9th June, 2023 Shabbat Shalom! Yesterday the temperature went up into the mid-30’s Celsius and the forecast said that today would be hotter but with occasional showers. Are they serious? It began at about 05:15 this morning with several huge claps of thunder, actually not thunder claps, more like a 3,000 audience applause! Thunder of…

2nd June 2023 Shabbat Shalom! How are you? When I ask how you are I really want to know so please let me know. Today I decided that I’m not going to talk about what is in the media, certainly none of the gloom and doom on which they thrive, just about the wonderful aspect…

25th May 2023 5th Sivan 5783 Shabbat Shalom, Shevuot Sameach, Blessed Pentecost and Whitsun Shevuot is a beautiful festival, the spring harvest and so much more. We wear white clothes, pray all night and tell the story of Ruth, the wonderful daughter in law of Naomi. It’s a very special story of love, loyalty, devotion,…

19th May, 2023 Shabbat Shalom and Happy Jerusalem Day! Jerusalem Day is the celebration of the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six Day War in 1967. I’m sure that all of us remember the incredible words that fulfilled the prayers of 2,000 years “The Temple Mount is in our hands”, the iconic photograph of the…

12th May, 2023 Shabbat Shalom! There is a famous Chinese blessing “May you have a boring year” and the Chinese curse? “May you have an interesting year” Unfortunately we are having a very interesting week. The Iranian funded Palestinian Islamic Jihad, originally an offshoot of Egypt’s Moslem Brotherhood, has been behind many of the attacks…

5th of May, 2023 Shabbat Shalom! I hope you are all ready for the Coronation of King Charles III tomorrow! I love the fact that King Charles and the Queen Consort invited Chief Rabbi Mervis and his wife to stay at their home so that they could attend the Coronation tomorrow, a short walking distance…

28th April 2023 Shabbat Shalom! I hope you had a good week. As we leave behind us the pain of Remembrance Day I thought of Eleanor Roosevelt who kept a prayer in her pocket, a prayer of gratitude and humility for us all. Dear Lord,Lest I continueMy complacent way,Help me to remember that somewhere,Somehow out thereA…

21st April, 2023 Shabbat Shalom and Eid Mubarak I woke up this morning, opened my newspaper and found a strange folded piece of fine cardboard. I unfolded, opened and found that it was a metre-long copy of the Israeli Declaration of Independence! A beautiful and stark reminder of exactly why we are here and what…

18th  April 2023 27th Nisan 5783, Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day Today at 10:00 a siren will sound throughout Israel to send out the message that we have not forgotten those who perished because of hatred, because too many are convinced by words of hatred and the horror of racism is yet again raising its…

14th April 2023 Shabbat Shalom dear friends, Shabbat Shalom. Today is the 8th Day of the Counting of the Omer. So much Matza has passed under the bridge since my last missive, some tragic, some beautiful and some miraculous. I am seriously going to try and leave politics out of the equation, other than to…