Author: Glen Berd

Helen Mirren brilliantly portrays Golda Meir in a new biopic. But few people know the full, epic story of the woman who became Israel's only female Prime Minister at the age of 70 By STEPHEN POLLARD EDITOR OF THE JEWISH CHRONICLE, FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY UPDATED: 02:21, 27 August 2023   At lunchtime, the bombs began to fall. Explosions thundered and fireballs roared across the Golan Heights – the Levantine region seized by Israel after it was attacked by Syria in 1967 – as hundreds of Syrian MiG airplanes dropped their deadly payloads. Some 1,400 of Damascus’s tanks had massed for the invasion, against just 180 for the Israeli defenders. To the south-west, across the Suez Canal, a terrifying horde of 600,000 Egyptian soldiers, supported by 550 aircraft and a further 2,000 tanks, stood ready to massacre fewer than 500 Israeli troops stationed on the Sinai Peninsula, sharing a pitiful three tanks between them. It was October 6, 1973: Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Egypt’s leader, Anwar Sadat,...

Klezmer musician Daniel Kahn performs the moving song, which he translated with a little help from his friends. https://youtu.be/XH1fERC_504...

Rosh Hashanah is a both a joyous and contemplative time.  Traditionally it's time when families gather and communities swell. It's a time also to look inside ourselves, at what we have done and what more we could do. For some the circumstances won't afford the opportunity to be with others. However, we can look inside ourselves whether we are in synagogue or not. We spend much of the time during these holy days contemplating the bond we have with God. Avraham was by himself when taking Isaac to be sacrificed. Moshe was by himself when he received the Torah from Hashem. We cannot engage with others when we take a look inside ourselves; when we gather en mass in synagogue we have to mentally divorce ourselves, make ourselves separate and alone, to take that look inside and have that personal one on one conversation with God. Being 'by yourself' is not the definition of being alone. When we look inside ourselves this Rosh Hashanah, we will all be together as a Jewish people, Bnei Yisrael. As it...

KIRYAT GAT SOCIETY   Mrs H Lewis, 18 Hereford Drive Prestwich Manchester M25 0AG Mrs A Phillips,11 Somerville Court Park Lane Salford M7 4HU Mrs Pat Joseph, 8 Park Road Manchester M8 4HU   July 2023   Dear Friend, Kiryat Gat has begun to compile the 44th  issue of the Cookery Calendar.  Our A4 calendar version with different coloured sponsorship adverts and some extra writing space on the recipe page has been well received by the majority of our customers over the last two years. Last year’s issue raised £4377 to help maintain Emunah projects in Israel, with many thanks to our generous sponsors. This year Emunah needs to raise funds to buy four new professional sewing machines for Beit Weinstein school for their dressmaking classes and to support the Food Fund. Emunah desperately needs your sponsorship, so if you can donate as many days or weeks as you can and add a little extra, we would really appreciate it. We have kept the sponsorship prices at the same rate again this year; however we are increasing...

As we approach one of the most sombre days in the Jewish calendar, Tisha b’Av, Israeli politicians should reflect on the damage that is being done to the cohesion of Israeli society by pushing ahead with legislation to limit the powers of the Supreme Court. Netanyahu, in a bid to remain prime minister, has made alliances with far-right parties that expect a return for their support, namely a lessening of Israel’s liberal democracy. The threat to the survival of the state is not from external enemies that caused so much suffering to past generations and for whom we mourn on Tisha b’Av, but from internal dissension that is self-inflicted. Israel has enemies enough to confront and for the Netanyahu coalition to provoke such a strong reaction from Israelis is mind blowing; even members of the IDF, the guardians of Israel’s security, have voiced concerns about the dumbing down of democracy. These are serious issues that cannot be brushed aside to aid...