Edward Colston being thrown into the River Avon by BLM protesters
Category Archives: Blog
Racism- is that relevant to us?
The natural reaction that I think we all felt was utter revulsion as we heard the news from America of the murder of George Floyd and many of us watched the video. But as the protest spread and the accusations of institutionalised racism and societal racism, I could not help but wonder what does thatContinue reading “Racism- is that relevant to us?”
Never just a number
Stories, rather than numbers, are where we can find rich meaning in life. The UK’s death toll has reached over 10,000 – in a little over 5 weeks. The sheer enormity of these numbers overwhelms each personal tragedy. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, Former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, the youngestContinue reading “Never just a number”
Wide open space
Looking at a written Sefer Torah, there are intentional spaces and gaps that are left in specific places between key events and various laws. Our sages tell us, that these gaps are intended for us to pause, to think, to consider carefully the impact and implications for us of what we have read. “An opportunityContinue reading “Wide open space”
The Viral Virus
My insights on COVID so far… A couple of weeks ago, travelling on the underground, I stared in disbelief at the spectacle of a couple of Chinese commuters with masks over their faces, in London, I thought? Absurd!? Fast forward a few weeks, and commuters, whether in London, New York or Paris are filled withContinue reading “The Viral Virus”
A Papal slap
Pope Francis had been making his way to the Nativity scene in Vatican City on Tuesday, New Year’s Eve. When he began to walk away from the crowd that had gathered to greet him, video shows a woman grabbing his hand and yanking him toward her. He became visibly upset, slapping the woman’s hand inContinue reading “A Papal slap”
Poland’s law & the Holocaust
The Music of Human Dignity
The Pianist & The Music of Human Dignity The Pianist is the remarkable true story of the pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman. Half crazed and half starved, having lived through the unspeakable horrors of the Nazi occupation, in 1944 Szpilman was facing the ominous prospect of being sent to a concentration camp to be killed like theContinue reading “The Music of Human Dignity”
The only way is up!
The Purim story surround the epic battle between the Jewish people and Haman who attempts to exterminate them. This battle is in fact one chapter in an epic eternal conflict between the Jewish people on the one hand and Haman’s antecedents Amalek on the other. By understanding the underlying rationale in the original battle andContinue reading “The only way is up!”