FR
EE
We made a splash! Jewish News’ most iconic front pages as the newspaper says goodbye Pages 8-9 THIS WEEK
1997–2020
Ellul 5773 • No 810
BRITAIN’S
•
21 Nisan 5780
•
Issue No.1154
•
JEWISH
E
E
BRITAIN’S
29 September 2016
www.jewishnews.co.uk
Hope for us, hope for Israel,
• 26 Ellul 5776 • www.jewishnew s.co.uk
•
‘unity among faiths’. See pages
hope for the world
Supplement
THE HERO HEALER An injured soldier who saves children is just one of Shaare Zedek’s superheroes. Noga Tarnopolsky
United we stand ❛ MR ISRAEL ❜ APER ISH NEWSP IGGEST JEW BRITAIN’S B JewishNewsUK
I
BIGGEST JE WISH NEWS PAPER
f Asael Lubotzky were a doctor in the UK, heads would turn when he entered a hospital. Handsome, confident and with a ready smile, he is the sort of man who attracts attention, but it is the specially modified crutches on which he leans that would set him apart. Sadly this is not the case in Israel, where the sight of a young man with battle scars is all too commonplace and where Lubotzky, the senior resident in pediatric medicine at Jerusalem’s iconic Shaare Zedek hospital, inhabits two worlds, as that of healer and of the walking wounded. If people stare at Lubotsky in the hospital, it is not because they are fascinated by his crutches with torches on the handles and suction pads on the base, but because they recognise him as the young doctor who has become something of a celebrity since publishing a memoir that turned into a local bestseller. His book, From the Wilderness and Lebanon, his experience of battling the Shiite militia Hezbollah Lebanon where, in 2006 in at the tenant in the Golani brigade age of 23, he was a lieu commanding a platoon 30 soldiers. of
26 July 2018
Lubotzky was almost killed when a missile registered a direct hit on the spot on which he was standing in the tank. He survived with extensive wounds and with one leg so badly mangled his doctors were close to amputating it. Lubotzky’s circumstances are extraordinary by any standard, but at Shaare Zedek, which in English means Gates of Justice, they have been treating the war wounded for almost 115 years and the hospital permeates with stories like his that beggar belief.
@JewishNewsUK
Edited by Brigit Grant
NEW START Chief Rabbi Mirvis calls for
15 April 2020
R
2&3
1923 - 2016
@JewishNewsUK
•
14 Av 5778
•
Issue No.1064
•
@
T: +44 (0)20 8349 0321 www.ogrstockdenton .com
hundreds, if not to Israel been approved, definition of anti-Semitism, of Labour and Momentum leading Jewish Alliance’s Labour MP Dame Margaret thousands, need to be expelled. Today, Britain’s three News, Jewish provoking her leader an anti-Semite to members would in Brexit disnewspapers – Jewish to call With the government Telegraph – take Hodge yet. danger Chronicle and Jewish face, was the most sinister there is a clear and present of speaking as his to IHRA defini- array, the unprecedented step Labour has diluted the man with a default blindness same front page. government that a a man one by publishing the community’s fears, accepted in full by the the existential tion, deleting the Jewish that hateful We do so because of more than 130 local councils, has a problem seeing this country that and key examples of who can easily step threat to Jewish life in and amending four rhetoric aimed at Israel Jeremy Corbyn-led to Israel. could be our next would be posed by a anti-Semitism relating anti-Semitism, a Labour into government. Under its adapted guidelines, Israel’s prime minister. party that was, MPs vote on We do so because the member is free to claim On 5 September, Labour home for our Party and comnatural for the the endeavour calling racist recently, a is motion, until values and integ- existence policies to those of Nazi Ger- an emergency definition community, has seen its Israeli to adopt the full IHRA contempt for pare – whatever that party rity eroded by Corbynite many, unless “intent” is into its rulebook. Jew” binary “Dirty face a – can be proved. Jews and Israel. Following that, it will of anti-Sem- means or be seen bitch” fair game? The stain and shame implement IHRA in full Her Maj- wrong, “Zionist a distinction choice: itism has coursed through people as an institutionally In so doing, Labour makes Jeremy Corbyn targeting by all decent party. esty’s Opposition since between racial anti-Semitism anti- racist, anti-Semitic years for became leader in 2015. (unacceptable) and political After three deeply painful to Livingstone, Jews (acceptable). September is finally From Chakrabarti Semitism targeting Israel Had the full our community, alarming lows. Last there have been many The reason for this move? relating make or break. to adopt the full week’s stubborn refusal definition with examples Remembrance IHRA International Holocaust
Pages 6, 8, 9, 28 & 64
‘A giant among us’ Beloved Charedi leader Rabbi Pinter dies of coronavirus Political and religious figures have paid heartfelt tributes to Charedi leader and “bridge builder” Rabbi Avroham Pinter, who died from Covid-19 on Monday, writes Stephen Oryszczuk. The longstanding Principal at Yesoday Hatorah Senior Girls School and a director of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, Pinter was an influential figure in the Charedi world in the United Kingdom and beyond, having mentored many of today’s community leaders. Pinter’s mother, who came from a famous Belzer family, was living in the East End when she met Pinter’s father, a Viennese Holocaust survivor. Shmuel Pinter took over the running of Yesodeh HaTorah two years after it was established by Rabbi Avroham Pardes, when it had just six students. There are now more than 300. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said he was “deeply saddened,” saying: “I will remember him as an eved Hashem (servant of God) with a kind heart and an unwavering commitment to his community. His loss will be widely felt across Anglo Jewry and beyond.” In 1982 Pinter became the first rabbi elected as a councillor to Hackney Council. Hackney mayor Phil Glanville said he was “devastated,” adding: “His leadership did so much for Hackney and the Charedi community in the area.” Local MP Diane Abbott knew Pinter for 30 years and described him as “a giant of community politics. He had so much to be proud of: his beautiful family; his work among the
Rabbi Avroham Pinter dedicated his life to building bridges between Jewish communities
people and above all Yesodey Hatorah. He will be mourned by all”. London mayor Sadiq Khan said Pinter “did so much to help community relations in London and will be missed by so many” while former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: “So sad. A wonderful caring rabbi, educator and community activist and a great friend to all communities. I always enjoyed his company.” Lord Mann, the government’s antisemitism adviser, said he worked with Pinter for 15 years, adding: “He became a trusted ally and friend as well as a major community leader. His advice and perspective has always been significant.” Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl said he was “a much loved figure across the community, building bridges between different groups of Jews, government and wider UK society”. She added he was “always wise and often humorous… I considered him a mentor and friend. He will be deeply missed by all of us who had the privilege to know him.” Joel Friedman of the Charedi umbrella group Interlink, who has set up an Orthodox community in Canvey Island in recent years, said: “He was my mentor, as close as a father. Not a day would pass where we wouldn’t speak. He was so humble. “He would often ask my opinion about what to do in any given situation. I would tell him that ‘I would ask Rabbi Pinter’ which made him laugh. What a man he was.” Continued on page 2
EDITOR
It’s been an emotional week for current and former employees of the Jewish News. The announcement that this newspaper – a beloved fixture in Shabbat shopping bags for 24 years –
along with the Jewish Chronicle, the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper, have been put into liquidation shocked the community and trended on social media. Had the synagogues been open it would have been the only kiddush conversation this Shabbat. Like most newspapers, Jewish News and Jewish Chronicle have struggled to remain viable in the face
of high costs, low advertising and online news. Jewish News was only able to give the community a newspaper, website and events thanks to its owner Leo Noe’s support. Some months we broke even, at Pesach and Rosh Hashanah we even made a profit, but relied on Leo to keep the presses rolling year round. Event advertising was our matzah and
butter, so the lockdown pushed us and the JC over the edge. Of course, in these digital days a newspaper shutting isn’t news. Indeed, the 60-year-old Canadian Jewish News closed its doors last week. Newsprint is at the mercy of market forces like any other business. But newspapers, especially Continued on page 14
BRITAIN’S B IGGEST JEW ISH NEWSP APER
29 March 2018
•
13 Nisan 5778
•
Issue No.1047
•
@JewishNewsUK
As British Jews said ‘Enough is enough’ on Labour antiSemitism, we gave Jeremy Corbyn a chance to finally repair the damage. But his answers were simply…
Photo by Marc Morris
BY RICHARD FERRER
E JN USIVIEW CL RV EX TE IN
AFTER 24 YEARS, THIS IS GOODBYE
NOT GOOD ENOUGH
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, REPORT
S & REACTION, PAGES 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 24 & 26
Photo by Marc Morris
COPIES DISTRIBUTED
NEW YEAR, 4 September 2013 • 29
– 32,520 BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER
News F
Shana Tova to all our readers!