Who Do You Think You Are?

This week’s parashah, Korach, is one of the most uncomfortable in the Torah because Korach does not present himself as wicked. He does not openly say that he wants power, status, or control. Instead, he speaks in the language of equality and holiness. “All the...
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When Fear Writes the Report

This week’s parashah, Sh’lach, tells one of the most frustrating stories in the Torah, and perhaps one of the most human. Moshe sends twelve spies to scout out the Land of Israel. They return with evidence of its beauty and abundance, carrying a cluster of grapes so...
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When the Light Is Not Enough

This week’s parashah, Beha’alotcha, opens with the lighting of the Menorah in the Mishkan. Aharon is instructed to raise the flames, ensuring that each lamp gives light. It is a beautiful image, but also a demanding one. Light does not appear by accident. It must be...
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The Danger of Hollow Holiness

This week’s parashah, Naso, is the longest in the Torah, yet one of its most striking themes is not quantity, but contradiction. Within a single parashah we encounter the Nazir, a person who voluntarily takes on additional restrictions in pursuit of holiness,...
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The Covenant of Belonging

This week, Jewish communities across the world celebrate Shavuot, marking the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Yet Shavuot is not simply the anniversary of revelation. It is the annual return of a question that Judaism never stops asking: what does it actually mean to...
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The Purpose in the Wilderness

Sefer Bemidbar begins with a profound silence that still speaks powerfully to the modern soul. As we open this new book of the Torah on the Shabbat before Shavuot, we find ourselves in the vast wilderness of Sinai. Bemidbar, meaning In the Wilderness, invites us to...
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When Faith Demands Courage

This week we read the double parashah of Behar–Bechukotai, closing the book of Vayikra not with a quiet ending, but with a challenge that lingers. Behar introduces the Shemittah year, a command that feels almost impossible. To stop. To step back. To release control of...
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Sacred Time, Sacred Responsibility

This week’s parashah, Emor, moves between two central themes: the sanctity of those who serve, and the sanctity of time itself. It begins with laws relating to the kohanim, setting standards of conduct that reflect their role as representatives of the people in the...
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Holiness, Memory, and the Price of Nationhood

This week we read the double parashah of Achrei Mot–Kedoshim, a pairing that moves from loss to responsibility, from tragedy to the call for holiness. It begins in the shadow of death, recalling the loss of Nadav and Avihu, and then guides us toward a vision of what a...
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Hidden Things, Revealed Truths

This week’s double parashah, Tazria-Metzora, is among the most challenging in the Torah. It deals with conditions of impurity, most notably tzara’at, often mistranslated as a physical disease but understood by the sages as something far deeper, a spiritual affliction...
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D’var Torah – ‘Aharei Mot – Leviticus 16:1 – 18:30

by Nat Tidbury Today’s Parasha is Leviticus 16:1-17:7.  The second half of Parasha Aharei Mot is often read at Yom Kippur. This is a challenging passage to break down and understand – full of rules around sacrifice and instructions, most notably surrounding Aaron, the...
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Between Fire and Silence

Parashat Shemini opens on the 8th day of the inauguration of the Mishkan. After days of preparation, Aharon and his sons begin their sacred service. A moment of divine closeness unfolds: Hashem’s presence appears before the people, and a heavenly fire consumes the...
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What’s in a name?

by Simon Gottlieb-Cohen In the beginning of the second book of the Torah, we are told about the enslavement and affliction of the Children of Israel in the land of Egypt. The actual event of the exodus from bondage comes much later. Yet Exodus was the name given to...
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Surviving the Storms of the Soul

The story of Noach begins with this famous line: “Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations.” G-d sees that the earth has become corrupt and filled with violence. He instructs Noach to build an ark to save himself, his family, and pairs of animal species....
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A world shaken yet unbroken

This week I learned that Talmud gives 3 reasons for building a Sukkah. The key one is explicit in the Torah: “You shall live in Sukkot for 7 days, so your generations know that children of Israel lived in Sukkot when I brought them out of Egypt”. Torah also commands...
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Take a census

7th June 2025 - Dr Puya Afshar ️  Parashat Summary Parashat Nasso is the longest Torah portion in the entire Torah. Congratulation for surviving it! Within this long Parasha are some short, powerful lessons. We get a mix of topics: the duties of the Levites,...
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Dvar Torah – 17th May 2025

Sacred Responsibility in a Time of Crisis: This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Emor, offers a detailed description of the festivals and sacred times in the Jewish calendar, but it ends with a more troubling episode: the case of the blasphemer, who speaks God's name in...
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Who We Are

Welcome to Kehillat Or Tzion! We are a vibrant and welcoming community of traditional, yet egalitarian, Zionist Jews, based in Manchester, England, dedicated to upholding the timeless values of Torah, the sanctity of Shabbat, and the importance of Halachah in today’s world.

At Kehillat Or Tzion, we believe that the teachings of the Torah are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago. In our fast-paced, modern society, we strive to live with integrity, compassion, and faith, guided by the wisdom of our sacred texts. We hold steadfast to the observance of Halachah, recognising it as the path to a meaningful and spiritually fulfilling life.

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The Rabbinical Assembly

The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. Since its founding in 1901, the RA has been the creative force shaping the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. They are committed to building and strengthening the totality of Jewish life. The RA publishes learned texts, prayerbooks, and works of Jewish interest; and it administers the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative movement. It also serves the professional and personal needs of its membership through publications, conferences, and benefit programs, and it coordinates the Joint Placement Commission of the Conservative movement. Rabbis of the RA serve congregations throughout the world, and also work as educators, officers of communal service organisations, and college, hospital, and military chaplains.

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