A small but increasing number of women in our community are reciting the mourners kaddish which is something that I would like to actively encourage. The Chief Rabbi has produced a booklet which may well help those women that wish to say kaddish during a period of mourning or yahzeit....

  As we enjoy the Jewish Festival of Light – Chanukah, we can make a comparison with another festival and learn the following lesson. The two most joyous Jewish festivals are arguably Chanukah and Purim, but there is one significant difference between the two. On Purim we are obligated to...

As we approach the High Holydays, one of the things that often slips our mind is our remaining or even becoming a cohesive nation. We are frequently either so involved with the minutiae of the religion or not involved nearly enough, we forget how Jewish unity enabled us to overcome...

Pesach otherwise known as Passover  is the time when Hashem bypassed the houses of the Israelites whilst smiting those containing the Egyptian firstborns. What was so miraculous about the ten plagues? A recent documentary aired on television outlined various scientific theories regarding how and why the plagues were not necessarily...

Over the last few months there have been numerous events within the community. Simchat Torah was awesome as alcohol flowed into the deepest nooks and crannies of the synagogue edifice. The service included the reading of the law, part of which was conducted by our Chatan Bereshit , Elie Dahdi,...

It is a recognised fact that Jewish people love to argue, sometimes even if no one else is within a twenty mile radius we have been known to argue with ourselves! The Torah describes the Jewish people as ‘Am K’shei Oref hu’ – ‘A stiff necked people’. I would like...

Shavuot is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jews. The Talmud tells us that God gave the Ten Commandments to the Jews on the sixth night of the Hebrew month of Sivan. Shavuot always falls 50 days after the second night of Passover. The...