Author: Glen Berd

The Inspiring Story Of Corrie Ten Boom, The Dutch Watchmaker Who Saved 800 Jews From The Holocaust By Kaleena Fraga | Checked By Jaclyn Anglis December 7, 2021 From 1940 to 1944, Corrie ten Boom and her family used their home in the Netherlands as a hiding place for Jews who were fleeing the Nazis. The watchmakers had a secret. In their home above the family shop on Barteljorisstraat in the Dutch city of Haarlem, they had built a safe room. There, Corrie ten Boom, her sister, and their father would save the lives of some 800 Jews fleeing the Nazis. The ten Boom family joined the Dutch resistance after Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940. Guided by their religious beliefs, they quietly funnelled desperate Jewish refugees to safety. But in 1944, an informer would send the Nazis straight to their door. Corrie ten Boom Huis/FacebookCorrie ten Boom, standing, and her family. Corrie ten Boom survived her time in concentration camps — barely — after her father and sister died. Once...

In the year 2021, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in France , and said, "Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans." He gave Noah the plans, saying, "You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights." Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah sweeping in his yard - but no Ark. "Noah!" He roared , "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark ?" "Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed a building permit. I've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system in the ark. My neighbours claim that I've violated the neighbourhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had...

Laughter is the best medicine Peter Beyfus The BBC today reported Maureen Lipman’s astute comment regarding the impact of ‘Cancel Culture’ on our liberal democracy, highlighting the danger of the drip drip erosion of personal freedom that we have witnessed since the rise of wokism and Critical Race Theory. She is rightly concerned that comedy will no longer be a foil for showing up the ridiculous antics of humanity, and that comedians/ comediennes, must not forget gender equality, will be intimidated to tone down their material for fear of offending one or other minority group. Dave Chappelle has also been criticised for daring to poke fun at trans-gender issues, and Terry Gilliam has had his show at the Old Vic cancelled for supporting Chappelle: joking about woke will not do!   No one would advocate using offensive language to raise a laugh, but our society has seemingly become over-sensitive on a whole range of issues. Some entertainers are frightened that a joke may upset...

The Midrash recounts that Adam, experiencing mankind’s first winter, was struck with fear that the ever-decreasing number of hours of daylight he was experiencing represented God’s utter disappointment with his sin in the Garden of Eden. He feared that the world was slowly and inexorably reverting to its state of primeval, pre-creation "tohu vavohu" – chaos and void. Adam, it is said, prayed for forgiveness and daylight lengthened once again. Since time immemorial, humankind has marked this moment of switch – the winter solstice that falls today in the Northern Hemisphere, Tuesday December 21st. It is close to this time of year that Jews celebrate Chanukah [unusually early this year], lighting candles for eight days. We don’t wind down from eight to one as one Rabbinical opinion held – to represent the smaller and smaller amounts of oil left in that single, undefiled cruse found by the Hasmoneans in the Temple. On the contrary, we light one more candle each day in an...

Gustav and Alma: For the Love of Music By Peter Beyfus Mahler, like all people of genius, was a complex being, often embattled with his personal demons and those of an increasingly antisemitic Viennese society. In the latter part of the nineteenth century it was difficult for Jews to be accepted into professions, not least into the well-established music fraternity. Mahler,  as with many other able Jews,  took the decision to covert to Christianity to overcome exclusion from artistic life. However, even though conversion appeared to remove a religious barrier to societal acceptance, underlying prejudice still existed; and this was something that Herzl, a contemporary of Mahler, realised was endemic in Austrian society and could not be easily eradicated. This essay will focus on the composer’s troubled relationship with Alma, a marriage that highlights the personality differences in the two characters.   Gustav Mahler composed his Fifth Symphony during the summers of 1901 and 1902. One is struck by the haunting, penetrating bars of...

Dear Friend, We are arranging the distribution of The Really Jewish Food Guide 2022.  We are offering you the opportunity to be a distributor yourself or to purchase guides for your organisation. If you would like to order any copies, at a discounted shul/community rate of £7.95 (P&P not included) please let us know. (RRP £9.95) We are also offering communities the A4 and A3 Bug Checking Guide Charts at RRP £2.95. Bug list Our distributor in the North, including Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow and Gateshead, is Judaica World, Tel: 0161 773 4956.   Many thanks,   Best regards,   Dalia Bloch Food Technology Researcher Kashrut Division London Beth Din Tel: 0208 343 6332...

Way back in the mists of time - in 2019 BC (Before Covid) -  there was a happy, carefree time ! People gathered together at Rabbi Danny's to eat, drink and be merry. Look - (can you believe it) more than 6 sitting together and with bare faces. Memories ........ ...