Simon Rocker

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Simon Rocker
Registered: 3 April 2008
Location: Hendon
Simon Rocker is Judaism Editor of the JC

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Expert on settlers settles at Oxford University

By Simon Rocker, May 24, 2013

The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies has finally filled a prestigious academic post after a previous candidate pulled out because of new immigration rules.

Dr Sara Hirschhorn, a post-doctoral fellow in Israel studies at Brandeis University in the United States, is due to become the new Sidney Brichto Fellow in Israel studies in September.

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Arab students aided by Pears Foundation £100,000 grant

By Simon Rocker, May 24, 2013

A Jewish-run charity in the UK has pledged £100,000 to a project benefiting Arab students, one that a leading Israeli economist has described as vital to the future of his country.

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Rabbi Chaim Halpern conducting a wedding a ‘serious error’, says United Synagogue

By Simon Rocker, May 24, 2013

The United Synagogue has strongly criticised the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations for allowing Rabbi Chaim Halpern, who is under police investigation over alleged sexual abuse of women, to officiate at a wedding.

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Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks talks to David Frost in leaving tribute

By Simon Rocker, May 23, 2013

When veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost uttered his trademark introduction, “Hello, good evening and welcome”, shortly after a set of Hebrew songs by the Shabbaton Choir, the auditorium erupted in applause. Facing the interviewer of prime ministers and presidents this time was a different kind of leader, the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks.

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A question of blessing Israel

By Simon Rocker, May 19, 2013

The prayer for the state of Israel has become so much a regular part of the Shabbat morning service in most synagogues that it is easy to forget that its wording is still a source of controversy.

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Should I give charity only to Zionist causes in Israel?

By Simon Rocker, May 19, 2013

Question: A very Orthodox man came to our door collecting for a school which helps special needs children in Israel. I asked if the institution were Zionist; he said no, so I would not give a donation. Was I right to stand by my political principles or should I have set them aside and given something?

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Facebook rabbi voted in as Sephardi leader

By Simon Rocker, May 17, 2013

Britain’s oldest Orthodox community has at last found a senior rabbi after a search that began more than three years ago.

Rabbi Joseph Dweck, 37, of New York, was endorsed as the new rabbinic leader of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation by a massive majority of 270 votes to four in a ballot of its members last week.

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Being a blind ironman is like being Iron Man - but tougher

By Simon Rocker, May 17, 2013

There may be no superheroes in real life, but you still can become an Iron Man. It is a title you can earn by competing in an Ironman event, a triathlon involving a two-and-a-half mile swim, a 112-mile mountain bike ride and rounded off by a 26-mile marathon.

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Board of Deputies 'in chaos'

By Simon Rocker, May 17, 2013

The former vice-president of the Board of Deputies, Jerry Lewis, has launched a scathing attack on its current leaders, saying “Vivian Wineman and his team are presiding over the rapid disintegration” of the organisation.

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The Women of the Wall: should they be bothered?

By Simon Rocker, May 17, 2013

The Western Wall has lately become a battleground in the struggle for egalitarianism. The arrest of women for praying in a tallit at the sacred site has sparked anger across the Jewish world and fuelled demands from non-Orthodox Jews in particular for equal religious rights.

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Elstree selects its man

By Simon Rocker, May 13, 2013

Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue, which has been without a senior rabbi for nearly two years, could be close to plugging the gap at the top after leaders named the man they want.

Rabbi Chaim Kanterovitz, the minister of Manchester’s Yeshurun Synagogue and previously of Kenton Synagogue, will visit the Hertfordshire congregation next month ahead of a members’ ballot on his appointment.

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US addressing the needs of the next Chief Rabbi

By Simon Rocker, May 13, 2013

Once the Chief Rabbi had to live in London’s East End. For more than a century, holders of the office dwelt closer to the West End, in Hamilton Terrace, St John’s Wood.

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Benjamin: 'Timing is right' to leave the Board

By Simon Rocker, May 10, 2013

The Board of Deputies has released a statement this morning over the departure of Jon Benjamin, its chief executive for the past eight years.

Deputies were told that Mr Benjamin had begun handing over his responsibilities to colleagues to ensure a "smooth handover" without "undue delay".

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'Koran backs Jewish claims to Jerusalem,' Sheikh tells synagogue

By Simon Rocker, May 9, 2013

A Muslim preacher argued that the Koran backs Jewish claims to Jerusalem at a Jerusalem Day celebration in London this week.

Rome-based Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi told an audience at Edgware Synagogue that he found it “intolerable” that “no one questions the rights of Catholics to St Peter’s, or of Muslims to Mecca, but so many question the rights of Jews to Jerusalem”.

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Students tell Israel to stop Bedouin ‘eviction’

By Simon Rocker, May 9, 2013

Jewish youth and students in Britain have protested to Israeli leaders over a proposed Knesset bill to relocate Bedouin families who live in the Negev desert.

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