Faith in Humanity

It’s a curious thing, Jews and charity. When the need arises we seem to always rise to the occasion – sometimes in ways most unexpected. This past Saturday night, Jan. 06 there was a most tragic event that occurred in the Mill Hill neighbourhood, just a stone’s through from my office. A gentleman, Vijay Patel,[…]

Who decides Charlie Gard’s life?

Dear Rabbi I was reading a lot about the Charlie Gard story and wondered about the Jewish perspective on who has the rights to determine the life of a baby – the parents or the doctors? Victor   Dear Victor Neither the parents nor the doctors have the right to determine the life and death[…]

JERUSALEM – 50 YEARS

Today we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim. More than 3000 years ago King David himself established Jerusalem as his undisputed Capital – long before anyone else contested it. Alas later we were exiled and for a lengthy period of time we remained without a homeland. Fifty years ago Jerusalem came back into our hands. To grasp how[…]

What Goes Up When Whatsapp Is Down?

It is said if you want to get your family around the dinner table together, just switch off the wifi in the house. The whatsapp outage last night caused pandemonium throughout the world. Without ticks appearing next to a sent message all sorts of paranoia kicked in. “Am I being ignored?” “Is there something wrong[…]

LONDON TERROR

Miriam Peretz lost two sons battling terrorism in Israel. That’s how she sees it anyway. Others will merely argue they should never have been in Gaza or Lebanon. In other words, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. One man’s definition of murder is another man’s definition of martyrdom. How ironic was it therefore[…]

The Jewish Attitude Towards Refugees

The Midrash relates the following episode: In the days of the Roman Empire, in the city of Tzipori, a town just west of Tiberius lived a simple man named Yusta. He served as the local tailor, sitting and sewing all day at his spot along the main street of the town. During a visit to Rome,[…]