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. […]
Tag Archives: Minhag
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
‘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 […]
Passover and the Splitting of the S&P
On the 7th day of Pesah 1827, at London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue, the reading of the spitting of the sea also split the congregation. Typically, Haham Raphael Meldola read the […]
Shelah – The Western Sephardic Talet
Once upon a time one of the most noticeable features of Western Sephardic worship was their distinctive talet, the prayer shawl worn by men during prayer. The S&P talet stood […]
Post #100 – Bevis Marks, World’s Longest Running Synagogue
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 […]
Matot – Unifying the S and P
One of the most common refrains made by visitors to a Spanish & Portuguese synagogue service is that it doesn’t sound Sephardic. That invariably leads to a discussion about the […]
Catalonia – Barcelona and Girona
My recent trip to Spain reinforced my love of local history museums. Local museums typically orient broader historical developments around their own. In so doing they add new perspectives to historical developments that […]
Shalom Says Hello 