5th November 2026
Rabbi Scott’s latest blog
As I am sure everyone has noticed, the weather has taken its seasonal drop as we slide into winter. In my daily commute to and from the synagogue, I’ve become aware of more homeless people trying to make a shelter for themselves here in the city centre. It is sad and distressing to see people unable to find a place to live or get enough to eat at any time of the year, but it especially gets my attention because this is the time of year where we read the book of Genesis. The connection between rough sleepers and the first book of the Torah has to do with the story lines of our patriarch Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
All three of them spend most of their lives rough sleeping. Only people with real means could afford to build and erect a permanent structure like a palace or home with a roof and door. The Patriarchs and Matriarchs lived in tents made of animal skins which could endure severe desert weather but were not very comfortable otherwise. They were often faced with famine as well and had to go to more fertile places just to find food to eat. In fact, the whole story of the Exodus from Egypt begins when Jacob and his family migrate to Egypt to get away from famine. In a way of life that few people willingly choose today, our Patriarchs and Matriarchs lived a life of rough sleeping.
The world we live in is different. While there are tribes and people in different parts of the world that still follows the custom of living outdoors in semipermanent shelters by choice, most of the modern world lives in houses or flats of some kind or at least aspire to if they cannot currently afford it. Those who cannot afford it have difficulty finding a safe place to sleep or nutritious food to eat while they struggle to make it through each day and hopefully find a way to more permanent stability. Our biblical ancestors wandered the deserts looking for food and safe places to set up their communities, and they did so following commitments from G-d that their offspring would become numerous and prosperous around the world and have stability in their lives. Today’s rough sleepers are often in need of support to help them find a stable place to shelter and food to eat, and yet our modern society still hasn’t figured out a way to ensure everyone has a roof over their head and food in their stomachs. Many end up in shelters and soup kitchens, and I doubt many of them see their current situation as somehow a fulfilment of a Divine promise.
Judaism teaches us that the world is not perfect or complete even though G-d created it. It is incumbent on us to repair and perfect it. That term in Hebrew is Tikkun Olam – Repairing the World. Each action we take to improve someone’s life or to improve the world we live in is seen as an act of Tikkun Olam. Helping Rough Sleepers is just such an act of Tikkun Olam.
A congregant who shares my concern has suggested that folks who want to find a way to help rough sleepers here in Manchester take a look at Home – Shelter England, Our Manchester centre | Centrepoint, Youth Homeless Charity & Emergency Accommodation – Depaul UK, and The Fed – Homepage among others in the community. Our biblical ancestors lived in tents exposed to the elements because they had to. Our friends and neighbours shouldn’t have to in today’s day and age. Consider what you can do to help the Rough Sleepers crisis and engage in an act of Tikkun Olam. It is the menschlich thing to do.
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.