Choosing Freedom, Choosing Responsibility

Parashat Bo brings us to the threshold of freedom. The plagues have reached their final, devastating stages. Egypt is on the verge of collapse. The Exodus is no longer a distant promise but an imminent reality. Yet the Torah does something unexpected. At the very...
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When Hope Feels Impossible

Parashat Vaera meets us in the middle of despair. The people of Israel are still crushed beneath the weight of Egyptian slavery. Moses has already spoken once in the name of HaShem, and instead of relief, the suffering has intensified. The Torah tells us that the...
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From Silence to Calling: When Redemption Begins in the Dark

Parashat Shemot opens quietly, almost deceptively so. A new king arises over Egypt who does not know Joseph, and suddenly a people who once thrived become strangers, feared and oppressed. The descent into slavery happens gradually, normalised step by step, until...
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A Legacy Carried Home: Memory, Blessing, and the Future of the Jewish People

Parashat Vayechi brings the Book of Bereishit to a quiet yet profound close. Jacob’s life is ending, but his vision stretches far beyond himself. Surrounded by his children and grandchildren in Egypt, he gathers strength for one final act: to bless, to remember, and...
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From Distance to Reconciliation

Parashat Vayigash brings us to one of the most emotionally charged moments in the Torah. After years of separation, deception, and unspoken pain, Judah steps forward to confront Joseph, still unaware that the powerful Egyptian ruler standing before him is the brother...
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Dreams, Waiting, and the Light We Refuse to Extinguish

Parashat Miketz opens with a dramatic shift in Joseph’s story. After years of imprisonment and obscurity, Pharaoh’s troubling dreams propel Joseph from the depths of the dungeon to the centre of power in a single day. The Torah tells us that it is “at the end of two...
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Finding Light in the Depths

Vayeshev Ya’akov” – “And Jacob settled.”  Our parashah opens with what seems to be a desire for stability after years of turmoil. The sages teach in Bereishit Rabbah 84:3 that Tzaddikim seek to dwell in peace, but the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: Is it not...
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The Courage to Confront and Heal

This week’s parashah, Vayishlach, centres on one of the most emotional encounters in the Torah. After many years apart, Jacob prepares to meet his brother Esau, not knowing whether he will be greeted with reconciliation or violence. The night before the meeting, Jacob...
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Parashat Vayetzei – Journeys, Transformation, and Sacred Spaces

Parashat Vayetzei begins with Jacob leaving home under difficult circumstances. He is alone, vulnerable, uncertain of the future, and carrying the weight of a complicated family narrative. Yet in this moment of displacement, something remarkable happens. Jacob...
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Parashat Toldot – Struggle, Blessing, and the Search for Identity

Parashat Toldot introduces us to one of the most complex and emotionally charged relationships in the Torah. Isaac and Rebecca, after years of longing for children, finally become parents to twins who struggle even before they are born. The Torah tells us that 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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Kol Nefesh Masorti Synagogue

Kol Nefesh is a Masorti (Conservative) community located in Edgware, North West London. They were established in 2001 with a simple aim: to provide a platform where traditional Judaism could coexist with an open, inclusive attitude toward religious practice and learning. When they started, they were the only fully egalitarian Masorti community in the UK! Today, they remain committed to a passionate, involved and egalitarian Judaism.

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