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VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY 20 January 2022

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18 Shvat 5782

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Issue No.1246

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Larry David ambitions for the pushes the community P17 limits of Holocaust humour to breaking point P30

@JewishNewsUK

How safe are we?

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS He did what any good rabbi would do: he invited him in. It was only after Malik Faisal Akram had been offered a cup of tea and a seat, only when the good rabbi’s back had turned so that he could face Jerusalem, that he heard the click of a gun.

This time, it was a shul in Texas. Malik Faisal Akram In October 2019, it was a shul in Halle, Germany. In April 2019, it was a shul in Poway, California. In October 2018, it was a shul in Pittsburgh. That’s a rate of more than one a year. That’s antisemitism today.

Last weekend, mercifully, only the terrorist, a 44-yearold Muslim from Blackburn, perished at Congregation Beth Israel. Next time, and there will be a next time, it will be another synagogue. It’s too awful to imagine but too awful to ignore that, yes, it could be your synagogue. When all is said and done, how safe are we?

Many questions demand answers. How was Malik Faisal Akram radicalised? Why did MI5 not consider him a threat? (Akram was known to Lancashire police and had

Continued on page 20

Rabbi Charlie CytronWalker is embraced by a congregant after the synagogue siege

Texas synagogue siege, pages 2, 3, 4, 20 & 23

Walder case triggers tenfold rise in victims seeking help More sufferers speaking out after sex abuse scandal EXCLUSIVE A Jewish charity working with victims of sexual abuse in the UK has reported a tenfold increase in the number of serious cases it is handling since the crimes of paedophile author

Chaim Walder came to light, writes Stephen Oryszczuk.

Migdal Emunah, the charity for abuse survivors run by Yehudis Goldsobel, has had up to 100 inquiries since the crimes of Walder (pictured left) were revealed, while 20 past victims came forward requiring advanced assessment and support over the December holiday period alone. The

charity said it would typically have seen only one or two during this period.

Walder was an acclaimed Israeli children’s author, rabbi, therapist, educator and media personality whose 80 books include the Kids Speak series, which has been translated into English and Yiddish.

Since late December, however, Orthodox Jewish households and schools

in the UK have been throwing Walder’s books in the bin, while Jewish bookstores such as Divrei Kodesh in Edgware say its stock of his titles has been cancelled and recalled by Lehmanns, the UK’s biggest distributor of Jewish books, based near the Orthodox community in Gateshead.

A talk show host and columnist, Walder Continued on page 14

2

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

News / Texas synagogue siege

The gunman who thought Jew The hostage-taker’s family share their shock that he was allowed in to the US, writes Michael Daventry Investigators on both sides of the Atlantic were working this week to piece together the movements of a British man in the month before he took four people hostage in a Texas synagogue last Shabbat.

Malik Faisal Akram was shot dead when the FBI stormed Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, near Dallas, moments after his prisoners escaped on Saturday night.

All four hostages were unharmed.

Akram, 44, originally from Blackburn, was able to fly to the United States even though he had a criminal record and was briefly investigated by MI5 in 2020 over concerns raised about his behaviour.

Following his arrival in New York on 29 December, Akram made his way across America to Texas, spending some of his nights in a homeless shelter.

FBI officials believe that he lied about his criminal past to obtain a visa waiver and acquired his phone and gun after he landed.

Britain’s Home Office said he was not on

any watchlist that would have prevented him from boarding his flight and the evidence is being gathered to establish whether Akram was acting alone or as part of a cell when he entered the synagogue on Saturday morning and demanded the release of a Pakistani woman held in a nearby prison.

As Jewish News went to press, it appeared as if investigators were coming to the view that there was no sign of a wider terror plot after two teenagers, believed to be Akram’s sons, were released by Greater Manchester Police without charge.

Both the gunman’s family and Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani woman jailed in Texas for trying to attack US soldiers in Afghanistan, sought to disassociate themselves from Akram’s actions.

His brother Gulbar said Akram was “suffering from mental health issues” and that the family had tried to help the FBI in their negotiations during the synagogue stand-off.

He added in a Facebook post: “There was nothing we could have said to him or done

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that would have convinced him to surrender.

We would like to say that we as a family do not condone any of his actions and would like to sincerely apologise wholeheartedly to all the victims involved in the unfortunate incident.” The post was later deleted.

Siddiqui, who was jailed over a decade ago but remains the focus of a strident cam-

paign in Pakistan demanding her release, said through her lawyers that she had “absolutely no involvement” with Akram and condemned his decision to take hostages in a synagogue.

The 11-hour stand-off at Congregation Beth Israel was all the more shocking because much of it was streamed online.

Hundreds of horrified congregants who

Rabbi: ‘I threw a chair at him and all of us got out’

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Four people, including the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Texas, were taken hostage

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THE JACOB FOUNDATION Jewish News is owned by The Jacob Foundation, a registered UK charity promoting cohesion and common ground across the UK Jewish community and between British Jews and wider society.

Jewish News promotes these aims by delivering dependable and balanced news reporting and analysis and celebrating the achievements of its vibrant and varied readership. Through the Jacob Foundation, Jewish News acts as a reliable and independent advocate for British Jews and a crucial communication vehicle for other communal charities.

The Texas synagogue rabbi held at gunpoint for hours on Shabbat threw a chair at his captor in order to confuse him and allow his colleagues to escape, writes Michael Daventry.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said the last hour of his captivity at Congregation Beth Israel in the Dallas region had been terrifying because hostage-taker Malik Faisal Akram did not appear to be “getting what he wanted”.

He said he made sure that the two other hostages were ready to go because “the exit wasn’t too far away”.

Cytron-Walker told the breakfast television programme CBS Mornings: “I told them to go, I threw a chair at the gunman and I headed for the door and all three of us were able to get out without even a shot being fired.”

The account explained footage filmed outside the synagogue building on Saturday evening, which showed two figures bursting out of a side door to escape. Moments later they were followed by a third person.

The rabbi also confirmed that he had let Akram into the building thinking he might need shelter and made him a cup of tea.

He told the television programme: “Some of his story didn’t quite add up so I was a little bit curious but that’s not necessarily an uncommon thing.

“It was during prayer, while we were praying and my back was turned — we face towards Jerusalem when we pray — right before he revealed himself, but this was plenty of time in, I heard a click. And it could have been anything.

And it turned out it was his gun.”

Cytron-Walker said safety courses had

Held hostage: Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker

provided him with the training to act when the opportunity arose.

“For the past few years, we’ve had training – it’s not training, it’s ... I guess, courses, instruction – with the FBI, with the police department, with the Anti-Defamation League, with Secure Communities Network.

“And they really teach you in those moments that when your life is threatened, you need to do whatever you can to get to safety. You need to do whatever you can to get out.”

20 January 2022 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

3

Texas synagogue siege / News

ws control the world on the telephone to FBI negotiators and to Angela Buchdahl, the rabbi of New York City Central Synagogue, in the belief that she could orchestrate Siddiqui’s release.

Charlie Cytron-Walker, the rabbi held at the Texas synagogue, later said the guman “literally thought that Jews control the world”, adding: “He thought he could come into a synagogue, and we could get on the phone with the ‘Chief Rabbi of America’ and he would get what he needed.”

It is not clear whether Buchdahl satisfied Akram’s desire to speak to the US chief rabbinate, a position that does not exist.

Buchdahl said she no prior connection to Akram and reported her two phone calls with him to the authorities immediately but refused to comment further, citing the ongoing police investigation.

As the afternoon wore on, Akram permitted one of his hostages to leave unharmed and allowed the FBI to deliver pizza and water to those that remained.

But his hostages described his mood as The hostage-taker, who was from Blackburn in Lancashire, was shot dead by an FBI Swat team erratic, veering from assuring them they had logged in to follow the Shabbat morning audiences to observe a moment of silent would not die to suggesting he might have to service listened in real time as Akram ranted prayer, but audio from the room could be kill them. about a wide range of conspiracy theories and clearly heard.

Ultimately, he was shot dead by the FBI sounded increasingly exasperated as he took Thousands of people were watching by the in the building, moments after his captives a succession of phone calls. time Facebook removed the feed from its plat- distracted him and fled for the nearest exit.

The video feed remained fixed for several forms in the early afternoon. hours on a slide from the service that invited In addition to his family, Akram spoke  MI5 investigated hostage-taker, page 4

PERPETRATORS WHO WERE KNOWN TO MI5 A series of terror attackers have been on the radar of the security services in recent years, but have not been prioritised.

Last year, prime minister Boris Johnson said police and intelligence agencies need to be “more ruthless” in piecing together information about potential terrorists.

Johnson said the authorities had to be better at “joining the dots”, bringing together evidence that, on its own may not amount to warning signs but, together, were a threat signal.

In 2013, Fusilier Lee Rigby was run over and stabbed to death by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale. Both men had previously been investigated by MI5.

Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi was categorised as a “closed subject of interest”

by MI5 at the time of the 2017 attack, and so not under active investigation.

That same year, Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood mowed down pedestrians and stabbed PC Keith Palmer before being shot by police.

He was known to the security service, as was one of the London Bridge and Borough Market attackers who struck on 3 June 2017.

Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, killed eight and injured dozens when they ploughed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and then stabbed people around Borough Market.

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

News / Texas synagogue siege

Texas timeline: 11 hours of terror Saturday morning: Rabbi Charlie CytronWalker opens the synagogue’s door to Malik Faisal Akram and makes him a cup of

tea, believing him to be a homeless man in need of shelter

10am

Rabbi Cytron-Walker begins the Shabbat

morning service, which is streamed live on Facebook and Zoom.

Some minutes later, he hears the audible click of Akram engaging his gun

10.45am

Hostage Jeffrey Cohen dials 911 and leaves his phone screen face down to allow authorities to hear events in the room. Hundreds of congregants

can hear audio of the events on Facebook

11.20am

Police reveal they are “conducting SWAT operations” and ask people to avoid the area

12.30am

An FBI hostage rescue team is asked to take charge of the case

1.55pm

Facebook removes the livestream from

its platform, now with thousands of viewers. FBI agents use the synagogue’s CCTV system to monitor events inside

Approx 3pm

Akram allows the hostages to telephone their families

5.30pm

One of the hostages, a man wearing

a kippah and tallit, is released unharmed

6.30pm

FBI agents deliver water and pizza for the remaining hostages

10.15pm

Rabbi CytronWalker throws a chair at Akram and all three of the hostages escape through a nearby exit.

Akram is shot dead by police

Probe into Akram ‘dropped in late 2020’ Synagogue hostage taker Malik Faisal Akram had been under investigation for possible Islamist terror links by MI5 agents during the past two years, reports have claimed, writes Adam Decker.

Whitehall sources did not deny claims that British intelligence had conducted a probe into Akram over extremist links as recently as the “second half of 2020”.

But the investigation – which was said to involve “mid-level” concerns – was dropped after officers concluded that the Blackburn man had no obvious links to Islamist groups.

Akram was shot dead by an FBI

is h T

Malik Faisal Akram: from Blackburn

Charlie Cytron-Walker, during the Shabbat service last weekend.

The fact that MI5 failed to pick up any obvious threat after they looked in Akram meant that no intelligence on him was passed to US authorities ahead of his flight out to the States, where he carried out the attack.

Questions remain unanswered on how he was able to travel to the US, because Akram’s family confirmed he had a criminal record that included offences involving a drug deal, violent disorder and driving offences.

The Daily Telegraph reported that in 2001 he was banned from his local court, where he was a regular

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rescue team after he took four hostages at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, including Rabbi

SW3 | where people come to shul

in the dock, for turning up to abuse staff and ranting about 9/11. He was also pictured at demonstrations for Muslim prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and in support of Palestine.

He was a regular visitor to Pakistan and reportedly a member of the Tablighi Jamaat group, set up to ‘purify’ Islam and banned from Saudi Arabia after the kingdom described the group as a “gateway to terrorism”.

Investigators are trying to establish whether he gave a false name on his US tourist visa waiver, which might have enabled him to escape having his criminal record detected.

Akram is alleged to have bought

a gun from someone on “the street” after arriving in New York. He then travelled to Texas and checked into a Christian homeless shelter, where it is claimed he was searched for weapons, and none was found.

During the 11-hour siege, a live Facebook feed of the service confirmed Akram had referred to the hostages as “four beautiful Jews”.

He had demanded the release of jailed terrorist Aafia Siddiqu – known as Lady Al Qaeda for attempting to kill US military personnel in Afghanistan – and that she be brought to the synagogue so they could both “die together”.

‘We must be unrelenting in fight against this hate’ The home secretary and shadow home secretary both reassured the Jewish community that the country will be “unrelenting in the fight against antisemitism and extremism” in the aftermath of the Texas synagogue hostage taking.

Speaking in the Commons, Labour’s Yvette Cooper said her thoughts were with the congregation of the Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville who would be “reeling from the terrible ordeal” that took place over Shabbat.

She told MPs: “May I take a moment to think of those in the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue community in Texas, who will still be reeling from their terrible ordeal.

“People must be free to worship at synagogues and other religious sites, free from fear of violence, across the world. It reminds us that we must be unrelenting in our fight against antisemitism and against extremism. It is of deep concern that the hostage-taker was a British citizen.”

She thanked the UK intelligence agencies and police forces that are working with

Patel and the shadow home secretary reassured the community

their US counterparts and other international partners.

Her comments came after a reassurance from home secretary Priti Patel that a “range of measures” were being undertaken to ensure the Jewish community in the UK remained protected.

Patel said: “When it comes to our domestic homeland, a range of measures are being undertaken right now, including protective security for the Jewish community.”

Patel told MPs she had spoken to her US opposite number before questions started about the synagogue

siege that led to Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old Briton, being shot dead by the FBI. Two teenagers have been arrested in South Manchester in connection with the Texas incident.

Hendon MP Matthew Offord made reference to his constituents, who “face this [incidents] on a daily basis often from outside the area who are coming in to spark violence and outrage”.

Patel said: “Together we can ensure that the Jewish community, and his [Offord‘s] constituents in particular, are supported and protected.”

www.jewishnews.co.uk

20 January 2022 Jewish News

5

Charity probe / MP defection / News

Charity Commission investigates JNF UK The Charity Commission has opened a regulatory case into the JNF UK charity in response to concerns raised about comments made by chair Samuel Hayek.

A spokesperson for the watchdog confirmed it had contacted JNF UK trustees “requesting information” before considering whether “regulatory action is required.” Jewish News understands the Commission received several complaints from both Jewish and Muslim organisa-

tions after we ran an interview with Hayek last month in which he claimed Jews had no future in this country as a result of Muslim immigration.

In a statement the Commission confirmed: “We have opened a regulatory case into the charity to assess the concerns raised with us. The Commission has contacted the charity’s trustees requesting information. Once received the Commission will consider whether

Samuel Hayek at a JNF UK event in the southern Israeli city of Sderot

any regulatory action is required.”

Jewish News interviewed Hayek last month to clarify comments he had made to the Jerusalem Post, in which he said Jews have “no future” in England. Comparing the UK to France, he said issues around Muslim immigration meant that “maybe in 10 years, maybe less, who knows, Jews will not be able to live in the UK. I don’t think anybody can stop it”. He also said that in “Islam there is not a term for ‘peace’” and Muslims arriving in the UK “create their own ghettos, their own education, their own process of thinking”.

The charity watchdog has contacted JNF UK’s trustees including Gary Mond, who was senior vice president of the Board of Deputies until last week, when he quit the role amid claims of antiMuslim activity on social media.

Edwin Shuker is the early favourite to replace him at the Board of Deputies top table. The Iraq-born businessman who previously chaired the communities and education division, is believed to have secured the declared support of more than 50 deputies as he bids to return as a vice-president.

MP’S LABOUR MOVE, PRAISING STARMER Bury South MP Christian Wakeford (pictured) defected from the Conservative to the Labour Party yesterday – highlighting Sir Keir Starmer’s “integrity” in “the vital challenge of combating antisemitism” in a letter to the prime minister, writes Lee Harpin.

Wakeford’s decision to join Labour emerged only minutes before under-pressure Boris Johnson faced Starmer in stormy Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQ) in the Commons.

Elected in 2019 in the Red Wall seat, Wakeford had previously been seen as one of the leading young political stars who typified the prime minister’s ability to win over former Labour voters.

But in his letter to Johnson confirming his defection, Wakeford said Tory policies had “done nothing to help the people of my constituency and indeed are only making the struggles they face on a daily basis worse”.

In his letter, Wakeford said he had “wrestled with my con-

science for months” before joining Labour, but added that Starmer had “shown integrity in the way he has led his party on issues thart matter to me, not least the vital challenge of combating antisemtism”.

As co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Antisemitism, Wakeford has been outpoken in his condemnation of antisemtism.

Earlier this month, he led a backbench debate in the Commons in which he openly condemned professor David Miller and the antisemitism scandal at Bristol University.

At PMQ, Starmer welcomed Wakeford into his party telling MPs Labour had “changed”.

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

News / Charity funding / BBC meeting

ZF told to urgently cut spending The Zionist Federation has been ordered to take “all necessary steps to reduce all spending” – including implementing staff cuts – after the organisation’s current financial model was deemed to be unsustainable, writes Lee Harpin.

A resolution passed unanimously at a meeting of ZFUK’s National Council on Tuesday evening also instructed acting chair Richard Woolf to “constitute a working group that will ensure ongoing activity with member organisations at no cost” until a “sustainable financial model has been determined.”

Jewish News understands that the financial situation is so dire that without drastic action the ZF would have become insolvent as early as next month. Staff are to begin discussions about job losses.

Those voting in favour of the resolution said “immediate action and rebuilding work” was needed.

At Tuesday’s meeting it was also agreed to host a round table gathering of all member organisations to “ensure the ZF will in the future be a federation which truly reflects the broad diversity” of those it aims to represent. It followed repeated complaints about

the lack of internal democracy within the group – and claims controversial statements on issues such as Israeli annexation plans had been issued without consulting the National Council.

Those backing the emergency measures included members aligned to groups such as the Jewish Labour Movement, Meretz UK, Mercaz-Masorti and ProZion-Arzenu who have become the increasingly influential majority on the ZF National Council since the 2021 biennial.

ProZion-Arzenu told Jewish News: “Having raised concerns

about the lack of financial transparency throughout (former chair) Paul Charney’s tenure, we are proud of the role played by our representatives in the past eight months to finally gain clarity about the state of the ZF finances.”

Charney told Jewish News the ZF was in a “strong position” after he left the organisation in May 2021, having served for over a decade. He also said ZF UK was “sound financially” and that it was a donation based outfit that “would raise money” but a change in direction of ZF policy had put the public off.

Israeli politician Gideon Saar interviewed at a Zionist Federation dinner

Lord Mann in ‘crisis meeting’ with BBC director general

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

EXCLUSIVE The government’s independent antisemitism adviser Lord John Mann met with BBC director general Tim Davie yesterday to discuss the simmering row over coverge of antisemitism issues HALF PAGE ADVERT JAN 2020:Layout 1 09/01/2020 16:04 Page 1 by

the broadcaster. In a nearly one-hour long meeting, which took place at BBC Broadcasting House, it is understood that Mann (pictured) expressed “major concerns” about the reporting of issues affecting the Jewish community by the channel’s outlets.

Sources said the former Labour MP at one stage told Davie he was concerned there could be “a real problem” with the newsroom at the

BBC when it covers issues relating to anti-Jewish racism. It is understood Mann raised the BBC website and BBC London reporting of the Chanukah bus antisemtic threats incident, which took place last November in Oxford Street.

He is also believed to have raised further concern over reporting of last weekend’s Texas synagogue hostage incident – including a BBC News at 10 broadcast that failed to mention the

word “antisemitism” in connection with the siege. One source said: “John really went hard on how important it is for the BBC to get that tone of reports on incidents like Texas right. To miss out the word ‘antisemitism’ was a massive own goal.” Davie was said to be keen to listen to Mann’s thoughts on the issue as an independent observer.

Their talks came ahead of a meeting with Davie and the Board of Deputies.

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

News / Education boost / Board investigation

SCHOOLS NETWORK GAINS INDEPENDENCE A network supporting the community’s schools has become independent of the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC).

The Partnership of Jewish Schools (PaJeS) made the announcement on Monday, almost a decade after its creation by the umbrella communal body.

The separation has taken place “in a way that respects and values both parties”, with Jonathan Goldstein, former JLC chair, calling PaJeS “a typical JLC success”.

He said its independence was the “next step in its growth” and will give it “the freedom it needs to continue to service our schools”.

PaJeS chair Sarah Anticoni said the organisation “has come of age thanks to the initial vision and support of the JLC, led by Jonathan Goldstein”.

Professor David Latchman, chairman of the Wohl Foundation, said it “has been a proud funder of PaJeS for many years. PaJeS will now grad-

Board looks into ‘racist’ posts by another deputy the Nazi objectives of the 1930s, that of Jew extermination”. Baum claims the Hamas charter takes “Islamic Nazism to excreThe Board of Deputies is invesmental levels” while calling tigating another accusation of Palestinians “mythical” racist social media posts made and “Nazis”. He also posted by one of its deputies. tweets about Islamophobia A formal complaint has been and asked British Muslim submitted over tweets sent last MPs to condemn violence month by Peter Baum, who repfrom other Middle Eastern resents Southend and Westcliff countries.

Hebrew Congregation (SWHC).

Baum recently signed Baum seems to call Desmond a letter in support of JNF Tutu a “black coward”, PalesUK’s chair Samuel Hayek, tinians “Nazis” and their supwho is facing calls to resign porters “human excrement”, over comments deemed which appears to break the Some comments made by Board member Peter Baum Islamophobic, which has led organisation’s code of conduct.

This comes after the Board’s senior black coward”, accusing him of having to the Charity Commission launching an vice president, Gary Mond, resigned as “kept his gob shut on the thousands of investigation. Baum told Jewish News his an honorary officer following an exposé black on black post-apartheid killings”. tweets were “definitely not” sent on behalf

by Jewish News into posts he endorsed He made reference to “black paedophilia”, of SWHC or the Board, “but in a purely personal capacity”. from anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller, and said Tutu would “rot in hell”.

Gabriel Kanter-Webber, who made He also made derogatory remarks who is banned by the UK. Baum responded to the death of South about Palestinians, writing an opinion the formal complaint to the Board, African Anglican Archbishop Desmond piece published on WeeklyBlitz on 31 said: “My understanding of Judaism is Tutu, a campaigner against apartheid and December, saying their supporters are that such wrongdoing must be vigorously critic of Israel, by branding him a “true “human excrement” who want to “fulfil challenged.”

by Jack Mendel jack@jewishnews.co.uk @Mendelpol

Rabbi David Meyer of PaJeS

uate from the JLC and we are excited to watch the next steps of this journey.”

Marina Yudborovsky, CEO of Genesis Philanthropy Group said the JLC and PaJeS “provides a highly effective platform for reaching a whole network of organisations”, saying their growth and development is “incredibly gratifying”.

PaJeS was incorporated into the Jewish Schools Network, an existing charity on 1 January and will remain one of the 37 members of the JLC.

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20 January 2022 Jewish News

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9

Beckham wedding / Ofsted concern / Tree planting / News

Beckhams set for simcha!

Engaged: Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz

It will be the week before Pesach — but rather than cleaning the house, the Beckham clan will be gathering to celebrate the wedding of David and Victoria’s eldest, Brooklyn, to actress and heiress Nicola Peltz, writes Jenni Frazer.

Reports this week of the intended nuptials on 9 April suggest that the ceremony and celebrations will be more Jewish than might have been expected, with both sides of the family drawing on a shared heritage.

The wedding was originally planned to take place last year, but was delayed

PUPILS ‘NOT FULLY PREPARED FOR LIFE IN MODERN BRITAIN’ Students at an Orthodox boarding school in Gateshead are “not fully prepared for life in modern Britain”, according to a report by Ofsted.

Gateshead Jewish Boarding School “requires improvement” because it fails to meet standards

relating to teaching of personal, social and health education (PSHE.) According to the school inspectorate’s report this week, following a November visit, “there are policies and learning plans in place for PSHE and relationships and sex

because of the pandemic.

According to The Mirror, Brooklyn and his fianceé were planning to nod to various Jewish traditions, including marrying under a chuppah and even, apparently, signing a ketubah after the ceremony.

Brooklyn’s great-grandfather Joseph, and Nicola’s father, billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz, are both Jewish.

While Nicola’s mother Claudia, a former model, is not Jewish, Nelson has been described as “devout” – and there is even talk of a rabbi presiding over the

education (RSE)”, but this does not include educating about all “protected characteristics”. Protected characteristics relate to someone’s identity, such as gender, sexual orientation, religion or marital status.

The all-boys school, which has 119 pupils aged 10-16, has the provision for PSHE “woven throughout the Kodesh (Jewish studies) and secular curriculums” according to the report, and students “learn about themselves

ceremony.

As for the former international footballer, David Beckham, he is said to be even keener on the Jewish element. A source told Tatler magazine in 2020 that he wants “to add as many Jewish elements as possible”, recalling how much he loved Israeli dancing when he attended Jewish weddings as a child with his grandad.

Beckham senior has even reportedly told Brooklyn that he would like to recite one of the Hebrew blessings under the chuppah. Now that is something we would all like to hear. Mazeltov to all!

Israeli ambassador plants tree at Kew for Tu B’Shvat

Israel’s ambassador to the UK marked the festival of Tu B’Shvat by planting a tree at Kew Gardens.

Tzipi Hotovely was joined by Kew’s director of horticulture, Richard Barley, to mark the Jewish festival of the new year for trees.

Hotovely said: “There is no better place than Kew to be marking this important date in the Jewish calendar. It is particularly poignant that we are planting a new tree; new life for a new year.”

and the world in which they live”.

However, while “pupils respect people who are different to them and know about other cultures and faiths”, Ofsted said they “are not.. taught about all of the protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010”. It added: “This means they are not fully prepared for life in modern Britain.”

The report said the school’s safeguarding arrangements were “effec-

tive” and ranks pupils’ ‘behaviour and attitudes’ as “outstanding.” It praised the school’s “ambitious curriculum”, the quality of education and personal development as ‘good’, and said staff “support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities well”.

But Ofsted said the school’s leadership “requires improvement”, and teachers “do not get much professional development or time to discuss their practice with other teachers”.

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

www.jewishnews.co.uk

World Herut and Herut UK have been greatly disturbed by the apparent takeover of The Board of Deputies. There now appears to be an internal BOD group that is organised to silence voices which elements on the Jewish left do not want heard. Those voices, possibly the majority, include both Gary Mond, a Senior Vice President of the Board of Deputies who was forced to resign and Samuel Hayek, Chair of the JNF, possibly the best known and well-loved of Jewish charities, now facing a debate as to whether the Board of Deputies will kick the JNF off the Board.

An open letter has recently been published across various Internet channels, the views of which we wholeheartedly agree.

Other Deputies have been forced to resign in recent weeks because of views not consistent with those of the Executive.

The Board of Deputies has always portrayed itself as being Democratic.

Democracy begins and ends with listening to the entire demographic. We believe that British Jewry should not and will not allow the silencing of Jewish voices, especially if that silencing is being conducted by the Board of Deputies.

As much as we would all like to see some kind of “Jewnity” in this world often hostile to our people, the Board must change if it has any hope of retaining some form of legitimacy.

Am Yisroel Chai

www.jewishnews.co.uk

20 January 2022 Jewish News

11

Polish–Jewish relations / Survivor’s praise / News

New Polish envoy could be named ‘in days’ Committee director Sebastian Rejak, who leads the body’s Central Europe operations and is based in Warsaw, said he understood a replacement could be announced in days.

He made the prediction in the latest episode of the Jewish News Podcast, which May examined the fallout from That day in Nowak’s departure. “I hope — I think it’s more than just a hope — to my knowledge the Jaroslaw Marek Nowak was position will be kept and we sacked last week after being ish tel lin g Jew s envoy for should learn in the coming interviewed in Jewish News ‘stupid’ Pol and fire aust law is loc Ho its t News tha days who the successor will descendants, including the be,” Rejak said.

Nowak was sacked last restitution of property that week after criticising the was confiscated from them.

Polish government’s posi- He had made the remarks in a STS tions on issues frequently wide-ranging interview with R-RIGHT’ PO ‘FA ER OV PROBED BOARD VP raised by Jewish Holo- Jewish News.

The dismissal dismayed caust survivors and their

Poland could soon appoint a new envoy to improve its relations with Jewish communities after the dismissal of Jaroslaw Marek Nowak over remarks he made to Jewish News, writes Michael Daventry.

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s who thought and politician relations campaigners Poland’s troubled dismay by ent showed Nowak’s appointmcould be improved. held talks with Jewry ch peer who with world said she had the crossben last month, Ruth Deech, he visited Londonof him”. on Nowak when to him good impressi ns that we put formed a “very oration, to the suggestio receptive “He was very least commem war and n, or at the was disduring the community about restitutio wned property l reinforces to the Jewish loss of Jewish-o because his dismissa he used a Jewish envoy the of s of after y Poland’ with freedom ent’s laws It’s very sad y on Saturda relationship late afterwards. missed abruptlw to criticise his governm view of Poland’s its refusal to contemp the negative st and News intervie st. who was only Jewish people.” and the Holocau oration with n Jewish to speech on the Holocau Nowak (pictured, inset), n or commem the America been “stupid” executive of Jaroslaw Marek last July, said it had al restitutio lly” fired Harris, chief saying individu the role been “shamefu politician for to David s d had historian appointe said Nowak s to betray opposition action against Committee, Nazi occupier he had while Polish permit court the truth, minister, said sought to prosted with their for telling st law”, which former foreign a Poles collabora nation, “Holocau Sikorski, or Polish in the truth”.

Jews. The so-called the Polish state Western coun- Radosław d “for telling Friends of Israel who defame and ity” been dismisse chair of Conservative ecute those Jewish groups brought “credibil cult criticised by Eric Pickles, Nowak had was widely in 2018.

Lords, said last week, to discuss diffi was passed , published the House of was prepared in time, so tries when it that Poland in the interview there were difficult l and I believe, and was a sign accept Nowak argued his dismissa said. needed to should be chalissues. “I regret government,” the peer Historians that his country , successive will the Polish wartime history. academic rebuttal, not European countries truths in its to broach the Unlike other research and ents have refusedation for Jews lenged through he added. the Polish governm law, t. n or compens appeared on in a court of the Holocaus issue of restitutio of the interview was seized during was relieved Hours after Poland has property Nowak power, to whose website, Justice came minister, Zbigdefamed Jewish News Since Law and those deemed to have Poland’s foreign made the matters his duties by spokesman g sought to pursue or “Polish state” on government nation” morning. Followin niew Rau. A Nazis. the “Polish on Monday Mintion with the s are announcement for comment, the Polish such as collabora sts and academic it “does tarJournali repeated requestsAffairs told Jewish News who have been among those Barbara istry For Foreign its human resources policy”. rs of historians, t on geted. Two d by supporte on page 3 not commen l was welcome Party – in power Continued dismissa The Justice g Law and not speak for the right-win Nowak did with – claiming since 2015 was greeted the news Poland. But

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charts made by the self from commenHayek last month.

Mond – ly posted by ity’s chair Samuel it had asked the that posts apparent to be a show Confirming what appears for Israel charity while an inquiry Amerto stand down Mond – the deputy is a trustee and including for Pamela Geller, an the Board cur- deputy he takes place, of support JNF UK, where – was informed on anti-Islam activist, into his actions place” for “antie ican far-right from entering the UK. there was “no would honorary treasurer to undertak banned had said Mond said he senior vice- Tuesday of the decision across rently JNF UK trustee, Mond al Muslim hatred”.

Deputies on page 4 As a Board of has been ion of his conduct Continued from commun an examinat Gary Mond mounting calls distance himpresident from his faced down to media. alerted social “step leaders Jewish News asked to into alleand student It came after an inquiry social media duties” while sentiment to historic the Board anti-Muslim gations of Harpin. writes Lee takes place,

EXCL USIV

Gary Mond

JNF UK addresses

to on a visit Morawiecki Merkel Minister Mateusz or Angela Poland’s Prime German Chancell with then Auschwitz

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campaigners around the world who had believed that his appointment was a sign that Polish attitudes were shifting.

Poland is the only European country without a comprehensive law on Holocaust restitution or compensation.

Baroness Deech, who also appeared on the podcast, indicated that she was not optimistic about Nowak’s possible replacement.

Asked if she would meet any new envoy, she said: “Well of course I would, but it depends who it is. It might be someone who is vetted as being timid and not going against the Polish government.”

Deech, whose ancestors had property seized in Poland, said the country was “in big

SURVIVOR’S PRAISE FOR ‘CONCERNED’ WILLS Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch has praised the Duke of Cambridge for being “very concerned” with learning about the Shoah – but claimed that his brother had not taken the issue “seriously” enough when she delivered a talk to him.

Lasker-Wallfisch, who survived Aus-

chwitz and Belsen, said of Prince William’s eagerness to learn about the Holocaust: “He gets that interest from his father.”

Of her experience of speaking to Harry, the 96-year-old cellist told the Radio Times: “By coincidence one of the schools at which I told my story is Eton, when

Prince William and Harry were there.

Harry wasn’t taking it seriously – just another boring lady who comes to talk about boring things – but William is a different character altogether.”

Lasker-Wallfisch is to appear in a BBC programme featuring survivors’ accounts.

trouble at the moment with the European Union, with its crackdown on judicial independence, on freedom of the press, on women’s rights, and not a happy place to be.

“And having a fearless

[envoy] in that position would have been a little candle of light in the darkness.”

The Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry told Jewish News it did not comment on human resources matters.

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

News / Academic mourned / Fraudster’s ex-wife / Lily Ebert / Grenfell conviction

Tributes to ‘generous and kind’ academic and activist Huge numbers of tributes were paid this week to the academic Dr Pete Newbon, a director of the Labour Against Antisemitism activist group, whose sudden death was disclosed by his partner, Dr Rachel Hewitt, writes Jenni Frazer.

She wrote on Monday: “Pete Newbon was my best friend, my partner-incrime, my beautiful kind husband, a brilliant reader and scholar, the best daddy in the world to our three beautiful daughters, and I just don’t know how we’re going to bear his loss. I’m broken into a million unbearably painful pieces”.

LAAS spokesperson Fiona Sharpe said Newbon’s death had come as a “complete and devastating” shock to his many friends and colleagues.

In a statement, she said: “Words cannot express how sad we are all at his death. Pete was a generous, kind, and decent man who will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”

Rachel Hewitt and husband Pete Newbon

Newbon, a lecturer in Romantic and Victorian literature at Northumbria University in Newcastle, is believed to have been in his late 30s and to have been brought up in the Leeds Jewish community.

During the Corbyn years, Newbon’s political comments were often witty and incisive. But last year, after he tweeted a Photoshopped picture of Corbyn reading to a group of children from Michael Rosen’s renowned children’s book, We’re All Going On A Bear Hunt that appeared to be the notorious anti-Jewish forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a row ensued,

during which Newbon was investigated for alleged antisemitism.

Before Christmas, Newbon issued a defamation claim at the High Court against Rosen.

Simon Myerson QC, who chairs the Leeds Jewish Representative Council, tweeted: “Those who remorselessly bullied him on [Twitter] neither represent, nor I suspect understand, the love and friendship he inspired.

“His memory will be a blessing and an inspiration for people who do right and love peace”.

A GoFundMe campaign to support Hewitt and the couple’s three children has been launched, and friends are opening a book of memories to present to the family.

FRAUDSTER’S EX ‘UNAWARE’ The ex-wife of the convicted working with Labour MP fraudster Freddy David – Carolyn Harris, who chairs who conned members of the all-party parliamentary the Jewish community out group on gambling-related of more than £15 million harm, to campaign about to feed his gambling addicthe damage of gambling tion – has told The Sunday addiction on friends and Times she “had no reason” to families. believe he was engaged in crim- Hannah David Freddy David was seninal activity, and was unaware of tenced to six years in prison what was going on until armed police for theft and fraud. Released last June, turned up at their front door in 2017. he was the managing director of wealth Hannah David, a former Conserva- management company HBFS, but he tive local councillor and a one-time also set up a Ponzi scheme in which he Harrow West prospective parlia- stole money from clients in order to mentary candidate, says she is now fund his gambling habit.

That’s a lot of names to recall!

A Holocaust survivor who spent cial,” Ebert, who grew up in four months at Auschwitz Hungary, told the PA news has celebrated becoming a agency after her youngest great-grandmother for the grandchild welcomed a 35th time. newborn earlier in January.

Lily Ebert, 98, was liber“I never thought I would ated by American soldiers achieve this. I had to survive in April 1945 when she was 20 first of all and then to achieve and, some 77 years later, says Lily with greatthis age… [the Nazis] wanted babies are the “best revenge grandchild Dov to kill us and we showed against the Nazis”. [them] they could not.”

“For anybody to achieve this – to be After being freed, Ebert spent a year a great-grandmother – is something in Switzerland before moving to Palesspecial, but how much more for me as tine in 1946. She emigrated to the UK in a Holocaust survivor… it is very spe- 1967 with her husband, Samuel.

‘Jewish sacrifice’ woman guilty of inciting hatred A woman who claimed on Facebook that Grenfell Tower victims were “burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice” has been found guilty of stirring up race hate, writes Adam Decker.

Tahra Ahmed, 51, posted “virulently” antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media, with one sent just days after the fire in West London that claimed the lives of 72 people.

An Old Bailey jury deliberated for eight hours to find her guilty last Friday – by a majority of 11 to one – of two charges of stirring up racial hatred by publishing written material.

During the trial, prosecutor Hugh French said Ahmed’s posts in January and June 2017 had “crossed the line as to what is acceptable in a liberal society”.

On 18 June 2017 – four days after the disaster – she posted a video on Facebook of the blaze and wrote: “I’ve been at the scene, at the protest and at the community meetings

Above: Grenfell Tower. Inset: Tahra Ahmed

and have met many of the victims…some who were still in the same clothes they escaped in.

“They are very real and genuine, their pain and suffering is raw and deep and their disgusting neglect by authorities continues. Watch the footage of people trapped in the inferno with flames behind them. They were burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice.”

Ahmed, from Tottenham, north London, went on to link Grenfell to an antisemitic conspiracy surrounding the 9/11

terror attacks in New York in 2001. A post on 26 January 2017 also set out an antisemitic conspiracy theory, jurors were told.

Police launched an investigation after a story was published in The Times on 11 December 2017, focusing on some of those who attended public meetings after the fire.

An examination of Ahmed’s Facebook account revealed a history of antisemitic comments, the court heard. Ahmed denied wrongdoing, arguing her posts were political rather than antisemitic. Judge Mark Dennis adjourned sentencing until 11 February.

• The Community Security Trust (CST) had made a formal complaint to the police about Ahmed’s post.

Dave Rich of CST told Jewish News: “Tahra Ahmed’s claim that the Grenfell fire was a ‘Jewish sacrifice’ is one of the most despicable antisemitic slurs I have ever heard.

“Grenfell was a terrible tragedy and for her to exploit it to promote her vile hatred of Jewish people is beyond belief.”

www.jewishnews.co.uk

20 January 2022 Jewish News

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www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 20 January 2022

News / Sexual abuse

Walder case triggers huge ris The horrific case of the paedophile Israeli author has encouraged members of the Charedi community to open up about their own experiences, writes Stephen Oryszczuk Continued from page 1 was one of the Charedi world’s most prominent voices on children’s issues who managed the Center for the Child and Family in the largely Orthodox city of Bnei Brak. He killed himself on 27 December.

Six weeks earlier, Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz published allegations by several young women that Walder had sexually abused them from as young as 12, one in a hotel in Ramat Gan where he took her to celebrate her having her first period.

The allegations grew to include sexual assault against both boys and girls, including molestation and rape. Some said he assaulted them while they were under his care as a therapist, often sent to him in a state of mental and financial distress.

In December, the Safed Beth Din in Israel heard from 22 victims either directly or through their counsellors. Walder refused to appear.

The rabbis heard a recording of him threatening a victim before she gave testi-

mony and,on 26 December, they found him guilty of molestation and rape.

“We know it’s had an impact in the UK because of the numbers coming to us for help,” said Goldsobel. “They’ve been triggered by it [Walder].”

She said that, despite being on leave, the charity’s staff undertook “about 20” serious case assessments over Christmas, “compared to one or two normally over the same period, when things typically dip”, adding: “We also had up to 100 calls and enquiries.”

Goldsobel described those calling as “people in crisis”, saying: “Some of the cases that have come in over recent days are among the most horrific we’ve had to deal with in recent years.

“These are people who may have overheard a discussion or read about it in a magazine.”

One Orthodox source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Within our synagogue, I’m aware of how the Walder

The books of Chaim Walder that used to take pride of place have been binned by readers and recall

case has led to two people in the same family having the courage to tell their other family members what happened to

them when they were young. People are definitely talking about it [child sexual abuse] more now. Some people obviously

Prolific abuser was eulogised after death The horrific and prolific child sexual abuse committed by Israeli children’s author, rabbi, therapist, educator and media personality Chaim Walder was disgusting enough on its own terms, but several factors made it worse.

To begin with, he was a counsellor working with vulnerable children who established a network of kids’ summer camps and was even given the ‘Defender of the Child’ award by the Israel National Council for the Child. Feted by Israeli prime ministers, he could certainly be said to have achieved Charedi A-list status.

Disgusting became disturbing when safeguarding experts pointed out that thousands of Israeli children have written letters to him over the years, outlining their innermost secrets and fears. One commentator suggested that some of the children in Walder’s stories are likely to have been based on his victims.

Perhaps the most insidious aspect of this horror show is that Walder designed one of the first programmes covering ‘protection from child sexual abuse’ for use by Israel’s strictly-Orthodox schools.

Chaim Walder was found guilty by Safed Beth Din of molestation and rape

It was like putting a fox in charge of the safety of the chickens.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, after he killed himself – denying his victims their right to see him stand trial – he was eulogised by some influential people, including Bnei Brak’s mayor. Even Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau publicly sat shiva with his family, having photos taken, before a backlash saw him backpedal.

In Walder’s obituary, Charedi news site Behadrei Haredim made no mention of the allegations against him, nor of his suicide, adding: “May his memory be an honoured blessing,” a sign-off typically reserved only for the great and the good.

Worse, the senior Orthodox Rabbi Gershon Edelstein said Walder’s accusers were “guilty of murder”, while Rabbi Zvi Tau criticised the Beth Din ruling.

Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer described Walder’s funeral as “a ceremony to clear his name”.

Seeing all this, one of his victims – Shifra Horowitz – killed herself a few days later.

20 January 2022 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

15

Sexual abuse / World News

se in survivors seeking help How Charedi press responded to crimes Revelations of child sexual abuse committed by Israeli children’s author Chaim Walder are only the latest example of similar crimes committed by well-known strictly-Orthodox Jewish men. However, analysts say media reaction in this case has been different.

While in the past, Charedi outlets would typically not have covered the allegations, or even – as in some cases – published interviews with the defendant’s lawyers, London-based headteacher Eli Spitzer said Charedi press coverage of Walder’s case was “remarkable”.

Speaking to Jewish News, Spitzer said: “They realised that this was not the time to play politics or PR, that it was serious and that it needed a proper internal conversation.

“It took a few days, but [the Hebrew version of] Mishpacha was first out of the blocks, with a proper introspective editorial. They basically called it what it is and said we needed to take a good

hard look at ourselves, that we needed to believe victims, that we needed to listen, that we can’t whitewash their testimony, and so on.

“Others soon fell in line. Ami Magazine went further. It put Rav Shmuli Eliyahu [of the Safed Beth Din, which investigated Walder’s crimes and heard from victims] on the front cover.

I mean, even some of the people who admit that this issue needs to be dealt with are quite resentful of him.

“Leading Charedi news website Kikar HaShabbat removed all his articles from the archives. Its editorial went close enough to acknowledge that the way abuse allegations have been handled is simply not good enough and needs to change.

“That every Charedi news outlet felt pressure to address it, for me, was one of the most remarkable things.

“They preach to their choir, these outlets, and certainly aren’t accountable to secular Israeli opinion. It speaks to the

sheer scale of it. There’s always a very carefully choreographed dance between publisher and reader, so it’s instructive in terms of the feelings of readers and the community as a whole that they covered it. They usually only publish things they think their readers want to read.

“Their agendas are very much set by their readers. Rarely if ever would they risk alienating them.

“The fact they’ve covered it indicates that their readers know it’s big, it can’t be ignored and the publications have responded to that.”

led by publishers around the world

feel able to talk about things for the first time, which is a good thing.

“I’m not surprised that charities such as Migdal Emunah are seeing their numbers go up.”

Eli Spitzer, a headteacher at a Charedi school in London who speaks on podcasts on current affairs of interest to the strictly-Orthodox community, said Walder had been “a moment of reckoning” in Israel and beyond.

He said the fact that so many Charedi news outlets and magazines had covered the allegations levelled at Walder and addressed the issues that arose was virtually unheard of and “adds fuel to the conversation and keeps the conversation going for longer”.

Across the UK, many Charedi schools have expunged Walder’s books from their libraries, said Goldsobel and Spitzer, but there was no direction to do so from Jewish educational umbrella bodies such as Partnerships for Jewish Schools (PaJeS) or Chinuch UK. Goldsobel called for “leadership” from Jewish educators.

“We’re past the point of statements,” she said. “We need action – workshops, signposting tools, training for teachers and headteachers. And no more mixed messages.

“It’s not mesirah [one Jew reporting the misconduct of another] or lashon hara [derogatory comment] when it comes to protecting children and young people.”

Partnerships for Jewish Schools director Rabbi David Meyer said Walder “has obviously shaken the Orthodox world”, but believes that the UK is better placed to deal with it in some respects.

“Sadly, in the US and Israel, some tried to defend or excuse his actions, and this included in some schools,” he said.

“The situation in UK schools is very different. Every registered school across our community understands the importance of safeguarding and child protection.

“It is the first responsibility for every headteacher, and irrespective of Ofsted’s inspecting this area, it is seen by all as a priority.”

Rabbi Meyer added that those working with children in the UK are “checked through the DBS [disclosure and barring service], and school leaders are attuned to potential dangers”, but he also acknowledged that Walder would not have been flagged by DBS because he had no prior convictions.

“There are certainly lessons to be learnt, but in the main these are lessons we have already learnt and are communicating to schools repeatedly,” said Meyer.

“I don’t think there is a need for us to be making public statements about the case… The broader issue is one of safeguarding and child protection. It is embedded in our school culture.”

The case of Walder “certainly reinforces the message to school leaders and parents that, sadly, today no space is necessarily a safe space,” added Meyer.

“It is why the teaching of consent has become so important.

“The role of parents is also essential and they should have an open dialogue with their children, and be keeping a careful eye on them to see any changes in behaviour that may be a cause for concern.”

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

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Where life is for living 15/10/2021 10:38

www.jewishnews.co.uk

20 January 2022 Jewish News

17

Jewish News meets... Keith Black

‘I’m a businessman – I enjoy improving how things work’ New chair of theJewish Leadership Council Keith Black tells Lee Harpin about his sense of duty to communal life and why a Board of Deputies merger won’t happen Ever since Jonathan Goldstein revealed he was standing down as Jewish Leadership Council chair last November, just one name cropped up as his likely replacement.

Others at the communal organisation may have thought about putting themselves forward to challenge Keith Black in a contest for the role, but in the end decided otherwise.

Meeting the successful Manchester-born businessman at the stylish home in Primrose Hill he shares with his wife and their five daughters, it quickly becomes clear why Black was seen by so many as the outstanding candidate to follow in Goldstein’s shoes.

Calm, thoughtful, yet direct in his observations when required, the 63-year-old chief executive and chair of the Regatta outdoor clothing brand – a business started by his father and now offering the family a £220 million

❝

YOUNG JEWS DISLIKE THE PROBLEM WITH THE PALESTINIANS AND SOLUTIONS ARE NOT CLEARLY IN PLACE fortune – says “a sense of duty” led him to put his name forward for the JLC post.

“I was asked, and I wasn’t going to say ‘no’, even though I had been offered other senior communal positions in the past and haven’t done them,” says Black. “I come from that background really... of standing up, of taking responsibility and doing things. I suppose my parents always did and as a kid, yes, I did things off my own back as well.”

Black’s late father Lionel was the wellrespected chair of JIA – the forerunner to UJIA – in Manchester, before being made life president. He had also been the inspiration behind the success of the family business, having first started selling army surplus gear in the 1970s.

It is clear that this dual approach, of dedication and love for the Jewish community coupled with an inspired approach to business, rubbed off on Lionel’s son.

Black had been at university in Southampton, where he took a law degree, when a speaker at a Jewish event had suggested he start events for young adults in the Manchester community when he returned to the city. Before too long events, frequented by Jewish twentysomethings, had become “massively successful”, recalls Black of those early 1980s gatherings.

“There had been no young UJIA. We broke this model at bit. It was educate, take responsibility, have fun. Get them fundraising, but also have parties as well. At the end of the day, 21-year-olds want to meet other 21-years-olds.

Then we took them to Israel as well. Two busloads at that time. It absorbed me.”

Black returned to work in the already thriving family business. He has never looked back. “I’ve only ever had one job in 40 years,” he says, chuckling. “At university I took my gap year in Israel. I joined [Regatta] after uni and we grew it, and grew it.”

Speaking from his downstairs office, with a book on Bob Dylan on a coffee table, Black says communal life and business life are “two different worlds” to him. “The best thing we ever did was we went to China in 1984,” he says when reflecting on Regatta’s success. “There were literally two other firms in China at the time. You could grow your capital base and make money.”

Today, Regatta employs thousands of staff at outlets globally, with families and outdoor walkers alike attracted to its practical and affordable coats, footwear and other clothing.

A 2019 profile on Black and the firm had highlighted his stated belief in treating those who worked for the firm in the same way he would like to be treated himself. Were these also the Jewish values he had learned, I ask.

“Absolutely. That’s where that comes from,” comes the immediate reply. “Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.”

Black’s barmitzvah had been in a Reform synagogue, but after university he returned to Manchester and started going to a more Orthodox shul. After moving to London with family, he found South Hampstead shul the perfect place for religious observance, with the bonus of it offering him a wonderful introduction to the diversity of communal life in London.

Just days into his JLC chair role, Black is gushing about the work carried out in the mental health arena by a charity like JAMI, while offering similar praise for the efforts of the London Jewish Forum. His 35-year association with UJIA has given him a lengthy spell to observe the fine work it does, while his active work at the Community Security Trust, which he represented on the JLC’s council of membership, also offered him a close insight into their vital security work.

“I used to spend my Monday nights going around raising money for Israel,” he recalls of his early days at UJIA. “That job had to been done, and we have built the state successfully.

“We now have to build a state able to deliver on its original ambitions. We need to build a community of Zionist Jews who want to work at that. We need to stand up for this on the world stage, against BDS and issues around the United Nations.” But he concedes that some criticism of Israel “is justified”. Like any other state, Black observes, Israel “doesn’t always behave well”. Hinting perhaps at a focus of his JLC role, he expresses concern about a drift among young Jews towards a position where “it is not just a straightforward ‘we love Israel’”.

Black continues: “They don’t like the problem

Keith Black is centre-right politically but would also be happy sitting down and engaging in dialogue with Sir Keir Starmer

with the Palestinians and solutions are not clearly in place.”

If his predecessor Goldstein had leaned to a centre-left position politically, Black sees himself more on the centre-right. A Conservative Party supporter, but not a member, it is also apparent that he would be comfortable sitting down and having a dialogue with Sir Keir Starmer. The Labour leader is, Black observes, “cut from a different cloth to that of Corbyn”.

It would be wrong to cast Black as a political obsessive though. He is someone who enjoys the challenges of business and communal life.

But his observations on politics and social issues are intelligent and concise.

“All this nonsense about whether England is a safe place to live – I think it is a wonderful place to live,” he says, referring to the recent comments by JNF UK chair Samuel Hayek.

“We know the problems, but I still think it’s one of the best places in the world to live as a Jew and we should be very proud of this county, it’s essential respect for the law, it’s essential decency. It is a kind country, by and large.”

Black praises his predecessor Goldstein’s work but the battle with Corbyn, and the impact of the pandemic, meant Goldstein did not get to achieve all he probably could have.

Black says he is well prepared to ensure that work duties do not get in the way of his JLC efforts. He describes the umbrella organisation as offering the table for the JLC’s 37 member organisations to sit around.

The JLC is, he says “the moderate centre, neither left nor right. We are not political, but we are pragmatic - that’s my style anyway.”

He praises Marie van der Zyl, the Board of Deputies president, who he speaks to most days. “I get on with Marie extremely well. I think she is excellent and the community is lucky to have her.” But on the much discussed question over the possibility of a merger between the Board and the JLC, Black is quite blunt. “There will be no merger,” he says. “We do different jobs.”

But he does hint that he might take a look at preventing possible overlap in work conducted by the two organisations moving forwards – especially in the regions.

He concludes: “I am a businessman, I operate business, multi-brand, multinational, I quite like joining dots up. I enjoy improving how things work. Coming into my role within the community, with all its richness laid out in front of me, and trying to do whatever I can do to make it even better.”

18

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 20 January 2022

World News / Frank investigation / Imam expelled / Flag upset

Anne was ‘betrayed by a Jew’ Anne Frank was likely betrayed by a Jewish man trying to protect his own family, according to the results of a six-year investigation published this week, writes Michael Daventry.

Amsterdam notary Arnold van den Bergh was the surprise suspect identified at the end of the probe involving a team of historians, criminologists and a retired FBI agent.

They concluded it was “very likely” van den Bergh gave up the Franks to save his own, even though he had a daughter of Anne’s age.

Anne (pictured, inset) and her family were discovered in August 1944, when Dutch police and the SS raided the building in which they were hiding.

admitted the evidence they had compiled would The Frank family hiding place in Amsterdam not be sufficient for Pieter van Twisk, a member a court hearing.

But the attempt to identify the of the research team, told Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad that betrayer was not intended to lead he was “very likely” to have ulti- to prosecution, but to solve one mately betrayed them, although he of the biggest unsolved mysteries

in the Netherlands of the Second World War. A database was compiled with lists of collaborators, informants, historic documents, police records and prior research to uncover new leads.

Dozens of scenarios and locations of suspects were visualised to identify a betrayer, based on knowledge of the hiding place, motive and opportunity.

Van den Bergh – who had one Jewish parent – was a member of the Jewish Council, the body set up by Nazi occupiers to organise the transportation of Jews to death camps. He survived the war, dying of throat cancer in 1950.

Brussels imam expelled as security risk A Brussels-based imam who in 2009 prayed to Allah to burn Zionists has left Belgium on the order of authorities who flagged him as a security threat, writes Michael Daventry.

Imam Mohamed Toujgani, who was born in Morocco and had lived for decades in Brussels, was expelled in October, the VRT broadcaster Imam Mohamed Toujgani reported, according to The Times

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of Israel. It was not immediately clear whether the expulsion was directly over his remarks about Zionists, which happened in 2009 and surfaced in 2019.

Belgium’s Secretary of State, Sammy Mahdi, said during a parliament session this week that Toujgani had called to “burn Jews”.

Georges-Henri Beauthier, a

lawyer representing Toujgani, called the statement “a falsehood that incites hatred”, the RTBF broadcaster reported.

In a YouTube video flagged in 2019, Toujgani says in a sermon at his Brussels mosque: “Lord, master of worlds, fill with fear the hearts of the Zionist oppressors.... O Lord, tear them down.”

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A funeral procession outside a church in Rome featured a casket wrapped in a Nazi swastika flag.

The Roman Catholic Church strongly condemned the incident last week at St. Lucia church in the Prati district, after a group of about two dozen people were seen lining up on both sides of the churchyard to greet the swastika-draped casket of Alessia “Tungsy” Augello, 44.

After the mass, the casket of Augello, a member of the far-right New Force Italian political party, was hailed as it emerged from the cathedral with shouts and Nazi-style salutes.

The Vicariate of Rome described the incident as “serious, offensive, and unacceptable”, while the Roman Jewish community organisation said, according to Reuters: “It is unacceptable that a flag with a swastika can be shown in public in this day and age, especially in a city that saw the deportation of its Jews by the Nazis and their fascist collaborators.”

The reverend and priest of the parish, Alessandro Zenobbi and Paolo Emilio, who officiated at the funeral, said they were unaware of the swastika flag.

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19

Community records / Airline fined / Cemetery volunteers / Iberian citizenship / Diaspora News

Yad Vashem genealogy partnership Israel’s national Holocaust memorial and museum Yad Vashem has entered into a partnership with the Museum of Jewish Heritage (MJH) with the aim of sharing data on genealogical records.

The agreement between two of the most prestigious Holocaust memorial institutions in the world will mean Yad Vashem making its records available to the wider public through the MJH genealogy affiliate JewishGen. “By making available these precious records… the broader Jewish community can more easily research names of family and friends who were murdered in the

Holocaust,” said MJH chief executive Jack Kliger.

Under the terms, Yad Vashem will share its ‘Pages of Testimony’ data with JewishGen, which helps Jews discover Jewish ancestral roots.

A Page of Testimony is a form issued by Yad Vashem asking for information about a Jewish victim of the Holocaust. Its database currently holds 2.7 million of these.

Researchers will soon be able to retrieve Pages of Testimony data through a direct search within JewishGen. “Without this agreement, many Jewish genealogists may otherwise not have been aware of this vital resource,” said JewishGen executive

The Hall of Names at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial

director Avraham Groll.

Yad Vashem has collated Pages of Testimony since the 1950s, helping hundreds of thousands of people reconnect to their family members and Jewish roots.

“More than one million Holocaust victims have yet to be memorialised at Yad Vashem,” said Alexander

Avram, director of Yad Vashem’s Hall of Names.

“It is our expectation that by widening the exposure of our endeavour through JewishGen, the genealogical community will be able to play an important role in helping us add a large number of Pages of Testimony in the years to come.”

WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF

Your weekly digest of stories from the international press ITALY

Officials in Mantua are to turn a stone Hapsburg-era armoury built atop a centuries-old Jewish cemetery into a museum.

The Jewish cemetery of San Nicolò dates from the 12th century, the graveyard having been built in 1442. It is believed to be the resting places of at least two famed Italian Kabbalist masters.

BAHRAIN

Bahrain’s tiny Jewish community has launched a campaign to restore a Jewish cemetery in the capital Manama by planting trees to ‘bring it back to life’. The plot dates from the late 19th century, when Jewish merchants from Iraq and Iran who were trading in goods such as textiles arrived in their hundreds.

UNITED STATES

An American rabbi who marched with Martin Luther King has died from colon cancer at the age of 92. Rabbi Israel ‘Sy’ Dresner, a Freedom Rider and civil rights activist, also demonstrated against the Vietnam War and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, with some dubbing him ‘America’s most arrested rabbi’.

URUGUAY

A South American Jewish businessman has offered to buy an eagle and swastika crest from a former Nazi ship that is sitting in a Uruguay warehouse and blow it ‘into a thousand pieces’. The sixfoot crest, weighing half a tonne, which Daniel Sielecki, 64, wants to buy to stop it getting into the hands of neo-Nazis, was recovered in 2006 from a Nazi warship.

AIRLINE FINED OVER KOSHER FOOD

American Airlines was found to have ‘failed to provide the services it promised’

A Brazilian court has fined American Airlines £1,300 ($1,759) for not providing as promised kosher meals to two Jewish passengers on long distance flights.

One passenger related their experience onboard a 10-hour flight from New York to São Paulo, the other went nine hours from Madrid to Philadelphia,

then again from Chicago to London.

In his ruling, Judge José Marcos Marrone said the airline had “failed to provide the services” it had promised, causing the plaintiffs “emotional suffering”, in part because all other passengers were able to eat.

Although airlines do not by law have to provide any food in the US or Brazil, consumer protection laws allow for penalties if a promised transaction is not completed. On its website, American offers “special meals”, including kosher food.

In the terms and conditions, it says passengers from Brazil can only get kosher food if they are leaving from Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo.

Young and old in cemetery clean-up Jewish heritage restoration efforts across Poland have attracted an incredible 10,000 volunteers, with most working to clean up pre-war cemeteries.

There are more than 90 Jewish cemeteries across the country and a campaign by groups such as the Coalition of Guardians of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland has attracted volunteers as young as four and as old as 90.

Pre-war Poland was home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, but more than 90 percent were killed during the Holocaust. This sudden decimation left a rich but increasingly untended Jewish cultural heritage, with few Jews left to care for it.

Graves at Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery

The Coalition said volunteers stepped up “for the sake of building a broader awareness of the multicultural history of Poland”.

Mayors in more than a dozen Polish cities have so

far organised clean-ups of Jewish cemeteries and sites, with four such events taking place in Silesia’s capital Katowice. Volunteers at one cemetery in Kraśnik cleared 1.5 tonnes of rubbish.

The newly-established Cultural Heritage Foundation launched an app last year. “When you connect separate actions into a network, it automatically generates new ones of a similar kind,” said Michał Laszczkowski, president of the foundation.

Last year, at Poland’s second largest Jewish cemetery, on Okopowa Street in Warsaw, there were 27 events featuring 600 volunteers clearing leaves and soil.

Before the Second World War, there were around 1,200 Jewish cemeteries in territory covering modern-day Poland, but hundreds were razed or built on while the country was under Nazi or Soviet rule.

Expulsion of Jews in 1497 painting by Alfredo Roque Gameiro

JEWS’ DESCENDANTS PILE INTO IBERIA More than 90,000 descendants of Sephardic Jews who fled the Inquisition at the end of the 15th century have become citizens of Spain or Portugal since laws allowing them to in 2015.

Almost 250,000 have applied, with Spanish authorities granting one in four applications, while Portuguese officials rubberstamped two in three.

Both countries passed laws offering a naturalisation process for those who could show that their ancestors fled the Inquisition, a campaign of religious persecution 500 years ago, where hundreds of thousands of Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula were forced to convert or leave.

Spanish and Portuguese media said thousands of applications were still pending and that about 70 percent of the applicants for Portuguese citizenship were Israeli. By comparison, Israelis made up less than five percent of Spanish applications.

Spain toughened its vetting after intelligence suggested that the process was being used by non-EU criminals to gain EU citizenship.

In Portugal, there is now a debate about whether the country’s naturalisation vetting is too lax, with RussianIsraeli billionaire Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, having been granted citizenship last month.

20

Jewish News 20 January 2022

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.

1246

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

Whose synagogue Send us your comments will it be tomorrow?

PO Box 815, Edgware, HA8 4SX | letters@jewishnews.co.uk

Continued from page 1

criminal convictions). How did he obtain a visa to enter the United States and purchase a handgun? What might the two teenagers arrested in Manchester on Sunday (reportedly Akram’s sons) know about the attack? And why, in the hours that followed, did media outlets, including the BBC, wilfully ignore the antisemitic incentive behind attacking a synagogue?

We give thanks that the gun only clicked that day, and wait with patience for answers as to how a 44-year-old terrorist from England went to the US and held several Jewish worshippers hostage for 11 hours. Answers should come soon but, for now, can wait. This Shabbat should be about reflection, not recrimination.

All of us can picture ourselves in that synagogue hall, siddur in hand, eyes on the rabbi behind the bimah, reciting familiar prayers.

Our shuls are sanctuaries, second homes, houses of God to welcome the stranger. Indeed, Congregation Beth Israel’s Rabbi CytronWalker invited Akram in for a cup of tea. But then, as the rabbi chillingly recalled: “As we prayed, my back turned, faced towards Jerusalem, I heard the click of a gun.”

What followed was a painful reminder of how vulnerable Jewish communities around the world can be, despite the security gates and guards, CCTV cameras, barbed wire fences and even blast doors. Short of Minority Report-style pre-crime arrests, we like to think we’ve got it covered. Have we? Is four attacks in less than four years ‘covered’? It was also a reminder of the threat we face from radical Islam at a time when British Jews have been focused on the antisemitism of the far left.

Generational antisemitism is ingrained in too many British Muslims. Indeed, one Blackburn Muslim Community Facebook page’s unspeakable response to the attack was hope that Akram would be blessed “with the highest ranks of paradise”. What, you wonder, would he have been blessed with if he’d actually killed Jews?

Despite the upsetting events of recent days, ours remains a community defined by its illustrious contribution to British life, not the twisted threats of extremists. Last weekend’s synagogue attack will do little to dent our well-won self-confidence.

It has, however, dealt a fresh blow to our sense of security.

Uncomfortable truth The hysterical reaction to Samuel Hayek’s comments about the future prospects for our community turned to farce with your columnist Hannah Rose airbrushing history, through your newspaper, by downplaying “dhimmitude” as the “alleged othering of non-Muslims” (Jewish News, 13 January 2022).

Dhimmitude is very well-documented, sometimes imposed more leniently or more harshly, depending on the leader and circumstances. Even the Hamas charter speaks of “returning to the natural order”.

Mr Hayek spoke of a fear felt by many in our community. A fear neither from hate nor a phobia, but rather from what we see around us.

We know the majority of Muslims are not antisemitic and we know we have many friends in the Muslim community, but we also know

(from Jewish News), that a recent poll found a sizeable minority of UK Muslims believe antisemitic tropes.

We have also seen the manifestation of this on our streets (the bile spewed at the annual Al Quds Day rally, last year’s antisemitic convoy, the Chanukah bus incident...).

The weekly roundup of who said what about us during the previous week, that we read on your pages, is always sobering.

About 20 years ago, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was vilified for expressing a similar view about French Jewry, yet history proved him right.

Perhaps our leaders could calm our fears in a more reasoned way, rather than try to close the discussion by attacking Mr Hayek.

Rowland Aarons, Hendon

Sketches & kvetches

Shabbat goes out Saturday night 5.23pm

Your columnist Hannah Rose mentioned the “far right” no less than eight times in her column of 13 January but failed to mention the far left, home to many antisemites. Yet even the far left can’t compare in terms of uneducated, generational anti-Jewish attitudes to parts of the Muslim community. It’s is not racist to state the truth.

Sidney Sands, Finchley

SENSIBLE FEARS

THIS WEEKEND'S SHABBAT TIMES...

Shabbat comes in Friday night 4.15pm

FACTS, NOT HATE

Sedra: Yitro

“I know this looks bad but, rest assured, I’ve set up an inquiry.”

Given precedents in France, Sweden, Denmark and other countries, many UK Jews are rightly focused on the rapid growth of Muslim population here and what it might mean for future generations. Hatred of Muslims as people is almost non-existent in the Jewish community.

It is concern; concern based on knowing our history and being aware of attitudes that exist, whether people like Hannah Rose want to admit it or not... We ought to thank Samuel Hayek for voicing our concerns with courage and honesty.

Eda Spinka, Hendon

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20 January 2022 Jewish News

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Editorial comment and letters

JEWS THRIVED UNDER ISLAM Richard Krafton stated that “Jews living under Islamic regimes were always second-class citizens”. Really? Has Mr Krafton not heard of the Golden Age of Spain, most of which was under Islamic rule. Has he not heard of Rambam, who was the personal physician to the sultan of Egypt and whose philosophical

VACCINES FOR ALL

writings have become prominent in both the Jewish and Islamic worlds? History is replete with Jews thriving under Muslim rule.

While some Muslims have aligned themselves with the hard-left in modern day Britain, that does not mean all Muslims are antisemitic.

Daniel Shear, by email

Inquiry a joke

We have billions of the most amazing vaccines and countries are crying out for access to them.

It is sad we had to turn away people not yet registered with a GP, or visiting from abroad. It would have been better if carers bringing people to their jab appointment could be given theirs at the same time, to prevent them from spreading the infection, falling ill or even dying owing to lack of access to the vaccine.

The UK government has put narrow, short-term and nativist interest before saving lives.

I’ve followed the BBC’s attempt to smear the children who took a bus into London to celebrate Chanukah.

The latest reports mention that the director general has fast-forwarded the complaint to the executive complaints unit. My experience of this body when dealing with dismissing a complaint, it uses words such as “due accuracy” etc. All this is copied directly from Ofcom’s guidance notes and it goes on to say that if one is not satisfied they can go to Ofcom! The reports in your paper mention that the Board of Deputies is suggesting the next possible step is to ask Ofcom to investigate.

This organisation also produces a guidance booklet for broadcasters entitled Harm and Offence. These two words, as a result of the BBC reporting, are a fair reflection of what is happening to the Jewish community.

So much for honesty, integrity and fairness – and any words one could also consider relevant to the standards that should apply to the BBC.

Ben Samuel, Edgware

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

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Opinion

Good Gryffindor! How not to use social media JENNI FRAZER

I

t won’t come as any great surprise to Jewish News readers that every so often there is a call for Israel to get its hasbara act together, in which diaspora Jews (mainly) deplore the inability of the country to distil its public image with wit and wisdom.

We frequently point to intellectual and technological achievements by Israel, which in those fields undoubtedly punches above its weight in the world’s boxing ring. So why are there episodes of idiocy that make the heart sink?

The latest manifestation comes from Danny Danon, a man whom, summoning my inner British nanny, I was once forced to tell off during an interview, in which he paid more attention to his mobile phone than to the questions being asked. (Public service announcement to politicians of all stripes — appearing to ignore the question is not a good look).

Danon, once Israel’s ambassador to the UN and now chairman of World Likud, decided, for

reasons best known to himself, to accuse the Harry Potter actress Emma Watson of antisemitism.

Watson’s “crime” was to post an Instagram image showing a pro-Palestinian protest, featuring a banner with the somewhat ungrammatical declaration, “Solidarity is a verb”.

Well, not only is solidarity not a verb, but even if it were, it’s a hell of a long stretch between showing a picture of a pro-Palestinian rally and espousing antisemitism. I have no reason to believe that Watson does any such thing; apart from anything else she has apparently given over control of her Instagram account to a feminist collective, so it may not even have been her own posting.

But Danny Danon thought he would be incisive and witty, two words not normally associated with him, and thus posted a Twitter comment: “10 points from Gryffindor for being an antisemite”. (Gryffindor being the name of one of the school houses in Harry Potter).

Oh, Lord, I thought, when I saw this. If Emma Watson had no negative thoughts about Israel and Jews before now, this remark is

❝

ISRAEL PUNCHES ABOVE ITS WEIGHT, SO WHY ARE THERE EPISODES OF IDIOCY? unlikely to help.

And, indeed, despite numerous rebuttals from smart Jews – including the Community Security Trust’s Dave Rich, a man in a position to know antisemitism when he sees it – the lunacy was off and running.

Inevitably, those wishing to defend Watson and express “solidarity” – how I am beginning to hate that word – gathered round and put their names to a letter, organised by Artists for Palestine UK. And the signatories include people whose views on Israel and antisemitism I really did not want to know, people who have been drawn into this foolish conversation. So we have people such as Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Capaldi and Charles Dance signing up.

Certainly there are the usual suspects

among the signatories, including Maxine Peake, Ken Loach and Miriam Margolyes. But this was so unnecessary. If only Danon had shut up and people had ignored Watson’s social media outing. Emma Watson is not Wiley, the rapper kicked off Twitter for hardcore antisemitism, and nor should she be put in the same category.

There’s a lot of talk just now about Nachman Shai, currently Israel’s diaspora affairs minister and said to be about to throw his hat into the ring to become chair of the Jewish Agency, succeeding Isaac Herzog, now Israel’s president. It can’t, surely, be beyond the wit of people like Shai to pay a bit of attention to Israel’s public image and make sure there is damage limitation in place.

We have more serious battles to fight than this – as we all know.

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20 January 2022 Jewish News

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Opinion

Shul siege forces us to face uncomfortable facts DR DAVE RICH

DIRECTOR OF POLICY, COMMUNITY SECURITY TRUST

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ast weekend’s hostage-taking at the Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, appears at first sight to be fairly straightforward: it was an act of antisemitic terrorism, of the type that has become depressingly familiar to Jewish communities across the globe.

It was another reminder of the reason why we have tight security at synagogues, Jewish schools and our other communal buildings.

It follows the devastating terrorist attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh, Poway, Copenhagen and Halle in recent years. Visitors often comment on how hard it is to gain entry to synagogues, compared with churches or other places of worship; this is the reason why.

This particular attack even appears to have a specific goal: to secure the freedom of Aafia Siddiqui, a Muslim woman linked to al-Qaeda and sentenced to 86 years in prison on various terrorism-related charges in 2010. Siddiqui

PRECIOUS STONES

is held in a Texan prison not far from Colleyville and it seems that her release was the sole demand of the hostage taker.

But this particular attack is something of a puzzle. We may need to wait for the police investigation to uncover all the facts before truly understanding how Faisal Malik Akram from Blackburn ended up in the Beth Israel Synagogue in Texas last Shabbat.

If Akram’s goal was simply to take Jews hostage in a shul, there are many closer to home he could have chosen, rather than flying 4,500 miles to do it. Similarly, if Akram was part of a wider plot to secure Siddiqui’s freedom, there must be Islamist extremists or al-Qaeda supporters who live closer to Texas and who could have been recruited to carry out a hostagetaking, rather than relying on a middle-aged Muslim from Lancashire to do the job.

The question of why Akram chose to take hostages in a synagogue, rather than, say, a church or a school, seems to have puzzled some commentators. For others, it is simple: he did it because they were Jewish. This last point is an assumption about his motives that is yet to

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be confirmed, but there is plenty of evidence of the antipathy towards Jews in parts of our Muslim communities. One large-scale survey of antisemitic attitudes in Britain, published in 2017 by CST and the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, found that British Muslims are much more likely than the general population to hold antisemitic attitudes – in fact antisemitic views are as common among British Muslims as they are among people who identify as very rightwing politically – although it also showed that most British Muslims rejected antisemitism.

This survey also showed that levels of antisemitism are higher among people – Muslim

or not – who hold strongly anti-Israel attitudes.

We saw the impact of this mixture of antiIsrael hatred and antisemitism among British Muslims last May, when there was a spike in antisemitism during the Israel–Gaza conflict.

Two thirds of antisemitic incident perpetrators for whom CST obtained a description during that month of conflict were of south Asian or Arab appearance.

Over 80 percent of all antisemitic incidents that month involved language, imagery or behaviour linked to the conflict in Israel and Gaza. And while it would be wrong to assume that every incident perpetrator of south Asian or Arab appearance is a Muslim, when you put these statistics together they suggest that antisemitism emanating from within our Muslim communities played a large part in driving the increase in antisemitism during that period.

This poses a challenge that goes beyond the immediate security lessons of how to keep a potential terrorist out of a synagogue. It is a challenge not just for Jews and for Muslims, but for everyone who understands the importance of building a harmonious and diverse society.

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

Opinion

Lipman vs Rantzen: the war of the dames is real RABBI LAURA JANNER-KLAUSNER FORMER SENIOR RABBI OF REFORM JUDAISM

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Jewish women’s boxing ring. In the left corner, Maureen Lipman. In the right, Esther Rantzen. Two unlikely opponents. Two great Jewish women publicly tussling, ideological fists at the ready. Central to their combat is whether it’s offensive, even antisemitic, for actors who aren’t Jewish to take Jewish roles; and by extension, if any actor or author should act or write as another ethnicity, gender or colour.

In one corner are those, like Rantzen, who fear the ramifications of this kind of gatekeeping depleting people’s right to creativity and denying our capacity to learn and enjoy the best actors.

In the other corner stand those, like Lipman, concerned that while this may be called artistic creativity it may in reality be something more sinister – cultural appropriation leading to retrograde stereotypes of Jews. This could read

easily instead as Muslims or people of colour and is no distant, philosophical argument.

Many marginalised authors and actors don’t get the same opportunities as the majority; and even when telling their own stories, minority voices are still pushed to the sidelines.

I recognise both fears. I’ve seen incredible performances of Jewish characters by nonJews, but also countless gentile Fagins and Levys mincing around on stage doing ‘Jewish dancing’ or over-the-top Yiddish accents.

Many robust remedies could enable our feisty fighters to step back from this fray.

Let’s start by looking at who writes a script or book. When Jewish characters are written

by Jews, it’s easier for gentile actors to portray them respectfully because the writing tends towards nuance.

Take Robert Popper’s Friday Night Dinner – the Jewish mother played by Tamsin Greig, a non-Jew, was recognisable as an authentic figure to many Jewish viewers. Compare this to Mindy Kaling’s Netflix show Never Have I Ever – the Jewish characters, although played by Jews, were sloppily regurgitated caricatures.

It’s crucial to be careful as an author or actor

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NON-JEWS SHOULD BE WELCOMED IN WRITING AND ACTING ABOUT JEWS

using real-life horrors, such as the Holocaust, as plot devices that can come across as ‘dipping your pen in someone else’s blood’. John Boyne’s Boy in the Striped Pyjamas creates a sympathetic, humanising view of a Nazi family.

Everyone except the father is supposedly unaware of what’s happening at Auschwitz, which turns my stomach as there’s no way they wouldn’t know.

The story as told is impossible. The idea that prisoners in Auschwitz could escape work and spend their days peacefully forming friendships with gentiles through an unguarded electric fence is preposterous, lessening the horror of the camps. Boyne’s non-Jewishness isn’t the issue. Boyne, however, proudly suggests that he wrote the book in two days without stopping

‘to think about it much’, leading one to wonder how much care he took over the research.

We shouldn’t avoid acting or writing other people’s stories altogether, but the time taken to research and listen to others, and their critiques of our work, should be proportional to their lived experiences. The further we are from their experiences, the more time we should dedicate to learning. The key question is not can actors or authors do this, but why they think they are the most appropriate person to do it. Just because anyone can write or act anything they want doesn’t mean they should.

Yet if we can never understand what it’s like to be part of a different group, any aspiration for understanding the ‘other’, the skill of empathy that underpins diversity and social cohesion, is rendered defunct. A bleak prospect.

I believe that people who are not Jewish can and should be welcomed in writing and acting about Jews and Judaism. It’s ideological purism to state that ‘you can’t possibly understand what it’s like to be from X group, therefore don’t write about them’, as it suggests that the human capacity for empathy is inherently limited.

The more allies the better.

Casting rules would repress instinct and stifle creativity GARY SINYOR

FILM & TV WRITER/DIRECTOR

I

t’s interesting that the debate about casting Jewish people in Jewish roles has come from actors. Maureen Lipman has suffered a Twitter pile-on for saying she disagreed with the casting of Helen Mirren as Golda Meir. What she actually said was “the Jewishness of the character is so integral. I’m sure she [Mirren] will be marvellous”.

The Daily Mail tweeted: “Jewish actress Maureen Lipman blasts Dame Helen Mirren.”

The quote originated in a Jewish Chronicle article on the ongoing debate about Jew-face.

Have a look at Mark Frankel, the star of Leon the Pig Farmer. Look at Gal Gadot, at Philip Green, at Isla Fisher who converted to Judaism. Do you know who was voted the sexist man alive recently? The actor Paul Rudd. A Jew face.

People who use the phrase are clearly referencing a particular type of Jewish face. Perhaps a particular type of body image? A Woody Allen-esque shlub. Ashkenazi? Certainly. Short?

Balding? Hook nose? Even JK Rowling was dragged into this via the goblins in Harry Potter because Jon Stewart made a joke in a podcast.

Picked up, taken out of context, and she, too, is accused of antisemitism.

The Jew-face phrase is so offensive, so trite, that I would never use it. I’m currently casting series two of Hapless. Where there are Jewish characters, I think hard about who should play them. It’s not based purely on religion; upbringing, understanding of the character, nuance and comedic ability all have their place.

Yes, I sometimes search the casting resource Spotlight with specific filters looking for women who can speak Hebrew because with some characters that feels right, especially if I’m casting an Orthodox Jewish role. If I’m trying to cast an Asian woman I turn on the Asian woman filter.

To represent a multicultural society I look at BAME actors. Sometimes I have written specifically for a white non-Jewish male and there is zero chance of me casting someone Jewish.

Directors and producers take responsibility for the casting of roles and they decide on the best person to play a role, given a host of variances, such as commercial value, talent and the ability to portray the role in the best possible way. Actors have the chance to accept or turn down a part. But they can’t turn it down if it’s not offered to them. I have a part in series 2 of Hapless of a blind woman. I tried to cast a blind actress. But I couldn’t find one who I thought

would do justice to the part. So then I had a choice: to forget about the episode or to cast a sighted actress to play a blind woman. I have cast a sighted actress.

Rules hamper creativity. Creative people don’t follow rules. They follow instincts. They change their minds. There are certain characters in Leon the Pig Farmer who had to be Jewish – Leon and his parents and his brothers – and the pig farmers had to be non-Jewish.

Looks count. If you’re an actor and you don’t think looks count, get a different job.

When it works, when De Niro put on weight to play an out-of-shape boxer in Raging Bull, fat blokes don’t complain. On the contrary, the actor’s desire to change their image is lauded.

In My Left Foot, Daniel Day Lewis was lauded for portraying a man with cerebral palsy. John Hurt’s sensitive portrayal of The Elephant Man must have involved hours of make-up each day.

The more society sets rules the less interesting creatives get. Given that Miriam

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Margolyes signed an open letter with Maureen Lipman in 2019 criticising the casting of nonJews as Jews and came in for not a peep of criticism, why is Maureen’s opinion so wrong?

Where is the support from David Baddiel and co for Maureen? Nowhere. Could it be because she is a supporter of the Jewish state in principle? The Twitter pile-on is full of people using the word Zionist to describe her. So our left-of-centre intellectuals are nowhere to be seen because… they’re conflicted. They agree with her but don’t want to be seen to agree.

This is what happens when attentiongrabbing out-of-context polemic becomes the overriding reference point for discussion of complex issues.

Maureen wasn’t given the chance to say enough, to justify the storm created. She did say she thought Mirren would be marvellous as Golda Meir. I’ll go further. I have no doubt she’ll be brilliant and that the film will be brilliant too.

And that is what matters.

THE JEW-FACE PHRASE IS SO OFFENSIVE, SO TRITE, THAT I WOULD NEVER USE IT

20 January 2022 Jewish News

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27

Community / Scene & Be Seen

1 SPECIAL HAVDALAH

Mill Hill United snagogue families enjoyed a winter havdalah with an outdoor silent disco and chocolate marshmallows.

2NEW RESPONDERS

Hatzola Northwest inaugurated eight responders to its emergency response team. The new members started training in 2021, dedicating many hours each week to gain knowledge and learning, with weekly assessments, practical scenarios and examination of their prehospital emergency care skills.

And be seen!

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

3FRUITY SEDER

Email us at community@jewishnews.co.uk

Sacks Morasha pupils had a fruity start to the week, celebrating Tu B’Shvat. Every class took part in its own seder, each with a different fruity twist.

Some created edible fruit bouquets or fruit flowers, and one class modelled self-portraits out of oranges. Children isolating took part via Google Classroom.

All fruit was supplied by the school’s PTA. The children wore green, brown, flowery or yellow items of clothing.

4HAPPY LEAVES

Among Norwood’s Tu B’Shvat-themed activities, Jewish cultural adviser Dov Richman led a virtual painting session in which, using a leaf template, the people Norwood supports were helped to decorate the leaves and write on them one thing that makes them happy.

The activity was held as part of the charity’s wider Connect Together programme of activities, which has just been shortlisted for a Tesco Community Grant to help beat isolation for people with learning disabilities.

Born

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December

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100-SECOND INTERVIEW MARIE JOSEPH, AGED 100 Place of birth: East London. I grew up on Folgate Street, Bishopsgate. The house is now a hotel.

Where do you live? How long have you lived there and where did you live before?

Did you have any other connection with Jewish Care before visiting the centre?

Since the start of the pandemic, I have been staying with my eldest daughter, Milly. Before that, I lived in my home in Loughton for more than 20 years and before that lived in the East End, where I raised my five children. I have been involved with Jewish Care as a volunteer for over 45 years, starting off when I volunteered at the Beaumont Centre, a Jewish club connected to Stepney Orthodox Synagogue. I became a volunteer there because I was a member of St Johns Ambulance and because I was Jewish and local to the area I was given the Beaumont Centre as one of my

Celebrating our community’s centenarians. By Nicola Lewis

duties. When Jewish Care took over in 1990, I stayed on volunteering with its Brenner Stepney Jewish Community Centre.

Occupation before retirement?

I was a caterer. I worked for people including Lady Jakobovits and her husband, Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, the [then] Chief Rabbi. I catered for them and all their guests, including Margaret Thatcher and a lot of other politicians.

children, and two great-great grandchildren, who are twins!

Marie as a young mum

Were/are you married? If so for how long. To whom?

I was widowed at a very young age and had been married for about 23 years. My husband’s name was Emanuel Joseph.

How many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren do you have?

I have five children, eight grandchildren, five great-grand-

What’s your happiest memory?

For me, the most amazing feeling of happiness was when the Second World War ended. There were such wonderful celebrations. And, of course, my other happiest memory is the birth of all of my five children.

What do you consider to be your greatest or proudest achievement?

I have lots of proud moments, mostly seeing my children and grandchildren succeed in life, with my grandchildren graduating from university and obtaining very good positions in their careers. One works for Transport for London, the other has gone to teach English in Spain, another is a beautician for film sets. I am proud of each and every one of them. They have all done what they chose to do and are all doing well at it, thank God.

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20 January 2022 Jewish News

LI FE

LURCH in a New Direction Brigit Grant talks to The Addams Family’s butler about his love for Jewish music

S

ix degrees of separation is common in our small community.

Worlds collide daily via cousins by marriage, friends of friends and chains of acquaintances. But a link connecting The Addams Family’s lugubrious butler Lurch to a Jewish a cappella vocal ensemble and UK Jewish Film is atypical and entirely due to Dickon Gough.

Currently filling the very large boots of the gothic gloomy manservant in a national tour of The Addams Family Musical, Dickon is also about to release his first choral album as the deep velvet baritone in Mosaic Voices, the resident choir at Bayswater’s New West End Synagogue. “And what a fabulous baritone he is – probably the best in the business,” espouses

Michael Etherton, who is the choir’s musical director and chief executive of UK Jewish Film in this creative collision. Standing at 6ft 5in, Dickon’s unobstructed view of everything made him an obvious choice for the role of kindly man mountain Lurch, who in Charles Addams’ original cartoons was 6ft 9in and the family’s Christmas tree when required.

“He is the lynchpin of the kooky family who, in his own unique slowed-down way, looks after everybody,” says Dickon. “The beauty of playing him – despite him only grunting or being silent for the most part – is that every moment of his performance has to be perfectly timed, because he is the kind of butler who wouldn’t miss anything. It just takes him five hours to get from one place to another.”

Likening arboreous Lurch’s comic relation-

ship with patriarch Gomez to that of Inspector Clouseau and Kato, the biggest challenge for Dickon is being rooted to the spot and not terrifying his three-year-old son when Facetiming in full creepy, Frankenstein-like make-up. That Lurch gets to sing in the Andrew Lippa musical is expected, but dance?

“It is somewhat characterised dance due to his stillness,” laughs Dickon, “But I’m okay with that because, in spite of doing three years of dance training at drama school, I’m flat-footed and size 13, so I wouldn’t put myself front and centre of a 42nd Street tap line.”

Dickon may not be the master of ‘step, ball, change’, but he was destined for the stage as his performance lineage goes back four generations to his maternal great-grandmother, Irene Scharrer, who was a concert pianist.

Then there’s his late grandmother, Rachel Gurney, who was the genteel Lady Bellamy in Upstairs, Downstairs, his mother, Sharon Gurney, who starred in Ken Russell’s Women in Love and his paternal grandfather, the late Michael Gough, who had a recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman films.

“Yeah, well, I I tried other jobs and kept getting fired. But I have grown up with it and loved it since I was a kid, so I’ve never seen it as a job and I’m lucky enough to get some work.”

An emotional return to the stage after lockdown had all of The Addams Family cast in tears as the regional theatres had been in darkness for so long. But, before lockdown, Dickon had been in rehearsals for the musical City of Angels, which had been due to open at the Garrick Theatre.

“We had eight previews and were four days away from opening night when the announcement came and there was nothing we could do.

It was the same for everybody. But hopefully that show will come back because it’s amazing.”

Audiences in Newcastle will be the last to see Dickon’s Lurch as he is leaving the tour for familial duties ahead of the Wimbledon New Theatre run. But the song and some dance will continue because of Mosaic Voices and its newly-launched album, Letter To Kamilla, which is the first album of Jewish choral music to be released by a major UK classical record label – Chandos – and all of the 18 tracks sung in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and German are accompanied by films conceived by their composer-inresidence, BAFTA-nominated film-maker Benjamin Till.

‘Lurch’s’ journey to Mosaic started in the un-heimishe flats of North Norfolk, where he was almost certainly the only Jew in the school choir and loved singing requiems in spite of a Jewish heritage dating back to 1760, when his maternal great, great, great etc grandfather Israel Israel arrived in Britain.

Some years later, while appearing in an Olivier awardwinning production of La Bohème, Dickon got chatting to fellow cast member Ben Siefert (a barrister by day, soloist by night)

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Inside A look

Who, what & where Holocaust on stage Vegan recipe

and the need for proper baritones in Jewish choirs became apparent.

Dickon was intrigued and, before he could say Avinu Malkeinu, he was singing it in St John’s Wood Synagogue choir.

“I completely fell in love with it. The music is just so mesmeric and feels ancient. I’d been singing choral music forever, but to suddenly be singing Sim Shalom – it just gets you.”

He feels the same way about the album’s title track, Letter From Kamilla, which is a musically-adapted rendition of the last letter Etherton’s great-grandmother wrote before she was sent to Auschwitz.

“She died there in 1943 when her sister Minka’s number was called out and Kamilla went with her, not knowing what was going to happen,” reveals Dickon, welling up.

“When we first recorded it, just getting through it was a challenge because of the way Benjamin has written it. He let the words of the letter do all the work and it’s incredibly hardhitting while also being soothing. But the actual truth behind it is so terrifying.”

Dickon struggles to finish the sentence and his reaction won’t be lost on his musical director Michael who, along with the other singers Karl Gietzmann (countertenor), Miles D’Cruz (tenor) and Benjamin Till (baritone), is heading for the dancefloor as their recording of Etz Chayim is being remixed by the British band Faithless, who meld electronic elements into trance-disco beats.

“They’ve sold about 50 million records – God Is a DJ and Insomnia,” says Dickon. “They’re releasing it in March and this is our chance to introduce Jewish choral music to a world of people who have never heard it.”

That Etz Chayim could soon be chanted in some bouji nightclub in Chelsea or Ibiza is enough to get Lurch dancing. Albeit slowly.

• Letter to Kamilla will be released on

Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January www.mosaicvoices.co.uk • The Addams Family Musical tickets are available at www.theaddamsfamily.co.uk

Dickon, third from left, with Mosaic Voices

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

JN LIFE

&

www.jewishnews.co.uk

WHO WHAT WHERE MOVIE

Expelliarmus, naturally

Daniel Radcliffe

How Harry Potter has magicked his way into playing comedy musician Weird Al Yankovic not even JK Rowling could tell you Weird Al Yankovic (or would want to) – but Al is thrilled.

Yes, Daniel Radcliffe has agreed to be the crazy Californian creator of parody in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, his selfpenned bio-pic, which will be on the Roku channel. How easy the platform is to access will account for the number of people who see the finished film, directed by Eric Appel, but Daniel probably has a spell stored for that kind of thing, or should just try shouting “Aberto”, which always opened locked doors for Harry. Regardless, Al is happy, insisting that: “I have no doubt whatsoever that this is the role future generations will remember him for.”

HOLOCAUST BOOK

Save the Children Most people have heard of Oscar Schindler and Sir Nicholas Winton, but names such as Bertha Bracey, Lord Alan Sainsbury, or Sir Wyndham Deedes are rarely accredited in the same way – until now. At a time when governments refused to help Jews hide from or flee the Nazis, ordinary people took up the mantle, often risking their lives in the process. Find out about the young Dutch woman who stared down Adolf Eichmann and the rogue rabbi who could charm his way out of trouble. Learn how Sir David Attenborough’s parents brought two young Jewish children into their home and about the diplomats who defied their own government. Holocaust historian and educator Mike Levy uncovers all these stories, and many more, in his book, Get the Children Out! Importantly, the book pays attention to the role of numerous women in what has been a largely male-dominated historical narrative. Mike is working as a researcher for the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. He holds a fellowship with the Imperial War Museum and is chair of the Harwich Kindertransport Memorial appeal. £1 from every copy sold will be donated to Safe Passage to aid in its vital work in helping unaccompanied child refugees find legal routes to sanctuary. Get the Children Out! is published on 27 January to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day and will be available at ukbookshop.org, on Amazon and in bookshops. Pre-order now on lemonsoul.com for £8.99.

TV

Fur Baby

Call The Midwife, the BBC’s historical soap about sprog delivery, has delved into the Holocaust in previous episodes, and in a timely fashion ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, it returns to the subject this Sunday. In this story, elderly survivor Sammy (Alex Waldmann), wants his daughter-in-law Orli (Alexis Peterman) to have a home delivery, but as the family reside above their furrier business, Sister Hilda (Fenella Woolgar) has her reservations. Will she relent so the bairn can be born amid mink stolls and chinchilla wraps? Tune in at 8pm.

COMIC

Is it a bird? No, it’s a book We’re all so busy on screen, it’s easy to miss a book on the shelf, so here’s a reminder about Roy Schwartz’s Is Superman Circumcised?

The Complete Jewish History of the World’s Greatest Hero, which came out in 2021. We couldn’t let this slip by as it’s a fascinating journey through comic book lore that reveals the Man of Steel’s Jewish heritage. Schwartz (also Jewish) documents how the man who wears pants over his shorts was the 1938 creation of teens Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who based their hero’s origin on Moses, strength on Samson, mission on the Golem and nebbish identity on themselves. Clark Kent was also a refugee, but he was tearing up Nazi tanks two years before the US joined the war. The mostly Jewish writers, artists, and editors who picked up Superman’s story in the following decades based Krypton’s past on Genesis and Exodus and the trial of Lex Luthor on Adolf Eichmann’s. Would you want to miss Superman at a seder? No, neither would we. £39.95 on Amazon and in real bookshops.

COMEDY

Stepping out of line?

BOOK

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Alexis Peterman as Orli Rosen

Larry David

”He took the shoes!” This statement of disbelief is currently doing the rounds among Jewish fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

From Washington DC to Woodside Park; California to Chigwell, Larry David devotees are more than a tad perplexed by the season’s finale in which character Larry (the show’s creator, executive producer, star, lead writer and financial beneficiary) grabs a pair of shoes from a Holocaust exhibit and wears them home. His need for the handstitched spats, which he removes from LA’s Holocaust Museum is justified (in Larry’s mind) because he stood in dog poo on the way in. To wear soiled trainers in such a sacred building is unthinkable apparently, but not dancing in the rain like Gene Kelly in a murdered victim’s footwear. Mel Brooks, Roberto Benigni and others have found ways to make us laugh at the heinous history of the Jews, but would BAME viewers chuckle if one of their own cherished comics had done the same?

Wearing the headdress of a slaughtered American Indian might not be quite so funny.

Please email letters@jewish news.co.uk to say what you think

20 January 2022 Jewish News

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JN LIFE

AND BEYOND In spite of protests from the JN’s editor, Brigit Grant seeks solace with a spiritually connected author

M

ore contentious than politics and as inflammatory as religion, expressing a belief in psychics and mediums brings out the worst in people. I know this because I’ve been dismissed with a pitiful head shake or angry barbed remark on numerous occasions for giving credence to those who purportedly ‘mediate communication between the living and the dead’. I say purportedly because the editor of this newspaper wouldn’t have it any other way. He is a non-believer who is critical (that’s putting it mildly, Brigit, Ed) of those who make such claims. I had to verbally wrestle him into allowing me to write this.

Of course, as a Jewish newspaper filled with rabbinical comment, the editor is aware of the biblical prohibition of medium consultations. But Google Judaism and mediumship and you’ll be surprised by the number of Jews, including rabbis, who have had their own experiences with spiritualism and recognise that the ability to communicate with the other side does exist.

Among these believers is Rabbi Rachel Gurevitz of the B’nai Shalom Congregation in Massachusetts, who wrote about the unexpected advice she received from a woman unknown to her, but whom she subsequently describes as a possible malach, which is Hebrew for ‘angel’.

Fittingly, there were angel wings on the wall behind Bev Mann when she appeared on Zoom for our talk about her book, Spirits, Scandal and Sparkly Shoes: Confessions of a Kosher Medium.

The wings are not her own, but a pair she purchased at an antique show. “They must have come from the theatre at some point,” says Bev, who is sparkly like her book title suggests. “It was going to be called Confessions of a Jewish Medium, but my publisher advised against it, saying: ‘You know how people are.’”

Cinema has done little to assist the credibility of mediums, choosing instead to throw them into horror films as conduits of evil, or present them as vulnerable children who “can see dead people, walking around like regular people”.

But film-maker M Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense (1999) did not shock Bev, who tells me that children, up until the age of seven, retain their link to the spirit world, and that she was five when she saw her first spirit while holidaying with her parents in Cliftonville.

The apparition – a jester – is the first memory in her book, which catalogues her night terrors as a child alongside more com-

forting appearances of people who would sit on her bed, such as the woman knitting – “who didn’t scare me”.

Non-believers will dismiss Bev’s childhood sightings as the product of an overactive imagination, and for some years she did, too.

Then, in the late 90s, when she was married with children, an invitation to sit in a spiritual circle revealed her ability to see and hear things others could not.

“The woman running the group told us we needed to meditate, which I’m not very good at, but the others saw fountains and lights. The woman insisted I must’ve seen something, so I told her all I’d seen was a man in a paisley jacket sitting in the corner. The host was shocked. The man I could see was her husband, who had died six months earlier.”

Bev returned the following week when the circle’s focus was on psychometry (discovering facts about a person by touching inanimate objects) and, after taking a ring randomly from items in a hat, she recited almost verbatim the eulogy given at the funeral of the host’s husband. It was his ring. “It kind of blew me away, as well as them,” says Bev. “But I didn’t know how to harness this gift then. Now I know that when you practice as a medium, the more you practice, the sharper your skills are going to be.”

Had my editor been present for this conversation, he would have challenged Bev’s claims, all of which are in her book, including the reading she had with a Jewish client that resulted in the appearance of five close relatives. Among them was the client’s late mother, who revealed that her son was spending too much money and had just ordered a car.

“When I told her the number plate, her mouth fell open,” says Bev, who has numerous regular clients who value the solace each session brings.

Bev doesn’t see children, but for a parent who insisted that her unhappy 12-year-old daughter was troubled by faces she saw in suspended lights, she made an exception and the visit – with the child’s mother present – resulted in communication from her late grandmother. It is just such a story that would infuriate the editor, yet the child was transformed “as though a load had been taken off her shoulders”, she says.

As someone who keeps the tradition of Friday nights and who sent both her children to Immanuel College, Mill Hill-based Bev refused to renounce her faith in order to join the Spiritualists’ National Union, which trains healers and mediums.

Bev Mann is passionate about harnessing her ‘gift’, but refuses to renounce her faith

“I admit that what I do is a gift of sorts, but I can also teach people to tap into their own spiritualism and I wanted to take exams so I could teach at the Arthur Findlay College in Essex, which is the world’s foremost college for psychic sciences. But the union told me I couldn’t be Jewish and be a member, because they consider spiritualism a religion.”

Being a member of two faiths was not on the cards – Tarot or otherwise – and with sceptics doubting mediums’ abilities entirely, Bev’s book will for some (including the editor) be nothing more than a fantasy.

For Mitch Winehouse, however, her work is essential and he dismisses anyone who challenges the validity of the messages he has received from his daughter, singer Amy, who died 11 years ago.

“I’ve seen a medium who didn’t even know who I was, but told me things only Amy and I knew,” he tells me. “The comfort this brings to so many is immeasurable. It should not be censored.”

I ask Bev what she requires from a client ahead of a reading, to legitimise the process and silence doubters. “It’s a myth that mediums check on who they’re reading for and Google

them. I would never ever do that and require absolutely nothing,” she says. “If I know too much, I can’t read them. I have to have a clean palette. Knowing anything can cloud me.

“All I need is an open heart and mind because you have to be open to receiving it.”

As a Jewish believer raised by believers who frequently saw evidence of their ability, Bev’s book is essential reading for me. I doubt my editor will ask to borrow it.

Spirits, Scandal and Sparkly Shoes: Confessions of a Kosher Medium

by Bev Mann is available from Amazon, priced £9.99

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JN LIFE Photo by Ana Diego

The strength of

kindness

Ahead of the premiere of a didactic play about the Holocaust, Alex Galbinski speaks to the survivor whose accounts inspired it

Photo by Anya Zraykat

Photo by Alex Galbinski

M

Susan Pollack, above, and, inset, at her graduation aged 60

Hungary in the years preceding the war as well as during it.

Susan was speaking to me from her home ahead of the world premiere of Kindness: A Legacy of the Holocaust,, next Wednesday. The performance at the Harrow Arts Centre, scheduled to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day the following day, is based on the verbatim play of her life.

While she acknowledges that sharing her story meant she would continue to relive it, it was important to her to do so. “I felt very strongly about informing and educating people,” she says, “telling them what the Holocaust meant, and the brutality and the indescribable terror that created complete chaos in our mind, and sorrow and pain.

“It’s always there, so talking about it is helpful. Kindness, generosity and helpfulness is what takes us forward.”

After her liberation, Susan, who was by then suffering from typhoid, tuberculosis and severe malnutrition, went to Sweden to recover.

She was later given the opportunity to move to Canada, where, aged 18, she married Abraham Pollack, a fellow survivor, with whom she had three children.

They came to England in 1962.

“I had feelings of loss, of extreme insecurity,” she tells me of her state of mind after liberation. “You never lose an experience like that. But all you can do is to build on it – in one’s achievements. Do the things that you like doing and accomplish something that you have to put all your energy towards. That was very helpful for me, so there was no space for dwelling on things.”

And build on her past she did. From being a village girl with little schooling, Susan decided to study for her O-levels and A-levels in her fifties. Aged 60, she earned a degree in modern European history, about which she remains very proud, showing me the photograph of her graduation that stands in pride of place along with photographs of her daughters and grandchildren.

Rehearsals for Kindness: A Legacy of the Holocaust, based on Susan Pollack’s wartime experiences

Now, Susan has retired from relating her experiences to children, instead entrusting the task to Voices of the Holocaust, which uses theatre and accompanying education programmes to teach the Shoah.

The play – which Susan describes as “excellent” and “very faithful” to her experiences – was adapted by Cate Hollis, the theatre’s founder and artistic director, and British playwright Mark Wheeller. Thanks to the European Jewish Fund’s financial backing, it will go on to tour schools around the country, accompanied by workshops and teaching sessions and a ‘Mitzvah Project’ to which schools can sign up, committing to their own ‘acts of kindness’.

Hollis says: “For Susan, acts of kindness were absent as she went through the terrible events and experiences as told in the play.

“It has been such an honour, and truly humbling, to have been entrusted with the responsibility of sharing her story.

“It has taken a lot of love, a deeply committed team and some years to get to this place, but we are delighted Susan can finally retire, as she wishes, in the knowledge that her words, experiences, reflections – indeed her legacy of the Holocaust – will carry on the incredible work that she has done for so long.”

• For more details about Kindness: A Legacy of the Holocaust, Holocaust visit www.voicesoftheholocaust.org.uk Photos by Voices of the Holocaust

ost people have a story to tell about their life.

Some deliver it via the written word in books or articles, others deliver it in biopics, and some do it even through songs. Susan Pollack’s story has been turned into a play and it will have you questioning humanity.

“I had no idea what was going to happen to my mother at Auschwitz-Birkenau,” she said.

“After the selection, I was taken to a barrack and the others asked, ‘What happened to your mum?’

“So I described it and they said, ‘Oh, well, she was gassed.’ I didn’t understand what they meant and did not ask questions because it’s just so outside of human experience, outside of any kind of logical kind of understanding.”

Susan, now 91, has experienced unimaginable horror. Surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and later the harrowing death marches, Susan lost 50 relatives, including her parents, in the Holocaust. She saw her father beaten up before being put on a train – to where, she still does not know – and later watched her mother’s selection for the gas chambers. While her older brother, Laci, also survived Auschwitz, they were separated from each other for 20 years.

But she smiles as she vividly recalls the kindness offered to her on 15 April 1945 by one of the British soldiers who liberated her at Bergen-Belsen.

“It was so bitter outside the barracks and I crawled out. And, suddenly, I felt someone picking me up, a gentle hand, and he picked me up and placed me in an ambulance.

And that, to me, was kindness – that he hadn’t walked away. I find that absolutely miraculous to this day.”

Susan was forced, alongside other camp inmates, to endure frequent selections when they would be inspected, naked, and often in front of the ‘Angel of death’, Josef Mengele. They would pinch their cheeks to appear healthy and useful, stand tall, and hope they would not stand out enough to get them selected to die.

For 30 years, Susan – who was born Zsuzsanna Blau in 1930 in Felsögöd, Hungary – gave talks to schoolchildren about her family’s experiences of antisemitism in

Left: Susan with the Kindness cast and crew and, above, at a school in 2013

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JN LIFE

Faking it for a FISH SUPPER You won’t believe how convincing these vegan fishcakes are – in appearance, texture and taste. Delicious served with a salad for a light

Artichoke ‘Fish’ Cakes with Dill Mayo (makes 12) Ingredients

1 x 400g can of chickpeas, drained and liquid (aquafaba) reserved 1 x 390g can of artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed 180g fresh breadcrumbs 2 spring onions, roughly chopped 4 tbsp vegan mayonnaise 1 tsp mustard 1 tsp dried kelp granules or other seaweed (optional) Preparation time 15 mins

1 tbsp dried mixed herbs vegetable oil, for frying sea salt and ground black pepper For the dill mayo a few sprigs of fresh dill, chopped 4 tbsp vegan mayonnaise 1 lemon, sliced into wedges, to serve

Cooking time 20 mins

Directions

Photo by Jamie Orlando Smith

1. Add the chickpeas, artichokes, 80g of the breadcrumbs, spring onions, mayonnaise, mustard, seaweed and mixed herbs to a food processor. Season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper and pulse until everything is chopped and chunky but not smooth. (You can also do this by hand with a potato masher.)

2. Divide the mixture into 12 equal portions and shape into patties. Set aside on a large plate or baking tray.

3. Put the remaining breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl and the reserved aquafaba (this will act as an egg substitute) into another bowl. Dip a patty into the aquafaba and then place in the breadcrumb bowl and press in the crumbs until well coated. Return to the plate or baking tray and repeat to coat all the patties.

4. Meanwhile, put a large frying pan over a high heat and cover the base of the pan with the oill. After a few minutes, use one of the patties to test if the oil is hot enough. If it sizzles and bubbles when added to the pan it’s ready. Add half the cakes to the pan and cook for four to five minutes on each side until crisp and golden, then transfer to a plate with some paper towel, to absorb any excess oil. Repeat to cook the next batch.

5. Stir the dill into the mayonnaise. Serve the fishcakes with a small bowl of the dill mayo along with some lemon wedges for squeezing.

Extracted from Great British Vegan by Aimee Ryan, published by White Lion Publishing, priced £20.

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JN LIFE

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Orthodox Judaism

SEDRA Yitro

BY REBBETZIN SIOBHAN DANSKY In this week’s parsha, we meet Moshe’s father-in-law, Yitro. He sees how hard Moshe is working and suggests he employ deputies to share the workload.

“They shall judge the people at all times, and it shall be that they shall bring every major matter to you, and everything minor they shall judge…” (Shemot 18:22).

Moshe follows Yitro’s advice, with one slight change: “...the difficult things they would bring to Moshe and the minor things they would judge...” (Shemot 18:26).

In matters of leadership, it is easy to confuse recognition with importance. Sometimes the two coincide, but it can be that the most crucial jobs are the small, behindthe-scenes issues that may never be publicly acknowledged.

No one decorates and celebrates the foundations of a house and yet, without them, there would be no house to adorn or even in which to

live. Yitro’s advice was that Moshe should take on the high-profile tasks that would put his name in lights.

But Moshe is known as the humblest of all men; he knew his responsibility and job was to deal with the difficult issues, even if they would not earn him public recognition.

Rabbi Sacks points out that Yitro uses the phrase lo tov (not good) in describing how Moshe was shouldering the burden of leadership alone.

The only other time the phrase lo tov is used is in Bereshit 2:18: “It is not good for man to be alone”.

In leadership and in life, companionship is crucial. Moshe had a direct line to God, making him believe he was uniquely qualified to judge the people.

However, Yitro taught him it’s not perfection but rather collaboration that results in great leadership. ◆ Rebbetzin Siobhan Dansky is a participant in the Chief Rabbi’s Ma’ayan programme

Torah For Today What the Torah says about: Couples with different levels of observance making a home together

BY RABBI ARIEL ABEL Typically, greater evidence of couples living happily together with differing levels of observance has been observable in traditional Sephardic households.

This is partly due to Shabbat and mikveh seen as staples of culturally Jewish, rather than specifically religious observant identity. This contrasts with the all-or-nothing approach, that may promote divorce over forming compromises in religious practice.

The story is told of the Chief Hakham of Argentina Issac Chehebar, whose wife did not cover her hair as would be expected. A growing number in his congregation asked him what he might do about it. The leading decider of halacha of the era, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, had declared that the bareheadeness of a married woman was grounds for divorce. Chehe-

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Celebrating 150 Yea r s

bar’s response was rhetorical and incredulous: “Are you expecting of me that I divorce my wife?!”

What is interesting in conversations around differing levels of observance is that the discussed criteria centre around the three ‘big ones’: Shabbat, mikveh and kashrut. Whereas these are halachic cornerstones in practice of Judaism, it is far less expected that a Jew might separate or divorce

from a spouse who exhibits dishonest behaviour, or who routinely gossips, hurts, judges or shames others.

Significantly, our sages teach that the tenets of humaneness to be merciful, have a sense of shame and generosity of nature (Yevamot 79a) are the very characteristics of a Jew, without which one should start to worry whether the perpetrator can be Jewish at all; they are therefore also the three preconditions of character for accepting converts to the Jewish faith.

Hence one could be halachically married to a reputedly frum spouse, but ethically be considered out-married all the same. ◆ Rabbi Ariel Abel CF LLM is a solicitor at Liverpool Legal, a legal practice in Liverpool associated with E Rex Makin & Co Solicitors

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Jewish News 20 January 2022

Progressive Judaism

The Bible Says What?

‘The rainbow will always arrive’

BY RABBI DR ANDREW GOLDSTEIN As Progressive Jews, what can we make of the opening chapters of the Torah? We can see the scene for human history being set, with explanations for many aspects of our society.

Why women have a painful time giving birth is put down to Eve eating the apple. Why it’s no fun being a gardener is explained by weeds being the punishment for Adam having his own bite of the forbidden fruit.

We get Abel, the first shepherd and Cain, the first ‘tiller of the soil’ – modern commentators say this is a reflection of the ancient enmity between the settled farmer and the itinerant shepherd whose sheep might invade his land.

Enoch was the first to found a city, Jabal was the first herdsman and his brother Jubal “the ancestor of all who play the lyre and pipe”.

Then, chillingly, at the end

of chapter six we are told that people are wicked and the world is to be destroyed because “God regretted making humankind on earth and God’s heart was saddened”.

In the very next Sedra, God carries out the threat to destroy the world, but not completely and it ends with the rainbow.

This all points to the brilliance of Genesis as religious literature, because it depicts the real world and at each stage urges humankind to learn from past actions.

We live in a time of climate change, pandemic, threats of war and countries tearing themselves apart. Maybe our Torah teaches us that from the very beginning it has been so, but God’s promise with the rainbow reminds us that in the nick of time God, or we, will somehow save our world.

◆ Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein is president of Liberal Judaism

Progressively Speaking Learning should not onlybe done in school

BY RABBI DEBBIE YOUNG-SOMERS At the start of January, ‘tiger head’ and social mobility tsar Katharine Birbalsingh made headlines when she tweeted that parents are lucky if their children are educated well, and we should all be giving them extra lessons every day after school. If we aren’t, she argued, we are disadvantaging our youngsters.

As a dyslexic, I had extra tutoring as a child, helping me learn techniques for spelling and differentiating between a, e, b and d (being called Deborah wasn’t ideal.)

My mum, a special needs teacher, absolutely couldn’t give me this support. I’m sure she tried, but it had to be someone external to support me. After two lockdowns, it is clear my own family have a similar problem. So, while my husband and I try to regularly sit with our kids and do homework, we are definitely not their teachers, and we are aware of what a phenomenal job so many of our teachers have done in coping

with the past two years and the interruptions to education.

Our inability isn’t the only reason we don’t go in for nightly lessons.

In the UK, we begin formal schooling earlier than many other countries.

In Finland, compulsory education begins at seven; in the USA, it varies between five and eight depending on the state. Although Reception classes include a lot of play, older children and teens need time to explore learning beyond formal education.

We need to allow them to

expand their horizons, to exercise, to socialise, to be part of their synagogue communities, to enjoy the outdoors, to read for fun and to process their learning. All of this helps to support their mental health, which has never been more important.

Shalom (peace) has in its Ivrit three-letter root a connection to the word wholeness. For children to become whole people, academic achievement and knowledge are only a part of the picture. The Hebrew Shalom is a reminder to us that peace is only found in wholeness.

While school is a crucial part of their growth, and we all have to work in partnership with our children’s schools if they are to succeed, their time outside school also needs to be a part of helping them find their place in the world. ◆ Rabbi Debbie YoungSomers serves Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue

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EMPLOYMENT LAW AND DATA PROTECTION

TREVOR GEE Qualifications: • Managing Director, consultant specialists in affordable family health insurance.

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

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

• LLB solicitors finals.

• Member of Chartered Insurance Institute.

EMMA GROSS Qualifications: • Specialist in claims of unfair dismissal, redundancy and discrimination.

• Negotiate out-of-court settlements and handle complex tribunal cases.

• HR services including drafting contracts and policies, advising on disciplinaries, grievances and providing staff training.

• Contributor to The Times, HR Magazine and other titles.

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

SPENCER WEST LLP 020 7925 8080 www.spencer-west.com emma.gross@spencer-west.com

JEWELLER JONATHAN WILLIAMS Qualifications: • Jewellery manufacturer since 1980s.

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

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

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

COMMERCIAL LAWYER ADAM LOVATT Qualifications: • Lawyer with more than 11 years of experience working in the legal sector.

Specialist in corporate, commercial, media, sport and start-ups.

• Master’s degree in Intellectual Property Law from the University of London.

• Non-Executive Director of various companies advising on all governance matters.

LOVATT LEGAL LIMITED 07753 802 804 adam@lovattlegal.co.uk

Find out more +44 (0) 20 7847 9494 | currenciesdirect.com/jn

CONSULTANT DERMATOLOGIST

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

DR LAURENCE LEVER Qualifications: • MBBS FRCP, private practice at 108 Harley Street The Skin Clinic.

• Consultant Dermatologist with a special interest in the management of malignant and pre-malignant conditions of the skin • Looks after all dermatological conditions, including dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, acne, moles, warts, cysts, skin tumours/cancer/oncology, dermatological surgery.

SUE CIPIN Qualifications: • 20 years+ hands-on experience, leading JDA in significant growth and development.

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

• Extensive services for people affected by hearing loss/tinnitus.

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

Hearing aid advice, support and maintenance.

108 HARLEY STREET SKIN CLINIC 0207 563 1234 www.108harleystreet.co.uk info@108harleystreet.co.uk

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION 020 8446 0502 www.jdeaf.org.uk mail@jdeaf.org.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 19 years ago.

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

DANCING WITH LOUISE 075 0621 7833 www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk Info@dancingwithlouise.com

20 January 2022 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

39

Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE

ACCOUNTANT

KITCHEN CONSULTANCY

JACOB BERNSTEIN Qualifications: • A member of the APCC, specialising in financial services compliance for: • Mortgage, protection and general insurance intermediaries; • Lenders, credit brokers, debt counsellors and debt managers; • Alternative Investment Fund managers; • E-Money, payment services, PISP, AISP and grant-making charities.

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.

SHANTI PANCHANI Qualifications: • Experienced designer with 25+ years’ experience in German and English kitchens.

• We provide a full-circle approach: from designing and supplying to installing your new kitchen including appliances and speciality worktops.

• Our suppliers are flexible in design, ensuring the customer remains the priority.

• We have been supplying kosher-friendly kitchens for over 15 years.

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

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

THE KITCHEN CONSULTANCY 07738 067 671 www.thekitchenconsultancy.com shanti@thekitchenconsultancy.com

INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS SPECIALIST

IT SPECIALIST

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

LEE SHMUEL GOLDFARB Qualifications: • Hands-on service, with full and personalised support for international transfers.

• Get the most out of your currency exchange with regards to pension income, when purchasing your first house in Israel or benefitting from an inheritance from aboard.

• UK leader in financial exchange and partner to brands such as St James Place and Hargreaves Lansdown with industry-beating Trustpilot score.

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.

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.

CURRENCIES DIRECT 0786 0595 890 / 0207 847 9400 www.currenciesdirect.com/jn lee.goldfarb@currenciesdirect.com

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

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

ISRAELI ACCOUNTANT

INSURANCE CONSULTANCY

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!

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.

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

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

ALIYAH ADVISER

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 mock interviews and workshops to maximise job prospects.

• Expert in corporate management holding director level marketing,

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

TELECOMS SPECIALIST

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, pet disputes, family disputes.

• Frequent broadcaster on national and International radio and television.

BENJAMIN ALBERT Qualifications: • Co-Founder and Technical Director of ADWConnect – a specialist in business telecommunications, serving customers worldwide.

• Independent consultant and supplier of Telephone & Internet services.

• Client satisfaction is at the heart of everything my team and I do, always striving to find the most cost-effective solutions.

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

ADWCONNECT 0208 089 1111 www.adwconnect.com hello@adwconnect.com

If you would like to advertise your services here email: sales@ jewishnews.co.uk

LOOKING FOR A JOB? Resource offers a free, comprehensive range of tailored services such as CV building, mock interviews, networking and 1 to 1 advisor support to help you find your next role.

Take the first steps in getting back to work. Call Resource now to book a chat with an Advisor and see how our free services could help you.

Call on 020 8346 4000 or visit resource-centre.org Charity No. 1106331

40 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

20 January 2022

The first deaf person I met was my beautiful baby Layla.

“ When Layla was diagnosed deaf at birth,

we were in complete shock and didn't know what to do.

JDA was there for us when we needed them most.

They've shown us we're not alone, helped us to cope and given Layla the best start in life. ”

Your donation will help Layla and all children with hearing loss get the very best out of life.

020 8446 0502 02 k www.jdeaf.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1105845 Company Limited by Guarantee 4983830

20 January 2022 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

41

Fun, games and prizes

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD 1

2

3

4

5

7

9 11 14 17 19 20 22 23

6

8

9

10

11

12

15

16

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18 19

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ACROSS 1 Ornamental headpiece (5) 4 Disney dwarf (5)

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

Short swim (3) Hinder (6) Religious sufferer (6) Up until now (3) Individual (3) Skilled workman (7) Weasel-like mammal (5) Spirits dispenser (5)

8 6 4

7 Shouting loudly (7) 8 Hardwood (3)

1 2 9 8 5 3 1 5 6 4 8 9 5 2 7 1 3 9 5

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.

2

CODEWORD

The listed words that relate to American state nicknames 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.

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

2

A V N A G E U E S O X Z B W L E M D N O M A

I

25

D P Y

16

K M O R S S A R G E U L B Y G

I

L A E P R A

I

R

I

24

E I

V L V D P G X N L B H

N

Z

I

I

22

Q H F D R E U J ALOHA BAY BLUE GRASS COTTON DIAMOND

EVERGREEN FREE GARDEN GOLDEN GRANITE

Crossword ACROSS: 1 Serf 3 Pander 8 Inverse 9 Mob 10 Wedding day 13 Egocentric 17 Vet 18 Closing 19 Sarong 20 Ogle DOWN: 1 Said 2 Revue 4 Age 5 Domed 6 Rib-eye 7 Fridge 11 Nation 12 Pelvis 14 Otter 15 Icing 16 Ogre 18 Con

8

B U G

5

6 1 4 9 3 2 5 8 7

3 5 9 7 1 6 4 2 8

16

25

12

22

19

24

19

8

P

25

21

14

21

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13

15

15

24 21

I

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21 16

5

11

6

21

5

9

13

C

12

16

6

10

14

24

15

5

18

1 4 8 3 2 9 7 5 6

7 6 5 1 9 3 8 4 2

5 3

11

4

22 8

9

24 22

24

25

T

15

24

17

7 20 13

16

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22 20

12

4

3 5

2

4 3

4

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5 24

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26 21

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1

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I

P

26 12

22

See next issue for puzzle solutions.

21

9

10

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13

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23

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Suguru 2 7 6 4 8 5 9 1 3

16

25

24 25

19 9

21 26

9

25

22

24

21

3

24

22 8

20

21

2 24

17

24

3

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 8 2 7 6 5 4 1 3 9

1

21

24

J W O C S

5 9 3 8 7 1 2 6 4

4

22

HAWKEYE SUNSHINE LONE STAR WONDER MAGNOLIA PRAIRIE SUNFLOWER

Last issue’s solutions

25

20

15

8

T A L O N E S T A R N Q R I

20

9

M L K R D O X F N Q A

B F H G R V D U S

12

17

E N K N W E W K E W T Y T E O Y E G R L O O E A Z

23

4

2

E A A H R N F Y R J W C G

24

9

6 8

WORDSEARCH H C O T T O N S L S T A A

5 2

1 3

DOWN 1 Torrent of invective (6) 2 Turkish chief (3) 3 Defence to a criminal charge (5) 4 Excavate (3,2) 5 Arrogantly (7) 6 Shoulder harness (4) 10 Dummy pill used in trials (7) 12 Month in spring (3) 13 Of a racial group (6) 15 Pamphlet, leaflet (5) 16 Old-style (5) 18 Diddles (4) 21 Relaxed in a chair (3)

13 14

SUDOKU

9 3 2 5 4 8 6 7 1

4 8 1 2 6 7 3 9 5

1 4 2 3 1 5

2 3 1 5 4 3

4 5 4 3 2 1

T

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

C

Wordsearch 3 1 2 1 4 5

2 5 4 3 2 1

1 3 2 1 5 4

3 4 5 1 3 2

2 1 3 2 4 1

5 4 5 1 3 2

2 1 3 2 5 1

3 5 4 1 3 2

4 1 3 2 4 1

C W O J X N L S S F T A R

F A L L O F F A B U Z Z H

Y T R M S V E U B E L G G

L E I X U S R E F R U S Y

C R P I H E S G K N B P C

T H I G H W I N D S O I O

E I U Q S B G I J J A Z H

Codeword W O U P G O E K Z X R R B

R A M S G F F A R V D N T

Y U V G T Y J O C V S Q W

J T L E D E D S Q H H I M

K E W A S U W S P I L F S

S A B K W M O P X D S P T

E M B E Z Z L E R S

V I X E N S S U A I S T RU S T U O H V E R L AB J Y I RCON L A Y L P I SOD I C N U T OB S HR E O L E SWA Y S T

DR I P I N S F UR Q A E URNUM I T O E S S E R T T RANG E L A DD I NG D K E Y L E S

U C D L R N V O T Z X20/01 AG Y H J S K E BMQ F I PW

42

Jewish News 20 January 2022

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Business Services Directory HOUSE CLEARANCE

ANTIQUES

Stirling of Kensal Green

Top prices paid Antique – Reproduction – Retro Furniture (any condition)

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

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

Established over 60 years.

Know who you are dealing with.

Dave & Eve House Clearance Friendly Family Company established for 30 years

House clearances

All quality furniture bought & sold.

Single items to complete homes

Best prices paid for complete house clearances including china, books, clothing etc. Also rubbish clearance service, lofts, sheds, garages etc

MARYLEBONE ANTIQUES - 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED

07866 614 744 (ANYTIME) 0207 723 7415 (SHOP)

Please contact Gordon Stirling

closed Sunday & Monday STUART SHUSTER - e-mail - info@maryleboneantiques.co.uk

020 8960 5401 or 07825 224144

MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING

Email: gordonstirling65@gmail.com

CHARITY & WELFARE

We clear houses, flats, sheds, garages etc.

No job too big or too small!

Rubbish cleared as part of a full clearance.

We have a waste licence.

We buy items including furniture bric a brac.

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

HOME & MAINTENANCE

ARE YOU BEREAVED? Bereavement Counselling for adults and children individually. Support Groups available.

During the pandemic, we offer telephone and online counselling.

Contact Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service in confidence.

0208 951 3881 enquiries@jbcs.org.uk | www.jbcs.org.uk

Labels are for jars.

Not people.

Refer yourself or a loved one by calling 020 8458 2223 or visit www.jamiuk.org REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1003345

CHARITY & WELFARE

SILVER

PLUMBSAFE (UK) LTD

WESTLON HOUSING ASSOCIATION

“Better Safe Than Sorry”

Sheltered Accommodation

For all your heating and plumbing requirements

We have an open waiting list in our friendly and comfortable warden assisted sheltered housing schemes in Ealing, East Finchley and Hendon. We provide 24-hour warden support, seven days a week; a residents’ lounge and kitchen, laundry, a sunny patio and garden.

| boiler repairs and installation | complete central heating | | power flushing | complete bathroom installation service | | landlords certificates | project management | home purchase reports |

All NW-London postcodes covered

07860 881505 or 0800 610 12 12 Not shabbat

PLUMBSAFEUK.COM

For further details and application forms, please contact Westlon Housing Association on 020 8201 8484 or email: johnsilverman@btconnect.com

OFFICE FURNITURE

Need to furnish your home or office?

London’s leading supplier of new and reconditioned furniture.

Free assembly and delivery next working day on most items – call now!

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at sales@jewishnews.co.uk

STONEMASON

A. ELFES LTD New memorials Additional inscriptions & renovations

Call 0207 205 4229 Email sales@andrewsofficefurniture.com www.andrewsofficefurniture.com

The specialist masons in creating bespoke Granite and Marble Memorials for all Cemeteries.

Clayhall Showroom 14 Claybury Broadway Ilford. IG5 0LQ T: 0208 551 6866

Edgware Showroom 41 Manor Park Crescent Edgware. HA8 7LY T: 0208 381 1525

Email : info@garygreenmemorials.co.uk

www.garygreenmemorials.co.uk

Gary Green ad 84 x 40mm JM Group v2.indd 1

18/03/2019 12:50:51

Gants Hill

12 Beehive Lane Gants Hill, IG1 3RD Telephone

Edgware

130 High Street Edgware, HA8 7EL Telephone

0207 754 4659 0207 754 4646

www.memorialgroup.co.uk

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at sales@thejngroup.com

20 January 2022 Jewish News

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43

Business Services Directory LEGACY- LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR MEMORY

JEWISH WAR VETERANS

Leave the legacy of independence to people like Joel.

& THEIR DEPENDANTS NEED

YOUR LEGACY

legacy@cst.org.uk ► www.cst.org.uk ►

PLease remember us in your wiLL.

eNABLeD

Tel: 020 8202 2323 Web: www.ajex.org.uk Email: headoffice@ajex.org.uk

visit www.Jbd.org or caLL 020 8371 6611

Registered Charity No. 259480

Legacy Classified advert v1.qxp_Legacy 16/06/2021 10:57 Page 1

Registered Charity No: 1082148

0208 457 3700 ►

Together

we protect our children’s future Please include CST in your will

Charity no. 1042391 and SC043612

COMPUTER

HELP US CONTINUE TO BE THERE FOR OUR COMMUNITY WITH A GIFT IN YOUR WILL.

Legacy advert 84x40.indd 1

16/04/2021 10:55

Call our Legacy Team on 020 8922 2840 for more information or email legacyteam@jcare.org Chancellors House, Brampton Lane, London, NW4 4AB Tel: 020 8903 8746 | Fax: 020 8795 2240 www.bfiwd.org | email: info@bfiwd.org

Charity Reg No. 802559

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at sales@thejngroup.com

10 Golders Green Road London NW11 8LL Opposite Cafe Nero

REOPENING SPECIAL OFFERS, Suits from £79.50 CRAZY PRICES! Overcoats from £79.50

SHIRT SPORTS JACKETS AND SUITS ALL ½ PRICE BARGAIN Trouser Bargains £25 S £ KNITWEAR OFFERS £15 ANY 2 FOR £20 Raincoats from £49.50

CASUAL JACKETS FROM £20 CHINOS £20 EACH 2 PAIRS FOR £35 Large Sizes a RAINCOATS FROM £29.50 speciality OVERCOATS JUST ARRIVED, ALL HALF PRICE Open everyday & Sundays til 5:00pm

We accept

10 EACH O 3 FOR £2 R 0

23 e z si to k p u c rts in sto i h S

44

Jewish News 20 January 2022

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