Chas Newkey-Burden's Blog, page 18

Good old Peter!

Silly but true: as a kid, I thought God’s name was Peter. I kept mishearing in church when the vicar said: “Thanks be to God.” Have a lovely week everyone.

Happy Volentine’s Day!

I’ve always been a fan of voles. They’re so cute. Did you know that some species of voles form lifelong, monogamous partnerships? This is brilliant, and it’s rare in the animal kingdom – fewer than five percent of mammals are habitually monogamous. Wonderfully, there is even a book called Make Love Like A Prairie Vole, [...]

The Nanach workout video

Want to get into shape? Of course you do, you minxes. Well, there’s no need to waste your money on celebrity fitness DVDs, or to shiver to and from the gym. Instead, let the Nanachs heroically guide you into shape… Read why I love the Nanachs here. Visit their website here.

A quick smile…

Thankfully, there is growing compassion over issues such as depression and addiction. But what about loneliness? It’s a real problem, particularly among the elderly. Who in your neighbourhood could benefit from a quick smile from you today?

Ward, Bell, and the games they play

David Ward MP and cartoonist Steve Bell have recently provoked controversies about criticism of Israel, antisemitism, and where the two phenomena meet. Each episode followed a familiar pattern. Here is the David Ward episode in brief… His starting point: a belief that one cannot say anything remotely critical of Israeli policy without being accused of [...]

An afternoon with Gilad Shalit

When Gilad Shalit was on the brink of freedom, I wrote about a particular resonance his case held for me, and recalled my experiences during the years of campaigning for him. I was privileged to spend the afternoon with him yesterday. I felt nervous as I travelled to meet Gilad. I wondered what emotional state [...]

A pep talk from ‘Kid President’

This is just magnificent. Watch, enjoy and share! In other news, I had an amazing experience on Saturday. I’ll be posting about it very soon so stay tuned.

Etti Anrki: Beshirei Rabbi Yehuda Halevi

I had never heard of Etti Ankri until I read about her in Daniel Gordis’ interesting new book, The Promise of Israel. In the book, he absolutely raves about her album Beshirei Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, which sets the poetry of the 12th-century Spanish rabbi Yehuda Halevi to music. So I gave it a spin as [...]

Holocaust Memorial Day 2013

Again, I am reminded of this passage from Shoah survivor Elie Wiesel’s spellbinding book Souls on Fire: Portraits and Legends of Hasidic Masters: ‘What cannot help but astound us is that the Hasidim remained the Hasidim inside the ghetto walls, inside the death camps. In the shadow of the executioner, they celebrated life. Startled Germans [...]

David Ward plays the ‘you of all people’ card

The Holocaust Educational Trust has accused Liberal Democrat MP David Ward of “deliberately abusing the memory of the Holocaust, causing deep pain and offence” after he compared the Israeli government to the Nazis, and accused “the Jews” of inflicting “daily atrocities” on the Palestinians. His statement was peculiar, not least its choice of words. He [...]