Rabbi Adrian M. Schell

03/05/2026

*When the canary stops singing, it warns us that the oxygen is running out.*

Following the attack in Golders Green, we must recognise the thinning air of our shared civic life. The Torah demands one standard of justice for all, and so do we now. We cannot just retreat behind high walls. It is time for politics and civic society to act, rather than only issuing statements.

I shared my reflections on this urgent issue in this week's sermon. You can read the full text on my blog: https://www.simanija.com/blog/confronting-antisemitism
or watch the recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LQuvbdmfTQk

3 likes. "We Will Not Hide Our Light | Confronting Antisemitism in the UK"

30/04/2026

We Will Not Hide | Our answer cannot only be defensive. A society that takes antisemitism seriously must make the cost of antisemitism far higher than it currently is, through education, through law, through political will, and through the moral clarity of a country that says, without equivocation: not here, and not to our neighbours. |

Our answer cannot only be defensive. A society that takes antisemitism seriously must make the cost of antisemitism far higher than it currently is, through education, through law, through political will, and through the moral clarity of a country that says, without equivocation: not here, and not t

23/04/2026

This week, as we mark Israel's 78th year of independence, the movement from grief to sovereignty feels more demanding than ever. The pain across the region remains acute, the political reality deeply fractured. What does it mean for us, sitting here in London, to mark this anniversary today?

It means that our response to loss cannot simply be despair. Our response must be a recommitment to the work of Kedoshim. We honour those who have fallen not merely by standing for a siren, but by insisting on a society—both there and here—built on justice, truth, and compassion.

www.simanija.com/blog/from-yom-hazikaron-to-yom-haatzmaut

16/04/2026

Step into the peace and joy of Shabbat with the Wimbledon Synagogue community. We welcome you to join our inclusive Reform services, streaming live from South West London.

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Shabbat Shalom.

16/04/2026

Where we stand is never neutral - How we use our voices matters. Where we stand is never neutral. This week’s portion, Tazria-Metzora, asks: can silence be as corrosive as harmful words? I explore the thin line between being a bystander and becoming a sacred witness. Read this week’s reflection on why our testimony is a vital act of repair for our world and how our words build the community we share. -

How we use our voices matters. Where we stand is never neutral. This week’s portion, Tazria-Metzora, asks: can silence be as corrosive as harmful words? I explore the thin line between being a bystander and becoming a sacred witness. Read this week’s reflection on why our testimony is a vital ac...

11/04/2026

What We Feed the Mind - The current debate about children and screen time is real, and the concerns are serious. Studies on sleep disruption, on shortened attention spans, on the psychological effects of algorithmic content designed to provoke outrage or insecurity, all of this belongs in the conversation. Yet the instinct to simply ban or limit, while understandable, misses something. A child who grows up behind a wall, without ever learning to read a news article critically, to ask who produced a video and why, to notice when content is designed to humiliate rather than to inform, that child is not prepared. The wall comes down eventually. It always does. -

The current debate about children and screen time is real, and the concerns are serious. Yet the instinct to simply ban or limit, while understandable, misses something. A child who grows up behind a wall, without ever learning to read a news article critically or to notice when content is designed

09/04/2026

Being Alive is Reason Enough: Choosing Joy in a Broken World

Rabbi Adrian Schell argues that being alive is enough reason for joy. Drawing on the Song at the Sea, he explores how rejoicing is a quiet internal decision made even when the future is blank. By practising "radical amazement," we can recognise our breath as a gift and move beyond survival to truly thrive. Life is the most honest thing we can celebrate.

https://youtu.be/14IXVIAh7xs

05/04/2026

Rabbi Adrian Schell reflects on the moral test of Israel's soul during this Pesach [Passover] sermon. Drawing from Deuteronomy and Song of Songs, he discusses the Kotel [Western Wall] bill and the Death Penalty Bill, asserting that true liberation involves safeguarding the dignity of the stranger and the soul of the Jewish State. Genuine love for Israel means speaking out when justice and inclusion are threatened.

Rabbi Adrian Schell, of Wimbledon Synagogue, shares a profound reflection for Pesach Chol HaMoed. He explores the intersection of sacred tradition and the mo...

01/04/2026

The story of the Exodus focuses on liberation at Pesach, but the spiritual core of the Torah resides in the midbar. True transformation happens in the movement between departure and arrival, where we must become free to receive revelation. In our current period of global instability, we are called to build a new Mishkan, choosing active hope over passive optimism to sustain our community.

www.simanija.com/blog/the-wilderness-was-always-the-point

26/03/2026

www.simanija.com/blog/they-burned-our-ambulances-not-our-resolve

A thought for Shabbat Hagadol - Tzav

On Monday morning, we woke to images that turn the stomach. Four ambulances, vehicles whose absolute sole purpose is to save lives, were reduced to charred, twisted metal in Golders Green. The shattered glass and the blackened frames speak of a profound, targeted hatred. To attack a Jewish volunteer emergency service is not simply an act of vandalism. It is an assault on the very principle of preserving human life. It is entirely natural to feel outrage, vulnerability and a deep, aching exhaustion when confronted with such blatant antisemitism on our streets. We are allowed to be angry. We are allowed to be horrified by this violation of our community's safety.

Yet, as we confront this darkness, our tradition offers us a vital counter-narrative. In this week's Torah portion, Parashat Tzav, we are given a starkly contrasting image of fire. The text commands us: “A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, it shall not go out” [1]. The priests are instructed to tend this eish tamid, this eternal flame, with meticulous care. They must add fresh wood and clear away the suffocating ashes every single morning.

The arsonists in North London used fire as a weapon of terror, a crude tool designed to intimidate, to silence and to erase. The fire of our Jewish tradition is entirely different. Our fire is the warmth of community, the light of Torah and the burning, uncompromising passion for justice and compassion.

When those who hate us try to define our Jewish presence in the UK through acts of violence, they drastically underestimate the stubborn resilience of our flame. We absolutely refuse to let our identity or our future be dictated by those who wish us harm.

The burnt shells of those ambulances are a devastating sight. But look at what happened next. The community did not retreat into the shadows. The volunteers did not walk away from their calling to heal the sick, regardless of who needs help. If anything, the resolve to care for others, to fiercely protect our democratic values and to live proudly and openly as Jews has only deepened.

This is the true meaning of the perpetual fire. It does not burn on miracles alone. It burns because ordinary, courageous people make the conscious, daily choice to add fuel to the flames of solidarity and hope.

Keeping this fire alive in the face of such raw hatred is demanding work. If we try to carry the weight of this outrage alone, we risk being consumed by the very anger we are fighting. We must share the vigil. We must stand firm together, helping each other clear away the ashes of despair, so that the embers of our shared values have the oxygen to breathe. Let those who seek to frighten us see that our light is not diminished. Let them see that our commitment to life, to democracy and to one another burns brighter than ever.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Adrian M. Schell

[1] Leviticus 6:6.

Four ambulances, vehicles whose absolute sole purpose is to save lives, were reduced to charred, twisted metal in Golders Green. The shattered glass and the blackened frames speak of a profound, targeted hatred. To attack a Jewish volunteer emergency service is not simply an act of vandalism. It is

23/03/2026

Vayikra [and He called] refuses the idea that faith should be simple, tidy, or continuous. It understands that life is fractured, and that a human being often comes to the holy place carrying contradiction. Sometimes we arrive with devotion. Sometimes we arrive with numbness. Sometimes we arrive because something inside us has gone wrong, and we do not quite know how to begin again. The sacrificial system, for all its ancient distance, begins from exactly that truth. It is not a fantasy of perfection: it is a grammar for imperfection.

The word korban [offering] itself comes from the language of drawing near. That means sacrifice is never only about loss. It is also about movement. Something is brought forward. Something of the self is made available to God. The question for us today is not whether we still bring a bull or a ram. The question is what we do now when the soul needs to draw near. What is our equivalent of offering? What does it mean to come before the Eternal honestly, with what we have, not with what we wish we had?

Parashat Vayikra [and He called] begins with a paradox: a call to intimacy through an ancient system of offerings. While the rituals may feel distant, they offer a profound grammar for our own imperfections. How do we draw near to the Divine when life feels fractured? Explore how we can turn our hon