Author: Glen Berd

Dear Member Your Executive have taken a decision to no longer require the wearing of a mask in shul on Shabbat 26th February and onwards. You may of course continue to wear a mask if you wish. In view of this the importance of social distancing increases, so would you please continue to observe the request to sit only in seats marked with the yellow/black tape, and if possible to spread out as much as possible, including using seats on the side of shul opposite the entrances. Ventilation measures i.e. leaving entrance doors and windows open will continue. Other than on shabbat mornings, i.e. for yahrtzeits, Monday evenings and Thursday mornings,  if there is a minyan, the service will be in the main shul. If fewer than 10 men, the service will be held in the Beth Hamedresh. Please also continue to log your visit to shul at the entrance desk. Many thanks for your cooperation. Robert Pinkus President 07768 400144 On behalf of St. Annes Hebrew Congregation www.shulbythesea.co.uk...

Jewish Couple Married 91 Years and Still in Love Zechariah and Shama’a have been married for 91 years.   As Jewish orphans in Yemen, they married young to avoid being wed outside of their faith and culture.   They survived extreme poverty and persecution, and were some of the first Yemeni Jews to move to Israel when the state was founded.   https://youtu.be/WCUBFLsxW-k...

102-year-old Jewish Care resident becomes oldest New Years Honours recipient Henry Lewis is Honorary vice president of the prestigious Magic Circle   Henry Lewis receives his MBE at Buckingham Palace (Getty Images) A centenarian magician and Jewish Care resident has been awarded an MBE by Prince William for his services to charity and fundraising. Henry Lewis, who turned 102 last year, attended a ceremony in Buckingham Palace last week after being awarded the honour in this year's New Years Honours list. Mr. Lewis, who's had a global career in performing magic, devoted his later life to fundraising for charitable causes. He told PA: "I performed in Canada. I performed in Denmark; Israel; in Massachusetts in two very large theatres. So I’ve had a very, very good life compared to most and I’ve done a lot in it."         Henry was presented the royal honour by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and stood up from his wheelchair to receive the medal. He later performed a trick for the future...

It’s interesting, and they won’t live through another month like this in their or your lifetimes! Because This year’s February has: 4 Sundays 4 Mondays 4 Tuesdays 4 Wednesdays 4 Thursdays 4 Fridays 4 Saturdays.   This Happens once every 823 years. This is called MiracleIn. Actually ‘Miracleln’ means ‘Miracle or ‘by the hand of God’ in Ukrainian....

This week’s parasha is Terumah, and deals with the materials that were used for building the mishkan. The Ark, its cover and the Cherubim are described; and we are told that the Ark is to be made from acacia wood, that thorny shrub/tree that one associates with Africa: think of Elspeth Huxley’s The Flame Trees of Thika.  According to Rashi it was Jacob who planted the acacia in Egypt, and when the Israelites departed they took the wood of this tree with them. Perhaps the tree stripped of its thorns, symbolic of the pain of slavery, became a smoothed wooden case containing the Decalogue, laws that are the hall-mark of an ethical society.   There has been much debate about the amount and weight of gold used in covering the Ark. Estimates range from 150 – 2500 pounds of pure gold for the cover alone. Later in the parasha there is a description of the shulchan, the menorah, the parochet, the curtain...