Let me start by saying that my upbringing was very firmly secular. My family made it clear from a young age that belief in a supreme being was the folly of the idiot or those on the lower echelons of society. We were intellectuals and therefore did not hold to any belief other than those based in ‘science’. My family were however, Jewish by race and so we did partake in the Jewish holidays and festivals and even attended the local reform synagogue on a semi-regular basis, however it was constantly affirmed that these were merely cultural exercises and nothing more.

My grandmother was a Jewish communist and was responsible for my firm Jewish identity, herself being brought up in a kosher home. However this also instilled me with socialist principles from a very young age. In fact at a young age I can remember going on Anti-War marches and even telling teachers that I was communist, laughing at those who subscribed to the Christian faith.

Despite this, since I can remember, I have had a keen interest in politics, philosophy and religion. I can remember being eager to go to synagogue at around age nine, not for religious purposes, but again for a sense of heritage. On my tenth birthday I was given a kippah by my mother and father (along with a Complete Works of Shakespeare).

How truly exceptional Foundations 7 was!  I have not been to any of the previous Foundations conferences but for me Foundations 7 was quite literally the best Christian conference that I have ever attended.  And I am not prone to exaggeration – knowing full well that exaggeration is a form of lies.

The Foundations vision began in 2012 in mid-winter as an experiment. After six more “experiments” in subsequent years we finally feel that, with Foundations 7 this April, we have “cracked it”. We have arrived at the beginnings of a model for a different kind of Christian conference, one that is informed by Hebraic principles, rather than the rigid structures that have become the norm in the Christian world. Here’s how David Andrew, one of our Bible teachers, explained it:

 This being our third 'Foundations', Agnes and I have been completely won over by the completely 'outside of the box' experience - a feature which has successively developed and improved with each year. Although we are blessed with a great many fine conferences and teachers, it's not normal for Christian gatherings to challenge the stubborn structures of religion that can so easily leave us 'well-taught but still caught' in the sticky webs of western Gentile / Greek religiosity that we have never thought to question because ... we have never thought! Although I'm sure it's not the intention of organisers or speakers or the 'punters', I think that the effect all too often is to provide 'entertainment for the troops' that ensures them a good meal but essentially changes nothing and leaves moribund structures unchallenged. Not so Foundations!

It's been an average kind of week for Jews in Britain. Here are a few recent items which you may have read in the Jewish Chronicle.

A speaker at London's School of Oriental and African Studies claimed that Zionists were mobilising subversive power to "outlaw" criticism of their activities, "Zionism was a parallel movement to Nazism" and Zionists "conspired to try and increase antisemitism in order to force Jews to Palestine".

Sheffield Hallam University in South Yorkshire was ordered to compensate a disabled Jewish student for failing to address his complaints about rampant Jew-hatred and Israel-bashing on campus.

He had complained about social media posts written by Sheffield's Palestine Society which included the blood libel that Israel harvests the organs of Palestinians, compared Bethlehem to the Warsaw Ghetto and referred to Zionists as Nazi criminals.

A Facebook group for UK Independence Party supporters suggested there was a Jewish conspiracy behind last week's High Court ruling against the Government over leaving the EU.