Social Issues & Torah (TFH)

This blog is written by the National Director of Together For Humanity Foundation (TFH), Rabbi Zalman Kastel. It explores contemporary social issues as these relate to an Orthodox understanding of the Torah, (the Bible) and other Jewish sources. This blog which shares the personal thoughts and journey of an Australian Jewish man is part of the bridge building work of TFH and is written for readers of many faiths and none. It often references the Sidra, the weekly Torah reading.

Friday, October 23, 2026

Compassion, Blame, Humiliation in the Hagar Sarah Dynamic - Lech Lecha

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This week, I had the pleasure of talking with Christian leaders in Perth about polarisation and compassion in our time, and a confronting st...
Friday, October 16, 2026

Tolerance and Space for the Other - the Tower of Babel

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Tolerance is necessary, and it cannot simply be replaced with a celebration of differences in every situation. I acknowledge that there are ...
Thursday, October 8, 2026

Status Games - Abel and Cain

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 Last Friday, 2 October, I was at a roundtable on social cohesion with the Australian education minister, Jason Clare, where I noticed that ...
Friday, September 11, 2026

A Moment in Anger, A Lifetime in Goodwill. Rosh Hashana

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I recently delivered a keynote at the MacKillop Institute’s “Lead the Way” conference about how I cared for myself and supported members of ...
Thursday, July 9, 2026

Monoculture

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Driving across a beautiful bridge one morning this week, on the way to a Sydney Catholic Schools study day, I cracked the monoculture riddle...
Friday, January 9, 2026

After Bondi - Leaders’ self-care and service

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It is 5 am in New York, and I can’t sleep. I awoke feeling highly alert from a disturbing, relatively mundane but vivid dream about feeling ...
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About Me

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Rabbi Zalman Kastel AM
I am active in educational efforts to counter prejudice, particularly when linked to religion. My role is the Dean and Founder of Together For Humanity Foundation. I am also a Rabbi, teaching Torah to adults on Saturdays, occasionally conducting weddings and funerals and I am involved in other aspects of religious leadership. I was ordained with Semicha from the Lubavitch Yeshiva (770) in New York, studied Torah in London, Brooklyn and Sydney. I completed a graduate Diploma in Education at the University of New England. I've been blogging since 2011.
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