Rabbi Claude's Scribbles

 The Defence Lawyer in full flow is in the process of delivering their closing argument which they hope will convince the jury of their client’s innocence.  We’ve sat there for two hours, in the dark, on tenterhooks, waiting for this very moment.  Will they succeed? ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, ‘The Verdict’, ‘Denial’, ‘A Few Good Men’, ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ along with some fine John Grisham adaptations such as ‘A Time to Kill’ and ‘The Rainmaker’ are examples of some gripping courtroom dramas that leave us sitting on the edge of our seats.  That is, unless we’ve been in that situation ourselves and are averse to watching them in the first place! Around thirty years ago, my father was part of a group of Jewish retirees who acted in ‘Am Dram’ productions which were written and produced by a very talented lady who had been an actress in her youth.  Being a fellow American, she took a shine to my dad and liked to give him the juiciest roles in her murder-mysteries.  He was usually

“Oh no—not he! How can you accuse him is a mystery Save him—take me Benjamin is straighter than the tall palm tree.” (Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, taken from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) The story of Joseph’s encounters with his estranged brothers, in both Mikeitz and the start of Vayigash, could be described in the words of Winston Churchill as being akin to ‘a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’ Summing up their first meeting, the following takes place: 1.     The impact of the famine in Canaan has forced Yaakov to send the ten brothers down to Egypt where there is grain.   He forbids them from including Benjamin in their party. 2.     They stand before Joseph and although he recognizes them, they don’t realise who he is. 3.     He accuses them of being spies and prohibits them from leaving Egypt until they return with Benjamin. 4.     He jails his brothers for three days and then only agrees to allow them to leave on the conditi

 In 2012, Stephnie and I had not managed to secure tickets for the Olympics in the various ballots and this was the next best thing. We wanted to visit the Olympic Village and tried to obtain tickets for the Paralympics. We were successful and on 9 th September, watched Iran beat Brazil 5-0. There were 11,597 of us in attendance, witnessing two seven-a-side teams comprised up of blind footballers kicking around a football into which a bell-like instrument had been inserted. It was a strange experience to say the least and to date, the only football match I have attended. Had I been to Wembley, the largest capacity football stadium in the UK, for a Cup Final, I might have known what it would feel like to be surrounded by 89,999 other spectators. This is my way of describing how extraordinary it felt to be a participant in the March Against Antisemitism in London a few weeks ago. According to the Campaign Against Antisemitism, who derived their figures from sources which included thei