Shalom Says Hello

A blog of Jewish and (Western) Sephardic Interest

Main Menu

Skip to content

Category Archives: Musings

Things I Think About That You Might Find Interesting

Sephardic Women: The Heroes of the S&P

Featuredby shalommorris 2 Comments

In the 19th century five remarkable Sephardic women laboured to preserve Jewish life. They defended it from threats of conversion, assimilation and change, and they did so with the pen. […]

Read Article →
Musings

Shofetim – Cutting Down Trees, People, and Monuments

September 6, 2017by shalommorris Leave a comment

Monuments mean something. They remind us of people and history. Sometimes they recall movements that are meaningful to some whilst not to others. Other times, they celebrate dictators or regimes. More […]

Read Article →
Musings, Torah

Sephardic Jews and the American Revolution

Featuredby shalommorris Leave a comment

The American Revolution pitted British subjects against one another. Patriots vs. Loyalists, Englishmen vs. Americans, brother vs. brother, and Jew vs. Jew. At that time there were only Sephardic congregations […]

Read Article →
Musings, Torah

Vayhi – The S&P and Ashkenazim

January 16, 2017by shalommorris 2 Comments

Narratives are important. The same series of events can take on a completely different meaning depending on how they are told. A prime example of this is the story of Yosef and […]

Read Article →
Musings, Torah

Vayigash -Goshen and the S&P

January 7, 2017by shalommorris 2 Comments

Jewish convention has it that when setting up a new Jewish community the first priority is to acquire a Jewish burial ground, then to establish a place of worship, and then […]

Read Article →
Musings, Torah

Starting Year Two – Consolidating and Expanding

December 22, 2016by shalommorris 2 Comments

I’m now into the beginning of my second year as rabbi of Bevis Marks Synagogue. The significance of my post hit me during my second Kippur service. I picked up […]

Read Article →
Musings

Hughenden Manor – How Jewish Was Benjamin Disraeli?

December 21, 2016by shalommorris 6 Comments

Since my arrival at Bevis Marks Synagogue I’ve felt conflicted about Benjamin Disraeli’s place within the S&P narrative. Disraeli was born a Jew in 1804, was a member of Bevis Marks, and is […]

Read Article →
Musings, Travels

Andalusia, Spain – Preserving ‘Sepharad’

November 21, 2016by shalommorris 2 Comments

Throughout much of history the Iberian Peninsula was divided amongst numerous kingdoms. In a sense, even today Spain remains not one but many different countries. I’ve previously visited Spain’s Catalonia […]

Read Article →
Musings, Travels

Jews and the Great Fire of London

September 29, 2016by shalommorris 2 Comments

In all of the recent fanfare surrounding the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London (2-5 September), I didn’t hear any mention of Jews. That’s for good reason. Jews […]

Read Article →
Academics, Musings

Post #100 – Bevis Marks, World’s Longest Running Synagogue

September 15, 2016by shalommorris 13 Comments

Which is the world’s longest continuously running synagogue? I posed this question over two month ago, and received many comments and suggestions. My working assumption was that London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue […]

Read Article →
Musings

Post navigation

1 2 3 Next →
  • Home
  • About
  • Torah
  • Academics
  • Travels
  • Musings
Welcome to the world of Shalom Morris, PhD candidate, Headteacher, and Rabbi of Bevis Marks Synagogue in London

Tags

America Belgium Brazil Caribbean Cemetery Conversion Converso Conversos Crypto Judaism Education England Esther Eulogy France Germany Hebrew School Holiday Holocaust Inquisition Israel Italy Jewish Education Judaica Literature Liturgy Marrano Mexico Minhag Netherlands Parashah Passover Peru Portugal Purim Rosh Hashanah Shavuot Shearith Israel Slavery Spain Synagogue Woman Yom Kippur
Advertisements

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,242 other followers

Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Home
  • About
  • Torah
  • Academics
  • Travels
  • Musings
Cancel