Far-right drops its mask

The British National Party could once put up more than 400 candidates, and attract national media attention. As yesterday's local elections showed, today the BNP is very much a shadow of its former self, and can barely contest 100 seats.

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My Week: Alexa Christopher-Daniels

● My week in Israel begins at sunset on Saturday. As the traffic gradient darkens to the week-time rush of cars, motorbikes and Breslevmobiles, I sit down to my weekly Shabbat blog Trial By Fire – detailing the ins and outs of life as ola chadasha and Artistic Director of a British-Israeli cultural platform.

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Sacks must heed Hillel’s advice

I have always believed that sins of omission are much more serious than sins of commission - that the good things we fail to do are of greater consequence than the sins we commit

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Love and lost sleep in Geneva

Sometimes, inspiration comes in the least likely places. I've just finished a crazy, round-the-world, film-work trip that saw me, in the space of 10 days, pass through three time zones and four countries. The sun rose and set over Spain, London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto and Geneva. Geneva, the last place on earth I expected to find enlightenment and yet it came to pass.

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Denied a Jewish education. Why?

Last week, my four-year-old son lost his place at Clore Shalom school. And so, at the end of this term, he will be forced to leave an institution with a religious ethos that mirrors our own Jewish beliefs.

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This teenage squabbling will drive young members away

As anyone who has ever been or met one will know, a teenage girl in the midst of a catfight can give Abbas and Bibi a run for their money in the stubbornness stakes.

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No, Justin Bieber, Anne Frank is not for you

Everyone I know recalls a film, book or photograph that introduced them to the horrors of the Holocaust.

For me, it was Anne Frank's diary. I was 10 when my parents took me to the Franks' hiding place in Amsterdam.

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Don’t drown in Maggie’s wake

It is more than 30 years since Margaret Thatcher became our first female prime minister, trailblazing the way for women, changing the rules and smashing the glass ceiling. Although we don't buy that for a moment, it is worth considering what this formidable leader really did for women and what we as a Jewish community can learn.

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