Levi Brackman’s Website

... Xmas even after they all became religious. Each Xmas when I was a child we used to have a special lunch at our grandparents' home, served, in true British fashion, before the Queen's speech on 25th December. All right, they did away with th......

A couple of years ago I was invited on to the Esther Rantzen show to talk about whether children need fathers. Obviously I was arguing for the motion, but one of the women arguing against it had a son conceived by artificial insemination who till thi...

As I was writing this article something happened to me that has never occurred to me before. I got what is known as writers block. I just could not continue writing. I found myself painfully extracting one word at a time. So I decided to take a walk,...

In order to effect permanent personal transformation for the better, a change of circumstances does not suffice   What will be the end in Iraq? March 2003 saw the downfall of Saddam Hussein’s tyrannical regime. Indeed, over the past few ye...

Passover is the time of year to throw off our individual enslavements and emancipate ourselves to achieve the desires of our authentic self—our soul In the West and especially in the USA people pride themselves on  being free. Indeed it ...

Purim makes us realize that when it comes to the suffering of others it is always our business Human made tragedies are usually the design of a few with the passive acquiescence of the many. Great good is also usually inspired by the writings or vis...

The message of Chanukah tells us that we should not compromise our inner persona, our core values and beliefs, for outer, material gains and to never offer up home and family life on the alter career and outer success   We are multifaceted huma...

Making a point not to celebrate Christmas is a powerful way of emphasizing our Jewish identity and saving our children from identity issues in the future Since my weekly column appears on Friday, I was not planning on writing about the Seattle Inter...

This weekend celebrates the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. According to the Hebrew Bible, this day was also the sixth day of creation, the day God created humans. A birthday should be more than just a celebration of age; it should be a day for intr...

Life is all about relationships. We have work-related relationships, we have acquaintances, we have friendships, familial and intimate relationships. Maimonides, one of Judaism’s greatest scholars, wrote that man is a social animal. We have no ...

Freedom is a huge issue in America today. Indeed, some maintain that we are currently fighting a war to preserve our freedoms. But how many of us actually appreciate what this freedom means? How many of us ensure that we use this privilege to the bes...

The Passover Seder is a time when families get together. However, often because of the long readings from the Haggadah the Seder can become difficult – people become edgy, arguments can break out and the whole experience can become rather dishe...

This Shabbat is the fifteenth day of the month of Av. Some in Israel markthis day with a “Festival of Love” and commemorate it with all night rock concerts, most noticeably on the shores of Lake Kineret. There are also those who celebrate...

Thousands of self-help books have been published offering guidance to men and women pursuing romantic relationships. With so much help at hand one might have thought that this generation would be experiencing the most fulfilling relationships ever. T...

My teenage years were spent thirsting for a big idea. I was searching for something that would catch my imagination. Although I went to an Orthodox Jewish school, there was nothing I was taught that fired my passion. In fact, by the age of sixteen I ...

On Pesach we celebrate the emancipation of the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Less then two months after the Children of Israel left Egypt they stood at the foot of mount Sinai to receive the Torah from G-d. The Torah is a book of Laws tha...

My grandparents moved to the UK from mainland Europe in the 1930s. Upon setting up home they made a conscious decision that their children should be British first – being Jewish came a distant second. Thus, my mother and her siblings were bro...

According to the following Midrash, victory is the theme of Sukkot: The divine judgment on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is comparable to a civil dispute being judged in a court of law. And the first day of Sukkot is akin to the end of the court case ...

Many refer to Sukkot as the festival of Jewish unity. The Midrash (Agadah Leviticus 23) tells us that the "Four Species" (the citron, palm branch, myrtle and willow) that Jews shake on Sukkot represent four disparate types of Jews. Holding ...

As a teacher, rabbi and writer I am fortunate to be able to interact positively with many people. Often people come to speak with me or join a class that I give with a passionate craving for spiritual knowledge and inspiration. Unbeknown to them thei...

How often do we think about other people? Do we really take an interest in anyone other than ourselves? Everything around us - the media, the economy, our jobs - encourages us to be selfish and egocentric. Yes indeed, the world we live in can sometim...

It’s a new fad. Many spas and health clubs have them – they are called “relaxation rooms”.  Many of us live a stress filled existence where the only relaxation we get is when we are sleeping. Even when we are on vacation ...

While waiting to board the plane in Ben Gurion Airport about twelve years ago I got talking to a businessman who was standing in line in front of me. During the course of our conversation he said to me, “I want to tell you something very strang...