Shana Tova - give blood

The NHS has launched a Rosh Hashanah campaign to encourage community members to give blood.

Large posters with the Shana Tova greeting have been hung in prominent sites in Edgware, Mill Hill, Stanmore, Golders Green and Elstree.

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Shanah Tovah

It is something of a nation-wide communal sport to moan about the Rosh Hashanah sermon - each and every sermon, that is, delivered by each and every rabbi.

But this year, spare a thought for those rabbis who have to find something meaty enough to be remembered, original enough to be worth saying, and uncontroversial enough not to annoy. It is not a task to be envied.

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Clegg celebrates 'inspiring' Jewish community

The deputy Prime Minister has praised the Jewish value of "tikkun olam" or healing the world in a message wishing the community a happy New Year.

Nick Clegg, referring to British Jewry's "rich cultural history and religious traditions spanning back hundreds of years", said there was "so much we can learn from the Jewish community here".

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Pivots and change

As we approach Rosh Hashanah, our thoughts naturally turn to the year gone by and the possibilities that lie ahead. The chagim are a pivotal annual moment.

Not that the Middle East needs any more pivotal moments. Whatever the eventual outcome of the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN, what the region needs more than anything is stability and liberty.

Stability is one thing.

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Freshen up your festival

● Stand by a river:

The tradition of reciting the Tashlich prayer by a flowing stream on the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah seems to stem from the 15th century (see the New Koren Sacks Machzor p.927; Artscroll p.630). But it is not really about throwing away your sins.

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