1296 - 5th Jan 2023

Tensions mount

by Jotam Confino jotam@jewishnews.co.uk @mrconfino

Israel’s new far-right government has come under fire from western allies, fellow Abraham Accords states and Jewish communities worldwide during a tumultuous first week in power.

Hardline national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Temple Mount in East Jerusalem on Tuesday, sparking condemnation from Israel’s closest allies.

A 1967 agreement between Israel and Jordan forbids Jews from praying at the site but allows them to visit. Ben-Gvir is technically allowed to visit, but his hardline views against Palestinians and previous promise to alter the status-quo so Jews will be allowed to pray there has provoked Muslims.

The United Arab Emirates, which has become a close ally of Israel since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, asked the UN Security Council to convene an emergency session to discuss Ben-Gvir’s visit.

The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, France, the USA, Germany and several other countries condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit, calling it provocative and saying it could escalate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Agency has sent a letter to reinstalled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, voicing its urgent concern over his government’s controversial plan to alter the Law of Return to penalise non-Orthodox Jews. “Any changes made to the delicate and sensitive Continued on page 8

Israel’s

The very best of

By Jenni Frazer @Jennifrazer

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis is Sir Ephraim after being knighted in the New Year Honours. The former Kinloss minister is recognised for his services to the Jewish community, interfaith relations and education as part of one of the most extensive list of honours for Jewish community leaders, Holocaust survivors and philanthropists in memory.

Sir Ephraim told Jewish News: “I am enormously honoured and deeply humbled by this award. It will be particularly moving for me to receive this award from His Majesty the King, in his first year as our monarch.”

It is just one historic meeting with Charles III he can look forward to in 2023, having been invited to stay with the monarch at Clarence House on the eve of the coronation so as not to transgress Shabbat.

The Chief Rabbi, who follows in the footsteps of his predecessor Lord Sacks in

receiving a knighthood, was one of the first US rabbis to host an imam in his community while still at Kinloss, and recently became the first holder of his role to pay an o cial visit to an Arab state at the invitation of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace.

Reacting to news of the award, he noted that it had been made against the background of a worrying rise in global antisemitism, and said it was important to continue to speak out and challenge prominent figures who give voice to antisemitic ideas.

While it was “most disappointing and saddening when high-profile characters are guilty of antisemitism”, the Chief Rabbi believed that “fortunately, the overwhelming majority of people within our society is not antisemitic and does not wish to accept that kind of conduct”.

Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, has been made a dame in recognition of her work in the face of the Russian invasion of the country in February. She is

known to be on good personal terms with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who admired her determination to stay at her post in Kyiv, not least when other diplomats left Ukraine.

Describing the award as a “huge honour”, Dame Melinda, a member of Finchley Reform Synagogue, said: “I am proud of everyone I have worked with and everything we have done to support Ukrainians’ unwavering determination to live free, especially over the last year. We will continue to work together to support them just as we continue to be inspired by their incredible resilience.”

Past and present president of the Board of Deputies, Jonathan Arkush and Marie van der Zyl, have each been awarded an OBE.

Arkush said: “When I learned about the honour, it was something of a ‘wow’ moment. It is an honour for the Board of Deputies, and recognises that the Board is front and central in defending and protecting Jewish life in our country. Leading the Board at a crucial time in politics was one of the greatest privileges of my life.”

Like his successor, van der Zyl, his time at the helm spanned the the period in which Jeremy Corbyn led the Labour Party.

For van der Zyl, who is only the second woman to lead the Board, the honour also reflected the work of the representative organisation.

She said: “I could not have achieved what I have without the support and help of everyone here, including our wonderful sta team and my fellow honorary o cers and deputies, all of whom are volunteers who give so much time and e ort for no reward. This is as much for them as it is for me.”

There is also recognition for the rabbi of the tiny Belfast Hebrew Rabbi David Jewish : “I am absolutely thrilled and honoured to receive the MBE. It was totally unexpected, but I think it was to do with my work

explaining the impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol on the Jewish community of Belfast. If we can’t import kosher food then there will be no Jewish community. I am greatly honoured to have recognition of my work in explaining this, both to Boris Johnson when he was prime minister and to Brandon Lewis as the Northern Ireland secretary.” Rabbi Kale has been minister in Belfast since 2018. London-born and raised in Bournemouth, he was previously minister at Staines and at Barking and Becontree.

Two chief executives of communal organisations can also look forward to trips to the palace. Sue Cipin, CEO of the Jewish Deaf Association, was “thrilled” to be awarded an OBE, which she said also belongs to “all our inspiring and committed sta and volunteers who do such incredible work”.

Cipin added: “Being a part of the JDA community is not only crucial to our clients, it feeds the souls of all of us who are lucky enough to work here. JDA is part of who I am and I feel truly blessed to be a part of the JDA family.”

Mark Gardner received an OBE in recognition of his work as CEO of the Community Security Trust. Gardner, who has also served as the charity’s head of communications, said: “I am delighted to receive this honour, which also reflects the amazing work of CST’s volunteers and sta .”

Three people associated with World Jewish Relief and the Association of Jewish Refugees have also been honoured, though in one case, former trustee Suzanne Kantor, the OBE is for her work as a personal tax adviser with the Inland Revenue.

WJR’s honorary vice-president, Linda Rosenblatt, has been made MBE, and an MBE also goes to Harry Heber, a survivor who volunteers with WJR as well as with AJR.

Bianca Sakol, the young Borehamwood activist whose charity, Sebby’s Corner, supplies basic equipment to local families in need, adds an MBE to the Points of Light award she received from the prime minister in October. The charity supports hundreds of families across Hertfordshire, Barnet and north London.

Sakol, 34, who began the charity when she struggled to find places to donate outgrown clothing from her own two children, told Jewish News: “I genuinely thought it was a joke at first. How could this even happen?

It’s really special because Sebby’s Corner is so new. We began in January 2021 and only received charitable status in November 2021.

Sir Ephraim Mirvis

Dame Melinda Simmons

Sue Cipin

Rabbi

David Kale

Bianca Sakol

Jonathan Arkush

Marie van der Zyl

British!

health. Born in London and trained in Sydney, Australia, he was knighted in 2000 for his services to epidemiology and the understanding of health inequalities.

Sir Michael commented: “Over decades, when the evidence has shown it to be necessary, I have been critical of government policy, particularly since 2010. Despite that criticism, this award has been made. It is a recognition of the importance of truth and evidence in having a reasoned debate about the kind of society we want. Without the support of UCL, with its eminent global reputation, my job would have been much harder.”

Lady Sarah Dorfman is made OBE for services to ballet and dance. Lady Sarah, wife of entrepreneur Sir Lloyd Dorfman, said: “Supporting ballet and dance has been a personal passion of mine for many years. I am particularly proud of championing programmes to support the physical and mental wellbeing of dancers.”

esca Simon, the children’s writer and author of the Horrid Henry series, is made OBE. The Americanborn novelist recently acquired British citizenship, becoming one of the last candidates to swear allegiance to the Queen. Others honoured this year include Dr Naomi Katz Sacks, who receives the MBE for her public health work in London; Dr Joel Meyer, also MBE, for his work at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London; Sonia Friedman is made OBE for services to theatre; and Jon Suchet, also OBE for services to journalism.

So it’s a real thrill.”

Rosalind Bluestone, CEO of the charity Goods for Good, is made MBE for services to humanitarian aid in the UK and overseas. The organisation, set up eight years ago from her dining room table, has delivered £40m of aid, donated by both the community and over 200 UK corporates, to vulnerable people globally, including in Ukraine, Moldova, and Poland.

Bluestone, 68, told Jewish News: “It has been a privilege to work with people who encouraged and helped me with these great achievements. Together we have been able to help over three million people in desperate need of essentials.”

A total of six of survivors are also celebrating much-deserved honours: Susan Pollack is made OBE, and Lily Ebert, Harry Olmer, Harry Heber and Yvonne Bernstein are made MBEs. Michael Brown is awarded the BEM. Additionally Michael Karp, a trustee of the Holocaust Educational Trust, is made OBE; while the TV presenter and campaigner against antisemitism Rachel Riley receives an MBE for her services to Holocaust education.

Karen Pollock told Jewish News: “Rachel Riley is a champion to us all, including the thousands of young HET ambassadors across the country she has inspired. Rachel made a choice to stand up and be a leading voice in the fight against antisemitism — we thank and congratulate her on her well-deserved honour.”

Michael Brown, originally from Hanover, in Germany, came to Britain with the Kindertransport and has spoken of his escape from the Nazis to schoolchildren across the UK and Germany. Harry Olmer, now 95, who recently marked his third barmitzvah at Mill Hill Synagogue, said: ‘Receiving an MBE was completely unexpected, I had no idea. I wish everyone who has received an honour a huge mazel tov.”

Lily Ebert said the award of MBE was “the utmost honour and privilege. After losing my mother, youngest sister and youngest brother in Auschwitz, I could not even imagine myself

surviving. I was 20 years old. I am now 99, and accepting an award from the King. It feels like a dream – every day I have to remind myself that this is my reality, and how extraordinarily lucky I am to be here.”

Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, paid tribute to Yvonne Bernstein, who was hailed as “life-a rming” by the Duchess of Cambridge after she photographed her as part of a Jewish News-initiated project in 2020 . Marks-Woldman said: “We are so delighted to hear of Yvonne’s honour — we know the impact she had made on so many people through sharing her experiences with others. This honour rightly recognises her contribution not just to Holocaust education and commemoration but to society as a whole.”

Smajo Beso, educator at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, will be awarded an OBE for services to genocide education and commemoration.

The Chief Rabbi wasn’t the only communal figure to receive a knighthood. Political scientist Vernon Bogdanor and MP Julian Lewis can also add ‘Sir’ to their names. Sir Julian told Jewish News: “Representing New Forest East allows me to serve our community locally, whilst focusing on security and defense at a national level. Today’s recognition of that work is as generous as it is encouraging.”

of dancers.” of the Royal Ballet School deputy chair in the last two years. Through

Lady Sarah was a governor of the Royal Ballet School 2012 to 2021, including deputy chair in the last two years. Through her family foundation she has also supported the English National Ballet, Sadler’s Wells, the Royal Opera House and the Royal Academy of Dance.

Dr Katz Sacks told Jewish News: “I’m grateful. It’s more of a recognition of how the whole community, not just me, responded to support the Covid vaccine programme. The community was amazing.”

Sadler’s Wells, the and the Royal Academy of

Franc-

One of the country’s most eminent clinicians, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, has been made Companion of Honour. Sir Michael is director of University College’s Institute of Health Equity.

Brian’s mum Bertie loved being around people. That’s why she used to say that volunteering for Jewish Care was the happiest time of her later life.

versity College’s Institute

The special distinction is awarded for having made a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine or government over a long period, and is limited to 65 people at any one time. Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s lifetime work is in public

tion is awarded for having medicine or government limited to 65 people at any one time. Professor Sir

Before Bertie passed away, she never got a chance to amend her Will so she could leave something to Jewish Care. Brian has since told us that he has included Jewish Care in his Will on her behalf; “I don’t want to leave it until it’s too late, like Mum. I’m doing this for her”. With a gift in your Will to Jewish Care, you can make sure that future generations of our community get the care they need, when they need it most.

For more information about leaving a gift in your Will and our free Will Writing Service, please call Sarit on 020 8922 2819, email legacyteam@jcare.org or visit jewishcare.org/legacy

Rosalind Bluestone

Lily Ebert

Harry Olmer

Susan Pollack

Smajo Beso

Francesca Simon

John Suchet

Dr Joel Meyer

Rachel Riley

Professor Sir Michael Marmot

“Jewish Care meant everything to my mum, Bertie. That’s why I’m leaving them a gift in my Will”.

Brian,

Legacy Pledger

UK lets fly at Iran’s Guards

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK in an abrupt toughening of London’s stance towards Tehran, writes Adam Decker.

Part of the Iranian Armed Forces, the 250,000-strong IRGC operates abroad in support of Iran’s objectives, but its influence means it pervades all parts of Iranian society.

It is already proscribed as a terrorist entity by the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.

The UK move has long been championed by Jewish and proIsrael groups such as the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council, Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), the Zionist Federation,

be in support. In 2020, as chair of the Foreign A airs Committee (FAC), Tugendhat advised that the IRGC met the criteria for proscription in

the Terrorism Act 2000, and that this was “a natural next step”.

Last month, prime minister Rishi Sunak addressed Iran’s influence at CFI’s annual business lunch, saying its activities “aren’t just confined to the Middle East”.

He referenced the “important actions” of his predecessors in proscribing Hamas and Hezbollah and said he was committed to “utilising the full range of tools at our disposal to protect UK citizens from the threat of the IRGC and Iran”.

He added that “under my leadership, the UK will not waver in our commitment to work with Israel and our allies to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon”.

The UK’s relationship with Iran

TRIBUTES POUR IN FOR POPE BENEDICT

Jewish communities worldwide have hailed Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as “one of the great theologians of the 20th century” after his death aged 95, writes Adam Decker.

World Jewish Congress president Ronald S Lauder said: “He was a towering figure of the Roman Catholic Church, both as pope and before that as the cardinal who gave the

Catholic-Jewish relationship solid theological underpinning and enhanced understanding. No pope before him visited as many synagogues, and he made a point of meeting with local Jewish community representatives whenever he visited foreign nations.”

Tributes also came from the Board of Deputies. In a letter to Cardinal Vincent

Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, president Marie van der Zyl described the former ponti as “a towering intellect and leader”.

She added: “We valued a strong and positive relationship with the Catholic Church and we share in your sorrow. As we say in the Jewish community: ‘May his memory be a blessing’.”

has nosedived recently and MI5 last year warned exiled Iranian journalists in the UK of credible threats to their safety from Iranian agents operating in London.

Sunak said the National Cyber Security Centre “has exposed IRGClinked attacks on critical national infrastructure” and “the head of MI5 has spoken of at least ten threats this year to kidnap or even kill UK-based individuals”.

The two states are also at loggerheads over Ukraine, where Britain’s support for Kyiv is coming up against Russia’s use of Iranian drones, while London has also issued strong condemnation of Iran’s violent crackdown against Iranian protesters.

and Britain Israel Alliance.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat and home secretary Suella Braverman are both understood to

Revolutionary Guard head Hossein Salami, second left, and Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, third left, at a ceremony in Tehran

Pope Benedict XVI with then Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in 2010 at the Vatican

Strictly-Orthodox girls told concert could harm them

Female pupils in London have been told by religious authorities to stay away from a women-only concert by an Orthodox female singer because it may cause “spiritual harm”, writes Adam Decker.

The ruling, involving several Charedi girls’ schools and the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC) umbrella group, centres on the singer Bracha Jaffe, a New York nurse and mother of five.

She is due to play in concert alongside fellow singer Chaya

Kogan as well as “child sensation” Esther Krohn at Hackney Empire on 15 January, an event for which tickets had sold out by last week.

However, in a email statement posted to synagogue noticeboards, the UOHC said it “endorses and supports the decision” of Charedi girls’ schools such as Beis Yaakov Grammar School for ban girls from attending the concert.

Referring to “the concert for ladies and girls”, the UOHC said it “may cause spiritual harm in

ruchniyus [spiritual pleasure] and hashkofo [ethos] ... and one should therefore not participate in such an event”.

A community source said: “Many women are selling their tickets because of this [edict]… People are concerned that they won’t be accepted to the secondary school if they are spotted at the concert, despite their own disagreement with the ban. They feel they have to follow authority for their children’s education.”

KC TO LEAD INQUIRY INTO ABUSE CLAIMS

The former Recorder of Redbridge, Judge Martyn Zeidman KC, has accepted an offer from the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC) to lead an inquiry into allegations of improper sexual behaviour by Golders Green rabbi Chaim Halpern.

In a controversial TV programme in Israel in November a 21-year-old London woman accused Rabbi Halpern of inappropriate physical and mental conduct towards her. The rabbi has denied the woman’s claims.

This week Judge Zeidman, who has overseen numerous cases relating to sexual misconduct, confirmed to Jewish News that he had accepted the UOHC request to conduct an investigation into claims made against Rabbi Halpern.

But he made it clear that he would not speak or interview anyone until a previously announced police inquiry – by the Metropolitan Police – had concluded, as he did not want to prejudice any potential outcome.

Judge Zeidman, a member of Edgware

Yeshurun – which comes under the umbrella of the Federation of Synagogues – retired as a senior circuit judge in May 2022, but is still sitting part-time, mainly trying murder cases.

In a statement, the UOHC said its investigation “which is being led independently of the UOHC, is currently under way. To protect its integrity, it would be inappropriate to comment further until the investigation has concluded.”

Ten years ago, other allegations of sexual

In response, Jaffe said: “Our girls need healthy kosher music, healthy kosher entertainment that will bring them closer to God. I want to be a good example to our girls. I care about the way I present myself. I only want to be a positive role model.”

In a video message online, she urged those who still want to attend to “join me on January 15th”, adding: “We’ll sing, we’ll dance, we’ll have an emotional and spiritual connection.”

the

was

Orthodox singer Bracha Jaffe plays the Hackney Empire this month

impropriety were made against Rabbi Halpern and a police inquiry opened. Nine months later

inquiry

closed and no charges brought.

Golders Green Rabbi Chaim Halpern

Tributes to Rabbi Levy, an ‘institution builder’

British Jewry is mourning a well-loved Sephardi rabbi whose name “resonated throughout the community” after his death last week, aged 83, writes Joy Falk.

Rabbi Abraham Levy, the emeritus spiritual head of the S&P Sephardi Community, was laid to rest in front of 400 people at Hoop Lane Sephardi Cemetery in Golders Green as tributes poured in from across the denominations.

Levy, who retired 10 years ago, “made his mark well beyond the Sephardi community”, said Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, paying tribute to “a committed rabbinic leader and outstanding scholar who made a deep impact in interfaith relations and education”.

Speaking at this year’s Limmud Festival, Senior Sephardi Rabbi Joseph Dweck described his predecessor as a “towering figure” and “a man of God and a leader in religious life, who did it with a great deal of conviction… The influence he had on AngloJewry was strong, deep, substantive and powerful.”

Dweck said Levy offered a “humanistic, pragmatic, empathic and sensitive Judaism, which was [also] staunchly traditional and halachic, and he was able – in an amazing way – to blend all of those things into an integrated, whole, beautiful Judaism”.

Rabbi Israel Elia, the long-term former rabbi of Lauderdale Road Synagogue, said Levy’s was “a life full of achievement… the life of a great man, who dreamed big dreams and lived to see his dreams come true”. Elia recalled how Levy would say “any Jew trying to do better is a good Jew… well, by his own measure, Rabbi Abraham Levy was a very good Jew indeed”.

Born in Gibraltar, Levy met his wife, Estelle, when he served at Holland Park Synagogue. They had a son, Julian, whose wife

Sian was described as “the daughter [Abraham and Estelle] never had”. The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks once described Levy as “an institution builder”, Elia recalled, saying: “Without a project, Rabbi Levy was as restless as Sherlock Holmes between cases. With a project, he was tireless.”

A member of his family, Fleur Hassan Nahoum, deputy mayor of Jerusalem, told Jewish News: “My wonderful cousin represented the real meaning of the Sephardi spirit and tradition of bridge building – between religious and secular Jews, between Ashkenazim and Sephardim and between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

“He embodied the Maimonidean value of moderation and was not just a talented pastoral rabbi, but the pioneer of Sephardi institution-building in the UK. I will miss him as a dear cousin and a cherished mentor.”

A special session to honour Levy was held at Limmud last month. Attendees were reminded that, in the 1980s and 1990s, United Synagogue rabbis refused to attend Limmud, whereas Levy not only took part but encouraged his student rabbis to go too.

He was the founder of the Naima Jewish Preparatory School in London in 1983, the first Sephardi school in Britain for a century, having earlier launched a leadership programme for young Jewish adults, with Sacks among the alumni.

Rabbi Raphael Zarum, dean of the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS), said Levy had “saved” the institution when, as deputy principal in 2003, he rejected plans for LSJS to drop its academic programmes.

Daniel Greenberg, the barrister who will become the

parliamentary commissioner for standards later this month, described Levy as “a wise man, a leader, a conciliator, and a friend”, while former Community Security Trust head David Delew called him “kind, brave, wise, learned, energetic and a thoroughly accomplished teacher and leader”.

Nurses weep with joy after shul ‘thank you’

More than 600 people took part in a Christmas initiative run by a Leeds Orthodox rabbi to thank all the “blue light” services in the local area – as plans were announced to go national next year.

The gathering last month at Leeds United Hebrew Congregation, where Rabbi Albert Chait is senior rabbi, was for those taking part in visits to hospitals, ambulance, fire and police stations, care homes, pharmacies, shelters — and even an Indian restaurant preparing meals for the homeless.

Rabbi Chait founded A Time to Say Thank You in 2018 but its activities were suspended because of the pandemic. This Christmas Day was the first occasion since when members of the Jewish community could get together in-person to make the visits.

“Everyone turned up at 9.45am in shul,” Rabbi Chait said, “and were given details of the drop-off site that they were to visit.” He and his team had spent months

confirming what was open on Christmas Day and securing sponsorship and donations for the event.

“I called the local hospital and asked if they needed anything for the children and teenage unit,” he said. “They said they were desperate for a PlayStation 5 for the teenagers. In the end, we had so much money that we were able to bring two PlayStations and iPads as well as other games equipment. The nurses were almost in tears.”

He told Jewish News: “This sent such an important message from our community, that we don’t just care for each other, we care for everyone.

“We got terrific social media feedback and a really warm reception wherever we went. Now we hope to extend the scheme to other Jewish communities — Manchester, Glasgow and London. It was a message of togetherness from the Jewish community to the wider community.”

Rabbi Abraham Levy led the S&P Community for 32 years

More than 600 people took part in the initiative in Leeds

Mirvis message to Israel

Continued from page 1 status quo on issues such as the Law of Return or conversion could threaten to unravel the ties between us and keep us away from each other,” the letter said. One proposal is to annul the “grandchild” clause, which allows grandchildren of Jews to immigrate to Israel. Ultra-orthodox parties also want to see Jews converted by nonOrthodox rabbis barred from making aliyah. Several rabbis, ultra-Orthodox and far-right MKs have made condescending remarks toward Reform Jews, with some accusing Reform Judaism of “causing assimilation abroad”.

Also this week, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis was interviewed on Israeli TV, defending the LGBTQ+ community after a storm of homophobia in response to the election Israel’s first openly gay Knesset speaker, Amir Ohana.

Jerusalem’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Shlomo

Amar, called the decision to name Ohana as speaker “unbearable”, and leading rabbi Meir Mazuz, who is close to ultra-Orthodox MKs, said Ohana was “infected with a disease”.

Chief Rabbi Mirvis was asked about the debate

in Israel, telling Channel 13 that every human was created “in the image of God. This is how we must look at each and everyone. We all know the [halachic] prohibitions, but at the same time, we forbid to hate.” He ended the interview by saying that his view on the LGBTQ community wasn’t “liberal” but rather the “Torah’s position”.

In the United States, more than 330 rabbis have pledged to block members of the Religious Zionist bloc in the new government from speaking at their shuls and will lobby to keep them from speaking in their communities. This comes as members of the Religious Zionism Party stated that Israeli doctors should be able to refuse patients and clients if it contradicts their “religious beliefs”.

Elsewhere, 1,000 IDF veterans and 78 retired judges warned that the new government will “destroy” democracy and “harm” basic values.

NUMBER OF OLIM DOUBLED IN 2022

More than 70,000 people immigrated to Israel in 2022, twice as many as the year before and the highest number in more than 20 years, according to figures from the Jewish Agency.

The big rise was driven by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and its crackdowns at home, with more than half of this year’s

immigrants coming from Russia and a fifth coming from Ukraine, according to the organisation, which facilitates aliyah.

The total covers the period 1 January-1 December and includes those who came on tourist visas and only then went through the process of obtaining citizenship, instead of in advance as most do,

a Jewish Agency spokesperson said. The final total for December will be available later this month.

Jewish Agency chairman Doron Almog said: “It was a dramatic year that emphasised the value of mutual responsibility among the Jewish people.”

According to the organisation, three-quarters of olim last year

came from countries involved in the Russia-Ukraine war, with 37,364 from Russia, 14,680 from Ukraine and 1,993 from Belarus.

In addition, some 1,500 people immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia in the past year as part of Operation Tzur Israel, a government-backed programme to bring Ethiopians eligible for citizenship to Israel.

REGIONAL TALKS WITH RUSSIA

Israel’s foreign minister Eli Cohen spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday, discussing “regional issues” and the Jewish community in Russia.

Cohen stressed how important the Russian-speaking Israelis are to the relationship between the countries.

In his inaugural speech on Monday, Cohen said the new government would di er from the previous regarding its rhetoric vis a vis the war in Ukraine.

“With regard to the Russia-Ukraine issue, we will do one thing for certain. In public – we will talk less.

“We will prepare a detailed reference from the Ministry of Foreign A airs to the Cabinet to formulate a responsible policy. In any case, the significant humanitarian aid to Ukraine will continue,” he added.

Cohen’s intention to “talk less” about the war in Ukraine was criticised by top Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, who said “the idea that Israel should speak less about Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine is a bit unnerving”.

Colleagues: Netanyahu (left) with Ben-Gvir

Talks: Eli Cohen

Irreplaceable

JANUARY

FREDDIE KNOLLER

Born 17 April 1921 in Vienna, the Resistance fighter who evaded capture and survived torture and Auschwitz died at the age of 100, three months short of his 101st birthday.

After the Shoah, Knoller dedicated himself to helping others, supporting the Association of Jewish Refugees’ social welfare projects, sending packages of support to other survivors and to other refugees in need.

Awarded the British Empire Medal for his services to Holocaust education, he is survived by Freda, his wife of 70 years, two daughters and a grandson.

APRIL

LEONIE LEWIS

Leonie Lewis died just six weeks after a diagnosis of lymphoma. She was 66 and acknowledged as a powerhouse in the Jewish community.

Lewis’ life was dedicated to service. She was a trustee and council member of the Faith Forum for London, joint vice-president of the United Synagogue, former cochair of United Synagogue Women, adviser to the Children’s Aid Committee, assessor

for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and founder of the Jewish Volunteering Network (JVN), where she remained a director for more than 30 years.

She was awarded an MBE in December 2017 by the late Queen Elizabeth II for services to the Jewish community.

Leonie and husband Howard had two sons and nine grandchildren.

MAY KAY MELLOR

The scriptwriter behind popular television hits such as Fat Friends, Band of Gold, The Syndicate and Girlfriends died on 15 May, aged 71.

Born Kay Daniel on 11 May 1951 to a Jewish mother and Catholic father who later separated, the actress, producer and writer was brought up in a council house in Leeds.

She began her career writing plays and working on Coronation Street for Granada TV.

Awarded the BAFTA Dennis Potter Award in 1997 for outstanding writing for television, Mellor became a fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2016 and was presented with an OBE in 2010. With her husband Anthony, she had two daughters, actress Gaynor Faye and television producer Yvonne Francas.

JUNE

BERNARD MAURICE

BELSEN LIBERATOR

Bergen-Belsen died at the age of 96. The British-Jewish soldier was only 19 years old when he was tasked on 16 April 1945 with ‘sorting the living from the dead’ at the Nazi concentration camp. The scenes he witnessed were so horrific he su ered from insomnia for more than 70 years.

Passionate about supporting the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust, he returned to Bergen-Belsen in June 2015 for the 70th anniversary of the camp’s liberation, and was introduced to the Queen during her first visit to a Second World War concentration camp.

Later in life, Levy went on to found the high street men’s fashion chain High and Mighty, which had more than 40 stores across five countries.

OCTOBER

SIMON WINTERS

The much-respected community figure and Community Security Trust volunteer died of brain cancer in October at the age of 62.

Well known for his long serving role as chief executive of JNF UK, Winters

also helped to organise one of the first joint CST/police patrols for the High Holy Days and was pivotal in establishing Petra’s Place, a nursery for children with autism.

The flying and motor racing enthusiast was awarded an OBE in 2009 for his charitable work. He volunteered as a sergeant with Hertfordshire Police from 2018, continuing even after his cancer diagnosis.

CANTOR REVEREND SIMON HASS

One of the most celebrated chazans of the 20th century and a passionate advocate for Yiddish and Hebrew folk music, Simon Hass died on 15 October, aged 97.

Born into a Chasidic family in Yaroslav, Poland, in 1926, he attended yeshivah. At the outbreak of war and the Nazi occupation, he was arrested and deported at the age of 13 to a Siberian camp. His sister perished in the appalling conditions.

At the age of 17, he was elected chazan for the Great Synagogue in Irkutsk, where he spent the next seven years of his life. When peace in Europe was finally declared, Hass and his family moved to Paris, where he was awarded a scholarship to the musical Conservatory.

LEVY,

Born in Hull, the last Jewish liberator of

Moving to Britain in around 1949 and after a brief period as chazan at Hendon synagogue, he was inducted in April 1951 as chazan at Central Synagogue, where he remained for 40 years, going on to study at the London College of Music. He performed at concerts in the

Freddie Knoller

Passionate of the Holocaust Educational Trust, he at

Simon Winters

Kay Mellor

USA, Israel and at the Festival Hall in London. Hass and his wife Elaine had three children. He retired in 1993.

NOVEMBER

DAYAN EHRENTREU

Chanoch Ehrentreu was an acclaimed former head of the London Beth Din who witnessed Kristallnacht as a child.

Described by the Chief Rabbi as ‘an exceptionally learned and fearless leader’, he was born in Frankfurt to a family of rabbis –his grandfather was the chief rabbi of Munich during Hitler’s attempted coup in 1923.

After his family moved to the UK, Ehrentreu became the communal rabbi of Manchester. He was awarded the Order of Merit of

the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his contribution to the Jewish community. He also petitioned for improving the lives of agunot (chained wives) through his lobbying for the 2003 Act of parliament which prevented Jewish men receiving a civil divorce without a get (religious divorce).

He died on 24 November.

SIR ERIC REICH

Born in Vienna in 1935, Eric said goodbye to his parents at the age of four and boarded the Kindertransport. He never saw them again, discovering later they perished at Auschwitz.

After the war, Reich attended Hasmonean School in London for just three months, before making aliyah at the age of 13 to live on a kibbutz with his aunt and uncle.

The Holocaust survivor and entrepreneur turned philanthropist detailed his life experiences in his popular book, The Boy in The Statue: From Wartime Vienna to Buckingham Palace

He is immortalised as the smallest boy in the iconic Frank Meisler Kindertransport – The Arrival monument at Liverpool Street station, and was knighted by then Prince Charles in 2010 for services to charity and to the Kindertransport.

A campaigner for child refugees and a long-time

Those we lost in 2022 / Special

prominent member of the AJR (Association of Jewish Refugees), he was a former trustee and chair of AJR’s Kindertransport group.

He died on 2 November, aged 87.

DECEMBER

MELVIN COHEN

Barnet’s longest serving councillor and two-time Barnet mayor represented the Golders Green ward from 1982.

A former student at Hasmonean and University College London, he was a fundraiser for the mayor of Barnet’s Armed Forces Welfare Fund and the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice.

Buried in Israel, he is survived by two sons –Dean, who is a fellow Conservative councillor in Barnet, and Justin, the news editor and co-publisher of Jewish News

LORD YOUNG OF GRAFFHAM

successful business career across industrial property and construction.

A dedicated philanthropist, he was the first president of Jewish Care and also served as president of Chai Cancer Care, the Jewish Museum in Camden and Jewish educational charity ORT. It was his work with ORT that brought him to the attention of the Thatcher government and he was employment secretary and trade and industry secretary in the 1980s. Margaret Thatcher has been quoted as saying of him: “Other people bring me

him: “Other people bring me problems. David brings me solutions.”

He lived with his family near Chichester but attended Central synagogue in St John’s Wood to be with his six grandchildren.

Margaret Thatcher died at the age of 90.

The British-Jewish politician, member of the House of Lords and favourite fixer for Margaret Thatcher died at the age of 90. Born in Clapton, north London, David Young was the son of a immigrant and flour importer from Yurevich, near Minsk.

He was initially a solicitor, but embarked on a highly

Lord Young – a ‘fixer’ for Thatcher

Dayan Ehrentreu in conversation with the Chief Rabbi

Melvin Cohen pictured last year

Limmud Conference

BBC does plenty of good work, Board president tells Limmud

The president of the Board of Deputies has said she is working behind the scenes to repair relations with the BBC following the corporations’s much-criticised coverage of an antisemitic incident in Oxford Street in 2021, writes Michelle Rosenberg.

Marie van der Zyl was among the speakers on the final day of the Limmud conference in Birmingham together with Adam Rose, a partner at law firm Mishcon de Reya.

Van der Zyl told a packed room of the steps taken by the Board in the wake of the reporting in November 2021 of an antisemitic attack on a bus full of Jewish teenagers, an incident she called a ‘totemic’ issue for the Jewish community.

The BBC appeared to accuse the Charedi youngsters – who faced shouting, spitting and Nazi salutes – of “anti-Muslim slurs”.

Following a complaint pursued by the Board, a damning Ofcom investigation into the BBC’s reporting uncovered “significant editorial failings” and claimed the BBC caused “distress and anxiety to the victims of the attack and the wider Jewish community”.

But van der Zyl told Limmud the right way forward now was dialogue – appearing to distance herself from a campaign launched by the JC and a subsequent probe by a group

of like-minded parliamentarians. She said: “I want to make it clear that the Board isn’t making a barrage of complaints or a campaign against the BBC. We are dealing with the issue. We are the defenders and protectors of this community. When we see things, we will make

complaints on merit. We have made complaints before about anti-Israel bias.

with the director general because dialogue is very important for the community. We want to make sure this doesn’t happen again and things get better.”

Blaming the victims on the bus for being attacked was “gross”, said van der Zyl, who played audio back to delegates.

The Board previously submitted it to digital experts who insisted that the words said were actually in Hebrew: “Tikra lemishehu, ze dachuf”, translating as “Call someone, it’s urgent.”

were actually in Hebrew: “

someone, it’s urgent.”

A tale of two Chanukahs...

“I don’t think they would have expected the Jewish community’s representatives instructing lawyers, making complaints or going to the regulator,” said van de Zyl. “It was very expensive and we’ve never been reimbursed. We never will be but some things are worth more than money. We had to make that stand.”

ulator,” said van de Zyl. “It was into the incident after failing to

“But it’s important to restore relationships with the BBC. They do a lot of good work. At the moment there are discussions

In October this year, the Met Police dropped its investigation into the incident after failing to identify the youths who were filmed by those on board hurling antisemitic abuse and even shoes at the bus.

CHIEF ACTIVISM PLEDGE A spa for my Jewish identity

The Chief Rabbi has reaffirmed his commitment to encouraging activism among young Jews to address the greatest challenges facing the planet.

His comments came during an address to Limmud, where 1,400 attendees gathered over five days in the first return to inperson programming for two years.

Ephraim Mirvis was accompanied by two of the 60 graduates of his Ben Azzai programme for social responsibility and activism.

Dan Amroussi and Asher Levy are former JFS students. Inspired

by a trip to Ghana with the Azzai programme, they established Young Social Enterprise, a UK-wide competition encouraging Jewish secondary school students to be the next generation of activists.

The Chief Rabbi said: “The beauty of the Ben Azzai is its ripple e ect. We need to be mindful of the responsibility as Jews; not just to ourselves, not just to the State of Israel, but to everyone on earth, far and wide, and all generations to come. It needs to be a partnership. Hashem looks to us to be his partners.”

BY ROBIN MOSS VETERAN LIMMUDNIK

Anyone who has had a longdistance relationship knows it’s doable but eventually you have to spend time together. So much of Jewish life over the pandemic had this quality. The technology worked remarkably well, but it lacked the intangible value of being physically co-located.

Limmud 2022 was the first inperson since 2019 and was a tri-

umph. For those who have never been, it’s hard to describe what it is like. I tried with my non-Jewish colleagues and ended up sounding a bit ridiculous. Their kindly-butbemused facial expressions said it all. A conference? Kind of. A camp for all ages? A bit of that too. An intense learning environment that’s nothing like school? Yes –but much more. They couldn’t get their heads around it.

The best way I have found to describe Limmud is a theme park and spa retreat for my Jewish identity. For a few days each year I go for intellectual, emotional and social

recharging of my Jewish batteries. I see friends, hear new ideas, engage with lots of Jews and their views, then enjoy a few drinks served by someone with a t-shirt that reads “my other bar’s a mitzvah”!

At the last night gala, the team took the applause of a roomful of grateful Limmudniks. And in an important moment, the chairs of the 2020 and 2021 online festivals were recognised for their heroic work to keep the Limmud flame alive through the pandemic Festival 2022 proved their work was not in vain. Limmud is back.

I’m already excited for 2023.

Marie van der Zyl and Adam Rose speaking at the Limmud conference. Inset: Jewish News’ report on last month’s Chanukah bus celebration, 12 months after an attack that sickened the community

before about anti-Israel bias.

We’re leaving! Israel facing new exodus amid far-right concerns

by Jenni Frazer @JenniFrazer

Hundreds of Israelis met virtually for the first time last month in a Zoom call organised for those who want to leave the country in response to the emergence of a far-right government.

The adherents of what has become known as “Plan B” — the answer to a perceived collapse of Israeli democracy — include the Israeli-American philanthropist and businessman Moti Kahana.

Kahana posted on social media that “after years of smuggling Jews from war zones Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine to Israel, I decided to help Israelis immigrate to the USA”.

Kahana, who has prospered since moving to America in 1991, now has a large farm in New Jersey. He and other business partners in the US have engaged an immigration lawyer.

The lawyer, he says, will help Israelis, particularly those in hi-tech start-up businesses, to begin working

in the US — and living, initially, on his farm. He intends to turn part of his land into a hi-tech kibbutz, arguing that for many new start-up companies, America is their target market. He said his farm could accommodate an initial seven families.

He said: “I don’t want Israel to collapse, of course not, but if it does what will happen?” He has been advocating strongly for “Plan B” for the past three

years, but believes now is the time to make advocacy concrete reality.

He posted on Twitter: “With such a government in Israel, the American government should let every Israeli who owns a company, or has a soughtafter profession in the US such as doctor or pilot, immigrate to the US.”

On social media, under the heading “Leaving the country, together”, people are congregating

in Whats App discussion groups exchanging information on America, Canada, Britain — there are 50 people in this group so far — Romania, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Poland, South America, New Zealand, and even Uganda and Ukraine.

The apparent convenor is a man called Yaniv Gorelik, who initially did not respond to inquiries from JN. The daily message on each of the groups reads: “Hi guys, we decided to organise this group as an answer to what is happening in the country ... the nature of the country changing for the worse and just the fact that life is not the same as it used to be.”

Not all would-be emigrants are hi-tech entrepreneurs. Netta, a disabled woman in her late 30s, lives in the greater Tel Aviv area and exists on much-reduced social welfare benefits. She has a European as well as her Israeli passport but is unsure what her destination would be if she leaves.

She told JN she was “very afraid” of sweeping social changes promised by the far-right partners in Benjamin Netanyahu’s new coalition.

David Ditman, a retired electrical engineer from Petach Tikva said he was “very disappointed in Israel”, adding that the election results made him describe his country as “Israhell”. He added: “We came from Sodom and we are going back there.”

Independent journalist Or-ly Barlev described the current climate in Israel as “like a pot of water that is coming to the boil” and predicted many people would soon take to the streets in protest.

She was not among those bidding to leave, she said – “the main priority is to save our country. People are sitting on the edge of their seats to take action.

“Responsible politicians don’t want to sit [in government] with Netanyahu because he is an indicted defendant. So who is left? The extremists and religious politicians. And now, even people who voted for Likud are asking what is going on?”

She acknowledged that those who were seeking to leave the country were looking around for “Plan B. But I think that Plan A is to fight.”

Plan B backer Moti Kahana, who moved to the US in 1991

The greats we said goodbye to in 2022

While last year may be known by most as the year we finally lost our longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, to many in the Jewish community it was a 12 months marked by the passing of others who made an almighty impact.

As might be expected given their ages, 2022 saw the deaths of several of Britain’s precious Holocaust survivors, figures who have been both inspirational, charismatic and unique. Among the best known was Freddie Knoller, whose drive to educate the younger generation was lost on no-one, not least Prince William and Kate, who spoke to Freddie in 2017 about his experience at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In November we also lost Austrian-born Sir Eric Reich, who came to the UK on the Kindertransport and helped raise millions for charities. A former chairman of the Association of Jewish Refugees, he is the youngest child in the iconic Kinder sculpture outside Liverpool Street Station in London. Others who passed away included Freda Wineman, Iby Knill, Jack Aizenberg, Lady Zahava Kohn, Zdenka Fantlova and Hannelore Napier, as well as Bernard Maurice Levy, a Belsen liberator.

One of the best-known figures in world Jewry, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu, died on 24 November. He was head of the European Beth Din. The Conference of European Rabbis called him “a most instrumental leader strengthening halachic observance throughout the continent” and set up a new online halacha call centre in his name.

From the arts, we lost scriptwriter Kay Mellor, writer Susie Steiner and film director Sir Sydney Samuelson, who was the first president of the UK Jewish Film Festival.

From the world of politics, we lost two Conservatives – Lord David Young, who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government, and Melvin Cohen, the two-term Barnet mayor who was also the borough’s longest serving councillor. Others who passed away in 2022 included Age UK pioneer Lady Sally Greengross and Cantor Simon Hass.

Finally, tributes were paid to the unstoppable force that was Leonie Lewis, who headed the Jewish Volunteering Network for 30 years and was a trustee of the Faith Forum for London. The Chief Rabbi called her “inspirational” – and none could argue with that. She died in April, just six weeks after being diagnosed with lymphoma.

As a newspaper, it is our continuing pleasure to cover the many great achievements of these people and others, who continue to show our community punches well above its weight. May 2022 rest in peace.

An open and shut case

ture war liberating more Israeli sovereign land.

Illegal land grabs? The Palestinians in Area C, supposedly under Israel’s sole jurisdiction, have been guilty of that on a huge scale.

Mr Wineman’s first claim is “no Israeli government has laid claim to the West Bank or Gaza”. The ceasefire lines after the War of Independence unleashed by six Arab armies to destroy Israel encompassed 40 percent more land than the 1947 UN resolution allotted Israel.

Ben Gurion was threatened by President Truman to give up the “occupied” Negev and “occupied” west Jerusalem on pain of a US arms embargo. He refused, and in September 1948 enacted the Area of Jurisdiction and Powers Ordinance law to rejoin those territories to sovereign Israel, and to be invoked in any fu-

Last year alone saw 80,000 illegal Palestinian structures erected and 200,000 dunams of agricultural land illegally appropriated with impunity.

Also, Palestinians finding themselves in the military courts often claim property rights which don’t stand up to scrutiny.

If, as Mr Wineman claims, Palestinians can’t afford legal representation, how about the Palestinian Authority diverting some of the vast foreign aid monies it receives from its depraved “pay to slay” policies to murder Jews, in order to help its people when their criminal activities land them in the courts?

D Rosenthal, Hendon

I was mostly disappointed by Vivian Wineman’s article on the West Bank and the conduct of law there. He would not have left out facts before the end of a case in court.

He was wrong to open a case and leave out facts so the community is left to think either right or left, to the extremes of Yachad or extremes of the new right.

Mr Wineman missed an opportunity to put some facts before his question mark, rather than the high degree of incomplete statements that might well emanate from both sides.

Mervyn Smith, Sutton

I write regarding Irmgard Furchner, found guilty of involvement in the murder of 10,500 innocent men, women and children. A longer sentence than two years might have seemed cruel to a 97-yearold but, since the sentence is to be suspended and she won’t be going to prison, could not a more appropriate, lengthy term befitting the crime have been selected?

It would not have affected Irmgard in any way but would at least have shown the world we see her involvement as more serious than, say, shoplifting.

Adrian Korsner, N20

NO SELL-BY DATE FOR CRIMES

At 97, Irmgard Furchner has survived years in freedom, unlike those who died at the hands of her fellow Nazis without a chance to savour freedom. Hers is probably ‘the last trial for crimes during the Holocaust’. Given a two year suspended jail sentence, she probably will never receive her just punishment.

Norma Neville, Hendon

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LIFE

Judaism teaches that closeness to God can be achieved through song. I wonder, then, why the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations has banned attendance at a women-only concert because of “spiritual harm”. Schools, for example Beth Jacob, have warned students not to attend, with no explanation or legal basis. If a student is seen at the event, what would the consequences be? This is blatant intimidation. The UOHC has barred women participating in an emotionally and spiritually uplifting event. To schools that have banned students attending, I ask: what education do you purport to offer?

Name withheld on request

THE JACOB FOUNDATION

Jewish News is owned by The Jacob Foundation, a registered UK charity promoting cohesion and common ground across the UK Jewish community and between British Jews and wider society. Jewish News promotes these aims by delivering dependable and balanced news reporting and analysis and celebrating the achievements of its vibrant and varied readership. Through the Jacob Foundation, Jewish News acts as a reliable and independent advocate for British Jews and a crucial communication vehicle for other communal charities.

Vivian Wineman writes about a “study tour” in Israel organised by Yachad, the pro-Israel group that never has a good word to say about Israel (22 December). When he mentions the “occupation” of East Jerusalem and Hebron, his direction of travel becomes clear.

Vayechi

“In your face, Edward I!”

Lies, damned lies and the leaders we deserve

JENNI FRAZER

For my first column of 2023, I want to look at lies in the public sphere — specifically from politicians.

Once upon a time, it was a given that a person who put him or herself out there for public office would tell the truth about his or her background. And that those who were found to have lied would be rejected by the public.

For some, lying comes as naturally as breathing. They refuse to accept responsibility for whoppers until the truth is forced from their tightly-clenched teeth. I’m sure most readers will have no difficulty summoning up British practitioners.

But there are different sorts of lies stalking the world now: out-and-out inventions, then those not so much denials of previous behaviour as sublime indifference, a refusal to acknowledge the wrongdoing.

The lies uttered by American

Congressman-elect George Santos fall primarily into the first category, though with a good sprinkling into the sublime indifference area.

Santos, for those who have missed his story, is a 34-year-old would-be politician. In November, he stood for office and won in New York’s heavily-Jewish Third Congressional District. Six weeks later, questions began to circulate. It turns out he lied, consistently and infuriatingly, about his employment, education, charity work, property ownership — and, most frighteningly for his electorate, about being Jewish.

Santos described himself repeatedly during the campaign as an American Jew. Actually, he was brought up Catholic by parents who left Brazil for New York in search of economic improvement. Now he says he merely “embellished” his CV and in a disturbing TV interview appeared to think his lies can be brushed aside and he can continue to sit in Congress as an honourable representative of New Yorkers.

I have no problem with politicians who

❝

curry favour with sections of the populace to which they don’t belong. In Britain, as we saw over Chanukah, politicians of every stripe (including some we’d rather not have heard from) wished the Jewish community an enjoyable festival. But none, not even the slimiest, sought to pretend they were part of our community. The Republicans should chuck Santos out and face a proper, clean re-election to replace him.

And talking of slime draws me (sigh) inexorably to Israel, whose latest group of shanda-ites has become the 37th govern-

ment in the 25th Knesset. Here we are well and truly in the second category of chutzpah, politicians whose murky pasts seem to have no effect on their ability to rule over Israeli citizens in the present.

I’m not talking about the well-worn disreputable biographies of Itamar BenGvir and Bezalel Smotrich, respectively (though not respectfully) minister of national security and minister of finance.

I’m talking about people like Arye Deri, whose quiverful of titles now includes vice prime minister, minister of health and minister of the interior and periphery. Deri served a prison term two decades ago for taking bribes. He resigned from the Knesset just a year ago facing allegations of “moral turpitude” and tax offences.

And that’s without touching on the record of the Comeback Kid himself, Benjamin Netanyahu, currently, and astonishingly, still on trial for alleged corruption.

Never was it truer that lying is now no bar to taking a role in public life. Genuinely, we get the leaders we deserve.

Vibrant, yes, but all not well in our community

ALEX BRUMMER CITY EDITOR, THE DAILY MAIL

As we start a new secular year, British Jewry remains as vibrant as ever. It has great cultural depth including Limmud, Jewish Book Week, the Jewish Film Festival and the polished magazine Jewish Renaissance.

The community is politically well organised through the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council.

Nevertheless, it is hugely wasteful of energy, resources and clarity as to why a relatively small minority needs two often duplicating governance groups.

It also is blessed with an array of charitable entities, from the behemoths Jewish Care and World Jewish Relief to lesser known organisations such as the Abraham Initiatives (UK), which fights for a more shared society in Israel.

Many are much admired by other minorities for the high quality of administration, public profile and e ectiveness in galvanising the generosity of donors in hard times. But there are too many overlap-

ping organisations and egos competing for the attention of the same relatively narrow circle of robust givers.

All is not well in the community postCovid. Corbyn has been seen o the battlefield. But when it comes to institutional racism there is blindness to antisemitism, as David Baddiel has illustrated so e ectively.

As fundamentally disturbing is disconnect between Jews identifying as such and religion. As someone who lives outside the hotbeds of Jewish religiosity in northwest London, parts of Hertfordshire and Manchester, I might, admittedly, have a false impression. There are some shuls where finding a seat on Shabbat is as hot a ticket as the musical Hamilton

There are also swathes of the Jewish population which have become alienated from ritual Judaism. Lighting the Chanukah candles as an alternative to Xmas is easy enough. Attending services, unless there is a secular flavour (remembrance services in November, Holocaust events in January), is a minority interest.

I was recently at a well-attended klezmer afternoon at Gunnersbury House, the

former Rothschild residence in Ealing. All seats were taken despite a clash with the World Cup final. I discovered recent census results show as many as 5,000 people in the Ealing area identify themselves as Jewish. Yet despite the local United Synagogue having a bright and hard-working rabbinical couple, assembling a minyan post-Covid can still be di cult.

In Richmond, the census shows 2,000 self-identifying Jews and there is a substantial Israeli minority working in tech on the M4 corridor. Generally minyanim are not a problem. An active cheder has attracted a diverse group of Jewish and Israeli families. The Richmond Community Hub o ers a range of services and draws a diverse audience.

Brighton and Hove has four open synagogues, an active Chabad, but so far is showing minimal success in attracting a large, diverse una liated Jewish population. The clue for Sussex, as for communities around the country, is attracting the una liated back to Judaism.

Cultural events will only go so far.

There needs to be some serious thinking among traditional communities about

❝

attitudes. Are they welcoming enough to strangers without great religious skills?

Are they open enough to Jewish and nonJewish partners in ‘married out’ relationships? Can the role of women be enhanced in services? Is all the repetition in services entirely necessary and could some liturgy be axed to make services shorter, as was the case during Covid? Could divorce be a less invasive and sexist procedure?

Does diaspora Jewry really need the extra day in the foot festivals?

Such questions may seem heretical among the Gateshead graduates who so influence British Jewish thinking.

But all are worth asking as 2023 begins.

THERE NEEDS TO BE SERIOUS THINKING AMONG TRADITIONAL COMMUNITIES ABOUT ATTITUDES

ONCE IT WAS A GIVEN THAT CANDIDATES WOULD TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT THEMSELVES –NOT ANY MORE

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Laying foundations for Labour’s Jewish future

MIKE KATZ NATIONAL CHAIR, JEWISH LABOUR MOVEMENT

This Sunday the Jewish Labour Movement returns to JW3 for our fourth one day conference.

In 2020 we held our last conference virtually and attracted more than 800 attendees, while in 2018 we welcomed 500 people to JW3 to hear from former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The political change on the left we have seen since we last met in person for this event has been massive. Back in September 2018, we were at the height of Labour’s antisemitism crisis. We met as a group marginalised and ostracised by the Labour establishment under Jeremy Corbyn, seeking a safe space to discuss how - if - we could weather the storm.

At the same time, many family and friends in our community wondered why we were still a liated to the party.

Well, we have weathered the storm and

emerged stronger and revitalised. The di erence in our experience under Labour leader Keir Starmer is like night and day. The pace and strength with which he has acted to demonstrate zero-tolerance of antisemitism has underlined his level of commitment.

We now feel safe, secure and confident about our place as progressive Jews within Labour and can join together to discuss our ideas and aspirations for our community, for social justice here and abroad, and to the party to help win power and govern e ectively.

This conference is an expression of our confidence and desire to look to the future. We are being joined by members and supporters from across the country, and by speakers from across the world.

Yes, we will be discussing antisemitism on the left - having fought so hard on this, we will never stop being vigilant, nor stop speaking out. Lord John Mann, Panorama’s John Ware and Margaret Hodge MP will be leading our debate here.

But, as progressives, we care about all

the issues that the rest of the communityindeed, the country - cares about. Social care, policing, the environment, peace and prosperity. We will be welcoming Shadow Health & Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting, Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell, Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed and former Labour Foreign Secretary David Miliband to discuss what a progressive agenda for Labour to win power should look like.

And as we see the most right-wing, extremist Government in Israel taking o ce, we will of course be discussing the future of the left in Israel, with Israeli Labor Leader

Merav Michaeli MK, and former Meretz MK Mossi Raz. This new Government looks set to be hugely consequential for the Jewish diaspora; we will be talking about this with former and Jewish Democrats’ Executive Director Halie Sofer (a former National Security adviser to US Vice President Kamala Harris); and how we shape Labour’s agenda for peace with shadow Middle East minister Bambos Charalambos and speakers from Labour Friends of Israel and Yachad.

A joke we often shared during Labour’s dark days was when we could return to being a ‘boring old socialist society’. While we will never be boring, our members fought tooth and nail to assert their values as socialist Zionists and feel confident that Labour is once again their political home.

Now is the time to shape our way ahead, and create a lasting agenda for political change which will exemplify how we believe Jewish values are Labour values, and bring more Jews back to Labour.

Sunday’s Conference will lay the foundations of that future.

Teachers need confidence to recognise antisemitism

RUTH-ANNE LENGA ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CENTRE FOR HOLOCAUST EDUCATION

Lord Mann’s fearless work to call out antisemitism is well known.

His outspoken, no-nonsense and steadfast approach has earned him considerable respect from those who have experienced antisemitic attacks and those who share his drive to stem this irrational and grotesque hatred.

That is why his position as the independent adviser to the government on antisemitism, together with the work of the Antisemitism Policy Trust and Community Security Trust, is critical, especially as incidents of antisemitism in its various forms are increasing at a seemingly alarming rate.

Lord Mann’s latest report, Anti-Jewish Hatred, launched at the end of last month, is a call to action to the UK government, setting out a range of recommendations necessary to “... tackle gaps and weaknesses in how we challenge anti-Jewish hated in our country”.

Data from CST and others that Lord Mann cites has demonstrated an increase in the number of schools and school pupils reporting incidents.

As such, his report correctly calls for secondary schools across the UK to teach contemporary antisemitism, in addition to Holocaust education, in order to curb antisemitism’s rise. It also calls for dedicated training for teachers.

We at the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education are working with Lord Mann’s o ce on a small-scale pilot initiative to see how this might work in practice.

Early findings of baseline research conducted with teachers from one academy trust suggest that while the vast majority (97.3 percent) think it is the responsibility of schools to tackle contemporary antisemitism, a significant number feel a lack of confidence in their knowledge and skill to fully recognise and deal with situations when they arise.

In fact, 84.8 percent of the 634 respondents had never received specialist training in confronting antisemitism.

While the number of antisemitic incidents teachers report encountering appears relatively low, it is possible the number could well be higher if teachers were more confident in their knowledge and ability to recognise it when they see it. This isn’t surprising: the fast-changing nature of anti-

semitic rhetoric and conspiracy, the insidious nature of antisemitic language, the spaces it can lurk in and the speed at which it spreads via social media and the gaming world makes it all deeply challenging.

Interestingly, UCL’s 2019/20 study with teachers, due to be published early next year, also indicates incidents being reported by teachers such as Holocaust denial and distortion are far from universal but that many students are at risk of exposure to it outside school, often through the internet.

Teachers who were part of the study also said their students were believing information they found on the internet regardless of its source or accuracy.

This only goes to show the profound importance of ensuring teachers and their

students have sound knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust, are alert to what contemporary forms of antisemitism can look like, the abuse it poses to Jewish people and the society at large, have greater awareness of the threat that exists on websites and social media, and the wherewithal to call it out.

 Ruth-Anne Lenga is associate professor (teaching) and programme director at the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education

Lord Mann’s latest report

NOW IS THE TIME TO EXEMPLIFY HOW JEWISH VALUES ARE LABOUR VALUES

❝

LORD MANN’S REPORT IS A CALL TO ACTION TO THE UK GOVERNMENT ON CHALLENGING THIS GROTESQUE HATRED

❝

1 SOUP-ER SUNDAY

More than 100 volunteers made more than 700 soups for older people, Holocaust survivors and Centrepoint on the 7th night of Chanukah. The event, on 25 December, marked a partnership between GIFT and the JVN. Volunteers cut up, cooked and packaged hundreds of soups, decorated cards and made emergency packs for the homeless as part of the ‘Light Up a Life’ initiative.

2 CHANUKAH SONGS

Year 3 children along with headteacher Marc Shoffren, staff and parents from Alma Primary School added extra warmth and cheer to the Chanukah celebrations at Jewish Care’s Kun Mor and George Kiss care home. They sang their favourite Chanukah songs for the residents, accompanied by guitar. Martin Gordon, who lives at the home, said: “I always enjoy anything to do with festivals and to see the children’s smiling faces was a pleasure.”

3 FORMER MK’S VISIT

Educational charity StandWithUs UK hosted Dr Einat Wilf, a former Knesset member and adviser to Shimon Peres, for an evening at South Hampstead Synagogue. The event was attended by members of the Jewish community, as well as students and alumni of the organisation.

4 ESSEX ‘MIRACLE’

East London and Essex Liberal synagogue (ELELS) community members and friends of all ages gathered to celebrate Chanukah. Children made cards, played dreidel games and enjoyed doughnut eating competitions. The evening ended with a family candle-lighting. Emeritus Rabbi David Hulbert said: “It was uplifting to see our little synagogue crammed full of old and young, adults and children. A truly heart-warming evening and ELELS’s own miracle of Chanukah.”

5 AJEX INSPIRATION

AJEX member Stan Kaye visited the JFS sixth form history class, arranged by head boy and JFS cadet Edger Santos. Stan spoke to the pupils about life in the trenches in the First World War and what the troops did to stop being bored. Pupils also had the chance to look at some artistic shells that were created after the war ended as the local villagers who found 1000s of shells lying around decorated them.

6 TEENS’ TEACH-IN

Six members from Maccabi Tzair (the youth movement of Maccabi World Union) concluded the 78th Chanukah Torch relay. It delivered over 40 educational sessions to schools, youth groups and care homes, enabling more than 2,000 people to learn about the story of Chanukah. The Israeli teen delegation spoke to pupils at primary schools Clore Shalom, Etz Chaim, Independent Jewish Day School, Sacks Morasha, Sinai and Yavneh. The group also visited Jewish Care homes, the Jewish Care Festival of Lights Parade and Finchley Reform Synagogue.

LIFE Inside

DO JEWS COUNT? ASK CAROLE KING

Daisy Edgar-Jones has been cast as the Jewish composer in the biopic Beautiful. Are we bothered, wonders Brigit Grant

Carole King is one of the few composers to include a Chanukah song on a Christmas album. Holiday Carole – the pun was intentional – features a recording of the Chanukah blessing sung by King, her daughter, Louise Go n, and her grandson, Hayden Wells.

Only last week Louise, whose late father was celebrated composer Gerry Go n, posted a photo on Instagram of Hayden, now 20, in the studio as they recorded the album in 2011. It’s a cute pic. Cuter still, because this was clearly a very ‘Jewish’ family moment for the talented mother/daughter team, with King kvelling over her grandson; a poignant memory for him too, as he is also a musician.

Picked up by the Kveller platform, the image and the Chanukah wishes were, as expected, well received by the Jewish subscribers.

They love Carole King and they are not alone, as she has been a musical force since the 60s, when she wrote such hits as Take Good Care of My Baby and The Loco-Motion with husband Gerry as part of the Brill Building song factory.

and they are not alone, as as songwriter

It was only after breaking up with Go n in 1968 that King’s singular talent as a songwriter was realised with the album Tapestry, which was released in 1971 just as the women’s liberation movement was burgeoning.

All these achievements have been a source of pride for Jews, because we like to toast our own, and King, who was born Carol Joan Klein in Brooklyn, is Jewish. She has never denied this fact, and of course the faith dictates that her four children are Jewish too (as were two of her four husbands). Of course, it’s no surprise to learn that, like a lot of Jewish entertainers, King isn’t religious, but she attributes her love of music to her adored grandmother, Sarah Besmogin, who survived the pogroms in Russia.

On the PBS genealogy series Finding your Roots, King discovered how close her grandparents came to being turned away at

singer tears by the information, and Jews

Ellis Island and sent back to Europe, as many others were. The singer was moved to tears by the information, and Jews watching the programme recognised her pain and loved her more.

Knowing all this about Carole King will spark your interest in the soon-to-be made biopic about her life, which is based on the hit show Beautiful. In bringing the musical of King’s life to the screen, there was an assumption – or at least a vague hope – that the composer would be played by a Jewish actor, but that isn’t happening. Daisy Edgar-Jones will play Carole King, and she is not Jewish.

The Islington-born star of TV’s Normal People and the film Where The Crawdads Sing is undeniably talented and is more than able to tackle the role. But that is not the issue. The issue is about the acceptance of ‘like-for-like’

casting, which has been welcomed by performers who get to play parts that align with their ethnicity and heritage. Except when that character is Jewish.

While I realise that this bleat sounds like the broken record that took David Baddiel’s Jews Don’t Count to the top of the book charts, it’s still a mantra worth repeating when new productions about Jews are announced without Jewish actors attached.

I would love to know whether Jewish actors were approached to play such roles as Bernie Mado and Ruth Bader Ginsburg but rejected those o ers, freeing them up for Robert De Niro and Felicity Jones. But while Bobby embodied Bernie convincingly, choosing a green-eyed beauty from Birmingham to play the brilliant but homely and Jewish Bader Ginsburg was

questionable, irrespective of how well Jones delivered.

Jewish journalists and critics in the US decried the casting, but to no avail. The film was in the can and the producers of On the Basis of Sex clearly felt Jones was a bigger and more suitable fit than say, Mila Kunis, Maya Rudolph or Beanie Feldstein, who are all Jewish.

If the aforementioned women were wrong for Bader Ginsburg, surely they and others

An army o icer and a proud Jew Startup women

A look

Daisy Edgar-Jones (above le ) will play Carole King, seen (le ) with daughter Louise Go in and (right) with then husband Gerry Go in

were right to play Joan Rivers? I’m afraid not, as that role was circled for Kathryn Hahn, but she didn’t get beyond the first hurdle of objections. This is kind of a shame, because Hahn was good as the rabbi in the series Transparent and would have nailed Joan too, after studying her subject as Dame Helen Mirren did in order to play Golda Meir in the film Golda. As you will recall, there were lots of objections to that casting too but, like it or not, without Mirren at the helm, the film about the Israeli premier, set during the Yom Kippur war, would never have got made.

Holy Land stories without the Fauda grit are not considered populist enough to green light for the masses, but that’s another story. You’d assume that with our alleged control of the industry, bringing a Tel Aviv-set love story

to the multiplexes would be easy but they rarely make it beyond the festival circuit.

It was the perseverance of writer Nicholas Martin that made Golda happen and he should be applauded, but surely a biopic about Carole King sells itself on music alone, so why cast Edgar-Jones, who is a rising – but not yet established –star instead of Alana Haim, who was tipped for an Oscar in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza? Praised for her performance, Alana is in the band Haim and the clincher is that she’s Jewish. She even resembles the singer, and at 31 still looks young enough to play King at 17.

We will probably never know whether the producers considered musician Hailee Steinfeld, who was Oscar-nominated for the Coen Brothers’ True Grit, or Zooey Deschanel, who starred in 500 Days of Summer but being Jewish may well have been low on the list of role requirements. The producers could of course blame the absence of a Jewish lead on profits, as they need to bring a new audience to King’s music, and casting Edgar-Jones attracts fans of Normal People, who are a younger crowd. But is that enough to quell the discontent ?

Would anyone have objected if they had cast Kylie as Whitney Houston in I Wanna Dance with Somebody instead of Naomi Ackie ? Or La La Land’s Emma Stone and not Columbian Rachel Anne Zegler as Maria in the West Side Story remake? If not, then you’ll hear no more from me or Mr Baddiel. But if Steven Spielberg’s aim was to convey the true Puerto Rican experience in his 2021 West Side Story, then why should a story about a Jewish composer from New York set in the Sixties be any less authentic?

If anyone attached to the project has read Shelia Weller’s book Girls Like Us: Carole

King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and the Journey of a Generation they would know that “being ‘haimische’ is one of King’s attributes”, so shouldn’t it permeate the role?

Inevitably the choice of who played King would be up to the singer herself and that is where any misgivings hit the wall. King, now 80, may have written about her ambitions to be an aishet chayil (a woman of worth) in her memoir, A Natural Woman, but she didn’t require a Hebrew to play her. On the contrary, in Edgar-Jones King saw “a spirit and energy that I recognised as myself when I was younger. She’s a tremendous talent and I know she’s going to give a great performance.”

And she will, so gesundheit Edgar-Jones in a role that has all the potential for plaudits under the directorship of Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right), who is Jewish and will arm her lead with the same notes that Rachel Brosnahan received before playing Mrs Maisel.

If they happen to cast a Jewish actor as Gerry Go n it will be a result, but console yourself with the fact that Marisa Abela is playing Amy Winehouse in the biopic Back to Black: her mother is of Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish ancestry.

Sometimes we do count, David.

Felicity Jones (le ) played Ruth Bader Ginsberg in the 2018 biographical legal drama OntheBasisofSex

Alana Haim resembles a young King

star instead of Alana Haim, who was tipped for an Oscar in Paul on

King’s music, and casting of

Dame Helen Mirren as title role in Golda

In the middle of a cold night last September, when most of us were in our warm beds, the streets of central London echoed to the sound of marching boots. Final rehearsals were taking place for the funeral of Her Late Majesty the Queen and thousands of servicemen and women, including Jewish British Army o cer Captain Louis Trup, were working hard to ensure that, with the world watching, the final farewell would go without a hitch.

On the day itself, the extraordinary precision of our servicemen was universally praised. Honoring the late sovereign, the Royal Engineers marched from Westminster Abbey past the Cenotaph, along The Mall and up to Wellington Arch. Among them, Capt Trup proudly wore his kippah under his hat, for he is one of an estimated couple of hundred Jews who currently serve in the armed forces today. We also know that there were other Jewish service personnel involved in arguably one of the most significant state occasions for a generation in a range of roles.

“It was an amazing experience, quite powerful to see the crowds, but also to know that there were so many people watching from around the world,” says Louis, 29, who grew up in Bushey. “We had had numerous rehearsals. We were based in Pirbright and we all came together a few days before. We had a rehearsal in the centre of London at about three in the morning. It was quite an experience to go through the whole parade in the pitch black. It was surreal.”

Army life is not, perhaps, what would first spring to mind as ideal for a nice Jewish boy, but after university – Louis went to Oxford and was president of the Students’ Union – the idea appealed. “I wanted to do something that involved leadership, working with people and was physical.

The army ticked those boxes for me.

I thought about myself as a British Jew; I wanted to contribute to British society and be part of the enduring connection that the Jews have had with the armed forces for over 300 years.”

His parents supported his choice as they realised this former JFS pupil would not go down the typical career route.

“I know they were really proud. They appreciated my reasoning, doing something

that had a deeper meaning alongside ticking the things I would want out of my job and they understood what it meant to me. They may have been surprised initially but they always thought I would do something a little bit different and have supported me every step of the way.”

Based in Chatham, Kent, at 1 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment, Louis is the adjutant, in charge of discipline and overseeing the welfare of all the people on the site.

Having served for nearly six years, including his initial training at Sandhurst, Louis has travelled the world. “I have been to Germany working with the US Army there and to Morocco working with US and Moroccan armed forces. I have been deployed to South Sudan, where I was a UN peacekeeper. I was in Poland with Nato last December.

“I trained in finding bombs, so that’s the kind of advice I was giving in Poland and Morocco, but in South Sudan we were constructing hospitals to support the UN there and in Liverpool we were conducting lat-

up di erent situations but I think the main thing there is the training and high standards expected that is what you always refer back to.”

Louis is clear that he has not encountered any antisemitism; instead, practising his religion has provoked curiosity amongst his colleagues. “I’ve had lots of people interested in Judaism and what it means. There are also inevitable challenges. Sometimes it is hard when you are in a new place working with different people to get certain days o when there is an operational necessity.

candles on a shipping container in

cooked in a tent in the snow in Poland, and with each cultural experience, so it has always been really posi-

“I’ve celebrated Chanukah with lighting candles on a shipping container in the camp in South Sudan, I’ve celebrated it with doughnuts cooked in a tent in the snow in Poland, and with each of those things I’ve had loads of people coming along with me. I’d often be the only Jew but lots of people would want to join in because they wanted to learn about it and have a di erent cultural experience, so it has always been really posi-

Louis is on the leadership team of the Armed Forces Jewish Community (AFJC) which, alongside several uniformed Jewish chaplains, o ers a support network to Jewish members of the Royal Navy, the army and the Royal Air Force. “For the past couple of years, particularly through Covid, we managed to do things like virtual Seders.

“We’ve sent out Seder boxes with matzah and various bits you need for the Seder plate to all our community members because we’ve got people stationed all over the world and

certainly across the country. People are often in areas where there may not be a Jewish community, so it is just to help people celebrate Judaism wherever they are. We are not able to physically get together at festivals most of the time – and lots of people go back to their families.

are often in areas where there may not

“We do like to virtually get together and support each other from afar. I’ve been fortunate to do Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and Windsor Castle as well, so I have done a fair amount of what we call ceremonial duties. I do enjoy them – I think they are really special. The Tower of London is where, in 1290, Jews went to prison before they were expelled from the country and there was I, as Captain of the Guard, technically responsible for the security of the Tower of London… as a Jew!”

Joy Sable meets former JFS pupil Capt Louis Trup, who wears his kippah under his army hat

Capt Trup with Capt Ben Ryde, another Jewish officer in the British Army, at a Chanukah celebration with Nato allies in Poland

Above: Capt Louis Trup (right) with Rabbi Ariel Abel in Liverpool’s Princes Road Synagogue during the UK’s community Covid testing pilot; left: at No 10 during the pandemic

Business / Google for Startups

ccording to Yuval Passov, who has spent the best part of a decade working at Google, women are still facing barriers when it comes to setting up a business.

Reports quote statistics for 2022 that show only four of 47 global economies report higher total entrepreneurial activity rates for women than for men. And Israel, also known as the start-up nation, is no exception. Although the number of entirely women-led companies has doubled in the past decade, those firms still comprise only 6.3 percent of Israeli startups.

“Women are still being held back when it comes to setting up a business,” Passov says. “Considering that women are 50 percent of the population, we see there is still lots of room for improvement. And it is precisely programmes like ours (the Google Growth Academy customised for female founders), and many others that support and actively work to lift female founders higher, that lead

to such improvement. It’s also very important to look not only at the percentage of female founders but equally, if not more importantly, the percentage of funding raised by these founders because without capital, the startups will not survive.

“Here, we still see a very very low percentage of funding raised by female founders, which needs to change.”

In 2021, women raised just 1.8 percent of investment in Europe compared with 9.3 percent that went to mixed-gender founding teams. The Israel Innovation Authority’s Women in Tech 2022 report shows only four percent of the investments in Israel are going to startups led by women, and according to the latest Israeli Tech Gender Distribution Report,

Women also still face access barriers to networks and role models, Passov notes. He adds: “The amount of time and energy it requires to found a startup can be all-encompassing, which can be difficult if you are a mother and have home responsibilities – a fact one cannot ignore still exists in society. Women still bear much of the brunt when it comes to the household.”

All this might lead us to ask what needs to change. Passov: “An uptick in female presence in the VC boardroom is key. Research shows women raise less money than men, and that this could be directly linked to lack of women leading VCs and writing the cheques.

“Many female-founded startups are around femtech, an arena many men simply do not grasp or see the need for – where fellow women would. The balance needs to be across the board, from the CEO to the principal investor.”

Google for Startups Israel is working hard

to solve this disparity through its Growth Academy – Women Founders across Europe, Americas, APAC and Israel, and by using its social media channels to amplify female founders and femtech to reach a wider audience.

Passov adds: “The more female founders we have, the more it will inspire young women to pursue this profession and know it’s possible.”

The business benefits are clear. “Research shows a diverse team leads to better results. The Harvard Business Review states that in a global analysis of 2,400 companies conducted by Credit Suisse, organisations with at least one female board member yielded a higher return on equity and higher net income growth than those that did not have any women on the board.”

Prior to joining Google for Startups, Passov founded the gaming team in Google Israel, working with the leading gaming companies and startups in Europe. He is also the founder of Game On! Asia, the top mobile gaming podcast in the region.

He believes that now is an opportune time to launch a startup. “We all know many successful companies were founded in times of crisis.” Think Spotify, Airbnb and Uber.

“Investors are looking for early-stage companies and starting your company during challenging times will help you to be the leader in your category in the future.

“Entrepreneurs will need to focus on products the companies/consumers must have. Everyone now is thinking twice before they make a purchase, but if your product will help them to be more profitable or save money, they will buy it.”

spearheaded by Google for Startups and IVC Data and Insights, only two percent of startups with a woman founder raised above $50m between 2018 and 2021.

With Candice Krieger candicekrieger@googlemail.com

Google Startups’ Israel female founder programme wrapped up with a graduation event

participants, including leading CEOs and other senior management of scaleups and Google leadership. Israel’s minister of innovation, science and Technology Orit Farkash-Hacohen, fourth left in the picture, kicked off the event. She said:

Google's initiative to invest millions in diversifying employees

actions express the deep alignment of the industry, with the government,

Yuval Passov says women are still facing too many barriers

REBBETZEN PNINA SAVERY MA’AYAN & UNITED SYNAGOGUE EDUCATOR

Back in March 2017, snowstorms grounded flights across much of the United States. That left Republican Congressman Will Hurd and Democrat Congressman Beto O’Rourke with a predicament – both had to get to Washington to vote at 6pm the next day.

Despite bitter divisions between the American right and left, the two put aside their political di erences and teamed up to share the 1,600-mile drive from Texas. By the time they reached Washington, neither had changed his views, but each considered the other a friend.

Perhaps the two men were following the example set in this week’s parsha, Vayechi. As Yaakov nears the end of his life, he gives blessings and advice to each of his sons, in the presence of the others.

We might expect such a personal

conversation to be held behind closed doors. Yet we find that nothing is private; everything is shared.

Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky (1891-1986, USA), in his book Emet Le’Yaakov, explains that Yaakov gathered his children together to create unity among them.

Each tribe’s blessing related to its own role in the world. When each brother heard, each understood that he was equally vital in the future of the Jewish nation. No one brother could dismiss any other brother’s significance.

We often mistakenly believe that unity requires each person to become a clone of another, with the same tastes and opinions. But unity refers to peaceful co-existence and shared goals. It means respect for others, even if they play di erent roles.

The partnership between Yissachsar and Zevulun, mentioned in this week’s parsha, exemplifies this. Zevulun engages in business while Issachar learns Torah. Each tribe needs

the other. Neither is self-su cient.

As we negotiate the many challenges that face us, we must remember that God does not expect Jews to be carbon copies of each other. God created 12 tribes, each with a di erent

purpose and role. Let us learn to co-exist and respect the special contribution each person adds.

By internalising Yaakov’s lesson of unity, we can make our community stronger.

Republican Will Hurd (left) and Democrat Beto O’Rourke put political differences aside

BY RABBI DANNY RICH VICE-PRESIDENT, LIBERAL JUDAISM

Shimon Bar Yochai, the midsecond century CE pupil of Rabbi Akiva.

Pele was widely lauded as football’s greatest hero. His death from colon cancer at the age of 82 led to three days of national mourning in his home country of Brazil. I am not a follower of football but Pele’s sporting achievements, including sharing in three World Cup victories, are undoubtedly unrivalled. It is unsurprising that he inspired many young footballers. Others admired his appointment as Brazil’s first black minister (of sport), rising from a secure, religious but poor home.

As I contemplated Pele’s life my thoughts turned to Rabbi

Akiva was imprisoned for teaching Torah but Shimon continued to learn with him. Shimon was one of five of Akiva’s pupils who survived the failed Bar Kochba revolt and was credited with the ‘revival of the Torah at that time’ (Babylonian Talmud: Yevamot 62b).

After the defeat of the Jewish rebellion, the Roman regime, particularly under the emperor Hadrian, continued to persecute the Jews and Shimon was sentenced to death (Babylonian Talmud: Shabbat 33a). He and his son were forced to flee and to hide in a cave for 12 years.

In Mishnah Pirke Avot 4:13 we read: “Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai used to say: ‘There are three

crowns: the crown of Torah, of priesthood and of royalty, but the crown of a good name exceeds them all.’ ”

How might these crowns be understood in a modern sense? The crown of Torah is symbolic of what one is taught and one learns; the crown of priesthood recalls the detailed duties of work which the Levi’im undertook in the Temple; the crown of (hereditary) royalty reminds us of the station and place of our birth; and the crown of a good name represents the values by which we live and which we seek to inculcate by example in those who come after us.

Pele was born into relative poverty and learnt his craft playing barefoot. He hoped to be remembered for the values that underpinned his sport. He

believed that football was an art, an opportunity to foster unity and a chance to create joy.

Unfortunately, we know virtually nothing about the background of Shimon Bar Yochai but we do know that he never stopped resisting religious (Roman) persecution.

He even once apparently served as an emissary of the Sanhedrin to Rome to plead for the abolition of decrees against the observance of the commandments.

For very di erent reasons, both Shimon Bar Yochai and Pele wear the crown of a good name. And while Pele may well be a hero to millions, for many Jews, including this author, Shimon Bar Yochai is an exemplar of a dedicated teacher of Torah who refused to bow to intimidation.

Pele, probably football’s greatest hero

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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

ADAM SHELLEY

Qualifications:

Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

ACCOUNTANT

• 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

IT SPECIALIST

LISA WIMBORNE

Qualifications:

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

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

INSURANCE CONSULTANCY

ASHLEY PRAGER

Qualifications:

• Professional insurance and reinsurance broker. Offering PI/D&O cover, marine and aviation, property owners, ATE insurance, home and contents, fine art, HNW.

• Specialist in insurance and reinsurance disputes, utilising Insurance backed products. (Including non insurance business disputes).

• Ensuring clients do not pay more than required.

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

CAREER ADVISER

Email: sales@jewishnews.co.uk

LESLEY TRENNER

Qualifications: •

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

TELECOMS SPECIALIST

BENJAMIN ALBERT

Qualifications:

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

• Independent consultant and supplier of Telephone & Internet services.

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

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

ALIYAH ADVISER DOV

Superb care in a setting family

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:

Muswell Hill

One of the finest and best-appointed homes for older people in North London, Spring Lane is just a short distance from Muswell Hill Broadway.

Hampstead

Chew and swallow (3) THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD

Run off to marry (5)

Be quietly furious (6)

Imperfection (6)

Fire cinders (5)

Which person? (3)

Irritated (7)

Source (4)

Police polygraph (3,8)

Plan of action (6)

Purposeful (6)

Curl up in a soft place (6)

Hospital carer (5)

Couple, pair (7)

Ostensible motive (7)

Coastal barrier (3,4)

Add to and improve (7)

Lag, linger (6)

Part of cauliflower or broccoli (6)

Hue, shade (6)

Fashion, design (5)

The listed words related to Winston Churchill can all be found in the grid. Words may run either forwards or backwards, in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction, but always in a straight, unbroken line. STATESMAN VICTORY VISION WARTIME WINSTON WIT

9 Ice, 10 Chime, 11 Height, 13 Reason, 16 Aloud, 18 Tag, 19 Trigger, 20 Lair, 21 Nightingale.

SUDOKU

SUGURU

RHODES, GREEK ISLES Elysium

A Slice of Heaven...

GOURMET CUISINE

A unique culinary experience with world renowned chefs Avi Steinitz and Arik Porat, offering a rich variety of cuisine, Open Bar & more.

BOUTIQUE LUXURY

Indulge in an unforgettable 5-star stunning beach front Spa Resort exclusively Kosher for Pesach. Maximum 450 guests.

ATTRACTIONS & TOURS

Chol Hamoed self guided family outings with so much to do in the area: biking, boating, hiking, museums, water sports and many local attractions.

ENTERTAINMENT

Daily supervised activities and programs for all ages. World famous Entertainers, Scholars, Shiurim, Lecturers, Kids & Teen Camps & more...

8/10/12 NIGHT PACKAGE

Personally Hosted by David & Chana Walles, International guests. Wonderful Chag Atmosphere. Direct flights from TLV and European Capitals. 20 min drive from Rhodes Airport. Affordable pricing.

Rabbi Daniel Hadar

Rabbi Dr. Laibl Wolf

Rabbi Yossi Fachler Ohad The Solomon Brothers