6 Weeks 19th November 2023 Shevua Tov. Which means I wish you a good week, or most certainly a better week. First and foremost, I am relieved to tell you that the Zaka announcement that they took out 200 bodies was false and if I may say, irresponsible. In the official press conference, we were…

Day 42 17th November 2023 How on earth can I say Shabbat Shalom when the news came out yesterday that Zaka, the organisation that gathers the remains from disasters all over the world, took over 200 bodies retrieved by the IDF from Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza, for identification. Despite the following article Zaka cannot…

5 weeks and 2 days and they are not home 13th November 2023 Tami Isaacs is a pastry chef, an outstanding pastry chef in London; Tami makes the best pastries, babkas, rugalach and Challot (apart from my Rachel of course). Today Tami put a post on Facebook, simple words that tell the full story “The…

Day 34 and they are still not home 9th November 2023 Shabbat Shalom Almost another Shabbat and 240 people of all ages from 8 months to 80 years, kidnapped and held hostage for 34 days. We cannot stop until they are all freed, irrespective of their nationality or religion. The thought of separating into Jews…

Day 32 Shalom dear friends. 32 days of 24/7 news and deep sense of guilt if we watch something else. So much has happened in the last two days that I feel guilty for not writing yesterday! Imagine; Israeli soldiers and tanks ensuring safe passage for Gazan citizens fleeing Gaza City to relative safety in…

30 days – our shloshim 5th November 2023 I just saw the date and realised that tonight is Guy Fawkes night. As a child that meant loads of friends in our field behind the house, great fun, toffee apples, potatoes in the bonfire and fireworks, but I never thought about why we had all of…

3rd November 2023 27 days Shabbat Shalom dear friends. I wish you a Shabbat of contemplation and of prayer that this insane world may, just may, gain a moral compass, because in this world of instant, uncensored news (free speech) too many are convinced by the lies rather than the truth. Over the last few…

1st November 2023 Three weeks and four days Even the heavens are angry today, even the heavens are crying huge tears. The unseasonal thunderstorm reflects our mood. Until now 15 IDF soldiers gave their lives during the battle in Gaza. In this tiny country, everybody knows everyone and each soldier is everyone’s child. Zvi is…

31st October 2023 Yes, I know that tonight is All Hallows Eve, aka Halloween, but to be quite honest I’m very grateful that when my children were small “Trick or Treat” was a strange custom in a far off country, as Brits say “Across the Pond”. Since what we have known over the last 3…

30th October 2023 Dear friends, I didn’t write yesterday because, sadly there was nothing specific to say and I have no intention of writing for the sake of writing, or speaking for the sake of speaking. Perhaps after all I am not a journalist! What British journalist Julie Burchill calls the” phoney, anti-colonial cant that…