Category: NEWS

Staff Problems? By Peter Beyfus I am sure there are few people who have not seen, at least once, Cecil B DeMille’s 1956 epic The Ten Commandments; and that film, perhaps more than any other pictorial influence from the Renaissance to the present day, has left in the viewer’s mind an indelible image of Moses, staff in hand, leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. It is the role of Moses’ staff in the Exodus that I wish to explore in this article, and which features among the so-called wonders in this week’s  parasha Vaera, meaning I appeared; and the G-d who speaks to Moses cites His earlier manifestations to the Patriarchs, thus continuing the unbroken history of divine revelation to the Jewish people. When Moses first encountered G-d on Mount Sinai he was told that he was to return to Egypt. Moses, the fugitive, was understandably bewildered that the voice emanating from the “Burning Bush” should ask him to go back...

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 ........ ...

Time capsule from 1873 goes on display but remains unopened Builders discovered the 150-year-old glass container at the Manchester Jewish Museum during renovation work.   The time capsule has gone on display for the first time A glass time capsule from 1873 has gone on display for the first time at the Manchester Jewish Museum, but its contents remain a mystery. Last year, construction began to add a multi-million pound extension to the museum, alongside a renovation of their Grade II*-listed Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. During the work, builders stumbled upon the time capsule, which had been buried deep in a wall cavity near to the synagogue’s Ark, dated to the building’s foundation in 1873. Read more about the discovery here The wax-sealed capsule, which is filled with papers, coins, and synagogue documents, is now on display in the window of the museum’s new Collection Store. Officials at the museum say they are working with paper conservators to safely open the capsule next year. The discovery of the time capsule The museum’s...

The Marranos of Mashhad: The Story of a Jewish Community That Led a Double Life for 120 Years By Ushi Derman While riding in a taxi for many long hours, en route from Russia to his city of birth, Benjamin Zar dropped the bombshell: “When we get to Mashhad,” he told Sarah, the woman he recently got engaged to, “my mother will give you a pendant that you have to wear. Otherwise, our lives will be in danger.” That episode took place in the 1920’s. A few months earlier, Benjamin’s father, a fur trader from Mashhad, Iran whose name was Yaakov Zar, was hosted by the Jewish community in the Russian city of Mur (which can no longer be found on the map) where he had come on business. After Friday night services, Yaakov spotted an attractive girl named Sarah and decided to ask for her hand for his son, Benjamin. The Fatima pendant, Mashhad, Iran, 1920s (courtesy of Benjamin Zar-Davidov. ANU – Museum of...