Parashat Tzav (Parah): My Jewish Journey
It was one of the greatest and longest journeys I’ve ever taken and it didn’t even require me to leave my study. On the Fast of Esther, I was waiting for the broadcast of the Shema prayer (live-streamed from the Kotel/Western Wall) to begin. As I was fasting, I was happy to engage in some soul-searching, commensurate to the significance of the day. Some people engage in hobbies like golf and photography (which according to many sources is the UK’s most expensive pastime). My choice is genealogy. I have the ‘My Heritage Complete Subscription’ package, which fortunately renews in August, so I have some time to save up! Back to my journey…I recently discovered that I am a seventh-generation descendant of the highly respected Rabbi Yechezkel Landau on my mother’s maternal line. As well as being the Chief Rabbi of Prague in the 18 th century (he died in 1793), he is called the Noda Biyehuda (The Known One of Judah) after his renowned two-volume work which provided Halachic R