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Simon Rocker

Simon Rocker

Latest from Simon Rocker

Strong Ofsted report sets King David High Manchester up for the new school year

Inspectors say improvements have transformed pupil experience of the school

1 min read

Things are looking up for King David High Manchester (photo: Ruthless Images)

Soaring high: JFS pupils (Photo: Blake Ezra)

Ofsted rates ‘exceptional’ JFS among the country’s best schools

2 min read

Olga Swan presenting a copy of her new book to Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis

Birmingham can still have a bright Jewish future, believes the community’s chronicler

4 min read

Rabbi Professor Samuel Lebens

Can we still be a chosen people in the 21st century?

4 min read

Stamford Hill school fights council order to move because of noise

Talmud Torah London hopes the Court of Appeal will allow it to stay put

2 min read

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August 19, 2026 12:09

Hackney Town Hall

‘A fascinating odyssey’: the rabbi who podcasts the Bible

Rabbi Alex Israel’s audio guide offers commentary of the Tanach in daily bite-sized chunks

4 min read

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August 16, 2026 08:00

‘A fascinating odyssey’: the rabbi who podcasts the Bible

Back after a break: Grassroots Jews returns this year to offer a different kind of Yom Kippur

The pop-up Yom Tov minyan will be running services for Yom Kippur

2 min read

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August 11, 2026 11:15

Rewilding Grassroots Jews: Daniel Susser and Jen McAlister

The trend for rounds of applause in synagogue makes regulars like me clappy-unhappy

Shul services are sacred events, not pop concerts

2 min read

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August 5, 2026 12:18

Show of hands: applause detracts from the spiritual occasion, says our writer

London rabbis ban schools from opening next term unless they accept more pupils

Six Charedi boy schools have been ordered to find room for unplaced pupils next term

1 min read

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August 3, 2026 15:40

Full house: Beis Medrash Elyon in Hendon

What can rabbis say in an age of driverless cars and killer drones?

We may need our spiritual resources more than ever to preserve our humanity

4 min read

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August 3, 2026 13:01

Confronting the challenge of AI: Rabbi Daniel Nevins

The destinies of Black and Jewish people are ‘intertwined’ says Ashley Jackson

Jesse Jackson’s daughter, who announced her conversion to Judaism last week, spoke about her life and her civic activism at JW3 this week

4 min read

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July 31, 2026 10:31

Activist Ashley Laverne Jackson at JW3

Can our burial system reflect the way we live now?

Synagogue membership and burial rights are linked – which can cause problems for some Jewish people

2 min read

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July 30, 2026 11:22

Bushey New Cemetery, a 16-acre Jewish burial ground extension in Hertfordshire, opened in 2017 (Blake Ezra Photography)

Proposed marriage law reforms could benefit mixed-faith couples

Changes in legislation would enable mixed-faith couples to have a legally recognised Jewish ceremony

2 min read

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July 23, 2026 16:27

Rabbi Lisa Barrett at the marriage of Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash (Photo: Chelsea White)

Kairos ‘genocide’ document risks stoking antisemitism, Israeli embassy warns CofE

Israel’s chargé d’affaires conveyed ‘grave concerns’ over the text in a meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury

1 min read

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July 22, 2026 14:02

The archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, speaking at the Synod debate on Kairos II (Church of England/Sam Atkin)

Rabbi Rebecca Birk to be new senior rabbi of LJS

The Finchley Progressive leader will take over at the flagship Liberal congregation from the retiring Rabbi Alexandra Wright

1 min read

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July 21, 2026 11:33

Rabbi Rebecca Birk (photo: Sam Allard)

Three new Jewish peers announced as Prime Minister takes his leave

Cathy Ashley, Saul Lehrfreund and Sir Brian Leveson have been given seats in the Lords

1 min read

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July 17, 2026 14:29

Jewish human rights lawyer and activist Saul Lehrfreund

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