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 :

We Have Hope... we have Hatikvah

On the Gaza situation ....

Alas this is a war that needs to be fought; no civilised country can allow terrorists to bomb civilians and their territory without reaction and therefore with regret Israel must strike back at the terrorists who control the Gaza strip. It is not a war of Israel's desire, but of the terrorists who control Gaza. Whilst we all look forward to peace, real peace; a Jewish homeland, a Jewish state, side by side with a homeland for Palestinians, but Israel cannot surrender at the point of a gun or due to barbarous terror & hate. If Hamas would lay down arms and the terrorists renounce violence, then there could be peace or at least the start of peace. What will happen now is uncertain. The best outcome is for Hamas to be overthrown by Israel and then a multinational peace (NATO/UN/RUSSIAN) keeping force sent to Gaza to rebuild and restore law and order & to govern whilst the future status of the territory is negotiated as part of the wider peace settlement. Long shot, but I believe in Hatikvah. I believe in Hope.

So long as still within the inmost heart a Jewish spirit sings,
so long as the eye looks eastward, gazing toward Zion,
our hope is not lost: that hope of two thousand years,
to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem
Our hope is not yet lost,

The hope of two thousand years,

To be a free people in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Our hope is not yet lost,

The ancient hope,

To return to the land of our fathers,

The city where David encamped.

As long as tears from our eyes

Flow like benevolent rain,

And throngs of our countrymen

Still pay homage at the graves of (our) fathers;

As long as our precious Wall

Appears before our eyes,

And over the destruction of G-d's Temple

An eye still wells up with tears;

As long as the waters of the Jordan

In fullness swell its banks,

And (down) to the Sea of Galilee

With tumultuous noise fall;

As long as on the barren highways

The humbled city gates mark,

And among the ruins of Jerusalem

A daughter of Zion still cries;

As long as pure tears

Flow from the eye of a daughter of my nation,

And to mourn for Zion at the watch of night

She still rises in the middle of the nights;

As long as drops of blood in our veins

Flow back and forth,

And upon the graves of our fathers

Dewdrops still fall;

Hear, O my brothers in the lands of exile,

The voice of our Prophets,

(Who declare) That only with the very last Jew —

Only there is the end of our hope!

Go, my people, return in peace to your land

The balm in Gilead, your healer in Jerusalem,

Your healer is G-d, the wisdom of His heart,

Go my people in peace, healing is imminent... "

Hashem may you establish abundant peace upon Your people Israel forever, for You are King, Master of all peace.He who makes peace in His high heavens, may He make peace for us and for all Israel, and let us all say Amen

"The L-rd will be King over the whole earth. On that day there will be one L-rd, and His Name the only Name." [Zechariah 14:9]

May Hashem allow us to see the arrival of Mashiach [Messiah] and the end of all wars & universal peace. Amen

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.

A free society : we should be proud

Hi All 

Despite the focus of the non-Jewish media on the recent Israeli anti-Arab violence in Jerusalem, undertaken by zealots within the community, this is of course undertaken by a tiny minority of Israelis and Jewish people. I agree that anti-Arab extremist postings or beliefs by Israelis is wrong & needs to be condemned in the strongest terms. As we've said before, on this blog and elsewhere, the focus for Israel is to punished the perpetrators of the murder of 3 boys and to also punish the 'brains' behind these terrorists activities - i.e. Hamas. The war is with these terrorists; the response may be limited to arresting the people responsible and limited action against Hamas. The decision is of course the Israeli government's to make. We should note, however, that in the longer term this matter will keep coming up, until Hamas is defeated in battle or they renounce terrorism and lay down their arms. 

Another fab thing : Israel does have a vibrant and free civil society, there will always be those ready to tackle anti-Arab or Palestinian rhetoric or violence, even if this is not matched by the other side to this conflict. Israelis are by and large a peaceful people who would, given the opportunity of peace, be content to be left alone to contribute to this world and for the benefit of the whole of humanity, as are  Jews of the diaspora. That Israelis and Jews must be forever vigilant and be prepared to defend  themselves is a sad reflection, not on Jew or Judaism or Israel, but on the world in which we live. What was has been noticeable was that every single prayer rally and demo, during the days when the boys were missing, were all peaceful, spiritual and moving events. Last night over 1,000 Israelis attended a rally yesterday for tolerance and peace. Copied and pasted from the times of Israel 'live feed':

"Hundreds of people gather in the center of town in Jerusalem for a pro-tolerance protest, organized by Tag Meir. MKs, including Nitzan Horowitz and Isaac Herzog, are in attendance.The event is “a dam against hatred,” Herzog says.“We will not let the forces of darkness overtake our life,” he adds.Rabbi Benny Lau, a human rights activist, reads Psalms and asks the crowd not to applaud out of respect for the teenagers.“No to Violence! No to Racism! No to Revenge! That is NOT the Jewish way,” the organization posts on its Facebook description of the event."

  

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.

Shalom for Jerusalem

So Pope Francis has managed to get the President of Israel and Abbas together for a multi faith shindig at the Vatican; I've got to admit whilst people call us the '3 Abrahamic religions', I do struggle with the idea that we all worship the same deity... well we don't actually do we? I don't pray to Jesus or Allah. I say this not to be unecumenical or nasty, it is simply the truth. It does not turn one into a Christophobe or an Islamaphobe to say so. Besides which both Islam and Christianity-with some honourable exceptions, such as those who believe in dual covenant theory- see Judaism as being 'replaced' in some form or another, which is how these religions justified their self creation in the first place and the subsequent and sometimes not so nice treatment of those of us who couldn't see the new world vision of these respective faiths . 

But I guess I'm being a party poop and should applaud such an historic occasion where 3 big world faiths got together and prayed together. I hope this stunt does whatever it was supposed to do, which if it is about bring peace... I applaud. 

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.

No fear only Shalom

Hi All,

I had to do write this.  it has been eating me up for a long, long time, but having read about others coming out that they were gay & in a relationship, I'm taking the plunge. I've spoken to my immediate friends and family. I hope people will be as understanding as they have been to me this morning 

( : 

My face is tears like rain

because being able to tell you

something special

has taken away my pain

my feeling of inadequacy, 

my fear, my feelings, 

my potential hypocrisy 

I feel no fear, only shalom

I've got a girl friend

Well more than just a friend

a companion, a soul mate, a lover

I'm no longer having to pretend

I can't help my feelings of whom I love

I feel no fear, only shalom

 

I thank my family and friends for understanding

for being loving and kind always

I know some of you don't understand,

 but love me as a sister

& for wanting to provide a loving welcome

 to my friend

I  feel no fear, only shalom

God created me in his image

He knit me together in my mother's womb,

knows my innermost thoughts

I am one of his children

He does not put a stumbling block before the blind

He restores the years the the locusts have eaten

The Merciful One, blessed be his name,

overlooks what is out of a person’s control

I feel no fear, only shalom

I can't live my life out without companionship and love

God knows this, I hope the rest of you do

Do not judge another person until you have been in their place

Don't judge me by what I am, but what I do

I feel no fear, only shalom

What is more important, the quantity of observance or the quality?

Rather than query what happens in bedrooms 

Praise what's going on in the living rooms 

welcoming guests, keeping Kosher, loving the stranger, 

not bitching, honouring people, 

being part of Torah centred families & values

I feel no fear, only shalom ...

 ...for I shall leave judgement to the Almighty. 

In the meantime we have a life to live and live it to the full. 

Hannah ...... & my girlfriend  Sarah 

Shalom Hashem Aleikhem!