23rd July 2026 9th of Av, Tisha b’Av Shabbat Shalom dear friends. We are back! Today is Tisha B’Av, a day of fasting and remembrance. For thousands of years, Jews have mourned the tragedies that have befallen our people — from the destruction of the First and Second Temples to the expulsions, persecutions and ultimately…

8th July 2026 Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Bazeh — We are one people, bound by a shared responsibility for one another. I owe the amazing Maccabeans from three countries an apology. When I heard that Australia, Britain and Canada were not sending their usual huge youth delegations to this year’s Maccabiah Games, I assumed they…

2nd July 2026 17th Tammuz 5786 1,000th day since October 7th 2023 Shabbat Shalom dear friends. I wish you a “Gut Shabbes”. When I asked AI how to say Shabbat Shalom in various languages, trying to reinvent myself as a polyglot, it told me very firmly that wherever you are you still say “Shabbat Shalom”…

26th June 2026 11th Tammuz 5786 993 days since 7th October 2023 Shabbat Shalom!  I’m back! I missed writing to you last week but we had a wonderful time discovering the City of Baku in Azerbaijan. More of that later. “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste…

Soviet Jewry story June 2026 More than fifty years have passed since a handful of determined students in Jerusalem helped ignite a movement that would eventually change Jewish history. Today, when so many of the heroes of that struggle remain uncelebrated, it is worth remembering how it all began. For younger readers, it is difficult…

12th June 2026 27th Sivan 5786 Shabbat Shalom! I hope this missive finds you well. Today I don’t want to write about events but rather about what the vast majority of Israelis feel after the Haredi riots against conscription and the extremist settlers who claim Biblical lands as an excuse to be vile bullies. There…

5th June 2026 19 of Sivan, 5786 Shabbat Shalom everyone! Just for a change, let’s begin with the good people, the good news, the very good news, and the utterly thoroughly distressing news. After New York Mayor Mamdani refused to walk in the Celebrate Israel Day Parade, former mayors Eric Adams and Michael Bloomberg headed…

29th May, 2026 13th Sivan, 5786 Shabbat Shalom, a holy Eid Al-Adha, a Blessed Armenian and Orthodox Pentecost. A peaceful weekend to all whether you celebrate all of the above or not. When I planned today’s letter, missive, I was worried that I wouldn’t manage to be my usual optimistic self, then I sat down…

21st of May 2026 5th Sivan, 5786 Good morning, Shabbat Shalom and Chag Shevuot Sameach and a Blessed Pentecost and Ascencion Day The difficulties of peace are better than the agony of war.” — Menachem Begin Shevuot celebrates our receiving of the Torah — not only faith and ritual, but the moral foundations of how…

14th May 2026 27th Iyar, 5786 Jerusalem Day Of course, I wish you Shabbat Shalom but most of all I wish Jerusalem to hold celebrations of Jerusalem Day filled with joy, fellowship, good will and safety Today is the eve of Jerusalem Day, celebrating the day Jerusalem became one again; Old City and New, heart…