The symbolism of the Shofar
Have you ever touched a live rhinoceros? It is a unique experience. A white rhino weighs around three and a half tons. They are docile creatures, despite their size and large horns. As long as you don’t taunt them or get in between a mom and her calf, a rhino is not a threat.
Hearts of stone
On Monday evening, we will gather around the table for our annual colourful, oversubscribed, possibly drawn-out family dinner called the Seder. We will read about taskmasters and frogs and might debate if our ancestors built the pyramids. Our children may sing the overworked “No, no, no, I will not let them go”, the song that captures Pharaoh’s intransigence or what the Torah calls a “hardened heart”. Pharaoh was not always unfeeling. One opinion in the Talmud says he flipped overnight from Admirer of Joseph to Hater of Israelites.
Would it be better not to be born?
Life would be easier if we had never been born. That, it seems, is the consensus of our sages. The
