Daniel G. Saunders

Apply for a Blog

Jan 23, 2025, 10:55 PM

Va’era: Stubbornness as Vice and Virtue

This week’s sedra (Torah portion) continues the story of the exodus from Egypt with the first seven of the ten plagues. Pharoah refuses to release the Israelites until the final plague, but his reactions to the previous plagues are...

Jan 19, 2025, 4:44 PM

The Diasporization of Israel

So much has been written by this stage about the ceasefire deal, I won’t go into detail about my thoughts about the deal itself, except to say that, while I will, of course, be glad to get some hostages...

Jan 2, 2025, 11:35 PM

Vayigash: Eucatastrophe

Like all sedrot (weekly Torah readings), Vayigash is named after the first prominent word in the section, in this case meaning, “And he approached,” referring to Yehudah (Judah) approaching Yosef (Joseph) to plead for the freedom for Binyamin (Benjamin)....

Dec 26, 2024, 11:46 PM

Miketz: The Brothers

We’re right in the middle of the story of Yosef (Joseph) and his brothers, a story that takes up about a third of the book of Bereshit (Genesis) and is probably the longest narrative in Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). As...

Dec 19, 2024, 11:30 PM

Vayeshev: The Shape of Our Story

The sedra starts by telling us that, “Yaakov (Jacob) was settled in the land where his father had sojourned The choice of words is deliberate. In Hebrew, vayeshev, he was settled, implies a permanent residence, whereas megurei, sojournings,...

Dec 12, 2024, 10:01 PM

Vayishlach: Yaakov’s Shadow

The centrepiece of this week’s sedra (Torah reading) is the scene of Yaakov (Jacob) wrestling with a mysterious figure identified only as “a man”. This occurs as Yaakov prepares to meet his brother Esav (Esau) again after 20 years...

Dec 5, 2024, 10:21 PM

Vayetze: The Ethics of Trickery

This week’s sedra (Torah portion) follows on from last week’s with Yaakov (Jacob) fleeing the wrath of his brother Esav (Esau) by going to Haran in modern Syria, to stay with his uncle, Lavan (Laban). As with last week,...

Nov 28, 2024, 11:08 PM

Toldot: Character and Choice

The sedra (Torah reading) of Toldot is a turning point in the book of Bereshit (Genesis). If we look at the structure of the book, first come the preliminary chapters about the failure of mankind as a whole to...

Nov 20, 2024, 11:10 PM

Chayei Sarah: Generational Continuity

Chayei Sarah (which literally means “The life of Sarah”) is a sedra (Torah portion) that is really about two topics: Avraham (Abraham) and Sarah (a) having descendants (b) who can inherit the land of Israel. As Rabbi Sacks z”tzl...

Nov 6, 2024, 11:06 PM

Lech-Lecha Reflections: The Inner Journey

The Torah introduces Avraham without (Abraham) saying why he was chosen. In fact, when first presented, at the end of last week’s sedra, it was not clear that he was chosen at all. He and his family, including his...

Load more

About Me

Daniel Saunders is an office administrator, proofreader and copy editor living in London with his wife. He has a BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford and an MA in Library and Information Management. He blogs about Judaism, Israel and antisemitism at Living Jewishly https://livingjewishly.substack.com/

Contact Me