Shabbat Shalom

Greetings All, David here,

Well I'm back after a break. Much to review, but Shabbat dawns.I therefore wish everyone a Shabbat Shalom and a good Shabbos.

Dov

Si observo el Shabat, Dios me protegerá.
Es una señal eterna entre Él y yo.

Está prohibido cargar objetos
emprender viajes, o hablar de
asuntos corrientes, de asuntos
comerciales y de temas del reino.
Sólo meditaré en la Torá de Dios,
que me dará sabiduría.

Releeré la Torá de Dios que
me hará más sabio.
En ella encontraré paz para mi alma.
Así como para la primera generación
mi santo Dios hizo un milagro,
otorgándoles pan doble, así mismo
duplicará mi comida cada viernes.

Dios dictó una ley religiosa que
prescribe la presentación del Pan
de Proposición.
Por eso, está prohibido torturarse,
según los sabios, excepto en el
Día del Perdón (Yom Kippur).

Es un día que impone respeto,
un día para deleitarse, de pan y
buen vino, de carne y pescado.
Los que estén alegres ese día
conseguirán la alegría.
Porque es un día en el que Dios
me llena de felicidad.

If I observe the Shabat, God will protect me
It is an eternal sign between Him and me.

It is forbidden to carry objects
undertake journeys or talk of everyday events,
commercial affairs and even things of the kingdom.
I will only meditate on the Torah of God,
which will give me wisdom.

I will re-read the Torah of God which will make me wiser.
In it I will find peace for my soul.
Just as for the first generation my holy God performed
a miracle, giving them double bread,
in the same way He will duplicate my food every Friday.

God gave us a religious law which prescribes
the presentation of the Bread of Proposition.
That is why its is forbidden to torture oneself
according to the wise men, except on the Day of
Atonement (Yom Kippur).

It is a day which demands respect,
a day to take delight,
in bread and good wine, in meat and fish.
Those who are happy on that day will find happiness
because it is a day when God fills me with happiness.



Abraham ibn Ezra
(Rabbi Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra/Abenezra)
(Tudela, 1092 / Calahorra, 1167)

Shabbat thread

Is posted at my place this week (:

click this link

Hannah

Shabbat Thread

Hi All,

Hannah here !!

Share away on this weeks events, Torah reading or whatever else it is that you want to talk about.


Shabbat Shalom!

This weeks Shabbat Thread

Dudes, Sam here.

You know the drill. Share away on this weeks events, Torah reading or whatever else it is that you want to talk about.

PS- my own blog is here if anyone is interested in reading it.

Shabbat Thread

Hi All,

Yes, another week is over and another Shabbat dawns. There is much to pray for this week for the Jewish community  & without : 

• Diaspora Jews, especially our brothers and sisters in France, Germany, Morocco and Turkey. Dare I say Britain as well? 
• Our brothers and sisters in Israel 
• The brave young men and women of the IDF 
• The war in Gaza
• Those who have died on all sides
• The victims of flight MH17
• The many unknown tradegies that aflict this world, but are not reported in the news or go unreported. 
• The hopes, fears, personal stresses and worries that we all have, which may seem small to the world, but are important to us and also to Hashem.

As usual this is a time for people to put their own prayers, thoughts, discussions on Torah & whatever else they wish to share. 

May Hashem bless us all. 

Finally a song  (I've put a video in the comments thread) :

Ani ma'amin, 

Be'emuna shelema

Beviat hamashiach ani ma'amin

Beviat hamashiach, ma'amin

Beviat hamashiach ani ma'amin

Beviat hamashiach, ma'amin

Veaf al pi sheyitmahmeha

Im kol zeh, achake loh

Veaf al pi sheyitmahmeha

Im kol zeh, achake loh

Im kol zeh, im kol zeh, achake loh

Achake bechol yom sheyavoh

Im kol zeh, im kol zeh, achake loh

Achake bechol yom sheyavoh

(sof)

Ani ma'amin

English version 

I believe with complete faith
In the coming of the Messiah,

I believe

I believe in the coming of the Messiah
In the coming of the Messiah, I believe
Believe in the coming of the Messiah

And even though he may tarry
Nonetheless I will wait for him
And even though he may tarry
Nonetheless I will wait for him

Nonetheless, I will wait for him
I will wait every day for him to come
Nonetheless, I will wait for him
I will wait every day for him to come

(Ending)
I believe

This weeks Shabbos thread

Hi All,

As usual this is the thread where people can share their thoughts of the week, leave prayers or discuss whatever they want, including the week's Torah portion. 

I guess this weeks special prayers need to be particularly for the current situation in Gaza; to pray for the safety of our brothers and sisters in  Israel, be they in the IDF or the families of the IDF or the population generally, who are  hold up in bunkers to protect themselves from terrorist rocket attacks. May we pray for peace and no more loss of lives on both sides and may our prayers be received in mercy by Hakodosh Boroch Hu, and help usher in days of peace and security; may we look forward to the coming of the Messiah & the time in which war and suffering will be things of the past. 

Here in the UK,  we need to pray over the current debate in the House of Lords over the assisted dying bill; may their Lordships be guided by G-d to vote against this horrendous piece of legislation and may we continue to worship the G-d of life. 

Some Tehillim (Psalms)  which I hope will help people:

• Chapter 6
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 83
• Chapter 91 
• Chapter 130
• Chapter 142

I'll leave you with this thought :

Shabbat thread for 13 Tammuz

Dudes,

As Hannah is away  with her girlfriend on holiday, it is has been left to your cool dude (ME!) to do this week's Shabbat thread. As usual, this is an open space for people to contribute their thoughts, ideas, prayers, Bible readings and whatever else pops into your head. Like a cyber Shabbat table. 

As a guide this week's Torah reading is :

• Torah portion :Pinchas, Numbers 25:10-30:1
• Haftarah:  I Kings 18:46-19:21.
• Tehillim [Psalms] for  our meal tonight : Chapters 8,  134, 121, 130 & 150
• Ketuvim-we are also continuing our study of Kohelet [Ecclesiastes] .

To finish this post with a old Sephardi song [Hebrew Transliteration & English below],

The Lecha Dodi :

Shabbat UK

Much to my delight the Chief Rabbi has launched a new initiative which is called 'ShabbatUK' :

"At its core, ShabbatUK is about harnessing all the goodness and uniqueness of a traditional, authentic Shabbat and inviting Jews around the country to celebrate it in a way they never have before. Shabbat is a central part of what it is to be Jewish. It plays a crucial role in Jewish identity with its powerfully uplifting and transformative qualities...Some will keep Shabbat, perhaps for the first time, others will participate in the numerous communal events taking place. Many will find ways to bring Shabbat into their homes, whether by lighting Friday night candles, blessing their children or by inviting others into their home to share the Shabbat experience. The possibilities are endless. Synagogues, Jewish schools and other Jewish organisations are planning a series of events to mark ShabbatUK. This is an incredible opportunity to join with fellow Jews around the world, inspired by the South African Shabbos Project, to experience life, for just one day, disconnected from the daily grind and engage with Shabbat in a meaningful way."

This is good because it finally recognises that whilst the Jewish faith is no a missionary one (although anyone who wishes to sincerely convert is and should be welcome to do so), for those of us who are observant, we should and do need to reach out to those fellow Jews who are less or not observant . I am a strong believer in outreach to all Jews who are not religious; I guess in Christian terms that makes me somewhat of an 'evangelist'.And Shabbat is the best place to start, for there is the old cliche that says 'Shabbat has keep the Jews, more than the Jews have kept Shabbat' .

I believe that a Jew should belong within a Jewish community, not being ostracised because of lack of dogma or observance. To be a Jew there are no application forms and no qualification requirements.He or she is born Jewish or converts to Judaism— that's where he or she belong, within our community. Period.  I will acknowledge that under Orthodoxy if your mother is not Jewish, then you are not,  however, I believe that we should still make people who identify as Jewish welcome and encourage them to take the full steps towards formal conversion. We all have our challenges, our shortcomings, our feelings...and our failures and with all that, but we are all still a community. We all should try and help each other become more observant, to reach out to our OTD [Off the derech] and secular brother and sister Jews & to be a light to our gentile friends.

Reading and other activities for this month

Hi All,

Well tomorrow me and Sarah are going to see my sister Esther for a weekend (and then down to Cornwall for a week). So I shall be quite busy for a bit. Tomorrow is also the 4th July, so I wish our American readership & friends a happy Independence day (even if it was Independence from such a cool country as Great Britain!). So given that I'm busy and David & the rest don't post as often as me, this will also be the week's Shabbos reflection thread as well. Clearly there is much to pray and think over this week, as well as our 'usual' (but in no way insignificant activities and prayers). I am sure that you know what I mean here, if you read the news and this blog regularly : pray for the families and friends of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, for the Israeli response and for peace generally.

As we are now into the summer months, which include holidays & vacations, I do seem to read more.Whilst my leisure and fun activities include playing  the piano, running, swimming , stargazing , cooking  & having  a couple of glasses of vinto tinto with friends, it also includes a lot of reading.  So July's  reading, alongside Torah study, is:

'The Challenge of Creation: Judaism's Encounter with Science, Cosmology and Evolution' by Rabbi Natan Slifkin

'Future Tense: Jews, Judaism, and Israel in the Twenty-first Century'  by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks 

'Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel' by Professor Michio Kaku

'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee

'A game of Battleships' by Toby Frost

I'm also writing a discussion paper for a club I run [ Hannah & friends Thursday club]  which is titled 'On Liberty verses the Guide for the perplexed : John Stuart Mill & Moses Maimonides go head to head over a pint : Discuss' .

What do you guys do for run and leisure? What are you reading or have you read any of the books above before & have anything to say about them and do you have anything you wish to share.

Shabbos thread for 29 Sivan

"For six days you may perform melachah, but the seventh day is a complete Sabbath, holy to the L-RD ... it is an eternal sign that in six days, the L-RD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed". -Exodus 31:15-17

Hi All, 

Another week and another Shabbat dawns, a chance to relax and refrain from work after a busy week. This means that it is time for another Shabbat thread, where people can share their hopes, worries, dreams, fears, a word of Torah, food and other stuff that we usually chat about over the Shabbat meal table. 

As readers will know, I've recently brought a min-grand piano. I'm not a rich bitch, I've just been saving for a while and done a few other jobs. plus my friends & family have chipped in a few pounds as well. I learned to play from a young age; being raised on a farm, the tv reception was crap and we used to entertain ourselves in other ways. Writing songs  is something I've been meaning to get back into, so whilst  I do enjoy playing old favourites as well as writing my own material; I have no illusions about making a career out of this, I just do it for my own personal satisfaction. I especially want to do this for Shabbat songs and hymns, so I'll kick off this thread with one. I don't have the music just yet as I'm still working playing it through on the piano to find the correct tune : 

Come now  O  Israel
It is time for Shabbat
The time to rest  & love
To reflect and pray
To eat our best meal on this finest day
Let us welcome the bride of Shabbat
Torah, Family, friends and community
May we all be one and one in unity

Light the candles now
Put your hands up
Sing  Shabbat Shalom
Sing the story
of our freedom
Sing, Shabbat  Shalom

We celebrate Shabbat
To Remember and Observe
Zakhor and Shamor!
Prayer, wine and bread
Kiddush and Challah
To be thankful for all we have
Torah, Family, friends and community
May we all be one and one in unity

You gave us Shabbat
Because you're the G-d of life
We're not here due to random chance
may we sing, celebrate and dance
Torah, Family, friends and community
May we all be one and one in unity

When we stand in Gan Eden,
Shall we not meet you face to face
With all our loved ones already there
Our Shabbat is just a portion of what
we'll see in that Holy Place
.
Torah, Family, friends and community
May we all be one and one in unity

Shabbat Shalom!

This weeks Shabbos thread

Hi All,

As is our tradition, this is our usual Friday pre-Shabbos thread, which is an open forum to share anything you want to, or to raise issues that you would at the Shabbat table. We do of course continue to pray for the boys, via the Psalms and the special prayer that the Rabbis have issues for us to use (see Esther's post below &Ephraim Mirvis's sermon ). We will also be discussing this week's Torah portion (Numbers 16 to 18) and in my house we are studying Ecclesiastes, which for some reason the favourite book, alongside Job of my best friend, who despite being an agnostic/atheist, says the Bible is his favourite work of fiction - very funny isn't it! Well I was an atheist once, worse than the Hitch when it came to it. We''ll also be doing our pre-Shabbat BBQ (very hot outside) and drinks, with some kosher sausages, burgers etc & for tonight's meal I am doing  some of my traditional Sephardi Tapas foods, which will include fish, salad & chicken ( meat and two veg, I guess!).

But over to you guys, this is your thread,

Shabbat Shalom!

H(:

Prayer & reflection thread

This week has of course been one of great anguish for the Jewish community across the word, with the kidnap of 3 boys from a Yeshiva in Israel (I refuse to use the term 'occupied territory' as no part of Eretz Yisrael is occupied by anything other than the legitimate rulers). When I learned about this, I could help but not hug my husband, my boys & my girl, how could any human being use another human being in this way ? I shuddered to think of them being held captive in some hell hole whilst Arabs gleefully celebrated this criminal act. Furthermore there has been more bloodshed in our ancestor's homeland of Iraq. A terrible situation, where it seems dogmatism, tribal strife and bloodletting is going to occur on a greater scale than anything yet seen as a result of Islamic Jihadist terrorism (and if I may have a dig, which is why Israel cannot afford to lay down her arms). This is the world.

There is also matters closer to home. We know that there are people who are poor, who will be struggling to feed themselves. This is true of some in the Jewish community, especially the Haredi, and outside the community, with the ever rising increase in food banks and social dislocation. Then there is your own personal circumstances ; has it been a good week? A bad one? Is there any issues that you need to deal with before the weekend? Relationships to mend, people to praise, that last bit of work to be done? Are you struggling? These are all difficult challenges, we all live in the real world. So as we enter Shabbos this week, let us do so with joy, but also remember. Our Rabbis asked that we recite (in Judaism we 'chant' the Bible) Psalms 121 and 130, when the news broke about those lads being kidnapped. Perhaps they are a good place to start as we begin our Shabbat reflections

Psalm 130

Shir hamaalot mima amakim keraticha Adonai

Adonai shima bekoli tihyena oznecha kashubot le'kol tanhanuai

Im avonot tishmor Yah Adonai mi ya'amod

Ki imcha haslicha lemaan tivare

kiviti adonai kivta nafshi velidvaro hochalti

Nafshi ladonai mishomrim laboker shomrim laboker

Yachel yisrael el adonai ki im adonai hachesed veharbeh imo fedut

Vehu yifdeh et yisrael mikol avonotav.

From the depths I have cried out to you, O L-rd;

L-rd, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my supplication.

If you, L-rd, were to mark iniquities, who, O L-rd, shall stand?

But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered. I trust in the L-rd;

My soul trusts in his word.

My soul waits for the L-rd,

more than watchmen wait for the dawn.

More than watchmen wait for the dawn, let Israel hope in the L-rd.

For with the L-rd there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

With people, in song, in food, with Him

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" 

Ecclesiastes 3, 1 

Hi All,

I was thinking about this the other day ; why do I love Judaism so much? It isn't just a rejection of other religions or adherence to doctrines, dogmas, commandments, mitzovt, or even the community spirit which our faith has. To me it is also about how we celebrate our Judaism, the rhythm , the heartbeat of the year . Or to put it another way; with people, in song, in food, with Him.

First. We have our weekly Christmas (well without the pressies!) of our Shabbat celebrations, the centre of which are the 3 meals we have, which fuse together friends, family and worship of G-d as well as fine foods, wine and plenty of singing ! In fact it is a commandment that we enjoy the food and wine and the company of friends and family. This is the G-d I know and worship, not the stereotype deity of the 'Old Testament' that some Christians enjoy portraying her as being (e.g. distant, vengeful, wrathful and generally unpleasant). 

Second. We have numerous festivals throughout the year, which the centre of (aside from fast days such as Yom Kippur) is again family, friends and a festive meal, which also combines prayer,  liturgy & some form of Bible reading or study. What is even more unique I think is that, except for the times of fasting, we have special food for each festival; such as Cheesecake& Kahee for Shavout, Matzah for Passover, Latke&Sufganiyah for Hanukah, Hammantashen & Fazuelos for Purim etc .

So my question is, if you are Jewish, what makes your Judaism? If you are not Jewish, but have another faith, what makes this faith for you? If you don't believe anything, how do you celebrate the rhythm of the year and life? One final thought; please add your own Shabbat experiences, thoughts or issues below. Feel free also to leave a song, a food recipe or a word of Torah .

Prayer as we enter Shabbat

[David  here, 

I decided to re-post this , because I think Esther did a bloody good job with this prayer.

Shabbat Shalom!]

As we begin our Shabbat, light our candles, entreat our beloveds to the Bride of Shabbat, pour wine and eat bread, eat our food ,may we all pray :

"May G-d protect those who are ill ,suffering, unsure, afraid today. May he bless those who are happy to bless others with that happiness; for those who are without bread today, may we remember and uplift those in need. May we be more Shalom in the name of the G-d of peace, show compassion in the name of the G-d of love and celebrate in the name of the G-d of life. May our actions & deeds be greater than our words, may we bring honour to faith and show by example the name of G-d, the creator of the universe. May The L-rd bless you and keep you, the L-rd make his face shine on you and be gracious to you, the L-rd  turn his face toward you and give you peace. May we say this in the name of  The L-rd our G-d. The L-rd alone."

Le us all say Amen, blessed be Adonai, now and forevermore.

Shabbos Thread

OK People,

Thought I'd put up a cyber Shabbat table for this thread. If you want to share a word of Torah, a song, a discussion on the week's events, a poem,  any personal word of encouragement, a request for prayer or anything else you'd like to talk about here is your space.

I have two poems to share, written by  Judah ha-Levi, a Sephardi  Rabbi, Philosopher and Poet of 12th century Sephard (Spain), which I find in spirit is closest to my Orthodox Judaism  than anything that comes out of the Haredi  leadership -

"Cups without wine are low things

Like a pot thrown to the ground,

But brimming with the juice, they shine

Like body and soul."

                      ********

"Awake, my fair, my love, awake,
So that I may gaze upon you!
And if one is eager to kiss your lips,
In your dreams this do you see,
Lo, then I myself of your dream
The interpreter will be."

Shabbat Shalom!

Fantastic Shabbos

Hi All,

Had a great Shabbos! Will write about it at leisure later on. In the meantime as Esther noted on Friday, we are going to post on the weekly parashah [Torah portion] & Bible readings for study. For those who wish to read up before we post on them, these were -

11th May 2014 to 17th May 2014

• Torah- Leviticus 26-27
• Haftarah-Jeremiah 16:19–17:14 &Ezekiel 47-end
• Psalms - 60 to 87
• Ketuvim-Daniel 9 -12
• Mishnah-Arakhin

As the Jewish week begins on a Sunday, the  parashah for this week are -

18th May 2014 to 24th May 2014

• Torah- Numbers 1 - 4 
• Haftarah-Hosea 2:1–22 & Isaiah 1-5
• Psalms - 88  to 118
• Ketuvim-Ezra 1-5
• Mishnah-Makhshirin

Question- if you are a person of faith, how do you structure/read/use your holy books for study &/or  public worship ?

Oy, Oy, pre-Shabbat cleaning Coffee break & prayer

"I ,to the Lord  will sing;

With song I will give praise 
to the Lord, the God of Israel"

Judges 5, 3

Tonight is going to be the start of the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat or Shabbos- Jewish days start & end sunset to sunset), so I've been buzzing around like a blue-arsed fly busily scooting around the house getting things clean & tidy, preparing the food for later on (it helps being self-employed sometimes, if not monetary wise!!).  Oy, I got slightly delayed with the usual knock at the door from the  Jehavoah's Witness's, who, by now, should surely realise that I'm not interested in their cause OR at least got the hint with my lovely mezuzah (?). The answer is, I think, that they like my selection of herbal tea and strong Turkish coffee, which they get for free after having doors slammed in their faces around the rest of the village. I'm too kind, especially as they like to entreat me to a dialogue about religion, although I think they realised I wouldn't have to get out of neutral to swot that one aside.

So now you are doubtless feeling sympathetic for me but, I have to say,  I'm looking forward to Shabbat  as always . Shabbat is an amazing gift that G-d gave us; divine legislation which tell us (rather than permits us) to rest &  be encouraged as well  as, among other things , to be with family, friends, share in meals, study & debate our faith,  worship, rest, sleep & have lots of sex with your better half .

The sun is up. I'm looking forward to Shabbat. I cannot solve all of the world's problems. But I am allowed to have a brief period of rest, before I try and tackle them. So next week, we are hoping to start our 'let's get biblical' series, which will be a frank (sometimes sweary & honest ) discussion on the weeks Torah study as well as the Torah portion for that week.  Moronic fundamentalist loons DO NOT own  holy writ & in our case the  Bible, but twist and distort it, whatever shit they come out with about being 'True Torah Jews', 'Bible believing Christians' or whatever other God bothering  hypocritical label they wish to give themselves . So we'll take it back.  But until then, we'll be thinking about Shabbos.

I'm going to  end with a prayer (or is it a faint hope/plea?), as it is the countdown to Shabbat and for a brief period a time to rest, relax and rejoice.

Sooooo-

May God protect those who are ill ,suffering, unsure, afraid today. May he bless those who are happy to bless others with that happiness. May we be more Shalom  in the name of  the God of peace,  show compassion in the name of the God of love and celebrate in the name of the God of life. May our actions & deeds be greater than our words, may we bring honour to faith and show by example the name of God. Ahmen (or Amen).

Shabbat Shalom to everyone who reads this blog, whoever & wherever you are.

Tapas Shabbat Food,Non mi mires la color, mirami la savor

Hi All,

I've finally got round to giving the complete list of last weeks Friday Shabbat meal's recipes (which we hope to make a regular column) .

This week we did various Tapas style foods, including Fish, Poultry, meat, bread, salad & vegetables. I had to do enough for 8 of us, so that is how much the recipes will make, I also assume all of the meat etc was bought Kosher ! 

These were the main dishes (I'm not going to tell you how to cook couscous as that is quite basic and or self explanatory!) .

1.  Chreime (Spicy Tunisian Fish  stew/ curry)
2. Pollo de Hannah en el vino tinto (Hannah's chicken in red wine)
3. Tagine de cordero (Morrocan lamb stew/curry)
4. Hannah glücklich Salat ( 'Hannah's happy salad')
5. melón de de rachel con menta (Rachel's Melon's with mint)

Shabbat insights Part I

It's  your cool dude Sam here,

I shared Friday Shabbat with my sisters Hannah, Rachel  &  various friends, which was a cool experience as ever.

"Call the Shabbat a delight"-Isaiah 58, 13

Start 

We start with the lighting of the candles at 8.00 pm over prayer & a song called Shalom Aleichem to welcome the Angels of Shabbat ; we then began the meal with prayers (Kiddush) over wine and bred, ritually washed our hands , at 8.20pm & finished  (or rather we went to bed) at about 2.00am in the morning, after the final song 'Bendigamos'  (Sephardi  don't rush meals/Shabbat or our discussions !).

Food 

The twins  always do good food, which is Sephardi  & British-

Challah (bread)

Tapas -

•  Chreime (Spicy Tunisian Fish  stew/ curry)
• Pollo de Hannah en el vino tinto (Hannah's chicken in red wine)
• Tagine de cordero (Morrocan lamb stew/curry)
• Hannah glücklich Salat ( 'Hannah's happy salad')
• melón de de rachel con menta (Rachel's Melon's with mint
• Couscous
•  Roast Potatoes 
•  Black and green olives 

Desert - Fruit  Salad 

Beverages

• Kosher Wine (Red or White) for the meal, usually Israeli and one that is mevushal, as we often have non Jewish friends around.
• Beer-  Svatý Norbert IPA [a Czech beer]  
• A variety of non-alcoholic beverages for those who do not drink

After dinner 

• Turkish Coffee
• Mahia- A Morrocean fig brandy 
• Oban Malt Whisky 
• Cigarette or cigar 

Songs & Telhilim

We sang Psalms 8, 66, 27, 11, 19 & 79 , Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, Yom Israel , Ivdu,  & ShemaIsrael 

Insight/Discussion 

• Jonah, God & forgiveness of sins
• Jubilee (from the week's Torah portion)
• NASA'S map of the universe & Torah

Proverb - 

 "an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips"

Shabbat Shalom!

Hello all,

Another week gone and  another Shabbat almost here.So Shabbat Shalom to you all! And a Chag Purim! I shall be busy for most of the weekend , so not sure when I will be able to fit in any posts,  although I do know one or two of you wanted me to explain 'this Purim business'  and others wanted to discussion David Cameron's speech to the Israel Parliament, but on the whole,  I will probably be off the blogging for a while. But  whilst  I'm away ... a song