The Tunisian president has extended the hand of friendship to the Jewish community.

The North African country was once home to 100,000 Jews but after independence from France and the Six Day War in Israel many fled, fearful of their safety. The population now stands at around 1,500 Jews and is concentrated on the island of Djerba.

Strict discipline, a love of dance and creative ways to use small spaces were the key impressions brought back by three Jewish teachers from a week working in Ghanaian schools.

The trio went to West Africa with international development charity, Tzedek, which runs twinning programmes between Ghanaian schools and their British-Jewish counterparts.

It was the first time Tzedek had taken Britis

This week, we come in from the cold. A midrash suggests that our time spent out of the house living in a temporary hut is a kind of divinely imposed exile. It is an opportunity for reflection before the final judgment which takes place tomorrow on the festival of Shemini Atzeret (Yalkut, Emor 753).

High end fashion companies including Prada have donated valuable items to a Jewish group raising money for famine relief efforts in East Africa.

The Closet Den committee, who earlier this year raised more than £12,000 for the Bet Hayeled foster home in northern Israel, are hoping to raise at least £5,000 this week for World Jewish Relief's appeal.

Around £170,000 has been raised to help those affected by the famine in East Africa through a World Jewish Relief campaign.

WJR launched a fundraising drive last month in response to reports of draught and malnutrition in Somalia.

More than £169,000 has been raised to help people suffering from the famine in East Africa following a campaign launched by World Jewish Relief.

The aid charity set up a fundraising drive last month as reports of draught and malnutrition in Somalia and its neighbours began filtering through to the international media.

Binyamin Netanyahu has offered good wishes to the world's newest country following its independence on July 9 at midnight.

The Republic of South Sudan was created in 2005 in a peace agreement ending decades of civil war. The Israeli Prime Minister said Israel recognised the new state and added: "We wish it much success."

Six years ago, Avi Be'eri- or Ibrahim as he was known then - was a broken, lonely street child, sleeping in a market in his native Guinea, West Africa. He had been orphaned, and had left the home of his uncle, where he was meant to be living, because of abuse.

On July 27 1976, pro-Palestinian hijackers seized an Air France flight that was en route to Israel. 250 passengers were on board and most were Jewish or Israeli citizens.

In one of the most impressive rescue missions in history, Israel achieved what seemed impossible. In a day, as Jews around the world celebrated Shavuot, more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel, the country they had long hoped to see.

Security concerns have led to the cancellation of the main part of an annual Tunisian Jewish pilgrimage for the first time in 20 years.

Tunisian Jews have long marked Lag B'Omer with a mass visit to the historic El Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba.