8th August 2026
Rabbi Scott’s latest blog
This week’s Torah portion Re’eh (Deuteronomy 12:29-13:19), is a tough one to chew on. It leaves no doubt that if a foreign community is conquered by a Jewish army, the Jews are not supposed to pursue, experiment or even study about the foreign gods of the conquered lest we become tempted to follow them. On the surface of the text, it clearly makes the point that any effort or even temptation to follow other gods is deserving of death not only for the tempted Jew but for any non-Jew who enticed them or went along with them to do so. However, when we look at the text through our modern eyes, we find it hard to consider following such a harsh set of commandments in our own time.
Something central to our theology as Reform Jews is that we accept the concept of pluralism. Pluralism is the belief that there is more than one way to perceive truth, including Divine truth. Not that there is more than one G-d, but that there is more than one way to interact, contemplate and worship G-d. Followers of other religions that accept what we consider universal truths, e.g. murder is wrong, human life is invaluable, all humanity deserves care and compassion etc. are presumed to be possessors of Divine truths through which we can share and see each other.
It is admittedly a slippery slope and can be very subjective as to where is the line between those who observe G-d differently than us and those who observe other gods. Some Jewish authorities take a very narrow view of that line, and some take very broad ones, but the acceptance of other faith communities (such as Christianity and Islam for example) as fellow travelers is accepted by Progressive Jews almost universally.
Being pluralists who choose to live in a broader society and see value and benefit to us by doing so means that we accept encountering other religions and finding common ground with them as our neighbors and fellow citizen. It also means that we have enough faith and belief in our own religious pathway to G-d as Jews that we are not threatened by the ideas of the other religions of our neighbors and friends. We may not agree with them, but we don’t believe that their differing beliefs are so dangerous to us that we have to stay away from them completely.
The Torah portion this week makes its statements of no-contact with foreign gods a fallout of war, but we interact with other religions and beliefs every day of our lives in modern society as a part of living in peace.
Our Torah portion gives us guidance and warning about searching for new gods from the vanquished. The takeaway for us as Progressive Jews from this week’s Torah portion is that we seek common theological and philosophical ground with those who are different from us in hopes that we will never have to do battle with them over which of us follows the true G-d.
23rd July 2026, Tisha B’Av
Rabbi Scott’s thoughts on his and Donni’s first week in Manchester
This week is my first week on the job as the rabbi of Manchester Reform Synagogue and I’m just figuring out to use the Bee Network, learn what things like Toad in the Hole and Spotted Dick are, and being asked on which I stand of the dividing line between Red and Blue. My wife Donni is experiencing similar ah-ha moments, and we anticipate so many more as we acclimate to Manchester. It has not been lost on me that in the midst of us trying to integrate into Manchester and meeting so many welcoming and friendly people along the way we are also encountering Tisha B’Av (the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av) on Thursday, June 23rd.
Tisha B’Av historically marks the days of destruction of both the First and Second Temples, but our ancestors used it as a catch-all date for mourning and remembrance. Many historic tragedies happened around this date or season including the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290. We have historically marked this day with fasting and the reading of the biblical book of Lamentations which is an epic poem of loss and blame and anguish regarding the destruction of the First Temple and the expulsion of the Jews from Israel as part of the Babylonian Exile. Today many still mark the holiday through fasting, abstaining from pleasurable activities – Jewish summer camps in the United States will close their swimming pools for the day, for example – and the communal reading of Lamentations while sitting on the ground rather than furniture similar to what a mourner at a traditional shiva might do.
Our Sages proposed many reasons why G-d allowed the Temples to be destroyed on this day in history, but the most well-known reason they say is because of sin’nat chinam, senseless hatred. We as a community were so divided even back then over issues such as politics, observance, rabbinic authority and other issues (sound familiar?) that we could not see past what divided us to the common humanity amongst all of us. If we were going to treat each other so adversarial and inhumane, then G-d was not going to remain with us in The Temple. G-d withdrew from the Temples, so we are told, and let our enemies destroy those sacred places as punishment for our wretched treatment of each other, all of whom were (and are) made in G-d’s image.
My wife Donni and I have been so warmly welcomed here in Manchester this past week and people have done some wonderful things to help us get settled. The possibility of the local community engaging in sin’nat chinam seems remote to us. But at the same time, Tisha B’Av arrives to remind us that we all have the capacity to think and act negatively in ways that can cause real pain and destruction to others be they strangers or loved ones. This Tisha B’Av, don’t let the day go by without doing or saying something positive to someone. Family or friend or stranger, let someone know that you see them, that they matter, and that you believe in a world not dominated by senseless hatred but by ahavat rabbah, abundant love.