Derek Taylor, at The Blogs

Apply for a Blog

Jul 21, 2023, 11:20 AM

We’ve got the story straight now, even if it’s taken 133 years

Nobody is suggesting that being chief executive of the United Synagogue is an easy job. Jo Grose is presiding over the largest group of Orthodox synagogues in Europe and deserves all the support we can give. It is a pity, therefore, that she has to...

Sep 23, 2022, 3:33 PM

Following in the footsteps of Charles I and II

King (then Prince) Charles with Chief Rabbis Lord Jonathan Sacks and Efraim Mirvis, wearing his special Kippa with the Prince of Wales emblem

Well, presumably in due course we will get William V and George VII. At the moment though it’s Charles III, who like his ancestor, has always been a good friend to the Jewish community. Charles II doesn’t get the credit for letting us back into...

Sep 2, 2022, 1:55 PM

A little problem with the nation’s midwives

Illustrative: Newborn babies in a Jerusalem hospital. (Flash90)

About 4,500 babies are stillborn in Britain every year. The grief at that bereavement is terribly hard to handle. The poor mother is, therefore, lucky to have trained and sympathetic midwives to help her with the trauma, but this is under threat. It is surprising...

Aug 12, 2022, 11:58 AM

Water, water, everywhere but enough to drink?

Credit: Flickr

I know you’ve worked hard on your garden, but it looks as if a hosepipe ban is going to stop you watering the lawn and the flower beds very soon. So whose fault is that? “They ought to trust the County Council. This would be...

Aug 1, 2022, 12:56 PM

Charities exist to help the underprivileged, not to be holier than thou

Prince Charles (Jewish News)

Life would be much easier if you could select your parents while still in the womb. Unfortunately this is not possible and there are any number of youngsters who do not have loving parents, possessing substantial incomes, comfortable homes and high IQs. For 43,000 young...

Jul 28, 2022, 1:54 PM

Deja vu all over again: History repeats itself with Sunak versus Truss

American media commentator Will Rogers.

So who is going to be our next prime minister? Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss (in alphabetical order) are telling us that disaster is on the horizon, and only they can avert it. Inflation, drought, the Northern Ireland protocol, militant unions, climate change, covid,...

Jun 19, 2022, 2:08 PM

What’s in a name? From Temple Fortune to Stamford Hill

We usually believe that we first came to this country at the invitation of William the Conqueror. Long before that though, in 470, Elgbright, the Archbishop of York, specifically told his flock not to have anything to do with Jewish festivals. Edward the Confessor, on...

Jun 7, 2022, 7:29 PM

What we need is a new party

Well, the Platinum Jubilee celebrations are over and what a credit they were to everybody who took part. Of course, the real workers behind the scenes are often hidden away from us. The producer of the tremendously complicated four day event, for example, was a...

May 30, 2022, 5:14 PM

The Queen’s reign has seen seismic change in the way we live together

There is one tradition about coronation days which we can do without. The weather was not good for the Queen, George VI, Edward VIII, George V and Edward VII. It was alright for Queen Victoria but that was nearly 200 years ago. This week’s Platinum...

May 12, 2022, 6:53 PM

Your call is very important to us. So enjoy this bland 80s hit for next 40 mins

The Daily Mail is launching a campaign to make companies pay a fine if they don’t answer the phone in 10 minutes. I hope they are successful – but the standards they are setting are pathetic. Fifty years ago I had a job which involved...

Load more

About Me

Derek is an author & former editor of the Jewish Year Book