Israeli independence day

Hi All,

ANZAC day

Hi All,

A belated ANZAC  -Australia and New Zealand Army Corps - day, two of the people who stood up against imperial German tyranny and the Nazis :

The popular national anthem of Australia at the time:

And New Zealand :

Shabbat Shalom!

Hi all,

Shabbat Shalom- !

Happy Birthday Your Majesty !🔯😊

Hi All,

Happy birthday to her Majesty Elizabeth II,  

Dei Gratia Britanniarum et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae Regnorumque Suorum Ceterorum Regina, Indiae Imperator, Consortionis Populorum Princeps, Fidei Defensor

God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,

God save the Queen;
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen.

Oh Lord our God arise,
Scatter our enemies,
And make them fall
Confound their politics
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix
Oh save us all

God save the Queen.

Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign;
May she defend our laws
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice

God save the Queen


Not in this land alone,
But be God's mercies known,
From shore to shore!
Lord, make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world over.

God save the Queen

God save the Queen

God bless our native land!
May Heav'n's protecting hand
Still guard our shore:
May peace her power extend,
Foe be transformed to friend,
And Britain's rights depend
On war no more.

God save the Queen.

O Lord, our monarch bless
With strength and righteousness:
Long may she reign:
Her heart inspire and move
With wisdom from above;
And in a nation's love
Her throne maintain.
God save the Queen.

May just and righteous laws
Uphold the public cause,
And bless our Isle:
Home of the brave and free,
Thou land of Liberty,
We pray that still on thee
Kind Heav'n may smile.

God save the Queen.

Lord, grant that Boris Johnson
May, by Thy mighty aid,
Brexit bring,
May he recover us ,
And like a torrent rush,

Tell Nicola Sturgeon to hush
This terrible Covid to crush,

God save the Queen

A police state?

Hi All,

To the tune of "every step you make"

"Every step you take 
Every shop you make 
Every pasta bake
 Every Jaffa Cake 
We’ll be watching you

 Every run you fake
 Every ill-advised fag break
 Every Twirl or Flake
 Every Salt ‘n’ Shake 
We’ll be watching you 

Oh, can’t you please
Not go out in threes 
Groups of more than two
And we’ll arrest you

Every dog walk 
We’ll watch you like a hawk 
Every shop-bound stroll 
For your fags, booze & toilet roll
 We’ll be watching you 

Seriously, please just stay the hell indoors
Unless it’s for one of these truly essential cause"

Boris is back : NHS saved my life

Hi All,

Boris is our of hospital ,kol hakavod.

Sirloin , Rump, Fillet steaks : forbidden or not?

Hi All,

The short answer is not.

At least to us Sephardic Jews and maybe this is reflective of the outlook of the two communities of Judaism : Sephardic practical and lenient, Ashkenazi strict and conservative (in a small c risk adverse sense).. You see while animals like sheep and cows are kosher, the practice of Ashkenazi Jews is to not eat Hindquarter meat.

This stems from from the Bible verse Genesis 32:27-33. This is the account of the Angel and Jacob fighting and Jacob injuring himself, in the sciatic nerve. Verse 33:

'Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the thigh-vein which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day; because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, even in the sinew of the thigh-vein."

Via this passage the Sages of the Talmud interpreted that even in kosher animals , Halachically, Jews cannot eat the sciatic nerve or anything that contacts it and see it as a biblical , not rabbinic law.

Both Ashkenazi and Sephardic agree with this as part of Jewish law, but it is permissible to remove the nerves and kidneys,but this is extremely skilled and time consuming.

Ashkenazic leaders were less secure regarding the complete removal of such parts and thus implemented a prohibition on consuming the entire hindquarters.

But in the Sephardic tradition, it is okay to eat fillet , sirloin and rump as Sephardic butchers utilize a process called deveining, which carefully and exactingly removes the nerve and the kidney areas (kidneys not being allowed for various reasons) , thus rendering the meat usable for consumption.

chag Pesach samech!

Hi All,

It's a difficult one. Usually at this time of year we take time off to be with family and friends to celebrate Passover . In typical Jewish style this involves God, Torah , prayer, interactive religious learning,  our wider  family , friends, alcohol and food... lots of ...

But this Passover is different. My Seder  Passover table is God two and not many. The agony of not seeing our family and our friends  is terrible. But we must self isolate for the greater good. And so it shall be.

Let us celebrate Passover and rejoice!

Happy Passover!

And a few songs to get us in the mood :

And a little joke regarding Sephardi and Ashkenazi  passover practices:

Bin collection

Hi All,

LOL:

Get well soon Boris

Hi All,

No sooner had the nation watched the stirring speech by Her Majesty The Queen, but news broke that Prime Minister Boris had been admitted to hospital , due to his worsening covid 19 condition. This is clearly serious as only the most ill are admitted to hospital. Whatever our politics we should wish the man, who is our head of government, well and pray that he has a speedy recovery.

In the words of the "Mi Shebeirach" (the Jewish prayer for the sick) and this is said for ALL of those ill across the world, including Boris :

"May the one who blessed our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, bless and heal those who are ill [names]. May the Blessed Holy One be filled with compassion for their health to be restored and their strength to be revived. May God swiftly send them a complete renewal of body and spirit, and let us say, Amen."

In some of the mystical traditions of Judaism *it is a custom to say the following thirty-six chapters of Psalms : 

20, 6, 9, 13, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 37, 38, 39, 41, 49, 55, 56, 69, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 102, 103, 104, 107, 116, 118, 142, 143, and 148.

*The reason for this is that the Midrash tells us that when King David compiled the Psalms, he had in mind people of future generations as well as himself. That the Psalms would speak the words of your heart and will be heard On High.when we are ill.

Her Majesty addresses the UK and Commonwealth

Hi All,

Transcript and video of Her Majesty's address :

"I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time.

A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all. I want to thank everyone on the NHS front line, as well as care workers and those carrying out essential roles, who selflessly continue their day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all.

I am sure the nation will join me in assuring you that what you do is appreciated and every hour of your hard work brings us closer to a return to more normal times.

I also want to thank those of you who are staying at home, thereby helping to protect the vulnerable and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones.

Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it.

I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge.

And those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any.

That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country.

The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future.Across the Commonwealth and around the world, we have seen heart-warming stories of people coming together to help others, be it through delivering food parcels and medicines, checking on neighbours, or converting businesses to help the relief effort.

And though self-isolating may at times be hard, many people of all faiths, and of none, are discovering that it presents an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect, in prayer or meditation.

It reminds me of the very first broadcast I made, in 1940, helped by my sister. We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety.

Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones.

But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do.

While we have faced challenges before, this one is different.
This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal.

We will succeed - and that success will belong to every one of us.

"We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.

But for now, I send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all."

God save the Queen!

HaNoten teshua la’melachim

Hi All,




This is an old Sephardi prayer, in English "he who gives salvation to kings". It is based upon the biblical writing of the prophet Jeremiah (29:7) to "Seek the peace of the city where I caused you to be exiled and pray to the Lord for it…”. In the 17th century it was translated into English by Rabbi Menashe ben Israel, who hoped that us Jews be welcomed back into England.


I was thinking of this today as watching our Prime Minister Boris Johnson , stricken with covid19, I think he is extremely unwell. So our prayers go to him today.


He that giveth salvation unto Kings,
and dominion unto Lords,
He that delivered his servant David
from the sword of the Enemy,
He that made a way in the Sea,
and a path in the stronge waters,
blesse and keep,
preserve and rescue,
exalt and magnify,
and lift up higher and higher, our Lord:

Boris Johnson


The King of kings defend him in his mercy,
making him joyfull,

& free him from all dangers and distresse.

The King of kings for his mercies sake,
put into his heart,

and into the heart of his Counsellers, & those that attend and administer to him,
that he may shew mercy unto us,
& unto all the people of Israel.



In his dayes and in our dayes,

let Judah be safe,
and Israel dwell securely,
and let the Redeemer come to Israel,
and so may it please God.

Amen.

Shabbat Shalom!