Who in their right mind would take the England job? One has to ask.

In fact, it's the question a handful of respected managers in the game will have asked themselves this morning.

Indeed very few people took to Fabio Capello because he wasn't English and didn't speak the lingo.

The mind boggles at what some Jewish children are taught. Take a look at this blog from Rationalist Judaism (Rabbi Natan Slifkin).

Read David Hazony, guest at last month’s Limmud conference, on why the event is not just a winter retreat, but a revolution with far-reaching implications for the Jewish world.

You may have read our story in Friday’s newspaper about a United Synagogue member asking the London Beth Din whether there are circumstances in which a woman could be called to the Torah.

Here is a copy of the paper submitted to the Beth Din written by Dr Alexis Brassey of Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue in support of his case.

An enquiry to the London Beth Din:

A number of rabbis here have been talking about an article in the latest edition of Tradition, the American journal of Orthodox thought published by the mainstream Rabbinical Council of America.

It is written by Alan Jotkowitz, who is director of the Jakobovits Centre for Medical Ethics at Ben Gurion University, and is a critique of the interfaith views of Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks.

The author is an admirer of the Chief Rabbi whom he describes as “probably the world’s most foremost expositor of Jewish values and ethics”.

A very powerful statement on the recent religious clashes in Israel from Rabbi Shaul Robinson of Lincoln Square Synagogue, New York (considered one of the favourites for UK Chief Rabbi, should, of course, he be interested in the job).

Rabbi Herzl Hefter, head of Harel Yeshiva in Israel reflects on his recent appearance at Limmud in his weekly email letter:

“Early Friday morning I returned home to Israel from the Limmud Conference in the UK. Jews of all backgrounds, secular, Orthodox, Masorti, Reform and Liberal attended. I say 'attended' and not 'were represented' because we were all there as individual Jews, representing only ourselves, united by a thirst for Torah and community. Limmud had managed to create a wonderful “safe space” where Jews could simply encounter one another as fellow Jews. Coming from Israel, the experience was inspiring, almost intoxicating.

So why am I depressed? Because I had to write “coming from Israel…” To what did I return home? I returned home to haredi violence in Beit Shemesh and a haredi boy dressed by his parents with a yellow Star of David. According to reports, his father said that the Nazi-Zionist government's persecution of the haredim is worse than what was carried out by the Nazi regime. What would my father, who witnessed his mother being taken to be shot, who alone survived of nine brothers and sisters and unknown number of nephews, nieces and cousins, what would he say?

If you have been following reports about the state of the British economy over the past month or so, you could be forgiven for believing that even if we are not already in a recession, the UK is lurching towards a double dip.

But some snapshot figures about the state of economic play, out today, tell another story. The latest CIPS/Markit survey of the services sector – which makes up 75 per cent of the UK economy – showed a jump to 54 in December, up from 52.1 in November. Readings above 50 indicate growth.

In other words, things moved fairly strongly in the opposite direction to the one expected.