Stirring September sunsets are a blast

In the old city of Jerusalem there are a tangle of historic tales, waiting to be respun. My droll buddy James Hider, intrigued by the blast that marks the evening meal during the holy month of Ramadan, sought out the Sandouka family that has summoned fasters to dinner for the past century or so with a cannonball. His report appeared in the London Times, and it makes an intriguing read. Uri Lupolianski, the orthodox Mayor of Jerusalem, has no problem with the Arab family that shoots shells at sundown outside the venerable gates. The mayor sided with the traditionalists and derided new rules that would force Sandouka, who has been shooting the signal blast for two decades, to pass a $2000 certification course before handling explosives.

The shots used to be fired from a cannon donated by the Ottoman Empire, at the Old City’s Flowers gate. Twenty years ago, that artillery piece was replaced by a gun donated by Jordan. Now, Mr Sandouka fires a large percussion grenade – a sort of glorified firework that makes a loud boom – from a pipe set up at the gate.
Israeli security forces have insisted that the percussion grenade for Iftar– which does contain explosives – must be delivered every day by an armed Israeli military explosives expert, to make sure that it does not fall into the hands of terrorists.

Despite the security crackdown, festivity reigns. Churchbells clang, shofars sound their single insistent tone, and muezzins sing forth from minarets as the High Holydays and Ramadan converge this year. Nearly all my neighbours are putting up their sukka huts and issuing invitations to dine outside with them in a "Feast of the Tabernacles." And Christian Zionists are arriving for the good times in full force: 7000 evangelical Christians from dozens of countries plan to march through the city to show their support for Israel. The evenings are getting chilly and the bazaars are hawking heaps of ceremonial plants. Pedestrians tote lulav (palm frond), hadass (myrtle), aravah (willow branch) and etrog (knobbly citron) for the holiday, which celebrates harvest and sacrifices that date from before the sacking of the Second Temple. Iftar parties, replete with twinkling lights and honeyed sweets, enliven every twilight. Faith and family seem to bind Jerusalem at this time of year and life seems sweet.
Except perhaps for the Prime Minister, who is now under investigation for a shady property deal that discounted a pricey garden flat for his family. But Ehud Olmert has managed to wriggle free of all corruption allegations in the past.
Having friends on high must help. There's no sign yet that the sun is setting on his premiership. But after the holidays, things may get heavier for him.

Jewish Willie Wonka imports Advent Calenders for Ramadan, High Holydays, Xmas

Ramadan and Rosh Hashana are upon us.

The man behind the latest craze among religious and chocoholic kids is an Orthodox Jewish grandfather from Manchester.
Food scientist Neville Finlay is the brains behind Britain's most widely-distributed Ramadan calendar, a Muslim twist on the advent calendar. Some 80,000, made by his firm, Forest Tree Foods, are on sale at Asda stores across the UK.

A halal chocolate is tucked under each day's numbered flap, but before you eat it, you are meant to answer a question on the Koran or sharia law - such as "What is the morning prayer called?" and "Who was the last prophet?" Many of these were set by Finlay himself, after a Muslim designer working on the calendar gave him a crash course in Islam. "I've come up with something to help people celebrate Ramadan - this must be good for relations between communities," he says. 15 p from each sale is donated to the Islamic Relief agency

Finlay already has a big share of the halal market. After a lifetime career inventing kosher food lines - including "caviar" and countless sweeties - seven years ago he was persuaded by an Egyptian passenger in an airport lounge to come up with ideas for the halal market, which has similarities to Kosher restrictions.

Finlay's breakthrough came on gummi bears, the popular Haribo jelly sweets from Austria. To do this, he needed to come up with a substitute for animal gelatine, an ingredient banned by Islamic law. He cracked it last November, and began marketing the sweets internationally. They sell 150,000 packets a month in the UK alone, and have earned him the nickname "the Willy Wonka of Manchester".
This year Finlay is catering to three monotheistic religions with more calendars for Ramadan, a traditional Christian advent calendar, and a similar chocolate-stuffed countdown for the run-up to Jewish festivals. Shana Tova/ Ramadan greetings/ How sweet it is when all the festivities converge.

See Nathan Jeffay: The countdown starts here ...