Rabbi Josh Levy

Date Title
28 October 2023 Sermon: Time for a Leap of Action
24 September 2023 Sermon: Kol Nidre 5784 – It is time to stand up for our liberal, tolerant tradition
15 September 2023 Erev Rosh Hashanah Sermon: Being the leaders of Jewish life
9 September 2023 Kollot Haftarah Introduction: The power of being the majority
1 September 2023 D’var Torah: Because you did not serve with joy
28 July 2023 D’var Torah: Talk of Sinat Chinam is not enough
22 July 2023 Sermon: On Kamza and Bar Kamza
21 July 2023 D’var Torah: Shall we weep in the fifth month?
17 July 2023 D’var Torah at the GMC: On what God wants of us in this transition
26 May 2023 Sermon: How the founders of Alyth built a Progressive Synagogue
22 April 2023 Sermon: Introduction to Megillat HaAtzma’ut as Haftarah
11 March 2023 Sermon: Remembering the Trauma of the Pandemic
3 March 2023 D’var Torah: Responding to this Moment in Israel
18 February 2023 Sermon: The White Rose and the Ethic of Non-Indifference
10 February 2023 D’var Torah: On Non-Gendered Language for God
14 January 2023 Kollot Haftarah Introduction: on meritocracy and inequality.
3 December 2022 Sermon: That Jacob didn’t know it was Leah – and what this tells us about gender in Judaism and our world
11 November 2022 D’var Torah: The Nit-comb of Lachish and Us
22 October 2022 Sermon: Shabbat B’reishit – taking responsibility when things go wrong
7 October 2022 D’var Torah: On Synagogue Membership for Non-Jews
4 October 2022 Sermon: Kol Nidre 5783 – on meeting and speaking with each other
1 October 2022 Sermon: Shabbat Vayeilech – On Failing
3 September 2022 Sermon: Shabbat Shoftim – Leading with Torah by your side
24 June 2022 D’var Torah – Reasons to be cheerful
11 June 2022 Kollot Haftarah Introduction: It’s not about me
10 June 2022 Dvar Torah: Encountering the cloud and fire in the everyday
13 May 2022 D’var Torah: On wronging with words
7 May 2022 Sermon: Jewish Originalism or Living Judaism
19 March 2022 Kollot Haftarah Introduction: When religious priorities go wrong
18 March 2022 Dvar Torah: Hakarat HaTov and Bar/Bat Mitzvah
11 February 2022 D’var Torah: On ‘Neighbours’
5 February 2022 Sermon: The Cherubim – a Symbol of Relationship
7 January 2022 D’var Torah: Freedom and Responsibility
25 December 2021 Sermon: Shiphrah and Puah – Models of Protest
4 December 2021 Sermon: Being a good ancestor
26 November 2021 D’var Torah: What Peppa Pig can teach us about how we speak
14 November 2021 Sermon: Eizehu Gibbor – who is strong?
22 October 2021 Dvar Torah: Praying for protection – on the sale of the Markaz
21 September 2021 Sermon for Sukkot 5782: Be more joyful
16 September 2021 Sermon for Yom Kippur 5782: Be more Kind
27 August 2021 D’var Torah: Choosing to appreciate what we have
9 July 2021 When I am [only] for myself, what am I
25 June 2021 D’var Torah: Finding peace in our own tents
19 June 2021 Sermon: On Statues – Tearing down the Copper Serpent
5 June 2021 The Fox that wandered into the shul
1 May 2021 Sermon: On Hashkafah and Reform Judaism
23 April 2021 Dvar Torah: Oseh Shalom and our spheres of responsibility
3 April 2021 Sermon: Also a multitude travels with us
19 March 2021 Reflections on a year of online services
13 March 2021 Kollot Haftarah Introduction: Being worthy of redemption
27 February 2021 Sermon: Buildings and the Complexity of Congregational Life
19 February 2021 Dvar Torah: On Patience
12 February 2021 D’var Torah: Whoever is able to protest and does not do so…
30 January 2021 Sermon: On manna and miracles
22 January 2021 D’var Torah: Ba’erev yalin bechi v’la-boker rinnah…
12 December 2020 Sermon: Lessons from the Maccabees for 2021
4 December 2020 D’var Torah: On Vaccination
21 November 2020 Sermon: The challenge of ‘them and us’
6 November 2020 D’var Torah – To raise the voice and weep
30 October 2020 D’var Torah – Walk before Me and be perfect
23 October 2020 D’var Torah – What we can learn from Dor HaPlagah
28 September 2020 Sermon for Yom Kippur Morning: On Areivut, Individualism and the Community
18 September 2020 Sermon for Erev Rosh Hashanah: On Kavanah
28 August 2020 D’var Torah: Service of the Heart
1 August 2020 Sermon: Rest
31 July 2020 D’var Torah: Shabbat Nachamu – Finding comfort in a new way of thiinking
24 July 2020 D’var Torah: Shabbat Chazon – Vision and Balance
11 July 2020 Sermon: B’not Zelophehad and Real Change
4 July 2020 Sermon: Ma Tzidkoteinu – what is our Justice?
3 July 2020 D’var Torah: Naming our sense of loss
19 June 2020 D’var Torah: Areivut and Covid 19
12 June 2020 D’var Torah: Story and Statues
5 June 2020 A thought on volunteering
5 June 2020 D’var Torah: The book that Donald Trump held up…
16 May 2020 Sermon: Reading Torah in a time of Coronavirus
15 May 2020 Responding to Coronavirus: The Next Phase
8 May 2020 D’var Torah: Redemption from Egypt and VE Day
28 April 2020 Responding to Coronavirus: Thank you
18 April 2020 Sermon: Mourning in a time of Coronavirus
17 April 2020 D’var Torah: Yom HaShoah then and now
4 April 2020 Sermon: Pesach in a time of Social Distancing
3 April 2020 Responding to Coronavirus: Holding on to our communal values in these challenging times
27 March 2020 Responding to Coronavirus: On Hakarat HaTov and not taking the everyday for granted
14 March 2020 Sermon: On Washing our Hands
13 March 2020 Dvar Torah: From Eyam 1666 to Temple Fortune in 2020
21 February 2020 D’var Torah: Shovavim
15 February 2020 Sermon: What rabbinic texts about reptiles can teach us about strength in leadership
25 January 2020 Sermon: ‘They are Believers’ – Having confidence in ourselves and those who follow
11 January 2020 Sermon: Breaking the Cycle
3 January 2020 D’var Torah: She’lo yitpacheid klal – facing the fears of a New Year
14 December 2019 Sermon: Looking beyond ourselves
13 December 2019 D’var Torah: Philadelphia 1869
30 November 2019 Sermon: Why we say ‘L’shalom’ not ‘B’shalom’
2 November 2019 Sermon: Why I will not be telling you how to vote
26 October 2019 Kollot Haftarah D’var Torah: Three Rules for Reading in 5780
25 October 2019 D’var Torah: Male and Female God created them
18 October 2019 D’var Torah: On the 10th anniversary of The Big Bang
9 October 2019 Sermon: Yom Kippur 5780 – Lessons from the Fall of Jerusalem
27 September 2019 D’var Torah: Trembling and Rejoicing
14 September 2019 Kollot Haftarah Introduction: Uprooting Torah for the Sake of Heaven
31 August 2019 Sermon: The danger of ‘Blessing and Curse’
30 August 2019 D’var Torah: Why Ben Stokes wasn’t out and what we can learn from it
3 August 2019 Sermon: Tisha B’Av and our Responsibility
27 July 2019 Sermon: On celebrating both Bar and Bat Mitzvah at 13
26 July 2019 D’var Torah: Magen avot bidvaro – the power of words
19 July 2019 D’var Torah: On the anniversary of the Moon Landing
29 June 2019 Kollot Haftarah Dvar Torah: “All the community are holy” – What Korach gets wrong
1 June 2019 Sermon: Ba-midbar – what we might learn in the wilderness
18 May 2019 Sermon: For the sake of the ways of peace
17 May 2019 D’var Torah – Being difficult just because we can be
20 April 2019 Sermon for Pesach Morning – on Jewish Freedom
4 April 2019 D’var Torah: High School Musical and Zusya’s Question
23 March 2019 Sermon: Our rabbinic values
22 March 2019 D’var Torah – a three part teaching, Pirkei Avot 1:6
16 March 2019 Sermon: The Habits of Mind for Leadership
9 February 2019 Sermon – When Shammai and Hillel disagreed
2 February 2019 D’var Torah – Why is there a complete legal code in the middle of the revelation narrative?
1 February 2019 D’var Torah – Snow on Erev Shabbat
25 January 2019 Dvar Torah: Most non-Jews are Jethro not Amalek
19 January 2019 Sermon: Being a descendant of the 20%
5 January 2019 Sermon: Between Right and Right
4 January 2019 Dvar Torah: Not Knowing the Future
14 December 2018 Dvar Torah: Counting our Days
8 December 2018 Sermon: The choice of the Modern Jew
1 December 2018 Sermon: Joseph and the Power of Words
22 September 2018 Kollot Haftarah Dvar Torah: On Death
19 September 2018 Sermon, Yom Kippur 5779: Tafalnu Sheker
15 September 2018 Sermon: Reform Judaism and LGBT+ Jews
8 September 2018 Kollot Haftarah Dvar Torah: What the Oven of Akhnai really teaches us
23 June 2018 Sermon: Us and the World (Cup)
26 May 2018 On the Kollot Haftarah: Priests, Rabbis and Us
21 April 2018 Sermon: The Spirit of Cricket (and Judaism!)
13 April 2018 Sermon: Shabbat Atzmaut 2018 – from Jerusalem to Highcroft Gardens
6 April 2018 Sermon: On Jewdas and Jewish Diversity
17 March 2018 Sermon – The special and the regular
24 February 2018 Sermon: What Amalek did on the road (and how it is still happening)
23 February 2018 Dvar Torah – Just as we are
3 February 2018 Sermon: The First of the “Ten Commandments” and Israel’s treatment of African Refugees
13 January 2018 Sermon: Insects or Wild Beasts? What not knowing can teach us about Judaism and life.
6 January 2018 Sermon – We can be heroes (like Moses)
5 January 2018 Dvar Torah – On the 200th Anniversary of Frankenstein
16 December 2017 Sermon: Shabbat Chanukah – Finding the Women in our Story
21 October 2017 Sermon: The Tower of Babel and Responding to Difference
14 October 2017 Sermon: HaShomer achi anochi – Am I my brother’s keeper?
13 October 2017 Dvar Torah – Making the last few weeks count
7 October 2017 Sermon: Weeping and laughing, dancing and crying.
5 October 2017 Dvar Torah – Sukkot 2017, Different blessings, together
21 September 2017 Sermon: Rosh Hashanah 5778 – The Jewish decision each of us has to make
15 July 2017 Sermon: On the word “authentic” in the Jewish conversation
14 July 2017 D’var Torah: On leadership and the individual
23 June 2017 Dvar Torah: On the 1st Anniversary of the Brexit Vote (Shabbat Korach 2017)
10 June 2017 Sermon: Living with Uncertainty
31 May 2017 Shavuot Sermon: On Yizkor
27 May 2017 Sermon: The Great Asymmetry (or, “A single sinner destroys much good”)
6 May 2017 Sermon: On three, for a triple Bar Mitzvah
22 April 2017 Sermon: From Temple Protocol to a Story about Us
17 April 2017 Sermon for 7th Day Pesach – Ein od mi’lvado
1 April 2017 Sermon: Making Sense of Matzah
11 March 2017 Sermon: On Majority Rule, de Tocqueville and the High Priest
25 February 2017 Sermon: On Joy
18 February 2017 On revelation – Kollot, Parashat Yitro
26 November 2016 On the Kollot Haftarah: What defines us as Jews?
25 November 2016 D’var Torah: To be like Nachum ish gam zu. Or not.
9 November 2016 Thought of the Week: On The American Election
11 October 2016 Kol Nidre 5777: Speaking to those with whom we disagree
4 October 2016 D’var Torah for Second Day Rosh Hashanah: Making Sense of Awe
24 September 2016 On the Kollot Haftarah: Can a convert say ‘our ancestors’, and why it really matters
23 September 2016 Dvar Torah: Why is Vidui Ma’aser called a Vidui
20 August 2016 Sermon: The Olympics and how we speak to one another
16 July 2016 Sermon: Eizehu Chacham? On wisdom and leadership
2 July 2016 D’var Torah: On Korach and the Nature of Leadership
1 July 2016 D’var Torah: On the Anniversary of the Somme
25 June 2016 Sermon: The Generation of the Wilderness – After the Referendum
4 June 2016 Sermon: Jacob of Kefar Neburya, Rabbi Chaggai, and the need for change
24 May 2016 Thought for the Week: The Innovation of Lag B’Omer
20 May 2016 Thoughts on the Liturgy: Psalm 92
7 May 2016 Sermon: Anti-Semitism and the new Mayor of London
30 April 2016 Sermon: On Organ Donation
27 March 2016 Thought of the Week: Resisting the emotions of Psalm 94
5 March 2016 Sermon – Israel and its Judaisms
24 February 2016 Thought for the Week: Arguing for the Sake of Heaven
12 February 2016 Dvar Torah: On Dolphin Skins
6 February 2016 Sermon: Euthyphro’s Dilemma and us
5 February 2016 Thoughts on the liturgy: Shema U’Virchotecha
26 January 2016 Thought for the week: Judaism and Technological Change
16 January 2016 Sermon: On Hunger
15 January 2016 Dvar Torah: On Bowie
12 December 2015 Intro to John Ringer
25 November 2015 Thought for the Week: Studying together
14 November 2015 D’var Torah: Jacob and Esau after Paris
24 October 2015 Sermon: To Keep or to Remember: Which Shabbat, UK?
14 October 2015 Thought for the Week: Do we believe in Decline or Progress?
10 October 2015 Sermon: Choosing our Creation story
24 September 2015 Sermon: Yom Kippur 5776 – The True Torah Judaism is Reform Judaism
8 September 2015 Thought for the Week: My father was a Wandering Aramean too
31 July 2015 Dvar Torah: The Real Meaning of Tisha B’Av
29 July 2015 Thought of the Week: welcoming those with one Jewish parent
25 July 2015 Sermon: Our stories and what they say about us
18 July 2015 Sermon: Being radical. Like the Rabbis
27 June 2015 Sermon – On the Aleinu, and our relationships with other faiths
25 June 2015 Thought of the Week: On Numbers 21 and the Origins of Torah
30 May 2015 Sermon: On the Belzer Women Driving Ban
29 May 2015 Dvar Torah: On FIFA
14 May 2015 Thought for the Week: VE Day Service of Thanksgiving
10 April 2015 Dvar Torah: Go back to earth; do something with your life; help people.
10 April 2015 Dvar Torah (7th Day Pesach): Mi Chamocha and Holding Different Voices
15 March 2015 Thoughts on Liturgy: Mashiv HaRuach u’Morid ha-Gashem
7 March 2015 Sermon: Second set of tablets Kind of Jews
28 February 2015 Dvar Torah – Amalek and who we can be (Kollot)
21 February 2015 Sermon: The Mishkan – Not so weird after all
20 February 2015 Dvar Torah: What buildings can tell us
25 October 2014 Dvar Torah: What the builders of the tower did wrong
24 October 2014 Thoughts on Liturgy: Hashkiveinu
11 October 2014 Sermon: Sukkot and the Suspension of English reserve (or, why shaking a lulav is good for you)
4 October 2014 Sermon: Yom Kippur 5775: In Defence of Prayer
26 September 2014 Sermonette: Why Genesis 21 and 22
19 September 2014 JC Sidra Column: Nitzavim-Vayelech
23 August 2014 Sermon: Don’t add, don’t subtract; do interpret
15 August 2014 JC Sidra Column: Ekev
2 August 2014 Sermon: On Hope
11 July 2014 JC Sidra Column: Pinchas
5 July 2014 Sermon: We, too, are blessed
6 June 2014 JC Sidra Column: B’ha’alotcha
31 May 2014 Sermon: On the Nazirite and Religious Power
30 May 2014 Dvar Torah: Approaching Shavuot
30 May 2014 Article: Why I only eat Kosher meat
2 May 2014 JC Sidra Column: Emor
15 April 2014 Sermon: On musaf and dew
29 March 2014 Sermon: On books and book bans
28 March 2014 JC Sidra Column: Tazria
2 March 2014 Dvar Torah: Welcoming our new Team
21 February 2014 JC Sidra Column: Vayakhel
25 January 2014 Sermon: The authentic voice of religion
24 January 2014 Article: The Legacy of Ariel Sharon
17 January 2014 JC Sidra Column: Yitro
10 January 2014 Article: Desert Island Texts
4 January 2014 Sermon: On Jewish Study (and miracles)
13 December 2013 JC Sidra Column: Vayechi
7 December 2013 Sermon: On reading Torah and why it is great
23 November 2013 Sermon: The real scandal of Qatar 2022
15 November 2013 Thoughts on Liturgy: Ahavat Olam
8 November 2013 JC Sidra Column: Vayetze
8 November 2013 Sermon: On Energy Prices and Ethical Business
25 October 2013 Dvar Torah: Orthodoxy must join the conversation (response to Orthodox rabbis writing in the JC)
5 October 2013 Sermon: on diversity and innovation in worship
4 October 2013 JC Sidra Column: Noach
28 September 2013 Dvar Torah: Rabbinic Literature as our Haftarah (Kollot)
13 September 2013 Sermon: It is to do with us, Kol Nidre 5774
6 September 2013 Sermonette: From Textual Oddity to Principle of Divine Judgement
3 August 2013 Sermon: On Stolpersteine and Jewish Europe
24 May 2013 Dvar Torah: Ein Mukdam
4 May 2013 Sermon: On Reward and Punishment
20 April 2013 Sermon: On the Omer
6 April 2013 Sermon: The Great Jewish Class Survey
23 February 2013 Dvar Torah: On Amalek and how we read Torah
16 February 2013 Sermon: The Atheist Church
11 January 2013 Dvar Torah: On The Name
5 January 2013 Sermon: On Progressive and non-Progressive Judaism
21 December 2012 Dvar Torah: The world didn’t end after all
15 December 2012 Sermon: Being part of a People
2 December 2012 D’var Torah: Jacob, Esau and Reconciliation
22 November 2012 Thought for the Week: Jacob’s Ladder and Conversion
10 November 2012 Sermon: What if none of it really happened?
13 October 2012 Sermon: Creation but not Creationism
26 September 2012 Sermon: Yom Kippur 5773- Ashreinu – are we happy?
3 August 2012 Sermon- On Intermarriage
6 July 2012 Sermon – On Luxury, Libor and Jewish Living
29 June 2012 Dvar Torah – On Anger
8 June 2012 Sermon – On Swearing
26 May 2012 Sermon – On Same-Sex Marriage, Shavuot 5772
18 May 2012 Sermon – On Bayern Munich, Hillel the Elder and How we Welcome
4 May 2012 Sermon – Werner Herzog, Rabbi Akiva and capital punishment
27 April 2012 Sermon – On Driving as a Jew
13 April 2012 Sermon – What the Pig Did Wrong
12 December 2011 Sermon – On being a Reform Jew
25 November 2011 D’var Torah – on Compromise (for Laura)
14 October 2011 Sermon – On reaching seven billion
7 October 2011 Sermon – On wearing a Kittel part 2, Yom Kippur 5772
27 September 2011 Sermon – On wearing a Kittel, Erev Rosh Hashanah 5772
12 August 2011 Sermon – Is this who we really are? Responding to the Riots
29 July 2011 Sermon – What are we really mourning on Tisha B’Av?
20 July 2011 Thoughts on the Phone Hacking Scandal
8 July 2011 Sermon – Should we keep two days of Rosh Chodesh?
16 June 2011 Dvar Torah – On having a beard. Briefly
10 June 2011 Sermon – Does it matter that I don’t believe the prayers in the siddur?
3 June 2011 Sermon – Reading the sixth commandment with meaning
13 May 2011 Sermon – On Wearing a Kippah
8 April 2011 Sermon – On keeping Kashrut
1 April 2011 Sermon – On reading Torah. Even the icky bits.
25 March 2011 Sermon – So it’s war again
4 March 2011 Sermon – Judaism and Democracy
28 January 2011 Sermon – On how we recite Kaddish
7 January 2011 Sermon – What the Next Chief Rabbi should learn from Rashi
10 December 2010 Sermon – To speak of God in the Face of Disaster
30 November 2010 Article – What Chanukah is like in 2010, Times Online
22 October 2010 Sermon – Writing a New Torah Scroll
27 August 2010 Sermon: The Sound of the Summer
20 August 2010 Sermon: What would Richard Dawkins think of this?
13 August 2010 Sermon: A Rabbi Talks with Jesus
16 July 2010 Sermon – The legacy of Seesen and our service
11 July 2010 Sermon – Jews and the World Cup
9 April 2010 Sermon: The rebellious son at Yom HaShoah
5 March 2010 Sermon – To keep Shabbat as a Reform Jew
12 February 2010 Sermon – The Problem of Divine Authorship of Torah
5 February 2010 Sermon – Will the Chilcot enquiry teach us anything?
22 January 2010 Sermon: Earthquakes and divine intervention
7 January 2010 Article: How will we treat our converts in 2010?
27 November 2009 Sermon: “Give me children, or I shall die” – Parashat Vayetze
10 July 2009 Sermon: Our Attitude to Conversion
1 April 2009 Article: As if each of us was brought out from Egypt