111215 15th December 2011 Shabbat Shalom! How are you doing? Well I hope. This has been an odd week since we haven’t been sleeping at home, but rather staying with friends in Mevasseret and coming in early each morning to let the workmen in to the apartment for a days work on our epic renovations!…

111210 Motse Shabbat – 12th December 2011 Shevua Tov – a good week to you all. I decided to send you a special updae today because of three special issues. The first is the new video produced by Deputy Minister Danny Ayalon; the second a new book from the Palestinian Media Watch team and the…

111208 8th December 2011 Shabbat Shalom to you and yours! Help!! The world has gone crazy……… or should I say crazier? Women are buried to their waists in sand and stoned to death on the say-so of their husbands, honour killings are rife, women are fourth class citizens in most of our neighbouring countries and…

111202 2nd December 2011 Shabbat Shalom dear friends. Having read a horrific story in the paper about an Afghani woman who was raped, imprisoned for adultery because of the rape and then released from prison on condition that she marry her rapist I couldn’t keep quiet. This is ultimate inhumanity, only surpassed by slaughter. Indeed…

111129 November 29th – Kaf Tet b’November – is a most significant day in Jewish life – the official Birth of our Nation. To learn more and be enthralled watchhttp://www.youtube.com/ToldotYisrael and then click ontohttp://www.jcpa.org/quiz/November29.html to test your knowledge!  Listen to UN vote In February 1947, Great Britain, which had controlled the mandatory territory since 1917, decided…

111124 24th November 2011 Happy Thanksgiving! I wish you many reasons to give thanks and the ability to find joy in all you do and see. Happy Sigd. Sigd is the Ethiopian Jewish festival officially celebrated today. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?ID=246762&R=R1 Sadly one institution that we certainly have no reason to give thanks for is the United nations. Their…

111118 18th November 2011 Shabbat Shalom for glorious rainy Jerusalem! I love the rain, it cleanses the air, the city, the soul and gives life to the earth. I imagine the tiny seeds and bulbs hiding in the cracked arid earth suddenly springing into life, preparing to burst forth in the spring. I am so…

111111 The 11th Day of the 11th Month of the 11th year of this century. Shabbat Shalom A tragic incident took place today as Rabbi Dan Martzbach was driving home to the settlement of Otniel at five in the morning and he saw what he thought was an ambush. He drove as fast as he…

111104 4th November 2011 Shabbat Shalom dear friends. I hope this letter finds you well. I am so excited this Friday morning since I awoke to the sound of rain, heavy rain, glorious, life giving rain! Admittedly I am equally thrilled that it didn’t rain yesterday or the day before which gave me the opportunity…

111031 31st October 2011 Halloween, for real. 30 rockets were launched by Islamic Jihad yesterday and the day before. All 30 created the terror intended among Israelis in the South sending them running for the bomb shelters and closing schools. 30 rockets over a short period; the 28th caused great joy in Gaza and horror…