Category: NEWS

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov: The Inextinguishable Fire by Peter Beyfus Most Jews do not go in for saints, sages, cults or even rabbis; we are not that keen on displaying reverence to fellow mortals. In some respects this healthy scepticism about assumed importance is a good thing, promoting free-thinking, but on the other hand it can lead to a closed mind and therefore a loss of opportunity to share experiences and the insights of others. But, occasionally, one encounters, either in reading or in person, an individual who makes a lasting impression; this could be an outstanding scholar or a person of enormous moral authority. One such man, in my opinion, stands out as worthy of our admiration, and that is the mystic, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.   He was born in 1772, was the founder of the Breslov Hasidic Movement, a revivalist sect that engendered hope and excitement at the prospect of the Messianic Age; a counter to despair and persecution that was...

Superman: A Jewish hero?  by Peter Beyfus The BBC has launched a new programme  entitled ‘Superman and Lois’. Unlike the usual plot where the “man of steel” confronts the evil doers of the Universe, this series, along with doing battle to save us from danger, sees Clark Kent and Lois happily married with two sons, one of whom, Jordan has inherited his father’s powers. It is surprising Superman is still so popular and perhaps there is a deeper, underlying reason for this, a theme I will explore in this article. January 16 2022 marks an anniversary, one that is unlikely to be celebrated by the majority of people, for eighty-three years ago the fictional character Superman appeared in a daily comic strip in 1939 and continued to do so until May 1966. At its peak, the strip was in over 300 daily newspapers and 90 Sunday papers, with a readership of over 20 million. The first actor to play Superman was Kirk Alyn, who...

Prime Minister honours teen who co-wrote great-grandmother’s Auschwitz memoir 'This is the signal for me and Lily to keep going, and to spread Lily’s messages and Holocaust testimony even further', said Dov Forman, 17 By JEWISH NEWS REPORTER    Prime Minister, Boris Johnson meets Holocaust survivor, Lily Ebert while hosting a Chanukah reception with the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid . ( Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street) A teenage author who co-wrote his Auschwitz-surviving great-grandmother’s memoir has been honoured by the Prime Minister. Dov Forman, 17, was awarded the Points of Light Award by Boris Johnson at Downing Street during a Chanukah reception this week. The great-grandson of Lily Ebert, 97, has used social media during the pandemic to share her story, with a million followers on TikTok and thousands on Twitter. When the nonagenarian contracted coronavirus last year, Forman became determined to record her story, co-writing ‘Lily’s Promise’ when she recovered. The book is now a Sunday Times Best Seller...

An interesting and powerful article posted on FaceBook by Bruria Efune Co-founder at Aleph to Zee Co-Director & Pioneer Family at Neve Chabad Lives in Beersheba, Israel I got told to go back to Europe. I’m not from Europe. But the Twitter warrior didn’t care, and just ranted on about the Jews leaving “Palestine” alone, and going back to wherever they came from. So let’s talk about this. Where are the Jews from? Take my family for example. I’ll start at an easy point: My grandparents on my dad’s side are from Iraq. We don’t have any family left there, because they were all either chased out, or murdered for being Jewish. Family records show that despite on and off persecution, they had lived there since the Babylonian expulsion, over 2,000 years ago. My mom grew up in Argentina, where her parents were born. Most of their parents trace back to Ukraine, which they had fled during the 1918 pogroms that killed tens of thousands of Jews. It’s likely...

LAST CHANCE to Register for our super Chanukah Party on Sunday 5th December - 4pm till 7pm. In the Daniel Rose Hall in the Shul Hot (Meat and Vegetarian) 3 course Supper and a Comedy Entertainment.   ...

  https://us16.list-manage.com/survey?u=461c6093961ce6d34e1ed1163&id=4e960e8030&attribution=false Thank you for being a part of our last project “Connecting Small Histories” I am pleased to let you know that our final report has been approved and the project is complete. We also received some particularly complementary comments from our funder National Lottery Heritage Fund. The JSCN HERITAGE HUB is the active legacy of Connecting Small Histories. As well as being a fantastic archive of the work of our volunteers, it continues to be added to and will form part of our new project. Now please help us create our new project...  "Vibrant Histories" ...by taking 2 minutes to complete our short survey Click here: https://us16.list-manage.com/survey?u=461c6093961ce6d34e1ed1163&id=4e960e8030&attribution=false Please complete by FRIDAY 3rd DECEMBER THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME ABOUT Vibrant Histories brings communities and artists together to collect personal stories of Jewish Heritage in small communities, and bring to them life through artist-led activities in the visual or performing arts. A group of volunteers will be trained to find and record personal and other histories, led by historians at Swansea University. Three artists...