111230 30th December 2011 Shabbat Shalom and I hope all my Christian friends had a wonderful and contemplative Christmas. Gosh it is almost 2012! This has been a somewhat exciting year and not the most comfortable. From Arab Spring which the insanely naive politicians described as a blow for democracy we recognise today that it…

111223 23rd December 2011 Shabbat shalom dear friends. Shabbat shalom, Chag Urim Sameach and of course a truly blessed Christmas to all our Christian friends. Isi Leibler is a religious Jew, a truly erudite religious Jew. Isi recognises that the issue of Ultra-Orthodox attempt at control in Israel has gone too far. Confront Unbridled Religious…

111216 16th December 2011 Dear Friends, I won’t keep you long but I feel a deep need to clarify my letter of yesterday. I agree with everything I wrote, no regrets, but I do regret my omissions and want to apologise to Yitzchok. While angry, as I wrote, about the hijacking of certain aspects of…

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…