Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein

We all have values. Family. Faith. Integrity. Honesty in business. Loyalty in marriage. We list them so easily it can feel like having them is settled. In this week's talk on the Parsha of Emor, the Chief Rabbi opens with a question that sounds simple. It turns out not to be: what is a value? We begin somewhere unexpected: economics. In economic terms, something is worth only what someone is prepared to pay for it. What does that say about the things we claim to value? Drawing on Pirkei Avot, the Sefer HaChinuch, and the structure of the mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer, the Torah introduces a deeper question about value. One that is not so easily reduced to price. And leaves us with a question many would rather not answer. Key Questions Is a value still a value if you're not prepared to pay for it? Where does the very idea of intrinsic worth come from? Can a society have objective values without God? Why are the values we say we have so often the values we don't live?

To view what is happening in Iran, merely in military and political terms would be a mistake. It is Biblical. This week, as Jews throughout the world prepare to read the Book of Esther, events of historic magnitude are unfolding in the very land once known as Persia. Iran and Israel stand in direct confrontation. The Middle East has been reshaped in ways few believed possible only months ago. The timing is striking. The geography is unmistakable. Two thousand four hundred years ago, from that same region, a decree emerged that threatened the existence of the Jewish people. Purim commemorates that moment. As the ancient words are read again this year, the question before us is not only what is happening in the Middle East, but whether we understand what we are witnessing. KEY QUESTIONS Are we witnessing a modern-day Purim? What does it mean when ancient patterns re-emerge in real time? Do we recognise hidden miracles while they are still unfolding?

Self-awareness is the gateway to success. When we see ourselves clearly - strengths and weaknesses, victories and mistakes - we know where to double down, and where to improve. But how do we be objective about ourselves? Drawing on Pirkei Avot, with an illuminating idea in this week's parsha Ki Tavo, Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein reveals three pathways to transcending our inherent subjectivity and achieving objective self-assessment. First, through genuine dialogue with others: learning to listen, respond appropriately, and admit ignorance when necessary. Second, through Torah study with others, which forces us to seek wisdom external to ourselves and develop the humility to receive criticism. Third, through cultivating awe of God and living with awareness that we will one day stand before Hashem and account for our actions, cutting through all rationalizations and self-deception. Key Insights: • Vidui (confession) includes declaring both our mistakes AND our successes — complete self-awareness requires knowing what we're doing right so we can amplify it. • Avot teaches us to avoid rationalising and spinning our own narrative when assessing ourselves • True dialogue requires listening before speaking, addressing points in order, and having the humility to say "I don't know." • Torah study with chavruta (study partners) naturally develops objectivity by forcing us to seek wisdom external to ourselves and receive input from others. • Living with yirat Hashem (awe of God) provides the ultimate objective perspective — imagining how our actions appear before the ultimate Judge who sees through all subjectivity. • The goal isn't perfection but rather developing— appropriate self-awareness in relation to others and to Hashem. #KiTavo #SelfAssessment #ObjectiveThinking #JewishWisdom #PirkeiAvot #TeshuvaTechniques #CharacterDevelopment #TorahLearning #SpiritualGrowth #YomKippurPreparation

The Oval Office confrontation between President Ramaphosa and President Trump served to highlight the appalling failures of South Africa's ruling elite. In this powerful and painful video, Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein confronts the full moral weight of what that moment revealed — not just about political failure, but about human suffering. The murder epidemic in South Africa is not a white genocide, nor a black genocide. It is a human genocide. And it has unfolded, for three decades, under the leadership of a government that has failed in its most basic duty: to protect its people. With courage and clarity, the Chief Rabbi calls out the moral collapse of South Africa's ruling elite, the shocking Constitutional Court ruling on hate speech, the spiralling vigilantism and private security, and the haunting spiritual symmetry between Ramaphosa's global humiliation and the ANC's slander against Israel. This is not just a political video. It is a moral reckoning. #SouthAfrica #ChiefRabbiGoldstein #Ramaphosa #TrumpRamaphosa #WhiteHouse #KillTheBoer #SouthAfricaCrime #Genocide #Justice #HumanRights #MiddaKenegedMidda #Israel #TruthToPower

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As chief rabbi of South Africa, I undertook a recent diplomatic mission to Israel amidst the hostility of the South African government and a breakdown in communications between the two countries. I met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and other senior government officials, assuring them of the support of the Jewish community and millions of non-Jews in South Africa. The purpose of my trip was to establish a strong, parallel diplomatic channel between the people of South Africa and the Jewish state. I conveyed a message to the government and the people of Israel on behalf of the South African Jewish community, as well as millions of our fellow citizens throughout the country. I told them that the African National Congress government does not speak in our name and we stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel in its battle against the forces of evil. When I met with President Herzog, Foreign Affairs Minister Yisrael Katz and Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli, I reassured them that despite the ANC government's morally repugnant support for Hamas and Iran, most South Africans have distanced themselves from the ANC's position. Millions of South African Christians pray for and support Israel. Israel has many allies and friends here in South Africa who are ashamed of their government's support for terrorist regimes and despots. Moreover, the ANC's support has sunk to 40% and is still falling. I sought to tell the government and people of Israel that the bond between the Jews of South Africa and Israel can never be broken, no matter what the ANC does. As Jews, we speak the name of Jerusalem at every funeral, saying a special blessing to mourners: "May the Almighty comfort you amongst all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem." At every wedding, we recite the immortal verse, "If I ever forget thee, O Jerusalem." Three times a day in our prayers, we pray for the redemption of Israel and Jerusalem. When we pray, we face in the direction of Jerusalem. Zionism is an essential part of our Jewish identity. It's part of our soul. Our connection to Israel began almost 4,000 years ago when God spoke to Abraham at the dawn of Jewish history. As a nation, we have maintained an unbroken presence in the land for more than 3,300 years—since the time of Joshua. Our connection to our land is older than that of any people on earth. Our bond with Israel is unbreakable. Going forward, great efforts will be invested in building this informal diplomatic channel between Israel and South Africa until such time as a sound official diplomatic relationship can be re-established. I undertake this task for the sake of our Jewish community, but also for the sake of South Africa, which will only benefit from a closer bond with the only democracy in the Middle East. In numerous areas of life in which the South African government has failed its people, citizens have stood up and come forward to make a difference. Here, too, with the country's connection to Israel under threat, we must come forward, speak up and reinforce our connection with Israel. Those who can should visit to express solidarity. The current foreign policy of the ANC government, which associates our country with the world's worst terrorist states and tyrants, is not in the interests of the South African people. South Africa can benefit greatly from Israel's innovation, people, technology and economy. Most of all, it can benefit from the Divine blessings that flow into South Africa from Israel: The promise made to Abraham that those who bless Israel will be blessed. In our time, we have witnessed these Divine promises fulfilled. After 2,000 years of exile—no nation on earth has ever survived such a protracted exile—we returned to our biblical homeland. Just as promised in the book of Deuteronomy: "Then G-d will gather you in from all the nations. … If your dispersed will be at the ends of heaven, from there the L-rd your G-d will gather you in and from there He will take you … and bring you to the Land that your forefather possessed and you shall possess it." Our bond with Israel, forged in exile and sanctified by Divine promise, will never be broken. Am Yisrael Chai.