Torah from Rabbi Saunders

I think it’s fair to say that we Jews do love a good deal. We are excellent negotiators and as the expression goes, "We could sell the Brooklyn Bridge to the people of Brooklyn." So when we look at this week's parsha the question that jumps out at us is why on earth did our patriarch, Yaakov, offer to work seven years to marry Rochel? Even if Lavan had suggested seven years, he should’ve negotiated him down to a lower...Read more...

This week we read of the death of Sarah and Avraham's purchasing of Meoras Hamachpeila - the cave in which he buried her in Chevron. 

It is essential to understand the emotional and spiritual context of this event. Sarah's passing occurred shortly after the Akedah, where he was tasked to slaughter his son Isaac, an episode that already tested Avraham's...Read more...

What is Yom Kippur?

The 10th   of Tishrei in the year 2448 was the day G-d finally forgave the Jews for serving the Golden Calf. G-d therefore chose this day to annually forgive the Jews from their sins as long as they repented. This means that we can break up our lives into small sections called years. If there was no Yom Kippur we would go on sinning with no natural break. Our lives would be one long block...Read more...

Fundamentals of Tefillah
The word “tefillah” does not mean prayer. Prayer can be the translation of bakasha, which usually means “request.” Tefillah means judging. This means that tefillah is a series of statements which we say regularly by which we are meant to apply them to ourselves and judge whether our behavior agrees with the truth of those statements. For example, the forth blessing in the Amidah starts with the words,...Read more...

The tagline of DTC is ‘serve Hashem with Joy’. Therefore, this is the perfect week to talk about  Joy in Torah and Mitzvos. 
In Parshas Reeh, the phrase “you should be happy” is  mentioned 7  times, which emphasizes a profound message about the importance of joy in our lives. This repetition invites us to reflect on the nature of happiness and its connection to our spiritual journey.
The Torah teaches us...Read more...

In this week's Parsha, Moshe Rabbeinu is chastising the Jewish people over the incident of the spies and more importantly, their reaction to the report of the spies. The narrative of the spies is found in Parshat Shelach. When the Jews  are on the verge of entering the Promised Land, Moshe Rabbeinu  sends twelve spies to scout the land. However, upon their return, ten of the spies spread a negative report, instilling...Read more...

The Nine Days start at sunset 8:10 pm on Sunday 4th August

There are many new levels of morning that we adhere to in this period. The idea obviously is that we slowly build up all levels of warning until we get to Tisha B'av. 

The most common Ashkenazic customs are  to refrain from eating meat and drinking wine, laundering or dry cleaning clothes, swimming, bathing for pleasure...Read more...

As I was planning on making a bris yesterday I thought I would talk a little about it and connect it to the Parsha.

Eliyahu HaNavi's attendance at every bris (circumcision ceremony) is deeply rooted in our tradition and carries significant spiritual and historical meaning. Here are key reasons  Eliyahu attends every bris:

1. Witness to the Covenant: The bris milah  is a physical sign of the...Read more...

Parshas Chukas is renowned for its beginning topic: the perplexing mitzvah of the Parah Adumah, the Red Heifer. This commandment, given to purify those who had come into contact with a dead body, is a classic example of a chok—a decree for which the reasons are beyond our understanding.

At first glance, the idea of not being able to grasp the reasons behind certain commandments might seem frustrating. However, there's...Read more...