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FREE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 10 February 2022
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9 Adar Rishon 5782
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Issue No.1248
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@JewishNewsUK
‘Operation Exodus’ for Ukraine’s Jews
Contingency plans in place to evacuate thousands EXCLUSIVE 1
2014 it supported Jews fleeing military conflict in Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, helping them By Stephen Oryszczuk to settle in Kharkiv, a city close Jewish diaspora charities from the to the Russian border. UK and US are working with Israeli “We rescue Jews in danger,” security teams on plans to evacuate the JDC said. “We have the Ukrainian Jews from the country in reach, the relationships, and the the event of war with Russia. resources to act. Out of a deep They have mobilised as the UK precommitment to save Jewish lives, pares to deploy Royal Marines, RAF we’ve launched numerous daring Typhoons and Royal Navy warships to operations into crisis zones. eastern Europe, with the United States “When there are threats to sending 3,000 troops. Jews or Jewish life today, we’re Circling Ukraine are more than there with boots on the ground 100,000 heavily armed Russian troops, and expertise to be a lifeline roughly 70 percent of an invasion force according to US intelligence, whose dire Charities support thousands of Jewish children in Ukraine or take them out of harm’s way. assessments have left Jewish organisaFor more than a century, we There are more than a dozen Jewish char- have been the global Jewish [emergency tions working in the country preparing for ities mainly from the US and UK currently service] 911.” the worst. Pressed on Ukraine this week, the While no organisation would confirm it operating in Ukraine, whose Jewish populacharity would only point to an old press publicly, Jewish News understands from sev- tion has been estimated at up to 200,000. Some, such as the American Jewish Joint statement from 25 January about its work eral sources that evacuation details for thousands of Ukrainian Jews have already been Distribution Committee (JDC), work in both with partners “to ensure the ongoing wellUkraine and Russia. In 2020, it spent £47 being and safety of our clients and staff and worked out. It is understood that plans include spe- million on aid in Ukraine, where it says it to prepare for emerging needs”. World Jewish Relief (WJR), based in cific cities, age groups, modes of transport, supports 40,000 Jews, while also spending London, works with JDC. It supports about routes and final destinations, which include £50 million on Jews in Russia. The JDC was behind the 1991 operation 8,000 often poor and elderly Ukrainian Jews, both European countries and Israel. We are not publishing any details of the to airlift 14,000 Ethiopian Jews out to Israel, some of them Holocaust survivors, through a proposed operation in order to preserve the instituting a “silent call system” and coor- network of local partner organisations, with Continued on page 16-17 dinating transport to the planes, while in integrity of the plans.
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CHIEF RABBI: WELBY IS TRUE FRIEND OF JEWS AND ISRAEL EXCLUSIVE 2 By Jenni Frazer
Archbishop Welby and Chief Rabbi
The Chief Rabbi this week hailed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s “sometimes courageous” support for British Jews while acknowledging he “disagreed” with elements of a recent article about Christians in the Middle East. “True friends will not always
agree,” Ephraim Mirvis reminded the archbishop’s critics, adding: “When we do differ, we must endeavour to do so constructively and respectfully. It is essential that we recognise and cherish who our real friends are, and Archbishop Welby is most certainly one of those.” Rabbi Mirvis said he had come to know Archbishop Justin Welby
“exceptionally well”. He described him as “a long-standing, genuine friend of the Jewish community and the State of Israel”. He noted, however, that he disagreed with some of the content of the Sunday Times article that Welby co-wrote with the Archbishop of Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the Chief Rabbi said, the archbishop had “consist-
ently spoken out against the evils of antisemitism, notably [in the Jeremy Corbyn era] ahead of the last general election”. “He has been outspoken about the importance of Holocaust education and has given his passionate support for the future Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre beside Parliament”. Chief relaunches charity, p6
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
News / Hate report / Productive talks
Antisemitic incidents hit record levels over past year, says CST by Lee Harpin lee@jewishnews.co.uk @lmharpin
The hate convoy driving down Finchley Road last May. The suspects next appear in court on Friday
Anti-Jewish hatred in the UK – often driven by the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East – reached record levels during the past year, a Community Security Trust report published today reveals, writes Lee Harpin. The CST’s Antisemitic Incidents Report 2021, shows the charity recorded 2,255 anti-Jewish hate incidents nationwide during the past year. This is the highest annual total the organisation has ever recorded, a 34 percent increase from the 1,684 antisemitic incidents in 2020. The total is also 24 percent higher than the previous annual record: a total of 1,813 incidents in 2019. Reacting to today’s report, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “These statistics are shocking and a stark reminder that the racism of antisemitism has not been eradicated. “Our Jewish community has been subject to appalling hatred and it is through the strength and determination of the Community Security Trust that we continue in our
27 May 2020
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Accords and the threat of Iran. Charalambous told Jewish News that along with security and rights concerns, the pair had spoken of “how Talks between Labour’s shadow the UK can support steps Middle East minister Bambos towards a two-state solution Charalambous and Israel’s deputy for Israel and Palestine”. ambassador to the UK Oren MarTheresa Villiers, comorstein have been hailed by both sides as “positive and constructive”. Envoy Oren with Bambos chairwoman of Conservative Friends of Israel, had In a sign of the Israeli Embassy’s growing confidence in Labour under earlier criticised the MP over his statement he Sir Keir Starmer, Marmorstein thanked the had made on Amnesty International’s recent Labour MP for what he said had been “a won- report, saying: “It is disturbing that Labour’s derful meeting” on Tuesday – during which shadow minister on the Middle East is sugthey had discussed human rights issues, new gesting Palestinians face ‘extensive discriminaopportunities presented by the Abraham tion’ in Israel. This is not true.” by Lee Harpin lee@jewishnews.co.uk @lmharpin
ISSUE NO.6
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YIZKOR – Living with
CST’s chief executive Mark Gardner said: “These record levels of anti-Jewish racism, reported by our Jewish community to CST and police, show how difficult last year was for Jews across Britain. “These hatreds boil away, taking any excuse to publicly burst out against Jews. This is exactly what happened during and after the Israel-Gaza war of May 2021, from schools and universities, through to the carloads of people who repeatedly drove to Jewish areas and yelled vile abuse at anyone who looked Jewish.” The report revealed that the type of incident that became emblematic of antisemitism during this period involved people driving through Jewish neighbourhoods across the UK, in vehicles draped with Palestinian flags or waving them out of the windows while shouting “Free Palestine” and anti-Jewish abuse at pedestrians who were singled out for being Jewish. In Manchester and London alone, there were 155 antisemitic incidents involving people shouting abuse from passing vehicles, more than half of which happened in May and June. Throughout the year, CST recorded an overall 1,254 antisemitic incidents in Greater London, an increase of 33 percent from the
Talks between Labour and Israeli envoy are ‘positive’
Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Unlike other Jewish media, we do not charge for content. That won’t change. Because we are charity-owned and free, we rely on advertising to cover our costs. This vital lifeline, which has dropped in recent years, has fallen further due to coronavirus. Today we’re asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do. For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain. Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life. You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with. 100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
work together to stop such terrible attacks. In addition to supporting the work of CST, I continue to support the police to ensure they have the resources to tackle these despicable incidents so that perpetrators can then be punished with the full force of the law.” The report confirms the figures were driven by the huge rise in anti-Jewish hate and extremism during and following the escalation in violence in Israel and Palestine last year. Last May, the month when the conflict in the Middle East intensified, the CST recorded 661 antisemitic incidents, and in June there was the fifth-highest monthly total of 210 incidents. Taken together, May and June made up 39 percent of the year’s total. Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “It is truly appalling that incidents of anti-Jewish hate have now reached record levels – and for this to be increasing shows just how far we have to go to remove the stain of antisemitism from our society. “We need urgent action to tackle these vile incidents wherever they arise, be it in schools, on our streets or online. Hatred is unacceptable in all its forms, and it is our responsibility to stamp it out once and for all.”
PM’s chief of staff resigns Boris Johnson’s chief of staff Dan Rosenfield is among those who have resigned from the prime minister’s inner circle in recent days. The former World Jewish Relief chair was one of four of the PM’s senior aides to quit last week. Downing Street confirmed that Rosenfield – who reportedly attended a Christmas Party held in the office of Simon Case, the head of the civil service, at a time when
Covid restrictions forbade such gatherings – had offered his resignation, “which has been accepted” earlier in the day. His departure from No 10 had been widely expected since the allegations around the Downing Street party crisis began to surface. An active member of Alyth Synagogue in Golders Green, Rosenfield began working as the prime minister’s chief of staff in January 2021.
He was widely praised by many in the community who expected him to restore order to the Johnson’s often chaotic operation after advisers Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain quit their jobs. But one communal source told Jewish News they felt Rosenfield had been unable to instil the discipline many predicted he would within Downing Street. One PR expert claimed he had showed the PM “too much respect”.
10 February 2022 Jewish News
www.jewishnews.co.uk
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Hate report / CST comment / News
HUMAN TOLL THESE HIGH NUMBERS TAKE BY DAVE RICH DIRECTOR OF POLICY, CST
Chanukah bus attack in November and swastika graffiti in Belsize Park in August
941 incidents recorded in London in 2020 and the highest number ever recorded in the capital. In total, 39 percent of all antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2021 occurred in the six London and Manchester boroughs of Barnet, Hackney, Camden, Salford, Manchester and Bury. More than a third of all antisemitic incidents in 2021 – 826 out of the 2,255 total– involved language, imagery or behaviour that referenced the conflict in the Middle East or demonstrated anti-Zionist motivation alongside antisemitism. In 120 incidents, explicitly anti-Jewish remarks were made alongside calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.
There were 502 incidents in which offenders used far right or Nazi-related discourse, including 90 instances of ‘Holocaust celebration’ in which perpetrators celebrated the genocide of the Jewish people or expressed a wish for it to happen again. Forty-nine incidents recorded by CST in 2021 contained discourse relating to Islam and Muslims (25 of which occurred in May), compared with the eight reported the previous year, There were 182 anti-Jewish hate incidents involving schools, school students and teachers in 2021, the most reported in any year and more than triple the 54 incidents in this sector in 2020. There were 128 antisemitic incidents
reported to CST in 2021 in which the victims or offenders were students or academics, or involved student unions or other student bodies, compared to 44 incidents of this type in 2020. This is the highest number of universityrelated incidents that CST has ever recorded in a calendar year. CST recorded 176 violent antisemitic incidents in 2021 – three of them classified as ‘extreme violence’ – the most ever recorded in any year and an increase of 78 percent from the 97 violent incidents in 2020. They form eight percent of the overall figure, in line with the proportion of incidents that involved physical attacks pre-pandemic. The government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, Lord Mann, said: “CST is a major and critical asset to the Jewish community. The understanding it has provided through these statistics, which are very serious indeed, underlines a requirement for us to reconsider our efforts to tackle antisemitism.”
Today’s report reveals something of the toll antisemitism takes on our community and the consequence of the volume of antisemitic reactions to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The numbers reveal a simple truth: when there is a trigger event in the Middle East, the impact on Jewish diaspora populations is significant. Jews from all walks of life and all parts of the community are targeted by those who hold Jews responsible for Israel’s alleged actions. Every time hostilities in the region increase, CST sees a spike in anti-Jewish hate in the UK, none more extreme than in 2021. Either this is antisemites using conflict in Israel as an excuse to act out their hatred of Jews; or people getting worked up about Israel and taking out
their anger on British Jews as a local proxy target. Either way, the impact is the same. What these numbers cannot capture is the human toll: the story of a victim who reaches out for support in dealing with the shock and trauma of a targeted, physical attack; a parent scared to send their child to school, where classmates will continue to harass them with shouts of ‘Free Palestine’; a witness to antisemitic graffiti, whose feeling of safety is eroded with every swastika they see daubed onto a public wall. CST is here to help, protect and advocate for those affected by this hatred. It is a mission that is more easily achievable when the effort is collective, when our community and allies report antisemitism to CST and police, and support all our efforts against the danger. Find out more at www.cst. org.uk. In an emergency, call the police and then call our 24-hour emergency number, 0800 032 3263.
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Special Report / Starmer harassment
Savile slur sees surge in antisemitism at Starmer
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Boris Johnson’s Westminister slur about Sir Keir Starmer and the failure to prosecute child sex offender Jimmy Savile has sparked an upsurge in antisemitic hate directed at the Labour leader, a Jewish News investigation can reveal, writes Lee Harpin. Over the past week, we discovered scores of social media posts, all attempting to justify the falsehood that while director of Public Prosecutions Starmer was personally responsible for the failure to bring charges against Savile. Posts shared on Twitter included one labelling Starmer’s wife, who is Jewish “an Israeli”, adding of the Labour leader: “his children are being raised as Jews and he’s been quoted as saying he is ‘Zionist without qualification’ Savile was a notable Israeli supporter who had met senior Israeli politicians and was considered an esteemed friend of Israel [sic]”. Another post, shared on the same social media platform, made reference to the ugly scenes on Monday as a hardline group of conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers surrounded the Labour leader and shouted insults, including the claim that Starmer was a “paedophile protector”. Another poster claimed the scenes outside Westminster had been “mostly brought on by Starmer, Lammy and their smearing cabal, paid for by their Zionist masters.” After being shown the social media posts directed at the Labour leader a Board of Deputies spokesperson said: “This antisemitic abuse is disgusting. We call on online platforms to remove the offending accounts.” The MP and parliamentary chair of the Jewish Labour Movement Dame Margaret Hodge added: “Words matter. And the prime minister’s callous attempt to smear Keir Starmer with a slur peddled by right-wing trolls who further engage with antisemitic conspiracy theories is more than disgusting, it’s dangerous.” Johnson caused outrage at last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions session in parliament when he claimed Starmer had “spent more time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile”. Downing Street subsequently said the PM
would “clarify” his remarks, but at least 11 Tory MPs have called for Johnson to retract and apologise for the claims. Asked to comment on the posts directed at Starmer, a Downing Street spokesperson told Jewish News yesterday: “The PM had said the behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition is absolutely disgraceful and all forms of harassment are completely unacceptable.” A spokesperson for Starmer told Jewish News: ”There is concern about the prime minister giving oxygen to views that originated in the dark corners of the internet in far-right conspiracies. There is a question of the PM giving these views legitimacy by raising them from the Dispatch Box in the House of Commons.” The widespread circulation of antisemitic tropes about the Labour leader comes as fears grow over the collaboration between far-right and far-left activists, brought together through anti-vax and other protests. After Starmer was surrounded by the mob as he left Westminster, video footage confirmed he had been branded a “paedophile protector”, a “freemason” and a “traitor”, with one demonstrator carrying a noose. The Labour leader and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy were bundled into a police car. After the fracas, during which two arrests were made, users of the same social media channels also alleged that the confrontation had been “staged”. Comments posted on You Tube included descriptions of Starmer as a traitor and a “controlled Zionist”. Under a video of the incident, another said: “They are all scum. Going to need more than a few goons as personal protection if things get any worse.” Video of the protest showed Piers Corbyn, the brother of the former Labour leader, speaking to the crowd and leading chants of “resist, defy, do not comply”. Last Thursday, Johnson’s policy chief for more than 10 years, Munira Mirza, resigned over his comments about Starmer.
www.jewishnews.co.uk
10 February 2022 Jewish News
5
Fantasy football / Covid caution / News
Wembley bound ... touch Wood! It’s just 10 miles from Boreham Wood FC’s modest Meadow Park ground to Wembley Stadium. But since the Hertfordshire club’s founding in 1948, those dreams of FA Cup glory might as well have been 10,000 miles away. That was until Sunday, when the National League side stunned Championship team Bournemouth in the FA Cup, with a nail-biting 1-0 victory. The Wood overcame their south-coast rivals, who are 74 places above them, and travel to Premier League Everton in the fifth round.
Celebrating the local side’s success, Elstree and Borehamwood United Synagogue’s rabbi Alex Chapper said the whole community was “pleased for the club”. He said: “We live very close to the stadium and always hear the crowd cheering when they score – it’s usually during Shabbos lunch.” He praised the “fantastic achievement, which shows us what’s possible when you dream big and work hard together as a team”, adding: “I’d like to wish them continued success in
COMMUNITY CAUTION ON COVID FREEDOMS The United Synagogue has cautiously welcomed plans to lift remaining Covid restrictions. Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions, Boris Johnson said
the government is likely to end the requirement for people with the virus to self-isolate in less than two weeks time. Current restrictions were due to expire on 24 March but
Above: Yavneh College students with the FA Cup during an assembly. Inset: Jewish fans including, right, councillor Jeremy Newmark. Main image: Victory celebrations
their next game and hope they can go all the way to Wembley” Sam Franklin, chair of the synagogue, which became the UK’s largest Jewish community in 2015, said: “We were all on the edge of our seats as Boreham Wood held on for a famous victory. I know everyone connected with our community was so proud of
the performance and we can’t wait to see how the boys do against Everton.” The team at Yavneh College said it was “particularly delighted” the Wood were victorious, after the club’s manager, Luke Gerrard, and its chairman, Danny Hunter, brought the FA Cup into school and spoke to pupils about their journey.
The club have not conceded a goal in their five FA Cup matches, and the historic win means an unbeaten run of 17 games in all competitions, with the second best defensive record in the top five leagues – behind Premier League leaders, Manchester City. Are you off to Everton? Tell us! Editorial@jewishnews.co.uk
Johnson said he intends to lift them by 24 February. Steven Wilson, chief executive of the United Synagogue, said: “We’re pleased to see the country continuing its path towards living as we knew it before the pandemic. We wait to see the government’s full guidance later this month to see how it might impact members and will
respond accordingly.” In the most recent advice sent to members, the US said on 27 January one of its aims was “to encourage people back to in-person shul activity”, but stressed decisions should be taken “locally”. “Each community should consider when setting local policy bearing in mind the age profile of its
members, its building and the wider local context,” it said. Communities are also told to ensure “balancing the need for people to feel welcome, comfortable and safe in shul”, with masks, social distancing and ventilation. The US stresses that “members must not attend if they have received a positive lateral flow or PCR result or are required to self-isolate.
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
News / Ben Azzai / Custody battle / Jury discharged / Student support
‘Bubble-bursting’ project relaunched by Jenni Frazer jenni@jewishnews.co.uk @jennifrazer
The Chief Rabbi has stressed the importance of young Jewish leaders tackling vital issues such as climate change and addressing the refugee crisis as he unveiled a worldfirst, upgraded social responsibility programme. Six years ago, Ephraim Mirvis launched Ben Azzai, a project aimed at puncturing the comfortable Jewish “bubble” in which so many students found themselves, by taking a select group for short visits to countries with high levels of poverty, such as India and Ghana. But after four successive groups returned to the UK, ready to impart what they had learnt to their own communities, Covid intervened. So Mirvis has decided to relaunch Ben Azzai, which, with the help of the Tzedek charity and the Pears
Foundation, will expand in two ways. First, there will be more participants – around 20 rather than the previous 16. But rather than a short visit, it will be a year-long programme, broken down into four key components: global public health, international development, the refugee crisis and climate change. “We’re interested,” said the Chief Rabbi, “in producing new leadership for our community, for whom global social responsibility will be a key element.” The plan is to run a series of lectures and visits over the year, starting in July – potential participants have until early April to apply – with site visits all over the UK. The Chief Rabbi will himself take a hands-on involvement in running the events, which will be bracketed with a Shabbaton weekend at the beginning and end of the course. It is hoped that there will also be a foreign trip during the year.
A Ben Azzai group and Rabbi Daniel Epstein with Shea Butter co-op founder Joanna (in green dress) at a women’s co-op in Tamale, Ghana
“By dwelling on these four areas, we hope to open up opportunities for our participants – whom we want to be those with the potential to be the best of the best.” The programme is open to students and apprentices from across the religious spectrum. Mirvis emphasised: “It’s really
important that this is not just a Jewish community initiative. We see global social responsibility as being a religious imperative.” Ben Azzai, more than 2,000 years ago, taught that every human being was made in the image of God. Mirvis concluded: “We have a responsibility to care about everyone on earth,”
adding that the programme was devised so an accompanying rabbi (and sometimes a rebbetzin too) will give a Torah-based commentary to participants. The staff of the Office of the Chief Rabbi believe Ben Azzai to be a unique programme, not replicated in any other Orthodox community. And, as a faith-based initiative, it is a trailblazer: no other religious denomination is doing anything like this. Part of the legacy of Covid has been the necessity that became an opportunity, to secure international speakers through technology, and the Chief Rabbi hopes to continue that during the new Ben Azzai programme. Ex-foreign secretary David Miliband, now chief executive of the International Rescue Committee in New York, gave “a wonderful and inspirational presentation to Ben Azzai alumni” in the past year, and it is hoped the new programme will offer similar high-profile speakers.
BETH: OFFER OF HELP IS A TISSUE OF LIES Trial jury in M&S double
Beth Alexander with her twin boys
He writes: “The Jewish community did not participate in the court case beside the fact that many members individually helped her before, during and after the hearings”. Alexander describes this as “a complete fabrication”, saying: “I never received help. I was always alone with my lawyer. “I asked people to come along as my witnesses. I asked my neighbour to come as my witness and she kept adjourning and eventually refused. People were terrified to say publicly they supported me.”
She claimed she had received phone calls from women whose husbands had told them they were not allowed to support her. “Everyone and anyone who tried to support me was warned off – I was left totally isolated [in Vienna] in a den of thieves.” Alexander said that the situation had developed “way beyond the barmitzvah”, adding: “My latest application is to transfer sole custody [of the twins] back to me. We are looking for justice to be done, and those responsible must be held to account. To offer me a crumb, to be present at the barmitzvah, is an affront, it is insulting.” Deutsch emphasises that “the ruling over the children’s custody is a legal one and has been made by independent courts”. In relaunching her campaign to gain custody of her sons, Alexander has given power of attorney to a controversial religious figure, Antwerp-based Rabbi Moshe Friedman, who has been involved in highprofile court cases.
stabbing case is discharged The jury in the trial of a man accused of the attempted murder of two women in a Marks & Spencer store has been discharged. The manager of the store in Burnley, Lancashire, was wounded in the neck and a customer was stabbed in the arm on the morning of 2 December 2020.
Munawar Hussain, 58, from Burnley, was detained outside by a store detective before police arrived and he was arrested. He denies the charges. The jury was discharged by Judge Nicholas Dean QC, the Honorary Recorder of Manchester, for legal reasons. A new trial date is set for 6 July.
Major student conference Vice-chancellors from across the UK attended the UK’s first conference aimed at supporting Jewish students on campus amid rising antisemitism. The UJS Supporting Students conference – which was attended by more than
60 student services staff from British universities – included speeches from the government advisor on combatting anti-Jewish hate, Lord John Mann, and Professor Gavin Schaffer of Birmingham University about modern antisemitism.
and
A letter from the president of the Vienna Jewish community, Oskar Deutsch, offering to help Beth Alexander to take part in the upcoming June barmitzvah of her twin sons, Samuel and Benjamin, has been denounced by the British Jewish solicitor as “a whitewash” and “a tissue of lies”. Deutsch wrote to Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis last week, offering to help Alexander, who has been in prolonged dispute with her ex-husband, Dr Michael Schlesinger, since shortly after the boys’ birth nearly 13 years ago. The couple have fought many battles in court, during which Schlesinger challenged Alexander’s fitness as a mother, while she accused him of calling on his contacts in the Vienna Jewish community in order to impede her relationship with the children. Deutsch writes that both he and “many members of our community, tried to mediate and find solutions” to the breakdown of relations between the pair.
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News / Bus report / Radio upset
BBC accepts CST claim on attack The BBC has conceded the Community Security Trust (CST) did not provide ‘verification of the existence’ of an antiMuslim slur during its investigation into the corporation’s reporting of the Chanakah
bus incident on Oxford Street, writes Lee Harpin. In an ‘update and clarification’ published last week, the BBC’s editorial complaints unit (ECU) confirmed it did not wish to imply the CST
had confirmed the existence of the comment. The ECU’s clarification said: “The responsibility for such verification rests with the BBC journalists and managers responsible for the story.” Furthermore, the update stated that the CST “also request that the BBC make clear that they were not proactively releasing or initiating use of the video by the media and had acted during this incident as a conduit between the media and the students on the bus”. It also stated that the ECU
was aware that the BBC “had contact with other sources separate from the CST who were able to verify that the video represented the incident in question”. Last month, the CST was left furious after the findings of an investigation into the BBC’s reportings of anti-Muslim slurs suggested the CST had heard them in the video footage of the incident. It had called the BBC’s claim “a completely misleading representation of the exchanges between the BBC and CST on that day”.
People protest BBC coverage of the Chanukah bus attack
LBC ALLOWS 5-MIN ‘MASTER RACE ’RANT The Community Security Trust (CST) has said it was “extremely disappointing” that radio station LBC allowed a caller to go on a five-minute rant about Jews and Zionism without intervention, as the Board urged it to apologise. The individual rang onto the programme and compared Zionism to Nazism, because the former claimed to be a “master race”. On the programme, a man named
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Steven called up to discuss American talkshow host Whoopi Goldberg’s controversial remarks last week, that the Holocaust was “not about race”. Goldberg has since apologised and been suspended from her show, The View, for two weeks. Steven agreed with Goldberg’s initial remarks, claiming she was right “because Judaism is not a race. It’s a faith...just like Islam, just like Catholics, just like Methodists, it’s a faith.”
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10 February 2022 Jewish News
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Jewish News meets... Rachel Reeves
‘PM Keir? I’ve never been so optimistic’ Rachel Reeves loves the idea of becoming chancellor and credits her party leader’s war on antisemitism with bringing it ‘back to the mainstream’, writes Lee Harpin Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is “more optimistic now than in any of the years I’ve been an MP” of Labour winning the next general election, crediting Sir Keir Starmer’s war on antisemitism with helping bring the party “back into the mainstream”. The Labour frontbencher, the MP for Leeds West since 2010, also insisted that the record number of expulsions and suspensions of members for disciplinary offences, had been “good” for the party – and said she had “paid close attention” to the issue as “you don’t have to be Jewish to be offended by antisemitism.” Outlining a stream of economic policies that she believed now made Labour a credible electoral force, Reeves said the “best thing” she had witnessed over recent weeks was “seeing the sense of pride” return to Jewish and non-Jewish activists in campaigning for the party in areas such as Barnet, Harrow and in Bury, north-west England, ahead of May’s local council elections. Meeting the 42-year-old after a morning in which she has been out door-knocking in Harrow, north-west London, and at the end of another disastrous week in Westminster for Boris Johnson as a result of his response to the continued Downing Street “partygate” revelations, it is perhaps little surprise that there is a clear spring in her step. With the opinion polls showing Starmer’s party comfortably ahead, the Tories indecisive on whether to replace Johnson, and a post-pandemic cost of living crisis impacting on the entire country, these are times when you would expect the main Opposition party to be making a serious impact. But suggest that overturning an 80-seat majority at the next general election is still too great a task for Labour to achieve, and Reeves, a former Bank of England economist, is quick to disagree. “Absolutely we can,” she insists. “I feel more optimistic now than in any of the years I’ve been an MP. “Partly because of the direction Boris Johnson is taking the Conservative Party – but also because Labour is now setting out an optimistic vision for the future of the country. “Labour has only really won on three occasions – in 1945, 1964 and 1997 – partly because these previous governments were running out of ideas, but also because Labour had an optimistic vision for the future. I think Keir is doing that today as well.” A long-time vice-chair of the Labour Friends of Israel group, Reeves stresses how important Starmer’s pledge, once he became leader, to remove the stain of antisemitism from the party, has been in turning around Labour fortunes. “You don’t have to be Jewish to be offended by antisemitism,” she says. “I have a very small number of Jewish people in my constituency. It was non-Jewish people who said to me and others: ‘I don’t like this antisemitism.’” It is clear that Labour’s election strategists’
view is that Reeves is a valuable asset in their battle to win both the Jewish and wider vote in these councils. A regular in Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet, (the pair remain good friends, she says), Reeves pointedly resigned from the Labour front bench under Corbyn and in her own words “stood back”. Meet Reeves in person, and it is clear to see she has a familiarity with and knowledge of the Jewish community missing in some politicians across all political parties. She speaks admiringly about the work of charities such as the Leeds Jewish Housing Association and the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board in the city, noting that they continue to work with the council to help “some of the most vulnerable people across society”. Reeves also praises the work carried out by the Community Security Trust across the country, saying: “Sadly, in many ways, their work is needed more than ever protecting Jewish schools and synagogues – a Labour government would absolutely support the fantastic work that they do.”
Rachel Reeves, a church-going Christian, is vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel
some run by members of the community, attempting to convince locals that Labour’s plans to help with business rates and to combat the current cost of living crisis do provide a viable alternative to those of the government. The “best thing” after walking the streets of Whetstone, Totteridge and Finchley with the Barnet activists, she says, was seeing their “sense of pride again at knocking on doors and campaigning for the Labour Party”. Reeves continues: “That pride had been knocked out of them over the last few years when they were knocking doors and people told people weren’t voting Labour because it was an antisemitic party and that these people were very unhappy about the direction of the party. “There’s more work to be done absolutely. But the survey done by the Jewish Labour Movement about the direction Keir Starmer is taking the party in. It was really encouraging to see the results.” She excelled at school, then studied at Oxford University and the London School of Eco-
A chicken soup and salt beef working lunch with her team
A church-going Christian herself, Reeves adds: “All religions have this strong ethos about giving something back. That is something that is so strong in the Jewish community. A Labour government and Labour councils want to work with all organisations doing good in the community, sometimes protecting and supporting our most vulnerable.” But on a recent campaigning visit to Barnet, Reeves used her time to speak with businesses,
❝
IT WAS NON-JEWISH PEOPLE WHO SAID TO ME AND OTHERS: I DON’T LIKE THIS ANTISEMITISM
nomics, before working as an economist at the Bank of England, the British Embassy in Washington DC and HBOS. She has no time for those who continue to insist a Labour government will leave the country’s finances in ruins. “When Labour left [in May 2010], debt as a share of our economy was 60 percent,” she reasons. “It’s 100 percent now. Under the Tories we have also lost our triple A rating. I understand the importance of fiscal responsibility, of public finances. And unlike the Tories, I treat taxpayers’ money with respect.” She believes in treating business with “respect”, saying: “Nothing we want to do in government can be done without working with business. We have to have a partnership approach with business.” And what of Reeves’ own political ambitions? Does she dream of maybe one day replacing Starmer as leader of Labour? “I can honestly say I just want to be chancellor,” she replies. “I would love the idea of standing outside Number 11, with my red box on budget day.” Read the full interview online
10 February 2022 Jewish News
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Fundraising dinner / Educational charity / Rabbi’s role / News
Ivor helps Jewish Care raise £150k More than 400 guests surprised Holocaust survivor Ivor Perl with a rendition of Happy birthday on the eve of his 90th, writes Sabrina Miller. During one of the largest communal gatherings since the start of the pandemic, about 450 people attended Jewish Care’s Young Patrons’ dinner, at which more than £150,000 was raised to support its services. The event has not been held for two years because of the coronavirus, and included a video explaining the work of the charity’s Holocaust Survivors’ centre, which supports more than 300 survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution. Perl, who was born in Hungary
in 1932, and who lives at Jewish Care’s Selig Court retirement apartments, spoke about the importance of the charity after he arrived in the UK following the Shoah, saying: “At every difficult point in my life, Jewish Care has been there for me. “It started in 1945 when I was just 13 years old. I was sent here after being liberated from Auschwitz, where many of my family, including my parents, had perished. “I was young and scared – I couldn’t speak a word of English. Alone and in despair, it was the predecessor of Jewish Care, the Jewish Welfare Board, which took me in – I don’t know what I would have done without them.” The charity housed him, taught
him a trade and helped him to learn English, he told guests, and he would “never forget the kindness they showed me. They were my family.” Perl recalled how the Centre supported his wife, Rhoda, when she received a severe dementia diagnosis. The charity “stepped in and cared for her” until she died. After receiving a standing ovation from guests, he encouraged donations to support the charity’s work. Rob Sher, chair of Young Jewish Care, said: “Whether guests were hearing about Jewish Care for the first time or are already a young
Above and inset: Ivor Perl turning 90 at the Young Patrons’ dinner
patron, volunteer, or part of a committee, we are so grateful for their generous contributions.”
JN video report at jewishnews.co.uk
Jewish Quest offers UK ‘theological injection’ JANNER-KLAUSNER’S NEW JOB A new educational charity, Jewish Quest,is aimed at engaging Jews across the religious spectrum with podcasts and events, writes Sabrina Miller. Organisers of the reinvigorated version of the Friends of Louis Jacob have said it will offer a “theological injection in the arm of British Jewry”. It has already built a 2,000-strong audience and has podcast listeners in the US and Australia. Jewish Quest’s co-founder Simon Heder told Jewish News: “I think there is really an appetite for theology in a way that most
synagogues don’t like to put front and centre and there’s a real appetite for a search and questing. “[Our website] is kind of like a box of chocolates. You don’t quite know what kind of perspective you’re going to get but, there is a genuine interest for exploring Torah.” He hopes to give cutting-edge access to ideas and debates, saying our shuls “haven’t quite woken up to the digital revolution that needs to happen”. He hopes to reach across denominations and geographies, hosting scholars from Israel and America, as well as the UK.
Former senior rabbi of Reform Judaism, Laura Janner-Klausner is returning to the pulpit. The progressive leader, who served as head of the movement for nine years, will take over at Bromley Reform Synagogue (BRS) from
April. Janner-Klausner, who is also an inclusion and development coach, said: “I am completely thrilled to be returning to my true vocation as a congregational rabbi. “I already love Bromley for their open hearts, true inclusion,
and exceptional mutual support. Bromley is a friendly and generous community for people of all kinds.” BRS chair Michelle Brooks Evans said: “It is a real coup for us to attract such a high-quality rabbi to Bromley.”
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
News / Royal celebration / Nursery investigated
Jubilee music ‘inspired by Israel’ by Jack Mendel jack@jewishnews.co.uk @mendelpol
The stunning cliffs along the coastline near the Israeli town of Ra’anana were the inspira-
tion for music to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Stoke Newington-born Loretta Kay-Feld, who made aliyah about 10 years ago, revealed this week that “the music and words came to me
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quickly” as she strolled along the beach near her home town. The musician, 73, who has written work for the inaugurations of American presidents Obama, Trump and Biden, was approached by the royal family to compose work to celebrate the Queen’s 70 years on the throne. When offered the role, she said: “I felt so thrilled and exhilarated. Having written for presidents before, this was something even extra special. I’ve always had great affection for the royal family and especially Her Majesty.”
Kay-Feld, who attended the Royal College of Music and Guildhall School of Drama, created three pieces of music, the first of which is called Queen Soliloquy. She said: “I have tried to describe the feelings Queen Elizabeth must have, having served for 70 years. It’s a very reflective song.” The second piece is a “medley of four songs”, with videos compiled by film-maker Jason Figgis. She describes the third piece, titled 70 years a Queen, which will be published in June, as “humorous”.
Loretta Kay-Feld composed the songs by the Ra’anana coast
Asked how she came up with the compositions, she said: “I had read a lot about the
Queen. I took a walk along the cliff tops and the music and words came to me quickly.”
POLICE INVESTIGATE CLOSED NURSERY “no longer viable”. On 10 January, Ofsted suspended its A Golders Green nursery recently closed over saferegistration following an inspection and risk assessguarding concerns is now under investigation by ment. The exact nature of the concerns remain police, writes Sabrina Miller. unknown but are not believed to be of a physical or Police confirmed they are looking into Little sexual nature. Goldies, hosted at Golders Green United SynaLast week, an email sent to parents and carers gogue, after concerns were raised with them said: “The United Synagogue has resigned its regabout the conduct of staff towards children. It istration at Little Goldies, which means the nursery said officers were contacted by Barnet Council on is now permanently closed. Safeguarding remains the 17 January. No arrests have been made. first priority and we are committed to working with Last Wednesday, the United Synagogue closed all relevant agencies to conclude the investigation.” down Little Goldies nursery, explaining it was Little Goldies nursery
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Olympics anger / News
Hundreds protest ‘genocide games’
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Hundreds of people protested against China hosting the Winter Olympics, with many branding it the ‘genocide games’ owing to the country’s alleged human rights abuses and treatment of Uyghur Muslims. Protestors attended the two-hour rally in Piccadilly Circus holding banners reading: “Together We Resist”, “Beijing 2022 = sports washing Genocide”, and “Where are my relatives?”, eluding to claims that more than a million Uyghur Muslims have been incarcerated in camps by authorities. Human rights groups have raised concerns about camps in Xinjiang, a region in the country’s north-west, with clams of forced labour, rape and sterilisation. It comes after Jewish News campaigned to raise awareness of the plight of Uyghur Muslims, including organising the signing of a petition by more than 150 Parliamentarians urging the British government to ratchet up pressure on the Chinese government. During the protest, attended by Tory MP Nusrat Ghani and Labour MP Afzal Khan, campaigners expressed anger at the International Olympic Committee’s decision to award China the Winter Games, which began last week. They enacted a mock medal ceremony, with one protester, wearing Xi Jingping mask, being awarded a gold medal for violation and abuse of human rights, while another was given out for the destruction of democracy. Protestors also expressed solidarity with Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Tigrayans. During the event, Ghani, who recently claimed she was sacked from the cabinet because colleagues said her “Muslimness” made them feel “uncomfortable”, led chants of: “No to the genocide Olympic Games!” Labour MP Khan, who also spoke during the event, told Jewish News: “We’ve seen recently
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People masked as Chinese leader Xi Jinping
how the communities here, of different faiths including the Jewish community, have shown leadership. We said after the Second World War ‘never again’ and we see now again, again, that there is another genocide. There is a responsibility for all of us really to stand up.” Human rights activist and Uyghur Muslim campaigner Rahima Mahmut told Jewish News that the protest was “an alternative celebration to show the unity of the people suffering under the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]”. Dilnaz Kerim a 19-year-old Uyghur Muslim told Jewish News she hadn’t been able to speak to her family in China for almost seven years. “I wanted to raise more awareness about my family because the CCP is not only lying to me but many, many other Uyghur families.” Olaf Stando, who set up the campaign group Never Again Right Now in 2020, told Jewish News: “We said[that, as Jews, we have a moral duty to not just say ‘never again’, but to show solidarity with those persecuted by China.” Editorial comment, page 18
JN video report at jewishnews.co.uk
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World News / TV scheme / Survivor dies / Campaigner death Kuwait bans film starring Gal Gadot
Kuwait has banned the upcoming blockbuster film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile because it stars Israeli Gal Gadot. Al-Qabas newspaper reported the decision was made in response to complaints about Gadot on social media. Kuwait remains opposed to normalising ties with Israel. Some of its neighbours, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have signed the Abraham Accords.
Shoah survivor killed by motorist
A 99-year-old Holocaust survivor riding an electric wheelchair was struck by a motorist and killed on his way to synagogue in New York. Jack Mikulincer was headed to the Manhattan Beach Jewish Center when a BMW SUV plowed into him last Saturday. Mikulincer’s daughter, Aviva, said: “He loved going to synagogue, and when the coronavirus came, there was none. I think it made him lonely and sad.”
Netflix nurtures Israeli talent Netflix has teamed up with a Jerusalem-based film and television school in a bid to nurture creators of the next hit Israeli series. The streaming giant’s vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is looking to the find “upand-coming local talent who will create the next Fauda, Shtisel or Hit & Run”. These Israel-originated shows have been among Netflix’s biggest global hits. Writing exclusively for Jewish News and Times of Israel, Larry Tanz explained why Netflix is sponsoring a new project with Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, which has “over the past 30 years.. played a key role in nurturing some of Israel’s brightest lights and fostering its rich creative ecosystem”. Applicants to the first annual ‘Series Lab’ can be writers or producers who
Israeli programmes such as Fauda have proved global hits
have shown “extraordinary potential”. Tanz also said the initiative will represent a “broad range of cultures, perspectives and languages”, with Arabic, Amharic, Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew, among languages allowed for submissions. Successful applicants will participate in a three-month programme to develop their
idea and at the end, one team will be selected for an award, giving them a financial boost. Tanz said: “Israel has long been a creative powerhouse when it comes to film and TV. Ultimately, we want the Series Lab to find up-andcoming local talent who will create the next Fauda, Shtisel, or Hit & Run — Israeli stories that have been embraced globally.”
SURVIVOR INJURED BY HAMAS ROCKET MOURNED Naomi Perlman, a Holocaust survivor who was seriously injured when a rocket fired from Gaza hit her home during the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas, died of her wounds on Sunday, according to Israeli media reports. Perlman, who was born in Poland, suffered serious shrapnel wounds to her legs as a result of the rocket, which struck her Ashkelon home on 11 May last year. She spent months in and out of hospitals as a result of her wounds
Poland-born Naomi Perlman
and died at a nursing home on Sunday aged 91. She survived the Holocaust and made her way to Israel in 1950. She is survived by two children, eight grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
Campaigning wife of convicted spy dies Esther Pollard, who spent decades fighting to see her husband live free in Israel after being convicted for spying on the United States, has died aged 68. She died in Jerusalem on Monday from complications related to the coronavirus, the Times of Israel reported. She also had breast cancer. Jonathan and Esther Pollard Jonathan Pollard, a US Navy analyst, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987. Esther was his most tireless advocate, having met him after campaigning on his behalf.
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10 February 2022 Jewish News
KING SOLOMON SCHOOL TRUST (ISRAEL) Executive Head Teacher Rabbi Jacob (Cobi) Ebrahimoff
King Solomon Schools provide a Jewish, bilingual, educational experience for pupils of all ages.
Recruiting for September 2022
SECONDARY SCHOOL HEAD TEACHER The Trustees of King Solomon School are seeking to appoint a talented and dynamic leader who will lead our Secondary School to even greater success. This exciting opportunity has become available with the upcoming opening of our new IB Sixth Form Academy. King Solomon Secondary School is a heavily oversubscribed school catering for pupils ages 11-16. It has an outstanding reputation for innovative practice, high academic standards, and brilliant pastoral care. The successful candidate will: • Have the ability to communicate in Hebrew and English. • Have a good understanding of the IB Diploma requirements. • Have a track record of innovative, successful and effective senior leadership. • Be passionate about enabling students and staff to shine, develop their potential and celebrate their talents For further information please contact: yschwartz@kingsolomonschool.org Please submit CV and formal letter of application (no more than two sides of A4) no later than 1pm on Friday 25th February 2022. Interviews in the UK 1-2 March 2022. King Solomon School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
Special Report / Ukraine crisis
‘The stakes are high. We Charities in Ukraine are hoping for the best but braced for the worst, reports Stephen Oryszczuk Continued from page 1 things like home-help and pension top-ups. “We also support hundreds living in Russia and in separatist-controlled Ukraine, such as Donetsk,” said Paul Anticoni, WJR chief executive. “We need to continue to access them, so must remain apolitical in the statements we make.” He told Jewish News: “The stakes are high. The consequences of any action would be horrific. It fills me with absolute horror what conflict here would bring, especially to a community we know so well. But we need to be prepared and ready. In 2014 we had to scale up.” Eight years ago, fighting intensified between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists in the east and the southern peninsula of Crimea. It claimed 14,000 lives and led to WJR evacuating scores of Ukrainian Jews from the city of Mariupol, supporting almost 900 internally displaced individuals and providing relief and aid including food and hygiene kits to thousands of others. Other Jewish charities working in Ukraine include Chabad, ORT and the American Jewish Congress (AJC), whose president Jack Rosen told Jewish News that the impact of
war on Ukraine’s Jewish population would probably follow any fighting. “The Jewish community will likely pick up and go to Israel,” he said. “If there’s a war or if Russia takes over chunks of Ukraine, many will want to lead their families to safety. As Jews, we have enough problems in the world, but if there’s one problem we solved, it’s that we all have a place to go – Israel.” A property tycoon with business ties to Ukrainian Jewish billionaire Mikhail Fridman, Rosen said the AJC “could assist, if necessary, for them [Ukrainian Jews] to flee their cities or the country,” but added that “Israel of course would lead in that effort – and
How many Jews in Ukraine? JDC – the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the largest international Jewish organisation operating in Ukraine – estimates that there are 200,000 Jews living in the country and says it supports more than 40,000 of them. However, the London-based Institute of Jewish Policy Research thinks that by 2020 only 45,000 Jews remained in Ukraine. This represents an incredible exodus, given that there were 875,000 in 1970 and 104,000 in 2001. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, 80 percent of Ukraine’s Jews were Russian speakers and “the Jewish population diminished more sharply in the western regions of the country, where the share of Russians was relatively lower”.
When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, a special census showed there were 3,374 Jews on the peninsula. This meant that Crimea’s Jewish population had fallen by 40 percent in 13 years, since the last census in 2001. Many Ukrainian Jews have left for Israel and the pace of prepandemic emigration was as high as it has ever been, with 32,247 new Ukrainian Jewish immigrants to Israel between 2015 and 2019. Of these, about 70 percent were aged 45 or over.
they’re prepared to do that.” Another charity in Ukraine is Tikva, which works in Odesa running children’s homes for 300, a school for 700, a mikveh, a kosher restaurant, a Jewish university, a kollel [rabbinic institute], and an elderly support programme. Karen Bodenstein of Tikva UK, said: “Based on the information we’ve received we feel that at present the likelihood of war [between Ukraine and Russia] is about 20-25 percent. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be civil unrest.” As fighting in the streets erupted in 2014, including outside the Tikva synagogue, the charity had to evacuate its hundreds of Jewish children to homes in the country and station 24-hour security on all its buildings. As tension builds again, people were now “incredibly nervous”, she said. “They don’t know what to do and they’re turning to us for answers. The elderly are particularly nervous because they’ve experienced Russian persecution before, the children less so because they don’t really understand it. We worry for the safety of our children and a community we’ve known for 25 years.” Recalling the 2014 children’s evacuation, she said: “That was stressful for them, but we did everything in our
Above and insets: Tikva UK’s Jewish infants’ home in Ukraine
power to make it more like a summer camp. The biggest issue for us was the cost. Today, I’m more worried about civil unrest than I am about war.” Asked about any resumption in fighting, she wouldn’t be drawn on what-if scenarios, but said: “There’s
a lot going on. We do have a Plan B.” Michael Mirilashvili, billionaire Russian-Israeli president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), told Jewish News that in the context of any Ukraine-Russia conflict, “the ability of emigration to Israel for
CAN JEWISH DIPLOMACY AVERT WAR? For weeks, journalists have heard rumours that Jewish figures with ties to President Vladimir Putin have been intervening to avert war in Ukraine. Last week Michael Mirilashvili, the Russian-Israeli president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), came close to confirming it to Jewish News. “We call for negotiations and hope the issue will be resolved diplomatically, that is why EAJC leaders offered their mediation in the negotiation process,” he said. “Many of us were born in Russia or Ukraine and cannot remain indifferent.” Its leadership is indeed a ‘who’s who’ of Jewish industrialists – either multi-millionaires or billionaires – with business interests straddling Russia, Ukraine and Israel, so they may be well placed to act. Mirilashvili, head of Israel’s 24th wealthiest family, is president of St Petersburg’s Jewish community, while EAJC chair Aaron Frenkel, president of Limmud FSU, founded Russian Airlines. EAJC first vice-presidents include Temur Ben Yehuda, chair of the Israel-Russia Business Council; Vadym Rabinovich, head of the Ukraine-Israel Chamber of Commerce; and Boris Lozhkin, president of the Jewish Federation of Ukraine. Mirilashvili said relations with both Russia and Ukraine were “strategically important for Israel”,
adding: “According to Israel’s foreign ministry, a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union is being prepared. Last year Israel signed a similar agreement with Ukraine.” Moreover, he said: “Thousands of Jews from Russia and Ukraine emigrate to Israel every year… Some of the largest Jewish communities in the world live there.” He said Jewish communities and organisations in Russia and Ukraine maintained warm relations with each other, adding: “In any case, the ability of emigration to Israel for Jewish populations must be guaranteed at any time.”
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Ukraine crisis / Special Report
e must be ready’
A VIEW FROM THE GROUND BY PAUL ANTICONI WJR CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Anti-Putin protests in Berlin last week as the prospects for conflict grew
Jewish populations must be guaranteed at any time”. Although Israel has tried to stay neutral, Mirilashvili said it might get dragged in, and war would have “destructive consequences for the entire region and potentially affect allies of the two countries, including Israel”. Others agree. Two weeks ago, when Russian fighter jets conducted an exercise over the Golan Heights along Israel’s border with Syria, UK-Israel think-tank BICOM said it could be “an effort to use Israel to persuade the US not to interfere”. At a local level, several charities told Jewish News privately that they were taking steps to prepare for the
worst while hoping for the best. “We want our local partners to be prepared, with stocks and funds, but it’s almost impossible to prepare because the scenarios are so varied,” said Anticoni. “If nothing happens, if the Russian military stays on the borders, Ukraine continues in a state of worry and semi-paralysis. It’s psychologically draining on our client group.” Asked about evacuation and emigration in the event of upheaval, Anticoni was hesitant. “People always say, ‘Surely, this is the time for people to leave and go to Israel.’ But this is a largely older demographic who are passionate about their country. They strongly identify as Jewish but have less links with Israel. “Those who’ve wanted to leave have done so, and those who’ve wanted to stay have stayed. But who knows what might happen to trigger a different decision.” Opinion, page 20
The cradle of Hasidism and Zionism Ukraine is described as “the cradle of Hasidism, Yiddish and modern Hebrew literature, and Zionism”, with the latter increasingly acknowledged. In 1882, Odesa physician Leon Pinsker - who had earlier promoted the integration of Jews into Russian society – published his influential pamphlet Autoemancipation, in which he urged Jews to establish a state of their own. He founded the Hibbat Zion movement, which paved the way for the Zionist movement, and in 1882–84 some 60 members of the Kharkiv organisation Bilu moved to Palestine, inaugurating the first mass resettlement of the Jews in the Land of Israel. The founder of ‘spiritual’ Zionism, Ahad Ha’am, was a native of Kyiv. From 1897, Zionist circles were established in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and other cities, making Ukraine a centre of organised Zionism. The Tsarist government was initially indifferent but eventually banned the Zionists. In 1903, the future poet laureate of the Zionist movement Hayim Nahman Bialik published his poem In the City of Slaughter after visiting the site of the Kishinev pogrom. Throughout the early 20th century, Ukrainian and Jewish political parties (including socialist, Bundist, and Zionist) in the Russian Empire worked together in both legal and underground political activity. This led to Jews being well represented in the Rada (Ukrainian
revolutionary parliament). Yiddish was even recognised as an official language, appearing alongside Ukrainian, Polish, and Russian on Ukrainian banknotes. In 1911, the Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky wrote publicly that the Ukrainian national idea and Zionists had the same enemies and goals, and that Jews “must turn their attention toward Ukrainians and not be Russifiers”. It worked both ways. Ivan Franko, the Ukrainian writer and politician, drew parallels between aspirations for a Jewish homeland and the Ukrainian desire for independence, and suggested granting Jews largescale political rights to the extent of recognising them as a separate nation. He is said to have met Theodor Herzl in Vienna in 1893, which inspired him to write an enthusiastic review of Herzl’s Judenstaat (The Jewish State), the foundational text of political Zionism. As Limmud FSU founder Chaim Chesler explained recently, several Zionist youth movements have their roots in western Ukraine, including Hashomer Hatzair and Bnei Akiva. These links are not lost on today’s leaders. Last year, in Ukraine to open a KKL-JNF office, Israeli President Isaac Herzog described it as “a unique closing of the circle… the Odesa Committee began to purchase land in Israel before the establishment of the state. In Odesa, the seeds of Zionism, were sown.”
Ukraine has been in a state of frozen conflict for eight years. The incredible trauma many went through in 2014, the fear of further incursions, the displacement of a million people westwards, meant that all parts of Ukraine felt the brunt, either physically or psychologically. And that psychological fear hasn’t really left. For older Ukrainians who remember the Soviet Union and closeness between Moscow and Kyiv, the breakdown of that relationship has been very difficult. Many in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Jewish community, would be Russian speakers, as opposed to Ukrainian speakers. They may have had family in Russia, or personal allegiance to Moscow, so the trauma of the conflict is deep and complex. Speaking to our partners in Ukraine, it can seem as if there’s more worry and panic from outside Ukraine than inside. There’s a resigned sense that ‘we’ve always been in conflict, the Russian military is always on our border’ and now is no different. There were recent public service announcements saying, ‘Don’t panic but have a bag packed and know where the bomb shelters are.’ That increases the level of worry. Many of our Jewish clients are housebound, isolated, alone, living on the margin, with no family network. The community centres are closed because of Covid so their social support has changed. Many end up watching pro-Ukraine or pro-Russia TV filled with propaganda and misinformation, which creates great uncertainty. The constancy of our support is as worrying for them as any security concern. Our clients are amazing. They’ve lived through the Holocaust, communism, unbearable winters, poverty, yet they live with pride and resilience that is indescribable. When I’m jumping up and down, worrying about what might happen, they’re the calming influence. There are very sizeable Jewish communities in Kharkiv, Odesa, Mariupol, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, many big urban centres. They’re Russian-speaking and well-established. There’s no reason to suspect that Jewish Ukrainians would be any more at risk than non-Jewish Ukrainians. Kharkiv, which is 70km (43 miles) from the Russian border, hosts a very significant Jewish community, with a large Jewish community centre that we helped build. The stakes are incredibly high. In 2014 we saw a mass displacement from the east, including members of the Jewish community who left Donetsk, Luhansk and Simferopol in Crimea. We helped to accommodate them. They’d left their homes and jobs. We helped them to survive and rebuild for the future in new locations. Whatever happens, we need to continue to find a way to provide a range of support services to our Jewish client group wherever they are. That might mean engaging with existing authorities or different ones. It may be a different context. We can’t be alarmist or partisan because I don’t want to compromise our access to anyone.
Public announcements say, ‘Don’t panic but pack a bag’
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
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Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.
1249
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS
History unlearnt
The struggle, on behalf of the Uyghur Muslims (Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Tigrayans, Taiwanese and others) to drag China out of the political ice age continues. As the eyes of the world were fixed on the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of central London to protest against the country being allowed to host the ‘genocide games’. The Jewish community has been at the forefront of efforts to bring to wider attention the plight of the Uyghurs at the hands of President Xi Jinping’s dictatorship: more than one million are feared to be held in concentration camps. Of those efforts we should be proud. The International Olympic Committee should never have granted the Games to Beijing. Of that it should be ashamed. Our community’s efforts, meanwhile, continue.
History unread
Last month, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, we published a feature on the book Never Forget Your Name by Alwin Meyer, a remarkable historical document of children who survived Auschwitz. What is troubling for the book and many others with Holocaust content is the reluctance by editors globally to give them any coverage. According to a publishing PR who prefers to remain nameless, there is a “sense of Holocaust fatigue on newspapers and magazines. If you’re lucky, they will do one Holocaust-related book in January, but that’s it.” This is saddening and, indeed, deeply shocking. If these books are deemed unsuitable for public interest, the history we are told never to forget will be forgotten.
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Two-state idea is unjust Your columnist Luke Akehurst is, of course, right when he claims that accusing Israel of apartheid is absurd (‘Apartheid slur is attack on Jewish self-determination’, Jewish News, 3 February). However, his suggestion that Israel’s presence in the West Bank is due to security considerations and, by implication, that peace achieved through a two-state solution will make the military redundant, is wrongly conceived. Peace and security in the region should never be conditional on Israel giving up its heartland of Judea and Samaria. The erroneous idea of a two-state solution, conceived by foreign powers in capitulation to the threat of Islamic terrorism, is both immoral and unjust. Eda Spinka, Hendon
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While shocked by Jimmy Carr’s “joke” about gypsies in the Holocaust, I fear that silencing such voices will see us descend into a dark attic into which no light entertainment will shine. The gag was vile but I’d rather live in a world in which shocking chutzpah exists.
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“It’s Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy. She wants to thanks you for taking the spotlight off her Holocaust comment”
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I refuse to watch a second of the Beijing WInter Olympics and commend those who took part in last week’s rally. More than a million Uyghur Muslims have been incarcerated in camps, not to mention the Tibetans, Hong Kongers and others who are also victims of this awful regime.
JIMMY CARR’S ‘JOKE’
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There is no Palestinian state because “Israelis, with the possible exception of Yitzhak Rabin, have never accepted” the right to one, writes Fraser Michaelson (Jewish News, 3 February 2022). So can he explain why none was created between 1948 and 1967, when the West Bank was under full Jordanian control? After all, the 1967 lines without a single “settler” or Jews of any stripe is what the Palestinians demand today. None was suggested during those years, or asked for. He blames Israel for its policy of “Greater Israel”. Israel behind the Green Line is nine miles wide, roughly the same distance Southgate in north London is to central London, except that central London isn’t situated on mountains with hostile citizens wishing for Southgate’s destruction. Dovid Rosenthal, Hendon
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Can Rabbi Miriam Berger advise us when Moses was rebuked for singing? His song is considered so special Jews recite it every day. Ann Cohen, Golders Green
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Editorial comment and letters
ISRAELI RIGHT NOT TO BLAME Fraser Michaelson presents a one-sided view of the failure of the Oslo peace process, placing blame solely on the Israeli right (Jewish News, 3 February). Once ensconced in the Palestinian territories, Yasser Arafat turned the area into a de facto bomb factory. In the early 1970s, he met with the notorious antisemite Haj Amin Al-Husseini. Arafat was told that he needed to get a foothold in the territories. He never had any intention of reaching a lasting peace Your correspondent Fraser Michaelson is wrong when he writes “Israelis have never accepted the right of the Palestinians to a state”. He is obviously a misguided young man (anyone under 88 is younger than me). In 1947, Israel accepted the UN resolution to divide the then Palestine into two states. The Arabs did not and five of their states attacked Israel, thinking it would be easy to drive the Jews into the sea. It was a close-run thing. The Jews had nowhere else to go. Since then, some Arabs have questioned Israel’s right to exist so there can be no question of a second state in what was Palestine prior to 1947.
David Sherman, Finchley
settlement. Israeli control of these areas was handed to the Palestinian Authority – and buses, hotels and restaurants started exploding. Every serious attempt by Israel to reach a lasting peace has been rejected outright. Even if Abbas wanted a peace settlement with Israel (which he really does not), he knows his life expectancy would straight away be dramatically curtailed. If the Palestinians wanted peace based on a two-state solution, it would happen, notwithstanding the Israeli right.
13 o t 5 s r a e Y 022 2 t s u g u A July -
Rowland Aarons, By email I never fail to be shocked by the one-eyed analysis of people who see the Middle East through Fraser Michaelson’s warped
perspective. It’s as if he is blithely unaware where in the world Israel is located and the daily challenges it faces to justify its existence in a neighbourhood overridden by despots and dictators who would like nothing more than to annihilate modernity on their doorstep. Israel, like the UK, has many faults – many, many – but these errors are made in a state that places parliamentary democracy at its heart. Emma Benway, By email
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Carr’s joke was nauseating but why did people laugh? MARC CAVE
DIRECTOR, THE NATIONAL HOLOCAUST CENTRE & MUSEUM
T
here has been much condemnation of Jimmy Carr. But maybe for the wrong reason. His joke drew on a reservoir of dark, dank prejudice. Should we be examining that reservoir more than the provocateur fishing in it? Was Carr trying to dredge up an uncomfortable truth? Trite condemnations that fail to explore what lies beneath the surface do little to make things better. Carr is a talented performer because he knows what makes audiences laugh. And we’d be entitled to say he is also a poor moralist, because he knows that what makes them laugh is often highly distasteful. In this case, his audience were like thugs in a 1930s bierkeller. They didn’t laugh the nervous, guilty laugh of ‘Oops, he’s rumbled us.’ It was a sadistic, triumphal laugh. They actually whooped at the Roma & Sinti genocide being “a positive”. What if that were Jimmy Carr’s point? What if he had deconstructed his joke Stewart Lee-style and said ‘What’s really funny is you lot laughing. Take a good look at yourselves.’ In his words, that would have been “edgy as hell” with
real “educational value”. A well-aimed blow to the funny bone that takes you by surprise and thumps you in the conscience — that could be constructive. But we don’t know what Carr intended. In today’s angry, impatient, nuancefree, discourse-free goldfish bowl of a society, a clever guy like him has surely got to aim more clearly. There is no room for misinterpretation. A good friend of mine said Larry David makes incredibly edgy jokes about the Holocaust. Thing is, Larry David is Jewish. His motive is different. We don’t know Carr’s motive but we know he isn’t Romany. Let’s go back to the audience instead. Why did they laugh like that? I asked that question on Twitter. Here’s one answer: “It tapped into people who’ve only had bad experiences with Travellers illegally taking over land & creating problems. That’s NOT how all Travellers behave, but it’s a high enough number that many people have never had a positive experience with Travellers.” So that makes it right to
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laugh at the 250,000-500,000 Roma and Sinti? Twenty minutes from the National Holocaust Centre & Museum I run is the town of Newark. There I have heard nothing but hostility towards the local Traveller community there. Does popular culture play its part in broadcasting negative stereotypes of Romany and Traveller people? Hmm. It seems to portray glamorous characters with roguish charm who are hard to resist. What’s more, our moral sympathies often lie with them too. In Snatch, Brad Pitt’s Irish Traveller character Mickey ‘One Punch’ O’Neil is not above a little violence – but it is to protect family and when he gets his revenge, we whoop as loudly as a Jimmy Carr fan. In Peaky Blinders, shot through with all the contradictory moralities of The Godfather, we similarly cannot but help side with the Irish-Romani gangster Tommy Shelby and his incantation-chanting sister Aunt Polly (RIP Helen McCrory). Now, then. Let’s square that with research conducted by the Traveller
IT WAS A TRIUMPHAL LAUGH. THEY WHOOPED AT THE ROMA AND SINTI GENOCIDE BEING ‘A POSITIVE’
Times in 2017. It found that only four out of ten parents in Britain believed it was OK for their child to have a playdate with a Traveller child. Conclusion: do we like our Travellers and Romas to be roguish on the screen and therefore come nowhere near our children in real life? It’s not unlike the millions of people who have laughed, seemingly innocuously, at Shylock and Fagin. With these caricatures, Shakespeare and Dickens stocked the reservoir of anti-Jewish prejudice, helping to pave the way for the Holocaust — and ‘explain’ it afterwards. The most disgusting version of Fagin was played by Alec Guinness in 1947, two years after the liberation of the death camps. So there we have it. Fagin and One Punch O’Neil. ‘Jews loving money’ and ‘Travellers creating problems’. The epidemiology of antiJewish and anti-GRT (Gypsy/Roma Traveller) prejudice has many similarities. Both are centuries-old and speak to xenophobic discomfort with ‘others’. Both led to genocide. And both persist, aided by caricature and lazy assumption. Whilst the Carr case is nauseating, I am sick of the virtue-signalling reactions to it. They do nothing to re-educate wrongful assumptions. This is about an ancient reservoir of hate. We need education programmes which bust myths, inspire people to question ‘received wisdoms’, and so drain the reservoir itself.
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
Opinion
A matter of life and death for Ukraine’s Jewish story ALEX BRUMMER
CITY EDITOR, THE DAILY MAIL
F
or many people in Britain, Ukraine is just another far off country in middle Europe that is none of our business, whatever the empire rebuilding ambitions of Vladimir Putin. The complacency is a reminder of events portrayed in the film Munich: The Edge of War based on the Robert Harris novel in which Neville Chamberlain bargains away with Hitler the sovereignty of the Sudetenland. It would be better for all of us if Russia’s military pressure on Ukraine could be stopped using diplomacy and the west doesn’t get involved in tit for tat sanctions or a war that could threaten precious energy supplies. As we know from the late 1930s, doing deals with autocrats can have terrible consequences. Jews cannot look on events in Ukraine with any degree of complacency. I was fascinated by a recent exchange on a BBC business broadcast with Sir Martin Sorrell. The advertising tycoon
was asked whether tensions over Ukraine could disrupt the global economy. Sorrell replied that he had a personal interest in the people of Ukraine. His own grandparents had fled from the region when it was in hostile hands. It was an unexpected intervention from the former ‘Habs’ boy who is not given to great personal disclosures. An accident of history also gives me and my family connection to Ukraine. My late father, Michael, and his family were born and brought up in much-disputed territory in Hungarianspeaking Czechoslovakia close to the Tisza river. It reverted to Hungary in the war years, was occupied by Russia after Yalta and ended up in Ukraine after the carve-up of the Soviet Union. When I, my father, my brother and cousin made a journey of remembrance to the family home in Tiszaujlak in 1997 we founded it had been gifted as a vacation residence to married academics from the University of Kiev. Jewish presence in contemporary Ukraine is strong. The Institute for Jewish Policy Research estimates that there are 200,000 residents of Ukraine who qualify for Israeli citizenship
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A LONG-TERM FOCUS OF WORLD JEWISH RELIEF HAS BEEN LOOKING AFTER OLDER JEWS
under the Law of Return. More remarkably, for three years until August 2019, Ukraine was the only country in the world (other than Israel) to have a Jewish prime minister in Volodymyr Groysman and a Jewish president in the shape of Volodymyr Zelensky. The actor-comedian turned politician remains president. Among Jewish success stories is Ukraineborn tycoon Sir Len Blavatnik, the telecoms billionaire and philanthropist, who lives in London and is often described as the richest person in Britain. The Jewish population he left behind when he moved to Moscow and New York’s Columbia University is largely elderly, poor and needy. I became aware of their plight
through my friend Alex Faiman, who headed a B’nai Brith lodge focusing on clothing, housing and feeding Ukraine’s elderly population impoverished by Soviet oppression. Faiman, who now in his dotage, is looked after by Jewish Care in Hampstead is an unsung hero. In his late 70s and early 80s, he would travel to Ukraine – sometimes in deepest winter – with scant regard for his own safety. His mission was to ensure arrangements put in place for communal meals for the elderly were working. Those who follow the work of World Jewish Relief will be aware of its powerful role in humanitarian crises. A long-term focus has been looking after its client base in Ukraine; older Jews still living in the shadow of the last conflict of 2014. Its chief executive, Paul Anticoni, wrote in a recent blog that their life is “already precarious, relying on our support to supplement a meagre pension”. Some Jews live in cut-off separatist-controlled areas of Donetsk and Lugansk and are struggling. The threat of new conflict for these suffering people is not a matter of geopolitics and gas. It is a matter of sustenance, shelter and life and death.
Olympics must not turn blind eye to such horror STEPHEN SMITH FOUNDER. THE UK HOLOCAUST CENTRE
T
he proximity of Holocaust Memorial Day to the Beijing Winter Olympics raises anew the thorny question about sports and politics. China is hosting 89 nations amid calls for it to address its human rights record. China’s treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority has been described by the United Nations as “deeply disturbing ” and as genocide by an independent group of scholars. The 1936 Berlin Summer Games presented a similar dilemma to global sports. Calls had been made to boycott the event in America by Jeremiah Mahoney, president of the Amateur Athletic Union. This was fiercely contested by Avery Brundage of the American Olympic Committee, who had been duped into believing Jewish athletes were being fairly treated. The USC Shoah Foundation archive tells a different story. Jewish athletes report they were not allowed to participate with their German peers, so they signed up to
their own sporting organisations. Those who wanted to pursue their sports seriously fled. Margaret Lambert was removed from her German athletics club and travelled to Britain, where she won the British Championship in high jump. She was recalled to Germany to train for the Olympics and dared not decline, fearing for her Jewish family but she was dropped just before the Games, despite previously tying the national high jump record. Ewa Brewer’s stepsister was another Jewish athlete who, it was reported, could no longer compete because of ‘injury’. Germany felt the external pressure nevertheless and, for a few months, cleaned up its act. Jews could ride the tram, sit on park benches, and yes, attend the Olympics. Surviving victims of the Nazi era describe a summer of reprieve. Diane Jacobson reports that “everything was wonderful in Berlin”; Henry Lowenstein observed that the “heat was turned down”; Moshe Ram, whose father made furniture for high ranking Nazis, sat in the press box near Hitler watching the entire stadium Sieg Heil and Ernst Weiss tells how he kept his arm firmly down. Boycott movements emerged in several countries including Britain, Sweden, the
Netherlands and France. An attempt to create alternate games in Spain fell apart thanks to the onset of the Spanish civil war. US president Franklin D. Roosevelt allowed the independence of the American Olympic Committee to prevail in its decision to compete in Berlin, much to the disdain of the American ambassadors to both Germany and Austria. Holocaust Memorial Day gives a moment to remember the loss of innocent lives, but it is also a time to reflect on what might have been done to save them. For just a few weeks in 1936, Germany felt enough international pressure to provide some reprieve to the Jews. It was a
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HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY IS A TIME TO REFLECT ON WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN DONE TO SAVE INNOCENT LIVES
moment of normality they had not experienced in more than three years. There was optimism that the Games could provide a turning point. As Jesse Owens sprinted to victory, it felt like there was hope for all oppressed peoples. Then it was over, and people’s eyes were averted. What Sir Ben Helfgott and other Olympians who survived the Holocaust embody is the power to prevail. There is no greater event on earth for bringing people together in the spirit of true human endeavour seen at the Olympics. But neither should sports become an excuse to turn a blind eye to murder. The 1936 Games were a charade, because everyone knew what the Nazis stood for and did little to prevent it. In the debate about sports and politics, I am a firmly a “no” vote when it comes to boycotts. I believe we need to shine a a light on oppression every day and use the tools of international law to prevent it. For those who really care about human rights abuses, pressure should start long before, and continue long after, a two-week sporting event once every four years. Imagine a world that had said “no” to the Nazis, and meant it, every day.
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
Opinion
A trade deal with Israel will deliver great things for UK ANNE-MARIE TREVELYAN, MP
INTERNATIONAL TRADE SECRETARY
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n advanced free trade agreement with Israel, updated to be fit for the 21st century, is an opportunity only made possible for the UK through our status as a newlyindependent trading nation. As long-time allies, our trading relationship – totalling nearly £5 billion – is already strong. The UK is already Israel’s third-largest trading partner, with £2.7 billion of British exports heading to Israel in 2020, while around 500 Israeli firms currently operate here. Now we are taking steps to increase trade and investment by overhauling an agreement inherited from the EU that focuses primarily on goods trade, to the detriment of our worldleading services sectors. Service sectors account for 70 percent of both economies, but only 35 percent of our bilateral trade. I want to correct this imbalance and secure an ambitious new agreement that plays to our strengths as two innovative, tech-driven nations. Last week I visited Israel to meet with my counterpart, Orna Barbivai. Our talks reflected
our shared ambition as innovation nations and science superpowers, and illustrated the ways we can complement each other. When I visited Tel Aviv, I witnessed the construction of the new Tel Aviv metro – the most significant infrastructure project currently planned in Israel, valued at $50bn (£37bn). Designing, constructing and supplying underground railways is something UK companies have long-standing experience of, and it’s an obvious example of an area where we should, and could, be collaborating. The next step on a trade deal is for the government to ask businesses and the public here in the UK what they would like to see included in the deal and establish what holds back businesses from increasing trade with Israel. The Call for Input was published last
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A DEAL IS EXPECTED TO OPEN OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS THE SECTORS. ISRAEL WILL BE AT THE FRONT OF INNOVATION
Anne-Marie in Jerusalem last week
Wednesday and will run for eight weeks, helping us draw up comprehensive negotiating objectives that benefit the whole of the UK. Then our team of world-class negotiators will be ready to start talks. A deal with Israel is expected to open opportunities across the services sector from digital, financial and professional services, to life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and high-tech innovation. Israel will be at the front of innovation with us, working together to use digital thinking to strip away layers of bureaucracy and bring down costs for families in every region and nation. The UK-Israel Innovation Summit in spring will shine a light on our shared culture of entrepreneurship and creative solutions to the world’s toughest questions. It will bring together investors and businesses, and
showcase leaders in AI, tech and innovation. The UK and Israeli prime ministers will attend alongside trade delegations, showing our commitment to a stronger and deeper trade and investment relationship. Driving foreign investment will create thousands of high-skilled, well-paid jobs in highvalue sectors all over the country. The summit will follow in the footsteps of our Global Investment Summit last year, where we brought in £9.7bn in investment, creating 30,000 jobs. Supporting investment and exports across the UK through new and progressive trade deals with nations such as Israel is a cornerstone of my trade policy goals. We know Britain has untapped potential to export more – only one in 10 businesses sell overseas. The free trade agreements we’re striking as an independent trading nation are opening the door to opportunity. Some £766bn worth of trade deals with 70 countries plus the EU is only the start for my Department. This is Global Britain in action, broadening our economic horizons and forging stronger partnerships with key allies. As two worldleading tech and services nations, closer trade and investment ties with Israel will create economic opportunities we simply could not access before.
Amnesty spits in the face of real apartheid victims EITAN NEISHLOS FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, THE NEISHLOS FOUNDATION
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ords matter. As a lawyer turned entrepreneur, this was drilled into my core throughout my education and career. Every word has a purpose, a meaning, a context. But some words matter more than others. As a South African native, I was horrified to see Amnesty International’s cynical manipulation of the word ‘apartheid’ to describe a complex conflict that pitches a liberal (albeit imperfect) democracy against a slew of Islamist terrorist organisations. To leverage this loaded term to score political points is to spit in the face of those who suffered actual apartheid. Israel is one of the most vibrant and diverse democracies in the world. Its government consists of women and men, an Islamist Arab party, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Ethiopian and Russian immigrants and the children of Jews from Arab lands.
Our judiciary is independent and respected all around the world. We have Jewish, Muslim and Christian judges. The country’s hightest court, the Supreme Court, has ruled on numerous occasions in favour of Palestinians against the Israeli government itself. In the Israeli medical system, 17 percent of all doctors are Arabs, 24 percent of all nurses, and nearly half of all pharmacists. On the sports field, Jews and Arabs play together side by side. The captain of Israel’s national football team is an Arab citizen from the north of Israel. A recent poll of Arab citizens of Israel demonstrated that the vast majority feel Israeli too. Of course, there is racism in society, as there is in every democratic society. However, considering the 70 years of wars and terrorist attacks, the level of racist incidents is incredibly low, and the level of coexistence incredibly high. Meanwhile, the status of freedoms all around us in the region are few and far between. In Lebanon, Palestinians are genuinely secondclass citizens banned from working in entire professions. In Iran, gays are hanged in town squares and women stoned. In fact, women
cannot even remove their hijabs without the fear of the morality police, imprisonment and lashings. Across the Middle East, religious freedom is rare, while political freedoms are almost non-existent. If you speak out against Hamas in Gaza, you get shot. If you speak out against the ‘moderate’ Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, you can be tortured and killed. Yet organisations such as Amnesty International choose to focus on Israel. The only democracy; the only open society. The organisation’s leadership is dominated by Israelhating activists – and one of its researchers openly states she “wants Israel gone”. Recently, I established the Neishlos Foundation to fight back against injustice, prejudice, Israel-hatred and antisemitism, and to advocate for the values of tolerance, understanding and peace. I believe that only through education and community empowerment can we defeat lies and the hatred. As associate chair of the Liberal Friends of Israel, I played a significant role building bridges between the Australian Liberal Party
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TO LEVERAGE THE TERM ‘APARTHEID’ AGAINST ISRAEL IS TO SPIT IN THE FACE OF THOSE WHO SUFFERED and the state of Israel. I have worked with the Israeli embassy to teach about the late Yitzhak Rabin’s vital message of peace and coexistence. And as chairman of Courage to Care in Australia, I helped bring Holocaust survivors to educate more than 200,000 young Australians about that terrible time in human history. In the 1930s, the anti-Jewish libels were met by too many with silence, indifference, and passive complicity. Today, we have a voice; today we have a state. It’s now incumbent upon us to create a new generation of upstanders to speak up against the lies, defend our people and defend our state. Because words matter.
10 February 2022 Jewish News
www.jewishnews.co.uk
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Opinion
With Austrian citizenship, my family comes full circle SARAH EBNER
JOURNALIST, FINANCIAL TIMES
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here are some things you don’t ever expect to hear. Listening to a representative from Austria openly apologise for the treatment meted out to my ancestors was one of those times. Michael Zimmermann, the Austrian ambassador to the UK, was addressing new recipients of Austrian citizenship at a ceremony I attended a few weeks ago. I think everyone there was surprised but impressed by his candour about the dark times of the 1930s and ’40s. “This was one of the darkest chapters of Austrian history and today’s ceremony is also meant as an apology to your ancestors, your family,” Mr Zimmermann said. He added: “Let me emphasise that this project is another step of reconciliation, of atonement, remembering people who were mistreated in Austria, who were forced out of Austria by a murderous regime, with the active collaboration of their fellow Austrians.” This was far removed from the Austria I grew up hearing about – the country that saw
itself as the first “victim” of Nazism after the Anschluss (annexation) in 1938, and which later elected as its president Kurt Waldheim, who had lied about his war service. Austria has taken a long time to come to terms with its culpability. But it appears to be doing so, just as other countries, such as Poland, are trying to distance themselves from past events. In 2019, former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz proposed an amendment to the nationality act. It meant victims of the Nazi regime and their descendants could apply for citizenship once this amendment became law. That occurred in September 2020. My father, Henry, was born in Vienna in 1937. His father, Berthold (for whom my son Robert is named), and mother, Margarethe, ran two cinemas, but after the Anschluss, my grandfather was arrested for refusing to show Nazi propaganda films. He was sent to Dachau and then Buchenwald. My grandmother, together with her baby son, was thrown out of their flat. Berthold was released from Buchenwald after 14 months owing to a political amnesty. Because my grandmother had managed to procure a visa to the UK and they could pay the
Struggling to cope is more normal than you think. Uncertainty and isolation can cause any of us to experience feelings of distress or anxiety. Whatever you are going through, you don’t have to face it alone.
hefty exit tax, the Ebner family escaped. They arrived in the UK two weeks before the start of the Second World War, leaving behind many relations, almost all of whom were murdered. My father was not overly fond of the land of his birth. Post-war, he, and so many others, felt let down again by Austria, which seemed to wallow in victim status, while Germany attempted to make reparations. Henry was very proud to be British, although he loved Strauss waltzes and Sachertorte and had a print of the Viennese opera house hanging up in his study. Would our family have been interested in Austrian citizenship without Brexit? I doubt it. But the timing of the change in Austrian law
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I FELT STRANGELY MELANCHOLY – WAS THIS OUR ‘REWARD’ FOR THE PAIN MY FAMILY WENT THROUGH?
and the UK leaving the EU has meant a huge number of applications, with more than 1,700 new UK/Austrian citizens so far. I was not particularly interested in applying for myself, but felt my children might benefit. At the time, my daughter was studying German A-level: a European passport seemed as if it might be useful. My father, a lawyer by profession, started the process, bringing together all the documentation. He surprised me by saying he was going to apply for citizenship himself: it was as if things had come full circle, he told me, that this was a kind of restitution. My father died before our citizenship came through but, now, because of him, we Ebners have Austrian citizenship and passports. I felt strangely melancholy when they arrived – was this our “reward” for the pain my family went through? – and I’ve since been asked why I would want to become Austrian at all. At the beginning the answer was simple, to get that EU passport for my children. Yet, after the reception at the embassy I felt, as Ambassador Zimmermann said, I was getting back something that was rightfully ours. I’m Jewish. I’m British. I’m Austrian.
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
ADVERTORIAL
Brave Thinkers. True Colours: Teaching girls to take risks How can we encourage our daughters and granddaughters to follow their ambitions and learn from mistakes along the way? Alice Lucas, headmistress of St Helen’s School, an independent girls’ day school in north-west London, shares her approach to building resilience in girls
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t St Helen’s School, our vision for every student, whether they join at three, 11 or 16 years of age, is to be brave and true, intellectually curious and believe they can do anything. We achieve this through a combination of individual coaching, embedding future-ready learning attitudes and dispositions, and giving each child the space – both physical and mental – to develop their interests, aspirations and friendships. We are keenly aware of our responsibility to ensure girls meet their potential – our founder, May Roland Brown, was one of those amazing 19th century women who believed passionately in women’s potential to be professionals in any sphere – and this ambition is the lifeblood of the school today. However, our approach to reaching this end goal is thoroughly modern. We are preparing girls for a future that we can’t imagine so we need to equip them with strategies to fulfil their potential. At St Helen’s School, our coaching model enables trained staff to work with each individual girl to help them work out what they want to do in life and how to get there. Alongside coaching, we place a large emphasis on students developing and cherishing our key learner habits: the pursuit of knowledge, problem-solving, creativity and metacognition, which means understanding your own thought processes. The latter is a key reason behind us teaching philosophy from Year 1 as a timetabled lesson to expand pupils’ thinking, debate and to learn about learning. We also reinforce the positive character attributes of courage, integrity, ambition and kindness and find ways for girls to put these into practice either within school life. This is done through
St Helen's girls also flourish outside of the classroom
our partnership with the charity Phab UK, for which our students run a youth club experience for teenagers with disabilities and learning needs, giving them a profound sense of responsibility and service to others; or through participating in our outreach programme, working with state schools in the Northwood community. We know that exams are important but they are just part of the St Helen’s story. Happy children tend to get good results and, as such, we are committed to ensuring our girls make the best of our 21 acres of green space for fun as they develop their love of learning both in and outside of the classroom. Our co-curricular programme provides opportunities for each
girl to take a risk by trying something new as well as to support her cultural or religious heritage – and we have a thriving Jewish Society, run by Jewish students together with Jewish members of staff. Fostering positive healthy relationships is also a key way to help girls flourish beyond their school lives. Our pupils in the Prep and Senior school and Sixth Form are wonderfully supportive of each other and we are very proud of the compassionate approach that is at the heart of our school life. We celebrate each other’s values and make allowances for pupils to attend religious festivals, observe the Sabbath each week and enjoy healthy, vegetarian options in the school canteen. At St Helen’s, we strive to nurture the leaders of tomorrow, equipping each pupil with strategic decision-making skills, as well as resilience and self-confidence, to achieve their potential and, yes, learn from mistakes along the way. � Keen to see the school in action? Attend an open morning or arrange a visit to discover what makes St Helen’s School such a warm, fun and vibrant place to grow and learn. Visit www.sthelens.london to register your interest or contact our Admissions team on 01923 843230 or via admissions@sthelens.london. Coaches are available and
Brave Thinkers. True Colours.
School in Action Open Morning - 23rd March 2022
Book online at www.sthelens.london Email admissions@sthelens.london or call 01923 843230 for details SH_advertorial_v4.indd 1
22/11/2021 14:45:43
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10 February 2022 Jewish News
LI FE
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Inside
Romantic films Relationship advice Beauty for Valentine’s
Looking for
Mr Mensch
With just 15 million of us in the world, the Jewish dating pool was always going to be slim pickings, but Covid made it even more trying for those in pursuit of someone to bring home to bubbe. Naomi Frankel got swiping
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ith Zoom becoming the new norm for work meetings, video-call dates have followed suit. The ‘CoronaCrush’ Facebook group, which now has more than 22,000 members, was set up during the pandemic, as was ‘MeetJew University Dating’, a group for 18 to 26-yearolds, boasting almost 40,000 of the tribe. ‘MeetJew Post-Grad Dating’ is for ages 22 to 34 and has 15,000 members. I haven’t yet been brave enough to submit my snappy profile, but I might reconsider, seeing as the groups have been the catalyst for the many relationships and engagements. Jdate is a bit circa 2000, but Jswipe remains popular with millennials like me, as do Bumble and Hinge, which aren’t specifically Jewish dating apps but have an option to select Jewish men only.
This pair tied the knot after meeting online
Sadly, some individuals I have encountered on Jswipe and the like are not what you would call ‘nice’ Jewish boys. One particularly memorable encounter involved a lad opening a conversation with “nine inches”. Suffice to say, my unfiltered retort meant unmatching was imminent. JSwipe’s customer service via Facebook messenger is excellent and they take complaints very seriously. I sent over the offending profile and they sorted it out swiftly. Then there was the French guy, who kept gesturing with his right arm to show off his Rolex and frequently mentioned how well off his family are in Paris and how they own a number of kosher restaurants. He also told me his favourite pick-up line is: “Let me show you my Eiffel Tower” and told me it usually works on “les stupides Américains”. A plus side of Jswipe is that it is easy to set up, completely free to use and there is no limit to matches per day. There’s an option to pay to get ‘worldwide passport swiping’ and sneak a peek at their ‘most eligibles’. Bumble is a female-focused app, which requires women to initiate the conversation if they match. I like the feminist idea of this and it helps deter the creeps somewhat. A big plus is the customer service (especially responsive on Instagram). The downside is the subscription fee at £17 a week. It’s annoying to use the app without subscribing, because it doesn’t allow you to select your preferences – in my case Jewish, over 5’ 8” with a full head of hair (the latter isn’t included in the options). I signed up to Hinge, another app with more choice of matches and limitless swipes. It boosts fun
prompts that show off your personality (or lack thereof), but the new voice recording option makes for often hilarious and cringeworthy listening. There have been a few nice dates, but so too a few ‘unhinged’ ones. Consider the catfisher who had different hair and eye colour to his pictures but told me he had a brain tumour that had affected his looks. Eventually he confirmed that he had pretended to be his brother because “he always gets all the girls”. I made a swift exit and now reverse image search before a date. Perhaps traditional matchmaking, which vets both parties, has its pluses. A promising-looking app is Lox Club, which is subscribers-only and promises high-calibre matches with a strict screening process. It also hold exclusive events for its members, but it hasn’t come to the UK yet. For a different dating and often entertaining experience, popular American comedian Elon Gold does a weekly Saturday night Instagram live show called The Bachor, where he invites single girls and guys on and tries to make matches in real time. I’ve gone on a few times and gained more Insta followers and friends, but nothing romantic so far. It’s good
Saturday night watching, though, and makes a change from Love Island. Plus, you can participate in the fun, which is a big bonus. For some serious intimacy advice, I’ve recently come across Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a recognisable and passionate voice on values, spirituality and relationships, whose international bestseller Kosher Sex made headlines in 1999. Now bringing the message to a modern audience, the Kosher Sex company and Instagram verified page with more than 20,000 followers is run by his daughter, Chana, and prides itself on being a Jewish female-focused approach to sexuality, marriage, relationships and dating. Funny Israeli Instagrammer and
TikToker Uri Cohen (@uricohn), who posts Jewish memes and videos poking fun at antisemites, has set up an informal dating page on Instagram (@jewuri), which features girls and guys from around the world with a picture and a short, interesting and often amusing description of who they are and what they’re looking for. I’ve spoken to a few nice guys, most of whom are based in Israel and America. Uri also hosts regular events with Tel Aviv Live, which look really fun. He’s promised to get me a free ticket and a bottle of Tubi 60 when I make aliyah and, with Israel home to almost half of the world’s Jewry, maybe I would have a better chance of finding my Mr Mensch.
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
JN LIFE
&
www.jewishnews.co.uk
WHO WHAT WHERE TV
And then it was over!
CINEMA
We were all ready to give And Just Like That, the Sex and the City reboot, a one fish ball rating, until the finale. All the moaning Charlotte and Harry’s about the menopause child identifies as ‘they’ and embracing of grey hair was forgiven as well as the premature death of Mr Big and Carrie’s subdued grief in episode one, because the last episode was a Jewfest of epic proportions. Granted, it was still the sort of woke that requires a sledgehammer to silence, but it was Jewish woke and that we can live with. Beware, this is a spoiler, particularly for anyone who doesn’t have Sky, but how could we not mention TV’s first ‘they mitzvah’? The simcha of convert Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and her husband Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler) was not what they had planned, but is it ever? And so, in a break with convention, their non-binary child, Rock, who is a now a ‘they’, got a ‘they mitzvah’, with rainbowthemed kippot and a transgender rabbi (played by Jewish transgender actor Hari Nef). “It’s beshert,” exclaimed Charlotte, which could also be said of her friend Anthony’s sourdough hipster challah. “We’re already pushing the envelope with the ‘they’ mitzvah. Can we please give the old Jew something he’ll recognise?” Full of chutzpah for the soul, Sarah Jessica Parker – whose father is Jewish – gave generously to the community and, in the final minutes of the episode, she also gave us back the Carrie we know and love. Laughter then crying – it couldn’t be more Jewish, which is why it gets 5/5 fish balls. Crossing Delancey
This Month In Jewish History...
By Jewish News historian Derek Taylor Why are Jewish schools so popular? Because Rabbi Dr Solomon Schonfeld got such good exam results from his Hasmonean school that it was eventually considered as good as a public school. In his time, the school played chess against Harrow. Before the war, he needed entry visas for synagogue officials who were oppressed on the Continent. “No way,” said the Home Office, “unless they have talents unobtainable in this country.” “They have,” said Schonfeld, who was rigorously Orthodox. “They can make tsitsim!” The visas were approved. He also arranged the Kindertransport and visited Polish survivors after the war with an army bodyguard to avoid being assassinated. A charismatic speaker, surviving a severe brain tumour in later life, he died in February 1984.
FILM
Watch and Learn
Date confusion is one of the biggest Jewish niggles. Depending on where we are in the lunar-solar calendar, we’re either clashing with Christian national holidays – Christmas and Chanukah/ Easter and Passover – or we are days, if not weeks, apart from them. Take Valentine’s Day. For most, it’s next Tuesday, while for us the designated day of love, Tu B’Av isn’t until 22 August. Originally a post-biblical day of joy, it served as a matchmaking Keeping day for unmarried The Faith; Crossing women in the Dalancey; Neta Riskin Second Temple period. Jewish singletons would be very sour if they only had one day to flip through Hinge, or it could force them to be less fussy and immediately settle on someone who might prove to be a winner. To prep for such an unlikely happening, we have several Jewish film romances to engineer a snappy shidduch.
Laughter Lift
We can all live without conspicuous displays of affection – unless they come from Borat with his Jewish wife, Isla Fisher, on his shoulders while wishing her Happy Birthday. Thank you for sharing, Sacha Baron Cohen.
FILM
Kiss Me Kosher
Jewish Smooching
CHARTS
If you live in dread of your child bringing home an unsuitable partner (at least in your eyes), Shirel Peleg’s Kiss Me Kosher is your kind of film. Shira (Moran Rosenblatt) has finally found love with Maria (Luise Wolfram), a German who has uprooted from her homeland to be with Shira in Tel Aviv. There are wedding bells on the horizon for the two women, but there are cultural and religious differences to overcome, as well as facing up to Shira’s headstrong grandmother, Berta (Rivka Michaeli), who strongly disapproves of any marriage between Germans and Jews. But Berta has a secret – and he is Palestinian. All languages are heard amid much hilarity and a fair bit of kosher kissing. A tonic for Valentine’s Day. Tickets from www.ukjewishfilm.org for JW3 screenings.
Mazeltov
To Mosaic Voices as the group’s album Letter to Kamilla has unexpectedly charted at No 5 in the official classical music charts!
TONIGHT Crossing Delancey: A successful woman is fixed up by her bubbe If you watched Peter Jackson’s threeand a matchmaker part Beatles documentary, Let It Be, with a guy who smells you’ll understand why the sevenof cucumbers in brine. member Let It Broigas tribute band is Moral: Keep your eyes coming to JW3 tonight to perform the open around Mrs Elswood. Let it Be album in its entirety, followed Keeping The Faith: Ben Stiller by a selection of their favourite is the hot rabbi in a love triangle Beatles tracks from 1966-1970. It’s tonight, so start getting dressed. with his priest pal (Edward Norton) www.jw3.org.uk and their mutual school crush (Jenna Elfman). Moral: Attend multifaith services with caution. Longing: Missed opportunity as seen by the protagonist, who realises 20 years too late that his girlfriend was pregnant when they broke up. Co-stars Neta Riskin (Gitti in the much-missed Shtisel). Moral: Act in haste and your mother will never forgive you.
Let Them Be
10 February 2022 Jewish News
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JN LIFE
The call of the Richard Ferrer books a session with Israeli psychologist Dr Orna Guralnik, star of new reality show Couples Therapy
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fter binge watching BBC2’s compelling new reality show, Couples Therapy, my wife and I are proud to announce that our marriage has never been stronger. Honestly, it’s just been one healthy revelation after another. We listen to each other more, don’t take each other for granted and have shared a glorious epiphany – one frankly long overdue – that I’m a terrific husband and Jen’s lucky to have me. (At least I think that’s what we agreed. I was playing Wordle at the time.) From First Dates to Love Island, break-ups and make-ups have long been the basis for countless successful reality shows. Ambitious nine-part series Couples Therapy breaks new ground in the genre by analysing the early warning signs in relationships well past the honeymoon stage, where the stakes are high and both sides are desperate to work out where – if anywhere – they go from here. We see the couples on the couch – including strictly Orthodox Jews Michal and Michael – through the eyes and ears of Israeli-born clinical psychologist Dr Orna Guralnik. I asked the mum of two, who was on Zoom from her Brooklyn home, whether she had been concerned about cameras intruding on such intensely private moments. “I was worried, for many reasons,” she nods, her long dark hair up in a ponytail and thick-framed black glasses balanced on the bridge of her nose. “I wasn’t even sure it was possible to film a documentary series about real therapy. To show what it is really like to be in the room. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to function normally under such conditions, that the couples would feel self-conscious and that there wouldn’t be enough good material to make a show. People also warned me it would ruin my career. So, yes, I was anxious in 100 different ways.” Orna, 57, needn’t have worried. The soothing sessions in her stylish clinic seem genuinely unhurried, with a breakthrough, of sorts, at the end of each fraught scene. The drama is in the detail – a pursed lip, a raised eyebrow, an unbroken gaze; a hand searching for a hand. Did watching the footage reveal intimate details about the couples Orna hadn’t picked up at the time? “Being in the room with them is a very different experience to watching it back. So yes, there were times when the camera was focused on a particular facial expression while I was absorbed in something else. “Empathising and problem-solving requires concentration, so yes, the camera does catch things I don’t. Then, when I watch back, I feel for them and understand them in new ways.
Israeli clinical psychologist Dr Orna Guralnik with one of seven couples with whom she works across the first two series of BBC2’s Couples Therapy
That’s been one of the most surprising benefits of the show.” Much of Orna’s concentration is spent listening. “Hearing the other person is more than 50 percent of a healthy relationship,” she says. “It’s enjoyable to talk when you know someone is listening. It makes you want to say more. It’s helpful to make a distinction between being in listening mode and communication mode. Rather than trying to convince or influence, you’ll find there is so much more you can get out of simply listening. Your relationship will go so much further if you use your ears more to stay curious about your partner. “It’s the same as being a parent. We are
driven to influence our kids, but when we turn the volume down on influencing and turn the volume up on just seeing our child for who they are, it tends to improve our relationship. Influencing all the time can disrupt natural growth.” Michal and Michael are one of seven couples Orna works with for 20 sessions across the first two series of the show (a third has just been filmed). Tearful Michal paces the room, incensed at her husband for not providing the life she feels she deserves (“You literally do nothing. You’re so lazy. Your existence is worthless!”), while forlorn Michael struggles to cope with her anger. I ask Orna if working with a strictly-Orthodox Jewish couple brings
Mau and Annie have been married for 23 years, but Mau fears they are no longer compatible
unique challenges. “I have worked with a lot of strictly Orthodox couples. Many have incredible family values and are deeply invested in their loved ones. “This solid foundation can help a lot with relationship difficulties. Other strictlyOrthodox relationships can be incredibly repressive. If one person feels different or struggles in some way, they can be ignored and pushed away by their partner and community. “As with all cultures, there are different types of relationships within the religion. I have a lot of respect for the strictly-Orthodox community and the importance they place on family.” As the drama plays out across eight months of deeply personal sessions, it becomes clear that Orna is unpacking the baggage of more than just the couple on her couch. As she puts it in one of the show’s most telling moments: “You don’t always know who is in the room with you. When the couple talk to each other, they are not necessarily speaking to their partner. It could be their mother talking to their father, repeating a certain dance. “These conversations are never over and you are always having them. You may find yourself having a conversation with your kid and you are actually continuing a conversation you had with your father 35 years ago.” Couples Therapy is on BBC2, Mondays at 10pm and available to watch on iPlayer
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
JN LIFE
LOVE
Beauty
Valentine’s Day requires a bit of extra prep, says Brigit Grant
ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WITH AGEING (apart from not ageing) is missing out on the excitement around things like Valentine’s Day. There are no more pink envelopes from the postman (not that he ever sends cards) and the romantic dinner à deux has expanded into a repas pour six. This isn’t true for everyone, however, and if there was ever a date on which you should look your best and smell like a flower it’s 14 February. That way you’ll be ready if Cupid comes calling and it will improve the postman’s day too. CHIN UP
When Romeo called up to Juliet, she didn’t have to worry about hanging jowls. Well, you don’t at 14, but after 45, your stiff upper lip is harder to maintain, or so you thought. The Israeli device NEWA is a non-invasive home-use skin-tightening machine that tightens and lifts ‘under the neck’ in one or two sessions. And he/she won’t even know because it is silent, pocket-sized and you just need to be alone in the bathroom to run the gadget with its 3DEEP radio frequency across the problem areas. The heat generated rebuilds collagen and elasticity, which is needed when you reach the menopause. The alternative is to hold an orange under your chin, but that will be noticed. £249 for the starter kit at www.newabeauty.co.uk
FACE FIX
If you want to be gorgeous by Monday, you’ll need a kit that does everything, such as The Organic Pharmacy’s Brighten & Glow or Renew & Smooth (from £44). The former has a vitamin C corrective mask and the serum contains a concentrated dose of stabilised vitamin C, which will make your skin firmer and brighter. Keep using the mask for 28 days if you want to see a difference and, for decongesting, the other kit relies on four exfoliating acids derived from pineapple, lemon, grape and passion fruit. No more dryness or blocked pores is what you want – and not just on 14 February. www.theorganicpharmacy.com
SEALED WITH A KISS
Essential to proceedings – lips must be primed. For lipstick longevity, start by scrubbing your lips clean with Dr.PAWPAW Scrub & Nourish (£8.95). It’s a product that comes in a stackable pot, which combines a natural lip scrub (which, after use, will make the lipstick kiss-proof) and a replenishing lip balm made from nourishing olive oil and aloe vera to soothe and soften lips, while conditioning and protecting. Put the balm on at least 10 minutes before the lipstick. www.lookfantastic.co.uk. Layering coats can help keep lipstick on, as can applying it over a thin layer of concealer or dabbing it on with a brush. But when you need serious staying power, long-lasting lipstick formulas are the way to go. Swipe on once, then eat, drink, and kiss with no reapplication needed. We all know the choice of lipsticks available is ludicrous, but these have been chosen because they won’t shift, no matter how many kisses you get or give.
Poppy King is the Australian Jewish founder of Lipstick Queen,, which has a big range of glosses and matte lipsticks. These include the bestselling Frog Prince, which is deceptive in emerald green as it magically transforms into a flattering rosebud pink. The Queen has other superficial shades imbued with her famous pHreacting technology, which instantly morphs into your own unique shade and there is a Lip Surge Plumper (£14.40) called Smoke, infused with warming cinnamon oil, to create a plumping effect that is instant and long-lasting (well, two to three hours). Top it with the Rear View Mirror Lip Lacquer (£22), a high-shine lip gloss with striking reflective finish that takes inspiration from the reflective surface of a mirror and a slick of fresh, glossy paint. www.lookfantastic.co.uk
Charlotte Tilbury is adored by the faith cognoscenti and has retained their loyalty by continuing to make Pillow Talk (£25), the aptly-named matte nude-pink lipstick that looks effortless in situ. www.charlottetilbury.com
And on the subject of gloss, there’s Savvy Minerals Lip Gloss – Embrace (£34.74), which provides naturallooking sheer-to-medium colour coverage while adding shine. It doesn’t have the sticky feeling that many glosses do, and it moisturises and softens, thus making lips look fuller. Savvy Minerals by Young Living™ also makes some deliciously creamy lipsticks in eye-popping colours such as tangerine (£38.29), which contains the fruit as well as sunflower seeds and grapeseed oil. www.youngliving.com/en_GB
10 February 2022 Jewish News
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Business / Payment options
candicekrieger@googlemail.com
With Candice Krieger
THE BUY-NOW-PAY-LATER FIRM GUIDED BY FAITH The founders of a tech start-up that bridges the gap between lenders and merchants tell Candice Krieger why their new payment is so important in the world of finance
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to online shopping during n Israeli tech start-up the pandemic. founded by three “Covid rapidly yeshiva alumni accelerated technostudents has logical developraised millions ments in finance, from IKEA. payments and In 2021, the Swedish furnibanking,” notes ture giant invested £16.6 million Yaacov Martin, the ($22.5m) for a minority stake in CEO and co-founder Jifiti, a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) of Jifiti. “It changed company. The investment has been fintech in a tangible made through the investment arm of way – from online IKEA’s holding company, Ingka payments through Group, and is the company’s Jifiti founders Shaul Weisband, to contactless first investment in both a fintech Meir Dudai and Yaacov Martin payments and the company and an Israeli company. dire need for easy-access financial services.” BNPL refers to any situation in which He notes: “Banks and lenders realise that a consumer can pay for a purchase over BNPL is not a trend, but a genuine payment time. The industry has exploded in recent method that is not going anywhere. If they years, with companies partnering with aren’t in the space, then they risk not only merchants to allow customers to spread out losing out on the growing market, but also their payments – an option welcomed by the losing legitimacy as a payment/banking increasing number of consumers who turned
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Come join a new, modern orthodox minyan open to all in and around SW3, SW5, SW6, SW7 and SW10 Service led by Rabbi Yossi Fachler For further information please email: info@thesw3.co.uk
The company has a long-standing relationship with IKEA and is expanding into new markets
provider. Service providers realise that they need to adapt their solutions to the BNPL use case, including fraud, automation and more.” The IKEA investment is indicative of the way the market is heading. According to reports by CB Insights, the pandemic’s impact and BNPL’s overall rise in popularity will lead the industry to reach $1 trillion in transaction volume worldwide in 2025. BNPL grew to account for 2.1 percent of all global e-commerce transactions in 2020 (Worldpay’s 2021 Global Payments Report). Jifiti bridges the gap between lenders and merchants. It enables banks and lenders to offer their existing loan programmes at the point of sale of any retailer, in-store and online. The company recently launched its whitelabeled Split Pay solution, which will enable banks to offer split payments directly to merchants, in their own brand. The company works with other well-known brands, including IKEA and Walmart; and financial institutions such as Mastercard, Citizens Bank in the US, CaixaBank, Credit Agricole and others. Around £22m ($30m) has been raised to date, including from Schottenstein Stores, Jesselson Family Office, Simon Property Group, Liberty Israel Venture Fund and Ingka Investments (IKEA). The company was founded by Martin and his fellow yeshiva alumni, Shaul Weisband (CMO), and Meir Dudai (CTO) in 2012. Martin recalls: “When I got engaged almost 20 years ago, I had an idea to create a new concept for an online gift registry, but put it on hold. About 10 years later, I ran into a childhood friend, Shaul, who pitched the exact idea to me. I ran home to get my business plan, we teamed up with our technologically-gifted friend Meir, and the rest is history. “From a gift registry business we pivoted into the fintech business we are today by leveraging our infrastructure and point-of-sale
technology.” The company has had a longstanding relationship with IKEA, and has been its BNPL facilitator across European markets and is expanding into new markets with it. “The investment is an important stepping stone in our journey and in IKEA’s venture into financial services. It can definitely expedite and improve IKEA’s ability to offer financial services in its UK stores as well, so watch this space.” Prior to Jifiti, Martin founded one of Israel’s leading import and distribution companies for consumer goods. US-born, he grew up in Ra’anana and studied in a religious high school in Pardes Hanna before the Hesder Yeshiva in Gush Etzion. Does being religious impact the way the founder does business in any way? “We’d like to believe that our commitment to a higher authority creates certain fundamental obligations that pertain to the way in which we conduct our business. “This should first and foremost establish a moral and ethical threshold – one that pertains to the way we treat each other internally, our partners, clients and investors.” BNPL is not currently regulated, but calls are ramping up for this to change to prevent consumers from getting into swathes of debt and poor credit scores. Would Jifiti welcome this? “I think regulation is inevitable as the untraceable debt that is being accumulated by consumers through various platforms and offers must be keeping the regulator up at night.” “We feel strongly about responsible lending at Jifiti; it is one of our core values. Since we facilitate point-of-sale financing programmes for banks and lenders, which already operate within regulated frameworks, we remain true to our commitment to affordable and responsible lending. These are the products that we strive to bring to light and make accessible to each and every consumer.” � www.jifiti.com
10 February 2022 Jewish News
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Orthodox Judaism
MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA In our thought-provoking new series, rabbis and rebbetzen relate the week’s parsha to the way we live today BY RABBI STEPHEN DANSKY CRANBROOK UNITED SYNAGOGUE
High Fashion The UK fashion industry was estimated to be worth £62.2 billion in 2021. New clothes and accessories are constantly put onto the market. Fashion trends constantly change, and many people buy the latest clothing to keep on track with designer labels. It is always exciting to get something new, and most of us feel better when we are wearing something chic. The most elaborate clothing in the Torah is mentioned in this week’s Torah portion, which discusses the clothes of the High Priest. They were ornate and beautiful, and conferred upon him both honour and glory (Exodus 28:2). The commentaries
explain that the clothes he wore reflected the fashion worn by the nobility. His clothing reflected the notion that he was God’s representative on earth, and his resplendent clothes were honouring the Almighty. One of the items worn by the High Priest was a robe with pomegranates on its hem that held within them clappers that rang like bells. Whenever he walked, the bells would ring. The Torah adds that wearing these bells was necessary for his service in the temple on Yom Kippur. If he didn’t wear them, he would surely die. Why was it so important, not only for the High Priest’s service, but also for his life, that he wore these bells shaped like pomegranates? This question bothered me for many years until I read a beautiful
verse in the Song of Songs. This book states: “Your brow behind your veil [gleams] like a pomegranate split open.” The Talmud explains this verse to be a metaphor comparing Jewish people to a pomegranate. Just as a pomegranate has many seeds, so too, every single Jew, no matter how observant, has many merits. Every Jew, from the leaders to the least observant, has huge value. The job of the High Priest was to represent all the Jewish people, to be their messenger and intermediary to God. It is easy for the High Priest to represent the upright and the religious, but how does one represent those who seemingly do not have merits? He was warned against that invasive thought by the pomegranates that jingled as he walked,
Headteacher, Etz Chaim Jewish Primary School Start date: September 2022 Salary: L15 – L21 - £51,314 - £69,509 (Outer London) Closing date: Monday 7th March 2022 at 9am Interviews: Monday 21st March 2022 Etz Chaim, opened in September 2011, was the first Jewish Free School, specifically designed to serve the local community of Mill Hill in North London. We are a successful and well-respected school, with high levels of academic achievement. Our school represents a broad spectrum of backgrounds, nurturing and catering for children between the ages of 4-11. A brilliant opportunity has arisen to lead our talented and hardworking team. After 10 successful years, the founding and current Head teacher is stepping down at the end of this academic year. In order to lead and inspire the school in its next phase, we are looking for someone with a passion and fierce commitment to providing the very best education for our children. Etz Chaim is committed to the practice of Modern Orthodox Judaism but we welcome children and staff from all faiths who share and support our ethos. We are proud of our school, open to new and creative ideas and believe in the potential of every child in our care. We are seeking an ambitious and inspirational leader who has high expectations for all and will: • Be a great role model and bring a fresh perspective to leading our ambitious school. • Share and embrace our commitment to the practice of Modern Orthodox Judaism although it is not necessary to be of this faith. • Have excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively and forge positive relationships with pupils, staff, parents, governors and other stakeholders. • Share our passion and enthusiasm for all pupils: their learning and ability to reach their full potential must be at the heart of all school decisions. • Maintain and progressively build upon our school’s broad and balanced curriculum with extra-curricular and challenging opportunities for our children. • Outward facing, able to represent the school’s interests in the wider
reminding him that there is not one Jew, even the lowest of the low, who is without merits. Each person is bursting with potential and greatness. This idea has relevance for everyone. Knowing that every human being has value in this world means
that we have no right to judge anyone as lacking merit. We cannot cast aside others because they don’t meet our criteria of moral uprightness. Finding greatness in others is always possible, and it is our job to seek out that greatness in every person we meet.
community and continue to strengthen relationships with a wide variety of external partners. • Support the wellbeing and continued professional development of staff and pupils. We celebrate the Jewish values we share, and explore the differences that make each of us unique What we offer the successful candidate: • A fully inclusive and welcoming school with children who are enthusiastic about school and relish a child-centred approach to learning. • A passionate and dedicated staff team who are highly motivated to provide our children with stimulating, challenging and memorable experiences. • An engaging and approachable Governing Body who are ambitious for our school and want to ensure that Etz Chaim can continue to thrive and offer the best education for all children in our community. • A positive environment where your career development will be championed. We welcome applicants of all faiths and job share applicants. If you think you have what it takes to lead Etz Chaim Jewish Primary School into the future, we would be delighted to hear from you. To find out more please visit our website and see our latest Ofsted and Pikuach reports. If you wish to discuss the role please contact Chair of Governors, Marc Meyer at mmeyer@etzchaim-primaryschool.org.uk to arrange a time. To arrange a visit to the school, please contact Governor, Sam Shaerf at sshaerf@ etzchaim-primaryschool.org.uk Thank you for your interest in Etz Chaim. We look forward to meeting and interviewing motivated candidates interested in taking on this important and exciting new challenge. To request an application pack, please email leadership.recruitment@ hertsforlearning.co.uk Please note late applications will not be accepted. Important dates to be aware of: • Closing date: Monday 7th March 2022 at 9:00am • Shortlisting: Thursday 10th March 2022 • Interviews: Monday 21st March 2022 Etz Chaim Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and visitors to share this commitment. Appointment to this post is subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS) as well as other pre-appointment checks outlined in Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2021).
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Progressive Judaism
LEAP OF FAITH
A stimulating new series where our progressive rabbis consider how biblical figures might act when faced with 21st century issues
BY RABBI RENÉ PFERTZEL KINGSTON LIBERAL SYNAGOGUE
What would Noah do? After the flood, Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives left the Ark, traumatised by the catastrophe befalling humankind. But they also felt hope: it was time to start over, to inhabit the earth, to build a new humanity with branches springing forth from them. The Torah says many types of people came out of the children of Noah and Na’amah (his wife, according to Rashi), a diverse humanity with a common ancestry. One may wonder what they would think about the way human beings consider their differences today. The recent media storm triggered by actress Whoopi Goldberg’s comments on the Holocaust is symptomatic of a world of mega communication, where so many are ready to share an opinion that is not necessarily based on facts. During a talk show on a US TV channel last week, Whoopi Goldberg was discussing the decision made by a Missouri school to ban Art Spiegelman’s Maus, because it made some parents ‘uncomfortable’. It wasn’t the Shoah itself that was the issue, but some scenes of nudity or bad language. The conversation went on discussing the Holocaust, which she defined as being not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man. This is a perfect example of an opinion that is not based on facts. She may want to believe that, because
for her racism is something else, but the historical reality is that Nazism was based on a hierarchy of races, and a conception of humanity as a group of races. The fact that racialist theories are pseudo-sciences is irrelevant. They were real enough for the Nazis to initiate the destruction of the Jewish people and other groups. This begs the question: is Ms Goldberg ignorant, or is there something else going on here? She and her hosts mentioned the adjective ‘white’ on several occasions. One of the guests claimed that the Holocaust was the expression of white supremacism. Ms Goldberg herself said that gypsies and Jews were white people, and that the Holocaust was what white people did to white people. She implies that antisemitism and the Holocaust cannot be racial because Jews are white – what would the Jews of Kaifeng, Cochin or Ethiopia think about that? This proves, if necessary, that the category of race is inoperant. The hosts on this US talk show applied their categories of thinking to an event of the past, read the past in the light of the present, and transformed history to fit their own worldview. By doing that, not only did they distort the past, but they also sullied the memories of the victims of Nazi’s racial theories. Noah, Na’amah and their children would be appalled to see that people have forgotten their common roots and their unique essence, which form part of God’s plan for humankind. The Torah says many people descended from Noah’s offspring
LIFE Jewish News
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BBC’s neo-Nazi thriller Ridley Road Pages 20-21
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by Lee Harpin at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton lee@jewishnew s.co.uk @lmharpin
Dame Louise Ellman has said the only promise made to her by Keir momentous decision Starmer ahead of her this week to rejoin was that he would Labour “continue to eradicate semitism” and make antithe party “a better place”. Speaking to Jewish News at the party’s ence in Brighton, conferthe former Liverpool Riverside MP, flatly rejected suggestions she had been promised a place in the House of Lords to secure her sensational return to the party she quit two years over Jeremy Corbyn’s failure on antisemitism. ago Ellman said: “I haven’t been promised anything except that Keir will continue his mission to cate antisemitism. That’s the only promise eradibeen given. I did I have speak to Keir after I made the decision to return. I felt things were changing. I wanted to come back. I was change. I’m back because waiting for the party to I feel that it is on to becoming electable the way again.” Ellman, who was elected as MP for Liverpool Riverside in 1997, served as chair of the transport select committee for nearly a decade, having previously been leader of Lancashire County Council for 16 years. She said she had first joined the Labour more than 55 years Party ago “because I wanted to change society for the better”. The former Labour of Israel chair said Friends her political beliefs have not changed and she did not want her decision to go back into the party to be “all about me”. The 75-year-old added: “I want an anti-racist society, a more equal society, a society that treats people more fairly. That is something that has changed for me. Under Corbyn, Labour never something very diff became erent. Now it’s coming and I want to be part back of it .” Ellman said she was under absolutely no that the problem with anti-Jewish racism illusion had eradicated entirely. “There are still antisemites been in the Continued on page 2
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This post is advertised in accordance with section 7.2 (e) of the Sex Discrimination Act. Only women need apply. Registered charity number: 1047045
You will be experienced in leading on impact and evaluation and will be able to consolidate data and evidence to support Jewish Women’s Aid. You will ensure a positive and supportive culture across the organisation and will lead JWA’s popular Wellbeing and Resilience team. With a proven track record in high-level management and leadership, and a passion for the work of Jewish Women’s Aid, the ideal candidate will be pragmatic, organised and have an ability to work across several functions, aligning and coordinating them as needed.
Please go to www.jwa.org.uk/vacancies for the full job description and details of how to apply, or contact Vanessa at vanessa@jwa.org.uk
Closing date: Monday 21st February 2022, 9am This service is run by women for women and is therefore restricted to women applicants under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, and Part 1. Section 7(2) e of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 apply. Charity Number 1047045
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Our trusty team of advisers answers your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry. This week: Selling a property in Spain, taking a tired child to dance class and living independently after a fall LEE SHMUEL GOLDFARB INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS SPECIALIST
CURRENCIES DIRECT
Dear Lee Owing to Brexit we are changing our retirement plans and selling our property in the Costa del Sol. We want to use the funds to help our grandchildren buy their first homes. Do you have any advice for us? Mark and Deb Cohen Dear Mark and Deb When selling Spanish property, most transactions are completed at notary by means of a banker’s draft and not an electronic transfer. Such a draft typically costs c1.25 percent commission to deposit into a Spanish bank account. This is your hard-earned money and can be a sizable cost when selling out of Spain.
LOUISE LEACH PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL
DANCING WITH LOUISE Dear Louise My daughter started a dance class this term and although she really enjoys it when she’s there, it’s a battle getting her to it every week. When I pick her up from school, she is tired and hungry and just wants to go home. I’ve started to dread taking her because it feels like I’m dragging her there against her will. The funny thing is that
she always leaves the class on a high and smiling. But the following week, we will encounter the same issues all over again. Should I just leave it for now? Sonia Dear Sonia In my experience, this can happen often with young children and after-school activities but I would definitely keep persevering. There are endless benefits to weekly dance and exercise classes and you know it’s good for her because you see her happy face at the end. Be open and prepare for her reaction in advance. Remind her in the morning that today is dance day and talk about how brilliantly she did last week. Give her
To add insult to injury, the Spanish bank will then charge you a transfer fee to move the funds out of Spain. Not to worry though, because Currencies Direct has an exclusive relationship with CaixaBank. We can deposit a Spanish bankers’ draft into our secure client bank account and it will not cost you a single centimo. Not only will we save on the conversion costs from Euro to Stirling, and help you realise a better exchange rate, we will also save you a significant sum from the outset. We will also eliminate the transfer cost from Spain to the UK. Did I mention we can also endorse the banker’s draft with your power of attorney, saving you the bother of having to fly out to complete the sale in person? You will save on the bankers’ draft, exchange rate and transfer costs. Maybe you can help the grandchildren and go on a nice cruise.
a reward for going and not complaining, perhaps her favourite snack or some well-deserved screen time as a rest when she finishes. By persevering, you’re opening doors for her future. When I was six and twirling around in my pink tutu, I had no idea that this was the beginning of my whole career. Your daughter might not want to make dance her career, but it creates so many positive outcomes that will give her many options. The skill sets learnt in a dance class don’t end at the barre. They promote public speaking, resilience, teamwork, self-belief, social skills and coordination and she will be releasing all-important endorphins. Good luck!
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JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED Dear Lisa My brother has had a serious fall and is in hospital. I’m concerned he can’t move back to his own home and what would happen if he were to have another fall. I have heard about Jewish Blind & Disabled but wonder if it’s appropriate for him as he isn’t necessarily ‘disabled’ but will have longterm impact from the fall.
Dear Stephen I’m sorry to hear that you brother had a bad fall. Many of our tenants don’t see themselves as disabled, but have reduced mobility, declining sight or are prone to falls. Many of our tenants have what are often referred to as ‘hidden disabilities’; they may not be immediately visible, but they impact on an individual’s daily life. We would need to understand more about your brother’s recent fall, as well as some medical history and the impact of the fall to see if Jewish Blind & Disabled is right for him.
If you feel your brother can recover to a point where he can manage to live independently in one of our mobility apartments, then I would encourage you to apply to Jewish Blind & Disabled. There would be the peace of mind that if he fell again, help is on hand. We don’t provide on-site care, but we do have a team of dedicated house managers who are onsite 24/7 and check in and can help in an emergency situation such as a fall.
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PRIVATE HEALTHCARE SPECIALIST
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
DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES
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
CHARITY EXECUTIVE
CAROLYN ADDLEMAN Qualifications: Lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in will drafting and trust and estate administration. Last 14 years at KKL Executor and Trustee Company. In close contact with clients to ensure all legal and pastoral needs are cared for. Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
• •
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.
KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 020 8732 6101 www.kkl.org.uk enquiries@kkl.org.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
10 February 2022 Jewish News
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35
Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts
FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE
ACCOUNTANT
CHARITY EXECUTIVE
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.
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.
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
JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611 www.jbd.org Lisa@jbd.org
INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS SPECIALIST
IT SPECIALIST
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.
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
ISRAELI ACCOUNTANT
Email: sales@jewishnews.co.uk
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
If you would like to advertise your services here
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
Computer problems solved PC, Mac, WiFi, Laptops & Desktops Remote Support and On-Site Man on a Bike IT Consultancy Call now 020 8731 6171 www.manonabike.co.uk
London NHS Crisis UK Waiting lists hit 6 million (BBC – 13 January 2022) No one wants to be in this queue
Call Patient Health today, as we have helped countless people like you to obtain private health cover, to significantly reduce their premiums, and very often, provide higher cover for less
No charges, free advice, wide range of insurers. 020 3146 3444 info@patienthealth.co.uk FCA registered Helping individuals, families, small companies, large corporates
36
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Jewish News 10 February 2022
JDA – keeping keeping older Deaf people safe, well and feeling loved.
I've waited two years for this! No more virtual hugs for me thanks! Please show you care by making a donation today.
020 8446 0502 www.jdeaf.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1105845 Company Limited by Guarantee 4983830
10 February 2022 Jewish News
www.jewishnews.co.uk
37
Fun, games and prizes
THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD 1
2
3
4
5
8 9 10 13 17 18 19 20
6
7 8
9
10
11
14
15 16
17
18
19
Fill the grid with the numbers 1 to 9 so that each row, column and 3x3 block contains the numbers 1 to 9.
Fanatical (7) Veteran singer Mr Stewart (3) Evoking admiration (10) Happening by chance (10) Globe (3) Timeless (7) Bulb tasting of liquorice (6) Azure (4)
4
20
ACROSS 1 Ship’s level (4) 3 Breakfast-table food holder (3-3)
CODEWORD
The words related to crafts 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.
R S V W J
I
R C S D U R
E M O S A
I
C A
T Q C D E K M K U A P S P O
I
E O L
T M
P
L
I
I
L
20
F
I
V A R J
A R
T
L
12
I
I
O F C T A
I
N Y H E R
I
10
26
L C E O C K
I
O E G L K R
7
I
BATIK BONSAI CARPENTRY CERAMICS CROCHET
FRAME INLAY JOINERY KATAKANA KNITTING
I
Last issue’s solutions Crossword ACROSS: 1 Copse 4 Times 7 Wet 8 Embargo 9 Taxi 10 Heed 13 Den 15 Axle 16 Urge 19 Carving 21 Ant 22 Leech 23 Tweed DOWN: 1 Cowl 2 Pitfall 3 Eyelid 4 Tuba 5 Mar 6 Shoddy 11 Engrave 12 Parcel 14 Nugget 17 Rich 18 Stud 20 Roe
25
A S N O B
LACQUER MOSAIC NEEDLE PATCHWORK PLAITING
9 3 7 1 5 2 4 8 6
4 2 5 6 8 7 3 9 1
8 1 4 3 9 6 5 2 7
7
22
14
23
17
20
20
15
10
9
18
7
20
20
20
10
14 22
14
9
9
1
7
18
9
W
20
13 7
25
13
2
20
11
RAFFIA SCRIMSHAW TAPESTRY WEAVING WICKER
26
7
8
15
20 12
23
16
13
7
O
19
14
17
23
26
13
8
10
16
13
20
18
18
13
6 7 2 8 1 5 9 4 3
3 5 8 9 6 1 2 7 4
3
4 12
11
21
13
13
13
7
25
8
7
2
10
19
5
16
22
R
13
24 23
22
4 5
13
3
19
1 5
26 6
8
1
2
14
15
W
3
4
5
6
7
16
17
18
19
20
R
8
9
21
22
O
13 7
See next issue for puzzle solutions.
10
11
12
13
23
24
25
26
Suguru 5 9 3 7 2 4 1 6 8
13
3
4
13
9
12
10
18
9
16
20
4
17
18
16
13
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.
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 1 8 6 4 3 9 7 5 2
10
3
22
H C A R P E N T R Y U C W R E U Q C A L
13
16
G S K O R N N N E D R O C L G E Y S
7
9
E T T N E A G W H E
H N U A E E
7
7
A N A N D A S F
A A T A K
A B D T T B
I
8
SUGURU
1
WORDSEARCH Y W A H S M
2
8 9 5 2 1 4 7 9 5 3 1 8 2 5 7 8 3 4 7 6 2 4 9 3 6
DOWN 1 Slumber (4) 2 Captivate (5) 4 Matter which is neither solid nor liquid (3) 5 Breed of dog favoured by the Queen (5) 6 Quilted, cushioned (6) 7 Scorchingly hot (6) 11 ___ Strip, stretch of a Hollywood boulevard (6) 12 Make redundant (3,3) 14 Hut, cottage (5) 15 Declare to be void (5) 16 Arctic waters feature (4) 18 Organ of sight (3)
12 13
SUDOKU
2 4 1 5 7 8 6 3 9
7 6 9 2 4 3 8 1 5
1 3 2 3 1 4
2 4 1 4 2 3
3 5 3 5 1 5
All puzzles © Puzzler Media Ltd - www.puzzler.com
Wordsearch 1 2 1 4 2 3
5 4 5 3 5 4
1 2 1 4 1 2
4 1 3 1 3 1
3 2 4 2 5 2
1 5 1 3 4 3
2 3 2 5 2 1
4 1 4 1 3 4
5 2 3 5 2 1
Y D E E I B A D N S L O B
Q L M E E T T E S O U C L
N N P R J A M B O R E E J
S A L G C I E L E P A E U
N S O I N A T E E E E D B
S O Y L S N R D N U N T I
C T E I O R I E Q I N K L
Codeword E I E F L G E R F T A C E
E A O D R R A F A R O R E
T L T E U M Y M U F E I T
A N E P T S C I F G S E N
O E E R E G D E K I E A M
G S C A A O E S P R E E S
ADR I F C E U HAC K S E O E A V I D E E V E RBA A N CABBA U A G A L T AR T C A E X HUM
T
E T AW I CA E L T L GE D GR E E S
S Q U A L O R R H I N O
T E EM Q E S UA L I L Y P S O W OU P E N D U F F A J Z Z L E E E L D E R
P F Z T NB SOAGV D U 10/02 M I YWJ K XQHC L E R
38
Jewish News 10 February 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
OFFICE FURNITURE
For further details and application forms, please contact Westlon Housing Association on 020 8201 8484 or email: johnsilverman@btconnect.com
UTILITIES
Are you happy paying big household bills?
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!
Would you like to pay less?
Find out how ©
call Jeff on 07958 959 822
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
10 February 2022 Jewish News
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39
Business Services Directory LEGACY- LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR MEMORY
JEWISH WAR VETERANS
Leave the legacy of independence to people like Joel.
YOUR LEGACY
PLease remember us in your wiLL.
& THEIR DEPENDANTS NEED
legacy@cst.org.uk ►
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
www.cst.org.uk ► 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
Need cash fast?
Sell your gold and coins today! 9 ct per gram 15.51 14 ct per gram £24.19 18 ct per gram £31.02 21 ct per gram £36.19 22 ct per gram £37.88 24 ct per gram £41.35 Platinum 950 per gram £20.81 Silver 925ag per gram £0.40 Half Sovereigns £151.54 Full Sovereigns £303.08 Krugerrands £1286.27 We also purchase any sterling silver candlesticks and any other sterling silver tableware
We wish to purchase any Diamond & Gold Jewellery
Can’t choose the diamond ring you are looking for? Come and see us in our North London showroom for the best engagement ring selection. We can create the design of your dreams... and at a wholesale price! We can supply any certificated GIA or HRD diamond of your choice.
Personal & confidential Customer Service Price Offered Instantly Same Day payment A free valuation from our in house gemmologist and gold experts on anything you may wish to sell. If you are thinking of selling, the price of diamonds has never been higher! In any shape, size, clarity or colour. WE PAY MORE than all our competitors. Try us, and you will not be disappointed!
Jewellery Cave Ltd, 48b Hendon Lane, London N3 1TT T: 020 8446 8538 E:jonathan@jewellerycave.co.uk www.howcashforgold.co.uk Open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm (anytime) and Saturday 9am to 1pm (by appointment)
40 Jewish News
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10 February 2022
What does depression look like?
just a text away 07860058823 @jteensupport Www.jteensupport.org
Remember Jteen is confidential and anonymous and is available for anyone between the ages of 11-20. We can't see your number and we won't ask for your name.