Saturday, December 1, 2012

Baruch O'Farrell

At a pre-Chanukah function at the NSW Knesset last month, Premier Barry O'Farrell told the assembled worthies of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and pollywaffles from both sides of the Knesset that the Hebrew word baruch, which means 'blessed', is "the first word you will hear when the menorah is lit."

He then went on, or so the Australian Jewish News reports, to inform his audience that "baruch... is Hebrew for Barry," and joked that it "has a wonderful ring to it because it means I'm blessed." (Barry's our 'blessed Premier, 16/11/12)

Blessed indeed are the people of NSW to have Baruch O'Farrell, as he will henceforth be referred to in this blog, presiding over the affairs of their state.

And blessed too are the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth because Baruch O'Farrell has given the Shooters & Fishers Party dominion over them (or at least those in NSW national parks and coastal waters) to protect and - ahem - conserve, much as Lord Balfour of yore gave Chaim Weizmann's Zionist Organisation dominion over Palestine, "it... ahem... being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish communities" there.

So please join with me in congratulating Baruch O'Farrell on the occasion of the presentation to him, by The Zionist Council of NSW, The Zionist Federation of Australia and The World Zionist Organisation, of The Jerusalem Prize, a truly blessed event scheduled to take place in Sydney on December 10.

1 comment:

Vacy said...

Two days later, Baruch was to be key speaker at the Palestinian National Day event at NSW Parliament but neither he nor a replacement turned up. It was a blatant insult to the Palestinians.