ask ourselves during our quest for the purpose of our lives. My search for… Read more: Reflections on “My Jewish home”
Reflections on the Yom Kippur service
by Eli Kaufman
9 November 2022
In this year’s Yom Kippur’s service I encountered a few texts for the first time, which prompted me to reflect on the prayers we say every year. Looking at a different reading of the same prayer helped me engage with it in a personal way. First was the interpretive text of Unetaneh Tokef, reminding of the… Read more: Reflections on the Yom Kippur service
Prayer for Democracy
by Renée Citroen
9 November 2022
This is a text as an appeal to each other and to everyone who realizes what real freedom is and how fragile it is if we are not alert. Whether you call that praying or something else, that does not matter. — YHVH, Protector of those who love democracy, give us the strength to protect… Read more: Prayer for Democracy
Parshat Vayakhel and K’kudei – Climate Change Shabbat
by Rabbi Ellis Griffith
31 October 2022
This week we finish reading the book of Exodus. It’s a book that, like the story we will recall in a few weeks at Pesach, starts with misery and oppression and ends with hope and confidence. Feels like a bit of a familiar cycle both as the Jewish people but also for each of us… Read more: Parshat Vayakhel and K’kudei – Climate Change Shabbat
A lesson from Rabbi Yehuda Aschkenasy z.l.
by Renée Citroen
10 September 2022
In the late 1990s I spent ten years with Rabbi Yehuda Aschkenasy z.l. in a lern-group with people of the post-war generation, with many traumas passed on from our parents. He helped us look at it in a positive way and we helped each other by recognizing and acknowledging our grief. I made reports of… Read more: A lesson from Rabbi Yehuda Aschkenasy z.l.