From the Editor

Jane Liddell-King Dear All, For most of us Chanukah is a time of celebration, of renewal of Jewish identity and self-respect. But this year we think again of those sick with COVID and of lost loved ones. And even as we recall those secret latkes ingredients passed down the generations, is it possible not to think of those refugees freezing in desperation and forced to sleep in forests while governments use them as political pawns? Perhaps I should apologise for striking such a dark note. In Cambridge we’re the fortunate custodians of a Czech scroll. Although the Pardubice community to which it belonged was destroyed in the deportations to Terezin at Chanukah 1942, the scroll survives and is in use. Thinking of those 1200 people from the Pardubice region clutching their luggage at the station with no idea of where they were going, we have to ask, how are we preventing similar suffering today? And of course, we have to repeat brachot to express our own good fortune.

Now, in Cambridge, we have the opportunity to bring about real, transformative change. We have the opportunity to embrace the possibility of a new student centre in which all are welcome. Let’s seize that opportunity, assert a ‘proper’ not nostalgic or inflexible relationship to the past, show leadership, and break new ground. Enjoy your latkes,

חמש הכונח

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