On 20th-21st November 2022, Shalva UK is launching a 36-hour crowdfunding campaign called I'm IN! and encourages people to joIN in raising funds that benefit thousands of individuals with disabilities in Israel. Thank you again for walking alongside us. Together, we are creating a better, more INclusive world for all.
Shalva - the Israel Association for the Care and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities is a leading organisation advancing the field of disability care in Israel and globally. Based in Jerusalem, the Shalva National Center is home to 20 different programmes that provide rehabilitative care to 2,000 individuals with disabilities and their families.
Controversial plans to rewrite Israel’s Law of Return that would see Jews converted by nonOrthodox rabbis barred from making aliyah were condemned by UK progressive leaders this week for creating a system of “first and second class Jews”, writes Jotam Confino.
Another demand coming from the far-right Religious Zionism Party, which is poised for a key role in the new coalition government, would see the cancelation of the “grandchild clause”, which allows grandchildren of Jews to immigrate to Israel.
Both proposals have been backed by far-right lawmaker and convicted racist Itamar Ben-Gvir (pictured above), leader of Jewish Power Party. “Only a Jew who converted in accordance with Jewish law (Halacha) would be eligible under the Law of Return,” he said.
Ben-Gvir’s demands came the same day that the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yitzhak Yosef, warned Israel “is an Orthodox state, not a Reform one,” while accusing Reform Judaism of “causing assimilation abroad”. Yosef also said proposed legislation by the Religious Zionism Party and ultra-Orthodox partners
that would curb the High Court of Justice’s power would be an “opportunity to amend the law on who is a Jew”.
These plans were roundly condemned by progressive Jewish leaders across the UK. Rabbi Laura JannerKlausner of Bromley Reform Synagogue, who was also the inaugural Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism, called Ben-Gvir’s demands “just one corrosive, toxic and depleting element of a slew of foul policies that will undermine the very nature of Jewish Peoplehood. It is disturbing, disgusting and demeaning.”
Rabbi Deborah Blausten from Finchley Reform Synagogue warned that the rhetoric coming from the far-right and ultra-Orthodox were inflicting deep personal and emotional damage on Diaspora Jews.
She said: “For Israel, at this moment, to turn around to Jews around the world and say ‘your Jewishness isn’t valid’ is like a kick in the teeth. It’s a horrible thing to be told.”
Blausten also pointed the figer at incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Netanyahu’s job is to
Fresh allegations of sexual assault against Golders Green Rabbi Chaim Halpern aired on Israeli TV on Tuesday, writes Adam Decker.
Charges against Halpern were dropped after a nine-month investigation back in 2013 in which his supporters were arrested on charges of perverting the course of justice.
Halpern (pictured right, in a still
from the TV programme), of the Divrei Chaim synagogue, resigned from his position of dayan with the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations but always maintained his innocence in the face of sexual assault charges.
The persistent allegations against him led to a rift in the strictly-Orthodox community, with
other shuls leaving the Union after it failed to act on the women’s complaints following counselling sessions with Halpern.
Now, Israel’s Channel 12 news has broadcast an interview with a 21-year-old woman who claims Halpern sexually assaulted her in his London o ce. The woman, who speaks anonymously, told the
channel: “He (Halpern) opened the door and told me to come and sit down and he locked the door.
“He was sitting very close to me so I moved back a bit but then he came again. Then he started touching my leg muscles, and he went all the way up my thigh.
“I froze and shook so he let go. It
Three Israelis were killed and three hurt in a stabbing in the West Bank on Tuesday.
The IDF said a Palestinian man carried out the attacl near the settlement of Ariel, after which he fled in a car and crashed into other cars on Highway 5.
“The terrorist fled the scene and was neu tralised afterwards. Soldiers are searching the area,” the IDF said shortly after the attack.
Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the citizens of Israel “awakened today to a difficult and painful morning. A despicable terrorist has carried out a heinous terrorist attack in Ariel.”
He added: “We are relentlessly fighting ter rorism with the full might of the IDF, ISA [Israel Securities Authority] and all the security forces. Recently, we have succeeded in dismantling extensive terrorist infrastructure and planning, but we must fight this war every day anew.”
United Hatzalah volunteer paramedic Daniel Cohen, who was one of the first responders, said: “When I arrived at the scene I found that the incident had transpired in two different locations.
“Overall, there are four people who were injured, three of whom are in serious condi tion. Together with other [emergency medical] personnel I provided emergency medical treat ment to the injured at both scenes prior to their being transported to the hospital.”
The United States this week criticised an Israeli MK for commemorating the anniversary of the killing of a terrorist rabbi, writes Adam Decker.
State Department spokesman Ned Price took aim newly-elected Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir for attending a ceremony to mark the death of Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1990.
Referring to Ben-Gvir’s support for Kahane Chai, an organisation that was on Washington’s list of foreign terrorist organisations for years, Price said: “Celebrating the legacy of a terrorist organisation is abhorrent. There is no other word for it.”
He added: “We remain concerned by the legacy of Kahane Chai and the continued use of rhetoric among violent right-wing extremists.”
Not all Jewish groups shared those thoughts, however. Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), which claims to represent more than 2,000 rabbis in American public policy, backed BenGvir and called Kahane “a victim” who “never murdered anyone”. Kahane was convicted of plotting to blow up the Libyan embassy in Brussels. He also planned to remove of nonJews from Israel if they did not agree to live as second-class citizens.
“Attending a memorial for a murder victim
is hardly celebrating terror, especially as BenGvir carefully said that he did not agree with the deceased’s positions,” said CJV Rabbinic Circle chair Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer.
“Rabbi Kahane never murdered anyone, while the Palestinian Authority, a union of terror organisations, instigates and lauds mur ders on a daily basis,” said CJV Israel regional vice-president Rabbi Steven Pruzansky.
“The State Department is funding the PA’s ongoing support for terror while rushing to
wrongly condemn Ben-Gvir for attending a memorial service for someone who died over three decades ago.”
Founded after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, CJV claims to be “the largest rabbinic public policy organisation in America”. Its CJV’s international liaison officer is the UK-based Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag, who left his role as shul rabbi in 2019 after members of Whitefield Hebrew Congregation in Man chester voted to have him removed.
An Israeli-Palestinian grass roots initiative is to launch in the UK after organisers said the election of Israel’s farright means engaging settlers in the West Bank is now more important than ever.
Friends of Roots UK (FoRUK) is a branch of Roots, which is led by Israeli Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Pal estinian Noor A’wad and aims to connect Israeli settlers with Palestinians face-to-
face. Over the past five years, the organisation has set up initiatives including dialogue
centres in Nablus, the Jordan Valley, Kfar Adumim-Jahalin, Bethlehem-Gush Etzion, and the South Hebron Hills.
The FoRUK launch tour is taking place 16-27 November, starting in Edinburgh at the Scottish Parliament, before travelling to London, Luton, Cambridge, Oxford, War wick, Birmingham, Hudders field, Manchester, Salford, and Trafford. It will launch online on Monday.
The National Holocaust Centre and Museum has said its role as National Portfolio Organisa tion has been renewed for three more years by the Arts Council England (ACE).
The centre and museum was founded in 1995 by Christians — the Smith family — and is Britain’s only dedicated Holocaust museum. Its education department engages with young stu dents and adult groups around the UK.
Marc Cave, museum director, thanked ACE for the grant of £400,000 a year, which is an annual increase of £100,000, saying: “With this increased support for the next three years, we’ll be able to apply an ever-richer level of experi
ential, narrative and tech creativity to the job in hand. And as a Londoner, may I say how good it is to be able to make a national impact from a region other than London.”
Peter Knott, area director for ACE, praised the centre for its use of digital technology to keep survivors’ stories alive, adding: “We’re delighted to be increasing our investment in their work. They provide strong learning and educational programmes for students, children and young people to ensure that the next gener ation can learn from the past and it’ll be great to see them continue to educate and inspire people in Nottinghamshire and beyond.”
Continued from page 1 think broader than Ben-Gvir’s base. If the Likud starts speaking this language, we will have a real problem. Netanyahu needs to remember that decisions like these won’t strengthen or build Israel. It will only weaken Israel’s relationship with the Diaspora.”
Matt Plen, chief executive of Masorti Judaism, echoed Blausten, calling on Netanyahu “to reject Ben-Gvir’s poisonous demands, which will cause a dangerous rupture with Diaspora communities, and to fulfil his duty to safeguard the unity of the Jewish people and the future of the State of Israel.”
Rabbi Lea Mühlstein, of the Ark Synagogue London, told Jewish News the proposals were “very disappointing, especially at this time when Israel is preparing itself for mass immigration from Russia and Ukraine. Many of those might not be able to come if the grandchild clause is nixed [cancelled].”
She added: “It’s also a massive slap in the face to reform Judaism in the US and liberal Judaism in the UK. It basically tells Jews around the world that Israel isn’t the homeland for Jews, it’s the homeland for Israeli citizens.”
Mühlstein said the proposals made by Religious Zionism as well as statements made by Chief Rabbi Yosef have “taken British Jews aback. I don’t think any of them had it on their radar that Israel would suddenly select who is
Jewish enough to be part of a Jewish state. I don’t think this will be acceptable to Diaspora Jews.”
Mühlstein said that she frequently writes letters supporting applications for aliyah, and
Labour has launched an inquiry into “serious” allegations of antisemitism during a parliamentary selection contest, writes Lee Harpin.
Party chiefs confirmed that they had intervened to dissolve the selection committee that was to have picked candidates for the contest in Kensington after launching “a serious investigation into antisemitism” and over the need to “suspend members due to antisemitism”.
The memo from London Labour regional HQ also expressed “serious concerns” about the conduct of some of the selection committee, accusing a “few” of them of either “lack of organisation” or else a “blatant attempt to undermine the process”.
Last week Jewish News revealed the Kensington selection was rocked by antisemitic and Islamophobic slurs being made against one of the candidates. Mete Coban, one of the candidate hopefuls, had been labelled “Zionist” and a Muslim “sell out” in a message to members. The message also accused him of being a “supporter of apartheid, racism and baby killers”.
A message sent to the Kensington CLP selection committee last Thursday also confirmed that committee members had previously been removed from their duties after it was discovered they had been campaigning themselves for the candidate Kasim Ali.
selection committee last Thursday also confirmed that committee members their duties after it was discovered that of candidates who will now try
On Friday, it was confirmed that Ali had been removed from the shortlist of candidates who will now try to convince members they should represent Labour at the next general election.
Jewish News understands that the antisemitic email circulated in north Kensington last week was linked to a group of activists who had been involved in a leafleting session for Ali. There is no suggestion that Ali was directly involved in the wording of the email.
He had previously been backed by the local Momentum group as its favoured candidate.
Ali had also previously claimed that a photo of himself at a campaign event for Zak Goldsmith’s London mayoral bid, which is displayed on the Somali Conservatives Facebook page, had indeed shown him present, but as a representative of a local communal group.
It is understood that a panel from Labour’s national executive committee will now oversee the selection process in the west London CLP.
Alongside Coban’s name on the shortlist of candidates for the Kensington selection ware those of Afsana Lachaux and Joe Powell.
that about half of the ones she has written in the past decade would have been a ected by the two proposals to amend the Law of
Return. “It will be another reason for Diaspora Jews to say ‘why should I feel part of Israel if it tells me I don’t belong there?”
Rabbi Mühlstein, who is also international chair of Arzenu and a board member of the Jewish Agency for Israel, said there are already a “lot of conversations behind the scenes between the community organisations about which stance we should be taking”, to the demands coming from the Israeli far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.
Rabbi Blausten says that if their demands to change the Law of Return are met, there will be a “huge” collective response by the Jewish Diaspora.
“Reform Judaism is the largest Jewish denomination outside Israel, and it’s the largest one growing inside Israel. So the organised community won’t stand for this,” she said. “It’s unacceptable.”
Senior Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, of Masorti Judaism UK, also reacted strongly, telling Jewish News: “This is deeply retrograde. It shows that bigotry has no borders. Those who are racist towards other peoples, bring division and strife within their own.”
seat in 2019, was blocked from standing
One Labour source welcomed the needed for a long time now,” said the source. “Kensington CLP has been the Corbyn era. It’s
Kensington CLP had faced an earlier scandal when its former MP Emma Dent Coad apologised after backing claims that Israel disgraced “Jews worldwide”. Dent Coad, who lost the seat in 2019, was blocked from standing again as a candidate as a result of “due diligence” done on all those standing. One Labour source welcomed the latest intervention. “This has been needed for a long time now,” said the source. “Kensington CLP has been a mess. A hangover from the Corbyn era. It’s great the leadership have now taken action.”
Protecting and securing the Jewish community in the UK against antisemitism is what we do. From the streets of London in the 1950s through to the hate-filled internet chatrooms of today, CST will leave no stone unturned in the fight against those who wish to do us harm. This is not something that we can do without your ongoing and long-term support.
A legacy to CST will ensure that our community is not only protected against the continuous threat of antisemitism but is also given the security necessary to flourish in the future. Contact us on 020 8457 3700 or email legacy@cst.org.uk.
A French Holocaust denier living in Scotland has been arrested after fleeing authorities across the channel following his convicted under anti-Nazi laws.
After a two-year search, Vincent Reynouard was arrested in Fife last Thursday.
He had been given a four-month jail term in November 2020 and a further six-month spell in January 2021. Holocaust denial has been a criminal o ence in France since 1990, and Reynouard has several convictions. His latest conviction was in relation to a series of antisemitic posts on social media.
Police Scotland confirmed that a 53-year-old man had been detained on behalf of the French authorities, and that he appeared before Edinburgh Sheri Court later that day.
“He was arrested at an address in the Anstruther area of
Fife on a Trade and Co-operation Agreement warrant issued in France,” the spokesman said.
General Jean-Philippe Reiland of the OCLCH, the arm of the French gendarmerie that specialises in hate crime and war crimes, said: “Vincent Reynouard was able to be arrested thanks to a huge e ort of international co-operation and, in particular, thanks to our British counterparts. Despite the legal di culties that may exist, the O ce [OCLCH] will not let go of the ideologues who propagate hatred, wherever they are.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) welcomed the arrest and described Reynouard as a “despicable Holocaust denier who has repeatedly been convicted by French courts”. The charity said his first denial conviction was in 1991 for distributing leaflets denying the existence of gas chambers.
Jeremy Corbyn’s days as a Labour MP are over, senior party sources claim.
A report in the Guardian quotes insiders as saying the former Labour leader, who has been suspended from the party since 2020, has now been permanently removed.
The paper quotes a source as saying: “Jeremy Corbyn is never getting back in. He
would be toxic to our chances of winning back some of the seats we need to win back.”
The report comes one day after Labour leader Keir Starmer told the Sunday Express that it was “very difficult to see the circumstances in which” Corbyn would return as an MP for his party.
The former leader was asked by Starmer to apologise
for saying allegations of antisemitism during his tenure were overblown. He refused, and had the whip withdrawn.
Corbyn is known to want to run again in his Islington North seat, regardless of whether he does so as an independent, or representing left-wing grassroots group Momentum, which is understood to want to support him.
The French press claimed he had been working as a private tutor while living under a false identity while in the UK, something CAA described as “intolerable”.
Conservative peer Lord Polak has accused the Foreign O ce of being “quick to speak and condemn” the Iranian regime “but so slow to take meaningful action”, writes Lee Harpin.
But responding in the House of Lords, a government minister appeared to suggest that a succession of UK prime ministers had impacted on the ability to make swifter decisions.
The Conservative Friends of Israel group’s honorary president spoke out in the Lords, two weeks after raising the UK’s failure to proscribe the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. He
queried also why the government had not taken a lead at the United Nations to ensure that Iran was suspended and removed as a member of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Responding for the government, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon said: “On the CSW, I directed o cials immediately, and we are working very closely with the United States and other partners, to ensure the removal of Iran from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. It cannot be right that Iran continues to be part of that body.”
An employment and business support organisation serving London’s Jewish community has been pledged more than £1m in its 36-hour fundraiser.
Work Avenue, based in Finchley, smashed its target of £750,000 as donors ready their wallets to help people through the worst cost-ofliving crisis in a generation.
“Yet again, I am absolutely blown away by the generosity of the community,” said Work Avenue chair Mark Morris. “The support we received over the past 36 hours has been inspiring.
“With the cost-of-living crisis hitting hard, the need
for our clients to upskill and earn an extra income is more important than ever. Through these donations we can now help even more people in our community to do that.”
Work Avenue, which helps people earn a living to provide for themselves and their families, has seen
demand for its services soar in recent months, with bosses describing it as “unprecedented”.
The money will go towards extending the charity’s physical facilities, including extending its current building to accommodate the additional service users.
When a pupil at Wohl Ilford Jewish Primary School recently asked their teacher about all the parents’ cars parked outside with engines running, polluting the air nearby, it got them thinking: what to do about it?
Sure enough, the concerns of that child – Sammy Carter – led teachers to listen. From there, a campaign grew.
The solution, all agreed, was a series of pupil-produced posters highlighting how emissions can exacerbate problems like asthma.
“We listened to his views and agreed that running a whole-school poster competition to shine a light on the problem and galvanise change would be the best way forwards,” said Deborah Harris,
Jewish Studies Lead.
“We believe that the environment is no one’s property to destroy and everyone’s responsibility to protect. Our pupils take this responsibility seriously and we discuss issues such as food waste, the importance of recycling and ways to save energy as part of our geography, RSHE and Jewish Studies curriculums.”
Along with the Barkingside school’s senior leadership team, Sammy chose two winners: Noah Keller in Year 5, and Brooke Strong in Year 6.
Continued from page 1 was so twisted. When we finished our conversation he gave me a tight hug. One hand was around me the other was on the private parts of my body.”
The woman also recorded several phone conversations with Halpern, where he is heard asking her if he can “come to bed” with her.
The rabbi is seemingly recorded, asking: “Want me to come with you in bed? You have beautiful eyes. When you came to see me that first time, I cannot forget. When I held you for those few minutes. I can give you a lot of love because I love you.”
When Channel 12 confronted him about the voice recordings, Halpern said: “I can copy the voices of many people. I totally deny it.”
The woman added: “I feel confident that what I’m doing is correct and that I will bring a lot of awareness to people. He shouldn’t have this position at all.”
Yehudis Goldsobel, founder of Migdal
Emunah, which supports victims of child and sexual abuse within the Jewish community, told Jewish News: “A handful of exceptionally brave women stood against everything they had ever been told and reported Chaim Halpern (prior to charges being dropped). As we have repeatedly seen, there is little – if any – support for victims of sexual abuse. They were hounded until they withdrew their report.”
She added: “At the time some rabbonim declared publicly that Chaim Halpern was an unsafe person. But this broadcast on Israeli TV begs the question – was that enough? I stand with the brave woman on the TV report who not only recorded the phone calls but went on to speak to the media to spread as much awareness as possible. Again and again, we see that it’s survivors changing the narrative and protect others from harm, not leadership.”
Jewish News contacted the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations on Wednesday but received no reply.
by Brigit Grant brigit@jewishnews.co.uk @brigitfilm
“If
things
says comedy actor Sarah Silverman at the start of David Baddiel’s Jews Don’t Count.
It’s a point most Jews would agree with, but with just days to go until the documentary airs on Channel 4, the ‘not counting’ of Jews and ‘going Defcon 3’ on us is almost too felicitous not to be part of a campaign to promote the programme.
Of course, Baddiel could never have known that Kanye West – or Ye as his monosyllabic mates call him – would angrily spout antisemitic tropes about Jews or threaten them with a military defence term. Or that US stand-up Dave Chapelle would echo Ye’s targeted vituperation on Saturday Night Live.
Baddiel is equally unlikely to have known that a London theatre company was planning a NaziJewish themed production of Romeo and Juliet, but it has not stopped it from being useful for a doc based on his bestselling book as it proves Jews (really) don’t count.
Their feelings certainly don’t, and this is expressed by familiar faces (Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes, David Schwimmer, Rachel Riley, Ivor Baddiel) and celebrated scribes (Howard Jacobson, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Marber) who are in the film and collectively believe that
Jews are an oppressed minority, but ‘others’ don’t.
Illustrated with pertinent footage beginning with Baddiel filling out a form on which Jews are excluded from the minority tick list, the narrative expands into other issues, such as the Jews being too white for actress
and television personality Whoopi Goldberg, who told American TV viewers the Holocaust was “not about race” (before being forced to apologise) but not white enough for the Nazis not to mass murder them.
All of this and antisemitic anecdotes by the contributors is seam-
lessly collated, well-lit and mostly interesting, even if the information isn’t new to you.
In the black and white to-camera segments, a handsome-looking Baddiel is excellent at encapsulating how the rest of us feel, particularly about being denied racism membership which has been “ring-fenced by people of colour”.
And that is or isn’t us, depending on the history you read, but as Baddiel’s doc just missed the furore around Ronald Dalton Jr’s film
Wake Up Black America there’s a reason for him to make another.
He should because he is good on TV, but there’s no denying that in a film about discounting Jews (they’re not on sale), his atheism is the elephant in the synagogue and his lack of interest in or link to Israel, while understandable, will irk with Jews who give generously to the country.
They count too, and are more likely to watch this film than the ‘others’.
Watch Jews Don’t Count on Channel 4 on Monday at 9pm
we controlled
wouldn’t we have better PR?”Hebrews to Negroes:
Buying your first home can seem like an impossibility. How can you find something you can afford? In London?
Shared ownership can make your dream come true. You buy an initial share of 25%-75%, paying rent on the remaining portion. This means, for example at 25%, that you need just a quarter of the deposit. Over time, as you can afford it, you can buy a bigger share, and ultimately own the property outright. If you sell before then, you keep your share of any change in value.
Edgwarebury Manor is a new landscaped development of houses and flats in Edgware, offering a wonderful village-like feel next to the Green Belt.
With easy access to bustling shopping and entertainment areas, it is also in the heart of an area with many facilities of interest to members of the Jewish community: synagogues, Jewish schools and Jewish shops.
We have a small number of these homes available as shared ownership. These comprise 21 flats (16 x 1-bedroom and 5 x 2-bedroom) and 2 houses (2-bedroom), all with their own allocated parking space. Deposits from £8,875.
To register your interest, scan the QR code below or visit edgwareburymanor.site-sales.co.uk
A man has been found guilty of carrying out antisemitic attacks on three Jews after travel ling to north London from west Yorkshire. Abdullah Qureshi’s targets included a 14-year-old boy on his way to school and a 64-year-old man who was knocked out as he made his way to synagogue.
The 30-year-old also hit a teacher in the head with a plastic bottle as he carried out his attacks over a two-hour period on 18 August in Stam ford Hill.
Qureshi claimed “it was just a coincidence” his three victims were all wearing traditional Jewish clothing and said he lashed out after becoming “angrier and angrier” following a row in a shop.
But prosecutor Varinder Hayre suggested to Qureshi he travelled from his home in Dews bury to target Jews because “you hate them”.
Following a trial at Stratford Magistrates’ Court in east London, District Judge John Law found Qureshi guilty of inflicting reli giously aggravated grievous bodily harm and two counts of religiously aggravated assault by beating. “The three complainants not only were orthodox Jews but were clearly identifiable as such,” said the judge. “I am drawn to the ines capable conclusion that their selection by this defendant was not a coincidence.”
Mr Law committed the case to Snaresbrook Crown Court for sentencing on December 8, granting Qureshi bail on the condition he does not enter the London borough of Hackney.
Qureshi had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Jacob Lip schitz and assaulting Chaine Greenfeld, without the religiously aggravated element, in pleas initially accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). But prosecutors were allowed to reinstate the charges, including the religiously aggravated element, along with a further charge against then then 14-year-old boy, following complaints from campaigners.
Qureshi, playing Arabic music on his mobile phone, hit Mr Greenfeld in the head with a bottle as he stood in the street at around 6.40pm, the court was told. “I felt shocked,” Mr Greenfield said while giving evidence from behind a screen. “When I came home, I was quite traumatised and it traumatised my kids that their father was slapped like that in the road.”
Asked why he thought he was attacked, Mr Greenfeld said: “He wanted to attack me about I’m another religion – that I’m Jewish.
Qureshi slapped the 14-year-old, who cannot be identified because of his age, as he walked to an Jewish school at about 7.45pm. “The man said nothing to me and just slapped me and
walked away,” the teenager said in a statement.
The prosecutor said Mr Lipschitz, then 64, was walking to the synagogue at about 8.30pm when he was punched on the ear with “tremen dous power”, causing him to hit his head on the wall of a building with “such force” it left him unconscious. Asked why he believes he was tar geted, Mr Lipschitz told the judge: “I imagine he didn’t like me because I’m Jewish.”
Qureshi was arrested after his father recog nised him in a police appeal. Officers found a message on his mobile called: “Dua for protec tion from your enemy.” A dua is a type of Islamic prayer. “Oh Allah, we ask you to restrain them by their necks and we seek refuge in you from their evil,” it read. Ms Hayre suggested Qureshi considers Jews to be “evil” and his “enemy”.
“You don’t like Jewish people,” she said. “When you attacked those people they were in vulnerable positions, by themselves.” But Qureshi said he has “nothing against Jews” and insisted: “It was just a coincidence. I was angry.”
The verdict is a victory for Stamford Hill Shomrim and the Community Security Trust, who organised and hosted a meeting between Mr Lipschitz and the CPS, to persuade the CPS to reinstate the aggravated charges. CST volun teers in the Orthodox community also worked with the youngest victim and encouraged him to
come forward and give evidence, which he had initially declined to do.
The CST told Jewish News: “This verdict vindicates the determination shown by the vic tims, with the support of CST and others, that Qureshi’s attacks should be fully prosecuted as religious hate crimes. We are grateful to the CPS for changing their view on this and thank our volunteers who worked with the victims to ensure they got justice.”
As the Chief Rabbi delivered words of Torah to an audience of 100 on the final night of his historic mission to the UAE, it felt particularly fitting that the Muslim call to prayer rang out from every direction around the Crossroads of Civilisation Museum. “Isn’t that the greatest expression of Muslim and Jewish togetherness?’ he told the audience to loud applause.
He was giving a full-time report on the three-day trip, the first by any British Chief Rabbi to the Gulf, at the invitation of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace. His summary could hardly have been more glowing, presenting the UAE as bucking global trends toward extremism, hate and conflict. That it is the only country with a ministry of tolerance spoke volumes, Ephraim Mirvis suggested.
In Russia, he noted, Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt had been forced to flee after criticising the Ukraine invasion. “Here I’ve been welcomed with open arms. It’s just the opposite.”
He added: “On the anniversary of Kristallnacht yesterday, we recalled how synagogues were burnt to the ground. Here in the UAE most of my conversations have been about synagogues being created. The Abrahamic family house is being established by the government. It’s a story of growth. It’s going against the trend.”
If the idea of one Chief Rabbi speaking openly in the UAE was inconceivable just a few years ago, the site of two taking part in evening prayers on Thursday night alongside each other served to underscore the point. Among the guests were UAE Chief Rabbi Yehuda Sarna – who has spoken of his hopes that the community of around 2,000 could number 10,000 within years – and Elie Abadie, senior rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates, as well as diplomats, former Israeli minister
Ayoob Kara and Avi Benlolo of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative.
Rabbi Mirvis said there was no reason why the UAE Jewish community could not become “a great and famous leader within world Jewry. I have no doubt I will return and on each occasion I will see fur-
ther growth and further development”. In fact, traversing Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the Chief Rabbi seemed to pick up more invitations than he would walking down Golders Green Road. He heaped praise on Iraqiborn philanthropist and Board of Deputies vice-president Edwin
Shuker, who was the driving force behind the event, and museum founder Ahmed Al Mansoori. Reflecting that the museum featuring Jewish and Israeli artefacts opened back in 2014, the chief rabbi told him: “You’re not a product of the Abraham Accords, you’re a product of your heart.”
Shuker’s ancestors spent 2,600 years living in harmony with their Arab neighbours before a crackdown
on the Jewish community saw 10 people hanged publicly in Baghdad in 1969. Two years later his family fled.
He never Imagined a return to the halcyon days when Jews and Arabs hosted each other on occasions like this, he said.
Shuker said he hadn’t seen anyone since Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat break down barriers quite like Al Mansoori, who also opened a Holocaust exhibition within the museum in 2021, becoming the first in the region outside Israel to do so.
Given a guided tour by Al Mansoori, the chief rabbi was shown materials covering Nazi ideology and Muslims who saved Jews during the Shoah, and a Torah scroll, one of more than 1,500 rescued from the communities of Bohemia and Moravia during WW2, behind a glass cabinet.
Viewing a 14th-century Mishna Torah
Summing up his trip before lunch in the Burj Khalifa, Mirvis said: “I’m feeling on top of the world. Here I’m encountering a combination of the greatness of Hashem with the greatness of human endeavour.
“But for me, the best part of this building is the fact that I’ll be having lunch in a kosher restaurant within this building, the Burj Khalifa, and this is testament to the benefits of the Abraham Accords.”
The Chief Rabbi’s “goodness and modesty” were hailed at a reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee in Abu Dhabi.
Former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, David Rosen, who now heads interrelations a airs at the AJC, told the gathering at the Ritz Carlton
Hotel the Talmud highlighted three qualities that should be found in descendants of Abraham – passion, modesty and kindness.
Rabbi Rosen said the man he once mentored back In Ireland “cares about those marginalised or ignored in the community. One is always
struck not just by his goodness but his modesty. He sanctifies God’s name in the ways he conducts himself. He is truly a son of Abraham, his care is for all and his presence is a part of that.”
The reception came on the second day of the Chief Rabbi’s historic visit to UAE as a guest of the Abu Dhabi
Forum for Peace. The Chief told the gathering: “There’s an excitement in the air as we’ve not yet got used to this new era. Not only are we blessed to reach this moment but it carries with it many opportunities.”
He hailed the role of the AJC in helping to further the Abraham
Accords and Rabbi Rosen, one of the most significant interfaith leaders in the world, who he described as a “gem. The entire Jewish world owes so much”. He also described forum founder Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah as “legendary” and “the epitome of humility”.
The role of women in building interfaith bridges and ending conflict was highlighted during the first all-female panel to be held at the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, writes Justin Cohen.
Speakers included Abraham Initiatives UK-based director Liz Harris-Sawczenko and entrepreneur Akeela Ahmed, founder of the She Speaks We Hear podcast which seeks to celebrate the achievements of Muslim women.
The high-level panel also featured Dr Raheema Abdaleem, who has worked as a senior lawyer within the US Department for Justice, and Asmaa Kuftaro, a member of the women’s advisory panel to the UN envoy for peace-building in Syria.
Harris-Sawczenko, also an adviser to the forum’s UK branch, took part in the people-topeople track of the Oslo Accords while living
in Israel. She said: “There are thousands of women working together to end the conflict who don’t get recognition. They are facing immense challenges now.”
In the Israel-Palestine arena, she highlighted the work of The Women in Black and the Bereaved Families Forum, a group bringing together Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members in the conflict. Robi Damelin, one of the most prominent figures, was on a New York Times list in 2015 of women who had made the most impact in the world. “These women have very little resource or institutional support but they have made a huge impact,” she insisted. “Rather than seeing obstacles they circumvent them.”
The first Jewish director of the Council of Christians and Jews, Harris-Sawcenko also highlighted the Jewish-Muslim women’s
group Nisa Nashim and Yachad, founded by Hannah Weisfeld, as examples of female-led initiatives in the UK.
Recalling conversations she facilitated in Britain following the rise in tensions in Jerusalem last year, she said the first meeting had been “extremely painful and di cult” but after hearing how one Jewish participant’s child had faced antisemitism at the time, she said, the atmosphere changed. “In my experience women search for their common humanity,” she added. “There is strength in the ability to share their vulnerability.”
Ahmed told the mainly male audience women’s e orts in building cohesion were often undertaken quietly – so there was less opportunity for others to be inspired and follow suit. She called for more discussion about the immense contribution of Muslim
A UK-based Holocaust
made history by telling her testimony to schoolchildren at a Dubai school on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom she witnessed.
Eve Kugler, who was just sevenyears-old when Nazis broke into her home on the night that hundreds of synagogues were torched, spoke to Muslim and Jewish students this week as part of a visit to the UAE organised by March of the Living.
The 91-year-old also spoke at the UAE Crossroads of Civilizations Museum about her experiences.
The museum was founded by Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, who also hosted the region’s first ever Holocaust exhibition on International Memorial Day in 2021.
Saying she was “honoured” to be speaking in the Emirates about the lessons of the Shoah for today , Kugler told the youngsters: “You are here, older than the age I was during the Holocaust.
“The Nazi soldiers came into our house and I watched with my sister as they ransacked our home and dragged my father and grandfather away in the middle of the night.
“That night the synagogue my grandfather helped build was burnt to the ground while the fire brigade stood and watched.”
She added: “Each story of the victims and the survivors of the Holocaust is di erent, but the point is always the same. We cannot allow the flames of hatred to consume our world. We cannot allow the lives of innocent people to be torn to pieces, shattered like glass on Kristallnacht. We must learn the lessons of the past and build a shared future of mutual respect and understanding.”
The later event at the museum was the first by the new March of the Living Chapter in the Gulf, headed by MOTL ambassador in the Gulf Eitan Neishlos.
He said: “The Holocaust stands as a unique crime against humanity, and an important part of the Jewish story and experience, that holds lessons for all of us about the importance of tolerance – which is a pillar of life here in the UAE.”
He added: “When I took on responsibility to help carry the torch of remembrance for the third generation, I knew we must also reach out to our brothers and sisters in the Arab and Muslim world.
“For nearly all those here today, this was the first chance to hear the testimony of Holocaust survivors. Eve’s story is an inspiration to all, and I am grateful to March of the Living for bringing her to Dubai.”
Museum founder Al Mansoori described the Shoah as “the worst
crime against the Jewish people. As a Muslim, I cannot stand by and allow the memory of the victims, and the voices of the survivors, to fade into history.” He hailed Kugler as “an essential voice of hope”.
Other speakers at the museum event included Jordana Cutler, Director of Public Policy for Israel & the Jewish Diaspora at Meta.
To commemorate the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht, International March of the Living organised its third Let There Be Light campaign encouraging those of all faiths to remember the past and learn the lessons for today.
In Vienna, a “March of Light” from the Heldenplatz to the Judenplatz took place, while messages of hope from around the world were projected on to the ancient walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
A ceremony saw survivors David Cycowicz and veteran journalist Walter Bingham recognised.
women to society, medicine and other fields.
In the wake of the Westminster Bridge attack in 2017 and amid a rise in anti-Muslim hate, she organised for a group of women to stand at site holding hands for five minutes as an expression of their disgust and solidarity as British women She told the forum: “It was very brave for those women who knew wearing the hijab meant we could be targeted. That image went viral and received global coverage. That act changed the narrative in terms of how Muslims are seen in reacting to terror.”
She suggested that it was a collaborative approach that men sometimes didn’t take that made women e ective peacemakers.
Also on the panel were Churches for Middle East executive director Rev Dr Mae Cannon and Dr Fatima Dahmani of the UAE’s Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed University.
Friends of a 40 year-old who died from lung cancer last year will visit every professional football stadium in London in just one day to raise money in his memory, writes Candice Krieger.
Father-of-two Marc Ingram was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer on Christmas Day in 2018, a diagnosis which came completely out of the blue.
In early 2020, the staunch Spurs supporter planned with a group of friends to visit all 20 Premier League stadiums in just 24 hours to raise money for the Royal Marsden, where he was treated. But when Covid hit they suspended the plam. Marc passed away 18 months later.
Close friend Joel Seager said: “Marc had an amazing ability to get tickets for sporting events, always making the most of life. This trip was his baby. He spent months meticulously planning the route, devising spreadsheets and calculating all the petrol and time needed – that’s just part of the character he was. But Covid shattered his dream.”
This week, Marc’s friends were due to carry out part of the tour in his memory via Wim-
bledon, through south and west London and via Tottenham Hotspur before ending at Wembley.
Marc had two young daughters with his wife, Zoe. She said: “Marc was passionate about this. He really wanted it to happen so it’s special that his friends are doing it.”
Environmental protesters have evoked Anne Frank to describe their campaign, writes Adam Decker.
Activists linked to Just Stop Oil, which has inflamed motorists by shutting motorways, tweeted about the young Jewish diarist who famously hid from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic, before being captured and deported.
“The people who hid Anne Frank during WW2
were criminals. So were the French Resistance,” they posted. “Obeying the law does not give you the moral high ground – not when it’s still legal for our government to greenlight enough oil and gas to kill millions. Good people break bad laws.”
Jewish Labour Movement chair Mike Katz called it “a phenomenally bad take, especially on Armistice Day”.
Leeds Jewish Repre-
sentative Council chair Simon Myerson urged the protesters not to “compare your self-indulgent performative nonsense to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany”.
Campaign Against Antisemitism, likewise, said such comparisons were “inappropriate and insulting,” noting that environmental protesters had been wrapped up in similar controversies on previous occasions.
There were 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, murdered by shootings, starvation, slave labour and industrialised killings in death camps. Of these victims, 1.5 million were children, cruelly denied a future, and innocent of any crimes, apart from the perceived one of being born Jewish.
It is Yad Vashem UK’s aim to ensure that each named Jewish victim has a memorial candle lit in their honour on every HMD and Yom HaShoah.
Guardian of the Memory aims to ensure that the victims’ life stories are never forgotten, becoming part of our own treasured family histories.
Please visit: www.guardianofthememory.org
People must confront the “destructive habits” that limit e orts to tackle climate change, a world-first interfaith ceremony has heard.
A former archbishop of Canterbury and leaders from a range of other religions gathered in London to “o er our voice as a contribution” to work by politicians and negotiators at the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt.
Representatives of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths joined the UK event organised by the Elijah Interfaith Institute on Sunday.
Similar ceremonies were planned in Sharm El-Sheikh and other cities worldwide.
Organisers said it was the first multi-faith ceremony to “seek forgiveness for climate sins” and hoped it would “inspire humility and action” during Cop27, which ends tomorrow, 18 November.
As the London event began, former archbishop Dr Rowan Williams said: “As religious leaders we o er our voice as a contribution to the gathered leaders (at Cop27) and to humanity.
“We must also confront honestly the destructive habits which continue to limit the possibilities and the hopes of human beings, in a call for wake up and self-examination.”
The faith leaders climbed Parliament Hill, with scrolls bearing “Ten Principles for Climate
Repentance”, in a nod to the 10 Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai, which is about 125 miles away from Cop27.
The leaders also held a twohour multi-faith Climate Repentance Ceremony at a synagogue in north London on Sunday evening.
Organiser Rabbi Alon GoshenGottstein said he hoped the day’s ceremony would set a precedent.
“In order to cope with climate change we need to be transformed,” he said. “We need to not simply make political decisions, we need to change our hearts, and to change our hearts. That’s the business of religion.”
World leaders must know, he added “they’re not negotiating on behalf of a country or set of interests, but on behalf of a deeper
vision of humanity and how it’s placed in the world”.
The rabbi said a specially created oath developed in partnership with the Peace Department non-profit organisation could help motivate people to do more when it comes to climate change.
It says: “I, as a person of hope, pledge to do my best to make the world better for people and the planet each day that I may live.”
Dr Williams later urged the government to insulate more homes and take “a more edgy role internationally” to tackle the climate crisis, and expressed “a lot of sympathy” with the argument that “shock tactics” used by climate protest groups can “break through to people”.
Two women have been arrested after protesters pretending to be tourists squirted tomato ketchup on a statue in parliament.
Members of the Palestine Action group used tourist passes to enter the Members’ Lobby of the House of Commons.
They targeted a statue of former prime minister Lord Arthur Balfour, signatory of the 1917 Balfour Declaration which pledged the formation of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
As they sprayed the red condiment, which the group described as fake blood, one protester said: “Palestinians have su ered for 105 years because of this man, Lord Balfour – he gave away their homeland and it wasn’t his to give.”
The protesters glued themselves to the statue after squirting the ketchup, before revealing a miniature Palestinian flag and shouting “free Palestine”.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Police were alerted at 11.20am on Saturday 12 November to two women who had entered the Parliamentary Estate with tourist tickets.
“Two women were arrested for criminal damage and taken to a London police station.”
Rob Rinder has begun filming a documentary series about Israel for the BBC. Best known for his Judge Rinder persona and an important Jewish voice on television, he has been researching the project for more than two years but has just spent two weeks filming there, he revealed, while hosting the New Israel Fund’s Human Rights Awards dinner.
The series is likely to be controversial – as all shows about the conflict are, particularly as it will be on the BBC, which has a remit of neutrality but has been accused of antisemitism (and last week had an Ofcom judgment against it). Rob is a proud Zionist but says he will be unafraid of examining the painful reality of life for Palestinians.
“Just two weeks ago I had the rich privilege of being in Israel, in the state, and also in the West Bank and the other territories,” he said. “The mission of the programme is to tell the stories alongside one another. From the hopes of the people who had come from the Shoah, those who had walked across Egypt, the Mizrachi who arrived in Haifa; to be, for the first time, in a place of safety and sanctuary.
“But there was also the work, the di cult
work, to hear the stories of what it meant to have been part of that land for as far back as anyone could remember. The smell of the olive groves and the lemon trees, the memory
of the grandfather who had planted them. And to be told you were leaving for just two days.
“And then there she sat, with her great grandchildren, far from that land.”
Rinder said his hope from making the documentary is that people listen and understand other points of view. “The purpose of it is for us to learn to hear one another, to model what we can in order to begin the di cult work and the di cult conversations that have to be had.
“At the core of the Balfour Declaration was the idea that nothing should be done which would prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in what was then Palestine.”
The television star also spoke pointedly about the election and said liberals – in particular the inhabitants of Tel Aviv – needed to stop being so complacent and it was the place of those in the diaspora to remind them.
“I left Tel Aviv last week being delighted by it,” he told the 400-strong audience. “It is magic. The clubs, the parties, fabulous food, the men. Oh yes, the men. But in all of its rich beauty there’s also in that part of the world a sense of being in a bubble. There is a complacency that has set in there because there’s so much distraction, so much noise, so much partying.
“But it is for each and every one of us, those of us who are committed to the State and who believe in the fundamental essence of what it means to not just be a good Jew, but a good person in the world, to support those values that we care about.”
The hydrogen can also serve as energy for farmers in remote areas, the professor says, allowing them to store the hydrogen harvested during the day and use it for electricity at night.
But while green hydrogen is recog nised as an energy source with huge potential, it has yet to play a key factor in energy consumption worldwide.
Against the background of Cop27 talks in Egypt, Israeli scientists have made a breakthrough on renewable energy with the potential to ease the lives of billions while leaving no carbon foot print, writes Jotam Confino.
The research over the past 10 years by Professor Iftach Yacoby and his team at Tel Aviv University revolves around harvesting green hydrogen, also known as renewable hydrogen, from algae – stemming from the energy process of photosynthesis.
Yacoby is convinced green hydrogen from algae will solve energy problems on an industrial level, with steel companies for example using it as their main source of energy.
It also has the potential to help increase mobility and decarbonise high-emission sectors like transport, particularly in developing countries.
For example, a battery for electric bikes running on green hydrogen and not electricity will improve the bat tery’s mileage potential six-fold.
In Europe, for example, some 96 percent of hydrogen consumed is pro duced through fossil fuels, emitting sig nificant amounts of CO2 in the process.
To facilitate greater use of green hydrogen, Yacoby says: “Decision makers need to understand it should not be taxed if they really want to give it a chance. It’s currently 10 times more expensive to produce green hydrogen than non-green hydrogen, such as coal or natural gas. The west understood long ago to have food security we need to subsidise agriculture. We don’t need to subsidise green hydrogen, just don’t tax it. That could give a great push to the private sector to develop hydrogen production means.”
Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology issues grants to various academic fields each year, including that of Yacoby and his team.
The ministry is also working closely with countries pursuing sim ilar research interests, with Italy and France cited as key partners.
• Editorial comment, page 22
Kirel, 21, wore a halter top, elbow-length gloves and wide-legged pants all emblazoned with pictures of Kanye West, also known as Ye. The rapper has been embroiled in an anti semitism controversy. Gold chains with Star of David necklaces were affixed to the pictures of West’s head, and Kirel also wore a Star of David necklace. The outfit was meant to draw attention to antisemitism, Kirel told the Israeli broadcaster Kan, and to demonstrate that Kirel is “proud to be an Israeli artist who represents Israel in the world”. “She wanted a crazy outfit that everyone would remember,” said her stylist, Itai Bezaleli. “She wanted something topical that will be talked about.”
According to documents seen by the news agency Reuters and quoting two sources, police obtained a search warrant for the premises in April, but have now admitted “the search war rants were obtained unlawfully”.
Reuters also reported police
agreed “that the search warrants should be quashed,” while commit ting to paying damages and costs and giving an apology to Abramovich.
Abramovich’s spokeswoman said: “Mr Abramovich has always acted in accordance with the law. We are pleased that the Jersey Police have conceded in relation to these unlawful and unfounded searches.”
Hundreds of people gathered at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for the annual JLM Ball, a key event of the LGBT community.
The gathering, which began in Jerusalem in 2019, has its roots in the ballroom scene, an under ground LGBTQ subculture from New York City in the 1960s.
Participants competed in dif
ferent categories, such as catwalks, dances, fashion and posing.
The event is said to provide a “safe space for the trans and queer community members to express themselves freely and without fear of discrimination and exclusion”.
This year’s event was held in association with the Israel Muse um’s exhibition Adornment – Jew
ellery and Body Decoration in Pre historic Times
The theme connecting ball and exhibition was the “fluidity of human identity; jewellery, clothing, and ornaments as identity-gener ating elements that convey complex social and personal messages; and the ability that clothes and jewellery give humans to metamorphose”.
YOUR LIFE. SAVING MORE LIVES. MAGEN DAVID ADOM UK LEGACY MISSION Sunday 30 th April – Friday 5 th May 2023 Each year, legacies to Magen David Adom are directly responsible for saving the lives of thousands of people in Israel. Next year, Magen David Adom UK is delighted to offer an incredible FREE* 5-day legacy mission to Israel. You will visit some of Israel’s most beautiful sights and learn about the lifesaving work of Magen David Adom, Israel’s only national blood and medical emergency service. For more information call Joshua Diamond 020 8201 5900 or email
An EU-funded heritage initiative using peaceful drones flown over Jewish cemeteries was held in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv this week, writes Stephen Oryszczuk.
Far from the kind used in war, the heritage mapping drones are designed to survey more than 3,000 Jewish burial grounds in central and eastern Europe, with hundreds in Ukraine.
A workshop on drone usage in Jewish heritage preservation has been held in Kyiv by the ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative. The project involves architecture and engineering students using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to collect data.
ESJF head Philip Carmel said: “Drones today are a key tool in the preservation of heritage, as we have learned through our mass survey work of Jewish cemeteries.”
“It is phenomenal we are holding this event now in Ukraine, a country that once hosted the largest number of Jewish communities in the world before the Shoah… Drones have done so much damage in the country recently. Hopefully, they can also be used widely in the future for positive benefit to all.”
The drones are planned to be used in Ukraine, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, and Slovakia.
This follows a recent survey which revealed Jewish burial sites across central and eastern Europe are in perilous condition with 44 percent said to be needing “urgent” protection.
Most of the communities which owned these cemeteries were destroyed
in the Holocaust, leaving the burial grounds as often the last physical witness to centuries of Jewish community life in these areas.
The workshop is co-organised by drone experts Germandrones and DroneUA and the Faculty of Land Management at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences Of Ukraine in Kyiv.
Israel will not cooperate in an FBI probe into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who died in May in an exchange of fire between Palestinian and Israeli troops.
“The decision to investigate the regrettable death of Shireen Abu Akleh is a grave mistake,” outgoing defence minister Benny Gantz said
on Twitter. “We stand behind Israeli soldiers, will not cooperate with any outside inquiry and will not allow interference in Israeli internal matters.”
The investigation is significant because the Biden administration already signed o on Israel’s finding an Israeli soldier likely shot the fatal bullet, with no evidence the killing was intentional.
Groundbreaking high-tech research and archaeological discoveries that alter our perception of human history are being churned out by Israel on a daily basis – contributing to the science that affects our everyday lives in ways few other countries are capable of.
This inspirational work, however, competes for media time with the stark realities of everyday life in the region: terrorist attacks, homophobia, racism and fanaticism dominate headlines in both Israeli and foreign media due to the threats they pose to democ racy and security. The good news is being drowned out.
Just this week, Israeli scientists announced two big break throughs in archaeology and food technology which, under normal circumstances, would have caught everyone’s attention.
An international team made up of leading Israeli universities found the oldest evidence yet of the controlled use of fire by prehis toric humans to cook food, pushing the timeline that was hitherto agreed on this some 600,000 years further back in time. How mindblowing is that!?
The second scientific breakthrough was announced by Israeli researchers in the Galilee, who found a way to quadruple the postharvest life of fruits and vegetables using artificial intelligencebased algorithms – research that has the potential literally to change the lives of every single one of us.
It’s important to give these stories the coverage they deserve for two reasons: to show the world that Israel is more than just faith and fighting and, of course, to make sure that people know about the discoveries that can change both their own lives and their understanding of human history.
PO Box 815, Edgware, HA8 4SX | letters@jewishnews.co.uk
The entire area was completely barren with no evidence of any Arab villages … only ruins of earlier Jewish settlement that had been decimated by the Crusaders.
Kfar HaShiloah (the Hebrew name twisted into the Arabic name Silwan) dates back to Biblical times. It was a Jewish farming village through the late Middle Ages. The modern village was settled by Jewish families on land owned by the Jewish benefac tor Boaz HaBavli, who gave half of his 160,000 dunham land to a group of Yemenite Jewish olim, who realised their dream of returning to Zion in the early 1880s. In December 1883, the Ottoman
It’s gracious of Fraser Michaelson (Where is the evidence? 3 Novem ber) to accept “Jewish people have a claim to the land of Israel“. However, he falsely claims Muslim and Chris tian Arabs also have a claim. Were he to know the history, he would know only Jews are indigenous to that land, recognised in the bind ing treaties of San Remo and the Mandate of Palestine, which allotted sovereignty and collective political rights to Jews alone, in accordance with Article 22 of the Charter of the League of Nations, recognising the Jews’ connection to the land.
Warren S Grossman, Leytonstone
The Jewish community was evacuated during the 1929 Arab riots, after which many families returned, but the British decided to expel them all. Only then did Arabs begin to move in. They took over empty properties and began building at will. In 1948, when Trans-Jordanian forces invaded fledgling Israel, they ethnically cleansed indig enous Jews. Jordan annexed the land illegally, un recognised by the world community, save for Brit ain, which made it impossible for Jews to reclaim property. The fake narrative is easily disproven by legal documents and abundant historical photos.
James R Windsor, Ilford
Fraser Michaelson is right: all people of all faiths living within the borders of Israel have a right to continue to do so, regardless of faith and ethnic ity. Even Smotrich and Ben-Gvir say so, adding the caveat ‘peacefully’. But living in a land is not an automatic ticket to statehood and here the Jews have the strongest claim. For 1,000 years until the brutal exile and coloni sation by Rome, Israel was a home to our kings, judges and prophets and Jerusalem was only ever the capital of the Jews’ national home. Restoring the land to the Jews is a triumph of justice over colonialism.
Eda Spinka, Hendon
Has Jewish News asked itself why so many Israelis voted for MKs you label hate-mongers? Maybe it’s because they are tired of the rise in terrorist murders and attacks against innocent Israelis and the lack of serious intent by politi cians to combat it? A government’s priority must be protection of its citizens.
D
Rosenthhal, Hendon
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.
Support Jewish News by visiting our donor page at jewishnews.co.uk
I was dismayed by Jenni Frazer‘s piece (10 Novem ber) on the Israeli election.
Israelis have voted and it is abundantly clear they were unhappy with the status quo. They had enough of burying their dead with a left-leaning government seeming to be constantly apologising. I spent the last two weeks in Israel and took advantage of asking people their opinions. Whether it be taxi drivers or young cou ples, there was a unanimous feeling of increased security.
Life appears very dif ferent when you’re looking down the barrel of a gun.
David Goodman, By email‘Okay, so in your dream there were three fat cows being eaten by three prime ministers...’
ROLE Spiritual Care lead
LOCATION Hammerson House, Wohl Campus, London N2 0BE
HOURS 37.5 full time (or part-time as a job share)
We are seeking a special individual, or a couple, who can offer our Residents and their families spiritual and cultural guidance, as well as pastoral support. Compassion, kindness and an in-depth knowledge of the Jewish faith is essential for this role; as well as a natural ability to engage with others when leading our community. A deep sense of empathy is required for Residents, families and staff in a time of need.
Our Residents and staff look to the Spiritual Care Lead for comfort, support and guidance when observing Shabbat, Jewish festivals, personal celebrations and religious activities.
Hammerson House, Wohl Campus is a Jewish home, respecting everyone’s religious traditions, as well as those who consider themselves non-religious cultural Jews.
Please send your CV and letter of interest to Alastair AAddison@nightingalehammerson.org
NIGHTINGALEHAMMERSON.ORG
Israel’s election has fractured opinion in British Jewry. An ever larger part of the community regards an administration led by Benjamin Netanyahu supported by the far-right as an a ront to democracy and the principles behind the nation’s declaration of independence.
Israel is not alone. The rise of the far-right has become a feature in several of Europe’s most trusted democracies. In the US the tide of Trumpism may have been halted in the mid-term elections but the angry mood on the right of politics has not been silenced.
A theme for many rightist movements is admiration for Israel for standing up to the hostile tides around it. But it is accompanied by a latent (sometimes open) antisemitic, anti-immigration narrative at home.
In Israel, aside from the international embarrassment of a prime minister, albeit with a generous mandate, still living under the cloud of corruption allegations, the
concern is that support from Itmar BenGvir, of the Jewish Power party, and Bezalel Smotrich undermines the country’s value system.
The judiciary is being challenged alongside civil society groups and freedom of the press. Also under threat are Israel’s moves to be a more ‘shared society’ in which Israel’s Palestinian minority can build on the progress made and not demonised as the main sources of crime and violence.
In many ways Israel’s political shift to the far-right is parallel with trends in other Western democracies. The narrative of the US mid-terms has been interpreted as a victory for the voices of reason led by Joe Biden over the Trump tendency in the Republican Party. Yes, the wipeout for the Democrats didn’t happen. But there is no escaping the fact that the House of Representatives is back in Republican hands and the big winner is regarded as Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.
His victory is seen as diminishing Donald Trump’s ambition. But DeSantis is no moderate and his views are a deca einated
version of Trump. Biden, supported by an energised Barack Obama, e ectively used the slogan ‘Democracy is under threat’. But that it came to that in the world’s most sophisticated democracy, where in some states even the dog-catchers are elected, says a great deal about how Trump, his bizarre followers and sections of the Republican Party have become divorced from civil political debate.
Amid all the focus of what is going on in Israel and the USA, comparatively little attention is paid to the rise of the ultra-right in Europe. The iron fist rule of Viktor Orban in Hungary is often discussed.
But who, for instance, has paid much attention to what has happened in Sweden, which is often idealised among Britain’s liberals for its social democracy. The present administration in Stockholm is in power only because it is supported by the Swedish Democrats a party with roots in Second World War pro-Nazi movements.
In Italy, the third largest economy in the European Union, recent elections swept Giorgia Meloni, of the Brothers of Italy party, to power. Her party is the direct descendant
CYANIDE AT 5
a thriller stage play by Pavel Kohout. 16th - 26th November at 7pm.
‘What I did I did for all Jewish victims of the Holocaust’
The daughter of a Jewish victim of the Holocaust comes to meet her Christian friend who wrote a novel about her. Hannele died after the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. Zofia has become very rich on the proceeds of her novel. But now it’s payback time...
CYANIDE AT 5’s pre-eminent, prizewinning author Pavel Kohout - is the subject of two early Tom Stoppard plays. This haunting, psychological 1997 drama has been performed across Europe, but never in UK theatres.
https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/cyanide-at-5
of Benito Mussolini and the fascists. Meloni is already engaged in a bitter dispute with neighbour France over immigration.
Then there is France itself. Emmanuel Macron maybe safely ensconced as president. But his freedom of action on immigration, relations with the rest of Europe and domestic policy is severely limited by the National Assembly. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, formerly the National Front, a party with neo-Nazi roots, occupies 79 seats in the assembly and garnered 41 percent of the votes in the last election.
Right-wing nationalism, fuelled in Europe and the USA by anti-immigration rhetoric, is on the march. Israel is not alone in its swing to the right. Immigration is a key issue for Britain too.
But there is no history of fascism in the UK and the extreme right and antisemitism receives short shrift in elections.
That gifts British Jewry the right to take the moral high ground when it comes to speaking out against the erosion of judicial independence and the rights of minority Palestinians in Israel.
For many of us, the result of Israel’s election brought back unhappy memories of Donald Trump’s defeat of Hillary Clinton.
That’s unsurprising: both contests were fought to a virtual draw with the eventual winners enmeshed in a swirl of charges of corruption and racism. For the vast majority of friends of Israel in this country, the possibility of the far-right entering government has come as a crushing development.
Our attachment to Israel is rooted in our recognition of it as the homeland of the Jewish people and a safe haven. But we admire Israel too for being a beacon of liberal democracy in a region awash with theocratic tyrannies. The Israel of joyous Pride parades, a rumbustious media and independent judiciary, and strong and proud trade unions.
The racists, fascists and homophobes in the Religious Zionist party are the antithesis not simply of the qualities which make Israel
so special and unique in the Middle East – but also of the Jewish state’s founding principles.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s cynical courtship of this unseemly fringe – one conducted purely to save himself from the dock in which he rightly belongs – will forever define his legacy. It stands in stark contrast to the principled manner in which the former Likud Prime Minister, Yitzhak Shamir, would lead his party from the Knesset whenever Itamar Ben-Gvir’s ideological forebearer, Rabbi Meir Kahane, approached the podium.
While the coalition negotiations begin, it’s not too late for Netanyahu to consider the damage that would be inflicted to Israel’s social cohesion, international reputation and relationship with the United States by o ering Ben-Gvir a ministerial portfolio and instead seek to form a more broad-based government which excludes the far right.
Some have claimed that only Israelis can have a view on their domestic politics. But this is a bizarre assertion given the support that we as diaspora Jews give to Israel – and the support we also ask of non-Jewish Zionists. Having a say and having a view are, of
course, rather di erent. At the same time, it is also important to understand and to place in perspective what Israelis actually did say last week.
There was, for instance, no dramatic lurch to the right in a country which has always liked its politics with a strong dose of centrism. Thanks to the failure of Meretz and Balad to clear the electoral threshold, Yair Lapid’s centre-left bloc may have trailed Netanyahu’s religious-right alliance in terms of seats, but the popular vote was 50/50.
Moreover, as the Times of Israel’s Haviv Rettig Gur noted, support for the far-right was, perhaps, not as dramatic as it first appears. In the 2021 election, the two religious-Zionist factions, Yamina and Religious Zionism, won a combined 499,477 votes. In 2022, with competition from a much-diminished Yamina e ectively removed, Religious Zionism won 516,146 votes, despite a threepoint jump in turnout. Overall, the far-right’s total share of the vote thus dropped from just over, to just under, 11 percent.
Divisions on the centre-left, rather than a far-right wave, are thus the best explanation
for the outcome of the election. Nor should it be forgotten that Israel is not immune from the wider trends which we have seen in other western democracies. That said, the 10.8 percent of the vote won by the far-right in Israel is dwarfed by the 20.5 percent achieved by Sweden’s Democrats or 26 percent racked by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.
Friends of Israel now face a twin challenge. We must continue to help defend the Jewish state against the many dangers it faces: murderous terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah; their benefactor, the antisemitic regime in Tehran; and the e ort to demonise and delegitimise Israel at home and abroad led by the BDS movement.
At the same time, we should stand with the millions of Israelis who will rightly oppose any attempt by Netanyahu’s allies to nobble the judiciary and police, diminish the rights of women, the LGBT community and Israeli-Arabs, and attack the country’s vibrant civic society.
We must work with progressive Israelis to defend its liberal democratic character from this pernicious threat.
Hendon Hall has been lovingly restored into a luxury care home, boasting exceptional five star style facilities and award-winning care. Transformed from an 18th Century Manor House, featuring a variety of spacious accommodation, options include studios, one bedroom apartments as well as specialist dementia care facilities. We’d love to welcome you into our home to meet the team, our residents and view our luxury facilities.
Every night I’m told it was the Jews’ fault they inspired such hatred among the German population and had to be exterminated. It could be worth saying at this point that I’m in a play and these words are on the lips of an SS o cer, but it gives me the momentary right to break ‘Godwin’s law’ – the first person to make a Hitler comparison loses the argument – and call out home secretary Suella Braverman’s recent rhetoric for what it is. Not an echo of Nazi language or a simulacrum, but the thing itself.
If the intention is to dehumanise then it is entirely appropriate that we classify it correctly, and recognise, as CP Taylor does in our play Good, that fascism grows in increments. Our show ends in Auschwitz but begins with a tiny slip of the tongue. Our protagonist starts to synonymise ‘Jew’ with ‘capitalist’ and his descent into the abyss begins. It’s a retelling
of the Faust story: Mephistopheles arrives in the form of Reichsleiter Philip Bouhler – the man in charge of the Nazi Euthanasia project T4 – but the deal our hero makes with the devil is essentially one where base instincts are given precedence over better judgment. It’s an examination of the morality of feeling over thought.
There’s nothing quite as destructive as a middle-aged man in thrall to his own sexual arousal and need for professional validation. But if the thin end of the moral wedge in our story is frustration at a mother’s dementia and a wife’s depression, the fat end is the implementation of state sponsored murder.
It is a chilling watch. And however hyperbolically absurd it sounds when we compare modern political statements to Nazi rhetoric, the moral link can’t be ignored. The similarities are almost knowingly potent.
If we allow ourselves to be seduced by the beguiling atavistic stu – the stu that feels right because it flatters us with the simplicity of its seeming pragmatism – economic migrants are a threat to our resources or culture then the ‘Reductio ad Hitleram’ argument is not a fallacy.
Playing the Nazi card – traducing an
opponent’s argument because it sounds a bit Nazi – cannot always lose you the argument or there would be nothing to learn from the events that led to the Holocaust. If we use language to demonise, dehumanise and ‘other’ people seeking refuge here, we must accept the linguistic precedents.
Victor Klemperer, the German Jewish academic now best known for his diaries (if you read only one book on the Nazis make it this), also compiled a journal of the Nazi’s use of language. It later became a book, LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii – language of the Third Reich’ and it couldn’t be more chilling for today’s reader.
The shock isn’t that the Nazis indulged in the deliberate abuse of language for terrifying political ends, but that liberal society, although initially derisive, started to use it. Absorb it. Where mockery was the first response and elision into ironic quoting followed, it resulted in not noticing it at all.
The ‘language slip’ is the devil’s way in. It is the wedges thinnest edge. And the framing technique in Klemperer’s Nazi Linguistics –the association of two di erent things to strip the object of pity – Jews compared to rats, and refugees to natural disasters – tsunamis and floods – makes our reluctance for comparisons feel timid. ‘Godwin’s law’ may lose the argument online, but in life it seems suddenly shackling. When a government calls migrants an ‘invasion’ I think we are free to let rip. But Braverman’s brazen hate speech shouldn’t inure us to the subtler euphemisms regularly on the tongues of our leaders – language knowingly deployed to incite animus – and just as likely to be absorbed by liberal society today as it was in Nazi Germany.
If you haven’t baulked at variations on a theme of the ‘Luftmensch’: north-Londoncitizens-of-nowhere-cultural-Marxist-globaltofu-elites etc, then you’ve swallowed their linguistics whole. The Nazis knew that these rootless creatures of the air were ready to be made into ash. And their language endures. Do we really need reminding that the linking of a people to a problem requires a solution?
Let us be cautious with their “immigration problem”. I’ll be sticking with the inverted commas – grammatical surgical gloves –handling toxic matter.
And what about the poetic end of Nazi euphemism? ‘Kristallnacht’, for example – the anniversary of ‘the night of broken glass’ was this week – is the focus of much of our play –but the word allows the listener to hear the delicate sounds of tinkling glass rather than the soundtrack of reality: It was a pogrom. That’s the sound of teeth on concrete. Boots on balls.
Klemperer observed that the Nazis sought to embed the hatred of the Jews by ensuring that the di erence between Jews and non-Jews was a fixed construct in the mind of the population. Compensation was impossible and the perpetuation of the division legitimises it. And that’s the strangest element of Braverman’s rhetoric. The idea that today’s migrants will always be aliens. ‘Invaders’ rather than soonto-be citizens. A forever-burden instead of a potential benefit.
But in employing the linguistics of the Third Reich, she damns herself like Faust or the protagonist of our play. Attempting to frame these people as enemies, knowing the repetition of the phrase in the media – regardless of the disagreeability of view – will establish the link in our minds and allow the association to become an idee fixe, is an abhorrence. History teaches us it can take generations to dissolve.
For me, however, the most salutary warning from Klemperer is that there is an often-overlooked element to much of the language of the Nazis. Victimisation, ostracism, alienation, are dialectic. They knit both parties to each other.
The oppressed need an oppressor. In dehumanising the desperate people on these boats, Braverman dehumanises herself. She dehumanises us all. That is not good.
Visitors to Jewish News Big Event on Sunday were presented with the Guide to the Party of a Lifetime – and that’s what they experienced from the moment they arrived at Elstree’s Hilton Doubletree.
Greeted by balloon arches over a roped red carpet, the Big Event really was a celebration for simcha planning – be it a wedding, bar or batmitzvah. After two years without a simcha show, Jewish News assembled vendors of all varieties in order to inspire anyone who has a party circled on their calendar.
For those wanting to host at home or under awnings, WA Carr & Son was there with marquees of all sizes and every other additional element required for an event. Fresh from winning the title of London Event Caterer of the Year, Cacao, lead by chef Kushan Marthelis, kept dishes filled with his spicy salmon, cod and aubergine combos coming and there was no shortage of interest at the Mixology Kosher Cocktail Bar. All the eating and drinking was done to the sounds of the Pure Showband who sang all afternoon.
Those who weren’t in attendance can still pick up a copy of JN’s Guide to the Party of a Lifetime available on request or in our high street display stands.
THE SHOW WENT EXCEPTIONALLY WELL. IT WAS A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO MEET OTHER PROFESSIONALS AND THE COMMUNITY AS WHOLE
When he saw me and I saw him, it was boom. Instant.” Like all the best love stories, the moment Benzi met Lugo was a game changer. For Lugo, the handsome two-and-a-half -year-old black Labrador, it meant developing a new relationship with a permanent master, while for Benzi the Israeli soldier there was a chance to get his life back.
Or a semblance of it, as the life he once loved had disappeared entirely, until Lugo arrived eight months ago, bringing a slither of light to the perpetual darkness of Benzi’s post-traumatic stress disorder.
Arriving at The Engine Rooms for their London guest appearance at the Israel Guide
Dog’s annual reception, neither Benzi nor Lugo appeared fazed by the 70-plus crowd eager to meet them. Some of the charity’s supporters even got Benzi’s consent to stroke Lugo, which was a privilege, as they are more cautious when greeting the dogs of blind and visually impaired guests who have previously visited from Israel.
Martin Segal, executive director of the charity’s UK arm, has always made a concerted effort to bring owners and their dogs to this country, so that donors can hear their emotive stories and see the impact of their philanthropy first-hand. When Covid travel bans stopped those visits for almost two years, Martin continued with his fundraising undeterred, knowing that the restrictions imposed on the Centre had made training more difficult. He also knew that the first post-Covid in-person event would have to be stirring, and that’s what he achieved with the first ever visit by a PTSD Service dog partnership that is a big success.
Providing dogs for Israel’s 24,000 blind and visually impaired citizens has been the centre’s mission since operations began 30 years ago, but expanding to meet the needs of those with other disabilities, including children with autism, is recent, as is providing dogs for soldiers with PTSD. Soldiers like Benzi, who are so traumatised by their military experience that they can no longer cope with living.
To look at Benzi relaxed and politely shaking hands, with the shiny-coated Lugo by his side, all seems right in his world. But
across the room,Irit, Benzi’s wife, is watching his every move. She has learnt to read her husband and can see when he is struggling or needs to make a quick exit to compose himself. In the past few years, Irit has seen her husband so taken over by depression that he was unable to leave the house. Rejecting hugs from their children or abstaining from any human touch at all is who Benzi is now, and Irit also read the goodbye note he left on the table before intending to kill himself.
Yariv Melamed has learnt to work with men who share Benzi’s mental health struggles by helping them in his role as head of service dog training at the centre. The task of creating the right partnerships between one man or woman and a dog is his responsibility, and his sensitivity is evident at the meeting as he follows the unspoken code of communication between Benzi and Lugo.
“Lugo was donated to us from an American school, and like all our dogs was first given guidance training,” explains Yariv. “But after two months, we changed his career as we felt he was more suitable for PTSD.”
Yariv lowers his voice while discussing Lugo’s role switch. “We don’t want him to hear,” says the respected trainer sweetly, though there’s no shame on Lugo’s part. “All the dogs pass the initial tests, but during the five-month period we observe them. We can tell if a dog is right to guide and be a person’s eyes or is more suited to PTSD and giving emotional support, which is a much more tangible gift.”
To date, the ICDC has given dogs to 25 soldiers with varying degrees of PTSD on the recommendation of the Ministry of Defence, who also helped Benzi, despite his reluctance to have a dog for fear of being stigmatised. He is tentatively over that, but the dogs with the acronym emblazoned on their jackets are unfamiliar to Israelis, so aren’t yet as respected as guide dogs.
“If I try to go in a restaurant with Lugo I get refused. Or in a taxi, they say the dog is not allowed,” says Benzi. “After they check they say it’s ok, but they don’t know about service dogs. I was also asked in a London restaurant if Lugo was a guide dog , but told them he was a service dog and it wasn’t a problem. When there are more PTSD dogs in Israel people will see them and understand.”
Understanding Benzi, 51, is difficult for his family and closest friends. Only four years ago he was the spouse Irit described as her “superman”, travelling the world, coaching sports, enjoying a job in secu rity. “Leading a normal life,” says Benzi, recalling that time before an innocent visit to the cinema changed everything.
Benzi had gone to see Clint East wood’s critically acclaimed Iraq war movie American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper, not realising that it would trigger a moment in his IDF past that he had buried. It was a single scene in which Cooper grapples with killing a child who poses a threat to his comrades
that took Benzi back to his time in Gaza during the Second Intifada.
“It made me remember everything I did. But Cooper didn’t shoot the boy. I did.”
Asking Benzi the details of his PTSD during his visit was not advised, but the former soldier wanted to share. “From that movie I started toppling down. I closed myself in my room, stayed in bed and didn’t want to see anybody who came to the house. I saw no one. All I did was just drink and smoke.
“It was hard and is still very hard on our children. They have slowly started to understand, but they don’t know the main stuff that is happening inside their father. They know to stay back when I’m angry and don’t want anyone to touch me. But will also come if I need a hug. That’s hard for them, and for me as their father.”
As Benzi talks, Irit listens, her pain visible as the words underline their continuing anguish. Benzi’s suicide attempt took him to a psychiatric unit where his PTSD was diagnosed, but until Lugo there was no real hope of help.
“Before Lugo, I never went out of the house,” says Benzi. “Now I have to get up to take him out. And on the street, people see him, and the first thing they do is laugh.
“When somebody is laughing that’s
good for me.” Though Lugo’s sombre dignity and expressive eyes are more suggestive of trust and empathy than chuckles, the reaction Benzi gets is what he needs. He is still plagued by the darkest of thoughts and doesn’t believe they will ever leave him.
“At dinner, in the shower, when I go to sleep. It’s everywhere. But before Lugo it was in my head 100 percent, and now it’s 60 percent. So it’s helping.” Benzi’s former life may be out of reach, but with his hand on Lugo it’s closer.
www.israelguidedog.org.uk
Looking for a care home for yourself or a loved one? Then you could do no better than to join us as part of our Springdene family. Unlike other care homes, which are often part of large corporations, we are a family business. And we’re still run by the same family that founded it more than 50 years ago.
New residents at Springdene can be sure of a warm reception. All our homes – Spring Grove in Hampstead, Spring Lane in Muswell Hill and Springview in Enfield – are rated as good by the Care Quality Commission.
Residents enjoy hotel-style luxury, with their own spacious room, complete with full en-suite facilities, personal telephone and wi-fi. There are three delicious meals a day, with a varied choice of menus.
And there are lots of regular activities, including quizzes, short stories, art competitions and poetry readings, live-streamed concerts and film-showings on a big screen, as well as walks in delightful gardens.
We’ve a great team, o ering wonderful care and everyone is brilliantly looked after.
As our motto says: Life is for
There will always be dads dipping into Minecraft and mums testing their mashup moves in TikToks, but parents don’t always share their children’s passions. It’s a bonus when you do, as every football-loving father of a future Lioness will tell you, and my own daughter’s obsession with musical theatre is not just shared, it’s inherited.
My late mother and grandmother even sang show tunes as they made soup and passed that lyrical ladle to me, then my daughter, who sings before bed, dreams about the stage and last month went to Musical Con, the West End’s first musical theatre fan convention at Excel.
As expected, she loved all 48 hours of meeting the performers and watching show highlights, but I didn’t expect her to return home crying.
Those tears were for Emma Kingston, currently starring in The Band’s Visit, who, while hosting a masterclass at Musical Con, revealed to the sizeable crowd that she was Jewish – after an Israeli among them asked a question.
“Emma told them she loved Israel,” said my daughter. “Only performers in New York do that. I’ve finally found someone I can look up to in the world I love, who is proud to be Jewish.”
At 15, Madison has realised
that performers in the West End and elsewhere rarely identify with their religion publicly. Not that they have to, but she was thrilled to see that Emma Kingston is out and proud on Instagram and has ‘I’m an Actress. I live in London.I am Jewish’ on her website. Instead of fearing discovery, the actress who has been Éponine in Les Misérables and wowed as the title role in Evita on world tour has made a virtue of her heritage, in defiance of lurking prejudice. That she sang Hatikvah as her audition song for The Band’s Visit says it all, though even she had a moment of doubt.
“They wanted a song in the style of the show and nothing sounds like it,” she says of David Yazbek’s musical about an Egyptian police orchestra stranded in the Negev, now showing at the Donmar Warehouse. “Outside of our Jewish world, talking about Israel can sometimes be particularly divisive, so I was taking a risk with the national anthem. But the team was so open and responsive. It felt like a safe space to do it.”
And Hatikvah was a hit. Emma not only got a part, but also gets to understudy Dina, her dream lead role .
“Mary Misako is phenomenal in the part, but she is one of Israel’s most established performers and has engagements throughout the show’s run,” says Emma, who performs in her absence.
“I get to tell the story in those shows, and the audience will see my interpretation of the role, which is really cool.” With ten Israelis and two former Hasmonean and Yavneh pupils also in the cast, Emma, who attended Immanuel College, has found herself in like-minded company. “We’re a very liberal, non-religious bunch, but I haven’t been in a room with this many Jews since school," she says. "My worlds have collided and I’m in a cast of people that are literally like me.”
At Immanuel, Emma says few shared her love of performance and she doesn’t remember anyone else collecting theatre programmes.
“I was the child who put on plays with teddy bears in the living room and after my Year 6 play at Rosh Pinah, the other mums told my mum I should have singing lessons. My mum was like, is that even a thing?” Aside from a bit of amateur dramatics, Emma’s parents were strangers to showbiz, but willing to hunt out drama school shows including one by her alma mater, Mountview, at which Emma , then 14, declared that she would not be going to university.
“My mum told my singing teacher I was driving her nuts because I wanted to join the circus, but my teacher thought I’d be okay. This made my parents feel better because I wasn’t faltering. There was nothing else I was going to do but act and sing.”
Agreeing to take A-levels was her only concession, but by then she had an agent and a place at Mountview. Of course, most drama graduates start waiting tables after their final showcase, which is a warning to anyone who isn’t Emma, who went straight into a Grease UK tour.
“The first five years of my career was bam, bam, without a break,
which was amazing, but then I decided to steer my career towards leading roles I aspired to play.”
Éponine in Les Mis? Tick, in 2015.
“Even after 30 years the team still make a newcomer feel important,” chimes Emma. “I got to rehearse with the original co-directors John Caird and Trevor Nunn as well as the composer, Claude-Michel Schönberg. Unfortunately, my first show was on a Friday night, and my parents who aren’t religious, still don’t go out. So, I didn’t have anyone in the audience for this major milestone and after the show went back to my flat and burst into tears.” But there was no stopping the family getting to see her opening night in South Africa as Evita. Her mother, Lisette, is Argentine, so was first in the stalls in Johannesburg.
“Yes, everyone flew to South Africa and my parents pretty much took a gap year following the world tour. When we opened in Singapore, all mum’s siblings came, including her brother who lives in New York and my grandma, who was 80 at the time, flew to Singapore for four days.”
At this point in the conversation my daughter, who was listening, joined our chat, even more full of longing to be Emma.
“When I get stopped in the street after a performance, as I did yesterday and someone says, ‘I’ve had a really bad day and this show really made me smile,’ it’s so nice. You realise how lucky we are as performers, because we love what we do. Most people hate their jobs and feel very unfulfilled.”
With The Band’s Visit closing on 3 December, Emma is already auditioning, and will continue to work as a singing teacher as she does alongside every theatre job. “I’m sort of lucky I have a side hustle that allows me flexibility, but in terms of performing work, in a few weeks I’m back to being a muggle, as we like to say.”
“It’s the business,” she says of the circus she loves. “Everyone who wants to be in the show forgets it’s a business.” Sensing a goodbye is coming, Madison interjects.
“I just want to say, Emma, you’re a massive inspiration for me. “You told everyone at the masterclass you were Jewish.” Emma replies: “Don’t, you’ll make me cry,” and I’ve got two shows to do.” As a parent who shares my child’s passion, I was ready for a song.
but for all the right reasons,says Brigit Grant ... and as Eva Peron in Evita Emma Kingston as Dina in The Band’s Visit... Photo by Marc Brenner
Children come to school/Cheder dressed in blue and white with a donation of £1 minimum towards Jewish Child’s Day. Together, we can transform the lives of children in need worldwide.
Jewish Child’s Day is the UK’s leading grant-giving Jewish charity and is celebrating its very special 75th Heritage year with a host of activities. The charity was founded in 1947 to give Jewish children and their families in Britain the opportunity to help children in Europe whose lives had been devastated by the Second World War. The first Sunday of every Chanukah was a fundraising day, to educate Jewish kids in this country about the importance of tzedakah and chesed. Funds were shared between organisations helping to settle children in Israel, as well as supporting Jewish refugees in the UK. Donor funding continued to roll in and, by 1951, Jewish Child’s Day became every day.
Each year, more than 20,000 Jewish children rely on JCD to nurture them and o er a brighter future in the UK, Israel and in other Jewish communities across the world. However, it’s just one of more than 2,000 Jewish charities, so what’s the appeal that draws people back to JCD time after time?
Shachaf Vainer Eytan, marketing and communications relationship manager, says: “From the very beginning we were a grantgiving charity. Our donors trust us with their generous donations, and through our strong connections, relationships, due diligence,
and strict criteria processing, we are able distribute and invest grants to more places than they perhaps would have been able to.”
Russell Brody, head of income generation, highlights a strong donor base who have supported the cause for decades. “Sometimes a donor will have an idea about where they would like their money to go but they’re not sure how to go about it,” he says. “We help facilitate that.”
Over 250 organisations apply for 130-150 grants each year and while many don’t have
a loud ‘voice’, they still have a huge service to o er. As Russell says: “They exist because there is a need, and it is our job to o er support to projects and organisations wherever there are vulnerable kids. We pride ourselves on being approachable and highly supportive
Outside the standard grant cycle are ‘exceptional grants’, so when emergency help was required in Odesa, Ukraine, JCD facilitated the evacuation of 120 kids from the Mishpacha Children’s Orphanage to Moldova.
Although large-scale donations are essential
who fondly remembers supporting JCD as a young child and now heads up the charity.
From heart-warming Shabbat shalom messages on their Instagram pages to Chanukah card competitions, as their hashtag says, “#itsallaboutthechildren”.
As the children grow and learn more about JCD, they are presented with opportunities such as the bar/batmitzvah twinning programme, where participants can donate a proportion of their gifts to a twinned child in Israel or Belarus, or fundraise for them by doing a sponsored run.
Future plans include working with b’nei mitzvah groups and linking up with those from disadvantaged villages in Israel, making it an enriched shared experience.
Behind every good charity there is often a trek. This year, JCD trekkers together with The Malki Foundation raised money by journeying from the Mediterranean coast to the Galilee, with an added opportunity to meet children from grant-awarded projects. The dialogue Russell often hears from participants is, “Where is our trek going to next year?” They feel part of something wonderful and want to continue with that tradition.
From all the incredible things that people do to support JCD, Russell is often struck by the
throughout the grant application process and there is a real satisfaction in finding great matches for monies donated. It’s such a positive aspect of what we do as you can see exactly where the money goes.”
Applications are continually rising and while each project is worthy of funds, it’s impossible to support them all. Russell sees it simply: “The more money that can be raised, the more grants that can be given. We create a strong link between our donors and our grant recipients and through this we build longstanding relationships with organisations who have the greatest impact on children.”
Russell loves picking up the phone and having a chat. He makes a point of keeping people involved when it comes to their money’s journey, feeling he has been ‘entrusted’ with it.
to the work it does, JCD reinforces that this generosity must start from the root, by introducing children to JCD at a young age. The Blue-Ish Jewish fundraising activity sees school and cheder pupils encouraged to wear blue and white in return for a minimum donation of £1. Shachaf says of their donor base: “From the kids’ contribution to the older generation, all these amounts add up to a big amount that we didn’t have at the beginning of the day. So, we never underestimate the impact that our collective giving has.” JCD’s next Blue-Ish Jewish Day is 23 February 2023; you can register your school or cheder’s interest right now.
Russell often speaks to members who have been supporters from day one, including one gentleman who still has his siddur that he won as a young boy back in the Fifties. Not to mention JCD chairman Charles Spungin,
number of legacies left to JCD, especially from people who may not have been in touch for many years. “The fact that people recognise our great work and make a point of remembering us in their wills is incredible and such a wonderful surprise.”
If you are interested in donating, why not give Russell a call? Labelling himself as ‘politely persistent’, you just need to be prepared that by the time you finish the call, the amount you planned on donating is likely to have doubled.
its
the charity
ever,
“
Ididn’t make a Jewish film. I made a film about freedom.” This is a bold state ment from Stéphane Freiss, the Césarwinning French actor whose directorial debut movie closes the UK Jewish Film Festival this month.
Set on a farm in Calabria, Italy, Where Life Begins uncovers the centuries-old tradition of Orthodox Jews travelling to the region each year to harvest etrogs for Succot. It opens with 26-year-old Esther, who is visiting with her family from Aix-les-Bains in France, writing a letter to her father saying that he always told her to follow her truth and the truth is that she needs to break the chains of her religious life.
Elio, the non-Jewish Italian farmer at whose farm they are staying, is also bound to his family traditions and loyalty to his late father’s wishes mean that he, too, feels trapped. The two of them form a bond. Visu ally stunning and deeply moving, it raises many questions.
Paris-based Stéphane, 61, didn’t even know he was Jewish until he was 12. “Both my par ents were hidden as children during the war and never spoke about this or their Judaism. When we used to visit my grandparents in Belgium, they often spoke a strange language. I didn’t know that it was Yiddish.”
When Stéphane was 12 his parents got divorced and Judaism then made a big impact on his life. “In an attempt to find herself my mother took up zen yoga and tried all sorts of meditation. Then one day a Jewish friend came to our house to take her out somewhere and on the way they stopped at a synagogue to hear the shofar. From that moment, she changed completely. She became fully involved with the Lubavitch movement (his brother followed suit). She eventually moved to Kfar Chabad [a religious moshav in Israel].”
Stéphane found that he could no longer communicate with his mother on a mean ingful level. If he tried to talk about something other than Judaism, she had nothing to say. In later life, when he would take his three children to see their grandmother, her first question to them would often be: “Do you have Jewish friends in your class in school?”
Stéphane was always upset by this. “I wanted her to be in interested in what they were doing and to form a connection with them.”
She died before the film was finished. “I’d love her to have seen the film because it was my response to our incapacity to communi cate,” he says.
Stéphane remains perplexed as to why his mother wanted to be so immersed in a world in which women are sidelined. In the film, we
see both the Italian women and the Orthodox Jewish women working in the kitchen while the men farm the land. I point out that in this respect there are parallels between the two communities. “Yes, but the Orthodox women are very much put on the side,” he says. “They don’t have the freedom to dress as they wish, to sing and dance with the men, to touch each other. Orthodox people are not at all tactile.”
When Stéphane was 14, his mother took him and his brother to Israel for two months.
“I think she was already thinking about living there. I spent the time in a yeshiva, where I started to discover Judaism but only through Orthodox teaching. For a long, long time I thought that this was the only way of being Jewish.”
Recently divorced, he lives with his girl friend, who is a rabbi. “I’m not practising but
I know everything. I’m not sure that I believe in God, but this is not really the important thing in Judaism. A writer I admire says that being Jewish is to be a reader. I believe in that. It’s about our way of reading and interpreting. When I listen to my girlfriend or different teachers talking about the hotshot moments of the Bible I’m always interested because it’s very fickle, and it helps you to think about the relationship you have with other people, Jewish or not. It’s very philosophical.”
Spoiler alert: the relationship between Esther and Elio doesn’t develop into a romance. “The challenge for me was not to make it predictable. The producers tried very hard to make me add a sex scene but I didn’t think it was useful to make their relationship
go further,” Stéphane explains. “I just wanted to open the door and to put them in front of each other. She’s leaving this world thanks to him. And who knows? We are left wondering what will happen when she returns to France. The thing is that he helped her to get free. And she helped him to understand that he was trapped, too. They help each other and little by little, it becomes a sentimental story. I would say it’s a love story by the end.
“I like to think that in life there is always an opportunity to get free of our decisions and what we received from our traditions and our family. What you got from your educa tion won’t be the same as what you will give to your children. As Esther says to Elio: ‘I don’t think to be faithful is to repeat exactly what
you receive from your parents.’ In your life you will have your own hopes and your own opinions on the Bible – your own thoughts as to whether you believe in God.”
The only Jewish actor in the cast is the one who plays Esther’s father. He is a rabbi and during filming he taught the others how to lay tefillin and pray. “I modelled his character on some of the Lubavitch I met at Kfar Chabad,” says Stéphane. “They were very sweet but, like Esther’s father, they think that their beliefs are the only truth.”
When Stéphane was writing the film he went to Italy to meet the farmers. He was touched by how respectful they are of the Orthodox Jews who come every year, and the relationship they have built with them. “They know that thanks to these radical Orthodox Jewish people, they can save their year. An etrog can sell for as much as 20 euros and the best ones are sometimes worth 500.” We see the Jews measuring the etrogs and even Elio knows a kosher lemon when he sees one.
When Stéphane’s brother saw Where Life Begins he said: “I love your film. It’s very inter esting, very sensitive, very delicate. But next time make one about somebody who’s coming into the religion, not leaving it.”
This is not on the agenda for Stéphane. “My question will always be about how to be free, how to make life joyful. Life is about our capacity to be connected and open to the world. It’s sad that a lot of people do not live like that.”
The UK Jewish Film Festival 2022 takes place in cinemas nationwide and online until 20 November.
Where Life Begins is the closing gala. www.ukjewishfilm.org
candicekrieger@googlemail.com
t’s every entrepre neur’s dream: start a business and secure a deal with one of the world’s biggest companies the fol lowing year. That’s exactly what David Harel and the team at CytoReason did when they partnered with Pfizer, the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company.
The Israeli start-up has estab lished itself as a global leader in the computational modelling of human diseases thanks to its ability to combine human data and the artificial intelligence (AI) tools needed to accelerate drug development.
The company’s technology can build a com putational representation of a disease, assess the effectiveness of drugs for that disease, and predict which patients might respond best to
different drugs. And it can do so at speed.
The Tel Aviv business in September revealed an extension of its partnership with Pfizer, in a commer cial deal worth up to £93m over five years.
In CytoReason’s most significant deal to date, Pfizer will use CytoReason’s AI technology for its drug development programmes, and invest £17m equity in the Israeli company.
CytoReason co-founder and chief execu tive David Harel explains: “The big-picture problem of the pharmaceutical industry, and all industries globally, is data is growing exponentially but we are using yesterday’s practices to analyse it, so there’s a growing gap.
“There’s so much data that can be aggre gated and it’s becoming impossible for a human to process.” Cue CytoReason and its 80 biologists, bioinformaticians, and data engi neers coming up with computational models that can be used to find new disease targets and biomarkers, and predict which patients may best respond to novel treatments.
Pfizer uses CytoReason’s models in its research to enhance the understanding of the immune system, as it develops innova tive drugs for auto-immune and immunooncology diseases.
CytoReason technology was also used to help Pfizer to compare and choose drugs for inflammatory bowel disease. These are now in advanced trials. Says Harel: “There are two things we can do; take one drug and compare it across multiple diseases and take multiple drugs and compare them head-to-head.”
Harel says his company, founded in 2016, is bridging the gap between the ground-breaking science and technology that is done in Israel and the industrial expertise in other countries, notably Asia, Europe and the USA.
“Israel needs to rely on life sciences as well as the traditional powerhouses like energy and high-tech, and the path to do that is to leverage the existing assets of Israel which is AI,” he adds. “We believe by taking these unique tech capabilities and applying them to healthcare and life sciences, we will be able to attract larger global players to the Israeli ecosystem, specifically within pharmaceuticals.”
Quite – along with Pfizer, CytoReason now partners with five of the world’s top ten pharma companies, including GSK, Roche and Merck. So how did the collaboration with Pfizer come about? Harel explains: “In 2017, my friend introduced me to Pfizer’s global innovation lead. She liked what we do.”
“Three weeks later, co-founder Shai ShenOrr and I met the Pfizer scientists. They also liked what we do. Three months later, we signed our first deal. Since then, our scientists
have been meeting their Pfizer counter parts almost weekly. They’ve been working together on dozens of drug programmes across dozens of diseases.”
He goes on: “CytoReason as a tech com pany realised we need to work with leading pharma companies like Pfizer to reach patients at scale. And our friends at Pfizer realised to reach patients with cutting-edge technology they must find a way to integrate clinical data with molecular data. They realised the doctor in the clinic must build on molecular features and the bioinformatician in the lab must build on data from the clinic.”
Further, he adds: “Our computational disease models enable pharma and biotech companies to conduct synthetic trials based on masses of clinical and molecular data, before spending hundreds of millions of dol lars on human trials.”
This former Israel Defense Forces officer is an experienced business leader with proven strategic thinking and demonstrated execu tion in healthcare, technology and finance.
When Covid hit, CytoReason’s team built computational models for the diseases associ ated with Acute Respiratory Distress Syn drome (ARDS) and sent them to customers free to enable them to develop anti-viral drugs, the details of which are confidential.
Will Israel be key to drug research and curing diseases like cancer in the future? Says Harel: “It’s our mission to make this statement true. One of the greatest challenges facing drug development for disease is the need for constant innovation. The tech coming out of Israel will be the game changer.
“Israel has been a leader in innovative medical devices for a long time – the camera pill and stents were invented in Israel – but not in therapeutics/drugs.” Something CytoReason seems to be on its way to changing.
In last week’s portion, Abraham seemingly passes the hardest test of his life, bringing Isaac to the brink of death before staying his hand at the command of an angel of God. Finally, he can bask in the glory of success: “Now I know that you truly fear God” (Genesis 22:12).
But Abraham’s triumph is shattered when he arrives home to discover that his beloved wife Sarah is dead. Indeed, the narrative that follows as Abraham barters with Ephron the Hittite for a burial plot are comically mundane stacked up against the drama of the Binding. Abraham returns from Jerusalem, son and future alive, only to find that death has outflanked him, taunting him from the threshold of his house.
More perplexing are the commentaries who regard Sarah’s death as Abraham’s tenth and final obstacle before self-perfection. After the
Binding, what lesson remained for Abraham to learn? Wasn’t Sarah’s death in old age simply a natural occurrence, rather than a divinely arranged trial?
Another peculiarity lies in the verse: “And Abraham came to eulogise Sarah and to cry for her” (Genesis 23:2). In the Hebrew text, the letter kaf is in a smaller font than the rest of the letters in the word “to cry for her”. This suggests that Abraham held back when it came to mourning Sarah’s death, refraining from expressing the fullest extent of his grief. Why?
Rabbi Shmuel Sofer of Bratislava (d1871) poses a brilliant solution:
Sarah is at home, awaiting her husband and son. She hears a knock. It’s a family friend who lives near Jerusalem. Breathless, this friend recounts how she had seen Abraham and Isaac climbing mount Moriah, knife and wood in hand.
The colour drains from Sarah’s cheeks as she concludes that her beloved child had been sacri-
ficed. The shock of this thought kills her. The son she had anticipated for decades was gone. As Abraham strode exultantly up the front path, Isaac alive by his side, this tragedy greeted them.
What was Abraham’s tenth and final test? Would he regret having ever left? Knowing that the shock would cause the death of the woman who had stuck by him for a lifetime, would he have abandoned the ninth test to prevent the tenth from happening?
Nothing is more upsetting than the realisation that despite all our e ort and acts of faith, our worst fears were still realised. There is no greater pain than snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. And when this happens, the question facing us – as it faced Abraham – is: do we regret having chased victory in the first place?
What indication is there that Abraham passed this test? The small kaf. Surrounded by well-wishers, he conceals the true depth of his pain. Not wanting to give the slightest impression of regret, his sensitivity to God’s honour
meant that he remained composed, despite the maelstrom of emotions inside him.
With this, the God-fearing man becomes a Prince of God, a title given to him by none other than Ephron the Hittite as they negotiated Sarah’s burial plot (Genesis 23:6).
Greatness in God’s eyes is remarkable. Godliness in the eyes of all who meet you is extraordinary.
In our thought-provoking series, rabbis, rebbetzins and educators relate the week’s parsha to the way we live today
The first verse of the Torah, Genesis 1:1, introduces Earth as the place where everything else that matters is going to happen. All life, love, joy, care, satisfaction and beauty is dependent on the proper functioning of the earth.
The first mitzvah, commandment, addressed to Adam, the first human being, is in Hebrew: p’ru u’r’vu, “Increase and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
This is the Jewish duty, to develop, to grow, to build for the future. Those words, though, are only the first half of the verse. The verse continues v’civshuhah u’r’du, dominate and rule over the earth.
This is a tough verse to interpret. Does it mean that we can be irresponsible in the way that humankind uses the earth for
our immediate benefit, or does it mean that we need to have a God-like eternal perspective, a sustaining perspective, on how the earth develops? The direction of Jewish teaching has taken the latter path.
If we are given the Earth on which and by which to live, we must do so in a sustainable manner, so it can be given on from generation to generation.
A midrash pictures God showing Adam around the Garden of Eden and saying, “Look at My works! See how beautiful they are — how excellent! For your sake, I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it” (Kohelet Rabbah 7:13).
Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, painted a bleak picture of how Adam is treating Earth in 2022. At the latest Cop, the annual attempt by nations and NGOs to inspire the changes that will preserve the earth, he said: “Emissions of greenhouse gasses continue
to grow. We are on a highway to climate hell but our foot is still on the accelerator.”
If Earth could be asked to respond to Cop27, surely it would be pleased that such a gathering takes place every year so that the message of caring remains heard, but also it would be devastated that so little action takes place as a result.
Adam is each one of us as well as humanity as a collective. To fulfil the first mitzvah of the Torah we must make major and permanent changes in how we behave towards the earth, individually, communally, nationally and internationally.
Last weekend saw EcoShabbat take place, organised by EcoSynagogue to coincide with Cop27. Communities of all denominations and across the UK took part, putting their focus on the climate emergency. It reminded us that to be a Jew is to care for the earth if we are to care to our people, our families and ourselves.
• Rabbi Mark Goldsmith is a member of the EcoSynagogue Rabbinic TeamHASMONEAN MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST
Salary TBC | Start date: ASAP
Hasmonean MAT seeks an exceptional leader to join as the Headteacher of the Boys’ School to make a crucial contribution to the continued success of the school. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced educationalist and leader to help a high performing organisation seize the opportunities and meet the challenges of a rapidly changing local and national educational landscape.
The successful candidate will possess strong intellectual abilities, first class strategic and communication skills, and a substantial track record of senior leadership gained as a Head, Deputy or Assistant Head in a high performing academic environment. The brochure for the substantive Headteacher role outlines the job description and person specification for this role, as well as the Headteachers’ standards.
We believe in giving our students the tools they need to build their future. The staff at Hasmonean come from a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds. A privately run childcare facility is available on site for children aged 0-4.
Candidates should complete the application form as well as a covering letter addressing the role description and person specification which can be found on our website https://hasmoneanmat.org.uk/vacancies/
Please note that in line with our safer recruitment practices we can only consider fully completed application forms and not CVs and should be addressed to Mr A McClusky –CEO, c/o Ms J Grant j.grant@hasmonean.co.uk
Closing date for applications: Wednesday 30th November 2022
We will conduct preliminary interviews with longlisted candidates during the week commencing Monday 5th December 2022. Shortlisted candidates will have formal interviews which will take place on the week commencing Monday 12th December 2022.
Applicants are asked to provide daytime and evening contact details. We reserve the right to close these vacancies early should we receive an overwhelming response.
Hasmonean MAT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The successful candidate must be willing to undergo an enhanced disclosure through the Disclosure and Barring Service.
HASMONEAN MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST
Salary TBC | Start date: 3rd January 2023
Are you looking for a challenging opportunity? We are looking for a senior leader to become Interim Headteacher of the Boys’ School until the substantive role is filled. We offer an exceptional opportunity for career development. Job shares are welcomed but candidates should apply individually.
The successful candidate will:
• Be highly organised and knowledgeable
• Have the ability to think strategically
• Have a proven track record in leadership
• Have excellent organisational and communication skills
The brochure for the substantive Headteacher role outlines the job description and person specification for this role, as well as the Headteachers’ standards. We believe in giving our students the tools they need to build their future.
The staff at Hasmonean come from a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds.
A privately run childcare facility is available on site for children aged 0-4. Candidates should complete the application form as well as a covering letter addressing the role description and person specification which can be found on our website
https://hasmoneanmat.org.uk/vacancies/
Please note that in line with our safer recruitment practices we can only consider fully completed application forms and not CVs and should be addressed to Mr A McClusky – CEO, c/o Ms J Grant j.grant@hasmonean.co.uk
Closing date for applications: 17th November 2022
Applicants are asked to provide daytime and evening contact details. We will conduct interviews with candidates from Wednesday 30th November 2022
We reserve the right to close these vacancies early should we receive an overwhelming response.
Hasmonean MAT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The successful candidate must be willing to undergo an enhanced disclosure through the Disclosure and Barring Service.
A stimulating series where our progressive rabbis consider how Biblical figures might act when faced with 21st-century issuesIf we are given the Earth to live by, we must look after it
Dear Eric, I recently went for an interview which I thought went really well but didn’t get the job. I was told that although I had the necessary experience, knowledge and skills, I did not come across as eager for the job. Where did I go wrong?
Claudia
Dear Claudia, Convincing a prospective employer that you really want to do the job is as important as demonstrating that you can do the job. The interviewer needs to be sure that you will give everything to being successful in the role and committed to the organisation.
Thoroughly research the role and organisation so you can respond positively, knowledgeably and enthusiastically when discussing the role and
organisation. This does not mean simply reading the home page on their website and quoting a few basic facts and figures.
Check out the annual report and statements of vision, mission and strategy which they usually contain. Search for press articles about them and be sure you are familiar with their complete range of products, services, clients/customers and how they di erentiate themselves from competitors.
Looking at their social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn is a must.
Study the case studies often tucked away on their website together with testimonials, their charitable and social responsibility activities. If possible, try and actually experience the products/services they o er. Buy something from an e-commerce business and return it! Talk to others who may have used their product/services.
Resource’s extensive network of clients and employers often provide insights into how it really is, so call us on 020 8346 4000 or visit www. resource-centre.org-
Dear Carolyn
My cousin has recently passed away. She told me she had written a Will and appointed me as Executor. However, she wasn’t a very organised person, and I have searched her flat can’t find the original. All I have is a signed photocopy which was with her other papers?
Ray
Dear Ray
This is a tricky problem but not insurmountable.
Some countries keep a ‘Central Registry of Last Wills’ where the lawyer sends details of any Will they have prepared as soon as it is executed. There is a voluntary Wills deposit scheme with the Central Probate Registry for a nominal fee but the uptake is very small (in single figure percentages) so highly unlikely that your cousin would have used this service.
Unfortunately, cases do arise where the original Will cannot be found when a person is no longer alive. This is not as disastrous as it sounds, particularly as you have a copy of the signed Will. A copy can
be sent to the Probate Registry but the process is a little more involved and will require you to swear an affidavit setting out the circumstances of your search for the Will, your cousin’s lack of organisation and the likelihood that the original has been lost. You may also need one of the witnesses or the Will draftsman, if you know who it was, to give you any details of the signing and witnessing of the Will.
I realise this is after the event, but it is a good idea to keep a digital back up of the Will and for the Will draftsman, if they are professionals, to store the original in a deeds cabinet, informing the executors, so that it can be easily located.
Dear Sue
I was so upset when the audiologist told me I have a mild to moderate hearing loss and would benefit from hearing aids. I’m really self-conscious about wearing them and keep thinking I’ll be marginalised if people see them. I just don’t know how to overcome this. Do you have any advice?
Dear S
It’s truly understandable that you’re nervous – this is a new change in your life and it’s normal to be apprehensive about a situation you’ve never had to face before.
To this day, I’ve never met anyone who would rather you didn’t hear what they’re saying when they’re talking to you! So wearing hearing aids is actually a hugely positive step – people will respect you for taking action and you’re less likely to be marginalised
because you’ll be able to communicate better.
People appreciate knowing you have a hearing loss and being made aware of how to help. Once they know, you can share with them that getting your attention before they start speaking, facing you and speaking clearly (rather than loudly) helps. This will alleviate their frustration as well as yours – and enable you to keep having meaningful conversations and interactions, as you always have.
I suggest you have a chat with Gabrielle, our hearing therapist at JDA. She will help you to adjust to your new situation and get the most out of your hearing aids. We’re here to support you. Please call her on 020 8446 0214.
Our trusty team of advisers answers your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry. This week: Job interview tips, preparing a will and coping with mild hearing loss
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 HRMagazine and other titles.
SPENCER WEST LLP 020 7925 8080 www.spencer-west.com emma.gross@spencer-west.com
TREVOR GEE
Qualifications: •
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
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.
KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 020 8732 6101 www.kkl.org.uk enquiries@kkl.org.uk
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.
STEPHEN MORRIS SHIPPING LTD 020 8832 2222 www.shipsms.co.uk stephen@shipsms.co.uk
STUART WOOLGAR
Qualifications:
• CEO of London’s largest guardian company with more than 20 years’ experience
• Well-known and highly regarded British security industry expert.
• Specialists in securing and protecting empty commercial and residential properties.
• Clients include small private landlords to major national property companies and managing agents, as well as those in the public sector.
GLOBAL GUARDIANS MANAGEMENT 020 3818 9100 www.global-guardians.co.uk info@global-guardians.co.uk
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
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.
JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION 020 8446 0502 www.jdeaf.org.uk mail@jdeaf.org.uk
LOUISE LEACH
Qualifications:
• Professional choreographer qualified in dance, drama and Zumba (ZIN, ISTD
& LAMDA), gaining an honours degree at Birmingham University.
• Former contestant on
DANCING WITH LOUISE 075 0621 7833 www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk Info@dancingwithlouise.com
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
RICHDALE CONSULTANTS LTD 020 7781 8019 www.richdale.co.uk jacob@richdale.co.uk
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.
CURRENCIES DIRECT 0786 0595 890 / 0207 847 9400 www.currenciesdirect.com/jn lee.goldfarb@currenciesdirect.com
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.
SOBELL RHODES LLP 020 8429 8800 www.sobellrhodes.co.uk a.shelley@sobellrhodes.co.uk
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.
JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611 www.jbd.org Lisa@jbd.org If
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.
MAN ON A BIKE 020 8731 6171 www.manonabike.co.uk mail@manonabike.co.uk
Email: sales@jewishnews.co.uk
Qualifications:
• Leon is an Israeli and UK accountant based in Ramat Gan, Israel.
• He is a Partner at Harris Horoviz Consulting & Tax Ltd.
• The firm specializes in Israeli and international tax advice, accounting and tax reporting for investors, Olim and businesses.
• Leon’s motto is: Our numbers speak your language!
HARRIS HOROVIZ CONSULTING & TAX LTD +972-3-6123153 / + 972-54-6449398 leon@h2cat.com
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.
RISK RESOLUTIONS 020 3411 4050 www.risk-resolutions.com ashley.prager@risk-resolutions.com
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.
NEFESH B’NEFESH 0800 075 7200 www.nbn.org.il dov@nbn.org.il
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.
LLOYD PLATT & COMPANY SOLICITORS 020 8343 2998 www.divorcesolicitors.com lloydplatt@divorcesolicitors.com
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.
ADWCONNECT 0208 089 1111 www.adwconnect.com hello@adwconnect.com
Circumspection (9)
Current of air (4)
Camera opening (8)
By whatever means necessary (2,3,4)
Reached by effort (8)
Thin coating or layer (4)
Plucked out (9)
___ Baker, fashion chain store (3)
Skinned, pared (6)
Duck-like movement (6)
Archer’s missiles (6)
Conscience-stricken (9)
Large frilly collar (4)
Public convenience (8)
Pull (3)
Ill-will (6)
Sum of money reimbursed (9)
Not contaminated (9)
Floor covering (8)
Become interested in (a pursuit) (4,2)
Stain (6)
Plan or scheme formed in the mind (4)
Fasten with a knot or bow (3)
