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‘He was half saint, half superhero’ Community mourns the loss of Kinder icon Harry Bibring
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SCHOOLS SCHOOLS AWARDS AWARDS
Farce and furious MPs livid after Labour rebuffs calls for antisemitism answers Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby sparked fury this week by telling her own MPs she does not answer to them after the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) unanimously backed a motion setting a deadline for answers to 11 questions on tackling antisemitism, writes Adam Decker. The motion, Action on Antisemitism, was proposed by Catherine McKinnell and seconded by Ruth Smeeth, and demanded Labour’s leadership disclose how many outstanding cases of antisemitism need to be investigated and how many members are awaiting training on Jewhatred, among 11 urgent questions.
The text warned the party “risks seeming to be institutionally antisemitic” if urgent action is not taken against hate. It passed without any member speaking against. But Formby sparked fury by telling MPs at their weekly meeting that she answered to the party’s governing body and not the PLP. She also said it was “impossible to eradicate” antisemitism and it would be “dishonest to claim to be able to do so”. Noting Jeremy Corbyn’s apology 10 months ago for the pain caused by antisemitism within his own party and Formby’s pledge to introduce new procedures to tackle the issue, the motion said: “The PLP is
dismayed there remains such a backlog of antisemitism cases that are still to be investigated and a decision reached... The PLP is very concerned by reports a number of cases of alleged antisemitism activity from high profile members have been dropped.” The motion calls for the leadership to deliver a report to the PLP meeting with answers to questions – set out in full in last week’s Jewish News (pictured, left) – including how many antisemitism complaints have been received and how many times the general secretary and officers of the party’s governing body have ensured no further action is taken. Dame Margaret Hodge said: “If you want to get rid of the cancer of antisemitism in the Labour Party you have to have complete transparency and she’s refusing to do that.” Continued on page 3
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www.jewishnews.co.uk
Jewish News 7 February 2019
News / CST report
Antisemitism hits record high for third year in succession
Jewish gravestones smashed and destroyed in Manchester
the charity recorded an incident of “extreme violence” with “potential loss of life or grievous bodily harm”. In the incident, recorded in London in December, following a dispute surrounding a sale, the victim was attacked and cut with a knife, punched and kicked, while the offender said: “I’m going to kill you, you f*****g Jew.” In Gateshead in April, two Orthodox men were attacked by
three youths, with one punched and slashed with a knife under his eye, an injury requiring hospital treatment. CST said there were 122 incidents of assault last year, of which 101 were “random attacks on Jewish people in public spaces”, 57 of these against people who were “visibly Jewish”. Six assaults were recorded either at or on the way to synagogue, while another 20 were recorded against
Contexts and patterns
in every month of 2018, the first time this
The 1,652 antisemitic incidents recorded
has happened in a single calendar year. This
by CST in 2018 were spread throughout the year and continued the previous pattern
extends a trend of historically high incident totals, best illustrated by the fact that CST
of 2016 and 2017 by reflecting a general, sustained high level of recorded antisemitic incidents, rather than a temporary ‘spike’ in
recorded over 100 antisemitic incidents in all but five months during the three years from January 2016 to December 2018; whereas
incidents fuelled by a specific trigger event. CST recorded over 100 antisemitic incidents
this only happened six times in the decade before 2016. In assessing the impact of these
NUMBER OF INCIDENTS, 2007–2018
BY DR DAVE RICH
1,500
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1,000
2017
2018
2015
2016
2013
2014
2011
2012
2010
500 2009
Jewish News readers are unlikely to be surprised about the record numbers of antisemitic incidents in this country in 2018 for the third year in a row. These past three years have felt at times like a relentless stream of incidents, headlines, stories and arguments about a prejudice that should have been consigned to history a long time ago, and that until recently existed on the fringes of British society with little impact on Jewish life. The antisemitic incidents recorded by CST show antisemitism can come from anywhere and can affect anybody. Many incidents are related to politics, whether that means antisemitism in the Labour Party, people blaming Jews for immigration and Brexit or people angry about Israel. However, a lot involve regular people who are angry and hateful, and who express that anger and hate as antisemitism because they see Jews as different or as a threat. Even here, though, we see ordinary people using the language of extremism: whether it is Nazi salutes and “Heil Hitler” shouts, or blaming Jews for whatever Israel has allegedly done that week, or claiming George Soros and the Rothschilds are pulling the strings of our political leaders, extremist ideas and language are increasingly influencing mainstream politics and polluting wider society. This suggests the ongoing rise in antisemitism in recent years is not just about attitudes to Jews,
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record annual high of 1,375 antisemitic incidents in 2016, making 2018 the third year in a row to see a then-record total; and there was also a record high of 1,182 antisemitic incidents in 2014.
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Jewish schoolchildren. and across the country and it reflects Among the examples cited in CST’s deepening divides in our country and report, published today, was a teenage our politics. Jewish people are on the Jewish boy approached by a man on receiving end of this hatred, but it a bus who began making antisemitic must not be left to us to tackle alone.” comments before using a lighter to Home Secretary Sajid Javid is due burn the boy’s hair. to co-chair an antisemitism roundIn Sussex, an 11-year-old boy was table “to discuss how we further tackle verbally abused by fellow pupils from these issues”, while Communities Sechis school, who made statements such retary James Brokenshire said he was as “Burn all Jews” and “Hitler was the “shocked and saddened” at the figures. f*****g greatest”. The CST said this Labour frontbencher Andrew abuse “was ongoing over a number of Gwynne MP said the statistics “make months, and culminated into a phys- for hard reading and show much more ical assault on a school field in May”. needs to be done”, while All-Party ParThe charity, which disburses more liamentary Group Against Antisemthan £13million in annual security itism chair John Mann MP said the funding from the government, said the figures were “sadly not surprising”, number and proportion of incidents it adding there was a “whole antisemitic logged from police data-sharing had onslaught on social media”. risen again last year, in part because In accounting for the numbers, of new arrangements with British National Policing Lead for Hate Crime Transport Police, which reported Assistant Chief Constable Mark Ham78 incidents to CST. ilton said2018“evidence… suggests that 12 CST Antisemitic Incidents Report • • EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2019 AT 00.01 The charity’s chief executive David more victims are willing to report ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN Delew said: “Three years of rising anti- crimes”. However, the CST added it THE UNITED KINGDOM IN 2018 semitic incidents shows the scale of the suggests “a situation in which people CST recorded 1,652 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2018, the highest total that more CST has ever problem facing the Jewish commuwith antisemitic attitudes appear recorded in a single calendar year. This is an increase of 16 per cent from the 1,420 antisemitic nity. This is happening across society confident towhich express views”. incidents recorded by CST in 2017, was itself atheir record annual total. CST also recorded a
2008
The number of antisemitic incidents recorded by the Community Security Trust (CST) in 2018 has rocketed to 1,652 – the highest total for the third year running, a report published today reveals, writes Adam Decker. CST bosses said “extremist” language and imagery, including references to Nazis, were now being seen in almost half of all incidents, compared to less than a third in previous years. While the travails of the Labour Party and ongoing fighting on the Gaza border spurred some antisemitic reaction, the charity said there was no specific “trigger” for this year’s record. “Whereas previous high annual totals in 2014 and 2009 were almost entirely due to reactions to conflicts involving Israel, there has been no single trigger event to cause any of the high annual totals in recent years,” it said. “As was the case in 2017, there was no single, specific event in 2018 to cause a sudden and temporary spike.” For the first time, there were more than 100 incidents every month of the year, showing sustained high levels and, for the first time since 2015,
www.cst.org.uk
A steep rise in the wrong direction
but reflects the weakening of society as a whole. In fact, opinion polls suggest broader public attitudes towards Jews are not getting worse in the UK, which remains one of the least antisemitic countries on earth by that measure. Instead, it seems people who dislike Jews, or who believe stereotypes and conspiracy theories about us, are more confident and determined to express those views publicly. They can see extremist movements of right and left gaining in strength here and abroad. Antisemitism has always flourished when society fractures and extremism takes hold, and our current times are no different. The ubiquity of social media makes it much easier for extremism to spread. This also means the current surge in antisemitism can only be tackled by working with friends and supporters beyond the Jewish community. This is a problem for the whole of British society, and it will only be solved by addressing the deeper divisions across our country.
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7 February 2019
Jewish News
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Labour antisemitism / News NEWS IN BRIEF
MCDONNELL REBUKES ‘SMEAR’ LBC CALLER Shadow chancellor John McDonnell rebuked an LBC caller on Tuesday evening after he claimed accusations of antisemitism in Labour are a “smear campaign”. He told the caller: “It isn’t a smear campaign. I’ve seen the evidence. I’ve seen the stuff on social media in particular. Some of it is horrendous. So we have to face up to it. When you say it’s a smear campaign, that belittles what’s happening and the action we’re taking against it.”
WARD CLAIMS HE’S MAKING A COMBACK Controversial former MP David Ward claims an appeal to be reinstated to the party was ruled in his favour, despite the Lib Dems saying no such application has been received. Speaking to Jewish News, Ward, who is now a local councillor in Bradford, claims an appeal to be reinstated initiated a year ago was ruled in his favour last Thursday. A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “David Ward is not a member of the Liberal Democrats and was previously expelled from the party for bringing it into disrepute.”
Calls for antisemitism answers flatly rejected
THEY HAVE MEANS, BUT NOT THE WILL BY WES STREETING, MP
grip on its NEC. Contrary to the propaganda ILFORD NORTH circulating on social media, Ms Continued from page 1 Formby’s position as general In a letter to MPs before the secretary isn’t under attack. meeting, Formby insisted the The idea the victims in all of party had managed to “clear all The Labour Party says it is of the previously outstanding taking antisemitism seriously, this are the leader and general antisemitism cases from the even when there are plenty of secretary of the Labour Party investigation and disputes examples of people caught red- is deeply offensive and a kick in the teeth to Jewish members panel stages of the process. handed being let back in. This claim was immediately Labour MPs are again being who’ve been subjected to abuse, dismissed by Ilford North accused of using the issue of threats of violence and physical MP Wes Streeting, who said it antisemitism to undermine intimidation at party meetings “stretches the boundaries of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and on social media. They have credibility”. and now General Secretary the power and authority to act, In further developments Jennie Formby, even though they just need the will to do so. Sunlight is the best disinthis week Jonathan Gold- Jennie Formby with Jeremy Corbyn at party’s conference concerns have been raised pristein, chair of the Jewish vately for many months and fectant. The claim that the party Goldstein refused to comment on any dis- Jewish MPs experience the has dealt with all outstanding Leadership Council, confirmed he received a text message from Formby asking to speak to cussion Board of Deputies president Marie worst of the backlash every time cases stretches the boundaries of credibility. him. Goldstein told Jewish News he got a text van der Zyl reportedly had with Formby. He this issue arises. Until victims can see the from Formby asking to speak to him. “I called said the Labour official had told him that And Jewish people are she “appreciated my frankness, and that she staring into another round of outcome of their complaints her back out of courtesy,” he said. But Goldstein added he told Formby he understood my position.” broken promises from a party and we’re transparent about Referring to her recent discussion with that promised zero tolerance the complaints and how they’re was unprepared to have meetings with senior Labour leaders, as there had been no move- Formby, Board President Marie van der and a “militant fight against handled, we have no chance of rebuilding confidence. ment from Corbyn on the issue of antisem- Zyl said: “The meeting with was part of the antisemitism”. It’s not too much to ask – and itism in the Labour Party since the Jewish Board’s consistent approach to directly chalMs Formby could publish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies lenge those we do not agree with, whether this information today. She it should be obvious those of us met him on 24 April last year in the wake of within Labour or the Hungarian government. enjoys Jeremy’s full support and campaigning against antisemthe Enough Is Enough rally against Labour You cannot win the argument if you refuse confidence. No Labour Party itism in Labour are relentless. not Page going1away. even to have it.” GAD_MedNeg_1_JewishNews_128mm antisemitism in Westminster. leaderxhas ever enjoyed1 such a We’re 165mm_Layout 05/02/2019 15:09
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
Special Report / Harry Bibring: 1925–2019
‘Goodbye Harry, our unstoppable friend’ Heartfelt tributes were paid this week to Kindertransport survivor Harry Bibring, who has died aged 93, writes Adam Decker. Harry and his sister, who were from Austria, were one of nearly 10,000 child refugees who came to the UK through the Kindertransport prior to the outbreak of war in September 1939. His parents hoped to join them in the UK, however Harry’s father died of a heart attack in 1940 while his mother was killed in Sobibór death
camp in German-occupied Poland in 1942. Working with the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET), Harry made hundreds of visits to schools and universities nationwide to educate pupils about the horrors of the Nazi genocide. One his final public appearances saw him attend the burial at Bushey New Cemetery of six unknown Jews murdered in Auschwitz earlier this month. Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: “We are shocked and deeply saddened by Harry’s sudden death. Only last week, at an event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2019, he held a room full of civil servants in rapt attention as he shared his personal experiences of coming to the UK as a child on the Kindertransport. His humour and humanity shone through as always. He will be greatly missed for his tireless work educating about the Holocaust. We wish long life to his family.” HET chief executive Karen Pollock also paid tribute to
Harry Bibring on his wedding day
Harry with fellow educators at his final event last week
Harry as an “unstoppable” educator. “Harry settled here, built a life and started a family. In later years, he travelled the country, sharing his testimony with thousands of young people. He wanted them to learn from the past. “Up until the very end Harry determinedly shared his testimony with such energy and vigour, which was so typical of him. “Harry was part of the HET family and we will miss him terribly. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. “We will do all we can to ensure his story and legacy continues to be shared across the country.” Michael Newman, head of The Association of Jewish Refugees, said: “The AJR has lost a great Above: friend in Harry, someone who was Harry (right) a passionate educator about the on the front Kindertransport and the Holocaust. page of the “He had a great sense of duty, Jewish News two weeks and his enthusiasm and positivity ago, when touched the lives of many. He he escorted will be deeply missed and fondly the remains remembered.” of Shoah The National Holocaust Centre victims in Nottingham said: “Harry was to burial a longstanding member of our Holoat Bushey Cemetery. caust survivor team of inspirational Left: His UK speakers who educate young people. entry permit Harry will be sorely missed.”
Harry with Prince Charles at a Holocaust reception in Vienna
Rafi Cooper, director of communications at World Jewish Relief (WJR) said: “We were devastated to hear the news of Harry’s passing. He was a true mensch who commanded the admiration and respect of all who met him. “The way that he told his story, informing and educating about both Kindertransport and the Holocaust, will inspire thousands to take on his legacy. “Last year, we were privileged to have Harry talk to WJR’s Berlin to London cyclists, including his son Michael, and grandson Lee, prior to them taking on the epic com-
memorative ride that emulated his journey.” He added: “His story served as inspiration to many of the riders and kept them pedalling when the going got tough. We will never forget the end of the ride, when Harry, well into his 90s, jumped onto a tandem bike pedalled by Michael, and rode triumphantly through the finish arch at London’s Liverpool Street Station, marking the end of the 600 mile journey. The delight on Harry’s face was a joy to behold and the memory of this moment will remain forever in our hearts.” The funeral took place on Sunday.
To me he was half saint, half rock star BY KAREN POLLOCK HOLOCAUST EDUCATIONAL TRUST
To the Holocaust Educational Trust, Harry was an unstoppable combination of tzaddik and rock star. He was the busiest man we knew, constantly hopping from educational event to packed social life, telling his story at schools and keeping up with his seemingly endless bridge games. I’ll always remember on the way back from an intense less than 48-hour
visit with Prince Charles and Camilla in Vienna, Harry’s home town, those of us who were meant to be young and vivacious were desperate to get home to our beds, while Harry was desperate to get back in time for yet another bridge game at his house. He was indefatigable. One of my favourite memories of Harry was his live webcast for our Stories from Willesden Lane project last year, where his experience as a Jewish child refugee was streamed into the classrooms of 8,000 London students. When the students later met him in person, they greeted him like the superstar he was.
He jumped on the stage, waved to the cheering crowds and let them take selfies with him. A true professional! He had captured their hearts – not only because of his compelling story, but because of his warmth, wit and dynamism. Harry was a hero to so many of us who worked with him. Up until the very end, he determinedly shared his testimony with energy and vigour, which was so typical of him. Harry will be greatly missed, but his story will live on through the many tens of thousands of students he inspired. May his memory be a blessing.
www.jewishnews.co.uk
7 February 2019 Jewish News
5
Shul fears / Arson trial / News
21-STOREY BLOCK COULD TOWER OVER ICONIC SYNAGOGUE Developers are trying to build a giant 21-storey tower block just three metres from Bevis Marks Synagogue, London’s worldfamous Sephardi shul. Jews with a connection to the iconic building now have less than two weeks to object, after a planning application was submitted for the glass-fronted retail and office block rising skywards just yards from the UK’s oldest synagogue. Sephardi leaders in the UK said it would “tower over” the Grade I listed 300-year old building and are now “calling the community to action,” urging people to write and tell City of London planners what they think. The planning application to demolish and replace a building that is currently the same height as the shul has been submitted by developers at Quod for 33 Creechurch Lane, the building adjacent to the synagogue. Early images show the effect it will have on light, the heritage environment and potentially the building’s structure, with the project’s Heritage, Townscape and Visual Impact Assessment (HTVIA) recognising the impact. Under the Government’s own National Planning Policy Framework, published in July last year, the setting of a Heritage Asset such as Bevis Marks Synagogue is defined as “the surroundings in which a Heritage Asset is experienced… it is not fixed”. The HTVIA consultants appeared to confirm the planned office’s detrimental impact on the synagogue, saying: “It is our view that the retention of a sense of intimacy and the interaction of small spaces with larger buildings are the principal characteristics which define the presence of the synagogue.” They added: “Just as the synagogue forms part of the City’s historic grounding, so the City’s form helps to provide a sense of the synagogue’s historic significance.”
Blueprints show the proposed skyscraper looming high over Bevis Marks synagogue
Consultants said the significance of the building is “drawn largely from its age, its rarity, and from some internal features which remain largely untouched, and some of which pre-date the structure itself”. Bevis Marks Synagogue, considered the “home to the Sephardi Jewish community”, opened in 1701, seven years before St Paul’s Cathedral. Sephardi leaders said: “This is our synagogue and it’s for us to protect it for our future generations,. We have been monitoring this and now we need your help. There is now very little time to register comments and concerns about developers’ plans.”
AWARD FOR SHOAH EDUCATOR A Shoah educator has been recognised by the prime minister with a Points of Light award for founding Echo Eternal, a Holocaust commemoration arts project. Adrian Packer (pictured) received the prestigious award given to vol-
unteers who make a change in their communities and inspire others. Theresa May said in a letter to him: “You have ena-
bled children of all faiths and backgrounds in Birmingham to learn about the Holocaust and play their part in ensuring that the testimony of survivors lives on. You should feel very proud of the way that your innovation brings young people together in fighting all forms of hatred.”
Leave the gift of brighter lives Countless families in the Jewish community need Norwood’s support to grow and thrive. By leaving a gift in your Will, of any size, you can help us ensure they enjoy brighter lives. Please show kindness to future generations relying on our life-changing services. Find out how a gift in your Will to Norwood would make a difference. Email giftsinwills@norwood.org.uk or call Oshrit on 020 8420 6946
Shul arson suspect in court A homeless man from Devon has appeared at the Old Bailey charged with terrorism offences and synagogue arson. Tristan Morgan, 51, was arrested last year over the arson attack on an Exeter synagogue in July. His trial is now due to start on 1 July.
Alongside arson, he is charged with two offences contrary to the Terrorism Act, including encouraging terrorism and collecting information. Matt Lawler, the local policing commander, said: “Since the fire at the synagogue in July last year, local
officers, colleagues from counter-terrorism policing and the Crown Prosecution Service have worked together on a wide investigation.” Exeter Synagogue said members were able to hold services again by October and had been kept updated on the case against Morgan.
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J EW JE WIS I SH H
Jewish Schools Awards 2019
2019
SCHOOLS SCHOOLS AWARDS AWARDS
WE’VE DONE OUR HOM
Success stories emanating from classrooms in Jewish schools have skyrocketed in recent years beyond even the high standards set in past decades. But while the focus is inevitably on the end result, the hard work gets done in the run-up. That process involves a plethora of the willing and able, working to give Jewish children the best possible start in life, but in the rush for grades, their effort can sometimes get forgotten. That’s why the Jewish News’ School Awards, run in conjunction with Partnerships for Jewish Schools (PaJeS), is so important. Now in their fourth year, educators and those who help them across the country’s 120 Jewish schools are now once more looking forward to the annual glitzy London awards ceremony, to be held at JW3 on Monday. Here, we reveal the finalists over eight categories, who stand to take home up to £5,000 for their schools. EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING LITERACY (PRIMARY)
The world would be so much more dull were it not for literacy, so an early introduction is essential. At North West London, the “outstanding and dedicated” Karen Dorman has introduced competitions and a school newspaper for the children to produce and edit, while at Sinai, Juliette Green “manages to enthuse every child with her passion,” meaning they now “love to read”. At Etz Chaim, Ilana Hutchinson has introduced writing competitions and Book Week, with authors coming to speak to the children and peers noting a “whole school” effect. While at Rimon, Kate Manktelow has trained other staff and even turned her classroom into a literary café with tea and biscuits, where children read books to one another. Cute!
EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING LITERACY (SECONDARY)
At JFS, “motivating” Anna Joseph “goes beyond the call of duty,” according to nominees, while at Yavneh, Jayne Waxman “gives positive feedback” and “sets extremely high standards” for students. At Immanuel,
the “extraordinary” Ben Wolfin won’t stop championing the monthly school newsletter Chai Life, distributed to every student and teacher, in which he showcases creative writing, profiles teachers’ favourite books and links literacy-based puzzles and quizzes to the curriculum. Beyond that he organises competitions, encourages debating skills, uses comics to help reluctant readers, and even offers a lunchtime drop-in for any student preparing for exams who wants help with their essay writing skills. Can we clone him?
OUTSTANDING PRACTICE IN FOUNDATION STAGE
Akiva’s Nicole Craig “really knows and nurtures every child” and colleagues say she reflects her “deeply Jewish values” in the Early Years setting, encouraging youngsters to be “local, national and global citizens” by introducing them to things like Mitzvah Day and Chinese New Year. King David’s Charlotte Fogel is “keen to impart her love of Judaism,” even dressing up as an air stewardess to take the children on “a flight” to Israel for Yom Ha’atzmaut, complete with passports, boarding passes
Above: Ada Mann, Ana Rodriguez-Somoza, Anna Joseph, Ben Wolfin, Cath Davies, Charlotte Fogel, Deborah Harris, Denise Sloane, Dina Jacobson, Fiona Bellinger, Ilana Hutchinson, Indi Padda, Ivana Levy, Jayne Waxman, Juliette Green, Karen Dorman, Kate Manktelow, Laura Fox, Nicole Craig, Rabbi Andrew Davis, Rabbi Jonny Goodman, Ruth Finkel, Sara Levan, Sharon Wakefield, Sita Shah, Suzanne Singer
and suitcases! At Mathilda Marks-Kennedy, “patient and calm” Suzanne Singer turned her classroom into the world of Disney’s ‘Frozen,’ immersing the children in educational activities linked to this imaginary world, while at Hasmonean, Sharon Wakefield teaches in “a multi-sensory and kinaesthetic way” helping those with hearing and speech issues feel part of the class. All-in-all, a very strong field!
OUTSTANDING ARTS INITIATIVE IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL
JFS fields two of the three finalists in this category, the first being “exceptional” Fiona Bellinger, who has captured imaginations with her “open and inclusive” music department. Known for always creating “a buzz,” colleagues say her work has meant that “students have found the music room to be their home”. Across the corridor, Denise Sloane leads drama. Described as “a pillar of the JFS community”, she is famous for her “legendary” productions of “West End standard”. Hoping to steal the award from the school’s grasp is Sita Shah at JCoSS, who has “breathed new life” into the school’s art department. Peers say she “sees beyond the curriculum” and her “positive energy” has led to a year-on-year increase in the number of students taking art since she joined.
Pictures: Marc Morris
ISRAEL EDUCATION (PRIMARY)
At Broughton, the “infectious” Cath Davies knows the school inside out after 25 years there. She coordinated the ‘Israel 70’ project and nominees said they had “seldom seen the pupils so engaged” as when they created the pop-up book for the exhibition. At Etz Chaim,
Ilana Levy doesn’t just teach children about Israel but encourages them to “experience” Israel, including its history and culture. Meanwhile over at Sinai the “charismatic” Jewish Studies teacher Ada Mann “is adored by parents and teachers alike,” with colleagues saying she “mesmerises and captivates” pupils.
ISRAEL EDUCATION (SECONDARY)
Yavneh’s deputy head Rabbi Andrew Davis organises the Year 9 Israel Trip and “works tirelessly to educate, influence and inspire a love” for the country. Nominees noted his energy and experience, adding that he was Yavneh’s “backbone”. At King David in Manchester, Rabbi Jonathan Goodman is “unlike most teachers in that he understands that teaching should not take place 100 percent in the classroom”. He is known outside the school walls too, running the inter-secondary ‘Beat the Clock’ Jewish general knowledge programme. The final finalist in this category is the “dynamic” Sara Levan of JCoSS. As Head of Jewish Life at the school, she seems to understand that students don’t see things through rose-tinted glasses and offers Sixth Formers the opportunity “to discuss what is going on in the Middle East and air their concerns”. Beloved by teachers and pupils, one colleague told us “everything she touches turns to gold”. But will she take home gold?
FACILITATING STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL Yavneh’s Sixth Form coordinator
7 February 2019 Jewish News
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Sheba Medical Center is looking for medical personnel. You are looking for a great job in Israel. Dina Jacobson is known as “the Sixth Form mum”. She pushes community volunteering in a big way, creating the Give Back programme, has older students mentoring their younger peers, encourages Mitzvah Day involvement and even gets students running the Jerusalem Marathon for Israel’s disability support organisation Shalva. At JFS, Indi Padda created the Visibility for Disability programme, offering a “safe space” for students, and coordinates special assemblies, visiting speakers, disability sports and work with external organisations, all of which “has given a voice to the most vulnerable students”. At Kantor King Solomon, Ana Rodriguez-Samosa “works tirelessly” to help students play a part in school and local leadership, encouraging the establishment of out-of-school clubs and facilitating student feedback direct to senior management. Colleagues say Ana’s work “prepares students to take an active role in the community”. Between them, the future looks bright indeed.
CHESED INITIATIVES AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL
At North West London, the “selfless” Ruth Finkel runs the Chesed committee, but she doesn’t just encourage the giving of money and clothing – she also builds relationships between the students and nearby Muslim schools, together raising thousands of pounds for Jewish and non-Jewish charities. Colleagues say she was a “lev tov” (a good heart). Eden’s Laura Fox gets the parents involved, too, facilitating visits to care homes, collecting for refugees and organising an event for Hope Not Hate. One parent said the visits, where children work with the elderly to “bring history alive,” were “powerful and moving”. Finally, at Wohl Ilford, the “amazing” Deborah Harris leads on all events to raise tzedakah, getting children collecting for everything from Camp Simcha to food banks, arranging maths resources for Ghanaian children, and even flew in an Israeli band to play at a Jewish care home. With Chesed like this, it’s a brave panel to judge a winner.
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News / Palace date / Housing case / New envoy
UK NAMES WIGAN AS ISRAEL ENVOY
Ofcom probe into ‘master race’ show
MAGICAL KNIGHT FOR SIR SIMON Historian and broadcaster Simon Schama received his knighthood from theDuke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace this week.
Pro-Israel lawyers in the UK have lodged a complaint against a Bristol radio show alleged to have breached the national regulators’ code of conduct 14 times in a single episode. UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) submitted the complaint to regulator Ofcom last week about Bristol Community FM’s weekly two-hour politics show hosted by Tony Gosling, a Quaker who edits a conspiracy theorist website. UKLFI director Jonathan Turner said an episode on 23 November included allegations that the Manchester Arena bombing was carried out by MI5 in league with the Rothschild family, that
Israeli children are indoctrinated, and that Palestinian children are intentionally killed by Israelis in Gaza. Turner said Gosling has a separate podcast, the first episode of which looked at “Jewish exceptionalism” and whether Jews consider themselves to be the “master race,” discussed with Tony Greenstein and Gilad Atzmon. UKLFI said the show was “filled with conspiracy theories, racism and propaganda and in breach of multiple provisions of the Ofcom Code. Ofcom should ensure that an extremist is not permitted a platform to spread his message of conspiracy and hate.”
Housing group wins legal case A charity providing accommodation exclusively for Charedi Jews has won a legal battle against a non-Jewish family in Stamford Hill who claimed its ‘Jews only’ criteria was discriminatory. Lawyers acting for Hackney Council and Agudas Israel Housing Association (AIHA), which owns the newly-completed Aviv development, defeated an application for a judicial review brought by a mother
and her young son in need of housing. The ruling comes after a Divisional Court hearing in October, with Lord Justice Lindblom and Sir Kenneth Parker determining AIHA’s arrangements were “justified as proportionate”. They said: “We recognise the needs of other applicants for social housing, but in the particular market conditions… AIHA’s arrangements are proportionate in
addressing the needs and disadvantages of the Orthodox Jewish community.” AIHA was set up by Ita CymermanSymons in 1981 and last year she criticised the legal action as a “political stunt”. This week, she said the ruling “helps address the imbalance, disadvantages and prejudices faced by Orthodox Jewish families when trying to find suitable accommodation”.
Britain’s former envoy in Somalia and Congo has been appointed the next ambassador to Israel. Neil Wigan will take up the role in June to succeed David Quarrey, who leaves after his four-year term to begin a new diplomatic post. Wigan headed the Tel Aviv section at the foreign office and also led the department’s Arab, Israel and North Africa Group between 2006 and 2008. The Board of Deputies tweeted: “Mazeltov to @ FCONeilWigan, UK’s newly appointed Ambassador to Israel. Thank you,@DavidQuarrey, a friend to the Jewish community and all his hard work to strengthen UK-
Israel bound: Neil Wigan
Israel relations.” Jewish Leadership Council chief executive, Simon Johnson, said: “We look forward to working with the new ambassador to Israel and hope the strong relationship between Britain and Israel continues.. We also extend our gratitude to outgoing ambassador David Quarrey.”
CHURCH TACKLES POST
A Church of England lay minister has been asked to step back from his role in the Diocese of St Albans after a social media post claiming Jews will not back Jeremy Corbyn because he will not “kowtow to their every wish”.
In a since-deleted Facebook post, Dr Robin Rowles said the Jewish community will “vote out” Labour in the next general election. The Diocese of St Albans said he was “asked to step back from his role while a investigation takes place”.
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News / Top class / Song boost / News briefs NEWS IN BRIEF
ART AUCTION RAISES £450K FOR ISRAEL Art lovers flocked to the Dorchester for an auction to raise money for British Friends of the Art Museums of Israel (BFAMI). The famous hotel hosted 500 guests to view and bid for works by artists such as Isaac Julien, Ron Arad, Keith Tyson, Michael Craig-Martin and James Turrell, among many others. Julien’s Stones Against Diamonds (Ice Cave) sold for £130,000, against an estimated value of half that. The total raised across the auction was just under £450,000.
BERGEN ANNOUNCED AS NEW ZF DIRECTOR The Zionist Federation (ZF) has recruited UJIA’s head of community engagement to replace Arieh Miller as director. Emma Bergen, who has worked at the UK-Israel charity for six years, will become the ZF’s first female director when she replaces Miller, who is leaving to head up the Union of Jewish Students next month. Bergen said: “The values of Zionism and the ZF speak to my core. To have a leading influence over this conversation inside and outside the community is an opportunity I am excited to take on.”
Schools excel in tables Jewish schools once again excelled in national progress tables released by the Department for Education, with Yavneh College in Borehamwood and a Charedi girls’ school in Barnet among the best in the country. The rankings look at students’ progress at both GCSE and A-level, comparing the grades achieved to the grades predicted, with 95 percent of girls at Menorah High achieving a grade 5 or above in English and maths. Other Jewish schools to register impressive positions in the national progress tables include Beis Yaakov Girls’ School in Salford, Yesodey Hatorah Girls’ School in Stam-
ford Hill, and JFS in Kenton. Hasmonean, King David in Liverpool, Lubavitch in Hackney, JCoSS in Barnet, King David in Manchester and Kantor King Solomon in Redbridge also achieved “above average” scores for GCSE progress. It has been an exceptional 12 months for Yavneh, after it was named the UK’s best per-
forming non-selective state school in this year’s annual Parent Power List based on both GCSE and A-Level results. Progress 8 scores are a relatively new way of measuring pupils’ progress across eight subjects from age 11 to 16. It is reached by subtracting the pupil’s actual Attainment 8 score with their expected score.
STARS SING PRAISES OF MOLLY’S SONG A host of celebrities have helped a 17-year-old Jewish student and her friends to raise money for a children’s charity by publicising the release of her song Do They Dance in Heaven. Molly Lane, a former Yavneh College student now studying performing arts in Elstree, released the song as a downloadable single and said she was shocked by the celebrity backing. Big names from TV and music included Keith Lemon, Rob Rinder, Little Mix, Gogglebox’s Amy Tapper, boxer
Isaac Chamberlain, Jess Wright, Michelle Heaton and Fred Sirieix, the French maître d’hôtel from Channel 4’s First Dates. Molly and her friends volunteer at Grief Encounter, which supports children and young people faced withthe death of a parent or sibling. The founder of the charity, Shelley Gilbert, said: “We are so proud of the effort this group of teenagers have put in to raising awareness of the issues children face when having to deal with loss. It is humbling.”
Charedi educators reassured Communities Minister Lord Bourne has told Charedi leaders in Stamford Hill “no one wants to rewrite the Torah” in an effort to allay concerns about education. Bourne made the comments at a legislative lunch
last Sunday, during which Orthodox representatives spoke about their confrontation with Ofsted over the teaching of sex education and protected characteristics such as gender and sexual identity. At the event, organised
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Molly Lane released a song to raise money for Grief Encounter
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Hero lauded / MP’s speech / BA landmark / News
Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing, who helped save millions by ending the Second World War early, has been named the most “iconic” figure of the 20th century. Fighting off competition from international leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela, the mathematician was chosen in a public vote during a live broadcast of BBC Two’s Icons: The Greatest Person Of The 20th Century. One of the most influential figures in the development of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, the Jewish genius played a vital part in the development of the Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, helping defeat the Nazis.
After Turing’s name was announced, presenter Nick Robinson said: “He was a man who worked almost entirely in secret, who received little credit for cracking the Nazi codes and shortening the war and who died having been branded a criminal. Today he is the most celebrated figure of the 20th century, a father of computing, war hero and genius.” Chris Packham, who advocated for Turing, said the public owed him recognition because “we betrayed him and drove him to suicide”. Each figure represented a category, leaders, explorers, scientists, entertainers, activists, sports and artists or writers, with each the subject of a documentary in the lead up to the final vote. Turing was chosen as the greatest scientist in a
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Turing is man of the century
Alan Turing at Bosham in 1939 with two Jewish boys he rescued
category that included Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Tu Youyou. In October 2017, Jewish News revealed that previously littleknown documents and pictures
had been uncovered, outlining how Turing sponsored two Jewish refugee children from Austria and helped educate them in the UK.
MIRVIS AND REGEV PRAISE BNEI AKIVA The Chief Rabbi and the Israeli ambassador to the UK have paid tribute to Zionist youth movement Bnei Akiva as it celebrates 80 years since its founding. To mark the occasion, a special 25-minute film detailing the history and contribution of the world’s biggest Zionist youth group was shown in London, Manchester, Leeds, Bir-
mingham, as well as screenings in Israel. Ephraim Mirvis said: “As result of the success story of Bnei Akiva there has been a strengthening in the commitment to Torah values and a Torah way of life.” Bnei Akiva has branches around the world, including Brazil, France, the Netherlands and Australia, with the UK branch having been
founded in 1936 by Arieh Handler, who welcomed Jewish children brought to the UK on the Kindertransport. Set up before the establishment of the state of Israel, the movement initially set out to prepare young Jews to work the land of Israel on kibbutzim. The first of these UK preparation centres was at Gwrych Castle in North Wales.
MP inspires Yad Vashem Luciana Berger delivered a passionate address to the Yad Vashem UK annual dinner about the challenges she faces as a Labour Party MP. She told guests at the Sheraton Grand Hotel: “I’ve been thoroughly ashamed, angered and appalled by the rise of antisemitism on the left and inside the party. “It’s disgusting, and increasingly it’s going unchecked. I’ve been calling for faster justice for the victims of Labour antisemitism, and for the perpetrators to be adequately dealt with. “Where is the ‘zero tolerance’ we were promised? Some of those accused of antisemitism are merely reminded of the code of conduct before being allowed to carry on as members of the Labour party.” To applause, she added: “I don’t want peddlers of anti-Jewish hate to be given a stern warning or sent on a training course – I want them expelled from the party. We must demand that none of our political parties can ever provide a safe haven for antisemites.” The former shadow minister also urged people to refuse to be “bystanders” to hatred – inspired by the efforts of heroes of the Holocaust.
WE ARE ALWAYS THERE, NOT JUST IN TIMES OF EMERGENCY Communities on the Gaza border live under the constant threat of terror, but life must go on...
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Special Report / JNF UK Green Sunday
Modern pioneers wor Jenni Frazer talks to the people living in communities close to the Gaza Strip about how they are revitalising the area with JNF UK’s help, despite the odds
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s you walk through Nahal Oz, one of the kibbutzim closest to the Gaza Strip, your eye is drawn to a shocking structure in the middle of the kibbutz. It’s a wall that surrounds the kindergarten. It’s covered with child-friendly paintings of animals and flowers, but it’s a looming, defensive framework that is designed for one thing – to protect the kibbutz children if there is a rocket alert. And Nahal Oz has seen everything: rocket attacks, flaming kites, burning balloons and small missiles. A four-year-old boy was killed by a rocket in 2014. But Yael Raz, who was born on the kibbutz, which lost 25 percent of its members in the wake of the 2014 Gaza war, is remarkably confident about the future of Nahal Oz. “We had a huge crisis in 2014,” she admits, “but we chose to fight back.” The kibbutz brought 28 new families and several young adults to Nahal Oz. Now, with the support of JNF UK, there are a number of programmes that are improving the kibbutz’s chances. First, and most successful, is a pre-army programme for around 40 boys and girls from all over the country. Each student in the programme gets an “adopted family” and can decide how they want to work with the kibbutz community. Nahal Oz decided to place the pre-army teenagers in homes in the centre of the kibbutz. Laughing, Raz agrees it’s very noisy sometimes – “but it’s lovely to have them here, making a noise, playing their music, playing with our children”. There’s a student programme for people aged 25 plus, who attend the nearby Sapir College, close to Sderot. But perhaps the most striking programme is HaShomer HaChadash, a pioneering project aimed at people who have completed their army service and want to reclaim their Zionist identity. The programme, which has a strong relationship with JNF UK, began as a fightback against criminals who were attacking farmers and stealing cattle and crops. Today, it operates throughout the north and south of Israel, offering its participants an opportunity to engage with the land – literally and educationally. Uri, a former high-ranking army officer who runs HaShomer HaChadash on Nahal Oz, says the organisation abides by the words of Zionist activist Joseph Trumpeldor – “that the land should be defended to the last furrow of the Jewish plough”. Almog, 21, covered in mud from a morning working in Nahal Oz’s fields, was a commander in the army and intends to study nursing after completing eight months with HaShomer HaChadash. “I wanted to know how to give Above left, right and inset: In the kindergarten of Garin Harel in Moshav Zohar in the Eshkol region. Top photo: Almog at the banana plantation at kibbutz Nahal Oz
something to my country,” she explains. “And this way, it’s amazing”. Raz, the kibbutz veteran, is really happy with the input of the newcomers, but is desperate for Nahal Oz to develop a new income stream. At the moment, its income comes from agriculture – wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, avocados and bananas – and a 700-strong cowshed providing milk to the locality. “We could do with a hightech facility on the kibbutz,” she says. Its a similar story at another kibbutz hugging the Gaza Strip, Kerem Shalom, which has the dubious honour of being the closest Israeli settlement to both Gaza and Egypt. Founded in 1967 and disbanded in 1995, it was re-established in 2001 and has teetered on the edge of difficulty ever since, not least when Israel Defence Forces soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped nearby in 2006. The 2014 Gaza war hit Kerem Shalom very hard and by 2016 there were many questions as to its continued viability. It desperately needed new members, but its location, and general air of run-down hopelessness, was against it. However, as the kibbutz’s Roni Kissin recounts, things are changing for the better. From a very low base, they are now up to 54 members – true, not the 80 usually demanded as a minimum by the government, but an improvement. The kibbutz, together with JNF, held a special volunteers’ day last August, when people from all over Israel came down south to help with the replanting and
7 February 2019 Jewish News
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JNF UK Green Sunday / Special Report
king on the front line returfing of the centre of the kibbutz. Most striking of the innovations is a small synagogue, new to the secular kibbutz. As Kissin explains: “We are not religious, but some of us wanted a synagogue for Yom Kippur, for barmitzvahs, for a brit.” The synagogue opened last June and, in its wake, nine new families arrived at Kerem Shalom – all of them religious. As we speak, a strictly religious man, payot curling past his shoulders, knocks on the synagogue door to greet Kissin. Outside there is evidence of landscaping as whole areas of the kibbutz, formerly a giant sandpit, have been re-turfed with grass, providing a safe play surface for the children. And adding to the mix of people in Kerem Shalom, the kibbutz has for the first time a group of young soldiers, who have decided to make their lives there. “It’s so good to see vibrant young people here”, says Roni. Like Raz, Kissin would like more income opportunities in Nahal Oz, , and longs for a small factory to add to the agriculture work the kibbutzniks already do. (They also rent out some of their fields to a solar panel project). But she is “very optimistic” about Kerem Shalom’s future. “Here, there is a fantastic quality of life. You have nature, you have deer, owls, no traffic, clean air – and you have a community”. The community imperative is strong in the Negev, and particularly around the settlements next to the Gaza Strip. On our drive around the area we stop in a nature park, popular with tourists, to be greeted by throngs of teenagers from all over Israel. They’ve come to help with clearing trees damaged by fire bombs sent over from inside Gaza. Once the burned trees are moved, the business of replanting begins. Next stop is a different kind of community: Garin Harel, a group of young adults who met in the army and Ben-Gurion University, and formed a tight-knit network of people determined to forge their own space in the Negev.
Asher Yiftachel, a spokesman for the Garin, is a rangy, affable man who speaks in an office just off a shiny new meeting centre – for which JNF UK has provided the flooring and benches, only one element of its support. At first, says Yiftachel, the Garin operated out of a community centre in Be’er Sheva, with about 50 or 60 members. Now they are up to 200 people, and their small settlement consists of bright little red-roofed houses with proudly raked gardens, and their unique selling point is that they have done everything themselves. The major development of the Garin took place during the serious missile attacks from Gaza in 2014, but members were undeterred, installing water systems, electricity and housing, and even their own compost and recycling system. “People are attracted to what we have to offer,” says Yiftachel. The group has grown rapidly, mainly because of the large number of children and the freedom they have in the area, but the Garin is keen to welcome single people,
too. “We will also bring Jewish volunteers from abroad. We have housing for them.” The Garin specialises in attractive educational programming and most of its members – social workers, teachers – work in and around the area. There is also a small hightech company at the settlement itself, where Yiftachel works. It makes marketing and digital development for the WalkMe company, which specialises in software guides. Unlike Nahal Oz and Kerem Shalom, which both seek alternative income sources, Garin Harel is relatively self-sufficient. But Yiftachel would love more funding for the Garin’s pride and joy: its volunteer programmes, which work throughout the Negev. Our last stop is Sderot, the biggest township in this Gaza area of the Negev. It is infamous for being the focus of rocket attacks from the Strip and its former mayor, David Bouskila, often took visitors to the cramped police station to show “souvenirs” – pieces of jerrybuilt fuselage or missiles that had failed to hit their targets. By 1996, says Bouskila, who was mayor for 15 years until 2013, Sderot’s population was around 25,000. “But between 2001 and 2008, about a third of the residents ran away.” He himself ended up running the town from inside an air raid shelter during the worst of the bombing. After JNF UK began supporting Sderot,
a safe area for children’s play was one of the first projects, closely followed by the building of six new schools. By 2008-9, says Bouskila, “Sderot began to be the safest town in the area because we were able to provide shelters for all our new buildings. People started to return and our population is now more than 25,000.” Seven thousand housing units are being built and a whole slew of companies have now set up shop in the town. There is Amdocs, which employs 800 workers; Elbit, which makes camera lenses and cables for Israel’s Iron Dome defence system; an Osem food factory, and a Strauss dairy factory; and Spectronics, which develops defence-related systems. The entrance to the town has been transformed – with JNF UK’s support acknowledged in a glitzy structure through which everyone must drive to get to the new shopping centre. The train station opened in 2013, allowing easy access to the north and south of Israel. There is a sense Sderot, like many of the other Negev projects, is at a turning point and that sooner rather than later, economic improvement will change the area’s fortunes. That, and a sense of pioneering commitment to the land. • JNF UK is raising money for the vulnerable communities near the Gaza border for its Green Sunday Campaign which starts on 10 February. Find out more and donate by visiting www.jnf.co.uk/greensunday
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News / Media criticism / Surgery plea / Rabbi training NEWS IN BRIEF
19 BRITONS BARRED FROM ISRAEL IN 2018 The issue of British nationals being denied entry into Israel under new laws banning boycotters has been raised in Parliament, after the government said 19 Brits had sought consular assistance in 2018. Middle East Minister Alistair Burt revealed the figure in the Commons for the first time this week in response to a question. Israeli politicians passed the Entry into Israel Law in March 2017, banning foreigners who have made “public calls for boycotting Israel”.
TOP ISRAELI DOCS TO ADDRESS UK MEDICS Two of Israel’s most prominent doctors are due to address top British medics in London later this month as both countries seek to learn lessons from the other’s healthcare system. Professor Ora Paltiel, a haematologist and epidemiologist at HadassahHebrew University, and Professor A Mark Clarfield, a geriatrician at Ben-Gurion University, will be speaking at UCL on 28 February. Both are world experts in their field and currently on sabbatical in the UK.
Watson: Zuckerberg an ‘arrogant coward’ Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has been called an “arrogant corporate elite” and a “coward” by Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson for failing to answer questions from MPs. Watson (pictured) said he felt the UK did not matter to Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, because it is seen as “a little place on a map” and a “minor market to him”. “You should always look to where you can do the most good – and what good comes from Mark Zuckerberg’s
behaviour?” Watson said at an event in East London on Wednesday. “He’s an arrogant corporate elite and he’s a coward – and he should be sitting in front of that Digital, [Culture, Media
and Sport select] Committee, which has cross-party unity and answering the questions that our democratic institutions need to know. “For me, personally, the symbolism of that empty chair, having been through the phone hacking enquiry 10 years ago, it is really resonant.” While he did not attend the November 2018 meeting in person, the Facebook founder sent Richard Allan, his vice president of policy solution, in his place.
Bid to save Golders surgery Elderly residents of a retirement community in Golders Green, home to Shoah survivors and victims of Nazi persecution, are fighting plans to relocate their GP practice. In a letter to Ravenscroft Medical Practice, the residents of Selig Court in Beverley Gardens express their concern about a proposal to move it to Finchley Memorial Hospital – more than three miles away. It reads: “We have not been consulted or
received any direct mail from the GP surgery, but we are extremely concerned because we use these resources frequently.” Last year, NHS Barnet Clinical Commissioning Group invited all Barnet GP practices to apply to be relocated to Finchley Memorial Hospital, and Ravenscroft Medical Centre was selected. The decision will be made after a public consultation, which runs until 25 April.
RABBIS COACHED IN FAMILY BREAKDOWNS A new training programme for UK rabbis dealing with family breakdowns has been heralded as “new territory” by the United Synagogue. The first training session, delivered by Jewish charity Norwood in partnership with the United Synagogue’s training arm P’eir, was held last week at Finchley United Synagogue for 30 rabbis and rebbetzens from across north-west London. They learned about the impact of family breakdown, mental health and special educational needs on a child, the parents and siblings, and on the wider community. The UK has the highest rate of family instability in the developed world, in particular among cohabiting couples with children under 12. Nearly half of all children born today will experience family breakdown by the age of 16. Rabbi Dr Julian Shindler, P’eir’s programmes director, said the rising rates of family breakdown made trained
support “more important than ever”. In many circumstances, having a member of the family with a learning disability or special educational needs can place an enormous additional strain on families. But other issues impacting families can include physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse, domestic violence, depression, mental health issues, family breakdown, bereavement, social isolation, suicidal thoughts, addiction and poverty. Families in crisis are often unable or reluctant to access local authority services, meaning support from rabbis and rebbetzens was paramount for individuals and families who can feel isolated in the community. “This training took our rabbinate into new and important territory,” said Shindler. “It alerted our rabbinic professionals to the sad reality of fractured families in the community.”
[N]
7 February 2019 Jewish News
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TH IS Y A D
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ver. a s e f i l Be a eek W b a Sw h s i w 019 Je 2 y r a u ebr F 5 1 0 1 If someone has a blood cancer, such as leukaemia, then the only chance of saving their life could be a stem cell transplant. But those stem cells have to come from someone with a matching tissue type, which, if you are Jewish, is far more likely to be from someone who is also Jewish. How do you know if you are a match? With a simple swab of your cheek, your saliva can be analysed, and your tissue type recorded on the national register. Anybody who needs a match has their tissue type compared with all those on the registries around the world.
There’s a slim chance you’ll match someone (4-5% over 10 years) but if you do, you could be the one person who can save that person’s life. Then, 90% of people donate through their bloodstream over an afternoon. We urgently need to replenish the registry with younger donors aged 16-30, who are in good health. Jewish Swab Week, which runs 10-15 February, is a great opportunity to add yourself to the register. It takes literally a few minutes to be swabbed, and you could make a lifesaving difference if you are a match. How many chances do you get to do that?
Be a part of the #SwabSquad at one of these events on Sunday 10 February You need to be aged 16-30 and in good health
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World News / Gaza fence / Bibi survey / Netta’s back! NEWS IN BRIEF
BRAZIL SAMBA DANCER SAUSAGE MUSEUM WILL WEARS NAZI UNIFORM NOT MOVE TO ‘NAZI SITE’ A dancer at a Brazilian samba school wore a traditional presidential inauguration belt over a Nazi uniform during a rehearsal session for the upcoming Carnival parade. The Aguia de Ouro school dancer impersonated Adolf Hitler and Brazil’s new President Jair Bolsonaro. [JTA]
Israel reinforces Gaza fence
A German sausage museum will not move to the satellite site of Buchenwald concentration camp for slave labourers after news of the plan triggered strong criticism. The German Bratwurst Museum had been earmarked to move to an area on the outskirts of Muehlhausen.
Spacious 2 bed, ground floor flat for rent in quiet friendly cul-de-sac Edgware £1,400 pcm. The border fence being constructed
Israel said it has started reinforcing its border fence with the Gaza Strip, erecting a galvanised steel barrier six metres high that will run the length of the territory. Israel’s Defence Ministry issued a statement on Sunday saying it had started construction of an above-ground barrier that complements a subterranean wall aimed at thwarting Hamas attack tunnels beneath the border. The fence’s construction comes after months of mass protests by Palestinians in Gaza along the border. Nearly 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since they began last March. An Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper last July. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu says the new barrier “will prevent terrorists from Gaza from penetrating into our territory on the ground”. The overall Gaza barrier project is due to be completed by the end of 2019, according to the army. Head of project, Eran Ofir, said: “We have begun work on the final component of the Gaza Strip border barrier project. The obstacle is unique and specially designed to protect against the threats from the Strip and to give a superior solution to preventing infiltration into Israeli territory.” The barrier project is expected to cost approximately £700million, with each kilometer of the underground portion of the barrier costing approximately £8million.
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Donald Trump is to appoint the State Department’s envoy for antisemitism, after leaving the post to sit empty for two years despite protests from politicians and Jewish groups. Elan Carr, 50, is a Los Angeles prosecutor and army veteran who served in Iraq. Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the conference of European
The Israeli public is split along political lines on whether Benjamin Netanyahu should resign if he is indicted for bribery and breach of trust, a survey reveals. A prominent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute this week reveals that only 10 percent of right-wingers think Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party, should stand down if Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit orders him brought to trial.
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Rabbis, said the Orthodox rabbinical alliance “welcomes” the appointment. He added: “Given the global climate of rising antisemitism and far-right extremism, this role is as important as it has ever been and we are pleased that it has been filled. The Conference of European Rabbis will provide support, where necessary, in our combined efforts to fight rising antisemitism.”
Israeli pop star Netta Barzilai, who won last year’s Eurovision song contest, has finally released her first post-victory single, Bassa Sababa. She told AP that the single, the title of which is a slang term for “Bummer, that’s cool”, reflects the highs and lows in the year since her shock victory shook up her life.
By contrast, almost 90 percent of opposition voters believe he should step aside, meaning 52 percent of the country thinks he should resign if Mandelblit – who was chosen by Netanyahu – recommends indictment. In December, Israel’s State Prosecutor’s Office recommended Netanyahu be indicted, but this will now need to be signed off by Mandelblit. Prosecutors have looked
at two cases in particular, both involving newspapers, with Netanyahu allegedly promising favours in return for better coverage. In one instance, he allegedly promised to pass a law limiting a competitor’s distribution. The percentage of Israelis surveyed who feel Netanyahu would have to resign mirrors that of the Brexit-backing proportion of Brits, sparking three years of bitter division in the UK.
7 February 2019 Jewish News
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Shark sanctuary / Nazi bell / Veil tribute / News
COURT: HITLER BELL CAN STAY
A German appeals court has rejected a complaint by a Jewish man against a town’s decision to allow a bell dedicated to Adolf Hitler to continue to hang in a church tower. The Koblenz state court upheld a lower court’s rejection of the complaint from the unidentified relative of Holocaust survivors, who argued the bell was “a mockery and ridicule of the victims of Hitler’s terror”. The Herxheim am Berg council voted last year to preserve the bell, which carries the inscription Everything For The Fatherland – Adolf Hitler above a swastika.
Film tribute plan for Simone Veil A new biopic of Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor and revered politician Simone Veil is in production according to French media, with French actress Elsa Zylberstein tipped to play the part. The film will be directed by Olivier Dahan and the script is to be co-written by journalist Vanessa Schneider. Veil, who died in 2017, was captured by the Nazis in 1944 when she was 16 and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and then Bergen-Belsen. She went on to become one of France’s most respected politicians and received the rare honour of being buried at the Pantheon, the final resting place of French heroes.
Israel becomes the homeland of Jaws While some Middle East countries might shy away from Israel for political reasons, scientists have found the Hadera power plant on the Mediterranean coast has the opposite effect on the intimidating shark. Sandbar and Dusky Sharks don’t mind what goes on above the surface, because the plant pumps clean hot water back into the Med, making it 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the sea. Experts say the warm water stimulates sharks’ metabolisms, improves their breathing cycles and even facilitates their pregnancies, prompting scientists to look more closely at the ‘Hadera Effect’ and collect data. Aviad Scheinin, manager of the top predator project at the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station established by the University of Haifa, said hundreds of sharks in a “rare phenomenon” now head there
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every winter. “The paradox is that this is not a natural environment... and you cannot see it anywhere else in the vicinity,” he added. “This phenomenon is influenced and created by man, both with the power plant and the sea’s increasingly warm water.” Hadera is not unique in the Med – sharks also gather at coral reefs near Beirut – but new species are now starting to appear in the steadily warming sea following the recent expansion of the Suez Canal. “The winters are not as cold as they were and they are no longer a limiting factor for sharks,” said Scheinin. “Many new shark species are coming from colder areas.” With plans already afoot to build an observation and learning centre for tourists, he said Hadera could “help us to assess what will happen to different species when waters elsewhere reach the temperatures we have here now”.
WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF
Your weekly digest of stories from the international press UNITED STATES
An Orthodox man said he and his family were removed from an American Airlines flight from Miami to Detroit for ‘religious reasons’. The company said it was because fellow passengers complained of their body odour, a charge Yossi Addler, 36, denied. The family were put up in a hotel and took a flight the next day.
HUNGARY
A Budapest shul has hosted its first barmitzvah in 332 years. The remains of Buda Castle Synagogue were discovered in 1964 and became a Jewish museum. It reopened as a synagogue in September.
GERMANY
A Jewish collector’s heirs have filed an urgent legal request for FRANCE the return of a valuable painting A 19-year old singer of Moroccan on loan to a German museum. heritage says he will represent ‘Regatta in Venice’ by HenriFrance at Eurovision in Israel, despite Edmond Cross is currently on death threats. Wig-wearing Bilal show at the Barberini Museum in Hassani, who was born in Paris Potsdam, near Berlin, on loan from a to Moroccan Muslim parents, is a Texas museum, but descendants of French LGBT+ icon. Hate messages Gaston Levy say it was stolen during refer to his sexuality and appearance. the Second World War. A Benjamin Netanyahu election campaign billboard of the prime minister with Donald Trump appeared across Israel this week.
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.
1092
VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS
Time to celebrate our class of 2019 This is the fourth year that we have run the Jewish News Schools Awards in conjunction with PaJeS and the fourth year we have been wowed by the ideas and dedication of the educators nominated by their peers. This year’s event takes place on Monday evening at JW3. We’ve heard about those initiating book weeks, school newspapers, student writing competitions, literary puzzles, pop-up books, turning their classrooms into literary cafes and even using comics to help those who struggle. We’ve heard about those celebrating Chinese New Year with young Jewish children, using Disney’s Frozen to educate about Arctic climes, and turning their classrooms into ‘planes’ for ‘a trip to Israel’, complete with teacher dressed as cabin crew! We’ve heard how some forgo lunch in order to give extra essay-writing skills to students with exams coming up, how some are breaking new bounds to make sure those with sensory or hearing problems feel part of the class, how some are making learning fun by introducing quizzes and, most importantly, how many know that the best teaching often doesn’t happen in the classroom. We’ve heard of those dubbed “the sixth-form mum”, those helping older students mentor their younger peers, those asking their young flock to collect maths resources for children their age in Ghana, and those whose love for Israel is being passed on to the next generation. We hear all these things and we are reminded that, of all the awards in the Jewish community, we support one of the best. We’ll celebrate all the winners in next week’s issue. CONTACT DETAILS Publisher and Editor Richard Ferrer richardf@thejngroup.com
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Send us your comments PO Box 34296, London NW5 1YW | letters@thejngroup.com
APOLOGY IS TOO LITTLE TOO LATE It is all very noble and considerate, 80 years after the fact, of a British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Jeremy Hunt) to voice an ‘apology’ for the severe restrictions of the White Paper of 1939 and the betrayal of the Jewish people in their darkest hours as they desperately sought refuge from the violent anti-Semitic German juggernaut. The Foreign Office was fully cognisant of what was happening to Jews in Austria and Germany in the 1930s. Despite this, the Foreign Office, of all the British state departments, was relentless in undermining the Jewish national home in Palestine. Its policy was riven with the terror of a ‘Muslim uprising’ and fear of losing India and Arab
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YOM HA’ATZMAUT LEGACY MISSION 2019
‘Get this, ‘Eurovision is not a political event, it’s a singing competition!’
oil resources. Those were the excuses of the Foreign Office in May 1939. After Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, the 1935 Nuremberg Laws removing citizenship from German Jews, the bombastic 1938 Évian Conference on Jewish refugees from Germany that abandoned the Jews in its wake, and after Kristallnacht a few months later with its portent of the death and destruction of the Jews on a massive scale that was to follow with impunity. What are the excuses today – this time, towards Israel? And regarding the intervening period? Or do we have to wait another 80 years for another ‘apology’? Mr Hunt, your ‘apology’ is too little too late, and not good enough. Dr Roza I.M. El-Eini By email
FACTS NEED CONSTANT REPETITION The recent survey by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust did indeed reveal alarming levels of ignorance of the facts of the Holocaust among the British public. Yet this situation is clearly not helped when the national broadcast media and prominent public figures are themselves careless when reporting ‘facts’ in connection with Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations. This year I learned that Anne Frank and her family were Dutch, six million died in the concentration camps, Britain started the
war against Germany to save Jews and that Auschwitz was liberated a few days before the end of that war. We must all be rigorous in challenging false ‘facts’ when we notice them, whether they have malicious intent or – more likely – when they are the result of lazy reporting. Otherwise we, too, will be complicit in the spreading of untruths about the realities of the Holocaust. In an age of Holocaust denial and ignorance, this must not be allowed to happen. David Wirth By email
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Editorial comment and letters
Sledgehammer Performance artist and political activist Peter Gabriel (pictured) says his annual World Music and Dance (WOMAD) festival aims “...to create awareness of the worth and potential of a multicultural society”. Surely it is contradictory to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, which clearly aims to divide rather than enter a ‘culture of coexistence’. Singling out Israel is divisive and discriminatory and will not solve the Middle East problems. Only by building cultural bridges can real change be elicited and peace achieved.
outside to talk to people and then asked for an explanation, to which I received no response. If Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus et al are to get on with each other, which we largely do, there is no excuse for barring Jews who are active Zionists.
The Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) report showing a link between anti-Zionism and antisemitism was fascinating, albeit frightening, to read (Jewish News, 31 January). It confirms the obvious, yet seeing it analytically spelt out in such stark terms should be a wake-up call to us all. Well done JPR for bringing these hidden agendas out into the open. The blind and obsessive attacks on our community continue, motivated by an unhinged loathing of the world’s only Jewish homeland.
Mike Abramov By email
Emma Shampton By email
As Mr Gabriel has sung, by making one group Not One of Us only leads the other group to decide “It’s only water in a stranger’s tear”.
Coral Ash Chalfont St Giles
DON’T EXCUSE EXCLUSION Much has been written in Jewish News and elsewhere of the event at Eton Road Mosque in Ilford, advertised as an ‘interfaith’ event bringing Jews and Muslims together. However, a colleague and I, both of us active Zionists, were omitted from the list of attendees despite having tickets. As a consequence, I waited
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GOD SENDS THE MESSAGE Regarding Malcolm Ericson’s letter (24 January), and many articles and opinions in your newspaper, when will people wake up to the fact that God runs the world? When will we realise if there is antisemitism, and especially blatant antisemitism in the world, this is God sending us a message? How long will it take and how obvious must it be for people to realise that everything that happens in the world is directed by God? And the response is not to fight in the various international seats of
corruption of the world, in the letter pages of newspapers, by demonstrations and marches against these people and movements or parties. That will change nothing and, indeed, how can it? We have only one response – come closer to God and his Mitzvot. Proclaiming “never again” is ridiculous. How will that stop it? Do we think we can control the forces in the world because we have proclaimed a slogan?
Anne Cohen Golders Green
Stop PC stereotyping I was horrified by the article Rabbi Lea Mühlstein wrote about the current advert for Gillette razors, in which she shockingly used the term “toxic masculinity” (Jewish News, 31 January). She went on to say she supports the stereotype that men are toxic and the Jewish community should take action by promoting the image of the nice Jewish boy.
She destroys masculinity by saying that instead of promoting physical strength and decisiveness, men should be sensitive, thoughtful and caring providers. She has taken the PC route of stereotyping men and calling them toxic. They are not.
Colin Shipp By email
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
Opinion
Remembrance not a choice but a necessity ALEX BRUMMER
C
CITY EDITOR, THE DAILY MAIL
ommemoration of the Shoah is very personal to me, especially over the past 12 months. The death of my father Michael at the age of 102, a refugee from the Shoah, provided a sharp reminder of my good fortune to be here at all and to have been brought up in Britain. My paternal grandparents died at Auschwitz, and three of my father’s brothers were taken into work camps by the notorious Hungarian Arrow Cross during the Second World War, never to be heard of again. My father’s sisters, a niece of, and one brother, miraculously survived the horror. Their stories and those of the family were made very vivid for me two decades ago, when in the company of my father, my brother and a cousin (an Auschwitz survivor), we made a journey of remembrance to the family’s home town on the Czech/Hungarian border, to Bratislava, where my father was both an apprentice to a glass merchant and studied Torah, ending up in Budapest where all recited
Kaddish for lost family. Subsequent visits to Auschwitz left an indelible mark of loss. Commemoration of the Shoah is hugely important to me. Whether it is National Holocaust Day, Yom HaShoah or the adopted yahrzeit of my grandparents, I find these moments of remembrance enormously moving and the accounts of survivors and the recitation of the memorial prayers are guaranteed to make me lachrymose. This year, I was at three commemorations, all of them part of an emotional journey. At Westminster, in the QEII Conference Centre, were the formal ceremonies organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT), of which I am a former trustee). It was a carefully orchestrated event around the theme ‘Torn from Home’, which focused on the Shoah, but had strong elements of memory of subsequent genocides from Cambodia to Rwanda. There were two takeaways for me from the HMDT event. The sight of Jeremy Corbyn, besuited and lonely, leaving the building accompanied by one escort was jarring. But I couldn’t help think that his embrace of brutal regimes – such as Maduro in Venezuela – suggest he doesn’t really get
❝
THE FATE OF MY FATHER’S FAMILY WAS TOO GHASTLY TO BE DISCUSSED
it. In contrast, nobody with any connection to the Shoah could fail to be moved by the tremulous rendition of El Male Rachamim by Cantor Jonny Turgel. At Richmond Council’s request, it was on to Richmond Synagogue for a home-grown event. It was filled with highlights, not least a stunning film edited by my son, Gabriel Brummer, and directed by Bafta award winner Lewis Bronze, on the life of our Richmond community’s last survivor, Sam Freiman. The occasion was lit up by the personal remembrance of Rabbi Meir Shindler and the miraculous escape from the camps by his grandfather and a brilliant contribution from Richmond member Professor Philip Spencer of Kingston University. He explored
the ‘extraordinary radicalism of antisemitism’ that led to the Holocaust and the way in which the UN’s Genocide Convention of December 1948 has, in effect, been ignored. The final event was at the Harris Academy in South Norwood at the request of the principal, Nick Soar. The students in their midteens were not coming to the issue cold. The school has been working with University College London on bringing understanding of the horrors of the death camps to the young people. My job was to provide family testimony. The children, neatly attired in maroon blazers, listened attentively. The first question brought me down to earth. Had the events of the Shoah been discussed in the family home when I was growing up? Not at all, was my reply. The fate of my father’s family was too raw and too ghastly to be discussed before the children. Even the Hollywood version, the TV series Holocaust, was regarded as too painful to watch in case it rekindled nightmares. This personal and pertinent question, from the child of immigrants from Africa, moved me to tears because of its understanding of trauma. We should never forget, nor are we able to.
The community’s response can hurt more than abuse YEHUDIS FLETCHER
JEWISH ORTHODOX FEMINIST ALLIANCE
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olice forces, local authorities, third sector workers and people across the UK are marking Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week. This year, the week coincides with New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo signing the long awaited Child Victims Act into law. The act will enables citizens to bring criminal charges against their abusers for longer than before, and also raises the civil statute of limitations for all sexual abuse claims to age 55. It removes the 30-day notice of claim requirement for civil cases brought against public institutions, and it opens a one year lookback window starting six months after the bill is signed into law, during which time any civil case whose statute of limitations has already passed can file suit in civil court against their abusers, or any party responsible for enabling or protecting their abusers. For years, Agudath Israel of America joined the Catholic Church in an unholy alliance, lobbying strategically to prevent the bill from becoming law. Both institutions feared the financial repercussions the bill would have. I expect
they knew their organisations or organisations they represented were likely to be sued. Agudath’s press release reacting to the new law makes its position clear: “… We opposed aspects of the Child Victims Act, out of concern that the unprecedented ability to revive decadesold claims in civil suits could jeopardise the ongoing viability of schools, houses of worship that sponsor youth programs, summer camps and other institutions that are the very lifeblood of communities like ours. That concern remains.” This statement was sandwiched between platitudes around their awareness of how much pain is caused by sexual abuse. What the Agudath, the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts (who also lobbied against the bill) don’t understand is their policies can cause further pain. Abusers will crop up in any society. It is the community response to the abuse that will determine whether or not they will be able to abuse further. In my experience, the communal enabling of sexual abuse is more harmful than the abuse itself. When Agudath, and other faith leaders try to protect the image of the community, they will inevitably be sacrificing the well-being of individual victims. They would do better to call
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WHEN FAITH LEADERS PROTECT A COMMUNITY’S IMAGE, THEY SACRIFICE PEOPLE’S WELL-BEING
out abuse as and when it occurs, encourage that abuse is reported to the relevant authorities, and make it so their communities are havens for survivors, not abusers. In a 1996 paper entitled The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Jewish Perspective, JOFA’s founder, Blu Greenberg, comments on the way in which Torah She’bichsav, the Written Law, juxtaposes rules about mundane functions and holy rituals. She notes there is no literary separation between ethical law and religious law. For example, the laws around building a fence at the edge of your roof (to keep people safe) are next to the prohibition against mixing various fibres when weaving them and different species when planting them. The law forbidding the sexual exploitation of one’s daughter is right after the law forbidding the idolatrous practice of cutting one’s flesh and right before the laws of keeping Shabbat.
Blu tells us we learn from this that all laws are God’s laws. Socially ethical commandments such as making sure your property is safe are as holy as the instructions we don’t understand. Not sexually exploiting your child is as much of our covenant with God as is the holy bond of Shabbat. We are what we repeatedly do. We must fully integrate our moral and ethical obligations with our other rich and varied Torah commandments. This year JOFA UK, along with so many others, say, #itsnotok. It is not OK to allow our communities to be a place where our children are at risk of sexual exploitation. It is not OK to use faith as a fig leaf for abuse. It is not OK for faith based institutions to choose to protect perpetrators over survivors. Not in God’s name. Yehudis Fletcher is a social and political activist with a special interest in safeguarding
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7 February 2019 Jewish News
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Opinion
Labour’s failure to act now a national scandal CATHERINE McKINNELL MP
LABOUR, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NORTH
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en months ago, the British Jewish community took to Parliament Square for the Enough is Enough demonstration to demand the Labour Party take decisive action against antisemitism. This was unprecedented, and alarming for those in Labour – the overwhelming majority of us – who want to see any trace of antisemitism completely removed from our party. In response to that pivotal event, Jeremy Corbyn made a very welcome apology for the “hurt and pain” caused by instances of antisemitism in the Labour Party and pledged to “redouble” his “efforts to bring this anxiety to an end”. Shortly afterwards came the important commitment from Labour’s newly-appointed General Secretary, Jennie Formby, to introduce procedures to deal with complaints and disciplinary cases, saying that the “stain” of antisemitic attitudes must be “completely eradicated” within the party. Armed with these commitments, I accepted an invitation to meet with my local Jewish community in October. The meeting was, unsurprisingly, well attended. A room full of people with different life experiences and political persuasions, but all clearly united by one very palpable underlying fear – that antisemitism was creeping back into everyday life in 21st century Britain, and had seemingly found a fertile breeding ground within the Labour Party. I had no choice at that raw – at times painful – but completely open and respectful meeting, other than to level with those who had taken the time to come and meet with me, and to tell them I shared many of their concerns. However, I also reassured them the party leadership had made firm commitments to address the issue and root it out. Having been asked in particular about the pledge by the party to provide antisemitism training, I made a commitment to find out how this would work in practice, so I could get back to them on this. Most importantly, I made a solemn pledge that evening that I would do everything in my power to see this issue properly addressed. Therefore, in the months that have followed, I have watched with a growing sense of dismay the worrying and distressing reports which would suggest that rather than dealing with this issue, the rhetoric on zero tolerance to
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antisemitism does not appear to be matching up to reality. Questions I have asked the party leadership time and again in private about how these issues and concerns are being addressed have been met with repeatedly vague responses. Mutterings of ‘confidentiality’, ‘keeping trust’ and this being a ‘highly sensitive issue’ are the only constant message. Despite the warm words and promises of action, far too many cases of antisemitism remain unresolved, while often serious complaints are apparently being concluded with letters simply ‘reminding’ perpetrators of what is appropriate behaviour with no further sanction beyond that. Only recently we learned– on the Friday evening before Holocaust Memorial Day of all times – that a number of high-profile cases had apparently been concluded in this way. The question is, how is the party arriving at these decisions, and how many more such cases have been ‘dealt with’ in this way? What is clear is that the party hasn’t concluded the promised consultation on the antisemitism code of conduct. There is no real understanding of when or by whom important antisemitism awareness training will be delivered to the NEC and others already making decisions in the party on what is or is not an antisemitic offence – never mind any training to the wider membership. It would be easy to think this whole affair is solely about process – the rules we set and how well we do at dealing with members who break them. But the problem is surely a much bigger one for a political party that was established to protect the interests of the marginalised and the minority.
IF WE CONTINUE TO FAIL TO ACT, WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT OUR ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCERNS OF SOCIETY AS A WHOLE?
If we continue to fail to understand and act on the concerns of the Jewish community – which for me is my local Jewish community in Newcastle – what does that say about our ability to understand and act on the concerns of society as a whole? I was left in no doubt after that October meeting that my party’s leadership needs to work hard to build trust with those directly on the receiving end of antisemitic abuse, with the Labour membership, many of whom share deep concerns about it, and with wider society who need Her Majesty’s Opposition to be at the vanguard of pushing for a society that is inclusive for all. The only way this can happen is through radical transparency – which, some 10 months on from those original promises, is still far from the reality. The Parliamentary Labour Party at its weekly meeting on Monday asked some tough questions but received no answers. Only by being honest with ourselves about the state of antisemitism in our organisation and the progress we have made in our efforts
to tackle it – which must be directed by those at the top – is the party ever going to restore people’s faith. And for me there is a personal risk. I gave reassurances to members of my local Jewish community at that meeting back in October that their concerns had been clearly heard and this issue would be addressed. What I said I meant, and this is my way of taking these deeply-felt anxieties that remain unaddressed to the highest level. Speaking truth to power – isn’t that what we as elected representatives are supposed to do? If we allow things to continue as they are, not only will I have failed to deliver on my own personal commitment, but we risk this sorry and destructive state of affairs gradually becoming normalised, potentially slipping into the situation where antisemitism becomes an institutionalised problem. I for one am not willing to stand by and let that happen. I had hoped that the response to the questions that were put to the party leadership would give them an opportunity to show they are not willing to either.
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
Opinion
Report was a betrayal of Hungary’s good work KRISTÓF SZALAYBOBROVNICZKY
HUNGARY’S AMBASSADOR TO THE UK
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article in this newspaper last week headlined ‘Board president vows to challenge Hungarian minister in controversial meeting’ drew attention, yet again, to how readily our intention to build relations with UK Jews is being hampered. Taking the comments of Board of Deputies present Marie van Zyl at face value, branding the planned meeting between the representative of the Hungarian government and her as “controversial” and citing only negative comments is utterly incomprehensible and immensely disrespectful. It shows extreme prejudice and a lack of knowledge of the facts on the ground. The description of the Hungarian Government as ‘far-right’ is outrageous. Hungary is a member of the EU and NATO, a strong ally of Israel with regular high-level meetings. The Hungarian Government has been democrati-
cally elected with a two-third majority for the third consecutive time. It has a very strong record in fighting anti-Semitism, is dedicated towards a true and meaningful Holocaustremembrance policy and supports the Jewish community in Hungary in all its endeavours. It was the newly-appointed government of Prime Minister Orbán, who stepped up against far-right militias causing havoc in Hungary in 2010. It swiftly banned paramilitary groups, made Holocaust denial a crime and introduced zero tolerance against antisemitism. The governing coalition is the only credible force standing up against the far-right and clearly antisemitic Jobbik party, whose leader called in 2011 for the preparation of a list of Jewish members of parliament and of the government to see whether they “provide a national security risk for Hungary”. This party, which was marginalised by the present government, is supported lately most surprisingly – and rather worryingly – by leftist-liberal intellectuals for whom nothing is sacred when it comes to fighting the governing Fidesz Party. The government introduced Holocaust
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CALLING HUNGARY’S GOVERNMENT FARRIGHT IS OUTRAGEOUS
education in the national curriculum, supports the training of Hungarian teachers at Yad Vashem, introduced a memorial day for the victims of the Holocaust in Hungary and took historical responsibility for the state’s involvement in acts against Jews and other discriminated population in the Second World War. The Orbán government stepped up high-level official condemnations for incidents of antisemitic crime, which in turn sharply declined. Dame Margaret Hodge MP sees the lack of robust condemnation by opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, who could serve as the next UK prime minister, of the antisemitic abuse from its sympathisers as one of the main reasons for the growing anxiety of the British Jewry. The Hungarian Government holds regular
round-table discussions with Jewish community leaders and provides financial support for their cultural and educational activities, including the renewal of numerous synagogues, community spaces and Jewish. Hungary hosted the World Jewish Congress in 2013, was the president of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2015 and will host the European Maccabi Games this year. We can say confidently the Jewish community in Hungary lives in full safety thanks to the government’s positive and decisive steps taken. Indeed, should not the Hungarian government be rather anxious about the rise of antisemitism in Western Europe, partly due to the phenomenon of increasing antisemitism on the left and the influx of Muslim immigrants with traditionally antisemitic and anti-Israel views? The UK’s most recent crime statistics showed a staggering 17 percent rise in hate crimes in England and Wales, the Jewish community being affected most intensively. If you compare this with the number of antisemitic hate crimes in 2017 in Hungary, you are three times more likely to be attacked here than in my home country. Everything you need
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OF THE JEWISH The popular consensus NEWS elect Donald Trump’s on President- more like a statesman surprise march during his victory to the White House speech on Wednesday somehow managed has been shock and to gain the trust morning, but this horror. How can and won’t begin to wash votes of 50 million Pragmatic politicians a man who says what away the unstatesAmericans – a quite are, of course, he manlike bravado says and behaves making the best how he that marred his campaign staggering statistic. of it, insisting the displaying the emotionalbehaves – while from start to finish. new leader of the free Most politicians – world should be judged maturity of a Vladamir Putin and 12-year-old – be Nigel Farage aside If this man has on future actions allowed to have his – didn’t want to see rather than the wicked fin- certainly didn’t any hidden depths they billionaire ger on the nuclear reality TV star anywhere the words that brought him to codes? emerge during his power. battle the White near with Hillary Clinton. He may have looked Theresa May said House. Now that’s and sounded a little the UK and US where he’s will heading, The often-vile personality remain “strong we witnessed knuckle the world will simply have to and close partners on trade, down and deal with security and defence” him. Continued on page 12
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Community / Scene & Be Seen
1 SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY
More than 120 people gathered at Cockfosters and N Southgate Synagogue for a quiz night to mark the community’s 70th anniversary. Questions exploring the synagogue’s history were set by quizmasters Graeme Kirk and Ben Weinberger, with help from Samantha Kirk and Ruth Weinberger. The evening included a raffle and auction led by Helena Sharpstone and food by Ruth Jennings and the Ladies Guild. Funds raised will go towards the refurbishment of the synagogue’s Maurice Tillkoff banqueting hall.
And be seen The latest news, pictures and social events from across the community
2 PRESTIGIOUS AWARD World ORT has been awarded a prestigious humanitarian prize given in memory of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. The Jewish nonprofit received a Let Freedom Ring Award for its commitment to equality in education. Dr Conrad Giles, president of World ORT, accepted the gold trophy at a ceremony at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan, on Martin Luther King Jr Day.
Email us at community@thejngroup.com 1
3 CHARITY DONATION
Children at Beit Shvidler Primary School in Edgware presented the charity Jewish Blind and Disabled with a £242 cheque after raising money over two months.
4 BREAKFAST TALK
Dunkin’ Brands executive chairman Nigel Travis (pictured left) was the guest speaker at Kisharon’s Business Breakfast at London’s Sheraton Park Lane Hotel. The event, attended by around 130 professionals, helped raise more than £23,500, which will go to Kisharon’s services in support of children and adults with learning difficulties.
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Photo by John Rifkin
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
Scene & Be Seen / Community
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5KIDS HELP KIDS 8SHABBAT WISDOM
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Hundreds of nursery and primary school children took part in Blue-ish Jewish’s fundraising campaign in support of Jewish Child’s Day, including Alyth, which hosted a Goldilocks-themed event (pictured). “This campaign is at the heart of what Jewish Child’s Day stands for: kids helping kids,” said the charity’s Nicole Gordon. Money raised will go towards providing breakfast for deprived children in the UK and Israel.
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6LOVE IS IN THE AIR
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More than 60 members of Belmont Synagogue discussed Jewish views on love. With Rebbetzin Lisa Levine, they discussed the different ways in which they love, what love means to them and its challenges, before viewing clips highlighting the importance of love. The event included a supper that was prepared by the Women of Worth committee.
THE CONCEPT OF TAKING TIME OUT FROM THE NOISE OF LIFE RESONATES WITH OUR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS 10
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7 SOUPER BOOK
Hannah Harley Young Photography
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Joshua Rabin (pictured) helped raise £2,000 for Chai Cancer Care by producing and selling a cookbook for cancer patients at the charity’s flagship centre. The book was inspired by his mother’s stomach cancer diagnosis, as Joshua explains: “After her treatment, she felt very ill and found it difficult to eat. Soup was easy for her to digest and nourishing. I came up with an idea to create a soup cookbook to help other people with cancer.”
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis spoke at the Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE)’s Golders Green centre about the wisdom of Shabbat in the modern age. “The concept of taking time out from the noise and distraction of life resonates with our young professional community,” said the JLE’s Rabbi Dov Cowan.
9PROJECTS ON SHOW
British Emunah’s four-day mission included a ceremony at Emunah’s Sarah Ronson Crisis and Intervention Centre in Sderot, where Amanda Ronson and daughter Sidonie visited (pictured). “We have seen the transformation of our projects made possible by the generosity of our UK supporters,” said British Emunah chair Rosalyn Liss.
10TECH LUNCH
Technion UK hosted a lunch at the Royal Institution to promote tech and business opportunities for UK investors, including PillCam, the first swallowable camera to image the digestive tract, the Sniff Phone that sniffs out cancer and the Re-Walk body suit for people with spinal injuries to stand and walk.
11SNOW MUCH FUN!
With snow and ice covering much of the UK last weekend, families took pictures of their home blanketed by snow. Pictured are siblings Eli, Yitzi, Avital and Esty Gunhut with a snowman outside their home in Golders Green.
Your family announcements Joshua and Samuel Harris were barmitzvah at Chabad in Buckhurst Hill Synagogue
Rachel Ebrahimoff was batmitzvah at Kinloss Synagogue
Photo by The Photo People
Photo by The Photo People
Daniel Shone was barmitzvah at Chigwell Synagogue
Photo by Victor Shack
Photography by Sharna Kinsley
Bettina Bacall and Daniel Ishack were married at the Grove
Have you had a recent simcha? Send your picture to picturedesk@thejngroup.com
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7 February 2019 Jewish News
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Community / Scene & Be Seen
WJR’s gala night raises £1m London’s Guildhall played host to 400 guests at the annual World Jewish Relief fundraising dinner on Monday, raising more than £1million. BBC news presenter Emily Maitlis explained how cyclists who rode 600 miles from Berlin to London for the Kindertransport anniversary raised more than £200,000 for the charity, whose predecessor organisation led the 1938-9 rescue efforts. The charity helps Jews and non-Jews across the world, with a focus on poor Jewish families in Eastern Europe. WJR chair Dan Rosenfield said: “We must and we will commit to finish the job we started, never to rest until we eradicate Jewish poverty for good.”
Sir Ben at Yad Vashem UK A bronze bust of Holocaust survivor Sir Ben Helfgott was unveiled at Yad Vashem UK’s dinner in central London last week. Artist Frances Segelman joined the former Olympian on stage to uncover the statue in front of more than 300 guests. The event was addressed by Labour MP Luciana Berger and Tory peer Lord Pickles, who praised her “grit” in standing up to antisemitism in her party. Guests heard from Dr Na’ama Shik, director of e-learning at Yad Vashem School and the UK branch’s chair, Simon Bentley.
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
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7 February 2019 Jewish News
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Lifestyle
Life
IN THIS SECTION: Travel 30 Competition 39
Meet the incredible Muslim cabbie who inspired Rachel Countdown host Rachel Riley was inspired to lead the fight against antisemitism after hearing the views of Jassem Tamim on a radio phone in. Interview by Mathilde Frot
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he Muslim taxi driver who inspired Rachel Riley to campaign against antisemitism this week revealed he’s also faced abuse for speaking out. Jassem Tamim, 44, from Morocco, said: “People didn’t expect a Muslim to start talking about antisemitism. They started asking questions to find out if I am a true Muslim. “They started accusing me of being a hypocrite, saying I will burn in hell with the Jews. Horrible things, you know.” Tamim, who studies at the Islamic College in Neasden, phoned LBC’s Maajid Nawaz – who is also a columnist for Jewish News – in September to criticise UKIP’s proposal to create Muslim-only prisons. While on-air, he told Nawaz: “I am studying an antisemitism course online and this is how the Nazis started acting with Jewish people.” The interview inspired the Riley to study antisemitism and join the fight against it, and last week she thanked Tamim on social media for inspiring her. The Countdown presenter urged her followers to follow the taxi driver, saying: “His timeline is full of wisdom and compassion, he should have way more than his 98 followers.” Since Riley’s tweet, Tamim’s number of
Above: Jassem Tamim. Right: Rachel Riley and her tweet
followers has risen to more than 960 at the time of publication. He told Jewish News: “Rachel has my respect because she is a really sincere person. She’s successful and not someone who’s an attention-seeker. She’s not insecure in her life. “Rachel’s the right person for me to advocate this cause, and I also noticed that she’s very open-minded and very accepting. She’s very British in her attitude.” Tamim said witnessing the fear of antisemitism in the Jewish community in his day job motivated him to take up a course on antisemitism. Describing a ride with an Israeli family he picked up in south London, he said he noticed one of the passengers seemed in
distress after he suggested taking them to a kosher restaurant. He added: “That really shocked me. I felt uncomfortable. I wished I could just disappear.” Describing another incident, he said: “While I was driving in the city, I noticed a gentleman taking off his kippah to cross the road. Then he put it back on straight away afterwards. It made me feel sick”. Tamim urged the Muslim community to join the fight against antisemitism, adding: “The Jewish people have already shown support every time we needed them.”
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
Lifestyle / Disability awareness
‘We won’t hide our child’ This month marks the launch of a campaign to raise awareness of disability and how families can be better supported, discovers Francine Wolfisz
D
oron Almog always believed he was prepared for life’s challenges. Rising to the rank of major general in the Israel Defence Forces, he had fought in the Yom Kippur and Lebanon wars, become the first soldier to land during Operation Entebbe and involved in the hunt for the Munich Olympic terrorists. But he admits feeling near defeat when his son, Eran, was born with a rare birth defect that left him severely cognitively impaired. “It was a huge shock,” says Almog. “When he was eight months, a psychologist told me and my wife, DiDi, that he had a combination of autism and developmental disability. He would never speak and mentally he would stay as a child of a few months old for the rest of his life.” It was a critical turning point for Almog. He decided to leave the military and devote himself to helping children like his son, starting with becoming involved with Aleh, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of disabled people by promoting independent living and inclusion. Thirty years on, Aleh is one of the largest providers of residential care for people with disabilities in Israel, looking after more than 750 children and young adults across the country. Now in an effort to break down prejudices surrounding disability, British Friends of Aleh has launched Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month (JDAIM) for the first time in the UK. The campaign encourages communal organisations to spread greater awareness about disability and become more inclusive. For Almog, helping to change people’s perceptions of disability will mean children like his son will no longer need to “live behind a barrier of stigma and shame”. That was something Almog witnessed for himself when he started researching long-term residential care for Eran. “We saw how children like him are kept in institutions – and what we found were horrible places. The children were afraid of other people, and the staff were ashamed to admit
Above: Doron Almog with his son, Eran. Right: Alex Daulby with family
they worked there. The children had just been abandoned and neglected.” This culture of shame was one Almog found throughout Israel. Even former Prime Minister Golda Meir, he discovered, hid the fact she had a granddaughter with Down’s syndrome, while government minister Yigal Allon sent his autistic daughter, away to Scotland. Despite never saying a word, Eran “became the conscience inside me,” says Almog. Desiring an alternative to institutional care, Almog helped found Aleh Negev, a residential village providing care for more than 140 young people with complex disabilities, as well as outpatient services and therapy for 12,000 patients in surrounding areas. The on-site facilities include a hydrotherapy pool, safari petting zoo and therapeutic horse riding track. Sadly, Eran lived there for only a year before passing away in 2007, aged 23, and the facility’s name was changed to Nahalat Eran in his memory. “Aleh Negev gives hope to many people, a reason to continue managing their lives,” reflects Almog. This sentiment resonates with father-of-three Alex Daulby. He moved from Manchester to Ra’anana, Israel, with his family in 2006, to find long-term care within a Jewish environment for his daughter, Mia, 21, who has severe developmental delay. Almost seven years ago, Mia, who has no speech or language skills, was offered a place at Aleh’s residential Above and left: Aleh supports more than 750 young people across Israel
facility in Gedera, central Israel. “I can say, hand on heart, from the day she moved into the facility, Mia has developed both cognitively and independently,” reflects Daulby. “It was very difficult to think about Mia living away from home, but we came to the conclusion that this was important for her on many levels. Today, she can feed herself independently and can go to the tap and pour herself water. She can live in a normal house with all the potential dangers a normal child would face. To know she is developing educationally, physically and independently is a blessing.” And for Daulby, it’s not just his daughter who has benefited from living at Aleh’s facility in Gedera. “Our children have learned not to be scared of disability and to have greater empathy for human life,” he adds. “We don’t hide Mia away and
always encourage our friends to come with us when we visit.” In the UK, as the father of a sevenyear-old disabled daughter, is keenly aware of how families like his own could be better supported. Born three months premature alongside her twin brother, his daughter Zahari contracted meningitis just hours after birth. While she recovered, Zahari was left with cerebral palsy and today uses a wheelchair. Marcus, who works for the United Synagogue, admits that “being a parent of a child with disabilities can feel overwhelming both emotionally and practically” and cites planning day trips, taking time off for medical appointments, access to disabled changing facilities and feeling isolated among the issues that impact his family life on a daily basis. “Life presents challenges for us all,” he says. “To any families living with disabilities, do seek out the many sup-
port networks the community offers, and for friends of families with disabilities, be proactive. Life can be so intense they have little time for themselves and catching up with friends can be difficult, so please take the time to connect with them.” For more information about organising an ALEH JDAIM event in your community, email liron@aleh.org.uk. Details: aleh.org and aleh.org.uk
HOW YOU CAN MARK JDAIM IN YOUR COMMUNITY: • Host an ALEH Inclusion Shabbat or Havdalah service • Invite people with disabilities to help prepare Kiddush and meal functions • Ensure that people who use wheelchairs, walkers and canes can access your bimah • Acquire at least one large-print Siddur and one Braille Siddur • Invite a person with a disability to speak on any topic EXCEPT that person’s disability • Extend personal invitations to people who may be on the margins of the community • Host an ALEH Inclusion tea party, bake sale or car boot sale • Promote Inclusion: Use #JDAIM and #JDAIMUK19 on Twitter and Facebook
7 February 2019 Jewish News
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Lifestyle / Travel
High life in the Andes In the footsteps of Incas and conquistadors, Stephen Oryszcuk heads for Peru and finds some startling and exotic sights
T
he Israeli flag isn’t the first you’d expect to see as you drive away from Lima airport in Peru’s capital, but there it was – the Star of David fluttering alongside the red and white of this South American superstar. Sure enough, the two countries like each other. Embassies, trade, defence deals, intelligence links, even plans to use Israeli technology in Peru’s deserts – it’s all here. Add a history of Jews settling since the rubber boom, of synagogues respected and of hundreds of post-IDF Israeli backpackers limbering unencumbered through the scenery, and you have the makings of a beautiful friendship. That was reason enough for us to limber over, in the comfort of British Airways, to rest our heads in Lima’s top hotel, the Belmond Miraflores Park, in the plush diplomatic quarter. The ocean views from our ninth floor room were almost as good as the three-foot-deep mattress enjoyed after our first pisco sour (the national drink) expertly crafted in the lobby bar. The more I stay with this hotel chain, the more I think there are few to beat it. The wonders of Peru are further afield, however, so we left the next morning to fly to the Inca capital Cusco, a spellbinding city in the Andes,
Inca ruins in the Andes
standing proud and undefeated at 11,200 feet (3,400 metres). Ascending to such heights so suddenly can give you altitude sickness, and the advice is to drink lots of water and eat light. “Eat light?” I said, asunder. “But this is a Jewish travel review!” We gave Cusco two nights, but wished we’d stayed longer. We chose well with the Belmond Monasterio, next to the cathedral, and were lucky to go at the weekend, venturing out into the main square on a Saturday evening. With light fading on this UNESCO World Heritage Site, we were met by two musical processions of colour and sound, drums and dancing and swirling bright costumes worn by those with genuine love-life smiles as they marched along. In another corner of the square bounded by buildings with Inca foundations, including a 23-sided stone, was a hypnotic spiritual candlelit gathering, its participants singing so soul-touchingly it brought Mrs O to tears, despite her not having
The Uros of Lake Titicaca, who live on floating islands made of reeds
a clue what they were singing about. Such is the magic of Cusco. Within an hour, it had easily become one of our favourite cities. And yes, there are Jewish links to the Incas. The Bnei Moshe (children of Moses, also known as ‘Inca Jews’) is a community of several hundred converts founded in 1966 and mostly descended from Spanish-Jewish ancestry. News to me too! We woke at Belmond Monasterio, with its resplendent 300-year-old Andean white cedar (far from the oldest thing here) manspreading the central courtyard, to partake of the world’s best breakfast. Luminescent lime-green humming birds whispered sweet nothings to pink fuschia next to us as we sipped coca tea, which we were told is both good for altitude and highly illegal outside Peru. In the evening, we were serenaded by opera singers over a pitch-perfect evening meal before retiring to our oxygen-enriched room. If this isn’t living, I don’t know what is, and I urge you here and now to give Cusco more time than we did so you can sample some of South America’s best restaurants on your doorstep. So to the Urubamba Valley, and the riverside Belmond Rio Sagrado, with an outdoor hot-tub overlooking the Andes. This hotel lets guests feed the llamas (Mrs O was first in the queue) and serves – among other things – roast guinea pig in the restaurant. From here we struck out to Machu Picchu. Again, words fail me, a rare occurrence after six years in the Jewish community. Perhaps I could just describe it in exclamation marks followed by a ‘wilting’ emoji. Some advice: don’t spend a fortune on a night at Belmond Sanctuary
Above: Cusco at dusk Left: Stephen and Mrs O at the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu
Lodge, uniquely placed on the doorstep of this 15th-century citadel. Not because it’s not a good hotel – it’s great – but because it sells itself on giving guests the chance to get up early and beat the crowds. Since everyone else does that, the 6am risers only ever see Machu Picchu through a crowd. Be smart: go late, and have it to yourself. We took the Belmond Hiram Bingham, an old-school charmer on rails that takes all morning to whisk you serenely up to the kick-off point that hikers reach only after six days. Imagine a 1920s drawing room with Peruvian butlers and passing scenery worthy of an Attenborough documentary and you’re almost there. Perfectly cooked beef fillet and glorious red wine for elevenses? Why not? We liked the Belmond train experi-
ence so much we took the similarly luxurious Belmond Andean Explorer on its fantasy expedition over the mountains to Lake Titicaca. At 12,500 feet, this is the world’s highest navigable lake and home to the fascinating and hospitable Uros people, who live on floating islands made of reeds. Seeing the lake at sunrise beside a fire is but one of many highlights. By the time we reached Colca Canyon, one of the world’s deepest, via a mountain road touching altitudes of 15,000 feet, we were ready to relax at Belmond Las Casitas, a selection of high-end villas overlooking a valley. Thankfully, this hotel specialises in R&R, with cookery classes, cocktail-making, horse-riding (Mrs O was ‘in the moment’, I was ‘in the saddle’ getting bounced around) and Andean condors, majestic creatures with three-metre wingspans that glide effortlessly over your mobile phone camera. It was a wonderful end to a mustdo holiday. The IDF backpackers have the right idea. Long may the flag fly.
STEPHEN’S TRAVEL TIPS Stephen and Mrs O were guests of Belmond Hotels, formerly Orient-Express Hotels. Details of the group’s properties can be found at www.belmond.com
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Orthodox Judaism
SEDRA Terumah
BY RABBI NAFTALI SCHIFF The Exodus from Egypt was far more than just a great escape into the unknown. The Jewish people immediately embark on a 49-step journey to receive the Torah on Mount Sinai, as described in Parshat Yitro, followed by an enormous amount of social legislation in last week’s parsha, Mishpatim. Clearly the first order of business is laying foundations for a new model of living, one that is the polar opposite of the Egypt experience of “might makes right”. This week’s sedra deals with the commandment to build the Mishkan, or “dwelling place”, for Hashem in the middle of the camp. The numerous details of the building and its vessels are of major significance, being the subject of four of the next five parshiot. Perhaps the most important point however is that humanity is able and even commanded to make space for God in this world. In fact, the Midrash says that God created man so that He could have a “dwelling place” in this world. God created man in His image with free will, with the unique ability to choose how to live and to be responsible and accountable for his actions. The book of Bereishit focuses on great men and women and how their actions and integrity, their yashrut, made God’s presence felt in this world. They were able to “join the dots” by drawing a straight line between theory and practice. The building of the Mishkan is a continuation of this legacy, of building a structure that reflects and expresses the Divine plan for the world. As a young child, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk was asked “Where is God?” to which he famously answered: “Wherever you let Him in.”
Rabbi Naftali Schiff is the founder and chief executive of Jewish Futures Trust
What’s in a number?
This week’s number... 42
Figuring out Jewish history
42
BY RABBI ALEX CHAPPER Fans of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy will know the number 42 is the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything”, as calculated by a supercomputer named Deep Thought over 7.5 million years. What they might not know is 42 is the number of letters in the ineffable Divine Name, which is associated with God’s attribute of mercy. Kabbalah says God, in His great kindness, brought the world into being by virtue of the first 42 letters of the Torah. The Divine act of creation begins with God saying yehi, “let there be,” which has the numerical value of 25, and concludes with God seeing that His creation was tov, “good”, which has the value of 17, giving a total of 42. There were also 42 encamp-
❝
ments during the Children of Israel’s journey in the wilderness, and the Pri Tzaddik explains that each stage corresponded to a letter from God’s 42-letter name, used by prophets to go into a state of prophecy. When people acquire all 42 letters, they have completed their purpose in life, and then they are ready to go to the World to Come. The transition from nothingness to the existence of the world is connected
WHEN PEOPLE ACQUIRE ALL 42 LETTERS, THEY HAVE COMPLETED THEIR PURPOSE
Communications and Content Manager The OCR is looking for a talented and creative Communications and Content Manager to join this fastpaced high-profile public office. The successful candidate will be responsible for the production and management of the digital and social media content promoting the Chief Rabbi’s vision for the Jewish community. The role is suited to someone skilled in videography and design, with a real understanding of online communities and the ability to work under pressure. This is a full-time, permanent position based primarily at the OCR in North Finchley, but flexible working hours would be considered. Salary commensurate with experience.
For more information, please visit www.chiefrabbi.org/vacancies/ or contact careers@chiefrabbi.org.
to the emergence of the Jewish people from slavery to freedom. The same number is utilised in the creation of the world as it is for the creation of the nation. We also find 42 words in the first paragraph of the Shema (excluding the first line) and in the first blessing of the Amidah, as both create a bridge between the human and divine realms. In the Shema we iterate our commitment to connect with God with everything we are and possess. While in the Amidah we acknowledge the eternal presence of God. Rabbi Alex Chapper serves Elstree & Borehamwood Synagogue and is the Children’s Rabbi, childrensrabbi.com
Love Law? Love Israel? Israel’s leading English law firm invites applications for the 2019 Asserson Prize If you are at a UK university and want us to fly you out for a summer experience you won’t forget, go to www.asserson.co.uk/internships Closing date for prize applications is 28 March 2019 Internships also available throughout the year Trainee vacancies open for 2020 intake
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
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Progressive Judaism
The Bible Says What?
Progressively Speaking
‘Don’t butcher an animal and its mother on the same day’
What’s our Jewish obligation to tackle climate change?
BY RABBI ELANA DELLAL “When an ox or sheep or a goat is born, it shall stay seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as an offering by fire to Adonai. However, no animal from the herd or from the flock shall be slaughtered on the same day with its young.” (Leviticus 22) This curious and little-known Torah law tells us an animal shall not be slaughtered on the same day as its young. Numerous commentators have given their understanding for the reasoning behind it. Maimonides in his Guide for the Perplexed explains that the law exists to dissuade humans from killing the offspring in the sight of its mother, for the pain of the parent under such circumstances is severe. Maimonides argues that in this case there is no difference between the pain of a human and an animal mother. Nachmanides, however, argues
BY RABBI DEBORAH BLAUSTEN
this prohibition exists not to protect animals but rather to protect our own character and moral integrity. According to Nachmonides, a willingness to be cruel to animals allows cruelty to permeate into much of our decision-making and approach to life. But how can we apply this today, when the vast majority of us live in a world where we do not slaughter the animals we eat? Liberal Judaism believes that we honour the intent of this law by advocating for the welfare of the animal world. Each of us is obligated to question the ethics of our animal consumption. And if we do that, then according to our sages, not only will the animals benefit from our protection but we will also benefit by eradicating cruelty from within ourselves. Rabbi Elana Dellal is a member of the rabbinic team at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue
Our Jewish responsibility to act on climate change could not be more acute. According to new research, Arctic summers may be hotter now than for 115,000 years. Both Genesis creation stories, the Torah’s formative narratives, contain the idea it is our task to care for the land on which we live. The latest worrying evidence of climate change from the Canadian Arctic, where landscapes are now ice-free for the first time in 40,000 years, brings the reason for this responsibility into sharp focus. Human society does not exist in a vacuum. As the planet’s equilibrium is disturbed, the impact is felt across the natural world. Climate change underpins many of the justice issues at the heart of our Jewish sensibilities. The need to act on climate change cannot be detached from our obligation to act on these issues too and should be felt with the same urgency.
If we are serious about the Jewish commitment to refugees, we must also be serious about the fact by 2050 there could be up to 200 million people displaced by changing temperatures. To address the issues facing refugees today truly, we have to confront the environmental dimension. And it’s not just migration. In a number of places in Torah we are commanded to act in a way that helps those who are hungry to find food. We are told to leave the corners of our fields unharvested, to share our bread with the hungry, and not to shut out those in need. If we are serious about our tradi-
tion’s commitment to ensuring people have the food they need, we must be serious too about the UN’s warning that climate change will greatly increase food insecurity and malnutrition. The same reasoning can be applied to tackling conflict. To ‘seek peace and pursue it’ as the psalmist urges, we must heed UNESCO’s warning that changing environments precipitate political crises and undermine nations’ capacity to provide for themselves. These are just some examples of how the Jewish obligation to act on climate change is woven into and underpins our obligation to act on any other justice issue. Action on climate change is our obligation as God’s partners to safeguard the work of creation. Deborah Blausten is a rabbinic student at Leo Baeck College
Job Title: Projects Manager Working For: Conservative Friends of Israel Limited Location: London Salary: £31,000-£33,000 (based on experience) Job Details:
Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) works to promote its twin aims of supporting Israel and promoting Conservatism in the UK. CFI organises numerous events in and around Westminster, takes Conservative parliamentarians and candidates on delegations to Israel, campaigns hard for Tory candidates in target seats, and works to ensure that Israel’s case is fairly represented in Parliament.
The Role:
CFI is seeking an experienced, highly organised and motivated individual with experience in events management and office administration, to take on a role as Projects Manager based in Westminster. The varied role encompasses responsibility for events management and strategy, fundraising initiatives, and office administration.
Key Duties:
Events Strategy and Management: • Develop and coordinate CFI’s annual events programme, including the Annual Business Lunch, Parliamentary Reception and Conservative Party Conference; • Develop a programme of parliamentary events with highprofile speakers; • Identify new opportunities to maximise CFI exposure through events; • Produce detailed proposals for events including timelines, venues, suppliers and budgets; • Coordinate venue management, caterers, contractors and equipment hire; • Coordinate marketing of events, including drafting invitations & marketing material;
• Produce post-event evaluations including data entry, fundraising analysis and follow-up with guests. Office Administration: • Oversee office administration, including recording office and events expenditure; • Oversee organisations’ GDPR compliance and serve as CFI’s Data Protection Officer; • Coordinate accounts and monthly payroll; • Oversee annual leave administration for team; • Assist in recruiting interns to help with event management; • General management and updating of the ACT database.
The successful candidate should have the following qualities and abilities: Essential:
• Understanding of, a sympathy for, and a desire to promote CFI’s aims and values; • A minimum two years of experience in event management; • Knowledge of HR and Accounts, and experience of office management; • Confidence in dealing with a wide range of senior stakeholders, including parliamentarians and businesspeople; • Highly organised with the ability to manage and prioritise competing demands, including multiple events and projects at any one time; • Excellent written and verbal communication skills; • Ability to work well under pressure and in a team environment; • A confident user of MS Office applications (especially Excel and Word);
• The candidate must be available to attend Conservative Party Conference’s and be prepared to occasionally coordinate and attend events outside of usual working hours (i.e. breakfasts and dinners); • Candidates will need the right to work in the UK.
Desirable:
• Previous experience using ACT database; • Sound understanding of data protection legislation and how this relates to record-keeping and correspondence.
Closing Date: 22nd February 2019 Interview/Start Dates:
Interviews will be held on a rolling basis throughout February 2019, with an intended start date being in early-mid March.
Application Details:
Please send a CV and covering letter of no more than two pages to Einat Shazar at Einat@cfoi.co.uk, outlining your relevant experience and skills. If you have any queries relating to the position, please contact Einat. Please note, that we may not be able to reply to all applicants, and we may make a decision before the closing date.
Website: www.cfoi.co.uk
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7 February 2019 Jewish News
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Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts
Ask our Supporting you when you are 'un'expecting
Our trusty team of advisers answer your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry. This week: Designing meaningful jewellery, complying with anti-bribery laws and working out to music
Call the confidential Chana Helpline on 020 8201 5774 or email support@chana.org.uk
www.chana.org.uk
Chana is here to support you through: • Primary & secondary infertility • Miscarriage & stillbirth • Male infertility • Cancer fertility preservation • Intimacy issues • Early pregnancy concerns • Fertility treatment to avoid genetic disorders Chana charity Ltd 1172957
JONATHAN WILLIAMS JEWELLER
JEWELLERY CAVE Dear Jonathan We’ve just had our first child, a baby girl called Molly. I’m desperate to create a meaningful piece of jewellery to celebrate our new addition. If I can come into your Finchley showroom, can you give me some inspiration? I am looking for two things: a necklace in rose gold with the initial M, for Molly, and with the letter T for my wife Tanya, and then, when we have other children (please God), we can add another initial. I also want to give my wife a diamond full eternity ring, and I want to put Molly’s birthstone into the ring, and again add birthstones in when we have more children (PG). Our baby is four weeks old now, so I’m in a bit of a hurry. Robert
NOBLE SOLICITORS
events. I have heard a lot about bribery laws and I’m concerned not to get the company or myself into trouble, but I still want to invite the buyers. Does the law prevent me from doing this and is there anything I can do to ensure the firm is compliant? Alan
Dear Carl As marketing director for a retail production company, I regularly invite potential buyers from the around the world to visit the company’s UK headquarters and to see its manufacturing process and sample the items we produce. The company pays for the buyer’s travel and accommodation costs. We also run regular hospitality
Dear Alan The Bribery Act 2010 does not prevent corporate hospitality, provided that it is reasonable and proportionate expenditure in order to fulfil legitimate business needs. Bribery can be defined as offering, promising or giving a financial (or other) advantage to another person or body with the intention of inducing or rewarding that individual or
CARL WOOLF CRIMINAL DEFENCE SOLICITORS
Dear Robert I like your ideas, and can definitely give you what you want. We can give you loads of ideas and inspiration for rings, earrings, bracelets or necklaces; the choice is endless. We can also personalise with initials any piece of jewellery, in any colour gold or platinum. We can also include the birthstone of the month of your new addition to the family into the piece of jewellery you choose. The sooner you come in, the sooner we can create you something very special in our workshop for you. We have a large selection of diamonds and jewellery in our showroom to give you ideas.
TANYA MANN RENNICK Mindset Coach · Speaker RELATIONSHIP TROUBLE? ANXIETY? LACK OF CONFIDENCE?
"Spending 90 minutes on yourself could change your life" Share an area of concern Instantly workable strategies
Visit: www.tanyamannrennick.com Or call: +44 (0)1326340848
body for acting in a way that a reasonable person would consider improper in the circumstances. Corruption is any form of abuse of entrusted power for personal private gain and may include, but is not limited to, bribery. It will be an offence if the company fails to prevent bribery by an employee or agent, but it is a defence to show that adequate antibribery procedures were in place. You should immediately implement anti-bribery policies if you have not done so, ensure the staff have proper guidance on expenditure, and keep a record of and constantly monitor the costs, types and levels of hospitality and gifts given or received by the company.
LOUISE LEACH PRINCIPAL
DANCING WITH LOUISE Dear Louise I’ve recently had my second child and am finding it really hard to get back in shape and get my fitness levels up. I’m exhausted most of the time, but have dragged myself to yoga (the gym isn’t for me), but can’t seem to keep focused and I found it a little boring. I love dance and I prefer to
work out to music, but have been told to work on my core strength now my girl is three months old. Can you recommend a dance class that focuses on core strength and toning? Sharon Dear Sharon I can completely relate to the gym dread. I too find it hard to concentrate and work out to the best of my ability when there is no music playing for the workout moves to go along to. I would definitely suggest giving Ballet Barre a go... It is huge in America and classes are becoming increasingly popular over here now, too.
These classes are fantastic for dance and music lovers whose goal is to tone and sculpt. A good Ballet Barre class will provide an intense workout that will target both extrinsic (main muscles) and intrinsic (smaller hidden muscles) in a calm environment and you should see and feel the results almost instantaneously. It incorporates basic ballet barre movements with core toning exercises and often teachers aim to work on individual goals and strengths. Our ballet barre classes attract a lovely group of women of all ages, shapes and sizes and are a real complement to other cardio workouts, especially as they provide a really good core workout.
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
Ask Our Experts / Professional advice from our panel
Our Experts Do you have a question for a member of our team? Email: editorial@thejngroup.com CHARITY EXECUTIVE
LIFE COACH TANYA MANN RENNICK Qualifications: • Expert speaker on Mindset and Emotional Resilience at the House of Lords and European Parliament. Author and contributor to Amazon bestseller Extraordinary Women. • Helping men and women facing professional and personal challenges including relationship breakdown, poor life balance, career crossroads, post divorce/bereavement. • Practical applicable solutions for instantaneous results.
CAROLYN COHEN Qualifications: • Supports couples dealing with infertility and reproductive health. • Strictly confidential helpline. • Specialist medical support and information. • Counselling for individuals and couples and educational events. • Expert medical advisory panel.
TANYA MANN RENNICK 07545431822 www.tanyamannrennick.com tanya@tanyamannrennick.com
CHANA 020 8203 8455 Helpline: 020 8201 5774 / 020 8800 0018 www.chana.org.uk info@chana.org.uk
WEALTH AND FINANCIAL ADVISOR
DR BEV JACOBSON Qualifications: • Able to draw on the expertise of Norwood’s professional staff team, including social workers, educational psychologists, behavioural specialists, speech and language and occupational therapists, teachers, psychologists, benefit advisors and psychotherapists. • Expertise in services available for children and their families and young people with special educational needs and adults with learning disabilities and autism.
NEIL POOLE MBA DipPFS Qualifications: • Experienced in providing comprehensive wealth planning services to individuals, couples, families, trustees and businesses • Retirement planning and pension review • Family wealth preservation • Financial risk identification and mitigation
NORWOOD 020 8809 8809 www.norwood.org.uk bev.jacobson@norwood.org.uk
NEIL POOLE 07710 757 503 www.neilpoole.com neil.poole@sjpp.co.uk
TELECOMS SPECIALIST
SOCIAL WORKER
HOROLOGIST NICOLAS KALMUS Qualifications: • Specialises in the sale of fine watches on behalf of clients to achieve highest possible price. • Offers professional watch servicing for Rolex, Cartier, Omega, TAG Heuer, Chopard. • Provides vintage watch restoration, valuation and auction services. • Member of the British Horological Institute.
NICOLAS WATCH CO. 020 7788 9059 www.nicolaswatch.co nic@nicolaswatch.co / @nicolaswatchco
PRIVATE HEALTHCARE SPECIALIST
CHARITY EXECUTIVE
MAXI ROSE Qualifications: • MD at RCUK since 1999. Grown the business into three substantial UK branches serving clients worldwide – USA, Europe & Middle East. • Telecoms specialist in business & consumer mobile solutions, landline and broadband services and Ofcom Telecoms registered reseller. • Successfully established the RCUK International Travel
TREVOR GEE Qualifications: •Managing director, consultants in affordable family and corporate health insurance. • Specialise in maximising cover, lowering premiums and pre-existing conditions. • Excellent knowledge of health insurers, cover levels and hospital lists. • Board member UK International Health Management Ass • LLB, solicitor finals, FCA Regulated 773729.
SUE CIPIN Qualifications: • 18 years’ hands-on experience, leading JDA in significant growth and development. • Deep understanding of the impact of deafness on people at all stages of life, and their families. • Practical and emotional support for families of deaf children. • Extensive services for people affected by hearing loss/tinnitus.
RCUK 020 8815 4115 www.rcuk.com Maxi@RCUK.com
PATIENT HEALTH 020 3146 3444/5/6 www.patienthealth.co.uk trevor.gee@patienthealth.co.uk
JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION 020 8446 0502 mail@jdeaf.org.uk www.jdeaf.org.uk
JEWELLER
TRAVEL AGENT
CRIMINAL DEFENCE SOLICITOR
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.
DAVID SEGEL Qualifications: • Managing director of West End Travel, established in 1972. • Leading UK El Al agent with branches in Swiss Cottage and Edgware. • Specialist in Israel travel, cruises and kosher holidays. • Leading business travel company, ranked in top 50 UK agents. • Frequent travel broadcaster on radio and TV.
CARL WOOLF Qualifications: • 20+ years experience as a criminal defence solicitor and higher court advocate. • Specialising in all aspects of criminal law including murder, drug offences, fraud and money laundering, offences of violence, sexual offences and all aspects of road traffic law. • Visiting associate professor at Brunel University.
JEWELLERY CAVE LTD 020 8446 8538 www.jewellerycave.co.uk jonathan@jewellerycave.co.uk
WEST END TRAVEL 020 7644 1500 www.westendtravel.co.uk David.Segel@westendtravel.co.uk
NOBLE SOLICITORS 01582 544 370 carl.woolf@noblesolicitors.co.uk
DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES
REMOVALS MANAGING DIRECTOR
PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL
CAROLYN ADDLEMAN Qualifications: Lawyer with more than 15 years’ experience in will drafting and trust and estate administration, eight years at KKL Executor and Trustee Company. Keeps in close contact with clients to ensure all legal and pastoral needs are cared for. Member of Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
•
STEPHEN MORRIS 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.
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 10 years ago.
KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 0800 358 3587 www.kkl.org.uk wills@kkl.org.uk
STEPHEN MORRIS SHIPPING LTD 020 8832 2222 www.shipsms.co.uk stephen@shipsms.co.uk
DANCING WITH LOUISE 020 8203 5242 www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk louise@dancingwithlouise.co.uk
• •
7 February 2019 Jewish News
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Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts
ACCOUNTANT
IT SPECIALIST
HEARING AID AUDIOLOGIST
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
EWA KOZLOWSKA MSHAA Qualifications: • Fully qualified, HCPC registered, Hearing Aid Audiologist. • Specialist in hearing healthcare including tinnitus management and wax removal. • Fully understands the impact of hearing loss and will work with you to find the best solution for your unique hearing needs and lifestyle.
IAN GREEN Qualifications: • Launched Man on a Bike IT consultancy 15 years ago to provide computer support for the home and small businesses. • Clients range from legal firms in the City to families, small business owners and synagogues. • More than 18 years’ experience.
SOBELL RHODES 020 8429 8800 www.sobellrhodes.co.uk a.shelley@sobellrhodes.co.uk
BLOOM HEARING SPECIALISTS 020 8869 9999 www.bloomhearing.co.uk pinner@bloomhearing.co.uk
MAN ON A BIKE 020 8731 6171 www.manonabike.co.uk mail@manonabike.co.uk
INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS SPECIALIST
CHARITY EXECUTIVE
BUILDING CONTRACTOR
NAOMI FELTHAM Qualifications: • Leading currency transfer provider since 1996 with over 500 expert employees. • Excellent exchange rates on your transfers to/from Israel. • Offices worldwide, with local support in Israel, the UK, mainland Europe and the USA. • Free expert guidance from your dedicated Account. Manager
BAYLA PERRIN Qualifications: • Free professional service delivering immediate practical help with domestic administrative matters, assisting those alone and in crisis. • Providing workable solutions for debt management, budgeting, bills, utilities, insurance, welfare & benefits, form filling, financial correspondence, bureaucracy and divorce procedures. Cross communal and throughout London.
HOWARD GOLD Qualifications: • Member of the Federation of Master Builders. • Member of the Consumer Protection Association offering an underwritten insurance backed guarantee of 5 years on all projects. • Providing a tailored end-to-end property service for residential property clients in north and north-west London. Focusing on a quality service.
CURRENCIES DIRECT 07922 131 152 / 020 7847 9447 www.currenciesdirect.com/jn Naomi.feltham@currenciesdirect.com
THE PAPERWEIGHT TRUST 020 8455 4996 www.paperweighttrust.com info@paperweighttrust.com
HPS 077 1005 7233 / 020 89588191 wwww.hpsuk.com howard@hpsuk.com
MEDIATOR
CHARITY EXECUTIVE
ANDREW MILLER QC Qualifications: • Mediator with more than 25 years of experience of using mediation to economically resolve commercial disputes. • Queen’s Counsel (Barrister) with 25+ years legal experience of conducting commercial cases. • Providing a cost-effective and time-efficient alternative to the court litigation process.
HAZEL KAYE Qualifications: • Able to draw on the charity’s 45+ years of experience in providing specialist accommodation designed to enable independence. • Knowledge of the features and innovations that can empower people to undertake everyday tasks and awareness of relevant grants and benefits available. • Understands the impact of a diagnosis of disability.
SARA BADVIE Qualifications: • MB BS (Hons) BSc (Hons) Master of Surgery (MS) FRCS (Gen.Surg) • General surgeon – performs surgery for hernias, gallstones, pilonidal disease, skin lumps and lipomas. • Specialises in colorectal disease – rectal bleeding, bowel & abdominal symptoms, haemorrhoids, anal fistula and fissure, colonoscopy and bowel polyps.
AMQC MEDIATION @ 2TG 020 7822 1260 www.2tg.co.uk amqc@2tg.co.uk
JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611 www.jbd.org hazel@jbd.org
HIGHGATE PRIVATE HOSPITAL 0208 0030 889 www.highgatehospital.co.uk enquiries@highgatehospital.co.uk
SENIOR ALIYA CONSULTANT
CAREER ADVISER
SHARON GLASSMAN Qualifications: Born and raised in Israel. Worked in the private sector. 15 years experience with new olim while working for the government. Vast knowledge of the Israeli business and labour market.
LESLEY TRENNER Qualifications: • F ree professional one-to-one advice to help the unemployed into work. • Practical support, workshops and networking to maximise job prospects. • Expert in change management and people development. International Coach Federation certified, helping people with career development and midlife change including dilemmas around ageing parents.
THE JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL 020 8371 5258 www.jewishagency.org sharong@jafi.org
RESOURCE THE JEWISH EMPLOYMENT ADVICE CENTRE 020 8346 4000 www.resource-centre.org office@resource-centre.org
• • • •
ISRAEL PROPERTY EXPERT
Got a question for a member of our team? Email: editorial@thejngroup.com
PALLIATIVE CARE MANAGER
DARREN RICH Qualifications: Broker based in Israel who escorts clients throughout the process. All real estate solutions under one roof. Specialist in sales and rentals all over Israel. In house legal and financial experts. Best after-sales service in Israel.
POLLY LANDSBERG Qualifications: • Worked in health and social care for more than 35 years. • A degree in nursing and a diploma in health visiting. • Responsible for the day-to-day management of the palliative and end of life care service.
HOME IN ISRAEL REAL ESTATE GROUP 020 8089 1446 www.homeinisrael.com darren@homeinisrael.net
SWEETTREE HOME CARE SERVICES 020 7644 9500 www.sweettree.co.uk polly.landsberg@sweettree.co.uk
• • • • •
COLORECTAL & GENERAL SURGEON
Professional building services in London, the suburbs and surrounding areas working on Extensions, Conversions, Refurbishments, Renovations, Kitchens, Bathrooms and so much more. GET IN TOUCH TODAY. admin@hpsuk.com 020 8457 1320
www.hpsuk.com
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
Your next birthday could be life changing!
If you are celebrating a birthday or anniversary, by inviting friends and family to donate to JDA as an alternative to traditional gifts, you’ll be enabling a new generation of deaf children to achieve their aspirations and flourish.
Please contact Claudia at claudia@jdeaf.org.uk
020 8446 0502 www.jdeaf.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1105845 Company Limited by Guarantee 4983830
www.jewishnews.co.uk
7 February 2019 Jewish News
37
Win West End tickets / Fun, games and prizes
WIN TICKETS TO SEE THE TWILIGHT ZONE IN THE WEST END!
(Evening Standard), this “whirling paranormal kaleidoscope” (The Guardian) leads you on a chilling journey into the unknown, through eight stories set where the extraordinary is ordinary, the impossible probable, and where
presents
BIG family
The
show & Expo!
you’re never entirely sure what’s real and what’s your imagination. But don’t worry. Your imagination can’t hurt you… can it? Unlock the door to “unsettling, dazzling and sophisticated entertainment” (Whats OnStage) with this electrifying, unpredictable evening of mystery, fantasy and the wonderfully weird. Don’t let time slip away – book now. The Twilight Zone is playing at the Ambassadors Theatre from 4 March (all preview tickets priced £25 or less). For more information and to book your tickets, call 020 7395 5405, or visit twilightzonetheplay.com
17 MARCH 2019
Allianz Park Stadium, NW4
38 days to go!
For more information and to buy tickets go to bit.ly/bigfamilyshow Tickets £3 per adult in advance, kids free. £4 per adult on the door, kids free BAG SPONSOR
ws.co
B: Gremlin C: Troll
THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD THE JewishNews CROSSWORD 1
2
7
3
4
5
6
8
9
10
12
19
To enter email a one-minute video of your act to editorial@thejngroup.com
MARQUEE SPONSOR
COMMUNITY SPONSOR
ENTE ONLIN R E: jewish ne
.uk Closin 21 Feb g date ruary 2 019
13
11
14 16
17
Children’s parties are the most important events in a parent’s diary – and the toughest to organise. How do you keep a room full of lively kids entertained for two hours? To help you decide Jewish News is looking for the children’s party entertainer of the year! We want to find the very best balloon-modelling, magical, puppet-operating, dream-conjuring, animall-friendly, craft-making fairy, clown or any kind of costume-wearing entertainer. Whatever your expertise we would like to see you perform at Allianz Park on 17 March to... an audience of children . Promote your party skills to kids and more importantly their parents at the biggest Jewish family event of the year. We can’t wait to see you – and neither can the kids!
HOME & LIFESTYLE SPONSOR
In one of the most famous episodes of the original series, William Shatner plays a passenger who sees which type of creature perched on his plane wing in mid-flight? A: Leprechaun
15
WE’RE LOOKING FOR THE TOP KIDS’ ENTERTAINERS!
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:
18
20
22
ACROSS 1 Rot (2,3) 4 Great divide (5) 7 Under the alternative name of (inits)(3) 8 Travelling amusement rides (7)
21
23
9 Render momentarily unconscious (4) 10 In a sluggish manner (4) 13 Mocking remark (3) 15 Work for (pay) (4) 16 Jealous emotion (4)
19 Channel for carrying fluid (7) 21 Room where experiments take place (3) 22 Stationery item (5) 23 Each one (5) DOWN 1 Bite persistently at (something hard) (4) 2 Conceited person (7) 3 Protect from attack (6) 4 Division of a dollar (4) 5 Make of oil‑fired cooker (3) 6 One who suffers for his or her beliefs (6) 11 Make known (a secret) (7) 12 Container for a beverage (6) 14 Moderate (6) 17 Cat’s sound of pleasure (4) 18 Comply with the orders of (4) 20 Have a snooze (3)
Last issue’s solutions ACROSS: 1 Lupin 4 Evade 7 Pun 8 Garbage 9 East 10 Swag 13 Spa 15 Ogle 16 Veil 19 Beloved 21 Keg 22 Towel 23 Yarns DOWN: 1 Lips 2 Pinball 3 Nights 4 Euro 5 AKA 6 Energy 11 Whisker 12 Combat 14 Avidly 17 Evil 18 Ages 20 Law
See next issue for solution.
07/02
All puzzles © Puzzler Media Ltd - www.puzzler.com
COMPETITION TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Terms and conditions: Three winners will
By Paul Solomons
Jewish News is offering three lucky readers a pair of Band A tickets to see The Twilight Zone at the Ambassadors Theatre! You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone… Adapted by Anne Washburn (Mr Burns) and directed by Olivier Awardwinner Richard Jones, this “piercingly smart” (Time Out) production of the acclaimed CBS television series lands at the Ambassador’s Theatre, fresh from a rapturously received, sell-out run at the Almeida Theatre. Hailed as “a treat from far beyond”
receive a pair of Band A tickets to see The Twilight Zone at the Ambassadors Theatre. Tickets are valid Monday to Thursday evenings, 7.45pm, and Thursday matinees, 3pm, from 4 March to 4 April 2019. Dates exclude 12 March and are subject to availability. No cash alternative. Travel and accommodation not included. Prize is as stated, not transferable, not refundable and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or exchanged in whole or in part for cash. By supplying your email address, you agree to receive marketing information from the JN Media Group or any of its affiliates and carefully-selected third parties. The promotion excludes employees of Miroma and the promoter, their immediate families, their agents or anyone professionally connected to the relevant promotion. Proof of eligibility must be provided on request. For full Ts and Cs, see jewishnews.co.uk.
Closing date: 21 February 2019
38
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
Business Services Directory ANTIQUES 44
The Jewish News 22 September 2016
www.jewishnews.co.uk
Stirling of Kensal Green
Top prices paid
BUSINESS SERVICES DIRECTORY
Antique – Reproduction – Retro Furniture (any condition)
Carer Epstein, Archie Shine, Clothing Hille, G Plan, etc.
Dining Suites, Lounges Suites, Bookcases, Carer Desks, Cabinets, Mirrors, Lights, etc. FURS WANTED Auxiliary Nurse Cash paid for Mink House clearances Available to support jackets, coats,
you in your home. boleros, stoles, Single items to complete homes also fox coats, Days/nights. jackets etc. MARYLEBONE ANTIQUES Very reasonable rates. - 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED Wardrobes cleared Call 0208 958 2939 614 744 (ANYTIME) Call 01277 352 560 or 0749507866 026 168
Computer
0207 723 7415 (SHOP) closed Sunday & Monday
STUART SHUSTER - e-mail - info@maryleboneantiques.co.uk
Man on a Bike will get MAKE SURE YOUfast! CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING you working Rapid Response IT support for your PC & Mac Networks, virus problems, broadband, wireless systems, new computers and everything else you may need. ANTIQUES For small businesses & home users.
Antiques
WE BUY ANTIQUES
All quality furniture bought & sold.
Antique – Reproduction – Retro Furniture (any condition)
Best prices paid for complete house clearEpstein, Archie Shine, Hille, G Plan, etc. ances Lounges includingSuites, china, Bookcases, books, Dining Suites, clothing etc. Also rubbish clearance Desks, Cabinets, Mirrors, Lights, etc. service, lofts, sheds, garages etc House clearances
VERY HIGH PRICES PAID. FREE HOME VISITS. www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk All Antique Furniture Hille & Epstein Diamond Gold, Silver,CALL Paintings, FORJewellery, APPOINTMENTS SUEPorcelain, ON: Glass, Bronzes, Oriental Judaica Antiques etc. 0800 Ivories, 840 2035 or & 07956268290
Single items to complete Please contact Gordonhomes Stirling
020 8960 5401 or 07825 224144
FullOPEN house8am clearances TO 9pmorganised. 7 DAYS. RD LONDON. Please look PORTOBELLO at our website for more details
CHURCH STREET ANTIQUES � 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED
͔͚͚͛͜ ͚͕͘ ͛͘͘ (ANYTIME) Email: gordonstirling65@gmail.com
www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk
0207 723 7415 (SHOP)
FOR APPOINTMENTS CALL SUE ON: CHARITY & WELFARE 0800 840 2035 or 07956268290 17-443-ER Helpline advert v1.qxp_Helpline 85x45mm 24/11/2017 10:02 OPEN 8am TO 9pm 7 DAYS. PORTOBELLO RD LONDON.
020 8731 6171 • www.manonabike.co.uk CharityManuscripts, & Welfare Books, Ephemera, Works of Art and Silver
Top prices paid
VERY HIGH PRICES PAID. FREE HOME VISITS. All Antique Furniture Hille & Epstein Diamond Jewellery, Gold, Silver, Paintings, Porcelain, Glass, Bronzes, Ivories, Oriental & Judaica Antiques etc. Full house clearances organised. WE BUY ANTIQUES Please look at our website for more details
Call Ian Green, Man on a Bike on
ANTIQUE JUDAICA & HEBRAICA
Established over 60 years. Know who you are dealing with.
closed Sunday & Monday STUART SHUSTER � e�mail � stuart@churchstreetantiques.net
ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK
MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING
WHEN YOU NEED HELP, CALL OUR HELPLINE. HIGHEST PRICES PAID!
ARE YOU BEREAVED?
JCL Antiques Ltd. 07791Counselling 798492 for adults & children who are experiencing loss. Support groups offered. joseph.landau@yahoo.co.uk Call The Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service in confidence
For confidential advice, information and support contact us on
020 8922 2222 IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHICH WAY TO TURN, helpline@jcare.org REMEMBER OUR HELPLINE. For Charity confidential advice, information and support don’t forget Jewish Care Direct. Reg No. 802559
020 8922 2222 jcdirect@jcare.org
jewishcare.org/helpline
020 8951 3881 • 07765 693 160 CHARITY & WELFARE E: enquiries@jbcs.org.uk
WESTLON HOUSING ASSOCIATION Email Sales today at
Sheltered Accommodation sales@thejngroup.com
We have an open waiting list for our friendly and comfortable warden assisted sheltered housing schemes for Jewish people in Ealing, East Finchley and Hendon. We provide 24-hour warden support, seven days a week; a residents’ lounge and kitchen, laundry, a sunny patio and garden.
For further details and application forms, please contact Westlon Housing Association on 020 8201 8484
Charity Reg No. 802559
WESTLON HOUSING ASSOCIATION
ARE YOU BEREAVED? Counselling for adults & children who are experiencing loss, and support groups. Contact The Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service in confidence
020 8951 3881 enquiries@jbcs.org.uk | www.jbcs.org.uk
Sheltered Accommodation
Jami supports and represents people with mental illness across the Jewish community.
We have an open waiting list for our friendly and comfortable warden assisted housing domestic schemes in Ealing, East Are you a Jewishsheltered woman experiencing violence? Finchley and provide warden support, With abuse in Hendon. your home,We do you worry 24-hour about your children? seven days a week; residents’ Weaare here tolounge help and kitchen, laundry, a sunny patio and garden.counselling. with free support, advice and information and confidential
Labels are for jars. Not people.
#jamithinkahead
Refer yourself or a loved one by Give support • Get support • Get involved calling 020 8458 2223 or visit 020 8458 2223 | info@jamiuk.org www.jamiuk.org
Kosher Refuge available for women and children in need.
www.jamiuk.org
REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1003345
For further details and application forms, please contact Free Confidential Helpline 0808 801 0500 Westlon HousingNational Association on 020 8201 8484
Reg Charity No. 1003345
advice@jwa.org.uk • www.jwa.org.uk
HOME & MAINTENANCE
Home & Maintenance
L
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No further, your
LOCAL PLUMBERS
Hall & Randall Plumbers
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07860 881505 or 0800 610 12 12
CHILDREN
Man on a Bike will get you working fast!
PROFESSIONAL PAINTING, DECORATING & PAPER HANGING
Call Ian Green, Man on a Bike on
020 8731 6171 • www.manonabike.co.uk
"
| boiler repairs and installation | complete central heating | " #
flushing | complete bathroom service | | power
+ " ) installation "# ,! " | landlords certificates project management home purchase reports | " | | ! # All NW-London postcodes covered !
Not shabbat
Home & Maintenance COMPUTER
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and ! For all your heating plumbing requirements
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office@hallandrandall.com
Rapid Response IT support for your PC & Mac
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Safe Than Sorry� ! #
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(UK)
P LUMBSAFE LTD
LONDON
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Over 20 years experience Friendly, reliable & personal service. Very competitive rates
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London 020 8485 8176
PLUMBSAFEUK.COM
ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24.00 A WEEK
ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THANCall £24Marc A WEEK LEDPresent spotlights, finding, today thisfault ad for a 5%CCTVportable appliance tests, and Guilds Electrician We haveCity a community types of electrical work undertaken nursery All shop offering our customers top brands with Rewiring, extra sockets, BT points, Economy 7 a personal storage heaters,service. Shabbat time switches, security lighting, landlord tests and house buyer’s surveys.
discount.
020 7692 6943 Email Salesontoday at Jewish sales@thejngroup.com
For(Terms an efficient reliable and conditions apply.)and friendly service.
Call Harvey Solomons on
8958 6495 / 07836 648 554 1-2 srindsmc@hotmail.com Russell Parade, Golders Green 020 Road, London. NW11 9NN
Telephone: 020 8201 8870, Website: www.yummykids.co.uk
7 February 2019 Jewish News
www.jewishnews.co.uk
39
Business Services Directory STONEMASON
ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at
sales@thejngroup.com
A. ELFES LTD
Gary Green Monumental mason
The specialist masons in creating bespoke Granite and The specialist masons in creating bespoke Granite The specialist masons in creating bespoke Granite Marble Memorials forforallallCemeteries and Marble Memorials Cemeteries. and Marble Memorials for all Cemeteries. Clayhall Showroom
Clayhall Showroom 14 Claybury Broadway 14 Claybury Broadway Ilford. IG5 0LQ Ilford. IG5 0LQ 0208 551 6866 T: 0208 T: 551 6866
Edgware Showroom Showroom 41Edgware Manor Park Crescent 41 Manor Park Crescent Edgware. HA8 HA8 7LY 7LY Edgware. T:T: 0208 381 1525 0208 381 1525
MARQUEES17/01/2019
Gary Green ad 84 x 40mm JM Group.indd 1
Gants Hill
12 Beehive Lane Gants Hill, IG1 3RD Telephone
For current promotions freephone
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Edgware
130 High Street Edgware, HA8 7EL Telephone
Memorial Masters The Handel Smithy,105 High Street Middlesex, HA8 7DB www.memorialmasters.co.uk
0207 754 4659 0207 754 4646
: info@garygreenmemorials.co.uk Email Email : info@garygreenmemorials.co.uk www.garygreenmemorials.co.uk www.garygreenmemorials.co.uk
SILVER
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14:56:22
FREE BRIDGE TASTER 22nd January 2019
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REMOVALS
Dave & Eve House Clearance Friendly Family Company
Phone day or night 07913405315 for a free quote.
020 3070 3211
No job too big or too small.
www.levcomarquees.com
LEGACY- LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR MEMORY
JEWISH WAR VETERANS
Secure our
YOUR LEGACY
Please include
children’s future
& THEIR DEPENDANTS NEED
CST in your Will
Tel: 020 8202 2323 Web: www.ajex.org.uk Email: headoffice@ajex.org.uk
Every gift makes a difference legacy@cst.org.uk
Registered Charity No: 1082148
Leave the legacy of independence to people like Joel.
LEAVE A LEGACY AND CREATE THE FUTURE LEADERS OF ISRAEL Trojan House, 34 Arcadia Avenue London N3 2JU t: 020 8371 1580 e: info@youthaliyah.org.uk www.youthaliyah.org.uk Charity No: 1077913
Charity no. 1042391
Legacy advert 84x40.indd 1
PLease remember us in your wiLL.
eNABLeD visit www.Jbd.org or caLL 020 8371 6611
Registered Charity No. 259480
020 8457 3700
www.cst.org.uk
07/04/2017 Your legacy is a gift for young disabled children to make their lives easier by remembering us in your will.
Email: shabatonlmenucha@gmail.com
Phone: 0203 3979837
Registered Charity: 1155729
18-361-JM Small legacy advert v1.qxp_Legacy 09/10/2018 10:27 Page 1
HELP US CONTINUE TO BE THERE FOR OUR COMMUNITY WITH A GIFT IN YOUR WILL. Call Alison on 020 8922 2833 for more information or email legacyteam@jcare.org Charity Reg No. 802559
ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at sales@thejngroup.com
14:47
40 Jewish News
www.jewishnews.co.uk
7 February 2019
Y
BU
E
L TO AB P IL L E H AVA
HERTFORDSHIRE LIVING, MINUTES FROM THE CITY • • • • • • • •
2 minute walk to Elstree & Borehamwood Thameslink station 18 minutes to Kings Cross St Pancras* Gated parking and a balcony or terrace to every apartment 3 minutes walk to the shopping boulevard and High Street In close proximity to over 80 acres of green open spaces Help to Buy available in Wesley House Rent al guarantee Scheme available Prices From £340,0 0 0* *
BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT:
020 3733 7709 fairwoodplace@stwilliam.co.uk Sales & Marketing Suite Open Monday - Saturday Ground Floor, 2 Penta Court, Station Road Borehamwood, Herts WD6 1SL
FAIRWOODPLACE.CO.UK
CGI’s of Fairwood Place. *Travel times taken from Google Maps and TFL. **Price correct at time of going to print. Wesley House prices from £360,000
Job:188038D Pre:188038C Size:330x260 Publication:Jewish News Issue:06/09/18 Copy:04/09/18 COLOUR Date:28/08/18 Proof:1 EMMA
7 February 2019 Jewish News
www.jewishnews.co.uk
Tickets now on sale!
presents
BIG family
The
New zone just added ‘SIMCHAS’
show & Expo!
It’s bigger, it’s better... it’s back!
&
Hosted by
Nick Ferrari Rachel Riley 17 MARCH 2019 Allianz Park Stadium, NW4 10.30am – 4.30pm
For more information and to buy tickets go to
bit.ly/bigfamilyshow
FOOD Y COMMUNIT SIMCHA RETAIL
Tickets £3 per adult in advance, kids free £4 per adult on the door, kids free HOME & LIFESTYLE SPONSOR
BAG SPONSOR
MARQUEE SPONSOR
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
RETAIL SPONSOR
COMMUNITY SPONSOR
TRAVEL
N EDUCATIO LIFESTYLE
41
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Jewish News 7 February 2019
We keep our communities connected with great communication solutions for individuals and businesses!
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