The Rabbi and the Hare with the Amber Eyes

Edmund de Waal’s best-selling family memoir The Hare with the Amber Eyes has proved an inspiration to ex-Leo Baeck College principal Rabbi Jonathan Magonet in more ways than one.

After he retired, Rabbi Magonet decided to learn a new language and chose Japanese, which led him to go to Japan to teach theology at a university for three terms.

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Chief Rabbi left on the shelf

Out next week is the first of the projected 10 volumes of the monumental Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilisation — named after British-based philanthropist and advocate of secular Judaism Felix Posen.

An anthology of Jewish literature from Genesis to Philip Roth, it begins at the end, chronologically speaking, with the first volume devoted to the contemporary period 1973 to 2005.

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Lord of the ringlets

To everything there is a Jewish question: and here’s one about the newly released film, The Hobbit, the prequel to Lord of the Rings.

According to my son Joshua, devotees of the fantasy wonder how far J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the books which inspired the films, based his dwarf characters on Jews.

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Where were the United Synagogue rabbis?

While the paucity of United Synagogue rabbis at the Limmud has been a perennial talking-point, things seemed to be changing for the better over the past two years with more of them willing to dip their toes into the cross-communal event.

This year, however, the clock looks to have gone backwards.

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Suburban Chief Rabbi?

Chief Rabbi designate Ephraim Mirvis received the accolade of a standing ovation on Shabbat when he rose to address his Finchley Synagogue congregants at the weekend following his appointment to succeed Lord Sacks.
While his community had rooted all along for him to get the job, they are sorry to lose him.

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Louis Smith's lift for Limmud

The gallant competitors in Limmud’s dancing competition on Monday — including our own reporter Anna Sheinman – received a good luck message before they took the floor from none other than Strictly Come Dancing champion Louis Smith.

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