1324 - 20th July 2023

Anything but normal

Ashley Blaker opens up about his atypical family

Streets of anger

Why I’m outside your house, ambassador P21

Mayor forks out to save kosher school lunches

London mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to dish out an additional £5m to help Jewish schools provide free hot kosher meals for primary pupils, writes Jenni Frazer.

As recently reported by Jewish News, Jewish schools have faced reduced availability of kosher meals due to rising costs forcing specialist caterers to withdraw their services, with some pupils having to make do with sandwiches.

The London Kosher Catering company ended its services after taking over the contract to provide about 20 Jewish schools with meals earlier this year when the previous supplier, Signature Dining, was unable to continue.

Among the schools a ected were Hasmo-

nean Primary School, Beis Yaakov Primary School, Pardes House Primary School, Menorah Primary School, Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School, Rimon Jewish Primary School, Mathilda Marks-Kennedy Jewish Primary School and Menorah Foundation School.

Miriam Kaye, headteacher at Mathilda-Marks Kennedy (MMK) Primary, said LKC was unable to provide a hot meal for less than £5.50 a child, more than £2 more than the school receives from the government. She told Jewish News: “We only receive £2.32 from the government per meal and LKC could not provide meals for less money.”

Khan is now calling on the government to match his £5m promise to secure emergency free school meals funding for children in London’s state primary schools.

His spokesperson told Jewish News: “The mayor is incredibly proud that he was able to step in amidst the impacts of the spiralling cost of living on families, with an emergency £135m funding plan to ensure primary school pupils in the capital receive free school meals for the next academic year, and continues to call on the government to step forward and provide the funding to make this permanent”.

The spokesman added that “the additional £5m

Continued on page 6

FIGHTER TO THE END

Jules Konopinski, one of the last survivors of the famed anti-fascist fighters the 43 Group, has died aged 93. Having fled Nazi Germany with his mother at the age of nine, he fought fascists on the streets of London with other young men – and a few women. He recalled: ‘We did not intend to allow them ever again to rule the streets’

SHULS TOLD TO SCRAP SIDDUR THANKING ABUSER

The United Synagogue has instructed its shuls to remove any old siddurim editions that contain an introductory thank you to a convicted child sex abuser, writes Joy Falk.

The 1990 Singer’s Prayer Book (‘third centenary’ edition) and the subsequent enlarged and revised versions include a nod to scholar Sidney Greenbaum, who in 1990

pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault against young boys.

In a message to rabbis, rebbetzens, chairs, and administrators, the United Synagogue’s chief executive, Jo Grose, said the organisation had only recently been informed of Greenbaum’s mention.

The organisation had now reassured itself of the claim’s accuracy by reviewing a copy of Greenbaum’s

sentencing at Hendon Magistrates’ Court, she added.

Grose urged shuls to review the siddurim on their shelves and, if the o ending editions are present, to arrange for their collection or to “cross out the name of Sidney Greenbaum if you have copies which you still need”. She added: “As a convicted child sex abuser, his name has no place in our holy books.”

Novelist Naomi Alderman is on record as having said she was “groomed and abused by a paedophile, Sidney Greenbaum”, adding: “He’s been dead since 1996. It was the best thing he ever did for me, to die.”

Alderman, who recently lost her mother, came into contact with the child sex predator when he worked with her academic father, Prof Geof-

frey Alderman, who – like Greenbaum – is an Orthodox Jew.

Jewish News understands that some individual United Synagogue members may still have these editions on their shelves at home. Consequently, Grose intends to include the warning about Greenbaum’s name in the next edition of the organisation’s membership newsletter.

Emergency funds pledged after catering fi rms withdraw services, leaving pupils without hot meals

Sadiq Khan samples a primary school lunch

Labour ‘will ban’ Iran Revolutionary Guard CONGRESS CHEERS HERZOG SPEECH

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has confirmed Labour would amend terror legislation to “ban hostile state-sponsored organisations who are undermining our national security” including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), writes Lee Harpin.

Outlining Labour’s approach to security ahead of the next election, Cooper also said the UK faces “continued challenges from Islamist and far-right extremists, radicalised online, in prison or in the community. ”

Criticising the government’s online safety bill legislation, which aimed to tackle the rise of antisemitic hate, Cooper added: “We can’t tackle online radicalisation without stronger action from social media companies.”

Cooper’s speech at the Royal United Services Institute was critical of what she said was the government’s failure to use counter-terror laws to proscribe groups like the IRGC and Russia’s Wagner group. Communal leaders have been among

those backing calls for the IRGC to be fully proscribed, pointing to the terror group’s threats and actions against Israelis and exiled Iranians.

“Instead of trying and failing to use counter-terror legislation to proscribe groups like Wagner or IRGC, we’ll introduce a bespoke proscribing mechanism,” Cooper said.

“We will work with the public and private sector, businesses, universities, and partners here and abroad, to ensure this

strategy is comprehensive, collaborative and fit for the scale of the challenges we face.”

Labour’s message on the IRGC came just days after foreign secretary James Cleverly said the government believed a new sanctions regime gave the UK greater powers to target Iranian “decision makers”.

She also referred to the way the social media platform 4Chan allowed users to appropriate “a Meta large language model, deliberately creating extreme right-wing chatbots to promote radicalisation.”

Cooper said Labour was working to combat proliferation of far-right extremism on 4Chan and preventing AI being used as a recruiting tool.

The Board of Deputies commended Cooper on the announcement on the IRGC, saying in a statement: “The farreaching influence of the IRGC poses a significant threat to our community, to wider British society, and the people of Iran itself.”

Israeli president Isaac Herzog met US president Joe Biden in the White House on Tuesday and addressed a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday, assuring his hosts that Israeli democracy is “sound, strong, and resilient”.

There is concern in Washington over Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition and its ongoing efforts to hobble Israel’s judiciary, after far-right and strictlyOrthodox ministers complained about meddling judges.

Despite Biden and Herzog’s warm words, there were telltale signs of tension, such as when US Secretary of State Blinken spoke of “a unique relationship, grounded in our commitment to Israel’s security, but also grounded in democratic values”.

Analysts at Middle East think-tank BICOM said: “The US emphasis that the strong relationship is based on ‘shared values’ could be interpreted as a warning for the Israeli government to maintain its status as a liberal democracy.”

SWP BACKS CALLS FOR ISRAEL’S DESTRUCTION

The far-left Socialist Workers Party’s annual Marxism 2023 festival, with Jeremy Corbyn and film director Ken Loach among guest speakers, was littered with calls for the “destruction” of the state of Israel and demands for “100 percent support for armed resistance” by the Palestinians, writes Lee Harpin.

Jewish News watched recordings of three debates on the Palestinian issue that took place during the recent annual event, held at SOAS University, central London, in which Israel was venomously attacked by a succession of speakers as being “racist, apartheid” and “settler colonialist” in nature.

During his speech at the conference, notorious rapper Lowkey told the audience that in the south of Lebanon “Israel was not driven out by NGOs or flags at football …Israel was driven out of the south of Lebanon by armed resistance.”

SWP central committee member Sophia Beach told the audience during one debate: “If there isn’t a solution that doesn’t see the disintegration of the state of Israel, then it’s not a solution I will support, it’s not a solution to the problem.” She claimed there is “not another state in this world” like the “racist, apartheid” one of Israel.

Beach said the Palestinians would never win through a peace process or a two-state solution, because “you cannot bargain with a colonialist.” She called for “international solidarity” across the working-class movement, saying the Palestinians “cannot win by armed struggle alone, but that’s not to say that I do not 100 per cent support the armed struggle.”

The SWP activist added:”I am proud to be organising a festival that has Jeremy Corbyn and Ken Loach speaking at it.

“These people are strong anti-racist activists and there is nothing antisemtic about what they say. I am proud to be a Jew that stands against the state of Israel.”

Marxism 2023, which ran from 29 June to 2 July, saw around 4,000 members and supporters of the far-left organisation gather at the university venue for a series of speeches, films, debates and music events.

Corbyn and Loach, who did not take part in the Israel/Palestine sessions, were among the lengthy list of speakers at the event, which also included professor Noam Chomsky, Greek leftwing politician Yanis Varoufakis and Jewish Socialist Group member David Rosenberg.

SWP committee member Sophia Beach

Presidents Herzog and Biden in the White House

Iranians living in the UK protest against the regime

Protest movements win praise from Arad

Acclaimed British-Israeli architect Ron Arad has heaped praise on the anti-Netanyahu protest movement in Israel and across the globe, after attending the latest demonstration staged outside ambassador Tzipi Hotovely’s London residence, writes Lee Harpin.

Arad joined around 250 protesters at Sunday’s demo, where successive speakers warned the Netanyahu government was closer than ever in advancing legislation to overhaul the judiciary and hand unprecedented power to the hard-right coalition.

The internationally-recognised designer and Royal Academician told Jewish News: “I support the protest movement and if there’s any optimism coming out of Israel today, it’s this movement.”

Paying further respects to those organising protests across Israel and in this country, Arad, who was born in Tel Aviv, and who studied at the Bezalel Academy of Art before moving to London in 1973, said

those taking to the streets to show their opposition to Netanyahu’s bill were “amazing people, doing amazing work… absolutely admirable.”

Sunday’s London demo was the second weekend protest to be staged outside the ambassador’s residence, and there was a clear

increase in involvement from nonIsrael-born members of the community living here.

Organisers said they wished to make their disapproval of what is taking place in Israel clear to the Jewish state’s leading representative in the UK.

Next week in Israel, further leg-

Avoid demos, UK advises

The UK government has advised Brits travelling to Israel to avoid the large anti-government demonstrations that have taken place every week for the past six months.

islation is expected to be passed in the Knesset, abolishing the country’s “Reasonableness Doctrine”.

This follows the bill being approved in its first reading last week to change the role of the judiciary to strike down government decisions.

Tens of thousands of protesters had packed the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night, marking the 28th straight week of demonstrations against Netanyahu’s plan.

Protest leaders in Israel have promised further “days of disruption” lie ahead.

Sharon Shochat, one of the Defend Israeli Democracy UK protest organisers, told Jewish News: “We have only 14 more days for this Knesset before the summer recess – a critical time in which the Netanyahu government will try to pass their abhorrent laws.

“I call on anyone who is still sitting on the fence, including the Jewish communal leadership, to speak now, before it’s too late.”

It comes as an unwelcome directive to British Jews who will want to show their solidarity to Israelis fight for democracy.

The government’s travel advice was included in an update on the website of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), urging Brits to “avoid any large gatherings or demonstrations”.

It said large political demonstrations across Israel “have the potential to escalate and become violent,” adding that “entry and exit to Ben Gurion airport has occasionally been impacted during political demonstrations”.

With just days to go before the start of the school holidays in the UK, hundreds of British Jewish families are set to fly to Israel in the coming weeks, and it is thought many will want to support Israeli demonstrators in places like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Ron Arad outside the Israel ambassador’s residence in London

More protesters in Israel

Regulator gives JNF UK ‘advice and guidance’

by Lee Harpin lee@jewishnews.co.uk @lmharpin

The Charity Commission has said it has issued “regulatory advice and guidance relating to social media usage and trustee conduct” to JNF UK following anti-Muslim remarks made by its chair, Samuel Hayek.

The watchdog has completed its compliance case into the organisation case, which was opened 18 months ago in

response to the condemnation of Hayek’s claim, made in an interview with Jewish News,

that Muslim immigration into this country would leave Jews with “no future in England”.

The case was opened, the commission said, “due to concerns regarding the conduct of one of the charity’s trustees, as well as the conduct of a now former trustee”.

Gary Mond, who at the time was JNF UK’s treasurer, had said the comments from Hayek did not reflect charity policy.

Mond, who has now stepped down from as a JNF UK trustee, was also at the centre of criticism over Isla-

Tory MP: Israel is killing children

mophic remarks he made on Facebook in 2014 and 2015, six years prior to his role as an honorary o ce on the Board of Deputies. He subsequently quit his role on the Board.

Hayek told the Jewish Chronicle: “We are delighted our engagement with the Charity Commission has yielded a constructive conclusion and the case is now closed. This reflects our dedication to the highest standards of governance.”

MDA LOSES LATEST EMERGENCY HOTLINE BATTLE

Israel’s two emergency response organisations continued their wounding grievance this week after the country’s Supreme Court ruled on whether one of them could use the emergency number 1221.

Magen David Adom (MDA) and United Hatzalah have been at loggerheads for years and the former had petitioned the High Court of Justice to cancel the latter’s use of the abbreviated hotline number, but this was thrown out by a three-judge panel.

The number 1221 was assigned to United Hatzalah on ministerial recommendation in 2010 and this week’s ruling was the second attempt by MDA to overturn it. Israel does not have a unified dispatching service, such as 911 in the United States or 999 in the UK. Instead, each emergency service has its own hotline –the police have 100, MDA is 101, fire is 102, electricity is 103 and municipal hotlines are 106.

MDA argues that having two emergency num-

bers risks confusing Israelis as to which number to call. United Hatzalah, which has 6,500 medical volunteers, said MDA was trying to shut down its dispatching service.

United Hatzalah, which is known for its ambucycles, prides itself on fast response times, and recently said that it was increasing its resources in response to “lengthier than usual ambulance response times and the potential risks to human life”.

Conservative MP Paul Bristow has accused Israel of killing “dozens of Palestinian children” in military operations this year. He also called in the Commons for Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to show “compassion and restraint” with “all sides” needing to put “respect for human life first”. Bristow made the remarks during a heated foreign questions session on Tuesday.

JLM name Lubner in regional role

The Jewish Labour Movement has confirmed the appointment of Jack Lubner as their south of England organiser – with a similar role for the north of the country being created later this year. Lubner, a former president of Cambridge University’s Jewish Society, has begun duties in the professional role, as JLM seek to reap the benefits from a growing membership ahead of next year’s election.

The medical and rehabilitative equipment lending service allows everyone to take advantage of the best equipment available, without dependence on public medicine. The emergency call centre provides round the clock supervision, so even the elderly and the sick can remain at home. The home hospital service makes it possible to replace hospitalisation and rehabilitation in institutions with home care without compromising on quality of treatment.

“A nation is strong when it cares for the weak. It becomes rich when it cares for the poor. It becomes invulnerable when it cares for the vulnerable.”

- Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks ZT”l

SAVES THE ISRAELI ECONOMY £1.5 BILLION IN SOCIAL WELFARE COSTS

Chair Samuel Hayek (left) and former trustee Gary Mond

Rosenberg sets the early pace in battle for Board

Former Labour councillor

The former public affairs director at the Board of Deputies is to throw his hat into the ring at the organisation’s next presidential election in May, Jewish News understands.

Phil Rosenberg, who left the Board in 2022 to take up a public relations role, was a Labour Party councillor in Camden from 2014 until 2018.

He later drew the ire of Labour’s left by appearing in the BBC Panorama programme about antisemitism in the party, but also raised some eyebrows by failing to renounce his membership during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

He returned to the Board in February as the deputy for Brondesbury Park and is understood to be eyeing the top job, replacing Marie van der Zyl, who will have served two terms, and with whom he worked closely.

Rosenberg was a Board director for eight years, leading on public policy, advocacy, and communications, in which he formulated the organisation’s response to UK and world events, such as China’s persecution of the Uyghur minority.

He is known for his interfaith work, driving the Board’s outreach to other communities, and for the organisation’s landmark Commission into Racial Inclusivity in the Jewish community, a ten-month audit chaired by journalist Stephen Bush.

Rosenberg’s is not the only name being

mooted, however. Current vice-president Amanda Bowman, who heads the defence division, will have been an honorary officer for six years by the time of the election and is seen by some as the favourite, although she is yet to declare her intention to run.

Following similar approaches from Jewish News , none of the Board’s other honorary officers – treasurer Michael Ziff, senior vice-president David MendozaWolfson, and vice-president Edwin Shuker – ruled themselves out of the running.

Ziff, who is well-known from his connection to Maccabi GB, has been an honorary officer for less than a year, taking over from Ben Crowne as treasurer in 2022. Some suggested that he “could be a dark horse” if he decides to enter the race.

Likewise, several have mentioned that former vice-president Sheila Gewolb could run again. At the last election, she competed for president, along with Shuker.

Another name mooted as a possible candidate is Adrian Cohen, a partner at the law firm Proskauer Rose and a recent Labour councillor who founded the London Jewish Forum. He is a vice-president of the Jewish Leadership Council and recently married van der Zyl.

The most likely progressive candidate for president would be Mendoza-Wolfson, who is strongly connected to the Conservative Party, but it was Rosenberg’s name that set tongues wagging.

Early indications are that he has a broad support base – and a desire to win – but his connection to the Labour Party during the Corbyn years will trigger questions. “He’s schmoozing just about everyone at the moment,” said one well-connected source.

“He’s very competent, but people will ask about the politics, as well they should. They’ll also ask why he didn’t go for Board chief executive when Gillian Merron left.”

As part of this public affairs brief, Rosenberg had a role in persuading the government to proscribe Hamas and Hezbollah, but despite the achievements, one deputy said the next presidency was “Bowman’s to lose” at this stage. “She’s the least shouty out of all the names being mentioned.

“She just quietly gets on with it,” they said. “She’ll have served six years, met all the right people, formed the connections. She’s about as centrist as you get. She’s the safe pair of hands.”

Bowman chairs the Board’s defence division, from which most recent presidents have come, including van der Zyl and her predecessor, Jonathan Arkush.

Phil Rosenberg failed to renounce his party membership under Jeremy Corbyn

Marie van der Zyl is current president

eyes the top job but other potential candidates look strong, says Stephen Oryszczuk

News / School meals / Tour boost

Mayor’s £5m pledge to ease primary school meals crisis RECORD UPTAKE FOR ISRAEL TOUR

Continued from page 1 of funding, announced last week, will act as a contingency for any extraordinary costs associated with the delivery of free school meals in the next academic year.

“This will include helping to provide further funding for kosher meals, and the mayor’s team are working closely with boroughs to deliver it, as well as other contingencies as they arise.”

United Synagogue president Michael Goldstein has been involved in extensive conversations about the challenge.

He told Jewish News: “There is significant concern in the community about the lack of kosher lunch provision for Jewish schools. Every study shows how a hot nutritious lunch enables students to learn better — and we also know that in many schools, this may be the only hot meal some pupils have that day.

“The idea of funding kosher lunches may not be the most attractive proposition for donors, but without significant investment, there is a concern some schools will no longer be able to afford their kosher food provision.”

Those campaigning to rescue hot kosher meals have been co-ordinating their actions under the aegis of the London

Jewish Forum. Its co-chair, Andrew Gilbert, said that “everyone is delighted with the news”, which had been welcomed across the community. He said it had been “a team effort”, from Fleurise Lewis, who alerted the Jewish community that the London Kosher Catering company was going bankrupt, to Pardes House Primary headteacher Rabbi Joel Sager. Recognising the private Charedi schools which face similar problems, the Greater London Assembly interviewed Motti Pinter from Chinuch UK. In the published decision of the mayor on funding free meals in state schools, they also commented in detail about the needs

of private strictly Orthodox schools, but made no commitment to support them from this particular fund.

The current decision applies to KS2 children, that is primary school pupils aged seven to 11. Rabbi David Meyer from PaJeS (the Jewish Leadership Council’s schools division) is now set to lobby schools minister Nick Gibb for similar support for KS1 children.

Also on board, said Gilbert, were “the brilliant education team at Barnet Council and councillors, particularly Pauline Coakley-Webb, Anne Clarke and Barry Rawlings; the Mayor’s office, the GLA free school meals team and the background support from Michael Goldstein at the US and Rabbi Josh Levy at Reform Judaism and Emma Cass at the Jewish Community Day Schools Advisory Board, which represents pluralist Jewish schools”.

Rabbi Joel Sager, headteacher of Pardes House Primary, said the issue of free school meals and hot lunches for everyone assumed more urgency since the financial collapse of London Kosher Caterers. “We had one week’s notice,” he said, “and in the last weeks of school we’ve had children having just a sandwich, a piece of fruit and bottle of water. It’s a travesty.”

A record-breaking number of Jewish teens have embarked on the Israel Tour this year through UJIA.

More than 1,250 15- and 16-year-olds from across the UK are spending three weeks experiencing Masada, the Negev, the Kinneret, kibbutzim, museums, galleries, hiking trails, minority communities and Jerusalem.

The first group, Bnei Akiva, left for Ben Gurion Airport earlier this month with youth movements including BBYO, Ezra Youth, FZY, Habonim Dror, JLGB, LJY-Netzer, Noam, RSY-Netzer, Sinai Youth and Tribe following.

UJIA CEO Mandie Win-

ston told Jewish News: “UJIA is proud of the brilliant youth movements and organisations we work with to deliver the Israel Tour.

“Add in Birthright, gap years and the full range of visits to Israel overseen by UJIA Israel Experience and the numbers have never been stronger. Some 2,000 young people will be taking part in UJIA Israel Experience programmes during this year.

“That’s good news for our community – these young people experiencing Israel together are at the start of Jewish leadership journeys that will strengthen the community long into the future.”

Dear Helena, Jackie and all the team at Helena ’ s nursery,

An enormous thank you from us, for all you have given our daughter B these past few years. She has woken up every day enthused and excited to attend your nursery, even on the weekend!

We are continually amazed by the crafts B brings home and the wide range of activities and learning you prepare daily for the children, especially forest school. We love the way Judaism is incorporated into the curriculum and how B constantly surprises us with all the songs and knowledge she has gained

Thank you and the team for opening your hearts and filling your nursery with so much love, care and attention for all the children and all their needs. Your passion for childcare really shines through and can be felt in your premises and seen in the children’s social and academic development

We appreciate how easy it is to communicate with you and the team and how you always keep us up to date and involved in B’s week and achievements.

Thank you for everything, best wishes, B’s parents & family

In the spotlight: kosher school meals

Flying the flag: FZY’s Tour 2 ready to embark for Israel

Apology on show at Dahl museum

The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Buckinghamshire has put a panel in the welcome area of the building, condemning the celebrated children’s writer’s “racist views towards Jewish people”, writes Joy Falk.

The sentiment, echoed on the museum’s website, comes after months of closely coordinated work with the Antisemitism Policy Trust, and discussion with leading Jewish community organisations.

Steve Gardam, director of the museum, in Great Mis-

senden, said the panel is only one of the steps the organisation is taking. “We are making statements on our website about the process we have gone through to develop our response to Dahl’s racism; in particular, consulting with organisations within the Jewish community.”

Additionally, there would be educational resources for schools which the museum hopes “will make a constructive contribution towards combating hate and prejudice.

“These materials explore

universal children’s rights through the experiences of Roald Dahl child heroes.”

Gardam said that when, in 2020, the Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company, (which handles the author’s literary output) had apologised for Dahl’s racist views, “there was legitimate criticism that there had not been consultation with organisations from within the Jewish community”.

Following that criticism, both the Roald Dahl Story Company and the Roald Dahl Museum had begun consultation with Jewish community organisations.

The museum, Gardam said, had received staff training from the Antisemitism Policy Trust.

Additionally, there was consultation with the Board of Deputies, Community Security Trust and the Jewish Leadership Council, who had helped the museum in the crafting of the text, which will now be displayed in the museum’s entrance area.

CORBYNISTA MAYOR LEAVES LABOUR

Elected Labour mayor Jamie Driscoll, who failed to apologise for a theatre appearance with Ken Loach, has said he will stand as an independent candidate for the North East mayoralty if he can raise £25,000 from his supporters.

Previously dubbed “the last Corbynista in power”, he added that he was quitting Labour after the party barred him from standing for the wider role.

Jamie Driscoll, mayor of the North of Tyne and a former Newcastle Momentum leader, has been blocked from standing for the wider mayoralty after he failed to apologise at an interview for his appearance at an onstage event with film director Ken Loach.

On Monday, Driscoll, who was pictured this month at the Durham Miners Gala with Jeremy Corbyn, his wife Laura and Loach, confirmed that he planned to stand as an independent candidate for the new role if he can raise enough funds from his supporters to do so. The announcement came shortly after Kim McGuinness was confirmed as Labour’s pick for the first North East mayoral election, after the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, a strong supporter of Keir Starmer, picked up nearly 75 per cent of votes to stand for the party.

Driscoll attacked Labour in his resignation statement, saying:” “Given you have barred me from running as North East mayor, despite being incumbent mayor, I have no other

choice.” He added: “Millions of people feel the parties in Westminster don’t speak for them. They want decisions made closer to home – and not by people who are controlled by party HQs in London.”

In a succession of media interviews he refused to apologise for taking part in an onstage interview event with Loach in Newcastle in March. The Jewish Labour Movement was among those to welcome the decision to ban Driscoll from standing.

He claimed that under his leadership the north of Tyne district had an excellent record of working with communal groups. But in a disastrous television interview Driscoll was asked by Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge: “Have you read the EHRC report into antisemitism in the Labour Party?”Pushed for an answer he admitted: “No, not the full report I haven’t.”

Jamie Driscoll (right) with Ken Loach

Roald Dahl’s books have delighted children for decades

Forensics allegedly ‘exonerate’ Halpern of sexual impropriety

by Jenni Frazer jenni@jennifrazer.com @Jennifrazer

Multiple sources in Stamford Hill claim an Israeli forensic investigator has prepared a report that allegedly exonerates Golders Green’s Rabbi Chaim Halpern over allegations of sexual impropriety made in a Channel 12 television programme, screened last November.

In the Israeli TV film, extracts are played, allegedly of Halpern on the phone to a woman, making repeated pleas to her to come to his flat late at night.

Some of the conversations were recorded by the alleged victim, in the o ces of a female therapist, who is also licensed as a private investigator by Israel’s Ministry of Justice.

The male voice on the tapes says he loves the woman, that she is beautiful and asks if she wants him to “come with you in bed”.

Halpern, confronted in Golders Green by the Israeli film-makers last year, denied the claims and added

Kennedy: Covid was ethnically targeted

Vaccine conspiracy theorist and US Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr is drawing criticism after saying Covid-19 was “ethnically targeted” to have less of an effect on Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.

“Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people,” Kennedy said.

“The people who are most immune are Ashkenazic Jews and Chinese ... there are papers out there that show the racial and ethnic differential impact.”

Drescher resorts to Yiddish strike call Jewish actress and president of the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA Fran Drescher resorted to using Yiddish in her call for a strike last week. Drescher said film bosses were “a greedy entity victimising actors” and likened their offer to what her Jewish mother calls “a leck and a schmeck,” in other words a lick and a sniff, which amounts to nothing. The strike saw union members walk out and extended to other countries.

that the recordings had been faked.

Jewish News now understands that a Kfar Saba lawyer, Doron Baldinger, who runs a company called Avidence [Audio and Video] Media Forensics, has examined the extracts from the

phone conversations played in the programme and compared them with Halpern’s on-camera denial.

The Stamford Hill sources believe that the initial conclusions – written in English and with technical details,

in Hebrew, of how the investigation was carried out – point to “very low matches” between the two sound files.

Multiple Stamford Hill sources confirmed the existence of the report but Jewish News has not yet seen a copy. A London businessman, E y Klein, is thought to have a copy of the Baldinger report but refused to speak to Jewish News

Baldinger initially said he had consulted a Bnei Brak rabbi, Yehuda Steinharter, after Jewish News contacted him about his report.

But after consulting with Steinharter, Baldinger said he had “no intention of being interviewed by any journalist or providing information about any test results to a third party”.

He confirmed that “one of the parties” had contacted him “in order to verify the identity of the speaker’s voice in this recording”.

But, citing client confidentiality and “fairness”, Baldinger declined to discuss the contents of his report.

Steinharter visited London in March this year and spent

time speaking to numerous rabbis in the strictly-Orthodox community, including the leaders of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations.

Jewish News understands that the investigators responsible for collecting evidence used in the Channel 12 report stand behind the recordings, as does the channel and that these recordings were handed to the police at the time.

It is not clear who commissioned and paid for the Baldinger report. Halpern’s lawyer, when approached, declined to comment.

If it is true that the investigator’s report goes some way towards supporting Halpern’s case, then there are numerous unanswered questions.

Armed with the report, for example, is the rabbi considering legal action against Channel 12, the alleged victim, and her therapist?

Or will he present the Baldinger findings to the police?

Channel 12, meanwhile, refused to comment on the record until they had seen a copy of Baldinger’s findings and exactly what was being claimed.

Norwood ends kids’ physical therapy aid ‘AIRBNB FOR SCHOOLS’ CROWNED

Norwood’s provision of physical therapy to schoolchildren with special needs will end next week, with several part-time sta being made redundant, writes Joy Faulk.

The Jewish charity once trumpeted its “well-established education services”, comprised of specialist teachers, occupational therapists (OTs), speech and language therapists (SLTs), and an educational psychologist, who would fulfil local authority contracts for additional support.

However, a changing service model in recent years has led to a restructure, with one of the driving factors being Jewish schools such as JCoSS and JFS now increasingly employ their own in-house OTs, SLTs, specialist teaching assistants and Special Educational Needs (SEN) coordinators.

This has led to a dwindling need for Norwood’s commissioned OT and SLT support, which will now stop at the end of this academic year. Support for parents on issues

Norwood’s special needs therapy provision will end this month

such as diagnosing autism will continue.

It is understood fewer than a dozen families still access ad hoc OT and SLT provision from Norwood, the Jewish community’s oldest charity, and that these families have now found support from other sources.

Norwood is still expecting to

provide psychotherapy to schoolchildren who face barriers to learning, and to o er training and consultancy to teachers and support to parents through advice clinics, information sessions and courses.

Senior management said it had been “transforming Norwood’s services and culture and ensuring the organisation is safe and sound to face the future”, but the redundancies are not believed to be related to finances.

The part-time sta being made redundant, some of whom work six hours a week, are understood to have been issued with the correct notice period.

On the restructure, director of communications, fundraising and community engagement Liz Jessel said: “Norwood is 100 percent committed to supporting families across the community with our investment in children and family provision.”

A former lawyer and an ex-accountant who risked it all to set up the ‘Airbnb for schools’ are celebrating after winning the Jewish community’s top business prize.

‘School Hire’ – created by Charlie Gothold and David Nevies in 2015 – was named as Business of the Year at the Work Avenue Business Awards in Finchley.

The lifelong friends first met at nursery school and quit their jobs to set up the online platform, which helps educational institutions bring in additional revenue by renting out their facilities outside of school hours.

Charlie, who spent six years working for the global law firm Dentons, described how the business struggled for many years. He said: “At first, people couldn’t see the advantages of doing this online –preferring the old more time-consuming methods. I began to think that we were mad to leave our jobs.

“Ironically, it was Covid which turned our business around. Even though it put a complete stop to our work at the time, people became used to doing everything online. It’s been amazing to see all our hard work and dedication pay o .”

David said: “When we were a very small start-up – with no money and nowhere to work – Work Avenue gave both of us a space and the advice we needed to grow.”

Rabbi Chaim Halpern of Golders Green on the Channel 12 programme

By Jenni Frazer @Jennifrazer

Barnet Council’s Strategic Planning Committee is set to consider a new bid for an eruv in Golders Green, an application that has been made by the Federation of Synagogues, which

it is hoped will benefit those who do not recognise the existing North West London eruv.

The committee is due to deliberate next week, although the planning o cers have already recommended that the application be approved.

In his submission, Benji Spiegl, on behalf of the Federation of Synagogues, estimates that despite the existence of the North West London eruv, “only 22 percent of the Golders Green community utilise the existing eruv, in contrast to some 90 percent of the Hendon and Finchley community who use the existing eruv”.

It is a matter of religious interpretation, the councillors

will be advised. “The most significant reason relates to the inclusion of the North Circular Road, the A406, within the existing eruv, which many rabbinical authorities consider cannot be included, due to it being a major and busy thoroughfare.”

Hope for new bus link

Hopes for a direct bus link connecting the capital’s big Jewish communities of Hendon and Golders Green with Stamford Hill still seemed to be resting with bosses at Transport for London this week.

The London Jewish Forum (LJF) is campaigning for a “reconsideration” to the extension of the 210-bus route – or viable alternatives – “so the strictly Orthodox Jewish community can travel on one bus from Golders

Green to Stamford Hill and not have to change in Finsbury Park”. The current bus journey takes an hour from Brent Cross to Finsbury Park, then at least 20 minutes for a second bus from Finsbury Park to Stamford Hill, excluding any waiting time.

“Our community also feels vulnerable, being particularly identifiable, and potentially at risk in Finsbury Park,” said the LJF.

The proposed eruv, which sits inside the current North West London eruv and excludes the North Circular Road, “has been designed to the most stringent levels of Jewish law”, in which the Federation estimates that usage percentage would increase from around 22 percent to 88 percent.

Without an eruv, the councillors will be told, there remain adverse impacts on “the very young, the very old, and disabled members of the Jewish community” on Shabbat or Yom Kippur. “Parents cannot utilise a pram or pushchair to take their baby/young child with them to the synagogue or anywhere else such as to friends, relations etc. In e ect this means that children aged two and under may be housebound and unable to attend synagogue or other leisurely walks.”

FAITH FUN RUN

The third sporting event organised by the Faith & Belief Forum and Maccabi GB takes place on Sunday 3 September at the StoneX Stadium in north London. The annual London Interfaith Fun Run sees hundreds of runners and spectators from diverse faith and belief communities come together. The event is organised by The Faith & Belief Forum and Maccabi GB, with the support of Dangoor Education, Eastern Eye, Jewish News, Jewish Volunteering Network, Voice of Islam Radio and the Greater London Lieutenancy’s Council of Faith. It is free to attend for spectators.

& Tax

Barnet considers new bid for Golders eruv Aliyah

Lawyers slam paper’s ‘foolish’ attack on KC

Eighteen of Britain’s most senior lawyers, including chairman of the bar council Nick Vineall KC and former Jewish Chronicle chairman Anthony Julius, have accused the newspaper of mounting a “dangerous and foolish” attack on a member of their profession after he gave advice to Labour on the government’s anti-BDS bill.

In the letter the group accuses the paper of pursuing a “well-trodden but lazy path” by condemning advice by “distinguished KC” Richard Hermer on Michael Gove’s economic activity of public bodies bill.

The lawyers say the paper’s claim, in an article in the JC, that Hermer gave “partial and politically influenced legal advice to the Labour Party in relation to the anti-boycott legislation is both dangerous and foolish”.

Other signatories to the letter are James Libson, managing partner of Mishcon De Reya, along with partner Adam Rose, and the KCs Anthony Metzer, Sir Je rey Jowell, Danny Friedman, Dinah Rose, Neil Kitchener, Rachel Crasnow, Richard Wald, Ronit Kreisberger, Sam Grodzinski, Sam Leek, Sue Prevezer and Tamara Oppenheimer along with Lawrence Radley, partner Reed Smith.

The letter, published this week by the JC, states that its signatories themselves have “di erent opinions” on the merits of the legislation, which is aimed at preventing local authorities from engaging in boycotts of Israeli goods.

It says the JC is “entitled to take a view on the legislation”, but adds that “on one thing” the 18 signatories “are clear” – “attempting to discredit Richard Hermer by impugning his motives rather than addressing the contents of his advice is wrong”.

The JC article was headlined “Revealed, the pro-Palestinian activist past of lawyer advising Labour Party on boycott bill”. It suggested Hermer’s involvement with a publication that had been critical of Israel in the past tarnished legal advice given to Labour on the boycott bill.

During last week’s Commons debate on the Bill, communities secretary Gove also tried to cast doubt on Hermer’s suitability to provide Labour with legal advice. The KC Simon Myerson said last week he believed that Hermer was correct in his advice on the Bill.

After passing its second reading, the bill will now proceed to committee stage in September.

The Jewish Chronicle did not respond when asked to comment.

Presenter’s Covid ‘myth’

A GB News presenter has been accused of posting an “antisemitic myth” online after alleging Ashkenzi Jews and east Asians experienced “less harm” from Covid, which she said was looked like “a bioweapon to destroy the west”.

Beverley Turner, who hosts a weekday show on the television channel, tweeted that it should be “on the front pages of every paper” that the “Sars cov 2 virus causes less harm to certain ethnicities – east Asians and Ashkenazi Jews than to European, S Asian and African. Just let that sink in.”

The 49-year-old presenter then wrote: “This is looking increasingly like a bio-weapon to destroy the west.”

Her tweet, posted to her 159,000 followers, was also addressed to former prime minister Boris Johnson, former health secretary Matt Hancock and Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical o cer for England.

In response Dave Rich, the Community Security Trust’s director of policy, said: “It is depressing and alarming how easily an antisemitic myth can spread from the cranky corners of the internet into main-

stream politics and media on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Not only is this a dangerous conspiracy theory, it is grossly insulting to the many Jewish families that lost loved ones to Covid-19 during the pandemic.”

Writer and broadcaster Dr Matthew Sweet tweeted: “Bev Turner is literally suggesting that Anthony Fauci engineered Covid as a bioweapon that would spare Jews.

“The O ce of National Statistics concluded that during Covid’s first wave ‘Jewish males were at twice the risk of Christian males.’”

LILIAN’S POSTHUMOUS OBE

The founder of a Holocaust centre in the north of England, Lilian Black, has been posthumously honoured with an OBE in recognition of her work — and this week her widower, Frank Gri ths, collected her medal from King Charles at Windsor Castle

In 2018 Black, the daughter of Eugene Black, a Holocaust survivor who was liberated from Bergen-Belsen, helped to set up what would become Holocaust Centre North, based at the University of Huddersfield.

Her OBE, in recognition of her work in the field of Holocaust education, was in fact

awarded in 2020, but in October of that year she was admitted to hospital with Covid. Although she knew about her honour, she was unable to collect it, and she died of the condition, aged 69.

Gri ths spoke of his “deep pride” after this week’s ceremony.

“It was tough and very emotional, and lots of memories came flooding back,” he said.

“It’s di cult to collect something on behalf of your late wife, but this represented her life’s work. She was a powerful voice for Holocaust survivors, and I know she would have loved to have been here. I’m very proud of her.”

Anthony Julius

Lilian Black

Britain’s newly-appointed ambassador to Israel, Simon Walters, received a warm welcome from an audience of National Jewish Assembly and Finchley Synagogue members on Tuesday evening, writes Jenni Frazer.

It was his first public appearance since being named as Neil Wigan’s successor in January: since then the Northern Irish-born diplomat has been immersed in studying Hebrew, and is due to fly to Tel Aviv in two weeks.

Interviewed by UK Lawyers for Israel’s Natasha Hausdor , Walters covered a wide range of subjects. He said that being brought up in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles had given him a keen awareness of the dangers of sectarianism.

And he revealed that there was also an early kinship with Israel and the Jewish community in his family: his mother had volunteered on a kibbutz during the 1960s, and a four-year

relocation to New York between the ages of nine and 13, due to his father’s job, meant that almost all his friends were Jewish and that he had attended “any number of barmitzvahs”.

The diplomat has already served in Israel as consul in Jerusalem between 2008 and 2011 and spoke a ectionately of his time there, during which his younger son was born in Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital.

Walters praised the strategic relationship between Britain and Israel and the importance of the trade relationship between the countries, which he hoped to built on in Tel Aviv. “It will be a priority. Did you realise that 15 percent of all NHS drugs are produced by [Israel’s] Teva Pharmaceuticals?” he said.

A Middle East specialist who has most recently served as the Foreign O ce’s director of national security for the region, Walters said Britain and Israel had worked

closely together on counterterrorism issues, and praised Israel for its “unsung role” in the defeat of Islamic State (Isis).

He also referred to the new agreement signed between Israel’s Eli Cohen and for-

eign secretary James Cleverly in January, one aspect of which will allow professional qualifications to be recognised in both countries.

One questioner asked him about the twostate solution, and claimed that it had been rejected “by Israelis and Palestinians”. The ambassador-designate said his “hackles rose” when he heard people being referred to in such generalised terms. “I think it is divisive to talk about people in categories,” Walters said, gently insisting that not all Israelis and not all Palestinians felt that way. Britain, he added, maintained that the two-state solution “remains the only practical solution”, and its government would continue to support that.

The diplomat was also asked several times about perceived bias in the Foreign O ce and the BBC. He said that even if there had been anti-Israel prejudice in the foreign service once upon a time, that was no longer the case.

UK’s new Israel envoy steps up JEWISH GROUPS UNITE OVER WATERS

The world’s biggest Jewish organisations have called on Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), which is part of Sony, to end its relationship with Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters.

The 79-year-old English musician is represented by

BMG and has o ended Jews around the world, appearing to stray beyond his support for Palestinian rights.

An open letter coordinated by Creative Community for Peace, a non-profit entertainment industry body, is signed by 14 Jewish

organisations, who take issue with Waters’ performance in Germany in May, when he wore a Nazi-like uniform and compared Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian journalist killed covering the conflict, with Anne Frank. “We believe that artists...

have a unique and important responsibility to speak out against bigotry,” said the signatories. “Mr Waters has repeatedly shown that he’s determined to do the opposite – and would instead... fan the flames of hatred.” The 14 include the American Jewish

Committee, European Jewish Congress, World Jewish Congress and Central Council of Jews in Germany. Waters has defended dressing as a fascist demagogue, saying Anne Frank’s fate is “what happens when fascism is left unchecked”.

Rogers Waters on stage in Berlin

Simon Walters at Kinloss. Pic: NJA Twitter

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IT ENDED WITH A JOB AT THE BBC

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IT STARTED WITH A CALL TO RESOURCE

Your country is full of Nazis, says Barr

Just weeks after hitting the headlines over vile comments she made about the Holocaust, American comedian Roseanne Barr has lashed out at Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and claimed his country is “full of Nazis”. Speaking on the Talk TV programme Piers Morgan Uncensored, Barr said: “I’m from the Ukraine. There’s a large amount of Nazis in the Ukraine. They actually killed my whole family. They marched my entire family out into the forest and buried them alive in the Ukraine.”

Helen Mirren given film festival award

Dame Helen Mirren received an achievement award at last week’s 40th Jerusalem Film Festival (JFF), coinciding with her new role as former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. The accolade was presented to the multi-award-winning British actress at the launch of the event at Sultan’s Pool, the outdoor amphitheatre located directly under the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. The new film, called Golda, was chosen to open the festival.

Zelensky: I invited Netanyahu to Ukraine but he didn’t come

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to Ukraine but, unlike other world leaders, did not take up the o er.

Zelensky was asked about Ukraine’s relations with Israel during a Nato summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

He confirmed Netanyahu had been invited to Kyiv along with the two prime ministers who preceded him, Naftali Bennett and now-opposition leader Yair Lapid, adding: “The result is the same.”

Zelensky also referred to Ukraine’s interest in receiving Israeli air defence equipment, in particular the anti-missile Iron Dome system.

“We asked in the beginning of the war, the result is just the same as with the prime ministers,” he said. “Months have passed with no outcome, unfortunately.

“Ukraine is really interested in preserving the important, historical, close connections between our states. Unfortunately, we don’t have any results so far.”

Israel’s envoy to Ukraine,

Michael Brodsky, has said Kyiv’s support for anti-Israel resolutions at the UN impacts

support from the Jewish state.

In an interview with the online Ukrainian outlet Mirror of

the Week, Brodsky called Ukraine’s stance “an abnormal situation... given the fact Ukraine quite often turns to Israel with various requests”.

Israel has supported proUkraine measures in the UN, including a non-binding resolution calling for Russia to end hostilities and withdraw.

But while providing humanitarian help to Kyiv, Israel, unlike its Western allies, has maintained a strict policy of not providing military aid, including systems that could help Ukraine intercept Russian missile and drone attacks.

Army chaplains get Judaism lessons

Ukraine’s army chaplains may be a little busy but in the midst of war they have made time at a Jewish community centre event in Kyiv to learn about Judaism.

The country’s Chaplains of the Armed Forces were at the special day at Kyiv’s Brodsky Central Synagogue by invitation of the Chief Rabbinate of Ukraine.

Lt Col Oleksiy Tereshchuk, from the General Sta , led the delegation to learn about the Jewish religion and its application. Topics included Shabbat, kosher food, tzitzit and tefillin.

Jewish chaplain Rabbi David Milman, recently o cially appointed representative of the Chief Rabbinate in Ukraine

by the Chief of the General Sta , a new appointment, spoke about the history of the people of Israel, the challenges faced by Jewish soldiers serving in the Ukrainian army and possible solutions to overcome them.

The day of learning was initiated by Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Asman.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Benjamin Netanyahu in Kyiv in 2019

Happy ending...

This week’s decision by the Roald Dahl Museum to display prominently a plaque condemning the beloved – yet bigoted – children’s writer’s “racist views towards Jewish people” is a commendable step forward.

In a society that values inclusivity and stands against hate, it is crucial that institutions address problematic aspects of their historical figures and works. In acknowledging the troubling views of Dahl and actively working with Jewish organisations, the museum has set an important example.

By taking this step, the museum contributes to a society that values diversity, educates future generations about the dangers of prejudice and ensures Dahl’s legacy – underpinned by his creative genius – promotes inclusivity and respect for all.

Unhappy ending?

The fate of London’s Jewish Museum, which closes its doors for the final time in Camden’s Albert Street next week, has provoked nostalgia and deep concern across our community.

As its founder’s grandson Jonathan Samuels wrote in last week’s Jewish News, the precious archive, opened in 1932, has been a beacon of Jewish identity and heritage for almost a century, illuminating Judaism’s beauty and our community’s history in Britain. Its precious items might remain out of view for years to come, but the trustees have reassured the community they are looking at a long-term solution to ensure it remains a place for visitors to immerse themselves in the stories and artefacts that make British-Jewish life so precious. We await good news.

Manager Marc Jacobs 020 8148 9701 marc@jewishnews.co.uk

Sales Yael Schlagman 020 8148 9705 yael@jewishnews.co.uk

Operations Manager Alon Pelta 020 8148 9693 alon@jewishnews.co.uk

History becoming history?

I was sad to read that the Jewish Museum is to close (13 July). Someone rightly described it as a jewel in the crown of British Jewry and with its exquisite treasures in beautiful settings, its ancient mikva, depictions of Jewish life and social history, this was an apt description. The staff were so knowledgeable and dedicated and the temporary exhibitions outstanding and varied. As a volunteer for several years, I resigned the day it was announced that the museum would open on Shabbat and festivals and that food served would no longer be under supervi-

VERDICT OF THE MAJORITY

Regarding your article of 13 July on the protests and subsequent UK government advice to travellers – you should not assume all British tourists, British Jews or others are of one mind. Let’s consider the facts.

The Supreme Court doesn’t need a majority of its 12 or 15 members to strike down government bills. The Chief Justice only needs to appoint, ie cherry-pick, five members for a, say, 3:2 majority decision. Is that democratic or fair? Any member of the public can petition the court to apply the reasonableness test – whereas before it was only those directly affected by a specific issue and outcome The judiciary in Israel dominates the selection process for new applicants to its court so can effectively ensure any new appointees follow in perpetuating its preferred views and subjective bias.

The present government was elected in a fair and free vote by a considerable majority. Judicial reform was clearly indicated in its manifesto. If democracy is about respecting the wishes of the majority, the current protests are hardly an expression of the same.

Tony Coren, N2

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sion. I was told that the reason for the new arrangements was to reach out to the wider public.

In his report in last week’s edition, Jonathan Samuel wrote of the way we should present our Judaism to non-Jewish people by our goodly behaviour and by doing mitzvot in a beautiful way.

In the event of the continuation of the museum, a good start would surely be by preserving the principal tenets of our faith. It is, after all, the Jewish museum. I do so hope it can be saved.

Ruth Dickson, By email

EYE TO THE FUTURE

Thank you to Jonathan Samuels, grandson of one of the founders of London’s Jewish Museum, for writing such a powerful piece last week about its imminent closure and its place in our community. It was fascinating to learn about the story behind the exhibits and how his family recognised the importance of safeguarding Jewish culture and history back in the 1930s, at a time when it faced its greatest threat across the English Channel. I hope its future can be secured for generations to come.

Sally Emmerling, Manchester

NON-KOSHER PERIL

Anyone considering buying cigarettes is left in no doubt that they are not healthy. All packaged food must have allergenic ingredients highlighted.

Why do you, as a newspaper serving the Jewish public, many of whom consider non-kosher food a danger to their spiritual health, not highlight it as such? To include succulentlooking meats in a half-

page advert for a Mill Hill restaurant without clearly stating that it is ‘glatt treif’ is not only wrong, it is irresponsible and misleading.

Please acknowledge that you have a responsibility to your readers and if you must (why?) accept such adverts, that you will be clear about their kashrut status in future.

Joni Grodzinski Master baker (retired)

THE JACOB FOUNDATION

Jewish News is owned by The Jacob Foundation, a registered UK charity promoting cohesion and common ground across the UK Jewish community and between British Jews and wider society. Jewish News promotes these aims by delivering dependable and balanced news reporting and analysis and celebrating the achievements of its vibrant and varied readership. Through the Jacob Foundation, Jewish News acts as a reliable and independent advocate for British Jews and a crucial communication vehicle for other communal charities.

Flap, flap: Chickens are coming home to roost

It’s rare — in fact, I would acknowledge, it’s probably never — I feel any sympathy for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. But I couldn’t help feeling a tiny twinge of empathy in his direction when learning that, fresh out of hospital on Sunday morning, he had a new problem to add to his mountain of troubles. The name of that problem? That would be Itzik Zarka.

Readers unfamiliar with Zarka may in fact recognise him from the many (many, many, many ) pictures he has appeared in alongside leading members of the Likud Party.

These pictures include one of him with Netanyahu, looking as though he is about to kiss the prime minister’s ear, or at a minimum whisper sweet nothings into it –and Bibi, the most shameless of men, for once actually looks faintly embarrassed.

And didn’t that embarrassment come home to roost at the weekend? For while Bibi was taking some probably much-needed r’n’r in hospital (o cial reason, dehydration from time

spent at the Dead Sea without a hat and not enough water; probable real reason a desperate attempt to avoid the regular Saturday night anti-government demonstrations, whose numbers continue to escalate) – while Bibi was in hospital, Zarka was letting it all rip.

Often viewed as Likud’s personal attack-dog, Zarka was filmed at a counter-demonstration to the anti-government protests. And what was he shrieking? “Ashkenazi whores, may you burn in hell, I spit on you. I’m proud of the six million who burned, proud! If only six million more would burn!”

On Sunday morning — perhaps it had been brought to his attention that most of the Likud leadership, including Netanyahu himself, were “Ashkenazi whores” — Zarka apologised, adding that before he spoke he was attacked by protesters and told that

Moroccans like him should be “burned”. He called his words “a mistake” and said he took them back and “apologises in all aspects”.

Too little, too late. Even the Likud and some of its coalition partners appeared to be shocked, and despite the apology, Zarka was — at Netanyahu’s behest — o cially expelled from the party.

It’s not, as far as I can make out, Zarka’s first rodeo in issuing vile and provocative statements. A separate film shows him commenting on rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, declaring that because the rockets were directed towards the Yad Mordechai kibbutz – which he presumably views as a hotbed of Ashkenazi left-wingers –he “raised a glass, I enjoyed it”.

Personally, I don’t think Zarka’s expulsion from Likud will make the slightest difference.

He will probably continue to enjoy warm friendships with ministers whom he has already cultivated.

These include the likes of economy minister Nir Barkat, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, transportation minister Miri Regev and intelligence minister Gila Gamliel, all of whom have taken part in videos wishing him a happy birthday.

The hard-of-thinking will make excuses for him, and Bibi will skate over the shockwaves by saying he took immediate steps to exclude Zarka from o cial membership of Likud.

But so what? That flapping noise we hear is of chickens coming home to roost. If you create a government with members such as Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, who combine stupidity and hateful extremism to an alarming extent, it should come as no surprise when the Zarkas of this world feel free to utter the unsayable.

Zarka, I guess, will continue to take part in pro-government demonstrations, but this time he will be answerable to no-one.

On second thoughts, I’m not sorry for Netanyahu at all. Serves him – in every sense of the word – right.

PEOPLE FEEL FREE TO SAY THE UNSAYABLE

Why I’m standing outside your house, ambassador

Dear Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely. I have spent a lot of time near you recently, standing outside your house and your places of work, one of the few UK Jews supporting up to 300 Israelis protesting your government’s judicial changes.

Last week they even gave me a megaphone to read out their prepared statement but what I’d really like to add, from one religious Jew to another, is in this letter. I was reminded by the last three parashot and last week’s Pirkei Avot, that life sometimes teaches you more Torah, Tzipi, than private study or teachers.

The parashot feature two Jews with different leadership styles, Pinchas (the Zealot) and Joshua (the Consensual Leader). Pinchas (called ‘zealous’ by the text) performs an extra-judicial killing with good intentions. God rewards him with “my covenant of peace” (Numbers 25.7-12).

However, our sages characterise him as someone who overrode due process, acting on “a law we do not teach” (Sanhedrin 82a) and note he next entered battle as priest not leader (Numbers 31.6; Sotah 43a), enjoined to consult properly before acting (Yoma 73a).

The covenant in effect ensured no repeat of his Zealotry, binding Pinchas to be, as Pirkei Avot (1.12) says, “a pupil of Aaron, pursuing peace, loving his fellow man, and bringing them near.’

In contrast, it is Joshua who is chosen to succeed Moshe as leader because “he will take (the people) out and bring them in (Numbers 26.16-18).” Rashi’s 11th Century commentary describes him as a “leader who carries each person whatever their opinion.”

This is “consensual leadership,” governing, in the words of the American constitution, with “the consent of the governed.”

The late Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks commented presciently: “It is exceptionally dangerous to believe you have access to the mind of God and the right to act on his behalf. That is why legal and political processes exist, and why the zealot, who circumvents both,

is a greater danger than the one he wishes to avert.”

The contemporary relevance is striking, for we have two prominent figures in Israel’s current political crisis, embodying the Pinchas and Joshua styles of leadership.

Israel needs more than talks. Why not pause the legislation and set up a commission, as Canada did, taking evidence from all stakeholders, and agree an effective constitution

We are approaching Tisha B’Av, when we remember deep hate-filled divisions causing our long exile. Would it not be timely to

announce a pause and a commission?

One of Simcha Rotman’s former law professors quotes a study of 162 protest movements which found that when 3.5 percent or more of the population protested, they succeeded. Israel has reached this point.

Do not assume, Tzipi, that the lack of British Jews at demonstrations, means they support the changes.

Many across the religious spectrum do not, but fear demonstrations here fuel antisemitism, although passers-by seem merely interested, and there has been no social media storm.

World Zionist Congress Vice-Chair, Yitzhar Hess, a tenth generation Jerusalemite, asks Diaspora Jews to join peaceful demonstrating Israelis. Perhaps we can take our cue from the London couple in their 80s, leaning on their sticks outside your embassy, Tzipi.

They were there for their daughter and grandchildren in Israel, doing what Jews have always done, looking out for Jews in other countries who feel their rights under threat from a government.

Only this time, the government is ours

DR SHELDON STONE

Dr Stone at a Defend Israel Democracy demo

PETER LERNER DIRECTOR-GENERAL, HISTADRUT INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Whataboutery politics is a term we have come to see quite frequently in political discourse and journalism in Israel. It refers to the strategic, almost knee-jerk reaction of diverting attention away from an inconvenient topic by pointing at another, arguably related issue, saying, in essence: “But what about this ?” It’s a shrewd ploy, simultaneously turning the spotlight elsewhere while implying a moral equivalency that may or may not exist.

This rhetorical tactic has turned discussions about almost every topic in Israel, especially political ones, into a never-ending pingpong match of deflection.

Radical factions from every corner of our political spectrum have adopted this tool with zeal. They hijack narratives, twisting them in their favour and conveniently spinning the

story to suit their agenda. The question is, how has this tactic become so pervasive and what can we do about it?

At its heart, whataboutery is a form of psychological manipulation. By bringing up another issue, it creates cognitive dissonance, forcing the listener to grapple with two disparate points at once. This disruption is intended to cloud judgment and obscures the original topic. What’s more, it gives the user an artificial moral high ground, as if by highlighting another issue they are taking a more holistic, “better” and balanced perspective.

As a former IDF spokesperson, I occasionally utilised bridging as a tactic to provide a broader understanding of the realities of counter-terrorism operations, humanitarian missions and operational errors. However, in contemporary Israel, radicals, fringe political groups and pundits have transformed whataboutery into a weapon. In an age of instantaneous, real-time communication and information overload, these radicals exploit the cognitive dissonance caused by whataboutery and manipulate narratives to their advantage. They hijack a narrative, twist

it, and let the ensuing chaos spread rapidly, especially with the support of controversyfavouring social media algorithms, resulting in a constant internal conflict.

Over last week’s “Day of Disruption”, the police deployed what appear to be more forceful tactics and over the weekend, a reserve colonel in the Israeli Air Force, Udi Ori, was injured and required eye surgery after taking a direct hit from a water cannon during a protest against the judicial overhaul. The heated debate and oversimplified discussion against people questioning how the police acted orbited around “Where were you when the ultra-Orthodox/ Ethiopians’/ Arabs’/ Settlers’ heads were being cracked open?” While these are legitimate questions, since when do two wrongs make a right?

So, what can we do about it? How can we guard against the distortion of our collective narrative?

The answer lies in critical thinking and the fortification of our media literacy. We must insist on staying on point during debates and discussions. For every “What about X?” we should respond with a firm “Let’s first finish

Whataboutery warfare: Radicals reshape Israel Media distortions in the wake of Jenin incursion

talking about Y.” We must remember that no issue can invalidate or diminish the significance of another.

Moreover, we must challenge our bias and avoid the trap of binary thinking. Problems aren’t neatly boxed into right or wrong, and solutions aren’t always polar opposites. Life is more complex, and so should be our understanding of it.

Lastly, we must remember the power of an informed citizenry. An electorate that understands how narratives can be hijacked is less likely to fall for manipulative tactics. To that end, we must promote media literacy in our education system, fostering a culture of scepticism and inquiry from a young age.

In a world where communication is instant and information is abundant, it’s easy to get lost in the whirlwind of whataboutery politics and radical spins. However, by fostering critical thinking and media literacy, we can prevent our conversations and our collective narrative being hijacked. The price of allowing radicals to continue spinning stories is too high. Let’s cut the strings of this puppet show and reclaim our narratives.

JEREMY HAVARDI DIRECTOR, B’NAI B’RITH UK

It is often said Israel faces a war of both terror and misinformation.

This pattern can be seen very clearly during Israel’s incursion into the Jenin refugee camp earlier this month.

‘Operation Home and Garden’ was an IDF military campaign to confront the epicentre of terror in the West Bank.

Israel claimed there have been more than 50 attacks by Jenin militants since the beginning of 2023, many with lethal consequences.

The incursion led to the discovery and dismantling by the IDF of laboratories that had been used to manufacture explosives, as well as the seizure of weapons that had been hidden inside buildings and under roads.

The IDF also killed 12 Palestinians aged between 16 and 23, all of whom were combatants, according to open-source intelligence reports.

Seven of the 12 are reported to have been affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, three with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade,

one with Hamas and another with Fata From every angle, this was a legitimate act of self-defence by the Israeli forces. Yet any Israeli military action leads to an automatic outpouring of vitriol.

BBC anchor Anjana Gadgil interviewed Israel’s former prime minister, Naftali Bennett about the campaign.

After being told by Bennett the Palestinians who had been killed were all “militants”, Gadgil went on to say they were “also children” and stated, as if it were a fact: “The Israeli forces are happy to kill children.”

To label Israeli soldiers as child-killers is truly reprehensible for it conjures up an image of a trigger-happy, bloodthirsty military with a sadistic lust for killing the innocent. By contrast, the Israeli military takes extraordinary efforts to minimise civilian casualties.

While some of the dead were children, they were also armed with weapons and affiliated with terrorist groups. These minors are combatants in international law and are thus not the innocents portrayed by the BBC.

Of course, there is a legitimate question about why a child aged 16 has joined such

a lethal cult of ‘martyrdom’, foregoing the normal life of a teenager. Whether it is by choice or by force, it is a tragic waste of young life and a symptom of Palestinian corruption.

Following a raft of complaints, the BBC issued a statement after the programme, claiming “while this was a legitimate subject to examine in the interview”, the language used “was not phrased well and was inappropriate”.

This was a rebuke of sorts but such was the level of distortion in the interview that the BBC was offering, at best, a half-hearted apology.

A day later, Dave Brown of the Independent , well known for his 2003 depiction of Ariel Sharon as a monster eating Palestinian babies (following a painting by Goya), produced his own incendiary take on the Jenin operation.

In his cartoon, a mortally wounded Palestinian lies on the ground amid devastation, with a bullet scarred sign above him reading ‘Jenin’.

Using a blood-stained finger, he scrawls on to the sign the word Ukraine, then asks the question: “Can you see me now?”

For Dave Brown, the dead Palestinians

in Jenin deserve as much sympathy as those Ukrainians who are now fighting for their lives against the Russian invaders.

Yet the two conflicts in Ukraine and the West Bank are wildly different.

Russia has illegally invaded and occupied a sovereign and independent nation and has committed unspeakable war crimes against its civilian population.

The citizens of Ukraine have no desire to commit terrorist atrocities against the people of Russia and they pose no threat to Moscow.

Thus, the right of Ukrainians to resist Putin’s barbarism is a simple matter of international law, and one which countries in the West are rightly supporting in myriad ways.

By contrast, the various terrorist groups in Jenin are not fighting for freedom or an independent state but seeking to destroy the State of Israel and the Jews who live within it.

The narratives being promoted within the BBC and the Independent are at variance with reality and serve only to demonise the Jewish state.

It is essential to expose their falsehood at every opportunity.

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1 DANCE FEVERE TAKES THE STAGE AT JFS

More than 150 talented dancers took to the stage to launch the first Jewish InterSchools Dance Festival, organised by troupe Dancing With Louise (DWL). Held at JFS in Kenton, the event welcomed more than 350 family members and friends to watch the children perform their hearts out and was held in association with the community charity Kisharon.

2 CRICKETING TEAM’S BRILLIANT YEAR

Presenting your Year 7 and 8 District Cricket Division 1 Champions! A fantastic end to the academic year saw Immanuel defeat Bushey Meads by 44 runs with the match producing a superb batting display from Ricky Cohen and Ari Witkin, as well as tremendous bowling by Zeph Quint and Jacob Scott, who took three wickets apiece. The achievement topped off a brilliant year for the cricket team, winning four games out of four. Huge congratulations were offered to all involved.

3 ALMA SPORTSMEN MEET THE MAYOR

Football team from Alma Jewish primary school in Whetstone, their parents, teachers and governors were invited to a reception with the Barnet mayor at Hendon Town Hall. Nadav Okrent, Gilad Sasson, Levi Kay, Charlie Gelb, Ethan Lazarus, Ari Kaye, Yoni Shamash, Josh Norman and Oli Cohen, all aged between 10 and 11, are the young sportsmen who pulled off an incredible quadruple to reign supreme as the best small footballing school in the country.

Alma Primary are now Pokémon national winners, Barnet league winners, Central Cup winners and Dick Bailey cup winners.

4 EDAN ALTERMAN AMUSES JW3

More than 250 people laughed their way through an evening with the acclaimed Israeli actor and comedian Edan Alterman at JW3. The occasion was a sell-out show, raising £12,000 for Manna Meir Panim Food Centre in Or Akiva, Israel. (Picture by Tammy Shefier Kazhdan Mart Photography)

5 MR PRESIDENT AND IMMANUEL COLLEGE

During Immanuel College’s Israel trip, 96 students accompanying staff and Rabbi Golker were privileged to have an audience with President Isaac Herzog. After a tour of the residence of the president of Israel, students waited in the great hall where they learned about the importance of his role in the country and across the world. The school presented the president with a framed photograph of the group, accompanied by the prayer for the President of the State of Israel and an Arsenal shirt, with President Herzog, 48, on the back. The meeting promises to be a highlight of the trip and something the students are likely never to forget.

With a packed schedule of performances at the Edinburgh Fringe, a radio series, and a UK live tour this September, comedian Ashley Blaker is a busy man. And yet the father of six has also found the time to release a book, Normal Schmormal – part memoir, part practical guide to parenting, adoption and raising children with special needs. His wife Gemma is equally busy, as the recently appointed head teacher of Clore Shalom in Shenley, so, struggling to juggle my own work with a much smaller family, I was intrigued to know how they do it.

“I’m not quite sure... 99 percent of it isn’t down to me, truthfully,” says Ashley. “As I wrote in the dedication of the book, I don’t do the real work. I just wrote a book about it. And I guess it’s one of the crucial reasons why I’ve written it now because 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have had the time. Now the kids are older, I can find that time and have perspective.”

Considering that three of his six kids have an SEN diagnosis, that’s a lot for anyone to handle, but Ashley has a wonderful outlook.

“Our oldest girl is nearly 15 but has Down’s syndrome so she has the mental age of a four-year-old. She’s the one you can’t take your eyes o as she requires an incredible amount of care. Once, we had no hot water and called the plumber out. After an hour of trying to resolve it, we realised our daughter had simply turned the switch o . On a recent trip to New York, I kept getting Amazon notifications which I discovered was my daughter buying random stu through the iPad.”

Ashley recalls the darker times regarding the challenges they faced. “My first son was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at three so that was hard. We read all the books, which were worrying and depressing – still

are – so I wanted something that showed positivity. As my book title suggests, do we want to be normal anyway?”

The chapters read like an A to Z, but are listed in random order, a nod to kids who find learning a challenge. “‘O for onward and upward.’ ‘M for meeting’. Another covers our eldest’s primary school enrolment

and pizza party at home with his friends and it was great.”

With Edinburgh very much on the horizon, Ashley is busy condensing the book’s material into an hour’s show.

“At the Edinburgh Festival in 2018, I mentioned that I had six kids and it would get a kind of gasp, so I thought it would be interesting doing the 2020 show about my family, but Covid stopped all that. I pitched it to the BBC and Radio 4, and it was commissioned as a fourpart radio series about the mechanics of having a large family, specifically that of having kids with special needs.”

The show features some extra revelations that aren’t in the book, and I ask Ashley if he discovered anything new about himself in the writing process.

“Most definitely,” he replies.

an advert in local paper about a child with Down’s syndrome who needed adoption through Norwood and the London Borough of Hackney. How they determined that we were suitable I have no idea.”

process, which proved very challenging.”

Of the more lighthearted moments, ‘C is for celebrations’, which references their eldest son’s barmitzvah.

“He refused to do anything. I didn’t really enjoy mine either so our mantra is ‘Let the child decide.’ He had a video arcade

“One of the greatest gifts is that we forget and I talk about stu I hadn’t thought about for a long time – really big challenges and traumatic stu . “I’m a pretty organised person and hadn’t binned anything, including the box file of IEP (Individualised Education Programme) documents from my eldest’s diagnosis, plus of all the paperwork from the adoption application for our daughter. We’d just had our fourth son and in a moment of madness as the only explanation, we saw

Every parent does their best to attend key school calendar events, but with six kids surely a few concerts have been missed. “I’ve only really been able to do this stu more recently, because the early years was all meetings. In adopting, one condition was to stay o work for a period, so I became a stayat-home dad and we were pretty good about making it to kids’ events.”

With family life a literal open book, is there anything o limits? “I never say never to anything. The weird thing is, when you are living in the public eye, at any level of fame, there is such a big di erence between public and private persona. The Elton you see on stage at Glastonbury isn’t the Reginald you meet at his home. People assume that they know everything about you from what they see or read but the thing with life is, people change. All the time. Except my parents…”

So, is there anything we don’t know about you? “Not many people know I’m a Mossad agent. The comedy was just a convenient cover to go around the world uncovering subversives in the Jewish community.”

It can often be hard to tell whether a comedian is joking or not.

 Normal Schmormal is published by HarperCollins, RRP £16.99 (hardback)

Dr Semmelweis feels so Jewish Mallorcan weekend

Ashley Blaker: ‘I don’t do the real work. I just wrote a book about it’

Six kids, a head teacher wife, gig dates galore and a new book make Ashley Blaker far from typical, writes Debbie Collins

A safe pair of hands

The Hungarian obstetrician Dr Ignaz Semmelweis does sound Jewish. His immediate ancestors came from Germany, a country with a long tradition of Jewish physicians. On arriving in Vienna in 1837 he studied law and philosophy before switching to medicine, and at the Vienna General Hospital, where he worked, he was maligned on ethnic grounds. What he is known for, moreover, is his advocacy of something that Jews have for centuries done as a ritual before meals, albeit without the addition of chlorine: washing of the hands.

The good doctor was also, according to the play about his life now showing at the Harold Pinter Theatre, a player of that most Jewish of sports, chess. In the opening scene he displays his intuition and determination – and a measure of impatience – in a game against his

pregnant wife. The historical figure employs all these characteristics to save real lives, not just chess pieces. Thousands of mothers and babies in the hospital succumbed each year to puerperal (childbed) fever.

Semmelweis deduced that ‘invisible particles’ were causing the disparities in mortality figures between different hospital wards and his revolutionary idea, to encourage all staff and visitors to wash their hands, had a miraculous effect. As he promotes the new regime, his superiors at the hospital – and obstetricians at institutions across Europe – treat him as an upstart and refuse to accept his findings, with tragic consequences for the man for whom Joseph Lister, the father of modern antisepsis, would later express the greatest possible admiration.

As the obstetrician who refuses to put politics or hierarchy before the lives of women and babies,

Mark Rylance brilliantly embodies

his irascible urgency, even if that urgency occasionally means his words go unheard by the audience, unlike those of his level-headed wife, Maria. Though a lesser chess player than her husband, she is a source of his strength and is convincingly played by Amanda Wilkin. But she cannot stop the personal attacks on him – not least by his professor, Johann Klein –for the sin of being a Hungarian in Vienna. “It’s your passionate eastern soul,” Prof Klein, played by Alan Williams, tells the junior doctor when he displays understandable intemperance towards his stubborn superiors.

Having been fascinated by the story of Semmelweis, Rylance had the idea for this play, which is by Stephen Brown and directed by Tom Morris, with the actor’s name also on the writing credits. This Bristol Old Vic production has been revised since its first run at that theatre last year. With the grim subject matter and miserable fate of the hero, its unexpected flashes of humour –including an oblique poke at Donald Trump – were particularly welcome. The movement, choreographed by Antonia Franceschi, felt fluid and natural; childbirth, and death, can both be a dance. At times, however, the play felt more like storytelling than drama and, delightful as a string quartet usually is on stage,

the playing of music while the actors were speaking was an irritation, suggesting that the dialogue was secondary, or dispensable.

It is not altogether surprising that some people in recent years –including reviewers of this play for Jewish publications – have claimed that Ignaz Semmelweis was Jewish. Claims have persisted despite the writer and former professor of surgery at Yale, Sherwin Nuland, having been rather persuasive. In an angry exchange in the letters pages of the New York Review of Books with that magazine’s reviewer of his 2003 biography of the obstetrician, Nuland says the doctor’s direct forebears are traceable through parish registers, beginning with his greatgreat-grandfather, Gyorgy Semmelweis, in 1670. “Like his ancestors, Semmelweis was born and died

a Roman Catholic,” Nuland says, adding: “The name itself is Swabian, and most assuredly not Jewish.”

Semmelweis belonged to humanity and this story of his fight against intellectual dishonesty has a vital message for our times.

 Dr Semmelweis is at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 7 October 2023. atgtickets.com

Mark Rylance reprises brilliantly the role of Dr Ignaz Semmelweis, a tragic hero who some have assumed was Jewish, writes Beatrice Sayers

Maria Semmelweis (shoulders covered), played by Amanda Wilkin, comforts dying new mother Lisa Elstein, played by Chrissy Brooke

Dr Semmelweis’ visit to the ballet turns into a tragi-comic episode

Mark Rylance had been fascinated by the story of Semmelweis

MALLORCAM e mories

My first trip to Mallorca did not go well. My luggage didn’t show up for three days, the hotel we had picked at random was entirely geared to a German clientele – from the signage to the food – and my then-two-yearold caught gastroenteritis on day four and so we spent the rest of the trip stuck in the room.

The toddler did the Magaluf rite of passage with his mates 16 years later, returning home with a pierced ear, which made me laugh and his father frown. Since then Mallorca has become home to Love Island, which has not endeared it to me. And yet... it seems to be hugely popular among my contemporaries so I did start to wonder what I was missing.

It’s taken my husband and me 27 years but we finally plucked up the courage to go back. Not quite brave enough yet to do a full week, we opted for a long weekend at a new

hotel in Andraxt, and then 36 hours in Palma.

Zafiro Palace Andraxt is the latest addition to a family-owned portfolio of hotels on the island. Its location in Camp de Mar, an area of outstanding natural beauty, with spectacular views of the ocean and the Serra de Tramuntana, instantly chased away my previous Mallorca memories. The hotel complex is a series of low-lying blocks set into the rockface so as to have minimum impact on the natural environment. The design is contemporary, with clean lines, and this is very much a luxurious resort with a feeling of exclusivity. I was surprised to learn there are more than 300 rooms as its doesn’t feel that large.

After an easy half-hour journey from the airport we were welcomed into a light-filled lobby with lots of pastel pink accents and offered a glass of cava. What makes the hotel so appealing is the All-Inclusive Redefined programme, which means that (almost) everything is included: three meals a day at five fabulous restaurants, airport transfers, cocktails and drinks all day long and a VIP concierge service for booking anything you want to do outside the property (although why you’d want to leave I’m not sure). There are several pools, a gym with a sports programme and a small spa where I enjoyed a heavenly facial (not included). Golfers can play at Golf de Andratx at discounted rates.

Our spacious room with huge bed and good-quality furniture had its own lovely terrace with a plunge pool and we could have stayed there all day. More than half the rooms have private pools and all have a balcony or terrace. It’s always the

little things that mark a hotel out and this one has lots of hangers in the large walk-in wardrobe, double wash basins and excellent lighting. The hotel is well set up for families with young children but there is also an adults-only pool if you want to steer clear. This has double semifloating deckbeds which proved to be the perfect place to enjoy a passion fruit mojito (included!), which can be brought to your bed or picked up at the cute drinks truck.

Breakfast at Market restaurant is a fantastic buffet that’s plentiful without being overwhelming and a tapas-style menu is available at lunchtime. The other lunch

option is at La Veranda, which has an Italian menu so we enjoyed vitello tonnato and a superb lasagne with pulled beef. We tried all three dinner options. El Olivo serves classic Mediterranean dishes and we tucked into red tuna with beetroot and feta and my favourite Spanish starter, Aji Blanco (chilled almond soup), poured at the table, and rack of lamb.

At Caliu Grill, an American-style steakhouse, we shared an expertly cooked and sliced Tomahawk steak. Our favourite restaurant was Tastes and Sushi, which offers an exotic and authentic Asian experience. The standout dish here was sea bass carpaccio. All the restaurants have huge outdoor terraces and it’s a real treat to sit there to eat with views of the mountains as the sun goes down. It’s the kind of place where you want to get dressed up in the evening and it was nice to see that people do. Staff are charming and clearly love working at the hotel.

Andratx is home to what is claimed be the most beautiful harbour in Europe. Celebrities and wealthy people have homes here, so there is a good choice of restaurants, including the well-known Rocamar. We took a taxi down to the harbour one morning, meandering the pretty streets with their

lovely shops and stopping for a water’s edge coffee at Cappuccino.

Zafiro Palace Andraxt is close enough to Palma to visit from there but we checked into pretty boutique Hotel Basilica for the night to get a real feel for the city. This gave us lots of time to shop (espadrilles are the number one commodity), buy our body weight in coated nuts at Sabor a España, and walk through the pretty park S’Hort del Rei with its cobbled walkways and fountains. We ventured to Puerto Portals to marvel at the yachts and order the apple tarte tatin at Flanigan restaurant at lunchtime. Dinner was at the Oslo Court-esque Il Paradiso with stunning views across the bay of Palma. A terrace table is a must!

I have made new Mallorca memories and they are magnificent. Hasta la vista!

Nightly rates at Zafiro Palace Andraxt start at €513 per room on an All-Inclusive Redefined® basis. Some services are exclusive to direct bookings. zafirohotels.com

Nightly rates at Hotel Basilica start at £148. hotel basilica.com

Bespoke Kosher Travel can ensure you have access to quality kosher meals. bespokekoshertravel.com

Louisa Walters ventures to a new hotel in Andraxt and gets a shopping fix in Palma

Zafiro Palace Andraxt is in an area of outstanding natural beauty

La Veranda restaurant offers an Italian menu and super views One of the spacious rooms at Zafiro Palace

Port Andratx

Palma is a place to meander

MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA

BY REBBETZIN SIOBHAN DANSKY GRADUATE OF THE CHIEF RABBI’S MA’AYAN PROGRAMME

were on their mission: whether the land is good or bad, whether the cities are fortified and whether the inhabitants are strong or weak.

In the past fortnight we have again seen news coverage of another well-known figure who has acted in an inappropriate way. While this kind of behaviour is unacceptable regardless of who the perpetrator is, why does it feel so much worse when it’s someone in the public eye?

In this week’s Torah portion, Devarim, we revisit the story of the spies. Hashem allowed Moshe to send spies into Israel as a tactical move to scope out the lay of the land. The retelling of this episode is heavily edited from the original account in the book of Bamidbar. There it cites that Moshe embellished Hashem’s instructions, giving the spies some additional things to ask themselves when they

When the spies returned and 10 of them gave a damning report that led to mass hysteria among Bnei Yisrael, it was precisely to Moshe’s questions that they were responding.

This devastating response of the people resulted in Hashem condemning them to an additional 40 years of wandering in the desert, and consequently all the adults of that generation would die before entering Israel.

In addition, this day was then designated to be the most tragic day in the Jewish calendar, 9th Av, on which both Temples were destroyed and which we will be observing in the coming week with a 25-hour fast.

The Spanish commentator Abarbanel (1437-1508) connects this episode to the story of Moshe hitting the rock in parashat Chukat Following the death of Miriam, the well that miraculously accompanied the people in her

merit had dried up. Lacking water, the people complained to Moshe that he had brought them into the wilderness to die. While Moshe is successful in bringing water gushing from a rock, he calls the people “rebels” and publicly hits the rock, instead of speaking to it as Hashem commanded him.

Abarbanel suggests that Moshe took their complaint very personally as he recognised the truth in their claim that, as a result of him planting the seeds in the minds of the spies to look for additional challenges to their entry into Israel, he indeed led them to the sin that ultimately resulted in their deaths in the desert. This guilt caused Moshe to lose his perspective and both criticise the people and act against Hashem’s direct command.

Fast-forward to our parsha, and we tragically find ourselves watching Moshe revisiting the story of the spies as he delivers his parting speech to the people before they enter Israel. They will enter without him as, due to his

behaviour at the rock, Hashem denied him entry into the land and sentenced him to die in the wilderness. Arguably, Moshe lost sight of the impact of his words and actions as a public figure and inadvertently caused his own death and that of an entire generation.

This tale acts as a warning to anyone in a position of leadership or celebrity to think carefully before acting or speaking and consider the impact they may have on their followers and onlookers.

Would you like to be the lynchpin of a warm, inclusive and informal Reform Jewish community in Hatch End?

We are looking for a special person to be our next office administrator – a flexible and creative role.

You’re a highly experienced administrator with excellent communication skills, being the first port of call for anyone contacting Kol Chai, and getting involved with all aspects of our community. You’ll be working closely with our Rabbi.

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Deadline for applications: 9am Monday 24th July 2023

Those in the public eye should consider their actions carefully

BBC’s Huw Edwards has been in the news

Progressive Judaism

LEAP OF FAITH

BY RABBI SYLVIA ROTHSCHILD LEV CHADASH IN ITALY

Who kept law and order in biblical times?

Faith in our police and, indeed, our government has been shattered in the past year. The Bible teaches that God created humanity in the divine image and with humanity came the ideas of morality and choice. All humans are equal, responsible for themselves and accountable to God – the ultimate arbiter of justice. There is no plan for priests or monarchy, rather only a creation that God sees as good.

Very quickly humans make choices: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the generation of Noah, and the generation in the desert whose many rebellions against both Moses and God are recorded. A structure and a system are put in place: laws and commandments, priesthood, leadership.

Once in the land the structure grows – a powerful monarchy and prophets to challenge both it and the priesthood. And there are judges – often the word used is elohim – to whom the people can go with their grievances and their arguments. As the prophet Amos demanded: “Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate.”

The gates of the city are frequently referenced in the Bible as places where the people could come for justice. These were public spaces where much of the administration was done –and most importantly where it was seen to be done. When Abraham bought Machpelah, the transaction was negotiated and witnessed at the city gate. When Boaz redeemed Ruth, it was at the city gate. When David wanted to reassure the people after the Absalom revolt, he sat at the city gate.

Zechariah teaches: “These you shall do; everyone speak truth to their neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.”

The city gates were the location for a transparent and accountable leadership; law and order maintained through the shared understanding that God had created every person equally. That worked reasonably well, but as Proverbs reminds us: “Where there is no vision, the people cast o restraint.” For society to work there must be shared values and accountable leadership. If the leadership does not respect the people they serve, rebellion and splintering of society will not be far behind.

From the time of Jeremiah we are exhorted to pray for a healthy government, and good governance ensures our safety. Pirkei Avot too reminds us to pray for the welfare of government, “for without it people will eat each other alive”.

Would you like to rediscover your Jewish identity? Or have you been considering Conversion to Judaism

We are a small very welcoming community with a different ethos to the Shuls of your childhood. We promote full inclusion under the auspices of Reform Judaism:

Regular Services for Shabbat & Festivals

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Under good government, law and order enforces itself

And since the 14th century, such a prayer has been in our siddurim. Our texts remind us repeatedly that good governance is necessary for a fair and safe world – and this includes the ability to challenge transparency and justice. Then law and order enforces itself.

A stimulating series where our progressive rabbis consider how Biblical figures might act when faced with 21st-century issues

Ask our

Our trusty team of advisers answers your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry. This week: Providing advice on debt, help with independent living and the right time to sell diamonds and silverware

Dear Jacob

In these difficult financial times, I am seeking to establish an organisation providing free debt advice. However, I have been advised I might need to be regulated by the FCA. Is this true?

Abe

Dear Abe

The short answer is that providing advice to a borrower about the liquidation of their debts due under a credit or consumer hire agreement, whether for a fee or otherwise, is a regulated activity. Providing advice about any other form of debt, such as utility bills, is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

LISA WIMBORNE

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED

Dear Lisa

My grandmother has applied for housing with you. She’s been told that she’s on a waiting list. Unfortunately, she has Parkinson’s and needs help urgently – when will you be able to offer her a home?

Georgie

Dear Georgie

I can’t tell you when we will be able to house your grandma as currently all our

There are a wide range of debt advisory services that are likely to amount to a regulated activity, either individually or collectively; such as: advising on appropriate repayment strategies (such as providing debtspecific budgeting advice), scheduling of debt payments, negotiating with lenders, discharge of debts, debt relief orders, voluntary arrangements or bankruptcy.

In contrast, if your services are limited to the provision of general debt guidance to groups of people and not to individuals, this would not be a regulated activity as it does not relate to liquidation of debt due under a credit or consumer hire agreement of a particular borrower. Examples would include articles on a website or in a newsletter about debt, or providing debt management workshops. It is vital, however, that in such classes or workshops the genuine circumstances of a specific individual are not used as “examples”.

apartments are occupied. We generally have between 20-30 properties to let each year but with a waiting list of 95 households we prioritise those in greatest need. If your grandma is in urgent need she will have a higher point score – and we’ll help her sooner rather than later.

The more flexible your grandmother is about which of our seven JBD developments she is happy to move into the sooner we should be able to help her. We have seven developments across north London, Herts and Essex.

If she has only expressed interest in just one or two of our developments, this will limit her options.

While your grandma is on the waiting list it is worth

considering if she could benefit from our Independent Living Advisory Service. This free service provides advice, support, aids and adaptations she may need to continue living independently and safely in her current home.

Following an application to the service, one of our occupational therapists will make an assessment of your grandma’s specific mobility needs, and will then recommend a range of aids, gadgets, assistive technology and adaptations which can help her with the physical aspects of daily life. Depending on her means, we’ll either help install any adaptations in her home, or give her all the help she needs to apply to her local council for a grant.

JONATHAN WILLIAMS

JEWELLER

JEWELLERY CAVE LTD

Dear Jonathan

Every week I check your prices for gold in Jewish News. The price of Krugerrands still seems to be pretty good, so does that mean that now a good time to sell? Also, I have some big diamonds which I may wish to sell – is now a good time to dispose of these? I have in addition a lot of silver tableware with candlesticks which none

of my children or grandchildren want. Can you let me know whether you buy these? And finally, I have many old brooches. Could they be of interest to you?

Renie

Dear Renie

Let me answer your questions in order.

1. Gold is coming o a little bit now, as with interest rates high at the moment, people are putting money on deposit in banks now and not into gold as much. So now probably is a good time to sell; the price has drifted back from £1,620 an ounce to £1,527.

2. This year there had been two or three price drops in global diamond prices, due to lack of demand and with

increased popularity in labcreated diamonds, so again probably now is a good time to sell these, while they are still relatively strong in price.

3. We buy all silverware , as we have clients right across the globe for it. And finally:

4. We actually do buy brooches, though we actually unfortunately unset the diamonds and remake items with the – I say unfortunately becasue I love brooches but the sad fact is that no one wears them anymore.

Renie, I very much hope I have answered all your queries. And if you wish to come along to our Jewellery Cave showroom in Hendon Lane, London N3 1TT, do feel free to visit.

JACOB BERNSTEIN FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE RICHDALE CONSULTANTS LTD

Ask Our Experts / Professional advice from our panel

MENOPAUSE CHAMPION LABALANCE

ANGELA DAY-MOORE

Qualifications:

• Founder & CEO Sassy La Femme Women’s Wellness

• Passionate about women’s wellbeing

• Home to LaBalance

• Recommended by fellow women for period, perimenopause & menopause

MENOPAUSE CHAMPION LABALANCE 0333 188 6580 www.sassylafemme.com hello@sassylafemme.com

HUMAN RESOURCES / EMPLOYMENT LAW

DONNA OBSTFELD

Qualifications:

• FCIPD Chartered HR Professional

• 25 years in HR and business management.

• Mediator, business coach, trainer, author and speaker

• Supporting businesses and charities with the hiring, managing, inspiring and firing of their staff

DOHR LTD 020 8088 8958 www.dohr.co.uk donna@dohr.co.uk

ACCOUNTANT

FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE

JACOB BERNSTEIN

Qualifications:

• A member of the APCC, specialising in financial services compliance for:

• Mortgage, protection and general insurance intermediaries;

• Lenders, credit brokers, debt counsellors and debt managers;

• Alternative Investment Fund managers;

• E-Money, payment services, PISP, AISP and grant-making charities.

RICHDALE CONSULTANTS LTD 020 7781 8019 www.richdale.co.uk jacob@richdale.co.uk

PRIVATE HEALTHCARE SPECIALIST

TREVOR GEE

Qualifications:

• Managing director, consultant specialists in affordable family health insurance

• Advising on maximising cover, lower premiums, pre-existing conditions

• Excellent knowledge of health insurers, cover levels and hospital lists

• LLB solicitors finals

• Member of Chartered Insurance Institute

PATIENT HEALTH 020 3146 3444/5/6 www.patienthealth.co.uk trevor.gee@patienthealth.co.uk

ADAM SHELLEY

Qualifications:

• FCCA chartered certified accountant

• Accounting, taxation and business advisory services

• Entrepreneurial business specialist including start-up businesses

• Specialises in charities; personal tax returns

• Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation Volunteer of the Year JVN award

SOBELL RHODES LLP

020 8429 8800 www.sobellrhodes.co.uk a.shelley@sobellrhodes.co.uk

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

JEWELLER

CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIST

DR MONICA QUADIR

Qualifications:

• Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist with more than 12 years of experience in treating young people and their families, both in the NHS and privately

• Expertise in assessing neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ADHD and autism, and supporting families to manage these conditions

• Medical director at Psymplicity Healthcare, a private mental health clinic based in London, with a national online presence

PSYMPLICITY HEALTHCARE 020 3733 5277

www.psymplicity.com

enquiries@psymplicity.com

FINANCIAL SERVICES

LISA WIMBORNE

Qualifications:

Able to draw on the charity’s 50 years of experience in enabling people with physical disabilities or impaired vision to live independently, including:

• The provision of specialist accommodation with 24/7 on-site support

• Knowledge of the innovations that empower people and the benefits available

• Understanding of the impact of a disability diagnosis

JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611 www.jbd.org Lisa@jbd.org

CAREER ADVISER

JONATHAN WILLIAMS

Qualifications:

• Jewellery manufacturer since 1980s

• Expert in the manufacture and supply of diamond jewellery, wedding rings and general jewellery

• Specialist in supply of diamonds to the public at trade prices

JEWELLERY CAVE LTD 020 8446 8538 www.jewellerycave.co.uk jonathan@jewellerycave.co.uk

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

CAROLYN ADDLEMAN

Qualifications:

• Lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in will drafting and trust and estate administration. Last 14 years at KKL Executor and Trustee Company

• In close contact with clients to ensure all legal and pastoral needs are cared for

• Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners

KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 020 8732 6101 www.kkl.org.uk enquiries@kkl.org.uk

REMOVALS MANAGING DIRECTOR

STEPHEN MORRIS

LESLEY TRENNER

Qualifications:

• Provides free professional one-to-one advice at Resource to help unemployed into work

• Offers mock interviews and workshops to maximise job prospects

• Expert in corporate management holding director level marketing, commercial and general management roles

RESOURCE 020 8346 4000

www.resource-centre.org

office@resource-centre.org

Qualifications:

• Managing director of Stephen Morris Shipping Ltd

• 45 years’ experience in shipping household and personal effects

• Chosen mover for four royal families and three UK prime ministers

• Offering proven quality specialist advice for moving anyone across the world or round the corner

STEPHEN MORRIS SHIPPING LTD 020 8832 2222 www.shipsms.co.uk stephen@shipsms.co.uk

JOE OZER

Qualifications:

• Executive director for the United Kingdom at DCI (Intl) Ltd

• Worked in finance for more than 20 years

• Specialists in distribution and promotion of Israel Bonds

DEVELOPMENT COMPANY FOR ISRAEL 020 3936 2712

www.israelbondsintl.com joe.ozer@israelbondsintl.com

GOAL ATTAINMENT SPECIALIST

DR BEN LEVY

Qualifications:

• Doctor of psychology with 15 years’ experience in education and corporate sectors

• Uses robust, evidence-based methods to help you achieve your goals, whatever they may be

• Works with clients individually to maximise success

MAKE IT HAPPEN 07779 619 597 www.makeit-happen.co.uk ben@makeit-happen.co.uk

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

SUE CIPIN OBE

Qualifications:

• 24 years+ hands-on experience, leading JDA in significant growth and development.

• Understanding of the impact of deafness on people, including children, at all stages

• Extensive services for people affected by hearing loss/tinnitus

• Technology room with expert advice on and facilities to try out the latest equipment.

• Hearing aid advice, support and maintenance

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION 020 8446 0502 www.jdeaf.org.uk mail@jdeaf.org.uk

PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

LOUISE LEACH

Qualifications:

• Professional choreographer qualified in dance, drama and Zumba (ZIN, ISTD & LAMDA), gaining an honours degree at Birmingham University

• Former contestant on ITV’s Popstars, reaching bootcamp with Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw and Kym Marsh

• Set up Dancing with Louise 19 years ago

DANCING WITH LOUISE 075 0621 7833

www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk

Info@dancingwithlouise.com

Superb care in a setting

Looking for a care home for yourself or a loved one? Then you could do no better than to join us as part of our Springdene family. Unlike other care homes, which are often part of large corporations, we are a family business. And we’re still run by the same family that founded it more than 50 years ago.

New residents at Springdene can be sure of a warm reception. All our homes – Spring Grove in Hampstead, Spring Lane in Muswell Hill and Springview in Enfield – are rated as good by the Care Quality Commission.

Residents enjoy hotel-style luxury, with their own spacious room, complete with full en-suite facilities, personal telephone and wi-fi. There are three delicious meals a day, with a varied choice of menus.

And there are lots of regular activities, including quizzes, short stories, art competitions and poetry readings, live-streamed concerts and film-showings on a big screen, as well as walks in delightful gardens. We’ve a great team, o ering wonderful care and everyone is brilliantly looked after.

As our motto says:

To arrange a visit, or for more information, just call 020 8815 2000 or visit www.springdene.co.uk Follow us on

Muswell Hill

One of the finest and best-appointed homes for older people in North London, Spring Lane is just a short distance from Muswell Hill Broadway.

Hampstead

The ultimate in comfort, Spring Grove is situated on the Finchley Road near to Swiss Cottage and is close to local shops, cultural facilities and a tube station.

Enfield

Standing in tranquil surroundings, Springview is a purpose built home, situated near to Enfield Town with its local shops and public transport.

PREMIER CARE HOMES IN NORTH LONDON

ANTIQUES

Top prices paid

Antique – Reproduction – Retro Furniture (any condition)

Epstein, Archie Shine, Hille, G Plan, etc. Dining Suites, Lounges Suites, Bookcases, Desks, Cabinets, Mirrors, Lights, etc.

House clearances

Single items to complete homes

MARYLEBONE ANTIQUES - 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED 07866 614 744 (ANYTIME) 0207 723 7415 (SHOP)

closed Sunday & Monday

STUART SHUSTER - e-mail - info@maryleboneantiques.co.uk

MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING

etc. No job too big or too small! Rubbish cleared as part of a full clearance. We have a waste licence. We buy items including furniture bric a brac.

For a free quote please phone Dave on 07913405315 any time.

LAW MENTOR

Costume jewellery and watches etc 01277 352560

Former “Magic Circle” solicitor offers help with:

• CVs and personal statements

• interviews and assessment days

• coping with stress and workload

• promotion and new opportunities

For more information contact Tom lawmentor@btinternet.com / 07590 057097

LEGACY- LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR MEMORY

HOME & MAINTENANCE

LAW MENTOR

Former “Magic Circle” solicitor offers help with:

• CVs and personal statements

• interviews and assessment days

• coping with stress and workload

• promotion and new opportunities

For more information contact Tom lawmentor@btinternet.com / 07590 057097

WEB DESIGN

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD

9 Everyday (procedure) (7)

10 Burst (7)

11 Flowed back (tide) (5)

12 Axle-end cover (3-3)

14 Talked to God (6)

18 Delve (5)

20 Sells aggressively (7)

22 Released from a state of adhesion (7)

23 Beatles’ drummer (5)

24 Small herring-like fish (5)

25 Sir Rod ___, veteran rock singer (7)

DOWN

1 Ask humbly (7)

2 Bewilder, baffle (5)

3 Milk pudding (7)

4 Made a cat-like noise (6)

5 Course of a journey (5)

6 In a friendly way (7)

7 Spirited horse (5)

13 Internet interface (7)

15 Book in advance (seats, eg) (7)

16 Put on to a plate (4,3)

17 Cold frothy milk drinks (6)

18 Green, red or purple fruits (5)

19 Spew lava (5)

21 ___ Ronstadt, country-rock singer (5)

WORDSEARCH CODEWORD

The listed cold places can all be found in the grid. Words may run either forwards or backwards, in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction, but always in a straight, unbroken line.

RC TN RA L

ENSU GA IU DY P

RI M SIB ER IA A

ES ON CI TC RA L

ICELAND LAPLAND MOUNTAIN MURMANSK

Last issue’s solutions

Crossword ACROSS:

Fun, games and prizes

SUDOKU

Fill the grid with the numbers 1 to 9 so that each row, column and 3x3 block contains the numbers 1 to 9.

SUGURU

Each cell in an outlined block must contain a digit: a two-cell block contains the digits 1 and 2, a three-cell block contains the digits 1, 2 and 3; and so on. The same digit must not appear in neighbouring cells, not even diagonally.

In this finished crossword, every letter of the alphabet appears as a code number. All you have to do is crack the code and fill in the grid. Replacing the decoded numbers with their letters in the grid will help you to guess the identity of other letters.

NORWAY SIBERIA SWEDEN

See next issue for puzzle solutions.

All puzzles © Puzzler Media Ltd - www.puzzler.com

R e t r e a t e x p e r i e n c e - S p a & W e l l n e s s ( K o s h e r ) 3 6 5 d a y s a y e a r i n t h e m o u n t a i n s o f C y p r u s

+357-26814-000

Rooms, suites & villas with private pools

• Kosher healthy & rich Pescatarian meals

• Daily wellness programs

• The largest SPA in Cyprus

• Energizing walks in the forest

• Wine tasting in our cava

• Music & Social gatherings

• Synagogue

• Mindfulness workshops

• Complimentary Tea & Coffee 24/07

• For adults only!