@rabbiromain.bsky.social
They're making the same mistake over the Epstein files as before: going for the big names - previously the then Prince Andrew & now President Trump - but the real villain are those dozens (hundreds?) of other men who also abused women. Expose the structure, not just the pinnacle.
November 13, 2025 at 8:37 AM
They're making the same mistake over the Epstein files as before: going for the big names - previously the then Prince Andrew & now President Trump - but the real villain are those dozens (hundreds?) of other men who also abused women. Expose the structure, not just the pinnacle.
What is the difference between truth and 'alternative facts' (a.k.a. lies)? More importantly, how did we get to a position where the latter are so accepted? Great question asked at St George's, Windsor last night by Revd. Canon Hueston Finlay in his Elson lecture.
November 12, 2025 at 8:37 AM
What is the difference between truth and 'alternative facts' (a.k.a. lies)? More importantly, how did we get to a position where the latter are so accepted? Great question asked at St George's, Windsor last night by Revd. Canon Hueston Finlay in his Elson lecture.
I tried to play spot the difference but failed totally:
I was at a joint 3-day meeting of nearly all Reform & Liberal rabbis in the UK...discussed lots of topics....but almost impossible to tell which camp any person came from...which is why we are uniting as Progressive rabbis.
I was at a joint 3-day meeting of nearly all Reform & Liberal rabbis in the UK...discussed lots of topics....but almost impossible to tell which camp any person came from...which is why we are uniting as Progressive rabbis.
November 11, 2025 at 8:21 AM
I tried to play spot the difference but failed totally:
I was at a joint 3-day meeting of nearly all Reform & Liberal rabbis in the UK...discussed lots of topics....but almost impossible to tell which camp any person came from...which is why we are uniting as Progressive rabbis.
I was at a joint 3-day meeting of nearly all Reform & Liberal rabbis in the UK...discussed lots of topics....but almost impossible to tell which camp any person came from...which is why we are uniting as Progressive rabbis.
The BBC DG may have resigned over the Trump edit, & others issues need attention, but the answer is not to weaken the BBC but to strengthen its funding. Anyone who has lived abroad for a short while will know how valued it is by both ex-pats and by foreign populations themselves.
November 10, 2025 at 8:31 AM
The BBC DG may have resigned over the Trump edit, & others issues need attention, but the answer is not to weaken the BBC but to strengthen its funding. Anyone who has lived abroad for a short while will know how valued it is by both ex-pats and by foreign populations themselves.
I have often walked past the Cenotaph unthinkingly, usually with my mind on meetings I was about to have....but today brings home the enormity of how many lives were lost, of so much unfulfilled promise, the wit & wisdom that died, and the children never born. It's horrendous.
November 9, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I have often walked past the Cenotaph unthinkingly, usually with my mind on meetings I was about to have....but today brings home the enormity of how many lives were lost, of so much unfulfilled promise, the wit & wisdom that died, and the children never born. It's horrendous.
It's interfaith week....which may not seem very exciting to some, but is one of the great religious success stories of the last sixty years...when after centuries of rivalry & persecutions, religions found they had more in common than divided them...& God preferred love to hate
November 7, 2025 at 9:42 AM
It's interfaith week....which may not seem very exciting to some, but is one of the great religious success stories of the last sixty years...when after centuries of rivalry & persecutions, religions found they had more in common than divided them...& God preferred love to hate
Here's how to get the Epstein files & the names of perpetrators in the USA opened up: wives & partners should unite in solidarity with the victims & refuse conjugal relations till the evidence is released by the men in political control. The Greek women did it once and it worked!
November 6, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Here's how to get the Epstein files & the names of perpetrators in the USA opened up: wives & partners should unite in solidarity with the victims & refuse conjugal relations till the evidence is released by the men in political control. The Greek women did it once and it worked!
At last! The Government review of state education looks set to take the RE syllabus out of local SACRE control & be part of the National Curriculum. It's such a vital topic, not only about religion but in our multi-faith society RE can help social cohesion by understanding others.
November 5, 2025 at 8:28 AM
At last! The Government review of state education looks set to take the RE syllabus out of local SACRE control & be part of the National Curriculum. It's such a vital topic, not only about religion but in our multi-faith society RE can help social cohesion by understanding others.
I'm not a Tel Aviv Maccabi fan, but I hope they win against Aston Villa tomorrow; AV have behaved badly in banning all TAM fans rather than targeting known trouble-makers as they would do with any other team's fans. Maybe they're more worried about AV fans being violent?
November 4, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I'm not a Tel Aviv Maccabi fan, but I hope they win against Aston Villa tomorrow; AV have behaved badly in banning all TAM fans rather than targeting known trouble-makers as they would do with any other team's fans. Maybe they're more worried about AV fans being violent?
Yesterday's attack on the LNER train was horrific, but we need to know if it was a one-off or one of many (albeit less violent) incidents. If the latter, then safety needs to be stepped up, but if not then let's support the victims but not go over-drive into knee-jerk reactions.
November 3, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Yesterday's attack on the LNER train was horrific, but we need to know if it was a one-off or one of many (albeit less violent) incidents. If the latter, then safety needs to be stepped up, but if not then let's support the victims but not go over-drive into knee-jerk reactions.
Isn't it time that - instead of concentrating on former Prince Andrew - the FBI released the names of the other men it already has evidence against and it started legal proceedings? What could possibly be delaying them (except for powerful vested interests)? Victims first please
November 2, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Isn't it time that - instead of concentrating on former Prince Andrew - the FBI released the names of the other men it already has evidence against and it started legal proceedings? What could possibly be delaying them (except for powerful vested interests)? Victims first please
So the Andrew formerly known as Prince has lost his home & title, but what about all the other (?) men who abused women under Jeffrey Epstein's control. The fall of Andrew should not take the spotlight off them and the hunt to discover those hiding more fearfully than before. Who's next?
October 31, 2025 at 8:01 AM
So the Andrew formerly known as Prince has lost his home & title, but what about all the other (?) men who abused women under Jeffrey Epstein's control. The fall of Andrew should not take the spotlight off them and the hunt to discover those hiding more fearfully than before. Who's next?
On Monday I was part of the @unherd panel on Israel & British Jewry. A key point was the meaning of 'Zionism': Very simple: originally it meant the creation of the state of Israel; since 1948 it meant its maintenance - that's all, nothing about where are its borders. That's why I am a Zionist.
October 29, 2025 at 6:48 AM
On Monday I was part of the @unherd panel on Israel & British Jewry. A key point was the meaning of 'Zionism': Very simple: originally it meant the creation of the state of Israel; since 1948 it meant its maintenance - that's all, nothing about where are its borders. That's why I am a Zionist.
The "black adverts" row shows why Reform is both appealing and dangerous; see today's Times:
October 28, 2025 at 9:05 AM
The "black adverts" row shows why Reform is both appealing and dangerous; see today's Times:
Reading FC have just sacked our manager Noel Hunt. The fans were not calling for his dismissal, as he's still popular, but I guess the new owners wanted better results. So the manager-merry-go-round means we'll probably get someone who is free as he was sacked by his last club!!
October 27, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Reading FC have just sacked our manager Noel Hunt. The fans were not calling for his dismissal, as he's still popular, but I guess the new owners wanted better results. So the manager-merry-go-round means we'll probably get someone who is free as he was sacked by his last club!!
thanks for the update! ....but at least the fact that I hadn't heard about it till now means that such voices have limited currency and bigotry "just isn't wot it used to be"
I'm afraid this is almost exactly what happened. Just with a different member of the Paisley family.
King Charles should abdicate if he prays with the Pope, says Kyle Paisley
The son of Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) founder Ian Paisley says the King would not be
www.bbc.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 4:53 PM
thanks for the update! ....but at least the fact that I hadn't heard about it till now means that such voices have limited currency and bigotry "just isn't wot it used to be"
There were no thunderclaps when the King met the Pope this week, but go back a few years and an Ian Paisley would have fulminated about abominations & praying with the devil; so a sign of religious progress, though it took a few centuries, but can we move faster in future please
October 26, 2025 at 9:40 AM
There were no thunderclaps when the King met the Pope this week, but go back a few years and an Ian Paisley would have fulminated about abominations & praying with the devil; so a sign of religious progress, though it took a few centuries, but can we move faster in future please
Lord Winston, who has done so much medically for so many people, is spot on when he surmises that it'd be wrong for those of faith to impose their views on assisted dying on people of other faiths or no faith. Bishops beware! Hold your own views but don't force them on others.
October 24, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Lord Winston, who has done so much medically for so many people, is spot on when he surmises that it'd be wrong for those of faith to impose their views on assisted dying on people of other faiths or no faith. Bishops beware! Hold your own views but don't force them on others.
What a contrast! The Supreme Governor of the Church (the King) will pray with the Pope today.....a few days after many Anglicans broke away from the Church over female Archbishop & same-sex marriage. Differences within a faith are often even more toxic as those between faiths.
October 23, 2025 at 7:26 AM
What a contrast! The Supreme Governor of the Church (the King) will pray with the Pope today.....a few days after many Anglicans broke away from the Church over female Archbishop & same-sex marriage. Differences within a faith are often even more toxic as those between faiths.
So good to see the King visit the Manchester Synagogue that was attacked - a picture says a thousand words - in this case: the attack was atrocious, anti-semitism needs to be condemned & combatted, Jews have full protection of the law as much as anyone else, the royals care too.
October 22, 2025 at 6:43 AM
So good to see the King visit the Manchester Synagogue that was attacked - a picture says a thousand words - in this case: the attack was atrocious, anti-semitism needs to be condemned & combatted, Jews have full protection of the law as much as anyone else, the royals care too.
Is the Maccabi Tel Aviv ban due to sheer stupidity, over-nervousness, being anti-Israel or anti-semitism? They probably vary according to the different decision-takers. Banning individual trouble-makers is fine, but a blanket ban smacks of all of the above.
October 21, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Is the Maccabi Tel Aviv ban due to sheer stupidity, over-nervousness, being anti-Israel or anti-semitism? They probably vary according to the different decision-takers. Banning individual trouble-makers is fine, but a blanket ban smacks of all of the above.
Well done the Met police in stopping investigations into non crime hate incidents. We should be free to opine - even if it is taken as an insult - so long as we don't encourage hate or harm. If people want to be rude about me, ok, big deal, not pleasant but it's their right.
October 21, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Well done the Met police in stopping investigations into non crime hate incidents. We should be free to opine - even if it is taken as an insult - so long as we don't encourage hate or harm. If people want to be rude about me, ok, big deal, not pleasant but it's their right.
I wonder how people like Prince Andrew & former Archbishop Justin Welby cope after being humiliated so publicly & having to live with being constantly reminded of their downfall - although John Profumo (devoting the rest of this life to good works) may be a good example for them
October 19, 2025 at 7:39 AM
I wonder how people like Prince Andrew & former Archbishop Justin Welby cope after being humiliated so publicly & having to live with being constantly reminded of their downfall - although John Profumo (devoting the rest of this life to good works) may be a good example for them
If her husband had taken his own life in the UK, the police would have supported Louise; but because he did it in an orderly safe medical way abroad (at Dignitas) & she went with to look after him, she was nearly prosecuted. How fair or just is that? Let's make assisted dying legal here.
The blanket ban on assisted dying in this country has put Louise - and too many like her - through more than any grieving widow should have to experience. I join Louise in her relief that this process is over. But it should never have happened.
news.sky.com/video/assist...
news.sky.com/video/assist...
Assisted dying: Woman 'does not regret' taking sick husband to Dignitas
Louise Shackleton who took her sick husband to end his life at Dignitas in Switzerland says it is "unfair to be treated like criminals" and she "doesn't regret it".
news.sky.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If her husband had taken his own life in the UK, the police would have supported Louise; but because he did it in an orderly safe medical way abroad (at Dignitas) & she went with to look after him, she was nearly prosecuted. How fair or just is that? Let's make assisted dying legal here.
What does Uruguay and so many other countries around the world appreciate that some in the House of Lords do not and are trying to obstruct? Those peers don't have to have an assisted death if they don't want - I may not either, but I do want other people to have that option. It is human right.
Uruguay has legalised assisted dying with a 2/3 majority in the senate.
Uruguay follows Colombia and Ecuador, which decriminalised assisted dying through Supreme Court decisions.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Uruguay follows Colombia and Ecuador, which decriminalised assisted dying through Supreme Court decisions.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Uruguay legalises euthanasia
The Dignified Death bill was passed in the senate, with 20 out of 31 legislators voting in favour.
www.bbc.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:29 PM
What does Uruguay and so many other countries around the world appreciate that some in the House of Lords do not and are trying to obstruct? Those peers don't have to have an assisted death if they don't want - I may not either, but I do want other people to have that option. It is human right.