Sarah dies and and the immediate response of Abraham is to acquire land for burial in Canaan. Until this point, Abraham does not acquire land in this territory that God has given him. Instead, he opts to roam throughout. The loss of Sarah affects a final shift in Abraham, his relationship with God and his understanding of life. In this episode we explore the nature of that shift.

Vayera is a parasha that presents us a masterclass in the nature of giving. We follow Abraham on a journey of discovering what it means to be independent while also maintaining connections, empathy, and kindness. This episode looks at the various aspects of this as they are portrayed in the parasha.

The Story of Abraham begins this week. Abraham is the forefather of the nation of Israel and he dedicated his life to serving the one true God. His dedication to God brought him a love for all things as he saw them all originated in God. But Abraham recognised that this thesis was problematic and that while he wanted to embrace everything, he would need to make some difficult and painful choices between different possibilities in life. We explore the value of all things and why everything can't be special.

In this special episode I present a 45 minute thought and discussion on the Tower of Babel at the end of Perashat Noah. This was presented to members of Young Presidents Organisation (YPO) - International Jewish chapter.

In this special episode we examine the end of the Torah reading for the first days of Succot which speaks about the festival. We read of the mitsvot of taking the 4 species and sitting in the Succa. In the midst of it is a charge to happiness. We explore what these 2 mitzvot have to do with happiness and how doing them might help bring happiness into our lives.

In this 17 minute episode we consider the nature of poetry and the fact that Moses opens his poem with calling the Heavens and Earth to listen. We recognise that there are many possibilities that life brings us and that atonement lives within these.

We read the story of Isaac's birth on Rosh Hashana. In this special episode we discuss the theme of judgment in all of its facets that permeate the story and what it means for our lives and our experience of Rosh Hashana, the Day of Judgment.

Closing his words, Moses ratifies the covenant with all the people of Israel. He firmly establishes God's commitment to the people and the responsibility of the people to keep to the covenant they have accepted. We explore in this episode some of the important elements of this unique, unmatched and yes, brazen agreement between God and Israel.

**This episode is dedicated in memory of Elliot Setton A"H - אליהו בן אליס**

The bulk of this parish deals with a harsh foretelling of what will be the experience of the people of Israel if they live unfaithfully to the covenant and God's commandments. It is an eerie and uncomfortable harbinger of a story that unfolds with persecution and pain that we sadly know only too well as Jewish history. In this episode we ponder that reality and also consider the unique and before unmentioned aspect of living the covenant with happiness and a goodness of heart.

Ki Tetse is highly focused on the moral behaviours of the nation of Israel in every aspect of society. There are more commandments mentioned in this parasha than any other. At the end, however, Moses implores us to remember the unexpected attack of Amalek on the Israelites in the desert on the way out of Egypt. We discuss what the ideological differences between Amalek and Israel are and how they apply to us today.