Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein

Real Life is not a Fairytale | Parsha with the Chief

Surrendering to what lies beyond our control can be liberating.  Accepting our powerlessness before God can paradoxically be empowering.  The final verses of the Tora

Making God's business Succeed | Parsha with the Chief: Ha'azinu

Self-help is one of the most popular genres of books in the world. Walk into any bookstore and the shelves are weighed down with them. Self-development, personal growth,

Alone with God | Rosh Hashanah with the Chief

What are we actually meant to be doing on Rosh Hashanah? What are the goals of the day? What does an ideal Rosh Hashanah look like? What should be going through your mi

How to Build Inner Strength | Parsha with the Chief: Nitzavim-Vayeilech

Inner strength is needed to succeed in everything in life.  But how do we build the strength we need?  Avot gives us high-impact tactics for this. And more than that,

Dealing with Guilt | Elul with the Chief

Understanding that feelings of guilt come from the depth of the soul, can empower us to transform the discomfort they bring into a catalyst for personal change and new be

Part 7: A Guide to Spiritual Health | Avot with the Chief

What does it mean to be spiritually healthy? The Rambam was a physician as well as one of our greatest sages. In his introduction to Pirkei Avot, he draws a remarkable

Part 6: The Key to Success | Avot with the Chief

Over the course of this journey through Pirkei Avot, we have been piecing together its vision of the human being: how we think, the character we develop, the choices we m

Part 5: The Ultimate Guide to Leadership | Avot with the Chief

In this episode the journey we have been on together over this series takes an unexpected twist. It turns out that Avot is not only about who we become. It is also abou

A Nation That Dwells Alone | Tisha B'Av Night at West Str Shul

Why has the Jewish people always stood alone? Recorded on the night of Tisha B'Av, this shiur begins with a simpler question: what does it actually mean to mourn? The g

Sitting Shiva for a Broken World | Tisha B'Av with the Chief

Personal mourning fades with time. Our national mourning, the Three Weeks leading into Tisha B'Av, on the other hand, move in the opposite direction. It grows more intens

What is the Point of Mourning? (From the annual Shemiras Halashon Program, Johannesburg, 2026)

Why do we spend three weeks manufacturing grief for a building none of us ever saw? This is the question the Chief puts directly to his audience in this year's Shemiras H

The Art of Criticism | Parsha with the Chief - Devarim

Few aspects of human relationships are more uncomfortable than criticism, whether giving it or receiving it. Yet we cannot grow without it. If we are to become better p

Life is Not Linear | Parsha with the Chief: Matot-Masei

We instinctively look for the quickest most efficient path from where we are to where we want to be. But life rarely unfolds in straight lines. It twists, detours and d

Part 4 of My Personal Journey | Avot with the Chief

After countless hours of searching, I thought the picture was complete. We had found the heart of Avot - the Torah of who you become, the third pillar of Jewish life - an

Solving the Mystery, Part 3 | Avot with the Chief

The theory was beautiful. The Maharal, the Vilna Gaon, the Rambam, all pointing to the same conclusion: that Pirkei Avot is the third pillar of Torah, the book of who you

My Personal Journey, Part 2 | Avot with the Chief

This episode is the next stage of my personal journey to discover the soul of Pirkei Avot. It is a search for what lies at the heart of the human being, and what Pirkei A

My Personal Journey, Part 1 | Avot with the Chief

I spent years learning it, teaching it, writing about it. Then one day I stopped and realised I had never asked what Pirkei Avot actually is.  What I found changed how

The Need For Change | Shavuot with the Chief

We are always looking for something new. A new place to go, a view we haven't seen, a fresh experience to inspire the spirit. There is a deep restlessness in being human,

The Power of Order to Transform Your Life | Parsha with the Chief: Bamidbar

We all reach for structure. Routines, habits, the small repetitions that hold a day together. Without them, life can feel like chaos. In this week's talk on the Parsha

US Presidential Proclamation on Shabbat historic call to Jews

Something astounding has just happened in America. In an official presidential proclamation marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, the President has called