It is literally minutes before Shabbat descends on Perth. There is time to speak out, but only just.  There are reports from Israel about violence at the Kotel.  The “Women of the Wall” adorned in  talit and tefillin have been accorded the legal right to pray at the site by the Jerusalem District Court.  A [...]

It doesn’t get any bigger than this. Bnei Akiva Perth celebrated its 30th anniversary in style on Yom Yerushaliem with a tefillah chagigit, celebratory dinner, and address by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. Photo: A selection of the world’s best Jewish educators   Amongst all the Jewish organisations in Perth, the Zionist youth groups are the most [...]

Okay, I couldn’t resist. I was going to tell you last week, but secrets like this are really hard not to share. It turns out that I had a rich uncle in Nigeria who had been a political prisoner. Prior to his execution he hid $US40 million in a suspense account with a Swiss bank. [...]

During the 1960’s and 1970’s mainstream Orthodox Judaism in Australia was politely termed “traditional”.  This is best interpreted as a euphemism to describe a community that is non-observant in nature, yet holds an affiliation to the tenants of Jewish law.  The culture was fairly lax, but there were red lines particularly surrounding matters such as [...]

Having attended several commemorations for Yom Hashoah, and over the past two days, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut, I stand in awe of the wonderful amount of energy and dedication that is placed into these events by the organisers.  Such events do not just “happen”, and our community is privileged to have amongst us people [...]