It’s hard to believe that already a year has passed since I sent greetings to all last Jewish New Year 5771. Now, on the eve of Jewish New Year 5772, we here in the Holy Land, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, Bedouins and   more, are looking at an uncertain future. 


As the ‘Arab Spring’ fades and pundits predict a ‘Palestinian Autumn’, I don’t want to get political, I just want to wish everybody in this region and around the world peace, happiness and prosperity, and hope that we can all take time to look around us and see that none of us are going anywhere, so we have to find a way to get along together for the betterment of all, for all our families and especially, for our children.

 
Even more than last September we face a momentous year ahead. I’ll continue to send my regular missives outlining my thoughts and opinions on
the matters in hand, and hope that you continue to listen to or read the blog in 5772.

 
Of course, my blog is not just about politics,(although I admit it has been very political of late), it’s about all things dear to me, so I want to pass on three recommendations to you for the near future.

 
First, go see the latest Woody Allen film ‘Midnight in Paris’. Although Woody hasn’t been in top form for much of the last decade, this movie has him right back on top of his game. He isn’t acting in it (much to my wife’s  delight), but he directs Owen Wilson who plays Gil, a romantic writer who goes to Paris for a little inspiration walking in the footsteps of great literary
figures such as Hemmingway, Scott Fitzgerald, and artists such as Picasso,
Gaugin and Toulouse-Lautrec. Wilson plays the lead in one of the most   beautifully photographed movies, with a truly charming and creative storyline, one of the best I’ve seen in a very long while.

 
The film is pure escapism, gently humorous, and is basically a romantic fairytale. The music (as always in Allen’s films), is a delight. Go see it and drift away – for an hour and a half, at least.


Second, go eat in Tel Aviv. I’ve eaten in many destination around   the world but am convinced that Tel Aviv offers the best variety and quality of   food I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. On Sunday, Paz and I spent 24 hours in and around the buzzing coastal city and had thee cracking meals. Lunch was taken in one of the worker’s restaurants (basic, home-cooked food) near the Carmel market. Grilled chicken, majadara, (rice with lentils), beef soup Tunisian style, delicious salads, and amazing ‘crumpet-like’ bread – and as we all know, there’s nothing like a bit of crumpet to put a smile on your face!

 
Dinner at the Thai House restaurant on the corner of Bograshov and Ben Yehuda was simply sensational. I reckon I know a little about genuine Thai cuisine having spent extended periods there over the years, and this is as   good as any Thai food I have ever tasted. And third, (for lunch the following
day), a trip to the rather poor Arab/Jewish town of Ramle, next to Lod, 20
minutes ride from Tel Aviv itself. A place mentioned in the most ancient
scriptures written on the Holy Land, but you won’t find any mention (or at
least, I don’t think you’ll find any mention in the ancients texts), of the
Maharaja Indian restaurant at 87 Herzl Street, opposite the city market.
Vegetarian Indian food of the highest quality in the most unprepossessing of
surroundings, but worth travelling a very long way to sample. If you’re ever in the area, go there for a warm welcome, the sight of Jews and Arabs living and working together in harmony, and stunning Indian food presented by Indian Jews originally of the Cochin region of the former British colony.

 
And finally, it’s more than six months since I made my last betting recommendation to you which was Long Run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He won, and I hope you backed it. On Sunday, Europe’s biggest Flat race, the $4 million Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris, will be run in front of a massive crowd of international racegoers who will flock to the Bois de Bologne to see the best horses in the world race over a mile-and-a-half.

 
I’ve watched all the trial races and followed the form closely and am convinced that the filly, (yes, I think a girl will beat the boys), called Sarafina will win the great race. She was very unlucky-in-running in last  year’s renewal when nearly knocked over two furlongs from home, but still
finished third, and this year has looked better than ever showing a stunning
turn of foot last time out to win easily. Owned and bred by HH The Aga Khan, the leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslim sect, I believe the French-trained four-year-old will triumph and recommend you have a couple of shekels on for an interest at odds of around 4/1; that’s 400% profit if our girl beats the other 18 runners. That’s Sarafina, my New Year’s present to you all – I  hope!

 
And that’s that. Once again, my best wishes to you and your families for a very ‘Happy, Healthy and Successful’ New Year.

Shana Tova,

 
Paul