Daily Video Updates
Dear All, With so many of us stuck at home and isolated from one another I’ve decided to put together some videos for you from within London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue. […]
Author Archives: shalommorris
Ashamnu – S&P Addition By Subtraction
Throughout the month of Elul and the High Holy Days we recite the selihot (apology) prayers. One of the most important elements of this service is the vidui, or confession. […]
Jerusalem – The City of Sir Moses Montefiore
A beloved Israeli children’s song honors the long and productive life of Sir Moses Montefiore. Released by Yehoram Gaon in 1969, the song imagines a conversation between Sir Moses, the renowned […]
Bemidbar – Making Census of the S&P
ב שְׂאוּ, אֶת-רֹאשׁ כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, The rabbinic name for Sefer Bemidbar is the same as its English name, ‘Numbers.’ The rabbis called it Sefer Hapikudim, ‘The Book of Countings,’ as […]
Naples, Pompeii and Amalfi – Two Millenia of Jewry
One of my more interesting heritage visits was to the city of Naples and its Western Sephardic community. Sephardic exiles moved there in 1492, however, when Spain took control in […]
Holland Park Synagogue – London
The Spanish & Portuguese congregation of Holland Park, London built their beautiful synagogue in 1928. I had the pleasure of celebrating its 90th anniversary on 10 March 2019. Despite my […]
Ki Tetze -King Henry VIII’s Yibum
This week’s Torah reading is central to one of the greatest controversies in the history of England, the Levirate marriage of King Henry VIII, and Sephardim helped to cast the […]
Shofetim – Sephardic Burial Customs
One of the few practices that every Jew performs is the ritual washing of hands upon leaving a cemetery (Shulhan Arukh, YD 276:4). The rinsing is meant to spiritually cleanse […]
Re’eh – Reform and the Western Sephardim
“Two Jews, three opinions” is nothing new to the Jewish community. However, a Biblical prohibition would seem to indicate that this isn’t a laughing matter. The verse states “Ye are […]
‘EKEB – Bendigamos: The Soul of the S&P
There is only one Biblically mandated blessing and it appears in this week’s parashah. This singular obligation is to recite Birkat Hamazon, Grace after meals. The verse states: And thou […]
Shalom Says Hello 