The most significant ending and beginning in the whole of the Jewish year is upon us. The Torah is the core of Jewish identity, the document from which ultimately we derive our identity as a Jewish nation, our system of belief, the customs that identify us as Jews, the book that names us the People of the Book.

Although the universal custom these days in Orthodox communities is to read the whole of the Torah every year, this was to begin with neither unanimous nor preordained. In the days before Hebrew – English Chumashim, the custom developed of having a Meturgeman, an official who would translate the Torah reading into the venacular, Aramaic. Translation is a form of interpretation as well, and evidence of a translator interpreting the Bible is to be found in the New Testament.

This began to alarm the rabbinical authorities, and they needed an authorised translation of the Torah which could be confidently used in Jewish communities. A convert to Judaism, probably a Roman named Aquilas, marked his conversion by translating the Torah into Aramaic. This work, known as “Targum Onkelos” became the universal standard and is printed in Hebrew Chumashim to this day.

However reading and then translating took up twice the time, and for many centuries the custom was to read the Torah once every three years.

Gradually this custom disappeared, and from early mediaeval times it was felt that the annual Torah reading should be marked with particular ceremony, hence Simchat Torah, when one cycle of Torah reading came to an end and another began. The festival that emerged is not a day for riotous behaviour. Joyful and happy, it celebrates our identity as Jews and the unique gift to us of our character and distinctiveness. It is in fact a rejoicing at the privilege of being Jewish.

I am writing this on the day after Yom Kippur from Radlett, an active Jewish community in South West Hertfordshire, almost rural but with excellent transport links. The result has been a massive expansion in Jewish settlement over the last 30 years, and it is the place which above all I regard as home in the United Kingdom. In the absence of a permanent Rabbi I have been acting as locum to the Orthodox synagogue.

The Day of Atonement marks both endings and beginnings, and we now stand at the beginning of a new period in the Middle East.

In political terms, Israel clearly finds itself at a watershed of movements and possibilities. There are signs of new political groupings both within Israel and with surrounding nations, which itself brings fresh possibilities. In particular the realisation of an informal alliance between Israel Egypt and Saudi Arabia, all scared by Muslim extremism opens opportunities that until now have been beyond realistic contemplation. At the same time the long overdue realisation by the disastrous Obama administration of what is really going on in the Middle East, and who really are America’s true enemies, is refreshing. Washington has actually had a rare moment of lucidity, no doubt helped by the fact that it is almost certainly Israeli intelligence that is vital in programming the attacks on the mediaeval Islamic state.

The festival period brings with it a lull in Israeli political activity. Bibi’s standing seems to have been enhanced by his performance at the United Nations, and equally by Abbas’ failure to appear as any sort of statesman. Having accused Israel of “genocide” (about 1000 civilians died in Gaza while the Syrian death toll is in excess of 200,000 and rising) Abbas has failed to be seen as the man who might be able to bring some sort of peaceful accord in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Endings and beginnings – the opportunities that have ended are clear, the possibilities that might be opening are fascinating!

In Israel things seem to be quiet and people are getting on with their lives. The schools went back on 1^st September, to the considerable relief of parents. They are however about to break up again just before Yom Kippur and will be closed until after Sukkot. There are a large number of vested interests in the Israeli education system which needs a major makeover.

In the Knesset I anticipate some political bloodletting. Accusations are beginning to be exchanged regarding what did or didn’t happen in Operation Protective Edge, and how much was or wasn’t known about the tunnels. Jews have always been argumentative since the days of Moses, but the real problem in Israeli politics at the moment is that there is no credible leader apart from Netanyahu and until one emerges he is fairly safe no matter what does.

That is not to say that the Israeli government has in any way lost its disturbing ability to say the wrong things at the wrong time. I take no view as to whether or not another settlement is needed in the West Bank, although I am irritated by British (often Jewish) pundits who feel themselves entitled to express a view based on complete ignorance of the facts. The Rabbis were very wise when they said “Ain shemiya dome lireiya – hearing is not as good as seeing it for yourself.”

What does disturb me is the timing, which in politics is everything. If it is true that the pressure on Netanyahu to announce the new town on the West Bank came from other members of his coalition, then that is one of the major disadvantages of coalition politics. In Britain however you are beginning to understand the problems of coalitions!

I had the pleasure of visiting Rabbi Dee in Efrat this week, and received a totally new perspective on what is going on in the area generally referred to as the West Bank.

Efrat started life as a settlement in 1983, peopled significantly by national religious Jews who believed as a matter of religion that they should settle in Judea. It is probably true that had the Arabs made peace immediately after their crushing defeat in 1967 the various settlements and towns in the West Bank might never have been built. However the Arab ability to ignore reality, so carefully fostered by the Western democracies, created a vacuum which the Jews ultimately filled.

The leadership of the charismatic Rabbi Shlomo Riskin from New York and the establishment there of a modern Orthodox yeshiva (which among many others trained both Rabbi Sylvester and Rabbi Dee, both Rabbis of Radlett United Synagogue) caused Efrat to grow significantly.

The areas known in Israel as Judaea and Samaria are actually full of a number of flourishing towns. Maale Adumim and Gilo among others are suburbs of Jerusalem. Towns like Efrat and Gush Etzion are significant centres. Efrat is now a town with a fast-growing population of people who settle there not because of religious or political ideology but because it is a very pleasant place to live, with an extremely good school system and a very broad approach to Judaism in the modern age.

Efrat is surrounded by prosperous Arab villages with quality housing and cars. These Arabs are comfortable and settled being part of Israeli development. The education medical care and Social Security that they receive is superior to anything that the Arabs receive in other areas, let alone Gaza, and they come under the protection of the rule of law in Israel, rather than brutal anarchy.