171004 4th October 2017 Chag Sameach, Moadim le Simcha. Today I wanted to make you laugh, to tell you about the tap tap tap tap tap of frantic succah building, long into the night after Yom Kippur; I wanted to describe the beautiful decorations made by our grandchildren, in Israel, Britain and New York; I really…

170929 29th September, 2017 Shabbat Shalom, Shana Tova and Gmar Hatima Tova. Tonight we have a chance to change, a chance to improve ourselves and to atone for the things we did or said. Forgiveness is not automatic, we must pledge to do better and most importantly of all, we must apologise in person to those…

170920 20th September 2017 Rosh Hashana 2017, in the Jewish year of 5778 Thank you one and all for listening to my musings and emotions, my thoughts and deliberations. I appreciate you all, each and every one of you and wish you שנה טובה ומתוקה I wish you a year in which the voice of moderation…

 170915 15th September 2017 Shabbat Shalom dear friends. I hope you had a good week and are feeling well. I remember how we used to snigger at our elders when they wished each other a year of good health, but in truth it is our number one priority. We can overcome almost anything if we feel…

170908 8th September 2017 Shabbat Shalom dear friends. What a week of worry! Hurricanes and monsoons, Texas, the Caribbean Islands, Florida, India, Nepal, Pakistan; the horror of natural disasters reminds us that we humans are powerless against the enormity of nature. The devastation left in the path of hurricane Irma is unprecedented in its scope. Unlike…

170901 September the first, 2017 Shabbat Shalom everyone! Since today is the first day of the school year here in Israel I decided this would be a letter about Israel – we find it too easy to forget the wonderful country that gave us all a sense of pride that thousands of year of abasement…

170825 25th of August 2017 Shabbat Shalom dear friends. Back from a delightful sojourn in Italy, in glorious Tuscany, with all of Zvi’s family and thrilled to be back in Israel. Last night I made our favourite salad and believe you me, there are no vegetables, anywhere in the world, like those in Israel. I know…

170811 11th August 2017 Shabbat Shalom dear friends. As I looked at the date I suddenly remembered that a saga began on this day – a romantic saga. On August the 11th 1935 two incredible people held their wedding in Walm Lane Synagogue in London and a young fashion designer chose to leave the hip…

170804 4th August 2017 Shabbat Shalom dear friends. How are you? How is life treating you? How many moral conundrums have you faced this week? Israel, each and every one of us, has been faced with a moral conundrum that has the entire country both fascinated and confused. Our soldiers are meant to protect us from…

170728 28TH OF July 2017 Shabbat Shalom dear friends. I know you were expecting a mid-week update but I decided to wait until I was able to understand the insanity of what has happened over the last two weeks. Perhaps it is easier to gain perspective if we look at the time frame of this particular…