IN LIZ WE TRUSS Our new Prime Minister has chosen her Cabinet. Unsurprisingly, it is made up of individuals who expressed support for her during her campaign. The challenge facing the Prime Minister – indeed, any leader, is how to balance supporters who will reinforce your vision, with those who will confront you to consider...
In this week’s parasha we read: “You may slaughter from your cattle and sheep…as I have commanded you.” (Devarim 12:21) Shechita is the Jewish religious, humane method of slaughtering permitted animals and birdsfor food. It is mandated in the Torah – the source of all Jewish Law. It is the only method of producing kosher...
FOOD GOING TO WAIST Obesity is one of the UK Government’s health priorities. Almost two-thirds (63%) of adults in England are overweight or living with obesity – and one in three children leaves primary school overweight or obese David Robson, in his recent book, The Expectation Effect, argues that apart from what we eat, the...
OUR VALUES, OUR CHILDREN’S VALUES This week, the Office for National Statistics released a new set of figures. For the very first time, more than half of all births in England & Wales are now to unmarried parents. In 2021, 51.3% of births were to unmarried parents compared to 49.0% in 2020. While covid clearly had some...
FATHER OF MERCY This Shabbat we will be reciting an extra prayer before Ashrei called Av Harachamim “Father of Mercy.” Its origins lie in the wake of the First Crusade. Many Jewish communities in Germany were decimated as mobs found an outlet for their religious zeal in killing Jews before making their way to the...
JOURNEYS With the holiday season upon us let me start by wishing you all safe travels, whether you’re going abroad or staying in the UK. Our second parasha, this week, describes the journeys and encampments that the Israelites made during their 40 years in the desert, from Egypt to the Promised Land. The list reads...
TACTICAL VOTING With the leadership contest of the Conservative Party having reached its final stage, it is now up to the members of the party to choose between the two candidates, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. For some members, the choice may well be an obvious one: voting for the candidate they prefer. For others,...
STAR PERFORMER The magnificent images from the James Webb Space telescope, released this week, have been breathtaking to behold. We can now see, in crisp detail, stars and galaxies that are billions of light years away. These images were a mere blur in the previous best system, the Hubble Telescope. Now a spectacular amount of...
WHEN A LEADER ERRS IN JUDGEMENT As I write these words, the Prime Minister has just announced his resignation. As support whittled away, Boris Johnson found himself in office but not in power. The cumulative effect of a number of errors of judgement made his position no longer tenable. Even the greatest leaders are vulnerable...
TOPPLING A LEADER How do you topple a leader? What is the best tactic to use in order to create a takeover without the use of force? On the face of it, Korach, in this week’s parsha, has adopted a very smart tactic. When he makes his bid to be leader of the Jewish people,...
