Two Rightious amongst the Nations of the World

Douglas Murray

Britain's Little Anti-Semitism Problem

I have just read an outstanding article published in the excellent Internet Site http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/ entitled "Britain's Little Anti-Semitism Problem" in which Douglas Murray, a graduate of Eton and Oxford, described by Wikipedia as "...a British neoconservative writer and [right wing] commentator...", has written about the problems faced by British Jews.

Everything he has written is true yet you will find no British Jew who would dare to pen such opinions. This righteous Goy writes that Anglo Jewry is in a state of denial when it comes to blatant Anti-Semitism in mainstream British culture. After commentating on the outrage by Britain's Jewish leaders directed at Jerusalem Post's journalist Caroline Glick's statement:

I can say without hesitation that I hope never to return to Britain. I actually don't see any point. Jews are targeted by massive anti-Semitism of both the social and physical varieties. Why would anyone Jewish want to live there?

Douglas Murray concludes:

"What these...things have in common is now unmistakeable -- as are the conclusions we must draw from them.

Jews will continue to live in Britain, and in the main, continue to live perfectly peaceful and pleasant lives. But there will be a price. And that price will be the volume of their support for Israel. For the "decent" mainstream has made a decision: Israelis are now what the Nazis were then. The Israelis are the easy target for needed outrage, the focal-center of pretended morality and the diversionary enemy in an era where the real problems seem too large to tackle.

Naturally there will be enough people to continue for a while to demand the odd complaint about this or that. They may manage to force a backtrack here and there. But these will be forced not because anybody has been persuaded of the complete wrong-headedness of what they have said – nor because they have realized the unbelievable wickedness and inaccuracy of their claims – but simply because the "timing" may have been inappropriate, or it should not have been said in this way, or on this or that day, or to these or those people. What all these events have in common is that they demonstrate that the friends of truth are losing. Any wins on these terms are skirmish wins in a war which has turned against the Jewish people."
 

See the full article here:

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3560/britain-anti-semitism


The Pope was Not a Friend of the Jews.

Giulio Meotti

 I found it incredulous the outpouring of praises heaped upon the soon to be retired Pope by Israeli politians, World Jewish leaders and the Chief Rabbis, including the Israeli Chief Rabbi in yesterday's press. No, I am not refering to the fact that the current Pope was a member of the Hitler Youth as a child. A person can change after all. I am speaking however about his offical statements. Here is a man who has never ever spoken the words "The State of Israel", preferring the term "Holy Land" but does not miss an opportunity to speak about "The State of Palestine" which does not actually exist (for the moment). Here is a person who speaks of the Palestinians as "God's blessed people" and implies that although he disagrees with terrorism, he understands the motivation behind it seeing how the Palestinans suffer so much at the hands of the Israelis. He deligitimises Israel and the Jewish people at every occasion and yet somehow these Jewish leaders feel it appropiate to call him a friend!?

Well, today in Arutz 7 they published an article by another righteous Goy by the name of Giulio Meotti, an Italian journalist. He writes that:

"...The contrary is the case. The Pope has not been a friend of the Jewish people and he supported the world's most important source of anti-Semitism: the Palestinianism."

About terrorism he writes:

"Pope Benedict did not condemn Arab terrorism, but launched an appeal to young [Arab] people: “Have the courage to resist any temptation you may feel to resort to acts of violence or terrorism.” His words “temptation for terrorism” hinted at the Vatican’s claim that Israeli policy is the root of Palestinian terrorism, while the truth is exactly the opposite."

Read the full article here: The Pope was Not a Friend of the Jews

Some have put forward the argument that he was a good Pope to the Jews if you compare him to the top possible replacements for the position. Unlike the current Pope, they are forthright in their anti-Zionism and blatant anti-Semitism. They preach "Supersessionism" and publicly support the ancient Catholic "Replacement theology". This theology states that "The Church" are the new chosen people who have superceeded the Jews. The Jews are to be hated and despised being that God has cursed them for all their wicked sins, (primary for rejecting His Messiah). Many historians of Jewish history see this theology as the route and major cause of imbred anti-semitism throughout Europe which calminated in the Shoah and the murder of six million Jews.

The return of the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth and the establisment of the State of Israel is in direct contradiction to this theology, so it is not surprising that you will find these Catholic leaders at the forefront of Anti-Zionist and Pro-Palestinian demonstations.

That the current Pope does not openly espouse this theology does not mean that he rejects it. There is no justifiction to call him a friend! I think we will be in a better position when we can clearly recognise who our enemies are. At the same time, we should give better recognition to who our true friends are.

Baruch Hashem that there are still righteous amongst the nations of the world who are our true friends, who say what needs to be said when our Jewish leaders are too scared to. May Hashem bless them and protect them. Amen.

LBC's Iain Dale and his knowledge of Judaism

I was listening to the Iain Dale show on LBC (London Talkback) radio last night. The show started off talking about cults and then somehow switched to discussing the Anglo Jewish community. It would have been amusing had it not been so tragic with such dangerous consequences. The untruths which were spouted out about Judaism on his programme went completely unchallenged.

Iain asked his listeners a question. How many Jews live in Britain? He then added that no one would believe it when he told them!  Iain eventually gave a figure of around 266,000 and remarked that the Jews certainly punch above their weight. I wasn’t sure what he meant by this. Was he saying that the amount of Jews who contribute to British society is way out of promotion to the percentage of the UK population (Less than one half of one percent), or was he saying that for a tiny minority, they have an incredible amount of power and influence? Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he meant the former.

A caller called Keith came on and said that he was from “Jewish extraction” (whatever that means?) and said that although there were “officially” 170,000 Jews, this figure was a count of only Jews who had registered with a synagogue and,  most importantly, this figure did not include (and I quote) – “The Ashkenazis” (who I understood by his comment, were not real Jews!). If you counted them, he informed us, then there were around two and a half million!

He went on to say that he couldn’t believe in a religion that believed that the world was created in seven (sic) days. "Don't get me wrong!", he said, he wasn’t against Judaism or Jews and proved it by saying that he had recently gone to his friend’s Chanukah party which he explained was the commemoration of G-d creating the world in 8 days (sic)!

Iain seemed fascinated by his caller's "knowledge" and seemed to accept everything he said as fact without confirmation or challenge.
 

I had had enough. I immediately fired off an email via the LBC web site on my mobile phone explaining why Keith was talking total and utter nonsense. I have no idea if Iain even read my email as he never mentioned it during the show and I did not get a reply.

 

These were the points I made:

The Jewish population of the UK
 

The Jewish population includes both Sefardi and Ashkenazi Jews.

If we discount those people who wrote round that they were Jewish despite not being so according to Halacha (Jewish Law) and count in those who by choice chose not to answer the Census question on Religion I would guess that the figure would come to around 300,000 Jews left in Britain.

According to Institute for Jewish Policy Research UK, www.jpr.org.uk/) there are around 270,000 Jews who identify themselves as Jewish living in the UK. Most of these, (with the exception of the Orthodox Jewish community), it claims will more likely than not see their children marry non-Jews. The Institute estimates that there were some 450,000 to 500,000 Jews in the Britain around the 1950s.

Chanukah

Chanukah is the commemoration of the civil war and the victory by the Jews of Israel who remained loyal to G-d and His Torah against the Jews who had adopted Greek culture, during the second Temple period. However, most Jewish children in the UK are taught that it was a war between the Jews of Israel and the Greeks invaders in order to avoid the painful issue of secular verses religious Jews.

Therefore, the vast majority of British Jews do not learn beyond kindergarten level Judaism and therefore would not know anything about the civil war. However The Talmud, tractate Shabbat 42-43 states it openly.
 

The Age of the World

The estimate that the world is millions of years old is totally compatible with Torah Judaism. It is the fundamentalist Xtians who absurdly interpret their Xtian Bibles literally, despite the text which they are relying upon having gone through numerous mistranslations(sometimes unintentional, others intentional) from Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, German and various English versions.

It is quite ridiculous to assume that the word “day” in the context of Bereishis (the Genesis) story means a period of 24 hours or even a single night and day period when you consider that the sun was not created until the fourth day!

The Hebrew word used in the Bereishis story is “Yom”. The word consists of three letters. A Yud, Vav and Mem.  The Yud is a tiny vertical line. The Vav is a larger vertical line. The Mem is completed box, the same height as the Vav. Its true meaning is expressed in its graphical format. Tiny, larger and completed. In other words, a process of creation. The word “Yom” simply means an unspecified period of creation.

יום

Another “Jewish” (I use the term lightly) caller phoned in and said that he was very proud that all his family celebrated Xmas, his daughter had married a Buddhist and his son a Xtian. Iain Dale praised him for his open mindedness. The caller remarked that he assumed that the quoted figure of UK Jews was very low due to assimilation or moving to Israel and he would guess that it had been a lot larger at one time. Iain replied that he would check but he was sure that the Jewish population of Jews in Britain had remained steady for generations.

I found Iain Dale’s complete ignorance when it came to Jews and their beliefs staggering and deeply troubling. If this is what the cream of British intelligencer believe then it shows a frightening ignorance of who Jews are and what they believe in, within mainstream Britain which profoundly effects its views not only of local Jewish issues, but also its views of Israel and our historical and religious right to the Land of Israel.

*** UPDATE ***

I received a reply from Iain Dale the next morning:

Rob
Thanks for this. I don't think I ever professed to have any great knowledge of Judaism! In the new year we will be doing an hour every Wednesday looking at different religions.

Kind regards

Iain

Well, at least he read the email.
 

The War for the minds of Anglo Jewry.

The Commentator site has an excellent article which I think is a must read for everyone who wants to put some essential facts in their pockets when coming face to face with a so called “Pro-Palestinian” person in Britain.

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/1609/_pro_palestinians_don_t_seem_to_be_pro_anyone_

The photo accompanying the article is extremely apt seeing that the girl holding the ridiculous piece of paper looks so Jewish. Sadly, the person in Britain who you most likely will come face to face with, when you will need these facts, comes from the secular Anglo Jewish community. I’m afraid years of British media bias and university brain washing have taken its toll on today’s Anglo-Jewish community and it’s quite common, even in your average [Orthodox] United Synagogue, to hear talk of “Palestinian Rights” which is only a euphemism for Anti-Zionism. Just read the article, he explains the concept far better than I could.

The London Evening Standard is the only daily evening paper published in London and is read by millions of Londoners (including many thousands of Jews). In fact, one copy is read by two or three people as there is a tradition amongst London commuters on the Underground, on their way home to the suburbs, to leave their already read copy on the seat of the tube carriage when they leave, for someone else to pick up.

Whilst in London last week, I picked up one such copy to read the following article which I subsequently found on the paper’s Internet site.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/israeli-court-rejects-lawsuit-by-parents-of-activist-rachel-corrie-crushed-to-death-by-army-bulldozer-8083758.html

This staggeringly spectacularly one sided article makes not the slightest attempt at even appearing balanced to the casual reader. It would seem from the article that the Israeli judge reached his verdict without any evidence at all. Indeed the article tells us that the judge was instructed by the Israeli government to cover up the “obvious” Israeli army’s guilt. This is anti-Israel propaganda at its most crude. The article quotes exclusively from interviews with Corrie’s lawyer and members of the terrorist linked movement ISM. In fact, had the ISM been asked to write an account of the court decision themselves, it is doubtful that they could have done a better job?

I'll mention just some of the evidence that any media report on the verdict should have mentioned. On this particular occasion the so called “Peace Activist” was there trying to prevent the IDF from destroying houses containing tunnels used to smuggle weapons. On other occasions ISM members have been used as human shields to allow Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists to fire at Israeli soldiers whilst preventing the IDF from firing back. However, their most sinister activities are assisting terrorist snipers in murdering Israeli soldiers by standing in open ground and trying to lure soldiers to come and arrest them, at which point the soldiers are picked off. Trying to get someone murdered is not a peaceful activity!

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/159367

No mention was given to the facts that came out in court that after examining film taken at the scene, so called eye witnesses weren’t actually there at the time and that widely publicised photos “proving” that Corrie had been intentionally crushed were shown to have beeen Photoshopped by ISM activists. The photos were debunked years ago as complete fabrications yet continued to be used by Western media even after the court case. Sloppy lazy journalism or intentional lies?

See blog post here by Daled Amos:

BBC Today Uses Photoshopped Pictures of Rachel Corrie Debunked in 2006

http://daledamos.blogspot.co.il/2012/08/bbc-today-uses-photoshopped-picture-of.html)



BBC using photoshopped picture

No mention that footage taken at the scene clearly shows that Corrie was crouched down behind a mound of rubble.

Is it any wonder that the average secular Jew living in Britain today would be anti-Israel or even if still pro-Israel, would be racked with shame and make sure they kept their mouths shut whilst at work or at college?

For those British Jews who stubbornly hold on to pro-Israel views, there is an article dedicated to them in The Independent newspaper. HonestReporting.com has a report about this insidious piece of Nazi style propaganda so I suggest you read that as well.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yasmin-alibhai-brown/yasmin-alibhaibrown-why-so-little-condemnation-of-israels-extremism-7743403.html

The HonestReporting article is here.

http://honestreporting.com/ardent-zionists-v-enlightened-jews-an-assault-on-british-jewry/

Jewish Telegraph's answer to Anti-Semitism? Stop being Jewish!

I have not blogged for some time as I have been busy with other projects but an editorial in this week’s Jewish Telegraph prompted me to publish this blog post as a way of letting off steam.

Many Israeli kids look at the Jews of Germany in 1933 and wonder why they did not leave en-mass, even when normal Jewish life became impossible.

Well, If they would read this editorial in the Jewish Telegraph from March 2012 then they'd understand how this came about.

I have put the most upsetting sentence in BOLD.

http://www.jewishtelegraph.com/opinion.html

No knee-jerk reaction

E-MAIL: editor@jewishtelegraph.com

Were we to succumb to near-paranoia every time there is a tragedy of this type, we are playing straight into the hands of those who seek to destabilise our lives. As a community, in this country, we are well-protected both within and without. Members of the Community Security Trust provide a reassuring presence at major events and in some communities can be seen on the streets with police and community support officers in sensitive areas, particularly during yomim tovim and on Shabbat. And our schools are secure.

If we take sensible precautions by not gathering in public, visible locations — and that includes dispersing speedily after synagogue services and simchas — we do not encourage problems.

The tragic events in Toulouse serve to prove though that there are still those who see Jews as legitimate targets for all manner of grievances, although the gunman in this case had already taken what he saw as misguided revenge against members of the French military. There will always be those whose delusions persuade them to carry out atrocities as in the case of Mumbai, Columbine and other attacks on schools, but there is no suggestion that as a result, we as a community, are under any greater threat than previously. Vigilance though is always the key word."

Does the editor realise the significance of what he has written? His self-denial of the current situation is astonishing. I noticed that the BBC News site last week made a point of writing about how many French Jews are planning or have stepped up their plans to come to Israel? There was even a video about it on the BBC site which was quickly taken down after a few hours. Predictably, the video was replaced by another that sent out exactly the opposite message. Someone saved the old video and posted it on Youtube. Today when I went to put the link on this blog post I found that Youtube had shut down the user’s account.

Rav Yizachar Frand teaches that when he was a child he could not understand why so many of the old men in his shul had the same story. They all came from Germany shortly after their shops had been attacked and destroyed in Kristallnacht. Later he realised that only those who's stores had been destroyed were the Jews who had woken up and left in time!



Secret school in Kovno Ghetto



So what next? The Jewish Telegraph will advise British Jewry to only buy their kosher products through delivery service in unmarked vans so as not to draw attention to themselves? Jewish schools must be situated in cellars, out of site? Mezuzot should be removed from the outside of the doorframe and placed inside so that the homes will not be able to be identified as Jewish homes?

What the Telegraph is suggesting as a response to the rise of Anti-Semitism in Europe is to cease being identified as Jewish. Most secular Jews will conclude that it’s far simpler to stop identifying as Jews all together!



Seder Night in Jerusalem

Meanwhile, last Friday night in Israel, I got annoyed with my eldest son because he kept us all waiting 20 minutes to say kiddush as he was chatting with his friends outside the shul. In less than two weeks time, European Jewry will be sitting down to the Seder on the night of Pesach and singing the words "Next Year in Yerushalayim"! This year, Be'ezrat Hashem, they will listen to their own words!

Boundary Road Shul - A sign of things to come in Britain.

My parents have just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. For this great occasion they rented out the beautiful hall in Boundary Road shul.

We had the great pleasure of travelling to Britain and being part of my parent's simcha. We also had the honour of visiting this lovely old shul in Leyton, London which everyone calls Boundary Road shul despite its official name being the "Waltham Forest Hebrew Congregation". It actually has an older name, that being the "Walthamstow and Leyton Synagogue".

The shul was founded in 1902 by a community that moved into the area from the East End. What immediately strikes you about the outside of the building is that it looks like a church and indeed that is exactly what it was. The inside however is typical of English shuls of the early 20th century. Wood panelled walls and benches and stained glass windows. You could just imagine the Jews of the early 20th century in shul with their coattails and top hats.

The shul is looked after by a dedicated caretaker called Tom. Although not Jewish, he wears a kippa while on guard outside the shul and talks with love and pride of his 30 years plus service to the shul. He showed me the Magen-David symbols he chiselled into the walls of the building all around the outside. I asked him why he wears a kippa if he isn't Jewish? He laughed and replied that in his opinion, he's a lot more Jewish than some of the people that come here. How could I reply to such a comment?

Unfortunately the once vibrant community has long since moved away from the area. The shul has no Rabbi but the acting reverend, Rev Stewart Myers, told me that they do get a minyan for Shabbos although he says in order for this to happen he needs to act like Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. When I asked what he meant by this he embarrassingly explained that like Nelson who looked through his telescope with his blind eye, so he turns a blind eye to how the minyan gets to the shul on Shabbos morning.

We asked Tom if he could open the shul for us so that we could daven Maariv and take some photos. He was more than happy to show off "his" shul. Just outside the shul, in the corridor, was a photo on the wall of the founding Rabbi, Rev. Dr. Gollancz (seen in the top right hand corner of the following photo). The strange thing was that he had no head covering!?

When the mix dancing began I told my parents that we would go for a walk around the area and come back in an hour. They frowned and told us that the area was now predominantly Asian and they were afraid that we would be in danger looking so openly Jewish. I instead asked Tom if he could open the Beis Midrash for us. He gladly opened it and my kids and I spent a couple of hours looking though the seferim on the shelves. There were rows and rows of machzorim, gemoros and other books of halacha that were all printed in Vilna around the 1860s. They were in a terrible state of disrepair. As we turned the pages, the corners of the pages were crumbling in our hands. I was amazed to see in this massive machzor for Pesach, Vilna 1862, where I found actual matzah crumbs inside. I wonder how old those crumbs were or when the last time that machzor had been used?

There was also a row of little booklets written for soldiers of His/Her Majesty's Armed Forces during the First and Second World War. Some dated 1915, others 1941. Inside these booklets we found articles giving chizuk to the Jewish soldiers at war, as well as patriotic essays and poems written by British Jews. We left Boundary Road shul with a feeling of great sadness. Almost all the shuls that we visited in Britain had a similar story to tell; that of past grandeur and now a community in the process of collapse.

I consider Boundary Road shul a sign of things to come in most of Britain. When we spent a Shabbos in Giffnock, Glasgow, we were told that most of the shuls and cheders in Scotland had closed or are in the process of closing. Clarkston shul closes next month apparantly. Giffnock itself, once a strong community gets a Shabbos minyan of mostly elderly men despite the valient magnificent efforts of the amazing "larger than life" Rabbi Rubin. I asked where all the kids were? Maybe they were in summer camp I inquired? The answer I received was that there were hardly any children left. The families had either moved to Manchester, London and Israel or had assimilated. Giffnock had recently spent huge sums of money moving with great care, the beautiful stain glass windows of the now closed Queens Park shul to their building. I asked where they thought the glass would we moved to next? I was answered with a sad look and total silence.

Originally in Queens Park Shul. Now in Giffnock, Scotland. Where to next?

Dwindling attendance at Wanstead and Woodford Shul cheder. Redbridge.

The first tell-tail sign of a shul and its community in collapse is the closing of their shul cheder. Isn't it obvious to anyone that no children means no future even if membership figures are strong? Unfortunately, most English Jews I spoke to were in a state of denial. For example, when I commented about this to a relative of mine he indignantly insisted that when a shul ceases to be active it only means that the Jews have moved to other areas. One shul closes and another opens up he told me. I respectfully disagreed. I told him that from what I see, these communities died because the majority of the community assimilated and no longer identified themselves as Jews. The remainder moved to more vibrant communities. It was a case of constant retreat in the face of assimilation and regrouping in those communities that are still left.

Gants Hill, Redbridge, once the largest Jewish community in Europe and the place where I grew up has seen its Jewish facilities almost completely disappear as Jewish families have moved out to North London. When I was growing up there were kosher restaurants and many delis, butchers and bakers. Today in Gants Hill, all that remains is a single kosher bakeries run by non-Jewish Indians. The last deli in Gants Hill, "Brownstein's" closed two years ago. The kosher butcher, Norman Goldberg, on Claybury Broadway, Clayhall, some 3 miles from Gants Hill, is still open. It tries to sell other kosher items as well such as cakes and bread. On Sunday it sells fresh hot salt beef sandwiches up to 8:00pm. Another kosher butchers, "La Boucherie" in Barkingside, also acts as a small mekolet selling what kosher items are available, mainly imported from Israel to the dwindling Jewish community.

The last Gants Hill Kosher butcher closed in April 2008

Norman Goldberg kosher butcher, Clayhall

The only Kosher shop in Barkingside.

(The kosher Bakers in the same high street closed last year)

Where as 20 years ago it was not uncommon to see women wearing sheitles in the streets of Gants Hill, today you see a good percentage of women in the streets wearing burkas and even a few completely masked with only their eyes peeking through the black material. Doesn't anyone else find it comically tragic to see some of these women wearing their glasses over their masks?

I grabbed this photo (taken in Florida) off of Google Images but it’s the same image all over London.

Lest you think that moving to North London is the answer I'd like to suggest otherwise. I was talking to a lovely frum young guy in Chigwell and Hainault shul last Shabbos (the only shul in the area as far as I am aware that seems to have a healthy vibrant community with Bar/Bat Mitzvas almost every Shabbos! thanks in large part to the incredible Rabbi there, Rabbi Davis). Both he and his wife are Ba'alei Teshuva. He told me that they would love to move to North London but they simply cannot afford the house prices, some four times what they are in the Ilford area. He told me that he'll have to hire someone to take his children to and from school in Stamford Hill when they get older. When visiting North London, it is true that you can find many kosher places there but even in Golders Green there are signs of decay. It's true that if you walk down many streets in Golders Green/Edgware/Hendon, most of the homes have mezuzos. However, many kosher restaurants have closed in the last few years including what was the world famous "Bloom's" which served salt beef and latkas to its last customer in June of this year. I walked past the restaurant, the menu still sitting in the window, now covered in dust.

I used to go for lunch every week in their original Whitechapel branch back in the 1980s

The other thing of course is the huge invasion of Muslims into the area as there is in all of London. Golders Green/Hendon/Edgware will be Anglo Jewry's last stand, at least in the South. Manchester may last slightly longer? The shear numbers of Muslims coming into Britain, bringing their unique brand of blatant anti-Semitism with them, are making Jews feel more and more uncomfortable and fearful in their own homes. I could be wrong but I see the demise of Anglo Jewry as inevitable and unavoidable. Anglo Jewry doesn't stand a chance.

If I had the money and resources I'd move these old beautiful shul buildings and their contents to Eretz Yisrael where they can be admired and would be used in the service of Hashem once again.

As for Anglo Jewry. yes, there are some who are emigrating to Australia and the USA but I do hope, be'ezras Hashem that most will realise that their future is of course in Eretz Yisrael.

Shana Haba beYerushalayim

Anglo Jewry, please come home..

Fastest Dozen Biegals

Wow, my last post about English Jewish foods certainly caused a lot of internet traffic today.

 

My daughter read my post and was inspired to such an extent that she decided, even though she was fasting, to bake some English style biegals for us to break the fast (of the 10th Tevet) over. When I got home from work I was greeted by this wonderful aroma of baking bread. The whole family sat down to eat our first meal of the day at 5:20pm with my daughter’s biegals taking centre stage. I have to say, they were scrumptious. So its only fair that I give you my daughter’s English style biegals recipe. The recipe is actually (after some experimentation on my daughter’s part) an amalgamation of an Israeli Bagel recipe and one taken from page 280 of the Florence Greenberg’s “The Original Jewish Cookery Book” (1988 Edition).

There is one puzzling thing about Mrs Greenberg’s recipe. She wants us to put milk in the mix but that would be forbidden according to halachah (Jewish law).

Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 97 states "It is forbidden to knead dough for bread with milk, in case a person should (accidentally) eat it with meat...It is similarly forbidden to bake bread in the oven with meat fat…"

(There is a way around this though and that is to bake the bread in a special shape or place a symbol on it so that the community knows it is chalavi (milky). However Biegals wouldn’t be biegals if they weren’t the classic round with a whole in them. The name Biegal comes from the Hebrew "B'Igul" meaning "[baked] in  a circle". Everyone would assume they were pareve so sorry Mrs Greenberg, no milk).

Recipe for Fastest Dozen English style Biegals

Total time: Less than 1½ hours
1½ Tsp dry granules yeast
1¾ cups warm water
2 Tsp sugar
5 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten.
1 Tsp oil
Mix yeast with ½ cup of warm water in a large mixing bowl.
Then add the rest of the warm water, sugar, flour, oil and salt.
Beat the egg and add that to the mix.
Mix well and knead until dough is soft and flexible.
Cover the bowl and leave for 15 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 balls. Mould each into sausages, about the thickness of a finger and join together to make the biegal rings.
Prepare a greased baking tray and place the 12 rings on the tray.
Cover the tray and leave for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile warm oven to 180 degrees.
Take a large saucepan and fill ¾ to the top with water. Bring to the boil and then turn it down to simmering.
Uncover the biegals and place 3 to 4 beigals at a time in the boiling water. The biegals should float to the top. Continue boiling for 3 minutes and then remove them from the saucepan, drain and place back on the tray. Repeat until all biegals are boiled.
Optional stage: Sprinkle sesame seeds, poppy seeds or salt crystals over the biegals.
Place in oven for approximately 35 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with …well I think you all know what to serve them with!

Fried Fish Balls

One of the mysteries of the known universe is the fact that you cannot find a decent Anglo-Jewry style biegal (pronounced “bi-gall”) in Israel yet the first thing any Israeli does when he makes yerida to the UK is to open up a Biegal bakery. Where did they learn this skill? Perhaps it’s something the chutz la’aretz malachim that he acquires as he leaves the borders of the holy land teach him as one of the survival techniques for living in galus?



We learn this from parshas Vayeitze. As Yaakov leaves Eretz Yisrael he witnesses the changing of the guards so to speak as his Eretz Yisrael melachim climb the ladder back to shamayim and his chutz laaretz malachim come down. (See Rashi).The fact that Yaakov sleeps on twelve stones (Midrash Raba) could well be a remez to his first taste of a dozen biegals which every real biegal baker knows should be boiled until they are as hard as rock. This is in stark contrast to the stodgy puffy doughnut like monstrosities the American’s call “beigels” (pronounced “bai-gels”).



Another rarity in Israel is real Shmaltz Herring, matured in salt for about the same amount of years as a bottle of Islay Laphroaig single malt (which coincidently happens to be the perfect accompaniment to this delicious black delicacy). Alright, so I’m exaggerating slightly but it is the maturing process of a few months that gives the herring its wonderful flavour and texture. No wonder Israelis and Americans fuss over sushi. They’ve obviously never tasted matured herring like this.

In England you buy the herring wrapped up in paper. The slices of fish meat are browny black with the consistency of soft toffee and just like toffee; the herring melts in the mouth. Here in Israel they sell herring which they call “matyas” (from the Dutch “maatjes”).

It is bright pink and grey and covered in, what looks and smells like linseed oil whose only use that I was aware of until I made aliyah, was to harden new virgin cricket bats. The maturation process consists of the time it takes to cut the fish into squares, drown it in oil and pack it in tubs.

The correct term for Shmaltz Herring in Lashon HaKodesh is in fact “Dag Maliach”, which is mentioned in Meseches Brachos, Perek vav, mishna zayin. I doubt that our Tanaim as mentioned in this mishna were talking about these squares of pink slime when they asked the servant for some bread to help the salty herring go down. It’s much more likely they would have recognised the regal black Shmaltz Herring of England.

The English Jewish community prefers to eat their Shmaltz Herring either with a biegal or on a cracker which is common to all United Synagogue Kiddushim, along with bridge rolls and chopped herring and cocktail fried fish balls. It is of course a minhag at every Kiddush to recite the following joke over the black stuff: You hold a cracker up to your ear and ask “What’s this?” to which you are supposed to reply “a herring aid”. (Boom boom).

As just mentioned, there is one Jewish food which is guaranteed to be found in every kosher food outlet in Britain. The classic fried fish ball. This basic Jewish food stuff of Anglo Jewry is incredibly versatile, suitable for any occasion and perfect for picnics. It can also be bought from every Tesco supermarket kosher department. Well I say department, it’s actually one foot of shelf space, squeezed between the seafood and the pork section. If you are lucky they’ll have some cheddar cheese, tubes of Swedish roe and some Blooms vieners. However you can always guarantee they’ll have a packet of fish balls. These balls which for some are the last connection they have to Judaism before they sink into the abyss of assimilation are of course no where to be found in Israel.

An English friend’s wife (also English) decided to make boiled and fried fish balls, English style, for a Kiddush she was hosting for her extended family. During the Kiddush, her daughter spoke to her and told her that the daughter’s mother-in-law (an Israeli) wanted to know why her mother was serving cold kneidalach and cold falafel balls with chrain at the Kiddush.

In my opinion, a Shabbos Cholent is not complete without Kishkeh, as Ashkenazi as Gefilta fish. The good news is that you can buy Kishkeh in Israel. The bad news is that the Israelis seem to think that it’s a good idea to put Sefardi style hot spices in it. Why? It’s like eating Gefilta fish with Schug!

Of course Ashkenasim eat their Gefilta fish with red chrain. It’s a tradition to write “Extra Hot” on the label even though it’s as sweet as strawberry jam. This exclusively Ashkenazi relish is the subject of much frustration when Pesach arrives. Try and find a jar of chrain in Israel that doesn’t say “le ochlei kitniot vilvad” – for those who eat kitniot only, i.e. only the Sefardim! Someone’s idea of a joke obviously.

Anyway, enough of this banter. I thought I’d leave you with some easy English recipes, adapted for the Israeli supermarket.

Fried Fish balls

1 kg Minced Bakala fish. (Also called dag Argentini). If you happen to find a fresh fish shop then you can ask them to mince it for you. Otherwise you’ll have to do this yourself.

1 large onion, minced.

2 large eggs.

Matza Meal to bind

Salt and pepper and sugar to taste.

Squeeze out as much water as possible from the minced fish. Place in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and onions. Stir in the matza meal until you are able to make a ball with you hands without it disintegrating. Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Leave mixture for 15 minutes. Meanwhile pour up to an inch (2 cm) of oil into your frying pan and heat. Place a few drops of mixture into the pan and wait for them to start sizzling as an indication that the oil is now hot enough to fry. Prepare a tray and cover with kitchen roll paper or some white serviettes to place the cooked balls into. The paper will soak up the excess oil.

Wet your hands and make balls approximately the size of a kneidelach and gently place in the pan. Remove when dark golden brown on all sides.

Serve cold.

Chopped Herring.

500g of pickled herring (including skin) and onions in vinegar liquor. (Keep the liquor)

1 Large sour apple

Sliced white bread
2 tsp sugar. (If the liquor already contains sugar then reduce amount).

2 hard boiled eggs for optional topping.

Remove the herring and onions from the liquor and blend with the apple.

Place mixture in a mixing bowl. Place two slices of bread (after removing the crust) on a plate. Mix in just enough of the vinegar liquor so that bread becomes a thick paste. Mix this into the fish. If the herring mixture is too runny then add another slice of bread.

Add sugar to taste.

Some sprinkle with chopped boiled eggs. Some serve on a bed of lettuce.