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Smiles on faces Stephen Fry among stars wearing charity masks designed by an Israeli artist

VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY 11 June 2020

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19 Sivan 5780

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Issue No.1162

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Extraordinary Care from Extraordinary People

• Residential • Respite • Independent Living

Page 12

@JewishNewsUK

020 8908 4151 jewishchoice.org

Are we failing black Jews in our community?

Journalist Stephen Bush to chair urgent review The man leading the UK Jewish community’s internal review of the black– Jewish experience has said he wondered whether he was “black or Jewish enough” for it when first asked, writes Jack Mendel.

Stephen Bush, the New Statesman’s political editor who has both black and Jewish family heritage, is charged with overseeing the community’s historic Commission on Racial Inclusivity, but told Jewish News this week that he had some reservations.

The commission, which will hear evidence from black British Jews about their experiences in the community, was set up following the death of George Floyd in the US and the ensuing anti-racism protests which have swept the globe.

Admitting to “some trepidation” about the size of the task, he said he asked himself: “Am I really black enough to do this?

Am I Jewish enough to do?”

Asked about marginalisation and racism in the community, he said: “It’s never really been an experience I’ve had, because although I am black, the other Jewish bits of my family all ‘look’ Jewish.

I’ve never turned up to a synagogue as part of a black family. I suspect that might be a different experience.”

Bush will speak to black Jews and Jews of colour as well as Jewish religious and communal institutions to understand the

Jewish schools, a lack of racial diversity in Jewish leadership positions and even heart-breaking prejudice in the context of seeking another Jewish partner”.

Bush, who has previously written about his Jewish grandfather on his mother’s side being the last “proper” Jew in the family after “marrying out”, said one important avenue to explore would be “what it’s like not to ‘look Jewish’ and how that shapes how you interact with the community”.

He added: “One thing that hasn’t surprised me is people talking about difficulties they’ve had with shul security.”

Acknowledging genuine concerns around synagogue security, he said: “It is not analogous to when a police officer has stopped me on my way to work or whatever, because there isn’t a legitimate fear at play there.

“However, there is a legitimate fear about people who others don’t recognise turning up to schools or places of worship. I think that’s going to be the big commonality and problem – when you don’t ‘look Jewish’.”  Editorial Stephen Bush

comment, page 18 and opinion, pages 20, 22 & 23

PROTEST IN THE WOOD

Jewish nurse turned community activist Rachel Turek led a socially-distanced Black Lives Matter protest in Borehamwood on Sunday, holding a sign that read: ‘Borehamwood is not innocent.’ The rally featured an estimated 120 protesters.

Full story, page 3

LI FE

JEWISH NEWS UP FOR THREE AWARDS

the 75th anniversary Special edition marking kenau of the liberation of Auschwitz-Bir

27 January 2020

been held on 5 June, has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jewish News is the only Jewish publication to be recognised.

Society of Editors executive director Ian Murray said: “In spite of this year’s difficult circumstances, we were determined that the hard work done by journalists in the regional and local press should not go unrecognised.

“This year’s shortlists reveal a huge

wealth of talent in the regional press.

We will be announcing the winners on Friday 19 June.”

Jewish News editor Richard Ferrer said: “To go from ‘highly commended’ at last year’s awards to being shortlisted in three categories including Free Newspaper of the Year is a tribute to my unrivaled team.

It’s lovely to get some good news at this difficult time.”

ISSUE NO. 3

Winter 2019

ISSUE NO. 3

See pages 4 & 5

Jewish News has been shortlisted for the prestigious Society of Editors’ Regional Press Awards for 2019 across three categories – Innovation and Initiative of the Year, Magazine of the Year and the coveted Free Weekly Newspaper of the Year.

The awards celebrate the best of British regional newspaper journalism in 2019 for print and online.

The ceremony, originally due to have

Jewish News

WONDER WOMEN AND GAL POWER

JN LIFE MAGAZINE Winter 2019

‘Their stories will r’ stay with me fors eve survivors photograph Duchess of Cambridge rial Day edition for our Holocaust Memo

extent to which racism is experienced by black Jews and what changes might be made to improve the situation.

“My underlying assumption is that the people who will feel more marginalised will be those who are at a more complex intersection in terms of what being Jewish means to them,” he said.

Having no direct experience of racism would be “helpful in terms of the project”, he said, explaining that he was now aiming to “consciously unlearn everything I think I know” about the issue in order to approach it with an open mind.

Bush wanted the outcome of the sixmonth project first and foremost to be useful, he said. “I want a serious set of recommendations that can be helpful to the community in all its hues, from secular non-observant people like me, to those for whom the religious aspect is very central.”

Announcing the commission on Monday, the Board of Deputies said it was hearing anecdotal evidence of black Jews “being stared at in synagogues, asked probing questions or being given a hard time by security at communal buildings”.

It further added that black Jews “face racism in

Albert Speer’s daughter talks tolerance SHTISEL: The Secret’s Out

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

News / George Floyd

‘Shared struggle’ for equality One of Britain’s leading black activists, Lord Woolley, this week implored the Jewish community: “We need you to say, your struggle is our struggle,” writes Jenni Frazer.

He was speaking at an extraordinary online event, the first of its kind, convened by the JW3 community centre and JCore, the Jewish Council for Racial Equality.

JW3’s chief executive, Raymond Simonson, said he and his team had arranged the event in record time, in direct response to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in the United States last week, and the subsequent global antiracist protests.

More than 3,200 people joined the discussion, to view and listen to the panellists.

The panellists included Lord Woolley, the founder and director of Operation Black Vote and head of the government’s Racial Diversity Unit; David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham and

Racial Diversity Unit chief Lord Woolley took part in an event convened by JW3 and JCore

the shadow justice minister and shadow lord chancellor; April Baskin, the racial justice director for the American Jewish Social Justice Roundtable; and the student activist Nadine BatchelorHunt, a former president of the Cambridge University Black and Minority Ethnic Campaign.

The event was moderated by Dr Edie Friedman,

founder and director of JCore.

Both April Baskin and Nadine Batchelor-Hunt are black Jews, and have with widely different experiences of both communities.

Batchelor-Hunt spoke wistfully of the day when she was less visible. It “would be nice to visit Kosher Kingdom [the London kosher supermarket] and not get stared

at”, [because she was such a rare sight] she said. However, at the same time she complained that Jewish communal organisations during the last election had not responded positively to approaches from the black Jewish community.

Baskin, who was speaking from Senegal, suggested that a “professional healing process” between blacks and

Jews, on the same lines as the Truth and Reconciliation project in South Africa was what was required in order to help build engagement and trust.

Lord Woolley described the current situation as “a perfect storm of Covid-19 and the lynching of George Floyd”.

He called for a “1945 moment” — citing the rebuilding of Britain in the aftermath of the Second World War when great and radical change had been made possible by a national will.

Brandishing a copy of a book on the Freedom Riders — the 1961 co-ordination between Blacks and Jews in America’s Deep South, to fight racial discrimination — Lord Woolley declared: “We must rebuild bigger and better, to create a new social and racial equality contract.”

David Lammy, who has previously commented on Britain’s history of slavery and has criticised the Uni-

versity of Oxford for admitting relatively few black students, along with all the panellists spoke of himself as “tired” of repeatedly having to make the case for equality for black citizens.

Nevertheless the MP spoke warmly of a “rainbow alliance” between black people and Jews which had existed, in part, because of the “historic pain” suffered by both communities.

He said that when his father had come to Britain it was often only Jewish landlords who were willing to house him and other black immigrants.

He spoke passionately of a long history of black– Jewish co-ordination, picking out the American civil rights activist Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, and the many Jews who had fought apartheid in South Africa and supported Nelson Mandela.

Today, Lammy, said, “We must raise our game. People’s lives depend on it.”

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George Floyd’s death in the US is an “essential wake-up call for each and every one of us”, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has warned.

“We cannot stand idly by as it [racism] takes hold of our societies. However, it is also not enough for us to simply join in with a superficial chorus of disapproval,” the chief rabbi said in a statement released on social media.

“Real change calls upon us to find the courage to challenge racism wherever we come across it: on social media, in the streets, in our

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis

communities and in our hearts,” he warned.

Floyd died after a white police officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis on 25 May. Prose-

cutors last week filed a tougher charge against the officer at the centre of the case and charged three other officers.

In his statement, Rabbi Mirvis added: “Jewish tradition teaches that one who saves a life has saved an entire world and one who destroys a life has destroyed an entire world.

“Such is the value we must place on each and every human life. That ‘Black Lives Matter’ needs affirming at all is utterly shameful. There is no doubt that this is an essential wake up call for each and every one of us.”

BLM PROTESTERS TARGET SHULS Several synagogues and Jewish businesses in the United States have been targeted amid unrest following the killing of George Floyd, according to local media reports.

The nationwide demonstrations have been overwhelmingly peaceful and sparked a global movement for reform.

But according to Jewish Journal, anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian graffiti was discovered on the walls of the Congregation Beth Israel in Los Angeles’s heavily-Jewish Fairfax district.

The US city is home to an estimated 600,000 Jews.

Other buildings targeted in the area included a kosher supermarket, a bakery, pharmacy and schools, the Jewish outlet reported.

News of the incident involving the Congregation Beth Israel sparked criticism from the

Graffiti on a synagogue in Los Angeles

local Anti-Defamation League chapter, which tweeted: “Vandalism is never ok. Antisemitism is never ok. The answer to hate and bigotry is not more hate. We are better than this Los Angeles.”

In Virginia, footage on social media on 31 May appeared to show a brick thrown through the window of another congregation, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency.

11 June 2020 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

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Anti-racism rally / News

‘Borehamwood isn’t innocent’ A Jewish intensive care nurse who led a sociallydistanced Black Lives Matter protest in Borehamwood has urged the public to take a stand against racial inequality, writes Mathilde Frot.

Rachel Turek spoke to Jewish News on Tuesday after organising the rally on Sunday which drew more than 120 protesters, according to her own estimates.

Demonstrators gathered at Aberford Park, some holding placards that read ‘Jews support Black Lives Matter’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, and ‘Borehamwood is not innocent’.

The rally was part of a flurry of protests nationwide sparked by the killing of George

Floyd in Minnesota by a white police officer last month.

Former Jewish Leadership Council chief Jeremy Newmark was among several local councillors who attended. He later posted on social media that he was “very proud” to have spoken at the event, which he described as showing “fully compliant social distancing”.

He praised Turek for “her courage and tenacity in making this important event happen despite a torrent of abuse and hatred directed at her on social media”.

The 24-year-old nurse, of Borehamwood and Elstree shul, has lived in Borehamwood her

entire life. She received a mixture of positive and “hateful” responses on social media but the protest had been “really powerful”, she said.

“We had seven people speak, then we marched down the high street and had cars coming past,” she added. “We had people cheering.

“The police were clapping. It was honestly extremely powerful. We had families that had come out. So many people came up to me afterwards and thanked me, saying that they didn’t feel like their voice was heard in Borehamwood and I had the platform to allow that voice to be heard as a white person.”

Acknowledging the risks associated with

public gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, Turek said she didn’t want to attend a big protest, but wanted “a place to hear about people’s experiences and to learn about the movement so that’s why I organised something where I felt at no more risk than when I go out shopping or when I go to work.”

Those unable to leave their home can continue to support black communities remotely, Turek added, by tuning into virtual protests, contacting their MP and signing petitions.

“There’s so many things that people can do, and Covid can’t be our excuse to not be fighting racial inequality.”

About 120 people, including many families, take part in a socially-distanced anti-racism protest in Borehamwood on Sunday organised by Jewish intensive care nurse Rachel Turek

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

News / West Bank annexation

Regev hits back at annexation critics Israel’s ambassador to the UK has responded to an open letter from 40 leading British Jews who complained that his government’s intended West Bank annexation would make it impossible for them to defend the Jewish state, writes Jenni Frazer.

However, Mark Regev’s toughlyworded reply fails to answer any of the specific concerns of the letter’s signatories, who include Holocaust survivor Sir Ben Helfgott, historians Sir Simon Schama and Simon Sebag Montefiore, and a host of leading communal figures and people from across the political spectrum.

Instead, Regev seeks to remind the

letter writers that the intent of annexation stretches as far back as the Labour Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The controversial letter from the British Jews, published on 4 June in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, was addressed to the ambassador and told him that annexation was “an existential threat to the traditions of Zionism in Britain”.

In his response, Regev, who pointedly does not use the word “annexation”, instead speaks of “the proposed application of Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank”.

He goes on to emphasise that such action is part of the coalition deal between Likud and the Blue and White party that was hammered out after the last general election.

In a brief overview, he reaches back into Israeli history to the SixDay War of 1967.

He writes: “Yitzhak Rabin, who led Israel to victory in the Six Day War and as prime minister signed

the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, firmly believed that any sustainable peace would have to be built on robust security arrangements.”

Significantly, Regev refers to Prime Minister Rabin’s final speech to the Knesset, just one month before his assassination in November 1995.

In this speech, Regev points out, Rabin “outlined his vision of a final status peace, which he said would demand Israeli control over the Jordan Valley ‘in the broadest meaning of that term’”.

Israel’s “friends in the international community”, Regev reminds the letter writers, “have long understood secure borders to be a cornerstone of any durable peace”.

He says he believes Israel’s friends in the UK share the view that Israel’s security “must account for realities on the ground, including already existing Israeli population centres”.

Crucially, Regev concludes his response by telling the signatories

Not in our name: Signatories to the letter (clockwise from top left) Ben Helfgott, Luciana Berger, Simon Schama and Anthony Julius. Inset: Regev

that US President Donald Trump’s most recent peace plan took such concerns into account and had been well received by most Arab states.

He adds: “In moving forward, Israel’s new unity government will remain cognisant of our steadily improving relations across the Arab and Muslim world, and our critically important partnership

with Jordan.

“We will continue to engage with Washington about how best to seize the historic opportunities inherent in the American initiative, which offers the hope of a more peaceful and secure future.

“It is high time for the Palestinians to come to the table and constructively do the same.”

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Viral fears / Doc nominated / Starmer criticised / News

A leading community charity has sounded the alarm on the extra pressures put by the pandemic on the families and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Norwood’s chief executive, Dr Beverley Jacobson, issued the warning in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson published in this week’s Jewish News.

The charity supports vulnerable and SEND children and their families, as well as people with learning disabilities and autism.

In her letter, Jacobson describes the weekly allowance given to carers (£67.50), irrespective of the number of SEND children looked after, as “pitifully low”.

She also backs an early day motion (EDM) tabled by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas on 2 June calling for bespoke Covid-19 advice to be dispensed to SEND schools and centres, and demanding increased funding for respite care centres and carers.

“As a charity that supports children and adults with special educational needs and disabilities, Norwood – one of the UK’s

largest Jewish charities – is more than familiar with the issues that have always been there but have been exacerbated by the current crisis,” she writes.

Referring to the motion, she adds: “Norwood believes this is not a matter of party politics and fully supports this proposal. We are very much hoping you will too and look forward to seeing this issue raised in the House at the earliest opportunity.”

Since it was tabled last week, the early day motion has gathered support from nine MPs.

Photo by Blake Ezra

Norwood chief warns of virus pandemic pressures

Norwood chief executive Dr Beverley Jacobson

PANORAMA DOC UP FOR BAFTA ... as Starmer pledges clean out The BBC’s Panorama documentary about the row over alleged antisemitism in the Labour Party has been nominated for a Bafta TV Award, the arts charity announced last week.

The 59-minute programme exploring the Labour Party’s handling of disciplinary cases, made by veteran documentary maker John Ware (pictured), with exclusive interviews with party activists and officials, was broadcast last July.

Is Labour Anti-Semitic? – which was strongly

criticised by the Labour Party and allies of Jeremy Corbyn at the time – is up against two Channel 4 programmes and one ITV documentary in the current affairs category.

Jewish Labour Movement national secretary Peter Mason tweeted: “When the history of this era is written, outside of the cacophony of noise we are experiencing, Panorama will be remembered as a turning point when brave people, victims and whistleblowers spoke truth to power.”

the Jewish community at a time when they were crying out for help... That’s not principle.

It’s empty words, so... what’s changed?”

In response, Starmer said he reached out to Jewish leaders within hours of being elected leader, explaining: “We have already made changes to our disciplinary process... The Jewish Labour movement have agreed to do training with us and to keep that dialogue open and so all I ask is that they and you give me the space to show what I will do, and I will kick antisemites out of the Labour Party.”

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You may be in isolation, but you’re not on your own.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to “kick antisemites” out of the party as he faced criticism during a radio phone-in for his general election support for Jeremy Corbyn.

On Monday, an LBC Radio listener confronted the leader of the opposition over his support for the party’s former leader during the 2019 election despite the row over alleged antisemitism in the party.

David, from Hampstead, said: “For five years you campaigned alongside Jeremy Corbyn.

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

News / Synagogue reopenings / Safeguarding processes

Rabbis to broadcast from shul United Synagogue (US) rabbis will be allowed – for the first time since lockdown – to enter their synagogues to broadcast services, writes Jenni Frazer.

However, there will be no general reopening of shuls as a result of the government decision, made last Sunday, that places of worship can be reopened for individuals to conduct private prayer.

Instead, all Jewish denominations are trying to find ways to comply with government regulations, and communal faith leaders are in close contact with Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis spoke to Jenrick last week and expects to do so again this week.

Rabbi Nicky Liss, chair of the US’ Rabbinical Council said: “It will bring comfort to many people of faith.

A synagogue is disinfected ahead of reopening since the lockdown

“According to Jewish tradition, one can pray anywhere and at any time, but for formalised prayer services we require a minyan, such as for saying

Kaddish and reading from the Torah.

“In light of the government guidance, United Synagogue rabbis will now be able to broadcast from their

shul if they so wish. The rest of our guidance issued last week remains in place as we are not yet able to open our buildings more fully.”

For the Reform and Liberal Movements, according to Reform’s Senior Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, synagogues were currently “very unlikely” to reopen. She said both denominations had so successfully used online worship, “engaging thousands of people in a way which had not happened before”, that for the time being they were happy to continue in the same vein.

“Our emphasis in Judaism is on praying with the community,” she said. “If that is not possible, the next best thing is to be able to pray at the same time as the community” – and for that a building was not required.

REFORM LAUNCHES SAFEGUARDING REVIEW Reform Judaism is set to commission an independent review into its safeguarding culture, writes Adam Decker.

Its board of trustees made the announcement in a letter to Reform communities.

The synagogue movement

pledged to publish a timescale for the review, which it said is to be led by an “organisation with safeguarding expertise that is wholly independent of Reform Judaism and our communities, to actively invite anyone with a safeguarding

concern to come forward”.

“We realise that abuse in all its varieties and forms does occur and that the Reform Jewish community is not immune. Abuse is not limited to sexual abuse of children and young people, but can occur at all

levels and during all types of interaction with members of Reform Judaism and all those that relate to us and each other,” the letter said.

The movement was among several Jewish groups to participate in the Independent Inquiry into Child

“I don’t get it. Some people seem to be acting as if the ‘R’ level’ is at ‘meh!’ when it’s still at ‘oy gevalt’!”

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

News / School debate / Covid impact / Choir online

JFS a ‘white education’ The headteacher of JFS has insisted that it “is a very different place to that of the past”, after an open letter from alumni accused it of providing “a predominantly white education”, writes Jack Mendel.

Rachel Fink defended Europe’s largest Jewish secondary after more than 600 former pupils and parents urged it to support a “decolonised national British curriculum”.

They also urged it to “provide an honest portrayal of Britain’s Empire and involvement in slave trade”.

The letter came amid a wave of protests around the world against racism triggered by the killing of George Floyd and as the removal of slave-owner statues in the UK.

Fink told Jewish News: “Over recent years we have redoubled our efforts to ensure that our curriculum covers may areas that may have been missing from the education received by the signatories of the open letter.

“JFS of 2020 is a very different place to that of the past and our focus on aspects of black history, the civil rights movement and advancement of black rights is a core part of our renewed focus on interfaith dialogue and promoting positive engagement.”

Outside the classroom, Fink said, pupils “have the

opportunity to engage with students and guests from other communities”, and “we explore issues of faith, identity and sexuality”, alongside race, and communal debates.Adding that “there is room for further development”, she said the school welcomes “the activism of our alumni”.

The open letter was initiated by Ella Davies Oliveck and Jacob Middleburgh, who left in 2015, and Esther Craven, who left in 2013. They said: “JFS is a great school in many ways, but it fell short in providing us with a well-rounded understanding of historical events that are a fundamental part of Britain’s past.”

Rachel Fink

Extra places for Year 7 JFS is to open a bulge class for Year 7 pupils in the autumn amid a “surge” in applications for Jewish secondaries.

The north London school will offer an extra 30 places – randomly allocated on Tuesday – to meet demand.

A statement from the school read: “These additional places will create movement across schools in the hope that those still awaiting a place in a Jewish school will receive an offer.

“We know that the lengthy decision process may have caused some anxiety for those families awaiting a place but it has been important to undertake a thorough internal analysis to ensure the school can take an additional form.”

JFS said it had worked with the Jewish Leadership Council’s education

JFS will open an additional form

division, Partnership for Jewish Schools on the “genuine need” for more places.

Rabbi David Meyer, PaJeS executive director, said: “It is a credit to the secondary schools that they continue to work together to ensure sufficient provision across the community.” Thanks to the extra class at JFS, he expected that those who wished to attend a Jewish school would be able to do so.

COVID TALKS WITH CITY OFFICIAL Choir keeps in time remotely Community leaders discussed the impact of the pandemic on Jewish Londoners in a virtual meeting with a City Hall official.

Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard, deputy mayor for social integration, social mobility and community engagement, tuned into the Zoom meeting on Tuesday.

She was joined by representatives from the Board of Deputies, London Jewish Forum, Jewish Leadership Council, Jewish Care, Union of Jewish Students, Charedi leaders and the

Community Security Trust. Topics covered included security and the impact of Covid-19 on the community, bereavement and mental health. Participants also discussed the community’s relations with other faith groups and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

Dr Weekes-Bernard told Jewish News after the meeting: “The mayor [Sadiq Khan] and I are committed to understanding the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on all London’s diverse communities and to doing all we can to support them.”

Mill Hill United Synagogue’s choir recorded a live ensemble performance remotely during the coronavirus lockdown.

Their rendition of Nissan Blumenthal’s song Eitz Chayim Hi was conducted in real time by Eliot Alderman.

Instead of producing individual recordings, the group used specialist technology to

Mill Hill Synagogue’s choir

perform live. Bass singer Gershon Cohen said it enabled the choir to “rehearse and per-

form in essentially the same way we would in real life”.

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Neo-Nazis jailed / Facebook hearing / News

‘Miss Hitler’ wannabe gets three years in jail Four neo-Nazi “diehards” convicted of being members of the terrorist group National Action were jailed this week.

Alice Cutter, a former Miss Hitler beauty pageant contestant, and her Nazi-admiring former partner Mark Jones were convicted of membership of a terrorist group after a trial in March, alongside co-accused Garry Jack and Connor Scothern.

Sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, Judge Paul Farrer told Jones, 25 – a former member of the British National Party’s youth wing and a rail engineer who was described at trial as a “leader and strategist” – that he had played “a significant role in the continuation of the organisation” after its ban in December 2016. He was jailed for five and a half years.

He told Cutter, who received a three-year jail term, that she was a “trusted confidante” of one of the group’s leaders, as well as being in a “committed relationship” with Jones. The pair are of Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax, West Yorkshire.

The extreme right-wing group National Action,

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Alice Cutter outside court and, below, in a swastika outfit

labelled “racist, antisemitic and homophobic” by the thenHome Secretary Amber Rudd, was banned in December 2016 after a series of rallies and incidents, including praise of the murder of MP Jo Cox. Cutter, 23, who entered the Miss Hitler contest as Miss Buchenwald – a reference to the Second World War death camp – had joked about gassing synagogues, using a Jew’s head as a football, and exclaiming “Rot in hell, bitch”, after hearing of Cox’s murder.

Contact us for a free quote: Office - 01420 561132 Mobile - 07540 458202 Jack, 24, of Birmingham, who had attended almost every meeting of National Action’s Midlands sub-group, was jailed for four and a half years.

Scothern, 19, of Nottingham, was “considered future leadership material” and was detained for 18 months.

Facebook ‘error’ over bomb threat A Facebook executive has admitted “an error” was made, after a bomb threat made against the Board of Deputies of British Jews was deemed not against its rules.

The social media giant’s head of product policy and counterterrorism, Monika Bickert, was quizzed by SNP MP John Nicolson last Thursday as part of an investigation by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Sub-committee on online harms and disinformation.

Bickert was asked about

the threat made against the Board, which was not initially removed. The company said at the time it “does not go against any of our community standards”. She was also asked about a post mocking the death last month of the unarmed black man George Floyd.

When asked during the hearing whether the bomb threat was acceptable to post on the site, Bickert said: “Hypotheticals are really tricky for me because we would always look at the context.” When told it was a stan-

dalone post, she said: “No, that is not OK.” Challenged on why it was not removed, Nicolson read out Facebook’s reply, which said: “We reviewed the comment and it does not go against any of our community standards.

We recommend you unfriend the person who posted it.”

The MP said: “It seems unlikely the Board of Deputies would have a friend who advocates bombing them.

So I wonder why you’d send such a grotesquely dismissive response.”

LSJS EXPERT QUITS New rabbinic pair Dr Tamra Wright is to leave her post at the London School of Jewish Studies next month after 23 years with the organisation. At present director of academic studies and educator development, specialising in 20th century Jewish philosophy, Wright is to join the interfaith group Faith in Leadership.

Krish Raval, director of Faith in Leadership, said: “We are thrilled and honoured to engage Dr Wright’s vast creativity, intellectual rigour and considerable experience in curriculum design to strengthen our offerings as we move towards an online educational platform.” Dr Wright will remain involved with LSJS as a senior fellow.

A new rabbinic couple has been appointed to serve the Hadley Wood Jewish Community. Rabbi Akiva Rosenblatt and Rebbetzen Batya are Woodside Park United Synagogue’s current assistant rabbinic couple. They are expected to succeed Rabbi Yoni Birnbaum and Rebbetzen Elisheva in August.

Rabbi Rosenblatt was born in Liverpool and raised in north-west London. He received his first rabbinic ordination at 23 and is a trained chazan. The rebbetzen spent three years at the Jewish Teachers Training College in Gateshead and went on to teach Jewish studies at Broughton Jewish Primary School in Salford.

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

News / Goodwill food / Relatives reunited

Soup-er gran prescribes ‘penicillin’

by Sandy Rashty @SandyRashty

When lockdown started, Essex grandmother Yochy Davis started making batches of kosher chicken soup for her neighbours as a gesture of goodwill.

With her fashion business on pause, she would dish out portions of the golden goodness to the elderly and vulnerable – including the local vicar’s widow.

But three months in, demand for the soup has soared. With a team of volunteers, Israel-born Davis, 57, now oversees the delivery of chicken soup, latkes, challah, fruit pots and desserts to around 140 homes across north London and

Essex every week. And all come with portions of kneidlach, noodles and croutons – without which no chicken soup is complete.

“It’s Jewish penicillin, it’s symbolic,” she said. “I am so passionate about it. All the ingredients are donated by local businesses, members of the community and everything is made with love. I am sure people can taste the love.

“We are also uniting communities with Jewish penicillin. We provide to Jews, Muslims and Christians. We don’t say no to anyone.

We provide for elderly people who haven’t got much family or friends around; but also grieving relatives and people in high-risk groups.”

Supported by her friend Lesley

Adams, and Jules Katz and Lauren Reuben in London, her team of volunteers include children who help portion out the fruit pots and write personalised messages to recipients.

But now, with lockdown restrictions beginning to lift – she is worried about the initiative’s future.

With her own business to run, she noted that many volunteers will also “start going back to work”.

“We have let people know we have to stop it and they are heartbroken. I know how much it means to people. We have developed a special relationship with recipients who wait for it every week. If someone would take it on it would be good, but I hope it stays per-

Recipients Dr Hussein Youssef and former teacher Eileen

sonal,” said Davis, who, as a vegetarian, cannot taste her soup.

She said: “The recipe was from my mum, but I developed it. Normally chicken soup has a lot of fat, but I cut all that off and add turmeric to make it healthier.

“I am Israeli so I love cooking anyway; but if I never see chicken soup again it won’t be too soon.”

Large amounts of chicken soup are cooked

Care home residents reunited with relatives

A resident at the Jewish Choice care home

Elderly residents of a Jewish care home in north London were recently reunited with their loved-ones for the first time since the start of the lockdown, writes Adam Decker.

The independent care home Jewish Choice revealed on Monday that it opened its doors to family members last week, giving each visitor a time slot over a three-day period.

During their visits, the residents’ special

guests were scattered across seven socially distanced areas on campus to meet family members staying at the 51-bedroom facility.

Paula Peake, the care home provider’s chief executive, said: “We are prudent most certainly, but nonetheless proactive in our planning, to ensure that the elderly in the Jewish community, who are currently living in their own home, can once again benefit from our extraordinary care.

“We can now address the very isolating impact that the fear of contracting coronavirus has had on the elderly in the community and are also delighted we can be open for their relatives once they are living here.”

The independent care charity set up nearly 300 years ago revealed last month the launch of its new safety procedure when welcoming new residents.

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News / Virus pandemic

Put a smile on your mask!

A charitable face mask project is literally putting smiles on people’s faces – and famous ones at that, writes Francine Wolfisz.

Acclaimed artist Ron Arad

has teamed up with the Ostro Fayre Share Foundation to produce a series of face coverings that feature the smiles of wellknown figures including Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill,

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Florence Nightingale, Marilyn Monroe and Salvador Dali, as well as beloved works of art by Matisse and Picasso.

At least £1 from each one sold will go towards the project’s Smile For Our Carers campaign, which aims to raise funds for frontline workers contributing towards the fight against Covid-19.

A host of already famous faces, including actors Stephen Fry and Jason Isaacs and journalist Natasha Kaplinsky, proudly wore the masks to help launch the range, alongside vital key workers, including postmen and refuse collectors.

The team behind the coverings, which are available on Amazon from early next week, carefully selected a manufacturer that is not involved in supplying personal protection equipment (PPE) to frontline workers, so as not to affect the NHS supply line.

Speaking from his home in north-west London, Arad said he wanted to use “the power of art to help in this terrible crisis” and revealed that until lock-

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Clockwise from above: Stephen Fry wears Picasso, Natasha Kaplinsky wears Marilyn Monroe and Jason Isaacs wears Salvador Dali

down halted the project, he had been working on a new piece for the Royal Academy of Arts summer show, which involved a car covered with woven fabric.

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cheer them up.”

Maurice Ostro, philanthropist and chair of the Ostro Fayre Share Foundation, said buying face coverings such as these, rather than “frightening” medical masks, would go a long way towards easing demand for PPE, as well as helping raise much-needed funds.

Fund for post-virus world as UK Jewish deaths reach 492 An Israeli investment platform has launched a fund focused on companies and technology expected to play leading roles in the post-Covid-19 world.

OurCrowd, whose portfolio includes companies working to mitigate the crisis and its effects, announced its Pandemic Investment Fund, noting how working life for many will soon change permanently. It follows comments by Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella that the crisis had led to “two years of digital transformation in two months”.

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car, I came up with covering a face with a drawing of a face.

“All the museums and galleries are closed, so why not put the art on the masks and let’s just make people smile?

“When I walk with one of my masks in the street, people from two metres away tell me how much they

have been approved, downloads of remote working apps have soared, firms’ cybersecurity set-ups have shifted to account for home working, and the use of artificial intelligence driven customer service software is set to double.

“The rapid spread of the coronavirus has validated our vision of a connected digital world poised to solve any crisis through global communication and rapid response,” said OurCrowd CEO, Jon Medved.

The Fund aims to raise £80 million.

Meanwhile, the number

of coronavirus-related fatalities has risen to 492 among UK Jews, up from 484 the previous week.

The latest figure, which was released on Tuesday afternoon, covers fatalities both in hospital and beyond, using data gathered from burial boards, regional Jewish communities and the Jewish Small Communities Network, as collated by the Board of Deputies.

The national death toll among those tested positive for coronavirus this week surpassed 40,000.

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ‘STABLE’ Mental health experts report that while anxiety and depression has increased among the general Israeli population during the 12-week lockdown, those already receiving help did not find the lockdown made it worse, writes Stephen Oryszczuk.

Speaking to Jewish News, Liron David of Israeli mental health association Enosh said the findings from a recent poll of service users were encouraging. “We see stable conditions [that are] not worsening,” she said. “We assume it is because of the support they get.”

The findings will come as a relief, the organisation having warned in April that “individuals who are already struggling with their mental

health are at higher risk of experiencing worsening symptoms of anxiety and depression”.

During the pandemic, Enosh added two mental health hotlines, and in a World Health Organisation submission said lockdown and quarantine “accelerates anxiety and depression” in those with psychosocial disabilities.

Asked about the effect of social distancing, she said: “Research shows that social networks and wellness activities and support from close relationship improve mental health.

“There are many things we gain from physical face-to-face contact. It is sometimes essential to be near the person and help him gain social skills.”

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11 June 2020 Jewish News

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

Special Report / War research

Those magnificent men

Non-Jewish archivist Cathie Hewitt has spent lockdown researching Jewish members of the RAF, having previously honoured those who fought in Bomber Command, she tells Stephen Oryszczuk

A non-Jewish archivist who spent months creating a website to honour Jews who fought and died in Bomber Command during the Second World War is to create a new and more expansive website honouring the “Jews of the RAF”.

Cathie Hewitt, whose dogged pursuit of family trees is leading to pilots buried under Christian names being given a Star of David on their graves, told Jewish News this week of her plans to “include all Jewish personnel who served in the war”.

“I’m creating a database of those who died serving in the RAF in the war and, to date, I have 400 on the list. I will be creating a new website called ‘The Jews of the RAF’ and I’m looking for relatives of those personnel to contact me with further information, so their relatives’ lives can be commemorated.”

The many commands and areas her work will cover include Fighter, Coastal, Far East, Balloon, Support, Training, Transport, Middle East and Mediterranean, honouring men and women from pilots to ground crew to members of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAFs).

“I was researching the Jews of Bomber Command and began getting messages from families asking me to include their relative. When I

looked into it I found they’d served in Coastal Command or Fighter Command or something. It was difficult to tell them I wouldn’t be commemorating them because they weren’t in the right Command. I thought, why don’t I include all of them in the RAF?” While many are buried or commemorated in the UK, she said her research had led to Jewish personnel buried or commemorated in places as far afield as Jakarta [Indonesia], India, Italy, Nigeria, Canada, Malta, Greece, Gaza, and Basra in Iraq, with some having been prisoners of war when they died.

“The Commonwealth War Graves Commission sent me a list Jews in the RAF included the Pogrel crew and Lionel Walters, right of all those buried with a Star of Hewitt hopes an Israeli genealogy company to include “those who were serving but David,” she said. “That was a good start.” But for those commemorated among the died as a result of accidents or illnesses… would sponsor her efforts, and said she would 20,000 names on the Runnymede Air Forces I found a couple who were serving but were like “to have a space on each page so families can honour or leave a remembrance message”.

Memorial in Surrey, she said “you’ve got no killed by V2 rockets on London while on leave”.

Among the 400 Jewish RAF personnel she She added: “One chap I found died in a colclue” as regards their religion.

Hewitt said her interest extended lision with a lorry, another fell off a cliff in has already researched are two who were held beyond those killed by enemy action Torquay, where there was a big training unit, as Japanese prisoners of war. “They died when while another two were killed when the Café de their boat sank and they’re buried in Thailand.

Paris nightclub in London was bombed in 1941.” I found them through genealogical research.”

She added: “I’m finding a lot whose next of kin Hewitt credited a Jewish News article in February for alerting families to her efforts col- is in Israel, so these are guys who came across from lating information on the 303 Jews who fought Israeltoserve.SomecamefromSouthAfrica.There and died in Bomber Commands, and said she are amazing stories, but I’m at the beginning of was asking “relatives of these RAF personnel for my research.”

Hewitt is working closely with Paula Kitching their stories”. She explained: “After the article, I had people calling to say things like their uncle from the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen had died in the Battle of Britain. I put them to and Women (AJEX), who runs the We Were one side, but now seems to be the right time to There Too online platform, documenting the contribution of British Jews. create a space to commemorate them.”

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Among the fascinating stories Cathie Hewitt wants to showcase is that of Israel Lieberman, who before enlisting in 1940, ran a drapery store. He joined 32 Squadron as ground crew and in December 1942, it deployed with its Hurricanes to Algeria. On 15 January 1943, the airfield was bombed and Israel, 32, was one of six killed. He is buried at the Dely Ibrahim War Cemetery in Algiers.

Sylvain Kluska was a young Jewish artist of Polish parents who studied art at St Martin’s School and had two paintings accepted by the Royal Academy for exhibition when he was 17. He enlisted in 1940 as a pilot. He joined 527 Squadron and was killed on 9 May 1944 when his Blenheim aircraft crashed. He is buried at Willesden Jewish cemetery. He was 33.

Lili Bankier was born in Poland and emigrated to British Mandate Palestine in 1935. She joined the RAF with the Leading Aircraft Women based at the Meteorological Forecast Unit. On 28 July 1945 her aircraft lost power and, after a misunderstanding, Lili was the first to be pushed out of the aircraft exit, and was killed upon hitting a building. Her body was flown to Palestine the next day, and on 30 July 1945 was buried near the summit of the Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem.

Lili Bankier’s grave in Jerusalem

11 June 2020 Jewish News

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Annexation fears / Halak death / World News

Israelis fear intifada after annexation Half of the Israeli public supsaid they were opposed to it, with ports applying Israeli sovereignty 20 percent responding “don’t over parts of the West Bank a new know”. survey has found, while 58 percent Israeli Prime Minister of respondents believe unilateral Benjamin Netanyahu said in annexation by Israel could lead to a meeting with government a third Palestinian intifada. ministers that he has a target Twenty-five prevent of date in July to extend Israeli Israelis support annexation sovereignty over about 30 perwith the support of the United Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu cent of the West Bank, which is States, and the same percentage provided for in the Trump said they support such a move Policy Research at the Israel administration’s Israeli-Palestinian even without the backing of the Democracy Institute. peace plan. Those who most Trump administration, according Thirty percent of Israelis support applying Israeli soverto the Israeli Voice Index monthly opposed annexation and 20 percent eignty in the West Bank are voters survey conducted by the Guttman responded “don’t know”. Some 57 for the Charedi parties and the Center for Public Opinion and percent of Arab-Israelis surveyed farther right Yamina.

100 DUBAI JEWS IN TORAH CLASS

One hundred members of the United Arab Emirates’ small Jewish community took part in an online Torah lesson with a leading European rabbi.

Jews based in Dubai and Abu Dhabi discussed Jewish texts with Conference of European Rabbis (CER) President, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, and UAE Chief Rabbi Yehuda Sarna Held on Zoom before last Shabbat, the meeting took place to ensure Jews in country were not sidelined amid the Coronavirus pandemic. The CER is

made up of around 700 rabbis in over 50 European countries, supporting communities around the world.

Rabbi Goldschmidt said: “Since the outbreak of this horrible plague, we are all in our house in isolation, without the ability to join communities together.”

The community in the United Arab Emirates is estimated to number about 150 families or up to 2,000-3,000 people, with most residents originally from the United States, Europe and South Africa, Yeshiva World News reported.

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Rabbi visits mourners A Jerusalem Chief Rabbi visited the family of Iyad Halak, the autistic Palestinian man who was shot to death by Israeli Border Police, at their mourning tent in eastern Jerusalem.

Aryeh Stern, the city’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, also met local Muslim leaders at the tent last Tuesday evening.

Halak, of eastern Jerusalem, was shot in the Old City of Jerusalem by officers who said they thought the mobile phone in his hand was a gun.

Israel has apologised for the killing.

Stern, who was joined by Jerusalem Municipality officials, said he was coming with “a message of peace and reconciliation”, according to The Jerusalem Post. Halak’s father thanked him for the condolence visit.

Stern reportedly cancelled a visit to the family last Tuesday evening after Halak’s father posted a video on social media in which he said he did not want visits from government officials.

Knesset shut due to virus The Knesset was mostly shut down late last week after a lawmaker from the Arab Joint List announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Sami Abu Shehadeh was tested for the virus after his driver was diagnosed with Covid-19. He and his staff are now in isolation.

Abu Shehadeh told the Kan public

broadcaster that he is asymptomatic and has met with thousands of people in the last week, including at protests, family events and Knesset meetings.

All Knesset committee meetings and other events were cancelled, and hundreds of employees were told to stay home unless their work at the building was deemed essential.

ARREST OVER SOLDIER’S DEATH The Israel Security Agency has arrested a Palestinian man alleged to be responsible for the death of an Israeli soldier in the West Bank.

Sgt. Amit Ben-Yigal, 21, died on 12 May after being struck in the head with a large rock

dropped from the roof of an apartment building in the village of Yabed.

Nizmi Abu Bakar, 49, who lived in the building from which the stone was thrown, was arrested by Israel on Sunday.

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17

Museum funds / Military rabbis / Halle accused / Wedding ceremony / Diaspora News

Auschwitz Museum asks for donations to plug funding gap Bosses at the memorial and museum at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp have asked for donations to help fund an income gap owing to the lack of visitors during lockdown.

Around 2.3 million people – many of them schoolchildren – visit the site every year, but staff this week described the “profound emptiness” of a place where more than a million people were killed during the Second World War. The coronavirus has forced the memorial’s first closure since opening in 1947, and museum leaders are now facing multimillion pound losses from fees typically charged for local guides to lead group tours.

While there is no admission fee, around 80 percent of visitors hire guides who are trained and paid by the memorial, with museum spokesman Paweł Sawicki saying this lack of revenue was putting programmes and jobs at risk.

The fees for group tours, which can last up to two days, are typically between £100 and £200, and accounts for more than half the site’s income. Despite the funding gap, the site will not be left penniless, because Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National

Your weekly digest of stories from the international press.

CANADA

UNITED STATES

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ARGENTINA

Two new Jewish news websites are replacing The Canadian Jewish News, a 60-year old printed newspaper which stopped publishing last month. The country’s 400,000-strong Jewish population can now get their news online from the Canadian Jewish Record, whose reporters volunteer in order to keep it advertising-free, while the regional news website TheJ.ca is going national.

Staff described the ‘profound emptiness’ of the site since the coronavirus crisis

Heritage covers basic operating costs and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation covers conservation costs.

Museum director Piotr Cywiński said that educational work would continue but “without additional funds, the implementation of our statutory operations is called into question”. He added: “For years

and decades, we have tried to help others.

Today we need help ourselves.”

The museum has reorganised exhibitions to minimise the risk of spreading coronavirus when it reopens, probably in July.

“Right now, the emptiness at the Auschwitz Museum is very profound,” Sawicki said.

First military rabbis to be reinstated in Germany since 1930s Nazi ban German politicians have signed off on plans to have military rabbis for the first time since a Nazi ban on them in the armed forces in the 1930s.

During the First World War, around 100,000 Jews fought for Germany and Austria-Hungary as part of the Triple Alliance, and rabbis were routinely stationed alongside them in military units, but were banned in 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler took power.

The law re-establishing the official position of military rabbi is the first expansion of the law on military pastoral care since 1957, and Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said it would be a

WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF

A 1920 poster detailing Jewish soldiers killed in action fighting for Germany

“contribution against growing antisemitism, extremism and populism” in society.

In March, a report detailed the small

but growing problem of extremism within the German military, and a central coordinating office has been set up to combat the issue, after 49 military personnel were discharged last year for their beliefs. Of these, 46 dismissals were owing to soldiers’ alignment to the far-right.

The German government said the newly-reinstated rabbis would fulfil the same role as Catholic and Protestant chaplains, providing pastoral care to the soldiers and accompanying them on deployments.

There are believed to be around 300 Jewish soldiers in the German military and the Defence Ministry said up to 10 rabbis would begin on six-year contracts.

A charity that received a large donation from South Africa’s Jewish representative body during the coronavirus crisis has said it hopes to continue feeding those plunged into poverty by the pandemic until October. The Angel Network, which works in townships in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, said: ‘The Jewish community has stepped up to prevent men, women and children from starving.’

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience has delayed its opening from October until early next year, citing coronavirusrelated uncertainty. New Orleans is facing a ‘drastically slowed tourism economy’ as a result of the pandemic, it said. Last year, it moved its 4,000 artefact collection from storage in Mississippi to Louisiana, to await the completion of the exhibit space in the new museum building.

A special flight from Tel Aviv arrived in Buenos Aires last week, bringing 98 rabbis to certify thousands of tonnes of meat as kosher. The South American country’s export of kosher meat to Israel, worth millions of pounds a year, became threatened after Argentina’s two foremost kosher slaughter experts both died of Covid-19 in April. Typically the huge task requires only about 15 visiting Israeli rabbis.

SUSPECT’S FLEE ATTEMPT

The gunman accused of attacking a synagogue in Halle, Germany, last year was recaptured by German authorities after attempting a prison escape.

Stephan Balliet climbed an 11-foot fence during a walk through a prison courtyard on 30 May, but was caught shortly thereafter and taken back into custody. He was transferred to a maximum security prison a few days later.

“I’m really speechless,” Max Privorozki, the chairman of the Jewish Community in Halle, told the Jüdische Allgemeine.

“For me, what happened was very evil and an unexpected surprise. It’s probably not surprising that the attacker would attempt to flee, but the fact he would have been able to, that’s the problem.”

Anne-Marie Keding, the minister of justice in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, called the incident “horrible” in an interview with Deutschen Presse-Agentur. “There must be consequences.”

ITALIAN JEWS CELEBRATE FIRST New funding for RussianWEDDING SINCE LOCKDOWN speaking community labs Italian Jews celebrated their community’s first wedding since the country’s synagogues went into lockdown.

Marco Del Monte, a Rome-born chef who is studying for a Master’s degree in psychology, married Elinor Hanoka, a sixth-year medical student from Israel, in a safe ceremony on Sunday while wearing face masks at the Great Synagogue of Rome.

The couple had planned to marry in Jerusalem in March, but borders closed as Italy and Israel both took steps to limit the spread of the virus.

Dror Eydar, Israel’s Ambassador to Italy, who has known the groom for years, said on Facebook

the bride’s parents were unable to attend, but that the groom’s parents were there, along with a handful of guests and Rabbi Menachem Lazar of Rome’s Chabad Piazza Bologna Synagogue, who officiated.

“Italy in general and Rome’s Jewish community are still healing from their wounds; let’s hope this joy heralds many more,” Eydar wrote on Facebook.

Italy has been one of the worst-hit countries, with 34,000 dying from Covid-19, and was the site of its first major outbreak in Europe. At least a dozen of the country’s 40,000 Jews are among the dead.

Applications for funding and professional support to promote the development of Jewish communities in Russian-speaking countries are being invited in an initiative backed by the Israeli government.

The Russian-language Limmud FSU launched its Community Labs project this week, in collaboration with the Israel’s Ministry of the Diaspora and Genesis Philanthropy Group, with a view to supporting young Russian-speaking Jews

to set up educational and communal initiatives.

The project is open to applicants from the eight core countries or regions involved in Limmud FSU activities, these being Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, plus Canada, Australia, the United States, and Western and Central Europe.

Organisers said the goal was “to foster a sense of participation among the Jewish people and to develop a spiritual connection with the state of Israel among young Russian-

The aim is to support Russian-speaking Jews

speaking Jews, by means of promoting the development of strong and dynamic Jewish communities in the diaspora”. The aim is to create regional ‘labs’ that support grassroots projects.

Would-be applicants – who must have some prior experience of organising events or projects in the field of Jewish education – now have until 2 August to tender.

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.

1162

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

Commission can spark real change The Black Lives Matter protest movement last week stretched from Minneapolis to Golders Green via a shared sense of outrage at the killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer. But to many the connection was by way of dotted line.

While there was a strong sense of solidarity, some also felt somewhat removed from an issue seen as “over there”. #BLM felt like a very specific protest against police brutality, systemic racism, and prejudice.

Racism over here just isn’t as bad, we told ourselves, as we turned the page or switched channels.

A week later, that line from Minneapolis to Golders Green is no longer dotted, an historic commission having now been launched to uncover racism and prejudice right here at home – not just in the UK, but in our Jewish community.

Our synagogues, schools, community centres, care homes, kosher stores and charities are all centres of Jewish life, and all places where a black British Jew can still today expect stares.

They report probing questions at the entrance to synagogues, being given a hard time by security at communal buildings, facing racism in Jewish schools, even being overlooked on the basis of colour in the search for another Jewish partner.

The commission’s chair Stephen Bush, himself both black and Jewish, has said he will aim to understand from others what it is like to “not look Jewish” in the Jewish community. His findings will be both fascinating and illuminating.

White Jews struggle to imagine being mistaken for the cleaner on the basis of their skin colour. With Bush’s help they will soon be able to start.

Empathy and education will –we hope – lead to change.

That black lives matter seems obvious. That racism is alive and well and living in the British Jewish community does not.

We’ve been so busy being tolerant that we’ve forgotten to spring-clean our attitudes and assumptions of casual prejudice.

For those still in denial, compare the fuss we make over the use of the Y-word in football stadia with the continued prevalence of old-fashioned and offensive Yiddish terms to denote people of colour.

Despite what we may think, Jews are not yet whiter than white when it comes to race. Black Jews, small in number, have a gargantuan educational task ahead of them over the next few months.

But for the first time, they have a ready audience.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Send us your comments PO Box 815, Edgware, HA8 4SX | letters@thejngroup.com

The killing of George Floyd Your lead article last week stated: “Derek Chauvin knelt on us all.” He may have metaphorically knelt on you, but not on me. Where is your sympathy for an African– American hero who didn’t go to jail five times like Mr Floyd?

David Dorn, a black police officer, was shot dead by looters in riots last week. Where are the tributes to him, a decent family man who lost his life protecting a friend’s shop? Your liberal view prevents your brain from seeing the truth. The majority of police are not racist. The majority of society is not racist. Jewish News, you do not speak in my name.

Mark Kaye Elstree

Sketches & kvetches

Shabbat goes out Sedra: B eha’alotecha Saturday night 10.24pm

Printed in England: West Ferry Printers Limited Published by: The Jewish News & Media Group. www.thejngroup. com. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form of advertising without prior permission in writing from the editor. Registered as a newspaper by Royal Mail. The Jewish News reserves the right to make any alterations necessary to conform to the style and standards of The Jewish News and does not guarantee the insertion of any particular advertisement on a specified date or at all – although every effort will be made to meet the wishes of the advertisers. Further it does not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by an error or inaccuracy Member of in the publication of an advertisement. Signatures of both parties involved are sometimes required in the case of Audit Bureau some announcements. An order for an advertisement shall amount to an acceptance of the above conditions. Hotels, products and restaurants which are not supervised are marked with an [N]. The Jewish News reserves the right to edit of Circulations letters for size and content without prior consent. Submission of letters is no guarantee of publication.

RABBI PINTER’S VIEWS ON JUDAISM WERE IN LINE WITH MR FRIEDMAN’S Jenni Frazer says Rabbi Avrohom Pinter “recognised there was more than one way of being Jewish” as opposed to David M Friedman, who expressed the view secular Judaism is not a Jewish option. On behalf of Rabbi Pinter’s family who probably don’t read your newspaper, I would like to correct the record. Rabbi Pinter’s views

were totally in line with David Freidman’s – you are doing him a grave disservice.

While agreeing with Mr Friedman’s argument that Jews don’t have the monopoly on kindness, charity or social justice, she explains Jews have loving kindness.

Have I missed something?

Ann Cohen Golders Green

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THIS WEEKEND'S SHABBAT TIMES...

Shabbat comes in Friday night 9.04pm

The despicable killing of George Floyd is teaching the Jewish community in the UK as well as wider British society several important lessons.

We should be proud that, as a country and as a community, we are responding quickly and in due measure to this racist murder.

Some good will come of his death. We are beginning as a country to face up to the fact that many of our cities were built on slavery. We are looking again at bias in our school and university curriculums. And we will, surely, welcome black worshippers into our synagogues more warmly and unquestioningly in the future.

Fraya Asserson By email

“It says a lot about society when horseracing restarts before synagogues reopen!”

Of course black lives matter.

As the Chief Rabbi said, it is shameful this even needs stating. But how can we as a community support this worthy cause when so many synagogues and Jewish businesses have been looted

in recent days by those claiming to be protesting George Floyd’s violent death? Justifiable protest is one thing, mindless thuggery something else entirely.

Adam Brookman By email

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Editorial comment and letters

YOUR LIST SHOWED BIAS Andrew Gilbert, a longtime Labour activist, says a good list must not “seem to be unbalanced or biased”. Presumably he will therefore concede that Jewish News’ 40 Under Forty, which was almost entirely devoid of Conservatives, is actually not a good list at all.

Perhaps next time, Jewish News might just call it the 40 Top Labour Jews and drop the charade that it actually represents the diversity of activity in our community.

Nizza Fluss Conservative councillor, Hendon

I enjoyed reading your 40 Under Forty and must admit I was amazed at the achievements of these incredible young people.

Many of them, it must be said, have huge support from parents, grandparents, teachers and the wider Jewish community, perhaps through youth or family networks.

Can we also raise a glass to the Jews who done wonderful things for others later in life – in their 40s, 50s and beyond – often without themselves having benefited from support in their formative years?

Manny Pearl NW6

Aren’t Jews least racist?

Was Adam Brookman’s letter last week criticising Jews in their relationships with black people really needed? Generally speaking, Jews, with their Holocaust history, are likely to be the most understanding and least racist of any group.

To call on them to “reach out to black communities and build bridges and friendship” implies that they are not doing this and are thus racist. This is profoundly not the case.

As I watch the marches and riots on TV,

however, I see people calling for the death of Jews and Israel, I see Black Lives Matter promoting BDS [the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement], I see people daubing and destroying synagogues and hear them blaming Jews for everything including Covid-19. As much as Jews should reach out to the black community, the latter is surely duty bound to reach out to Jews in friendship.

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

Opinion

Spare us the self-satisfied letters by great and good ALEX BRUMMER

CITY EDITOR, THE DAILY MAIL

J

ews have opinions about everything, as would be apparent to anyone who has ever been at a Kiddush (remember those?) or taken part in lockdown webinars. As a writer who favoured Brexit, there was a time when I refused to engage on the subject for fear of being cast into the outer darkness.

Acquaintances in the medical and legal community have a variety of views on Boris Johnson’s handling of Covid-19. And while everyone can feel nothing but horror over the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, there are a variety of views as to whether protest (breaching lockdown law) and tearing down history is really the best response.

If Jews in the UK think it is okay to have views on race and protest in the US, the future of Hong Kong, the EU and everything else, why not Israel? Every so often, an issue arises that divides British Jewry. The community was more or less united in speaking out against Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. It rallies to Israel’s defence when

there is military conflict and there is a deep vein of Zionist loyalty that pulses through all tribes of British-Jewry. Even the most eloquent voices on the rights of the Palestinians gladly own second homes in Israel and relish its achievements.

It is fine for British Jews to have a strong public view on the Netanyahu-Trump peace plan and the proposals for annexation of settlement lands and parts of the Jordan Valley. The case against annexation is well rehearsed.

In global affairs, unilateral actions, whether it was Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, or Russia’s attempt to assert sovereignty over parts of Ukraine, end badly. Properly negotiated treaties or truces may be hard to achieve, but tend to have buy-in from most sides. A deal over the Jordan Valley, which excludes the Palestinians from any say in their fate, will always lack legitimacy. It may even leave Jewish settlers more

isolated as part of hostile enclaves inside Israel with a redrawn eastern boundary but more formally surrounded by Palestinian territory.

A convention has grown up inside the Board of Deputies of British Jews that to pronounce on an issue as contentious as annexation is none of its business and a matter for Israel alone.

The mantra of a negotiated two-state solution and sitting on the fence is the resulting fudge.

But if it is fine to rush to the barricades in defence of social justice for African Americans and other world wrongs, it is surely fine for it to have a view on annexation. Not becoming involved, on the grounds it is none of our business, would be a historic error. It might be seen as similar to earlier misjudgements when parts of Anglo-Jewry were lukewarm about the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and the 1948 march towards a Jewish state because it might under-

❝

OUR LEADERS CANNOT SIT ON THEIR HANDS AND CLAIM IT'S A MATTER FOR ISRAEL ALONE

mine their standing as British citizens.

I can do without the self-satisfied preening of round-robin letters by the great and the good.

The letter to Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev signed by such distinguished figures as Simon Schama and former secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind is a case in point. Most of the signatories have sufficient status to speak out on their own account, as Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis did with such moral power on Corbyn and antisemitism before the 2019 election.

The fact the letter writers felt the need to speak out draws attention to a leadership deficit.

Communal groups pay a representation fee to the Board of Deputies and elect deputies to express a view, not to have strong opinions neutralised. Our elected and self-appointed community leaders cannot simply sit on their hands and claim it is a matter for Israel alone.

If something is morally and diplomatically wrong, speak up. If the elected leadership thinks the annexation idea is just what is needed to secure Israel’s future then get the backing of deputies and say so.

Standing back and waiting for an improvised bomb to detonate should not be an option.

It's our duty to be allies to the black community CLAUDIA MENDOZA DIRECTOR OF POLICY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS, JEWISH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

T

he death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests across the world have thrown up more questions than answers.

How could this happen again? Why is this still happening? What can be done? How can I lend my voice? Is my voice wanted?

It feels jarring to be so certain that something is wrong but so uncertain about what is the right thing to do.

What can those of us in the Jewish community, who are not black, do to be allies to black Jews and the wider black community?

We can start by standing up and being counted. We must listen and learn as we asked others to listen and learn about our experiences. This starts with learning about black history and culture – of black Jews, of black Britons, and black people globally.

We know how history carries through to today and anti-black racism, like anti-Jewish

racism, can manifest itself politically, socially, and systematically. We have a duty to call it out when we see it, but in order to do that, we must first be able to identify it.

When it comes to racism, Jews are anything but oblivious. Indeed, we have spent the past three years campaigning against institutional antisemitism in the Labour Party. Racism, we argued, was not about one community, but about humanity.

Hate is hate. It is why the protests against anti-black racism are felt so deeply by the Jewish community or anyone who has suffered prejudice and racism.

Perhaps part of the reason I have not

❝

I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST FOR BEING BLACK

known how to channel my sadness and anger is because I do not know enough – and I am acutely aware this is not about me.

Except it is; it's about all of us.

As a Jew, I feel adequately equipped to fight anti-Jewish racism because I understand the nuances as I live and breathe them.

I do not know what it feels like to be discriminated against for being black.

Experiencing and fighting racism is exhausting and having to explain it to people who don’t understand it can feel like a losing battle. It is our duty to educate ourselves, to question our own assumptions and to challenge our own ignorance on issues about which we do not have sufficient experience or understanding.

One of the things we achieved in our campaigning against antisemitism was raising public awareness about the ills of anti-Jewish racism. We spoke to people, we produced videos, published countless articles and we begged people to listen because we felt it was an existential threat.

The nuances – and there are many – were and are difficult to grapple with if you are not Jewish. Lived experience is not a concept to be mocked. It is indisputable.

Our community has at times felt beleaguered and ignored – Jews are perceived to be privileged, which is why racism against us often punches up. We are hated for our alleged power, but at the same time looked down upon as inferior.

This is but one example of how racism defies logic. When allies raised their head above the parapet, this brought us much needed comfort.

I worry that hash tag activism – though empowering the powerless – is the equivalent of shouting in the wind, sapping energy from creating real change. There is, however, no doubt that creating noise moves people to a cause to which they were previously ignorant.

There comes a time to stand up and seize the moment, not because it is the popular thing to do but because it is the right thing to do.

That moment is long overdue so now we must act. It is our duty as a people who have suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of unchecked racism to be allies to the black community.

We start by working harder to understand and promising to stand up and be counted.

www.jewishnews.co.uk

11 June 2020 Jewish News

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

Opinion

Jews, racism and the death of George Floyd AYALA MAURERPRAGER ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNER

W

ith the death of George Floyd, everything has changed. With the death of George Floyd, nothing has changed.

I have followed and advocated for the #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) movement since it was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin as he walked home from a local convenience store in Florida.

Although the loss of black life to police brutality was not new at the time of BLM’s inception, the movement’s enormous global growth meant that the stories of subsequent victims travelled wider and faster than ever before, with their names punctuating our news cycles with a terrible regularity: Michael Brown. Eric Garner.

Freddie Gray. Philando Castile. Sandra Bland.

Tamir Rice. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery.

The pattern remained largely the same: in the aftermath of these deaths, my Twitter feed – an echo chamber of commentators and colleagues whose ideological, political and social ideals align

with my own – would be awash for several days with graphics, videos, emotions and opinions decrying the events that had unfolded. As the lone left-wing liberal of my immediate social circle, however, I am used to my posts on racial injustice being largely ignored by those closest to me, save for a few likes and some gentle teasing about liberal values. And then, on 25 May, the news of George Floyd’s death broke – and simultaneously, everything and nothing changed.

The aftermath of his death has brought with it an unprecedented level of engagement with BLM and the issues of race, justice and violence. In addition to days of protests across all 50 states and worldwide, more people than ever before are asking to learn about racial inequality and contemporary race relations; social media is flooded with suggestions of what white people should read, watch and internalise to become true allies of the black community;

there is a rare and strong emphasis on elevating black voices, and conversations around white privilege have rarely seen more honesty.

George Floyd’s death tipped the scale – something has finally snapped in the collective consciousness to destroy the myth of America as a post-racial society. Yet the large majority of the Jewish community have stayed silent despite the wave of anger at the kind of discrimination and oppression that we as a people know all too well.

My Facebook feed remains frustratingly mute.

I'm not suggesting those who have not spoken out are inherently racist. What I am saying – and what I know to be true from growing up within the Jewish community – is that discussions around racial inequality are conspicuously absent. Orthodox life is, in many ways, essentially insular; but a consequence of that insularity is too often a disinterest, unawareness or unwillingness to look outside our immediate bounds.

❝

WHEN ANTISEMITIC ATTACKS OCCUR WE LOOK TOWARDS OTHERS FOR SOLIDARITY

But this does not exempt us from our responsibilities to educate ourselves – a responsibility neglected for too long. We need a reckoning.

It is easy to condemn discrimination perpetuated by, and directed against, others. But the time has come to open our eyes and hold ourselves accountable for our own prejudices – to acknowledge that race-based discrimination hits much closer to home than many people realise.

The solution is not one that can be implemented overnight. But it can be done. Bring up issues around race at your Shabbat tables and social events; explain and normalise racial diversity to your children; ask questions about race; consider the impact of your language in reference to people of other races; include the history of all persecuted groups on educational curriculums and be open to listening to the experiences and pain of others.

When antisemitic attacks occur, we look towards others for solidarity, hoping the moral compasses of those outside our community will acknowledge how we have been wronged.

Why should the black community expect anything different from us? If we fail to identify with people of colour both inside and outside our communities, we fail ourselves.

Apology for my posts was watershed moment for me NEALE HANVEY MP

SNP, KIRKCALDY & COWDENBEATH

O

n 28 November 2019 I saw a reflection of myself that revealed something I had considered to be the antithesis of my values and beliefs.

Yet there it was. However unintentional, my words were clumsy, harmful and wrong and I had no one to blame but myself. It was therefore up to me to take responsibility, make amends and build trust. I could not achieve that by walking away.

On that day I was suspended by my party when social media posts made more than two years before came to light. One was an article from Sputnik news relating to George Soros which, I now understand, contained an image considered an antisemitic trope.

In a further post I drew a parallel between the treatment of Palestinians and the unconscionable treatment of European Jews during the Second World War. This was insensitive, upsetting and deeply offensive and was in direct contravention of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. I gave an unequivocal apology for them at the time.

Despite the absence of ill-intent, there was

no justification for these posts. While I may try to console myself that my poor choice of words was not as bad as some of the naked antisemitic insults I have become aware of, what I think does not matter. It’s the impact that counts.

During the Holocaust memorial debate on 23 January, Andrew Percy MP powerfully challenged MPs like me to show that our “apologies [were] more than just words”, so at an appropriate point in the debate I crossed the chamber to seek his advice on how to do exactly that.

His generosity of spirit and willingness to help has been a consistent feature of my engagement with the Jewish community since that day, and I hope that those I have engaged with, including the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (ScoJec), feel this has been reciprocated by my willingness to learn.

That learning has been guided by Danny Stone, chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust (APT) and has taken the form of reflective one-to-one meetings, the completion of Yad Vashem’s online course, Antisemitism: From Its Origins to the Present, and attendance at various APT activities in Parliament.

As a teenager I visited Dachau where I witnessed, and vividly recall, the deep sense of foreboding that permeates the air there to this

❝

THESE PAST FEW MONTHS OF STUDY AND REFLECTION HAVE BEEN OF GREAT VALUE day. While my understanding of the development of the ideology that led to the horrors of the Holocaust was rudimentary, in those days I had felt secure in my knowledge that antisemitism was wrong. As that security was shattered by recent events, I welcomed the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding.

The historical narrative of the course is valuable in itself, but behind that history is a revealing theme of scapegoating, othering and persecution that arose when the prevailing social and economic circumstances were such that the targeting of a minority was more expedient than taking responsibility for reality.

That this pattern has echoed through millennia to this day underscores the valid anxiety within the Jewish community of the early warning signs that arise in public

discourse. Its manifestation in far-right discourse follows an all too familiar pattern, but more recently it has emerged within the discourse of the left in the UK. Both ideologies are diametrically opposed on much, however they correlate on antisemitic thinking based around Jewish caricatures, tropes and conspiracy theories. These are then utilised for political purposes and deployed as a qualification for extreme antisemitic language.

This has been used indiscriminately, regardless of political persuasion, and has targeted Jewishness under the guise of the politics of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Some of the kindest, wisest and most talented NHS clinical and management staff I worked with in London, in my previous role, were Jewish and I carry a sadness that my careless words may have caused them pain.

These past few months of study and reflection has been a journey of great personal value.

As an Irish born ‘New-Scot’ it has challenged my notion of civic nationalism and alerted me to questions of belonging, difference and the ‘other’. We all share the responsibility to speak up, speak out and most importantly to support and educate. I am grateful for this opportunity to do so.

11 June 2020 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

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Opinion

How should Jews respond to George’s Floyd’s killing?

RICHARD FERRER EDITOR, JEWISH NEWS

T

he unlawful killing of George Floyd was a tragedy for the black community. But as the trauma of recent days have shown, it psychologically scarred people of all colours. Something snapped in us all. As the Chief Rabbi wrote last week: “This is an essential wake up call for each and every one of us.”

That’s why I was determined to put George Floyd on the front page of last week’s Jewish News, the first non-Jewish news story to lead the newspaper since 9/11. The question was, how? How should a Jewish newspaper contribute to a painful debate on racism that isn’t about antisemitism?

Non-Jews have shown compassion in the wake of deadly anti-Jewish racism, notably the ‘Je Suis Juif' (‘I am Jewish’) campaign following the murder of four Jews in a Paris supermarket in 2015. I wanted to reciprocate.

To say we’re in this fight together and when

you kneel on black people you hurt us all.

With this in mind I ran a front page editorial, stating: “We must educate ourselves on the racism experienced by black people. The idea that the lives of any collective group of people matters less than others is so fundamental, so core to our DNA, that Derek Chauvin knelt on us all that day.”

I made the headline that final sentence: “Derek Chauvin knelt on us all”.

I wasn’t naïve. Colleagues cautioned it could suggest Jews were trying to claim the pain like the trite slogan, “All Lives Matter”.

My intention wasn’t to equate suffering. I wanted readers to think about a burning issue that, like me, many didn’t know enough about. A prosaic ‘Shock and anger’ headline wouldn’t have registered on their radar.

The front page was sharply criticised the moment I tweeted it. One reader wrote: “Solidarity means giving the focus and platform to those suffering, not making it about us.” Another squirmed: “This front page is an analysis of Jewish otherness through an analogy to anti-black racism.”

Over the next 24 hours, as I received emails and took calls from members of the black Jewish community – people I hadn’t spoken to in 11 years as editor of Jewish News – it became clear I’d failed to find common ground between the black and Jewish experience of prejudice.

By shoving anti-black hatred and antisemitism under one headline I’d decolourised racism.

White Jews don’t wear their cultural or religious identity on their skin. They are not physically or figuratively kneeled on in the same way

❝

WHITE JEWS DON'T ENDURE SOUR STARES IN SHUL OR GET MISTAKEN FOR THE CLEANER

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George Floyd was. They don’t endure, as one black Jewish woman told me, sour stares when entering a shul or get mistaken for the cleaner.

There are many bridge building exercises between Jews and other minorities, but few have been forged with the black community.

This week it was announced journalist Stephen Bush is to head a Board of Deputies commission on racial inclusivity. Black British Jews will be invited to share their experiences of racism in the Jewish community. It will be a raw and revealing wake-up call.

A persecuted minority naturally retreats to itself. The ordeals of others, often all too familiar, can seem remote, even abstract, in comparison to personal suffering. The time has come for the scales to fall from our eyes. To discard our often harmful preconceptions and honestly identify with lives beyond our own.

The killing of George Floyd was a tragedy for the black community. But if we fail to take it as a warning sign for the way we as Jews empathise and identify with other minorities, his senseless death and the deep trauma that’s ensued will have been in vain.

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

Scene & Be Seen / Community

1 KIDDUSH CARE

Members of Kenton United Synagogue are bringing kosher meals to those on the frontline of the virus as part of the Key Workers Kiddush, a project backed by public donations from synagogue members.

During the initiative, weekly deliveries have been made each Thursday to a different organisation. Rabbi Yehudah Black is pictured delivering pizzas and salad to medical staff at St Luke’s Hospice in Kenton, alongside synagogue chairman Rachelle Goldberg.

And be seen!

2 CARD-MAKING

The latest news, pictures and (virtual) social events from across the community

Jewish Care residents enjoyed fruit and cheesecake to mark Shavuot. As part of the celebrations, the care home provider teamed up with the Jewish charity Gift to run a Shavuot card-making session for pupils at Hasmonean High School for Girls and those enrolled on the Jewish Care Bnei Mitzvah programme. The cards were sent to Jewish Care staff, volunteers and residents.

Email us at community@thejngroup.com

3HELPFUL CITIZENS Kol Chai synagogue is supplying personal protective equipment to hundreds of frontline volunteers, care and health workers across Hillingdon and surrounding boroughs. The community has raised more than £1,000 and enlisted dozens of volunteers, such as 94-year-old Pearl, pictured, who has been sewing masks, scrubs and arm protectors. The community has joined forces with schools involved in Haringey Citizens, as part of the project. Congregant Sonia Joseph said: “I was terribly worried about my husband, who is a GP, so I felt compelled to do something to help. Like countless others, we’ve been showing our gratitude to frontline workers by clapping on Thursdays at 8pm but, as a community, we wanted to go further.” Fellow member Jacky Martin said: “It has been heartening to see how quickly we’ve been able to turn our frustration into action.”

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4 ISRAEL TALK

Richmond United Synagogue organised a sold-out Zoom conversation with Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev, who discussed Israel’s efforts to limit the impact of Covid-19. Hosting the interview, the community’s Rabbi, Meir Shindler, pictured with Regev, said: “The ambassador is a truly exceptional advocate for Israel who will be a hard act to follow.” It was the first time Regev had addressed the congregation.

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11 June 2020 Jewish News

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Book / Weekend

A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

A scene from the Netflix series Unorthodox

Mathilde Frot hears from the author of a new memoir that recalls her journey as an outsider to the Orthodox Jewish community of Antwerp

S

he knew their worlds were is religious, but I don’t mention any completely different – psalms or quotes from the Torah but nothing could have and Talmud,” explains Margot, prepared one twentywho is now 52 and based year-old staunch atheist in Antwerp. for the myriad of Jewish Her intimate portrait of customs she had to wade the family members – who through after an Orthodox were all given pseudonyms Jewish couple hired her to in the book – was nearly 30 tutor their four children. years in the making.

In many ways, theirs was an “I knew that writing the alien world she knew nothing book could be the end of about, but one she slowly came to a friendship, and I needed to embrace and understand. be ready for this,” she says, adding “Sometimes you need time to see that she was partly inspired to write that what you experienced was excepher memoir as a response to growing tional,” says J S Margot, who recently The writer J S Margot levels of antisemitism and racism. penned Mazel Tov, her memoir of a The publication of Mazel Tov did not six-year stint with the modern, but strictly observant end her friendship with the family, “but it was a risk Schneider family during the late 1980s in Antwerp. that I was ready to take, and I needed 30 years,” says A humanities student born Catholic and wholly Margot, whose real name is Margot Vanderstraeten. unfamiliar with the nuances of halacha, Margot “I wanted a psychological distance from the family. found herself bewildered when one of the children All the children are now adults turned down a chocolate croissant bought from a and they are very strong in non-kosher bakery, or when Mr Schneider appeared their own independent lives, reluctant to shake hands after their first meeting. which was very important for She recalls wondering whether the Tipp-Ex stains me too.” on her fingers might have been the reason behind As the author recounts in his discomfort. the book, her first job interview The Belgian-born author, whose memoir with the family did not go well. marks her first foray into autobiographical writing Grilled about her private life and was recently translated into English, will share

by Mrs Schneider, she revealed her reflections of entering this unknown world in that she was unmarried and Orthodox-Unorthodox: The Truth Behind The Lens, living with her boyfriend, a panel discussion hosted by JW3 on Sunday.

Nima, an Iranian refugee of the She will be joined by Eli Rosen, who starred in Khomeini regime. and was the cultural adviser for the hit Netflix drama But, over time, both parties Unorthodox, as well as social activist Yehudis Fletcher opened up, Margot says, and she for the discussion, which will be moderated by jourlearned “tolerance, the love of nalist Pamela Druckerman. languages” and the confidence Margot’s book, she concedes, bears some resemto be herself. blance to the Netflix show in that it offers an Her experiences with the insider’s perspective into a “closed society” and its family gave her lifelong strength, everyday life. she says, like an injection of “It is a religious book, because Jewish everyday life “extra vitamins”.

While researching Mazel Tov, she drew from her still richly-detailed memories of the period and pored over diary entries, letters and postcards and contacted old acquaintances – a research process familiar to her as a freelance journalist.

Margot was initially uneasy about putting herself in the story. “I’m often a bit reluctant to use the first person pronoun. Maybe I’m old school,” she laughs.

The book has counted among its readers Queen Mathilde of Belgium – an honour for the original Schneider family, who have in their home a framed portrait of the country’s royal family.

The monarch’s enthusiasm for the book, she says, “touched them deeply and they regret a little bit that they cannot come out and say ‘it’s about us’, because they won’t do that.”

The book, which has been translated into German and French, has attracted a readership among strictly Orthodox communities, with many younger members getting in touch, she says.

“They want to talk to an outsider, but for them it’s difficult to find a complete outsider. My book is an in-between. I am an outsider, but I now know a little about Judaism,” she says.

Margot is currently working on a sequel to revolve around the Chasidic community, set to be called Beyond Mazel Tov and published next year.

“That’s a completely new world for me, the ultra-Orthodox,” she says.

“But once a journalist, always a journalist.”  Mazel Tov by J S Margot is published by Pushkin, priced £12.99. OrthodoxUnorthodox: The Truth Behind The Lens is hosted

by JW3 on Sunday, 14 June, 8pm, www.jw3.org.uk

In association with

A look

Inside Film: Jewish actor plays kleptomaniac dwarf in new Disney fantasy Artemis Fowl

Judaism: What does the Torah say about looting and violence?

Heritage: Time is running out for Iraq and Syria's rich Jewish history

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

Weekend / Entertainment

VIRTUAL MUSICAL The Last Five Years A special lockdown version of The Last Five Years by Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown, about a rising Jewish novelist and a struggling non-Jewish actress falling in and out of love will be streamed to at-home audiences later this month.

Actress Lauren Samuels (Bend It Like Beckham, Over The Rainbow), who also makes her directorial debut and The Prince of Egypt star Danny Becker will record their performances in isolation, before it is edited into a fulllength show.

The production will be streamed for three nights on 25, 26 and 27 June at 7.30pm, with tickets priced at £8 and only a limited number

available to emulate a real theatre experience.

Since its 2001 debut, The Last Five Years has had numerous productions around the world, including a film adaptation starring Pitch Perfect’s Anna Kendrick.

To book tickets, visit lwtheatres.co.uk/ whats-on/the-last-five-years

ONE TO WATCH

FILM Artemis Fowl Josh Gad is well-known as the voice of friendly snowman, Olaf, in the Frozen animated movies – but his latest fantasy role is somewhat more sinister, as a kleptomaniac dwarf in Disney’s Artemis Fowl, which is being released on demand from next week.

Directed by Kenneth Branagh and adapted from Eoin Colfer’s popular books, Artemis Fowl tells the story of a boy genius (played by Ferdia Shaw), who stumbles across a subterranean fairy world.

The visuals and special effects are stunning and a host of star names within the cast are set to make this a Disney hit, albeit not one released in cinemas as intended.

Dame Judi Dench plays Commander Root, head of the LEPrecon, a fairy secret service, and is joined by Game of Thrones actor Nonzo Anozie and Colin Farrell as Artemis’ father.

Artemis Fowl (12A) is available on demand from 12 June on Disney Plus

APPLE TV PLUS

Beastie Boys Story Schitt’s Creek and Mariah Carey The cast of hit comedy Schitt’s Creek performed a special lockdown version of Mariah Carey’s Hero for YouTube’s Dear Class of 2020 special – only to be joined by the pop diva herself.

Dan Levy, who plays massive Carey fan David Rose on the show, pretended to faint as the Grammy-winning singer made her entrance and performed to him, as well as real-life father Eugene Levy, who plays his father, video magnate Johnny Rose, on the show.

They were joined by Catherine O’Hara (Moira Rose), Annie Murphy (Alexis Rose), Emily Hampshire (Stevie Budd), and the rest of the cast.

“Moira, darling, I hope you didn’t mind that I jumped in like that. You all sounded so good that I had to get in on it,” said Carey.

She dedicated the song “to all the teachers and professors, especially the ones who have to deal with students like me, who never really showed up to school on time, you rose to the occasion and helped these students reach the finish line”.

Beastie Boys Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz are ready to make some noise in this live documentary experience directed by long-time friend and collaborator, film-maker Spike Jonze.

The resulting film takes an intimate look at the legendary trio of rappers – all of whom had Jewish backgrounds over the last 40 years.

Apple TV Plus’ eye-popping documentary was released to coincide with the 26th anniversary of the hip hop band’s 1994 album, Ill Communication, for which Jonze directed the music video for their immortal hit single, Sabotage.

Beastie Boys Story is available to stream now on Apple TV Plus

COMING SOON

Bibi

THERE’S RARELY a shortage of drama when it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal life – and now it’s set to be played out on screen in a new show about his life.

Bibi, so-called after the beleaguered Israeli prime minister’s nickname, will be based on the bestselling biography, The

Netanyahu Years, penned by veteran Israeli journalist Ben Caspit, according to Variety.

The series is set to be produced by Abot Hameiri, the Tel Aviv-based company behind Israeli hit Shtisel, as well as the country’s own

versions of X-Factor, The Bachelor and Survivor, and will be written by award-winning screenwriter Kirk Ellis.

“Ben Caspit’s insightful reporting demonstrates how private life always shapes public

affairs, and there’s no shortage of conflict – or opinions – when it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu,” Ellis said in a statement.

Bibi will be the first television series about Netanyahu, who is Israel’s longest serving prime minister, having been appointed since 2009. This is his second time in the job, having previously been in power from 1996 to 1999.

11 June 2020 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

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The lighter side

Inspiration / Weekend

Brigit Grant’s little bit of this and little bit of that...

Where there’s a will, there’s OY VEY BRACE YOURSELF as we could ‘allegedly’ be going to a restaurant or out for a drink in a few weeks.

After dining in my own kitchen and pouring my own G&Ts since 23 March, just the mention of a menu has got me thinking about locations and the libations I’ll order from that masked server at a sociallydistanced table. My only experience of this kind of dining – albeit without a visor – was at a simcha when I was so socially distanced from the top table, I might as well have been in the car park.

But as times – to paraphrase Bob Dylan – are constantly a-changin’, someone else’s cutlery is finally within reach. Just to be ‘out out’ will be a novelty, after the rollercoaster rigours of lockdown, which in my case have

included my daughter’s virtual batmitzvah and the streamed funeral of my closest friend, which was both surreal and tragic. With no conventional way to celebrate or mourn, my husband has been the buffer and comfort provider for my joy and grief; so coupledom during this pandemic has proved a blessing.

Sadly not everyone will feel the same after months of enforced space sharing – and China, which has led the way a lot recently, currently has the most divorce petitions.

UK figures will emerge eventually, but if a split is on the cards, a new book, The 4 Foundations of Love, will help you make the right decision. Using her own experience of a painful break-up and the subsequent recovery, Mor Cohen, an Israeli author who is a neurolinguistics practitioner interviewed

When Harry Met Sally

hundreds of couples to determine the uniqueness of their relationship and how they knew they’d found the ‘One’. Evidently they all shared the same ‘four foundations’ according to Mor and these are: Rareness – realising this is your destined partner; Unwritten agreement – to be on the same page; Sacred Bond – the divine connection between you and Future dimension – the promise of a mutual future Baffling as it sounds, if you tick all the boxes, you were meant to be together. “And if you don’t, the book tells you how to not waste precious time,” says Cohen, who claims her method can reshape and elevate a relationship without overbearing conversations, games or waiting for your partner’s cooperation.

Cohen insists her guide is for anyone

interested in relationships, especially the romantic kind, which randomly got me thinking about couples in movies who make it, such as beloved Harry and Sally and those who don’t like Sebastian and Mia in La La Land. We all seek Noah and Allie’s forever love in The Notebook, but there’s also the lesser known Adam and Helene, who battle their way to love over a hot stove in Burnt.

Truth be told, it’s a flambé of a film starring Bradley Cooper, but it’s set in a restaurant, which will prepare you for what’s coming.

Hopefully.

• The 4 Foundations of Love: Reshape Your Relationship and Make It Last Forever by Mor M Cohen is available now on amazon. co.uk, priced £14.97

The Notebook Burnt

La La Land

Aloni Again Naturally

Movie RIGHT ALONG

While hiding out in Caesarea during lockdown with his pooch Bruce, Shtisel star Michael Aloni shared content from his first and only novel, Love in the Time of Flu. With a title derived from Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, it was penned before Covid-19, but echoes the crisis.

The extract was in Hebrew, so I sought out Aloni projects I could understand and hit on Antenna, which is available to rent (£2.99) at ukjewishfilm.org.

Aloni plays the son of a woman whose 84-year-old husband declares war on a neighbour for installing an antenna on their shared roof and this is the trailer. https://ukjewishfilm.org/film/antenna Now in demand owing to his popularity as artist Akiva, Aloni will also star in Unto the Son, a true tale about the disappearance of a gangster father and Plan A, which follows a group of Holocaust survivors as they plan to poison the water system in Germany.

Then there’s Happy Times, a film about a Shabbat dinner in Hollywood that goes badly wrong – unlike Aloni’s career, as he is also in the teen US show Greenhouse Academy on Netflix.

Antenna Seems there’s no way of locking down this man.

Film Night In is the perfect title for a partnership with UK Jewish Film and JW3, which brings new films fortnightly to an expectant audience on Tuesday evenings. “There’s so much out there, it’s hard to keep up, but to be blunt it’s not all of equal quality,” says JW3 CEO Raymond Simonson.

“Hence our online film club, which offers high quality Jewish films, live introductions and cast Q&A’s.” Next Tuesday, you can watch Diana Groo’s Regina, which is about the world’s first woman rabbi as voiced by Rachel Weisz – so get out the corn and pop to www.jw3.org.uk

Turn on the Tan It’s tough to accept, but the tan you acquire this summer is more likely to come from a bottle than a Tel Aviv beach. So instead of being asked: “Where have you been?” they’ll be asking “What brand?” and I’ll be helping you find the best starting with Norvell Vivid Collection in ‘EFFECT’ (£29.99), which is a salon quality micro-fine mist that neutralises any Trump orange hue. www.norvelltanning.com

Daddy’s Home

Father’s Day, lest you forget, is next Sunday, so make it sizzle with a BBQ delivered to the door by a chef who should be on his next simcha, but is instead bringing salads, roasted salmon and strawberries to dads. Visit BBQ Hamper on Facebook or call Kushan on 07981 992717

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

Weekend / Jewish culture

Iraq and Syria synagogues are earmarked for ‘urgent’ repair Jewish heritage body says work on ancient shrines, cemeteries and prayer halls must be done while those in the local community who can authorise the work are still able to, writes Stephen Oryszczuk

A

project scoping hundreds of Jewish heritage sites across Iraq and Syria has highlighted the urgent need to repair Iraq’s last functioning synagogue, which supports a elderly Jewish community of eight.

Meir Tweig Synagogue in Baghdad is one of four priority sites for stabilisation work and researchers say it now “tops the list”, in part because of its local and international significance.

The warning appears in a landmark report, jointly published by the London-based Foundation for Jewish Heritage this week, highlighting an “urgency of action due to the precariousness of those in the local Jewish community who have the authority to conduct work on the site”.

Meir Tweig Synagogue, the exact location of which is being kept secret for security reasons, is now the last functioning synagogue in Iraq, although the local Jewish community is so small that a minyan is no longer achievable.

The shul also houses material from inactive synagogues and communal buildings. There is creeping damp in the ground-floor walls, causing paint and plaster to peel, plus water damage on the second floor. The brick facade of the building has also deteriorated.

Together with an American partner and after funding from Jewish philanthropists, the Foundtion for Jewish Heritage project identified the location and condition of 368 settlements and heritage sites from antiquity to the present day in this once-vibrant centre of Jewish life.

After 2,600 years of continuous Jewish settlement dating to Babylonian times, the Jewish community in Iraq and Syria largely came to an abrupt end in the second half of the 20th century, but a significant physical heritage remains.

Working remotely and with in-country partners, the project co-ordinators gathered the history and significance of Jewish sites in both countries, assessed their condition, and made recommendations for priority emergency relief and preservation projects.

The research identified 27 sites that are extant but in danger, being in poor or very bad condition. Of these, four significant sites – including Meir Tweig – were selected as priorities for emergency relief because it was determined that “urgent intervention could substantially improve their condition”.

Through in-country sources, researchers made contact with the few remaining members of the Iraqi Jewish community in Baghdad, who said the shul was among their highest priorities.

“Work on Meir Tweig Synagogue is highly viable,” concludes the report. “The site is under the control of the Jewish community, which already has a list of preferred contractors that it has worked with on other projects.

“The main concern for the Jewish community is visibility. They do not want to draw attention to the synagogue’s location. Work on the

The Sassoon Synagogue in Mosul is one of four sites in Iraq that are earmarked for priority work

synagogue is also urgent owing to the small size of the Iraqi Jewish community, which numbers less than 10 people, most of them elderly.

“The community’s limited size and advanced age means that the longer work is delayed, the more difficult it may be to conduct, due to a loss of in-country partners with the legal right to authorise it.”

Of the 368 Jewish heritage sites identified, 297 are in Iraq and 71 in Syria. The sites date from the second half of the first millennium BCE up to the present day.

The project scoped each site’s significance, condition and project feasibility due to the local political and security environment, with researchers using Diarna, a publicly accessible geospatial database of Jewish heritage in the Middle East.

In Syria, in-country sources visited sites in the Jewish Quarter of the capital, Damascus.

In Iraq, sources worked with members of the local Jewish community to document sites under the community’s control.

Sites identified include synagogues, schools, slaughterhouses, cemeteries, hospitals, administrative buildings, residences, settlements, shrines, study halls, tombs and yeshivas.

Researchers noted a distinct difference in the patterns of preservation in the two countries. In Iraq, almost nine out of every ten sites is unsalvageable, whereas just over half the Syrian sites are beyond repair.

A total of 27 sites are considered endangered, meaning that they are in a poor or very

❝

Inside the the Sassoon Synagogue

bad condition, and at risk of significant deterioration in the near future. Of these, three are internationally significant.

These are Bandara Synagogue in Aleppo, Syria; the Synagogue of the Prophet Elijiah in Damascus; and the Shrine of the Prophet Ezekiel in Al-Kifl, Iraq. All are described as being in a “very bad” condition.

The political and military situation in Syria makes work on heritage sites unviable for now, so all four sites for priority work are in Iraq. These are Meir Tweig Synagogue, Al-Habibiyah Cemetery in Baghdad, Sassoon Synagogue in Mosul and the Shrine of the Prophet Nahum in Alqosh.

The al-Habibiyah Jewish Cemetery has been the main Jewish burial site in the city since its foundation and contains many local Jewish notables, including the bodies of Jews publicly hanged in Baghdad in January 1969 on charges of spying for Israel. However, the

THE SITUATION IN SYRIA MAKES WORK THERE UNVIABLE SO ALL FOUR PRIORITY SITES ARE IN IRAQ

Map of some of the 368 heritage sites

interior of the walled property is overgrown with vegetation, the space is used as a dumping ground for rubbish and many of the graves are in poor condition.

“The cement casing on whole blocks of them has deteriorated, threatening to expose the remains within,” said the report’s authors.

“The local Jewish community seeks to clear the inside of the cemetery of debris, stabilise the deteriorating graves, and improve the security of the site through the erection of additional fencing on top of the existing wall as well as a new gate.”

Foundation for Jewish Heritage chief executive Michael Mail said: “At a time when there is so much attention on saving heritage in danger across the Middle East, this unique research has shone a light on a forgotten aspect: the remarkable ancient Jewish heritage of the region.

The Jewish community made a profound contribution and we need to ensure its heritage, and this story, is not erased.”

www.jewishnews.co.uk

11 June 2020 Jewish News

Am I going to die?

You can’t lipread through a mask To ensure that deaf people are not disadvantaged or more endangered at this critical time, JDA’s 3 point emergency plan is enabling them to: 1. Understand doctors and nurses

3. Connect with other people

By equipping deaf people with apps which make spoken words appear on their phone as text, and interpreting for GPs and hospitals via video link, we’re making sure deaf patients — whether they communicate using sign language or speech — can ask questions, understand and follow medical instructions at this critical time.

JDA’s emergency door-to-door hearing aid maintenance service is enabling hearing aid users to stay connected with their loved ones and the world. We’re supporting deaf sign language users to stay safe and well and our stimulating activities and discussions are something to look forward to, alleviating anxiety and loneliness.

2. Stay safe and healthy at home

Please help JDA keep the deaf people of our community safe and healthy as nobody else can at this critical time.

There is nowhere safer to be right now than at home.

So we’re delivering food and medications to keep vulnerable deaf people safe, well-fed and healthy — and out of care homes and hospitals.

020 8446 0502 www.jdeaf.org.uk

Registered Charity No. 1105845 Company Limited by Guarantee 4983830

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

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Orthodox Judaism

Torah For Today

SEDRA Behalotecha

BY RABBI BORUCH BOUDILOVSKY When detailing the functions of the biblical trumpets, our parsha carefully distinguishes between a congregation and an encampment. “Make for yourself two silver trumpets of hammered work; and they shall be to summon the congregation and for causing the encampments to set forth.” (Numbers 10:2) What is the difference between an encampment and a congregation, or in more relevant terms, community?

Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik suggests an encampment is a gathering designed to provide comfort, strength, or self-defence. When emperor penguins huddle together for warmth in the harsh Antarctic winter, or when buffalo gather together for protection against a potential predator, an encampment is formed.

Similarly, when people gather together under a bus stop seeking shelter from rain, or when an ancient society lives together surrounded by high walls for protection, encampments have been forged.

Indeed, in a different verse, the Torah uses the word “encampment” in the context of preparation for battle:

“When an encampment goes out to face your enemies” (Deut. 23:10).

A community, however, is a collection of individuals with a common future and shared aspirations. Unlike an encampment motivated by fear, a community is driven by ideas, a sense of mission and a common goal shaped by a shared past.

Our nation, summoned and moved by the biblical trumpets, served both as an encampment and as a community. The nation was an encampment of ex-slaves wondering in the wilderness and staying together for survival.

Additionally, the nation was an evolving community of free people journeying together to the promised land with new dreams.

As modern Jewish communities, we function in these same two capacities. Like an encampment, we come together for comfort, to belong and to share our experiences. We also collectively embody a set of values designed to guide our lives, inspire our choices and direct our nation.

◆ Rabbi Boudilovsky serves Young Israel of North Netanya

What does the Torah say about: Looting and violence

BY RABBI ZVI SOLOMONS The unlawful killing of George Floyd has caused mayhem and distress, at the time of the act and in its aftermath.

Nobody who has seen pictures – or worse, videos – of the poor man choking slowly to death for more than eight minutes can be in any doubt as to the evils of police brutality.

There are indeed minorities in our society whose oppression by the police and the authorities present not only bad memories, but actual distress.

The movement to protest is therefore natural. It is indeed a natural human right. What has come alongside the protest is not.

Destruction of property is a fundamental breach of the law.

So is killing or injuring people in the name of protest.

That we have seen bicycles thrown at police horses in Whitehall,

police officers and others injured in violence carried out in the name of protest, disgraces the perpetrators.

This is also a time of pandemic, and the lives of those killed by coronavirus are no less precious than any others.

The rabbis maintained that

whatever one thinks of it dina d’medina dina, the law of the state (you live in) is law.

As Pirkei Avot reminds us: “Rabbi Chanania the assistant to the High Priest said: “Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear that it inspires, every man would swallow his neighbour alive.’”

It is heartening to note the many instances to be found on social media of black protestors protecting lives and property.

Let us stand with oppressed people in solidarity, but also show our appreciation to those who have risked their lives to prevent others from “swallowing their neighbour alive” in a rush to break down law and order. ◆ Rabbi Zvi Solomons serves the Jewish Community of Berkshire, JCoB in Reading

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

Progressive Judaism

The Bible Says What?

‘A woman’s place is to be a breadwinner’

BY RABBI SYLVIA ROTHSCHILD The Biblical verses known as Eshet Chayil are traditionally recited by husbands to their wives at the Shabbat table, a paean of praise for an industrious home-maker, a nod to the burden of both visible and invisible labour undertaken by women.

Those whose tradition it is often find it meaningful, a weekly recognition of the sharing of the workload in the marital partnership.

Yet look a little closer at the text, and this description of perfect womanhood is less the expression of family gratitude for the domestic and emotional labour of the matriarch, and more about the lived reality of women who were not only the cooks and needlewomen, weavers and housekeepers, but also the economic powerhouse on whom the family depended.

The adjective chayil is used most often to mean force of a military kind: this woman is strong, powerful, even warlike – not a modest

and passive creature. She not only does the home-building, but she is also the one who surveys and buys fields, who goes out to buy the raw materials for her products to sell the articles she has made. She plants and maintains vineyards and so on.

The woman is the very definition of the sufferer of the “second shift” – not only economically active, but also running the home. Arlie Hochschild, in her 1989 work on marital roles, discovered that, on average, women worked 15 hours longer each week than men.

It would seem this woman needs to be chayil and have fortitude to cope with her life. Given this view of women as efficient and creative, competent and hardworking, forceful and skilled negotiators, one wonders why they have been kept from leadership in the name of “tradition”.

� Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild has been a community rabbi in south London for 30 years

Progressively Speaking We’re all witnesses to George Floyd’s murder

BY RABBI CHARLEY BAGINSKY On one of our Facebook groups for clergy, an American rabbi tried to articulate her shock following the murder of George Floyd. She noted that it reached the proof required by the rabbis of old for a murder conviction.

Why is this significant? Simply put, I had the same thought when watching the horrific film of Mr Floyd dying before our eyes.

As young students of Jewish law, even before we set foot in rabbinical college, we were taught this was an almost impossible proof.

The act of murder had to be witnessed by at least two people and then they had to warn them to stop.

It is not enough to think we are in another country, that the fight is not our fight, that we have our own troubles. We are all witnesses now.

We have seen and we cannot unsee.

Here in the UK, there have been demonstrations not only showing solidarity with the US protesters, but also expressing anger at the

increased use of stop and search during lockdown in areas with large black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) populations.

Many of the spontaneous protestors have said they wanted to “shine a spotlight on the impact of institutional racism in the UK”.

The emotion is high, communities have been affected not only by this unlawful murder in the US, but here by Grenfell, by the Windrush scandal and by the disproportionate numbers of BAME deaths during

the Covid-19 epidemic.

Lockdown has been awful for so many; lonely, scary and, for too many, a period of mourning.

But it has also been a time when we have seen there are striking differences in the reality of life in which segments of our society live.

It is our obligation as Liberal Jews to draw attention to that, to demand change, to put our words into action.

Our Jewish community has been great at coming together and ensuring people are fed and cared for, within our community and outside.

But we are being called to do more – to raise the issues of institutional racism and unfairness and inequality loudly, to see it as our own fight.

We are all witnesses now.

We have seen and cannot unsee. � Rabbi Charley Baginsky is interim director of Liberal Judaism

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11 June 2020 Jewish News

33

Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

Ask our Our trusty team of advisers answers your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry.

This week: Kids’ exercise classes during lockdown, moving into supported accommodation and help with hearing aids

LOUISE LEACH PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

DANCING WITH LOUISE

Dear Louise Now we’re 12 weeks into lockdown, I’m concerned about my daughter and her lack of extracurricular activities. I am not a pushy mum but she is six and is doing virtually no exercise other than the odd family walk. Pre Covid-19 she was going to ballet, hiphop and kids’ yoga at school. I tried a ballet class online at the start of lockdown but she found it hard to engage through a screen. What are your thoughts?

Melanie, Southgate Dear Melanie Let me start by saying you are not alone! As

people with Parkinson’s?

Are you currently taking applications?

Amanda

LISA WIMBORNE CHARITY EXECUTIVE

JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED Dear Lisa My aunt was diagnosed with Parkinson’s early this year and it is starting to really impact her. She is also the main carer for my uncle, who has mobility problems after a hip replacement many years ago. Lockdown has made me realise that their current home isn’t suitable and they would benefit from having support at hand. Does Jewish Blind & Disabled take

Dear Amanda Thank you for getting in touch. It has been a challenging time especially for vulnerable people and we know how valuable the additional support we have been able to offer our tenants has meant to them.

Jewish Blind & Disabled offers independent living for anyone with physical disabilities or visual impairments.

We don’t rule people out based on specific conditions such as Parkinson’s. What is important to us is that your aunt and uncle could live in an independent environment.

We are currently taking

a mother of five I can totally relate and I often feel my kids are not achieving half of what they were before lockdown. That said, I have been surprised at how well our online classes are going: whilst it is harder for the younger children to focus, once they get used to this new way of learning a lot can be achieved!

I would be inclined to try your ballet class again, especially as this was something she was doing regularly. Our Dance Gymnastics, for example, which I thought would have been almost impossible to teach online, have been a big success. While we have had to adapt a lot of what we do, the children are still learning, keeping fit and flexible and, most importantly, having fun! It sometimes takes a few lessons to get used to learning online but right now it is all about making the most of what we can do.

Lastly, it is important to remember we are all in this together – stay safe!

applications. We have some apartments available and we allocate them according to need as well as date of application. We can now move people into apartments in a safe and considered way.

Your aunt and uncle sound as if they would meet the criteria but until we meet them we can’t guarantee that.

I suggest your next step is to fill out the application form on our website. We will then arrange an online home visit or, if that isn’t suitable, we may consider meeting you in a garden if possible. Following the visit, the application will be considered at our monthly allocations meeting. The sooner you start our application process the sooner we could be in a position to help.

We look forward to hearing from you.

SUE CIPIN CHARITY EXECUTIVE

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION Dear Sue I’m stuck at home. My NHS hearing aids aren’t working very well and I’m running out of batteries too.

My hearing aids are so important to me as without them I can’t keep in touch with the family or watch television. What should I do?

Sandra

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Dear Sandra Don’t worry, our emergency mobile hearing aid maintenance service will come to you!

If you let us know where you are, provided you’re within a certain radius of the

T: +44(0)20 8832 2222 E: info@shipsms.co.uk W: www.shipsms.co.uk

London Borough of Barnet, we’ll arrange for you to leave your hearing aids on your doorstep at a particular time.

A trained Jewish Deaf Association staff member will pick them up, take them to their car, fix them and then deliver them back to your doorstep for you to pick up.

We’ll also leave you with two months’ supply of hearing aid batteries.

That way we are socially distancing and keeping everyone safe while helping you to stay in touch with family, friends and the world – so important for all of us at this time of isolation.

34

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

Ask Our Experts / Professional advice from our panel

Our Experts Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@thejngroup.com PRIVATE HEALTHCARE SPECIALIST 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.

• LLB, solicitor finals, FCA Regulated 773729.

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

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

DYSLEXIA PRACTITIONER SARAH BENARROCH Qualifications: • Director of Literacy Specialist Ltd, educational services for children with literacy difficulties and dyslexia.

• MA in Specific Learning Difficulties (dyslexia), APC, British Dyslexia Association, PATOSS, 20 years’ experience in child education and development.

• Full diagnostic assessments and reports for dyslexia.

• Primary-age tuition in reading, writing and spelling.

LITERACY SPECIALIST LTD 07940 576 286 sarah@literacyspecialist.co.uk

JEWELLER

ADR CONSULTANT DONIEL GRUNEWALD Qualifications: • Accredited mediator to International Standards offering civil/commercial and workplace mediation; in a facilitative or evaluative format, or by med-arb.

• Experienced in all Beth Din matters; including arbitration, advocacy, matrimonial settlements and written submissions.

• Providing bespoke alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to the Jewish community.

JEWISH DISPUTE SOLUTIONS 020 3637 9638 www.jewishdisputesolutions.co.uk director@jewishdisputesolutions.co.uk

ISRAELI LAWYER ELI ROSENBERG Qualifications: • All aspects of Israeli law. Specialising in property law, property tax, inheritance law and dispute management.

• Third generation lawyer from Israeli firm established in Israel in 1975.

• Authorised and regulated by the Israeli Bar Association and Ministry of Justice of the State of Israel, with teams in Tel Aviv and London.

ROSENBERG & ASSOCIATES 0203 994 2278 www.israeli-lawyer.co.uk eli@israeli-lawyer.co.uk

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

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

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

Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

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

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.

KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 0800 358 3587 www.kkl.org.uk enquiries@kkl.org.uk

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

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

• • •

Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@thejngroup.com

Thinking about ALIYAH? Contact the Jewish Agency for Israel certified by the Israeli government to facilitate Aliyah!

0-800-051-8227 | 020-8371-5250 | gci-en@jafi.org

TRAVEL AGENT

CRIMINAL DEFENCE SOLICITOR

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.

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

REMOVALS MANAGING DIRECTOR

PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

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.

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

11 June 2020 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

35

Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

ACCOUNTANT

PROPERTY DEVELOPER

DENTIST

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.

JOE GRIFFIN Qualifications: • More than 13 years’ experience in the construction and property industry, with a specialism in high-end residential and commercial property • Negotiation of site acquisitions and property deals; design and planning strategies • Focus on niche market purchasing airspace above commercial and residential blocks to create additional stories of accommodation and penthouse apartments.

DR ADAM NEWMAN Qualifications: • Dentist at the Gingerbread House, a Bupa Platinum practice in Shenley, Radlett.

• Regional Clinical Services Advisor for Bupa Dental Care UK. • Providing NHS and private dentistry, whitening, implants and cosmetic treatment.

• Bachelor of Dental Surgery and Member of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners RCS England. GDC registered 212542.

SOBELL RHODES LLP 020 8429 8800 www.sobellrhodes.co.uk a.shelley@sobellrhodes.co.uk

LONDON PENTHOUSE 020 7665 9604 www.londonpenthouse.com info@lphvgroup.com

GINGERBREAD HOUSE 01923 852 852 www.gingerbreadhealth.co.uk Adam.newman@gingerbreadhealth.co.uk

INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS SPECIALIST

INSURANCE CONSULTANCY

IT SPECIALIST

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.

ASHLEY PRAGER Qualifications: • Professional insurance and reinsurance broker. Offering PI/D&O cover, marine and aviation, property owners, ATE insurance, home and contents, fine art, HNW. • Specialist in insurance and reinsurance disputes, utilising Insurance backed products. (Including non insurance business disputes).

• Ensuring clients do not pay more than required.

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.

CURRENCIES DIRECT 07922 131 152 / 020 7847 9447 www.currenciesdirect.com/jn Naomi.feltham@currenciesdirect.com

RISK RESOLUTIONS 020 3411 4050 www.risk-resolutions.com ashley.prager@risk-resolutions.com

MAN ON A BIKE 020 8731 6171 www.manonabike.co.uk mail@manonabike.co.uk

ISRAELI ACCOUNTANT LEON HARRIS Qualifications: • Leon is an Israeli and UK accountant based in Ramat Gan, Israel.

• He is a Partner at Harris Horoviz Consulting & Tax Ltd. • The firm specializes in Israeli and international tax advice, accounting and tax reporting for investors, Olim and businesses.

• Leon’s motto is: Our numbers speak your language!

HARRIS HOROVIZ CONSULTING & TAX LTD +972-3-6123153 / + 972-54-6449398 leon@h2cat.com

ALIYAH ADVISER

PHOTOGRAPHER HARRISON GALGUT Qualifications: • Experienced wedding and event photographer.

• Specialism in portraits and light management.

• BSc(Hons), BTEC music tech, specialising in film, and member of Royal Photographic Society.

LISA WIMBORNE Qualifications: Able to draw on the charity’s 50 years of experience in enabling people with physical disabilities or impaired vision to live independently, including: • The provision of specialist accommodation with 24/7 on site support.

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

• Understanding of the impact of a disability diagnosis.

EDIT6 07962599154 www.edit6.co.uk harrison@edit6.co.uk

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

CAREER ADVISER

DOV NEWMARK Qualifications: • Director of UK Aliyah for Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organisation that helps facilitate aliyah from the UK. • Conducts monthly seminars and personal aliyah meetings in London.

• An expert in working together with clients to help plan a successful aliyah.

LESLEY TRENNER Qualifications: • Provides free professional one-to-one advice at Resource to help unemployed into work.

• Offers practical support, workshops and networking opportunities to maximise job prospects.

NEFESH B’NEFESH 0800 075 7200 www.nbn.org.il dov@nbn.org.il

RESOURCE 020 8346 4000 www.resource-centre.org office@resource-centre.org

DIVORCE & FAMILY SOLICITOR

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@thejngroup.com

DEMENTIA SERVICE MANAGER

VANESSA LLOYD PLATT Qualifications: • Qualification: 40 years experience as a matrimonial and divorce solicitor and mediator, specialising in all aspects of family matrimonial law, including: • Divorce, pre/post-nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, domestic violence, children’s cases, grandparents’ rights to see grandchildren, adoption, family disputes.

• Frequent broadcaster on national and International radio and television.

ALEXIS CIBRANO Qualifications: • HCPC registered social worker and SweetTree Dementia Service Manager.

• Graduate of Fordham University, New York, receiving a BS degree in psychology, BSW degree in social work and MSW in social work, specialising in client-centred management.

• Completing her Executive MBA at London Business School.

LLOYD PLATT & COMPANY SOLICITORS 020 8343 2998 www.divorcesolicitors.com lloydplatt@divorcesolicitors.com

SWEETTREE HOME CARE SERVICES 020 7644 9500 www.sweettree.co.uk alexis.cibrano@sweettree.co.uk

Computer problems solved PC, Mac, WiFi, Laptops & Desktops Remote Support and On-Site Man on a Bike IT Consultancy Call now 020 8731 6171 www.manonabike.co.uk

36

REMOVAL SERVICE

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

HOUSE OR OFFICE

REMO VAL SDomestic E RVRemoval ICE HOUSE OR OFFICE

Office Removal

Packing Service

Storage » Domestic Removal » Office Removal

» Packing Service » Storage

Call for a FREE quote we offer competitive rates

020 3667 2597

info@fvremovals.london www.fvremovals.london

11 June 2020 Jewish News

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37

Fun, games and prizes

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD 1

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ACROSS 1 ___ to, should (5) 4 Earnings (5)

7 Doing a foxtrot or a waltz (7) 8 Stump of wood (3) 9 Male domestic cat (3)

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Crossword ACROSS: 1 Pray 3 Gauche 8 Spin out 9 Map 10 Kinky boots 13 Pocketbook 17 Rev 18 Unlined 19 Linger 20 Spit DOWN: 1 Posy 2 Alibi 4 Act 5 Cameo 6 Expose 7 Cockle 11 Bubble 12 Spiral 14 Coven 15 Own up 16 Edit 18 Use

6 3 4 1 8 5 2 7 9

5 1 8 2 7 9 6 4 3

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7 4 3 5 9 2 1 6 8

8 9 5 7 1 6 4 3 2

4 8 1 9 5 7 3 2 6

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

5 3

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See next issue for puzzle solutions.

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Sudoku 9 7 2 4 6 3 8 5 1

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MEAT STEAK TURKEY MINCE VEGETABLE PORK PUMPKIN RHUBARB

Last issue’s solutions

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APPLE BEEF BLACKBERRY BLUEBERRY CHERRY

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V Q U B F B K R O P B R K A O

2

In this finished crossword, every letter of the alphabet appears as a code number. All you have to do is crack the code and fill in the grid. Replacing the decoded numbers 1, 5 and 10 with their letters in the grid will help you to guess the identity of other letters.

Words related to pie fillings can all be found in the grid. Words may run either forwards or backwards, in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction, but always in a straight, unbroken line.

L B T C E T C Q

Friendly (6) Flashing light (6) Overly (3) Tally (3) Weep effusively (7) Grading unit for gold (5) Inlay firmly (5)

CODEWORD

WORDSEARCH D N M Y

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

DOWN 1 Quirk, one‑off (6) 2 Pistol (3) 3 Object, item (5) 4 Horse‑drawn cart (5) 5 Fearless (7) 6 Write your name (4) 10 Principal bullfighter (7) 12 Receding tide (3) 13 Sweltering (6) 15 Planet’s course (5) 16 Emit, give off (5) 18 Body powder (4) 21 Quick curtsy (3)

13 14

SUDOKU

3 5 7 6 2 1 9 8 4

2 6 9 8 3 4 7 1 5

1 5 2 1 2 1

2 4 3 4 3 4

3 1 2 1 5 2

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

Wordsearch 2 5 3 4 3 1

1 4 1 5 2 5

2 3 2 4 1 3

3 4 3 2 4 5

2 1 5 1 3 1

5 4 3 4 5 2

1 2 1 2 1 4

3 4 3 4 3 2

1 5 2 1 5 1

J I G K R V B J T E E E W

A U D Z E E H D U N R O C

N C P N D S M W U N Q F P

A X U I I T N T N T O S U

I S P V T A P S A T U R N

D U Z I Y E S U H C C A B

C S L C N R R E G G M N M

Codeword J Y Y T H P U W F I I A T

H A R O R U A C N C R C Q

A K R R D O X E R S N L X

A N A I C E R E S E B U A

B L U A Z V V U L Y M V M

J V K L A R O L F P V M U

J Z A O QU A I L S P R P T O E F I N S E N E GR A S U S H E R L O I G L O A L B UM O A Y AWN S N AG W O C A A DO B E A V E R K R E E S

T A L E A D X M T R I S R L OWE O O B UO Y S O COK L E N E E L F S

S P R S E S

A P J K S H NM Z F R Y O T C Q B D X U L E I V G W11/06

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Jewish News 11 June 2020

Business Services Directory ANTIQUES 44

The Jewish News 22 September 2016

www.jewishnews.co.uk

BUSINESS SERVICES DIRECTORY

Top prices paid

Antique – Reproduction – Retro Furniture (any condition)

Carer

Clothing

WE BUY ANTIQUES Carer FURS WANTED Auxiliary Nurse VERY HIGH PRICES PAID. FREE HOME VISITS.

Epstein, Archie Shine, Hille, G Plan, etc.

Antiques

Dining Suites, Lounges Suites, Bookcases, Desks, Cabinets, Mirrors, Lights, etc.

Cash paid for Mink Available support Allto Antique Furniture Hille & Epstein jackets, coats, you in your home.

Diamond Jewellery, Gold, Silver,boleros, Paintings, stoles, Porcelain, also fox coats, etc.

Glass,Days/nights.

Bronzes, Ivories, Oriental & Judaica Antiques jackets etc.

Very reasonable rates.

Full house clearances organised.

Wardrobes cleared Call Please 0208 look 958 at 2939 our website for more details Call 01277 352 560 or 07495 026 168

House clearances Single items to complete homes MARYLEBONE ANTIQUES - 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED

WE BUY ANTIQUES

07866 614 744 (ANYTIME)

www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk

VERY HIGH PRICES PAID. FREE HOME VISITS. All Antique Hille & Epstein 0207Furniture 723 7415 (SHOP) Diamond Jewellery, Gold, Silver, Paintings, Porcelain, closed Sunday & Monday Glass, Bronzes, Ivories, Oriental & Judaica Antiques etc.

Computer FOR APPOINTMENTS CALL SUE ON:

0800 840 2035 or 07956268290

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

Man on aOPEN Bike8am will TOget 9pm 7 DAYS. you working fast! RD LONDON. PORTOBELLO

Full house clearances organised.

MAKE SURE CONTACT BEFORE SELLING Please look YOU at our websiteUS for more details www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk

Rapid Response IT support for your PC & Mac Networks, virus problems, broadband, wireless systems, new computers and everything else you may need.

CHARITY & WELFARE For small businesses & home users.

FOR APPOINTMENTS CALL SUE ON: 0800 840 2035 or 07956268290 OPEN 8am TO 9pm 7 DAYS.

Call Ian Green, Man on a Bike on

PORTOBELLO RD LONDON.

020 8731 6171 • www.manonabike.co.uk

ARE YOU BEREAVED?

Stirling of Kensal Green Established over 60 years.

Know who you are dealing with.

Top prices paid

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 Single items to complete Please contact Gordonhomes Stirling

020 8960 5401 or 07825 224144 CHURCH STREET ANTIQUES � 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED

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40 Jewish News

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11 June 2020

Open Letter to the Right Honourable Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Dear Prime Minister, Earlier this week, Carers Week, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock released a video stating that he wanted to say “a huge and heartfelt thank you to all our carers, who are out in the community doing so much for others, especially at this time”.

Mr Hancock’s thanks were much appreciated, however, the challenges that carers of SEND (special educational needs and disability) children and young people around the UK are experiencing are very real and are not getting any better. The need to provide full-time care during the covid-19 crisis has put many families under even more pressure than usual and the current Carer’s Allowance of £67.50 per Message from the Chiefwith Executive week, regardless of how many children special needs are being looked after, is pitifully low. in aid of NORWOOD

As a charity thatGood supports and toadults special educational needs and disabilities, Norwood morningchildren and welcome the CJwith O’Shea and Galliard Homes Golf Day in aid of Norwood, an event that has firmly with the issues that have always been – one of the UK’s largest Jewish charities – is more than familiar established itself as a favourite in our fundraising calendar. there but have been exacerbated by the current crisis. As such, it would be a dereliction of our duty if we Everyattention year we areto truly choose that to support weren’t to draw your angrateful Early that Dayyou Motion was tabled last week by the Green Party MP our work in this way.

To those of you who were here for last for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas. year’s event, thank you for helping to raise more than £60,000 for Norwood. To those of you joining us for the first time today – welcome and I hope you enjoy yourself enough to make thisgood an calls on the Government “to increase funding for annual date in your diary.

This EDM quality respite care centres and respite carers to alleviate the pressure on families, to recognise the extraordinary care that people provide in their ownpart homes by paying a real living wage and giving them paid annual leave, Days like today are a crucial of Norwood’s annual carers fundraising efforts, and enable us to remain committed to extending our reach effectiveness championing and to bring forward a strategy to and recruit more in respite carers that recognises and pays them as children, campaigning for inclusion and creating new ways of thinking about disability. professionals skills”.

Norwood strives to with enablespecialist as many people as we can to achieve more than they ever thought possible. None of this could be achieved without voluntary support, the finest example of which is represented by your effort today – thank you.

Norwood believes that this is not a matter of party politics and fully supports this proposal. We are very much you tooHomes and for look forward to seeing this issue raised in the House at the Finally, I’d like tohoping thank CJ that O’Shea and will Galliard sponsoring today’s event.

You generosity and support is invaluable so a huge thanks from everyone at Norwood. earliest opportunity.

Good luck on the course!

Yours sincerely,

Dr Jacobson DrBeverley Beverley Jacobson, Chief Executive

Norwood chief executive

Head Office Broadway House, 80-82 The Broadway, Stanmore HA7 4HB T 020 8809 8809 E info@norwood.org.uk DX 48915 Stanmore norwood.org.uk Head HeadOffi Offi ce ce Broadway BroadwayHouse, House,80-82 80-82The TheBroadway, Broadway,Stanmore StanmoreHA7 HA74HB 4HB Head Office Broadway House,Head 80-82Offi The ceBroadway, BroadwayStanmore House, 80-82 HA7 The 4HB Broadway, Stanmore HA7 4HB Head Offi ce Broadway House, 80-82 The Broadway, Stanmore HA7 4HB TPatron T020 0208809 88098809 8809 EEinfo@norwood.org.uk info@norwood.org.uk DX DX48915 48915Stanmore Stanmorenorwood.org.uk norwood.org.uk Her Majesty The Queen Presidents Lord Mendelsohn norwood.org.uk & Lady Mendelsohn CBE T 020 8809 8809 E info@norwood.org.uk T 020 8809 8809 DX 48915 E info@norwood.org.uk Stanmore norwood.org.uk DX 48915 Stanmore Vice President Ronnie Harris T 020 8809 8809 E info@norwood.org.uk DX 48915 Stanmore norwood.org.uk

Patron of Adult Services Norma Brier OBE Trustee Board Neville Kahn (Chair), Julia Chain (Deputy Chair), David Smith Patron of Children’s Services Cherie Blair CBE QC (Joint Treasurer), David Stanton (Joint Treasurer), Rachael Davis-Stollar Patron Patron of Volunteering Services Her HerMajesty Majesty TheQueen Queen Presidents Presidents Lord LordMendelsohn Mendelsohn &&Lady LadyMendelsohn Mendelsohn CBE CBE Patron Chief RabbiThe Ephraim Mirvis (Fundraising Chair), Finkelstein CB, Linda Goldberg,& Lady Mendelsohn CBE Patron Her Majesty The Queen Patron Her Majesty The Queen Presidents Lord Mendelsohn & Tamara Lady Presidents Mendelsohn CBE Lord Mendelsohn Vice Vice President President Ronnie RonnieHertz, Harris HarrisAngela Hodes, Glynnis Joffe, Anthony Rabin, Honorary Life Presidents Sir Trevor Chinn CVO, David Ereira, Clive Marks OBE, Philip Patron Her Majesty The Queen Presidents Lord Mendelsohn & Lady Mendelsohn CBE Vice President Ronnie Harris Vice President Ronnie Harris Patron PatronofofAdult AdultServices Services Norma NormaBrier BrierOBE OBE Trustee Trustee Board Board Neville Neville Kahn Kahn (Chair), (Chair), Julia Julia Chain Chain (Deputy (Deputy Chair), Chair), David David Smith Smith Lady Elaine Gary Sacks Sir Evelyn de OBE Rothschild, Carol Sopher Norma Brier OBE Vice Patron of Adult Services Patron of Adult Services Norma Brier President Ronnie Harris Trustee Board Neville KahnSacks, (Chair), Julia Trustee ChainBoard (Deputy Chair), Neville David Kahn (Chair), Smith Julia Chain (Deputy Chair), David Smith Patron PatronofofChildren’s Children’sServices Services Cherie CherieBlair BlairCBE CBEQC QC (Joint (Joint Treasurer), Treasurer), David DavidStanton Stanton(Joint (JointTreasurer), Treasurer),Rachael RachaelDavis-Stollar Davis-Stollar Patron Services Norma Brier OBE Chief Executive Dr Beverley Jacobson Patron ofQC Children’s Services Cherie Blair CBE QC Patron of of Adult Children’s Services Cherie Blair CBE Trustee Board Neville Kahn (Chair), Julia Chain (Deputy Chair), David Smith (Joint Treasurer), David Stanton (Joint Treasurer), (Joint Treasurer), Rachael Davis-Stollar David Stanton (Joint Treasurer), Rachael Davis-Stollar Patron PatronofofVolunteering VolunteeringServices Services Chief ChiefRabbi RabbiEphraim EphraimMirvis Mirvis (Fundraising (FundraisingChair), Chair),Tamara TamaraFinkelstein FinkelsteinCB, CB,Linda LindaGoldberg, Goldberg, Patron of Children’s Services Cherie Blair CBE QC (Joint Treasurer), David Stanton (Joint Treasurer), Davis-Stollar Patron of Volunteering Services Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis Patron of Volunteering Services Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (Fundraising Chair), Tamara Finkelstein CB, (Fundraising Linda Rachael Goldberg, Chair), Tamara Finkelstein CB, Linda Goldberg, Honorary HonoraryLife Life Presidents Presidents SirSirTrevor TrevorChinn Chinn CVO, CVO, David David Ereira, Ereira, Clive CliveMarks Marks OBE, OBE, in England and WalesPhilip Philip Hertz, Hertz, Angela Angela Hodes, Hodes, Glynnis Glynnis Joffe, Joffe, Anthony Anthony Rabin, Rabin, Registered offi ce as above.

Norwood Ravenswood is a company limited by guarantee registered no.

3263519 and registered as a charity in England and Wales no.

1059050 Patron of Volunteering Services Chief Rabbi Ephraim Chair), CB, Linda Goldberg, Honorary LifeMirvis Presidents Trevor Chinn CVO, David Ereira, (Fundraising Clive Marks Honorary Life Presidents Sir Trevor Chinn CVO, David Ereira, Clive Sir Marks OBE, Philip Hertz, OBE, AngelaTamara Hodes,Finkelstein Glynnis Joffe, Philip Anthony Hertz, Rabin, Angela Hodes, Glynnis Joffe, Anthony Rabin, Lady LadyElaine ElaineSacks, Sacks,Gary GarySacks Sacks SirSirEvelyn EvelyndedeRothschild, Rothschild,Carol CarolSopher Sopher Honorary Life Presidents Sir CVO, David Ereira, Clive Sir Marks OBE, Philip Hertz,Sacks, AngelaGary Hodes, Glynnis Joffe,Lady Anthony Rabin, Lady Elaine Sacks Elaine Sacks, Gary Sacks Evelyn de Rothschild, Carol Sopher Sir Trevor Evelyn Chinn de Rothschild, Carol Sopher Chief ChiefExecutive Executive DrDrBeverley BeverleyJacobson Jacobson Elaine Sacks, Gary Chief Sacks Executive Dr Beverley Jacobson Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, Carol Sopher Chief Executive Lady Dr Beverley Jacobson Chiefand Executive Dr Beverley Jacobson Registered Registeredoffi offi ceceasasabove. above.Norwood NorwoodRavenswood Ravenswoodis isa acompany companylimited limitedbybyguarantee guaranteeregistered registeredininEngland England andWales Walesno. no.

3263519 3263519 and and registered registeredasasa acharity charityininEngland Englandand andWales Walesno. no.1059050 1059050 Registered office as above. Norwood Ravenswood Registered is a company office aslimited above.by Norwood guarantee Ravenswood registeredisinaEngland company and limited Walesbyno. guarantee 3263519registered and registered in England as a charity and Wales in England no. 3263519 and Wales andno. registered 1059050 as a charity in England and Wales no. 1059050 Registered offi ce as above.

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Golf Day 2019

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