Things I Think About That You Might Find Interesting
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
It’s now been one year since I moved to London, and what a year it’s been! A new position, a new home, and a new culture all at once. While […]
