1303 - 23rd February 2023

Hell of a year

Special report: How British Jews stepped up to support Ukraine in its time of need

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Hell of a year

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How British Jews stepped up to support Ukraine

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Two-thirds of Israelis oppose removal of judiciary’s powers

An overwhelming majority of Israelis oppose central elements of the government’s judicial reform plan, according to a poll conducted by Israel’s Democracy Institute, writes Jotam Confino.

Sixty-six percent of Israelis think the High Court of Justice should have the power to strike down a law passed in parliament if it is incompatible with the country’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws. Part of the government’s judicial reforms will change this, making it possible for a simple majority in parliament to pass any law without the High Court’s interference.

Some 63 percent of Israelis think the current balance in the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee – where agreement is required between politicians and justices on judicial appointments – should be maintained. Only 23 percent agree with the government’s idea that it should be able to appoint representatives to the committee, giving it a permanent majority in

US REBUKED OVER UN STATEMENT

In a rare public rebuke, Israel says the US should have “never joined” a UN statement accusing settlement activities of “dangerously imperilling the viability” of the two-state solution.

The Security Council document expressed “deep concern and dismay” over Israel’s plans to legalise nine illegal West Bank settlements and build some 10,000 units in existing settlements.

the selection of judges. Some 53 percent think a politicised judicial system would harm Israel’s economy, in line with numerous warnings by top economists in Israel. And 56 percent worry the reforms will make it harder for Israel to protect IDF soldiers accused of war crimes by foreign tribunals, while 60 percent worry it will impose restrictions on freedom of expression.

The survey was released as the Knesset passed two bills in the reform plan hearings on Monday, giving the government control over the appointment of High Court judges and allowing parliament to override High Court rulings, passing any law it wants with a simple majority of 61 votes. The bills are due for another two votes in the Knesset before they are enacted.

The survey was carried out by the Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute.

It follows a poll last week in Jewish News revealing 52 percent of British Jews said far-right ministers in the government ‘impacts’ their view of Israel.

 Editorial comment, page 18

Some of the nine outposts, illegal under international and Israeli law, are built on private Palestinian land and Israeli military zones.

While the statement also condemned all terrorist activity and reminded the Palestinian Authority of its “obligation” to “renounce and confront terror”, Israel objected to the part criticising settlement activities as “dangerous”.

Israel said the statement was “one-sided” and “denies the rights of Jews to live in our historic homeland, fails to mention the Palestinian terror attacks in Jerusalem in which 10 Israeli civilians were murdered, ignores the Palestinian Authority’s grotesque pay-for-slay policy which subsidises the murder of Jews and belittles the evil of antisemitism”.

Keep out of our affairs, minister tells diaspora

The Israeli minister responsible for relations with Jews in the diaspora has told the government of the United States, where most of them live: “Mind your own business.”

Amichai Chikli made the comment in a radio interview in Israel when asked to respond to remarks by American ambassador Tom Nides, who said he was urging Israeli leaders to “pump the brakes” on their controversial e ort to change the country’s judiciary.

Nides was echoing sentiments expressed by US president Biden about the judicial reform proposal, which would give the Knesset the power to overrule Supreme Court decisions.

Biden said last week checks and balances were part of the “genius” of democracy and “building consensus for fundamental changes is really important”.

Nides said the Biden administration was pressing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek agreement rather than push

the reforms through quickly: “We’re telling the prime minister, as I tell my kids, pump the brakes. Slow down, try to get a consensus.”

Chikli retorted: “I say to the ambassador, put on the brakes yourself and mind your own business. You aren’t sovereign here, to get involved in the matter of judicial reform. We will be happy to discuss foreign and security matters with you. But respect our democracy.”

Fifteen major American donors and charitable foundations, including Birthright cofounder Charles Bronfman, have released an open letter urging Benjamin Netanyahu to reconsider plans for judicial reform in Israel and enter into a dialogue as recommended last week by president Herzog.

“Because of our love for Israel, we are deeply troubled

by this attempt to curtail the independence of the judiciary, one of the key features that makes Israel one of the most vibrant democracies in the world,” the letter reads.

It says Israel’s political system lacks many checks and balances that exist in other countries, such as a bicameral parliament, making the Supreme Court’s independ-

ence an essential part of Israeli democracy, although the letter also says some reforms to the court are needed.

“The only counterweight to the legislative and the executive is an independent judiciary, which while imperfect and in need of improvement plays a critical role in safeguarding the rights and freedoms of all Israelis,” it adds.

Protests outside the Knesset this week and (inset) a protester is removed

Amichai Chikli: ‘Mind your own

I’d have loved to prosecute convoy accused – CPS chief ‘Get Zionists fired,’ online poster urges

A senior Crown Prosecution Service ocial has given a detailed explanation of the decision not to prosecute any member of a pro-Palestine car convoy for hate crimes that terrorised the community on the Finchley Road, writes Lee Harpin.

CPS special crime and counter terrorism division head Nick Price was guest speaker at the Board of Deputies’ monthly meeting on Sunday, where he openly responded to claims that the community had been “let down” by the decision to drop charges against four men.

In May 2021, a group of men drove 200 miles from Bradford to taunt the community from within a convoy of cars yelling “F*** the Jews… F*** all of them. F*** their mothers, f*** their daughters.”

But in November charges against two men, who had denied involvement, were dropped. An earlier decision had been taken not to proceed against two other men also thought to have been involved.

Price told the Board: “I would have loved to have prosecuted that case. Unfortunately we could not positively identify the people in the cars.

“We couldn’t prove to the criminal standard that the people in the cars are the people that were issuing antisemitic com-

ments. That was a pretty fundamental evidential issue and we couldn’t get beyond that.

“In the end what we can’t do is create evidence. We can only work with the evidence we get.”

Responding to Reform Judaism deputy Andrew

Gilbert’s suggestion that the failure to prosecute the males meant the community had been “let down” by the justice system, Price said: “Neither the CPS nor the police can create evidence.

“We can gather it, we can present it to a court and we can get convictions. But if the evidence isn’t there, and in that case it wasn’t there, then it doesn’t meet our test and can’t get the case.”

The counter-terrorism expert added:

“We tried as hard as we could on that case. If I’m honest, we probably tried too hard. Which is why I think that the community was very disappointed that having begun a prosecution, we ended it.”

Price said he could not comment on claims made by board president Marie van der Zyl that the Metropolitan Police had failed to gather enough evidence in a case that shocked the country, and which was condemned by then-prime minister Boris Johnson. But he urged members of the community to come forward with evidence that they feel could be crucial in helping to secure convictions.

A pamphlet titled How to Talk to Zionists encouraging activists to call out pro-Israel teachers, lecturers or co-workers and “campaign for them to be fired” has been posted on the Brixton Palestine Solidarity Campaign group’s Instagram page.

The “step by step guide” includes the claim that “Zionists need to be called out” and repeats the mantra “Enough is enough”, previously used to great e ect by Jewish campaigners protesting against antisemitism in Labour.

The online material also features the provocative words “Is your co-worker a Zionist? Your teacher/lecturer a Zionist? Campaign for them to be fired. Zionism justifies the genocide of Palestinians. Do not tolerate it. Enough Is Enough.”

The 10-page pamphlet warns activists not to engage in conversation with supporters of Zionism, who it suggests are a “racist minority.”

The Jewish Leadership Council’s Claudia Mendoza tweeted in response that the PSC were a “hate group”.

Actor and comedian Marlon Solomon was also among those to condemn the pamphlet, tweeting: “At the last count, 93 percent of British Jews say Israel is part of their identity – within which there is a spectrum of opinion on Israel.

“But that is the rough percentage of British Jews who would be impacted by a campaign to root out, humiliate and punish unspecified ‘Zionists’.”

CPS’ Nick Price with Marie van der Zyl and (inset) the Finchley Road convoy

The 10-page pamphlet

Guardian castigated for praising Corbyn’s values

The Guardian newspaper has received stinging criticism of an editorial it ran on Jeremy Corbyn which claimed the former Labour leader had “a formidable record fighting racism”, writes Lee Harpin.

The piece, written in response to last week’s confirmation that the Islington North MP could not stand as a Labour candidate at the next election, had initially given “two cheers” to the current leader over his “strong stance” over his party’s antisemitism crisis.

But in words that infuriated some in the community, it stated:

“Mr Corbyn has a formidable record fighting against racism and in speaking up for many persecuted peoples, but in this case he was too slow and too defensive. To show how much better he was than some of his critics allowed, he should have tried harder to engage with their criticisms.”

In one of several letters publishedin response, Baroness Julia Neuberger wrote: “The truth is

that he was not slow or defensive. He simply did not act. He failed to engage with those who pointed out how toxic the party had become for Jews. He consistently failed to accord antisemitism the status of racism – which it undoubtedly is. He has been selective in those causes he has taken up – and rising antisemitism, including within his own party, apparently was not worth worrying about.”

Author Simon Sebag Montefiore also wrote to the paper, saying: “It is extraordinary that the Guardian should devote a formal editorial to defending Jeremy Corbyn only three years after his toxic crankery led to the unprecedented shame of an EHRC investigation into racism – and a Tory landslide.”

The Holocaust Educational Trust’s Karen Pollock wrote: “To claim Mr Corbyn has a “formidable record fighting against racism and in speaking up for many persecuted peoples” makes a mockery of one minority group, denying their

experience of anti-Jewish racism. It’s as if Mr Corbyn and his allies are the victims here, not those who were victims of antisemitic hate.”

Mike Katz, of the Jewish Labour Movement, added: “Your assertion

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will elicit a hollow laugh from the many JLM members who su ered racist bullying and harassment –let alone the Jewish MPs hounded out of the party – all under his watch.”

Disgraced former Labour MP Chris Williamson has been stripped of his Westminster pass over concerns about his links to Iranian state television, writes Lee Harpin.

Williamson, who previously led a campaign aimed at deselecting Jewish Labour MPs while being a staunch defender of Jeremy Corbyn, is prevented from accessing parliament on account of his role as a host on Iranian stateowned news network Press TV, which has been banned from British channels for the last decade.

A committee met this week to discuss removing the former Derby North MP’s pass, and has now decided to put a block on it.

Williamson had been free to use Westminister despite losing his seat as an independent at the 2019 election. The notorious anti-Zionist activist said on Tuesday he had not yet been formally informed of the decision about his pass. He claimed the “confected controversy” over his pass was an example of the “disturbing scale of censorship” and “breathtaking hypocrisy” of the British politics.

Williamson’s Twitter account was stated as being “Iran state-a liated media” last year, and he has claimed Ukraine’s Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is “backed by literal Nazis.”

suing Labour fear

targeted if identified

A group of nine activists who are suing the Labour Party after their names appeared in a leaked report into antisemitism risk being targeted by “nutcases” and “neo-Nazis” if they are now identified again as those taking legal action, the High Court has been told.

In an anonymity application heard in the High Court of Justice Queens Bench division, sitting before Mr Justice Chamberlain the claimants’ lawyer Jonathan Turner said the nine were at “risk of physical violence”.

The barrister, who is also chair of the UK Lawyers For

Israel group, also claimed there was a chance his clients “may be visited at home by extremists” if details of their addresses were put into the public domain.

Labour is being sued by the nine people who made complaints of antisemitism to Labour and whose details were included in an 850-page antisemitism report, which was leaked shortly after Keir Starmer replaced Jeremy Corbyn as party leader. The claimants are asking for £300,000 compensation.

But the party has sought to blame five former sta ers for

The Government is to introduce new legislation on Thursday intended to progress the construction of a national Holocaust memorial, writes Lee Harpin.

The Holocaust Memorial Bill, announced by Rishi Sunak last month, updates legislation dating back to the Victorian times and seeks to remove a statutory obstacle that has previously prevented the building of a new memorial and learning centre in Victoria Tower Gardens in Westminster.

Located next to the Houses of Parliament, the memorial will serve as a reminder to the whole nation of the Holocaust, its victims and

the leak of the report, which had been intended to be sent to the EHRC ahead of their report into Labour’s handling of antisemitism in the party under Jeremy Corbyn.

It was never sent to the equalities watchdog ahead of it being leaked onto the internet.

The High Court was told the leaked report “identified the claimants by name, stated they had made numerous complaints about antisemitism, and suggested the number and nature of their complaints had contributed to the failures to deal with antisemitism satisfactorily”.

where prejudice can lead if unchallenged.

Levelling Up Secretary Rt Hon Michael Gove MP said: “As a nation, it is vital we learn from the past to build a future which is free from prejudice and hatred.

“This memorial will rightly sit at the heart of Westminster, alongside other great symbols of our democracy, and will act as an inspiration to the whole nation for generations to come.

“Today’s Bill is timely as the remaining survivors are becoming older and fewer in number, meaning it is vital that we push ahead with the memorial. We owe it to the six million Jewish people who were murdered.”

Activists

being

Jeremy Corbyn with his successor as Labour leader, Keir Starmer

Oscars? Bah, make way for the Noshcars!

The organiser of the British Kebab Awards has spoken of his pride at the inclusion of a Jewish News kosher category for the first time at his muchloved event, writes Lee Harpin.

Ibrahim Dogus founded the annual awards more than a decade ago to celebrate an industry worth millions each year to the UK economy but often dismissed as downmarket.

With his Turkish/Kurdish background – his father arrived in the UK

in 1991 as an asylum seeker – he knows a properly prepared and cooked kebab had always been a orded much greater status in society.

“I believe I have been able to change the perception of the kebab here in the UK over the past 11 years,” Dogus tells Jewish News.

“Kebab is no longer just Turkish or Kurdish in this country. You have got Lebanese here, and Greek, you have Pakistani, Bengalis, and you also have Jewish businesses. Many communities have built up a presence in the kebab industry here now.

“It is one of the healthiest foods you can cook, and people just love it.”

It was former Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi who helped give Dogus’s idea for a kebab event that mirrored the success had by the British Curry Awards a boost when he agreed to back his idea for a ceremony in parliament.

With his background in Iraq, Zahawi needed little convincing that an event celebrating the kebab industry should take place, initially in

a room in Westminster. When more than 80 parliamentarians turned up, Dogus knew he was on to a winner. The next event was held at the Sheraton in Park Lane, with 500 people and plenty of media coverage.

At this year’s event, on 28 February, about 1,500 people including celebrities, politicians, restaurant owners and journalists, will descend on the Park Plaza Hotel.

Eateries making the judges’ top 10 for the kosher category include Reuben’s Restaurant, Pita, Bricky’s, Balagan, Balady Alaesh, Sami’s Restaurant, Sami’s, Sababa Borehamwood, and Habiba’s Deli & Smokehouse, plus Shefa Mehadrin in Manchester.

Just missing out on a top 10 place were KASA Bar & Grill, Ta’am, Balady Camden, Hummus Bar, Delicatessen, and Bagels Bar Grill House.

“There has been a really great response from Jewish kebab businesses, which I’m very pleased about,” says Dogus. He also confirms that LBC presenter James O’Brien has been one of the judges to sing the

praises of this year’s kosher winner, but declines to let on the name of the winning entry in advance of next week’s event.

Dogus, who first began working in a kebab restaurant in Mayfair as a teenager while he continued his studies to help his family survive, has always seen a wider message in the food he continues to love.

The kebab, he believes, has helped bring the UK’s immigrant communities, including the Jewish popula-

tion, closer to others arriving in this country. “We follow in each other’s footsteps,” says Dogus. “We learn from one another.

“Jewish communities have been in this country longer than many other ethnic minorities in this country. So many communities are now learning from the experience of Jewish communities in this country.”

Dogus adds that throughout his career Jews he has “known for decades have always supported me”.

Ibrahim Dogus is proud to include a kosher category in his annual awards

KOSHER KEBAB OF THE YEAR TOP 10

The Jewish hero

One year ago, when Oleksii Tolkachov began delivering aid to elderly Jews a ected by the war in Ukraine, he didn’t expect to be doing so a year later, or to be doing so within two miles of Russian tanks firing in his direction.

In London this week for the annual World Jewish Relief (WJR) dinner, the acting director of the charity’s Ukrainian partner on the ground has spent 12 tough months getting help to those who didn’t or couldn’t leave this time last year.

His sta and volunteers have come within two thirds of a mile of the frontline, darting in and out of basements delivering food and medicines, in places that – a year ago – few of us had ever heard of.

“There are Jewish communities in almost every Ukrainian city,” he says. “Ukrainians think of Jews as natives of Ukraine. For 1,000 years, Jews have lived in Ukraine. They are part of the fabric of the country.”

Thanks to the generosity of British Jews, his team has got humanitarian support to Jewish and non-Jewish families caught in the fallout from Russia’s invasion.

“In Kharkiv especially, there is a very big Jewish population, a big cultural centre, one of the biggest synagogues in Europe, it’s a very strong community,” he explains.

“We also help in Kherson, which was occupied for several months. Now the Russians are just a mile or two away, on the other side of the river, shelling constantly. We evacuated Jewish families, mainly to Odesa, where there is another big Jewish community. No-one [from the Jewish community] yet went back [to Kherson]. It’s too dangerous. Much of the city is destroyed. It’s impossible to live there.”

Kherson had a pre-war population of 370,000, he says, including “several thousand Jews”, but now only 30,000 remain. It is “an empty city”, says Oleksii. “Most Jews left in the first few days of war, but the elderly and disabled stayed. It’s more di cult to evacuate them.” His sta and volunteers give them “everything they need – food, clothes, building material, electric generators, medicines”.

WJR is proud to “support a wider audience than just the Jewish community”. As Oleksii explains: “When you work in a warzone, under fire from Russians, you don’t stop to divide families between Jewish and non-Jewish for resources, you simply help those who need it.” In villages near the frontline, “there are no shops, no transport services, no pharmacies”, he says. “Houses are being bombed. We bring doctors

with us. We wear body armour.

“Our volunteers got less than one mile from the front-line. We were also in Bakhmut [now closed to volunteers owing to the fighting]. The Russians tried to take this city since May. There are still 500 people living there, including 40 children. Our volunteers go to the basement to deliver food, 10 minutes, then go.”

Oleksii worries about Jews from cities occupied by Russia, including Mariupol and Berdyansk. “We don’t know what happened to them. We know Russians think Ukrainians are Nazis.

Britain’s Jews have done much to help already, he says. “When I started to work with WJR, I found that so many Jewish donors had

connections with Ukraine, it was a real surprise for me to discover. I never knew. “Organisations like WJR are supporting not just Jews but all who su er from unfair aggression from Russia. The most important thing is to stop Russia. Until we do, Ukrainians are very grateful to the Jewish people.”

• Full report at jewishnews.co.uk

‘JEWS HAVE FACED THIS PERSECUTION’

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

One year after Russia launched its war, former refugee minister Richard Harrington spoke to Jewish News about how the UK went from being illequipped to take in refugees to housing more than 150,000 six months later.

Harrington had left public life when the war began, but was rushed back to his refugee minister role: “Boris Johnson called me one day because he made a promise to Zelenskyy that we would take an uncapped number of refugees from Ukraine. And they didn’t have a real idea how to deal with it,” he recalls.

Harrington, who was born into a Jewish family, described how important the task

was for him, having three grandparents who were all refugees from Ukraine and Russia.

“Our ancestors were in this position, persecuted by the czar, who is basically Putin today,” he said.

Off to a rocky start, Harrington recalled some of the major challenges the UK was facing in terms of taking in refugees.

“We didn’t have the mechanisms to process visas quickly and there was nowhere to put people because we had taken quite a few Afghan refugees and put them in hotels. So we came up with the idea of putting them (Ukrainian refugees) in people’s houses,” Harrington said.

The government didn’t want to set up refugee camps, which is often what other countries did in refugee crises: “The problem with camps is people stay there, and it’s very unsuitable for them. We wanted them to be

From the tireless efforts of World Jewish Relief to a former MP who has helped evacuate more than 20,000 people to the refugee minister who led the UK’s response to the humanitarian crisis, we reflect on how British Jews stepped up to support Ukraine

Richard Harrington: “It is vital to keep the refugee sponsorship scheme alive”

Kherson residents with supplies from World Jewish Relief. Right: Oleksil Tolkchov next to a bombed building

hero es of Ukraine

As Brooks Newmark prepared for an interview with Jewish News on the anniversary of the war, the former MP sent a text saying he received a “wake-up call” from Putin in the form of missiles striking the city of Zaporzhzhia, where he was staying, writes Jotam Confino.

“My room was definitively shaking. It was a little nervewracking while it was going on. But all quiet now,” Newmark said.

Newmark, 64, a Jewish Tory who was an MP from 2005 to 2015, has spent almost a year in Ukraine, helping evacuate more than 20,000 people from war-torn cities via his charity Angels for Ukraine.

Newmark said he felt an “urge” to offer help when the war in Ukraine broke out. One reason was the destruction he witnessed by President Assad and Russia in Syria, and how the West could have done more to help the moderates.

Another part of Newmark felt it was his duty to offer Ukrainians help in a time of need in the same way “a lot of people stuck their necks out for the Jews in the 1940s, such as Oskar Schindler and Sir Nicholas Winton, people whom my mother always talked about and admired.”

But, Newmark added, “I didn’t imagine I would still be here a year later, or that I would have managed to help evacuate the number I did” .

His journey began on the Polish side of the border early last March when he decided to team up with a friend from Latvia who was using a bus to evacuate people fleeing Ukraine. Not long after, he decided to continue his work inside Ukraine.

“My friend got me three buses from Lithuania that we used to evacuate people from Kiev and

Lviv, which were under attack. And because we were doing it for free, we got very busy very quickly,” he said.

Newmark said evacuating women and children from the war zones was among the most imminent issues of the conflict.

His organisation quickly began working with local authorities and local bus drivers, whom he said he would “never put in danger”.

The rescue efforts were therefore constantly changing depending on which part of the country had experienced the latest assaults that left civilians in need of evacuation.

Asked which experiences had left a particular mark on him, Newmark recalled seeing a shoe appear from a mass grave in Bucha, a Kyiv suburb, where more than 400 civilians had been massacred.

“There was something about seeing that shoe sticking out that really moved me,” Newmark said.

He also recalled a different incident near the city of Izium in eastern Ukraine, where his organisation had gone to help to evacuate some 40 women and children.

“I remember seeing this woman crying inconsolably. She told me she had witnessed her daughter blown up in a bombing as she was talking to her (on FaceTime). That story just really resonated with me.”

Another story was of a woman in her late 50s and her wheelchairbound mother whom Russian soldiers stopped reaching the border by car, forcing them to walk 15km.

The first six months of the war were incredibly intense, Newmark recalled, but around September the situation seemed to calm down a bit. His organisation then started evacuating people with severe trauma, with wounds, getting them to the

Polish border from where they were airlifted to Germany.

Most recently, Angels for Ukraine signed an agreement with with the Ukrainian ministry of health allowing the charity to evacuate wounded soldiers as well.

Looking back at the UK’s efforts, Newmark said he thinks the British government is “incredibly unified”, and that Boris Johnson in particular helped to mobilise international efforts to stand by Ukraine.

“Huge credit has to go to Johnson for getting off the mark quickly, and rallying the West around Ukraine,” Newmark said. “But it also shows how unprepared NATO is for a more traditional type of warfare. We have been too slow in giving the Ukrainians what they need. It’s always just

enough to keep the Russians at bay but we need to give them what they traditional type of warfare.

“We have been too slow in giving the Ukrainians what they need.

It’s always just enough to keep the Russians at bay but we need to give them what they need now to win

houses actually existed. The UK has now taken in some 150,000 Ukrainian refugees, but many are unable to stay with their sponsors for varying reasons.

The Guardian , BBC, The Independent and Time magazine have all reported a homelessness crisis is looming, which according to Harrington is partially true. “Homeless doesn’t mean they are simply put on the street; 75 percent of those who took in refugees extended their period after six months. The remaining 25 percent are either offered another host or the local authority has a duty to put them into accommodation,” Harrington said, adding that over 60 percent of Ukrainian refugees over 18 are now employed, which gives them a better chance of being completely independent.

this war,” he said.

When asked how long he intends to stay in Ukraine, Newmark said he “keeps setting a deadline” for himself but that he keeps “breaking it”.

“If there’s stuff to do, you can’t just leave.”

 Full report at jewishnews.co.uk

£500 – extra money Harrington felt would allow people in poorer areas of to continue opening their homes to refugees.

Asked what advice he would offer Rishi Sunak’s government on Ukraine, Harrington said it was vital to keep the sponsorship scheme alive. “I would like to see the scheme continuing, and not just for refugees from Ukraine but for other people in the world experiencing a humanitarian crisis,” he said. “My fear is the system will be wound down when the Ukraine war is over.”

On the widely-discussed issue of sending fighter jets to Ukraine, Harrington said “it’s much more complicated than people think. It’s one thing for politicians to talk, but fighter jet pilots are very difficult to train.

refugees. To avoid anyone

exploiting the situation, the government did background checks to make sure applicants didn’t have criminal records and their

When Harrington resigned from his post last September, he encouraged the government to double the stipend for hosts from £350 to £700 per month. A compromise was eventually reached, giving each host

“Each plane needs about 20 people around it to deal with all the things that go with it,” he noted. “But I do hope the world steps up and helps Ukraine defend itself. Basically, they are all doing it for all of us,” he added.

Brooks Newmark (pictured right in both images) helped to evacuate 20,000 people in the past 12 months

welcomed in to our communities.”

More than 210,000 Brits signed up to take in Ukrainian

Jewish orphans in Odesa were evacuated during the first few weeks of the conflict

NEWMARK RECALLED SEEING A SHOE APPEAR FROM A MASS GRAVE IN BUCHA, A SUBURB OF KYIV, WHERE MORE THAN 400 CIVILIANS WERE MASSACRED

Jewish youth groups oppose government’s anti-BDS Bill

The Union of Jewish Students and leading communal youth groups have expressed opposition to the government’s proposed Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Bill –claiming it impacts on the right to protest against countries that violate civil rights, writes Lee Harpin.

A motion passed unanimously at UJS conference says: “The UK government’s recently proposed BDS Sanctions Bill weakens the ability of British Jewish students to approach the conversation about Israel in a nuanced manner.

“The Bill, in the name of ‘community cohesion’ and purportedly the Jewish community, seeks to impose a sweeping ban on public bodies making investment decisions based on considerations such as human rights.”

It continued: “UJS rea rms its support for the democratic right to non-violently protest and opposes the government’s proposed Boycott Bill which is a curtailment of that right, as well as presenting a risk to British Jewish

communities and a setback to Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

At the same time the motion reiterated student opposition to the BDS movement itself “in particular BDS motions that do not di erentiate between internationally recognised pre-1967 borders of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories”.

In February last year MPs voted in favour of Robert Jenrick’s Public Service Pensions Bill amendment,

which will enable ministers to stop authorities from making investment decisions that conflict with UK foreign policy. The amendment did not mention BDS, but Jenrick had in the past branded the movement “antisemitic”.

It is understood that at UJS’ conference this month, three students abstained and none spoke against the motion, proposed by Cambridge J-Soc’s Jack Lubner. The UJS is now mandated to write

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to the government confirming that it opposes the anti-BDS Bill.

Meanwhile, a letter from Noam Masorti Youth, RSY-Netzer, LJZNetzer and Habonim Dror youth organisations, and sent to the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council, voices “grave concerns” about the BDS Bill.

It says the proposals “will prevent public bodies from supporting boycotts of or sanctions against countries that violate human rights”, but adds: “We do not support the BDS movement and remain committed to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”

Calling for the Board and the JLC “not to advocate for this Bill”, it continued: “We do not believe that banning BDS in public bodies is an e ective way to advocate for Israel – on the contrary, it may well do the opposite. Non-violent protest ... should not be banned.”

The UJS said: “Students support Israel and want to see peace in the form of a two-state solution as underlined by current UJS policy.”

The Jewish schools network Partnerships for Jewish Schools (PaJeS) has partnered with Herzog College in Israel to o er a series of online courses for Jewish studies teachers.

The lessons from the college will be delivered alongside weekly assignments covering topics including Tanach, Talmud, Halacha, Jewish philosophy and Jewish education.

Taught by renowned scholars and educators, they will provide teachers with practical tools and strategies to enhance their teaching and engage their students.

Herzog College is Israel’s leading education college for training religious studies teachers, and leads the Ministry of Diaspora A airs UnitED project, o ering subsidised teacher training courses and resources to Jewish schools around the world.

PaJeS will also lead a network of UK teachers enrolled in the courses and o er a limited number of sponsored places to secondary school teachers.

Rabbi David Meyer, chief executive of PaJeS, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Herzog College on this important initiative. With the ever-increasing challenges teachers face in the classroom it is essential that we o er support and high-quality professional development opportunities.”

Iran compiled dossier on UK Jews, says minister

Iran “tried to collect intelligence on UK-based Israeli and Jewish individuals between 2020 and 2022”, security minister Tom Tugendhat has told MPs, writes Lee Harpin.

The minister made his remarks following a report in the Sunday Times that the Persian language news channel Iran International was forced to suspend broadcasting in the UK following threats to its sta by the Iranian regime.

Tugendhat confirmed that following Iran’s attempt to monitor Israeli and Jewish individuals in the UK, the gov-

ernment “believe this information was a preparation for future lethal operations”.

He added: “As of last week we’ve responded to 15 credible threats since the start of 2022 to kill or kidnap British or UK based individuals by the Iranian regime.

“This is a persistent threat. This is not carried out by rogue elements, but is a conscious strategy of the Iranian regime.”

MPs again put pressure on the government to announce a full ban on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

They also called for e orts to protect journalists working both in the UK and within Iran, who were under threat from the regime in Tehran for raising human rights abuses.

Julian Lewis, chair of the Intelligence and SecurityCommittee, confirmed that there had been delays in the sight of evidence on the security threats posed by Iran but that these were now being “overcome”.

The minister later said the forthcoming National Security Bill would help with moves to proscribe the IRGC.

CRICKET CHAIR RESIGNS

Azeem Akhtar has chosen not to continue in his role as chair of Essex, the club has announced.

He stepped aside in December amid an independent review into old social media posts. It was alleged that he appeared to endorse a tweet claiming a ‘Zionist lobby’ controlled the media.

He stepped aside in December amid an independent review into old social media

to endorse a tweet claiming a ‘Zionist be antisemitic or indicating any other

On Monday, Essex said due diligence found Akhtar’s social media activity to be “supportive of the Islamic faith and beliefs as opposed to being antisemitic or indicating any other forms of racism”.

Out: Azeem Akhtar

Akhtar said in a club statement: “These last few weeks have been very di cult for my family and me. I am determined to do justice to my other professional and personal commitments.

other professional and personal commitments. committed antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any other Cricket Club) must lead the way with utmost sincerity in being a genuinely predecessor John Faragher quit 2021

“I am passionately committed to fighting all kinds of discrimination whether that be antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any other kind of prejudice... ECCC (Essex County Cricket Club) must lead the way with utmost sincerity in being a genuinely diverse and inclusive club.” Akhtar’s predecessor John Faragher quit in November 2021 following an allegation of racist language used by him in 2017.

A BDS protest against Israeli produce on sale at Sainsbury’s

‘Help, help...’

When Vic Eckstein, formerly of Bradford and now living in Haslemere, Surrey, found a cache of 76 letters written by his late father, Arnost, he brought them to The Wiener Holocaust Library.

And what the letters revealed enabled Vic, as he says, “to meet my father all over again”.

The Eckstein material – donated in 2020 – form part of Holocaust Letters, a remarkable exhibition about to open at The Wiener Library. The more than 60 letters on display are, in many cases, the last words of Jewish victims of Nazi genocide – never seen before in public, but all culled from the Wiener’s vast archives.

The letters are just a small sample of the thousands of pieces of original material collected by the Wiener Library since it was founded in 1933.

Curated by Christine Schmidt and Sandra Lipner, the exhibition is a project of the Holocaust and Genocide Research Partnership, comprising The Wiener Holocaust Library and the Holocaust Research Institute at Royal Holloway, University of London.

As Lipner observed: “So often these stories start with ‘I found a suitcase or a box or a bag’.” Even in 2023, the library receives upwards of 50 such donations a year, leading researchers to conclude that “the history of the Shoah is still being written”.

Letter after letter in the archives show that, contrary to what has generally been believed, the Jews of Nazioccupied Europe were all too aware of their eventual fate. Many letters and postcards in the Wiener collection speak of “if we go to Poland” – a way of saying they were unlikely to return.

Perhaps the most dramatic of the

letters on show are those written, in Polish, by Maria and Maximilian Wortmann to their cousin, Ludwik, and their daughter, Dziunia. “Ludwik, we beg you. If there is no return for us, take care of Dziunia. You are the only ones remaining…”

The couple wrote to their daughter: “Dear Dziunius! Obviously this is our fate. Dziunius, be brave and cope… farewell, and go courageously into life!”

The fact that Dziunia survived the Holocaust is remarkable in itself – she died in 2015 in London, aged 93 – but the survival of the letters are what The Wiener Library calls “a mystery and a miracle”. For the letters were written by Maria and Max as they stood on the railway sidings at the Warsaw Ghetto, waiting to be deported to Treblinka, where they were murdered. No one knows how the letters reached Ludwik and Dziunia, but she kept them all her life.

Each letter reflects a di erent tragedy, of separation and the

destruction of family life. Through a mixture of detective work and deep dives into the archives, the curators, who have taken more than a year to assemble the exhibition, are learning how people exchanged information throughout the Holocaust years and after.

Here, for example, is a series of letters by a feisty political activist, Hedwig Leibetseder, who wrote, in German, from a women’s camp that was the precursor of Ravensbruck. She wrote to her mother and sister in 1938, but almost every letter has large physical chunks missing as the camp censor scissored out passages that related to her treatment.

Undaunted, Hedwig, who survived the Shoah, instructed her family: “Emigrate – and write!”

She meant, says Lipner, that everyone should tell their relations what was happening to the Jews. At least one letter on display says “Help, help, help…” and then abruptly ends.

One of the most heartbreaking

stories is that of Arnost Eckstein, a Czech Jew who survived the camps and returned to Prague at the war’s end. He had been separated from his wife and children in Auschwitz, but, by chance, in Prague, saw a Soviet propaganda film in which he thought he had glimpsed his daughter, Jana.

In July 1945 he had been writing to his sister, Marta, in London, telling her that nobody from their family had survived. But, seized by the hope that Jana had made it, Arnost spent the rest of his life trying to find her.

He did not succeed; he moved countries several times, ending up in Britain where he remarried. Vic Eckstein is the son of that second marriage, and until his father’s letters were translated by The Wiener Library, had no idea that there had been a daughter of his father’s first

marriage. Arnost died in 1969 and now Vic has taken up the search.

Schmidt told Jewish News: “Letters sent during and after the Holocaust give us a unique vantage point to see the events unfolding from Jewish victims’ point of view.

“These messages, never intended for the wider public, provide a painful reminder of how the events of the war and Holocaust intruded into, and very often destroyed, individual lives. They show how people coped and held on to lines of communication, in order to make sense of what was happening. The Library’s vital role in preserving these precious records is highlighted by our exhibition.”

 Holocaust Letters runs at The Wiener Holocaust Library until 16 June, admission is free. wienerholocaustlibrary.org

call 0208 202

A deeply moving exhibition entitled Holocaust Letters at The Wiener Library demonstrates how ‘the history of the Shoah is still being written’, discovers Jenni Frazer

A letter written in Polish, by Maria and Maximilian Wortmann to their cousin. It reads: “We beg you. If there is no return for us, take care of Dziunia. You are the only ones remaining…”

A postcard from Stella and Bernhard Rechnic to their son, Michal

Photo: The Wiener Holocaust Library

It’s JW3 by the sea!

Michelle Rosenberg takes a behind-the-scenes look at Brighton and Hove Jewish Community’s new multi-million-pound centre featuring a shul, nursery and more

“Build it and they will come,” says Marc Sugarman, CEO of Brighton & Hove Jewish Community (BNJC), as it prepares to take over its groundbreaking, multimillion-pound facility on 27 February.

The group was established in 2017 to revitalise Jewish life in the popular east Sussex seaside resort. As reported by Jewish News last year, when Sugarman, born and bar-mitzvahed in Brighton, discovered its shul was in financial difficulties, he determined to take action to safeguard the future of the 250-year old Jewish community.

Less than an hour’s train ride from

London Victoria, the charitable initiative at 29-31 New Church Road in Hove has been generously supported by the Bloom Foundation in partnership with BHHC (Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation).

Just weeks away from completion and a team of 10 ready to run it, the hub features a new Orthodox shul, complete with mikveh, approved by 95-year-old Rabbi Posen, described by BNJC as “the world authority, bar none”, the Shoresh nursery for 26 children, aged from three to five years, a kosher restaurant that can host up to 130 diners, a bakery, deli, shop and a gym which has a Shabbat-friendly membership option for those who observe it.

Sugarman tells Jewish News he believes the centre “will be a chance to o er something unique to our local and international Jewish community both in terms of the outstanding facilities on o er to support Jewish life in the beautiful city of Brighton, and the love and care that has gone in to producing a community build of such quality and intention”.

With little kosher provision in Brighton, Sugarman says he and his team “thought

Above: Finished exterior of the building. Right: A mock-up view of a working hub

Brighton bonanza / Special Report

about what we needed to put on site in order to bridge the gap”, translated as kosher food, co-working and events. In Brighton, he says, “we’ve had to think about the infrastructure of Jewish life. In London, it’s just there.”

Co-working o ce spaces are on o er, with collaborations already agreed with Jewish Care and Work Avenue. BNJC is also in talks with London’s JW3 to stream speaker events live into the new space. Together with the nursery and gym memberships, the facilities are expected to contribute to the financial upkeep of the space. There is also the option of opening up the restaurant as a simcha space to drive revenues further.

“The biggest make or break for us is going to be the restaurant,” says Sugarman. The economic model is about having attractions on site to drive guests in. “The food has to be of such quality that the whole residential community will want to come,” he continues.

Brighton’s first fully-kosher kitchen will be run by Israeli chef Yanir Mrejen, who believes that “bringing kosher options to any city is a real mitzvah”. He’s worked alongside worldrenowned chefs including Gordon Ramsay and has created a menu centred around fresh Mediterranean ingredients as well as Ashkenazi staples like chicken soup.

The restaurant will o er a Deliveroo-type service as well as room service to residents.

There are 45 homes available for purchase or rental, ranging from one-bedroom flats to houses. Two-bedroom apartments start at £437,000, and five-bedroom mews houses from £1.5million. Over half the homes have residents moving in over the next few months.

Sugarman says the centre is keen to o er the rental space to youth groups running Shabbatons: “We’re getting interest from across the board, Jewish and non-Jewish people; from people who go to reform shul and people who don’t go to any shul,” he notes..

“It’s also a mixture of ages, from those older people who want to retire, to younger people who want to start and be part of a younger

community. There is no obvious centre of gravity – but if there is, I’d say it’s more young Orthodox. This centre has galvanised people to take notice of their religion a bit more.”

When fully operational, the hub, says marketing and events o cer Ally Goldberg, will o er a diverse range of activities “hopefully to appeal to as many people as possible and create the community feel BNJC is all about”.

Weekly classes are expected to include improv comedy, yoga, zumba and art, together with academic lectures, film nights and a Jewish book club.

Goldberg says there will also be additional programming centred around the various Jewish holidays throughout the year, and “collaborations with the wonderful organisations and individuals in the Brighton community, the Jewish community, and beyond”.

Recognising the anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activism in the city – which saw the closure of the Israeli-owned EcoStream store in 2014 after relentless attacks – Sugarman notes that good friends to BNJC include Lord Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, and Lord Ian Austin.

BNJC aims to be a place of diversity and acceptance, collaboration and community. Sugarman says, adding: “Most prejudice is born out of ignorance, so having a presence and making it very open to the local community so they can come in, have a bite to eat, see what Jewish culture is and understand the Jewish religion better, will go a long way to breaking down stupid stereotypes.”

BNJC trustee and barrister Natasha Isaac, says the centre’s emphasis is on community: “We like being our Jewish selves here.”

Sugarman hopes the centre “will become something truly special for our seaside city” and “a destination for the Jewish community nationally and internationally too. We have a dynamic, young team in place to try to make it all happen, so I we hope the Jewish community will come to visit us from all four corners as they say, and be a part of our journey.”

By Daniel Taub with Dan Patterson

Modern design is a feature of the interior

Inside the centre’s new shul at BNJC

Park Theatre presents the World Premiere

First Arab shul for a century

The Chief Rabbi this week fixed a mezuzah at the entrance to the first-purpose built synagogue in the Arab world for nearly a century, writes Michelle Rosenberg.

The Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue in Abu Dhabi is part of the Abrahamic Family House, which was inaugurated last week and which also encompasses the Eminence Ahmed El-Tayeb Mosque and His Holiness Francis Church, as well as a forum for learning and community engagement.

The synagogue features a main sanctuary, two mikvot, a Beit Midrash and a residence for a young rabbinical couple, who will live on site.

Located in the Saadiyat cultural district in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), visitors are now welcome to pray in the three houses of worship, while public access and guided tours will be available from 1 March.

The project was inspired by the principles in the Document on Human Fraternity, signed by His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence Grand Imam Dr Ahmed El-Tayeb in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

The three houses of worship are of equal stature and dimensions.

They have been designed by leading British architect Sir David Adjaye, of Adjaye Associates, to respect the architectural codes and individualism of each faith. Each takes the form of a cube that is 30 metres deep, 30 metres wide and 30 metres tall.

The Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, travelled to Abu Dhabi for the historic ceremony with a small delegation from the UK, including Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl.

He said: “We have gathered to celebrate this remarkable monument to loving-kindness – the Abrahamic Family House. From today onwards, let us use this extraordinary sacred site to promote harmony and peace. In a world in which differences can separate us, let us say here that our shared values shall exist for the sake of our universal aspirations.”

His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, President of the Abrahamic Family House, said the structures were “symbolic of the UAE’s longstanding values of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence – values embodied by our founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed”.

He added: “The centre will be a platform for learning and dialogue, a model of coexist-

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The interior of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue in Abu Dhabi

ence set against the backdrop of the multiculturalism and diversity of our nation, where more than 200 nationalities live peacefully side-by-side.

“We hope that the Abrahamic Family House will inspire youth everywhere, as we highlight our common humanity and work towards the creation of a more peaceful world for generations to come.”

Professor Mohammed Al-Mahrasawi, co-chair of Higher Committee for Human Fraternity, said: “This is

a true reflection of the provisions of the Document on Human Fraternity, which calls for ensuring peaceful coexistence.

“It is a testament to the vision of the United Arab Emirates and its leaders towards promoting interfaith dialogue and peace among all.

“The Abrahamic Family House is a model of coexistence, reconciliation, and mutual respect for the sake of mankind.”

Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, Chief Rabbi of the UAE, said: “This has really been a journey we have been on together. When Jewish life in the UAE was still very private and confined to one rented villa, the idea that there would be a purpose-built synagogue as part of a larger complex was jaw-dropping.”

Sarna recalled being at the site three and a half years ago “when there was nothing but dust, having encountered many challenges and questions about how to make this space a synagogue able to be used by Jews around the world, and a place to meet the needs of the local Jewish community and inspire people of all di erent faiths to walk through it, many for their first time in a synagogue”.

Sarna expressed his hope that the synagogue “will be a great convergence point for the world”, adding: “It is a beacon of light in actuality. It beautifies the landscape.”

... and the UK architect behind its unique design

A British architect is behind the newly-dedicated Abrahamic Family House in UAE, which aims to bring together Judaism, Islam and Christianity, writes Jotam Confino.

Sir David Adjaye is considered to be one of the leading architects of his generation. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and was recognised as one of the 100 most influential people of the year by TIME magazine.

He is also the brains behind the Holocaust memorial and learning centre planned for Westminster in London.

In 2019, Adjaye’s company was selected to design the Abrahamic Family House.

“Essentially, the inspiration was to understand that the three religions really emanate from this extraordinary region,” Adjaye said last year. “As an architect, I want to create a building that starts to dissolve the notion of hierarchical di erence –it should represent universality and totality – something higher, that enhances the richness

of human life,” he said about the Abrahamic Family House.

The design of the newly-dedicated Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi aims to both “meaningfully represent, and support diverse communities of worshippers, residents and visitors, unlocking a contemporary spirit that draws from tradition but looks towards the future – a future defined by acceptance, inclusion, and peace,” according to a statement from the Abrahamic Family

Born in Tanzania in 1966, Adjaye moved to England with his parents at

looks towards the future – a future defined by House. the age of nine.

In 1993, he graduated from his MA at the Royal College of Art. Since then, Adjaye has left his mark in the architecture industry, designing libraries, museums and galleries across the world. His largest project was the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, DC, which opened on the National Mall in Washington DC in 2016 and was named Cultural Event of the Year by The New York Times

museums and galleries across the world. African named Cultural Event of the Sir David Adjaye

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Congregants at the first service

Holocaust memorial and learning

Oldest Hebrew Bible may fetch £41million ‘Anti-Jew’ gunman held

The oldest complete copy of the Hebrew Bible as we know it today is about to go on sale — and could become the most expensive book or document yet sold.

Written by a single Jewish scribe on 400 pages of parchment about 1,100 years ago, the Codex Sassoon is estimated to fetch up to £41million when it is sold by Sotheby’s auction house this May.

Before then the book is embarking on a worldwide tour with stops in London, Tel Aviv and more. Those who view it will lay eyes on one of only two known ancient manuscripts comprising almost the entire Hebrew Bible — the other is the Aleppo Codex, which is incomplete after hundreds of pages vanished in the 20th century.

Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts Richard Austin said: “Now the Codex has been definitively dated as the earliest, most complete text of its kind, it stands as a critical link from the ancient Hebrew oral tradition to the modern, accepted form of the Hebrew Bible that remains the standardised version used today.”

The Codex Sassoon resurfaced after 600 years in 1929 and was acquired by book collector David Solomon Sassoon for £350, the equivalent of about £23,000 today. Sassoon added his bookplate to the inside cover of the binding, extending a centuries-long string of inscriptions detailing the book’s Jewish ownership, much of it throughout what is now Syria.

The record does not show what happened between when the synagogue where it had been housed was destroyed and Sassoon’s acquisition. It has been in private collections for the past century, in contrast to other books near its calibre which are owned by museums and

are on display. What remains of the Aleppo Codex can be viewed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, while a later but more complete copy is on show in Russia.

The book’s latest owner is Jacqui Safra, part of the Jewish banking family, who paid for carbon dating that put its age at about 1,100. The book was briefly displayed at the British Museum in 1982.

Its value won’t be determined until after the auction on 16 May, but Sotheby’s says it could top the £35million paid in 2021 for a first-edition copy of the US Constitution sold by the auction house. Senior Judaica specialist for books and manuscripts Sharon Mintz said: “Codex Sassoon marks a critical turning point in how we perceive the history of the Divine word ... and is a transformative witness to how the Hebrew Bible has influenced the pillars of civilisation for centuries.”

A man alleged to have a history of “animus toward the Jewish community” has been arrested in Los Angeles after two shootings.

Two Jewish men were targeted in the incidents, which took place in and near Pico-Robertson, an area known for synagogues, kosher restaurants and other Jewish establishments.

One man in his 40s was the victim of a drive-by shooting after

leaving morning prayers. Another man in his 70s was shot about half a mile away three days later. Both are stable.

The suspect was arrested the same day and a rifle and gun found.

Police confirmed the suspect had a “history of animus toward the Jewish community” and hatred was likely the motivation for the attacks. The suspect’s name was not released.

The Jewish Fed-

eration of Greater Los Angeles said it had been in touch with local law enforcement “to make sure our Jewish community is being kept safe”.

The Young Israel of Century City, an Orthodox synagogue in Pico-Robertson, told its members it would be boosting security and was working closely with police, who were deploying additional resources and high-visibility patrols in the area.

14TH CENTURY SHUL FOUND

Archaeologists in Spain have excavated a 14th-century Sephardic synagogue with an intact floor plan including a women’s section and ritual baths.

The complex in Utrera, Seville province, is believed to be among the largest ever found from the medieval era, comparable to synagogues in Toledo, Córdoba and Segovia. Only a handful are known to have survived after Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492.

The Utrera building had many uses over the centuries including as a hospital and a Catholic chapel.

Mayor José María Villalobos said he hoped the site would give locals and visitors an insight into Jewish history in Utrera, and the Sephardic diaspora.

YOUR LIFE. SAVING MORE LIVES.

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Valuable words – the Codex Sassoon

Revealed – the Utrera synagogue

Escalating fears of a growing majority

Last week’s Jewish News-Survation poll put the concerns of British Jews about the direction of the new Israeli government into razor-sharp focus.

A little over half – 52 percent – of respondents said the inclusion of far-right ministers in power in Jerusalem has ‘impacted’ their feelings towards Israel.

Significantly, due to the time lag between polling and publication, more than half of the 700 respondents were quizzed before the deeply divisive judicial reforms were brought forward. That 52 percent would no doubt be higher today.

While Israel remains a crucial part of the British-Jewish identity, there is a deep and growing sense of despair over the inclusion of basket case politicians in key ministerial roles.

In another telling statistic, 70 percent of those polled said they thought Israelis simply do not care what diaspora Jews think about Israel’s government or its policies. Our criticism of Israel or, indeed, our support, is broadly irrelevant according to more than two-thirds of respondents.

It’s important to recognise the limitations of polls in capturing the full complexity of individual beliefs and attitudes, but the underlying message could hardly be clearer – there is rapidly growing disillusionment towards the country’s policies and actions among Jews outside the Jewish state.

It’s high time that Jewish organisations in this country started to acknowledge and reflect the concerns of the growing majority.

Our moral duty A last meal

Letters from two readers (9 February, “Don’t mention the Shoah”) argued that Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is “just for Jews”. I get their point. HMD is a day set up quite recently for non-Jews to remember the Holocaust, because antisemitism and genocide against Jewish people is a non-Jewish problem.

However, the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 targeted two peoples: Jews and Romanies. Romanies were rounded up by the Nazis, as Jews were. Romanies were deported to the concentration camps, as Jews were. Romanies were exterminated at Majdanek, Belzec, Sobibor, Chelmno, and Treblinka. Romanies were experimented on by Mengele and murdered in Auschwitz, like the Jews. Chillingly, a memo signed by Himmler asked for data on Romani populations in Britain in anticipation of its eventual takeover.

It is as if society does not want to remember what was done to them. There is a moral imperative that HMD should also remember them.

Jonathan Samuel, Hendon

I read with interest the recent article about Valentine’s gifts written by Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers, in which she mentioned what it would be like if nonJews or Christians celebrated Chanukah or Pesach. Interestingly, this already happens as it states clearly in the Bible that you should celebrate Passover, and the Jehovah Witnesses who take it literally already do celebrate Passover as the Bible instructs.

I have always found it strange that other Christian sects do not also celebrate Passover.

After all, not only does it say clearly in the Bible that you should celebrate Passover, but the Passover meal was also Jesus’ last supper.

Anna Belinda Kaczynski, By email

HELP, HATE POLL POSITION ON ISRAEL

Another week, another edition of Jewish News doing its best to drive a wedge between UK Jews and Israel.

One noticeable figure in the poll published last week that the newspaper chose to bury deep in its coverage was the finding that an overwhelming majority of respondents would not advise Anglo-Jewish leaders to refuse to meet Israeli politicians with whom they disagree. Not only will this widespread sentiment come as a disappointment to Jewish News, but it puts the lie to the Board of Deputies’ absurd pretension to represent our community.

When, last year, the Board not only made no attempt to meet the visiting Bezalel Smotrich (now Israel’s finance minister) but even told him to get out of Britain, it claimed a democratic mandate to do so. We all knew that that was offensive nonsense, but now this poll proves it. Thank you, Jewish News.

D Rosenthhal, Hendon

I have a suggestion for your regular columnist, Jenni Frazer: don’t write about religious Jews or their practices or matters to which this pertains. Your column about the non-kidnap last week shows you have zero understanding of them. Your grabbing a wallet and holding on to your peyot joke had me in stitches.

Ann Cohen, Golders Green

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The response from many countries to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria was rapid, with Israel among the first on the ground. Yet the teams from this small nation were threatened with their lives and had to return to Israel because of the security risk. We are not wanted, they wish to kill us, no matter how good we are in helping our fellow humans.

Eric Silver, By email

It shows the depth of hate when one of the first rescue teams in Turkey, which rescued some trapped in the rubble, had to be withdrawn owing to death threats. It seems nothing Israel can do will allow peace to come to that region.

Sidney Sands, N12

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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.

‘Okay Keir, Labour can come off the naughty step’

Cartoon

What Rafi taught me about remembering the Holocaust

When my daughter Jessica called earlier this month to tell me she was proposing to take my grandson Rafi to Auschwitz to help prepare him for his GCSE art project, I knew there was no choice but to be part of the expedition.

It would be my third visit to that dreadful place. The sheer horror of the previous two, in di erent circumstances, one with a friend and as part of an o cial UK government delegation, had been emotionally draining.

Rafi’s interest in going to the heart of evil where my paternal grandparents had died and several members of my family miraculously survived touched me deeply. He has not attended Jewish schools but is keenly involved in the community through youth movements.

Somehow over the years I, among my globally distributed network of cousins, had become the repository for a sketchy family history (some of it recorded in newspaper articles). So as Rafi explored his subject, I could be a useful source.

The timing was not ideal. My mind was still in turmoil after a visit to the Terezin Ghetto in January organised by the European Jewish Association. The theme had been the ‘false narratives’ of the Nazis, exemplified by the showpiece camp filled with children and talented Jews from the arts. Tens of thousands died on site and were incinerated.

An incentive to go to Terezin was the belief one of my father’s brothers, who survived the Shoah, may have spent time there. His journey was a frightening odyssey which took him to four camps before making a life in Israel.

Terezin is an enigma, partly because of the permanence of the structures, some dating from the 19th century when it was an AustrianHungarian garrison and prison. Buildings which once housed Jewish victims in desperate overcrowded conditions, have been partly converted into municipal o ces.

The most striking aspect was the art gallery. Jewish Czech artists and those from neighbouring areas had been put to work for the sophisticated Nazi propaganda machine.

Yet using fragments of waste and pilfered paper, they managed to produce art of the highest quality showing the privation of the

THE MEMORIAL WILL BE AN ACCESSIBLE REMINDER OF THE GROTESQUE NATURE OF GENOCIDE

camps, the brutalist treatment and work conditions of inmates. Artists such as Viktor Ullman and Ilse Weber, whose works illuminated the galleries, having served their purpose were ruthlessly shipped o to Auschwitz-Birkenau in the summer of 1944.

As Hitler’s war faltered, the manic determination to exterminate all Jews became ever more pronounced. Under the e cient direction of Adolf Eichmann, there was a hurried e ort to rid Hungary of its Jews. My grandparents Sandor and Fanya, aunts, cousins and members of the wider family were loaded on to cattle trucks to Auschwitz for selection.

When you can put names, faces, characters and fragments of family history to the

industrial scale of extermination it becomes more digestible. There is a strong history of art, painting and creativity in our family, and Rafi’s desire to translate the horror into pictures, I found profoundly moving. It chimed also with the terrible fate of those Terezin artists.

Auschwitz is very di erent from the camp I visited before. Post-Covid, the visits and exhibits have been streamlined but not sanitised. The children’s shoes, the eyeglasses and cases with family names are no less e ective.

Behind us, as we remembered our lost ones, was a large group of Orthodox young women from Israel in dark long skirts, some draped in the Israeli flag. As they entered the gates of Birkenau their voices rang out with the sacred words of the psalmist.

For Rafi, and us all, it was a moment which showed how relevant remembrance remains. Not everyone is able to bear witness first hand at the camps. The disputed Holocaust memorial at Victoria Palace Gardens will provide an accessible and permanent reminder of the grotesque nature of genocide principally against the Jews. It can be an inspiration to young people like Rafi and those defiant young Israeli women who want to know more.

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ALEX BRUMMER CITY EDITOR, THE DAILY MAIL

So, where are you in the fight for Israel’s future?

DR YIZHAR HESS VICE CHAIRMAN, WORLD ZIONIST ORGANISATION

The poll published last week by Jewish News about British Jews’ opinions regarding Israel and its government could not have come at a more crucial moment in the history of Israel and the Jewish people.

As I write this, just a mile or so away at the Knesset, members of Israel’s government have put forth an aggressive package of legislation that threatens to change the dynamic of Israel’s relationship with the world as a whole and, in particular, with Jewish communities around the world.

For decades, Jews around the world –including in the UK – have been deeply connected with an Israel that is both Jewish and democratic, and indeed, they have proudly and successfully shared the message that Israel is such a country with their children, neighbours and governments.

Undermining the independence and standing of Israel’s internationally-acclaimed judicial system puts at risk Israel’s democracy and, with it, the roots of the bond between Israel and Jewish communities around the world like the one in Britain.

As Jewish News’ poll showed, despite years of challenges and negativity in the public discourse surrounding Israel in Britain, an overwhelming majority of British Jews say Israel plays an important part in their Jewish identity. A majority of British Jews also believe it is acceptable for them to publicly express concern about Israel’s government and its policies, and that the inclusion of extreme right-wing voices in Israel’s government would impact their feelings towards the country. This all goes to show that in a moment as critical as this one, British Jews have the underlying bond with Israel, the inclination and the concern that together form the basis for making their voices heard.

The question is how should British Jews act on this foundation in this pivotal moment. Jewish News’ poll showed a majority of

MOST BRITISH

British Jews opposing the idea of boycotting extreme right-wing figures from the Israeli government.

This, of course, follows the Board of Deputies’ decision to boycott far-right nowFinance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, last year.

But in the moment we find ourselves today, with Israel in the midst of a decisive battle, such action – well thought-out and properly targeted – might be a powerful way British Jews can make it clear that advancing an anti-democratic agenda has diplomatic

and strategic consequences. For proof of this, look no further to the reactions in Israel to the Board of Deputies’ move last year.

Although from di erent circumstances, British Jews know more than most the cost of political extremism and divisiveness run amok. The impact it has on a society and its unity. In this moment, the clear importance British Jews place on Israel and their relationship with it, combined with their understanding of their right to make their voices heard must compel them to action. Such action can range from engaging with their Israeli friends to writing in the Israeli press. But whatever it is, no lover of Israel wants to find themselves waking up in a few short years asking themselves: “Where was I in the battle for Israel’s democracy?”

The Zionist movement has always belonged to Jews everywhere and it has always been democratic.

This is a moment that calls on Jews everywhere, in Israel, Britain, and around the world, to live up to these two principles.

JEWS SAY ISRAEL PLAYS AN IMPORTANT PART IN THEIR JEWISH IDENTITY

As lawyers we ask Israel to respect its judiciary

HENRY GRUNWALD & VIVIAN WINEMAN FORMER PRESIDENTS, BOARD OF DEPUTIES

We are former presidents of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Our tenures between 2003 and 2015 saw difficult times for our beloved Israel. We were proud to play our part as British Jewry stood with an Israel facing terrorism, demonisation, and straining relations with world Jewry. We cherish growing ties between Britain and Israel based on shared interests and important shared values –including fairness and moderation.

With anguish, we take the unusual step of writing this article. We do so as friends of Israel and firm believers in the rule of law and balance of powers between the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary in confident democracies.

We write in support of Israelis across

the religious and political spectrums who have taken to the streets in unprecedented numbers and taken extraordinary action opposing the scale and pace of proposed changes to Israel’s judiciary and Supreme Court.

Alarm at the nature of these measures, but also the speed of their implementation and their unprecedented breadth and depth, has brought more than 200,000 people on to the streets in demonstrations against them.

Opposition has included the heads of all Israel’s major universities, all past attorneys generals and 28 former justices of the Supreme Court.

Dan Meridor, former Likud Justice Minister, said: “If these ideas get implemented… Israel will become a different country.” We share his view that Israel “succeeded because … of basic values such as democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.” We echo the call of former attorneys general for Israel to avoid “serious harm to the justice system and the rule of law.”

We share Supreme Court Chief Justice

TheNATURE

of Israel

Originally from Manchester and now living in Tiberias, photographer Julian Alper gives Jewish News readers a seasonal sense of Israel.

THIS WEEK: Red Kalanit

In the spring Israel is carpeted with these lovely fl owers –the Kalanit, (also known as Anemone coronoria or poppy anemone or crowned anemone). Indeed, it is so popular that in 2013 it was crowned as Israel’s national fl ower.

❝WILL ISRAEL’S 75TH YEAR BE REMEMBERED AS THE ONE IN WHICH DEMOCRACY FAILED?

Esther Hayut’s pride that “Israel will soon mark 75 years of independence as a Jewish and democratic state.”

We also share her concerns that “if the plan for change that has been presented is carried out, the 75th year will be remembered as the year in which Israel’s democratic identity suffered a fatal blow.”

Prominent lawyers who support Israel have come out against these plans. Anthony Julius described them as “destructive, degrading, irrational.” Alan Dershowitz views them as an attack on civil liberties and a “terrible mistake”, making it difficult to defend Israel on the international stage.

The reforms would strike at the separation of powers which is a fundamental principle of liberal democracy.

Presidents of Israel’s allies the USA

and France have taken the unprecedented step of cautioning against these internal reforms. Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has warned that these proposals could take Israel to the brink of constitutional and societal collapse.

There are tens of thousands of Israelis and supporters of Israel around the world expressing love and concern for Israel.

We share the hope of the CHOOSE DEMOCRACY campaign to see Israel flourish as a homeland for the Jewish people and a democratic state.

We join the growing chorus of Israelis and Jewish communities urging Israel to uphold what was envisioned in its Declaration of Independence, to “ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants.”

COMING TO LONDON COMING TO LONDON

D a r r e n R i c h J u l i a n S h a p i r o

H o m e I n I s r a e l - N e t a n y a ' s n o 1 o f f i c e

P r o f e s s i o n a l l e g a l a d v i c e f r o m t o p r e a l e s t a t e l a w y e r

I C R I s r a e l ' s l e a d i n g b u i l d e r w i t h a m a z i n g p r o j e c t s a l l o v e r I s r a e l

I s r a e l ' s l e a d i n g b a n k + m o r t g a g e s

P r o p e r t y s o l u t i o n s f o r a l l o v e r I s r a e l

1 GOING DUTCH

A group of youngsters taking part in Jewish Care’s MIKE youth leadership programme enjoyed a Jewish heritage trip to Amsterdam over half-term. They visited the Esnoga Portuguese Synagogue, Anne Frank’s house and the National Holocaust Monument. Noah Fagelson, 17, said: “The trip has been inspiring, motivational and has created a stronger connection between myself and the Dutch Jews. I have learnt a lot about our collective heritage and the experience has been amazing.”

2IVRIT IN ABUNDANCE

A reception was held for the opening of the the WZO Festival of Spoken Ivrit at Yavneh College with Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely. Elena Gabay, of the Future Directions Foundation, said: “The Hebrew language is the key to opening so many doors of our Jewish culture, history, and religion.” Pictured from left: Tali Tzemach, Noam Reef, Tzipi Hotovely

3 EMUNAH BONDING

Fourteen children, 12 mothers and a grandma enjoyed “the most amazing bonding experience” by spending halfterm in Israel with British Emunah. The charity’s Mother and Daughter Israel Trip, running for the first time since 2019, visited a number of Emunah’s day centres, schools and residential homes, which support Israel’s most vulnerable at-risk children and families. The five-day trip also included visits to the old city of Jerusalem, Beit Guvrin caves, museums and Har Herzl.

4 MUSEUM SCOUTS

A group of Beavers from the 20th Finchley Scout group enjoyed a day trip to the Bank of England Museum. The youngsters travelled by Tube, learning about public transport on the way. At the museum, they had the opportunity to try to pick up a gold bar and do lots of interactive activities. They saw old and current money and found out about the history of the Bank of England and of coins and notes. Sadly, there were no souvenir notes to take away.

5 NEVER TOO LATE!

The Association of Jewish Refugees welcomed a special new member – 103-year-old Anne Callender. Anne had never joined a Jewish group or refugee-related activities, and AJR is proud that she joined as a centenarian. The organisation has been capturing her testimony for its Refugee Voices Archive, including her parents’ recollections of Kristallnacht and her father’s arrest and experience in Dachau concentration camp. Anne was presented with her membership at the German Embassy.

6CAMP SIMCHA

More than 60 ladies and girls, many of whom were mums and daughters, made their way diwn to Copthall Girls School for MOUVE by Dancing

With Louise ‘s annual Dance & Fitness party in aid of Camp Simcha. Everyone was beyond excited to get back on the dancefloor and bust a move while raising money for charity. The event raised over £3,600 for Camp Simcha. One mum commented “I love being able to dance to great music, burn calories, feel positive vibes and give back to charity all in one evening!”

Photo by Tammy

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A look

Ukrainian guests and their hosts Johannesburg

BIG Schtik ENERGY

Debbie

Modi Rosenfeld is a triple threat: funny, handsome and Jewish. The disappointment among the singletons in his female audience soon follows when they realise: he’s married, gay and not looking. In any case, you’d have to get past his manager, Leo Veiga, who just so happens to be his husband as well.

The Tel Aviv-born, Long Island-raised comedian is all about ‘Moshiach energy’ and

As a fully-fledged Manhattanite, this funnyman davens daily, lays tefillin and is a member of the Modern Orthodox Sixth Street Community Synagogue in Manhattan, where he often sings as a hobby.

His American tour has been a sell-out, so it’s no surprise he was voted one of the top 10 comedians in New York City by the Hollywood Reporter. However, while being popular over the pond is one thing, to sell out in the UK is quite another. Much of

“Everything just blew up and went nuts,” he recalls. “Leo handles all of the marketing and PR and does an incredible job of running the whole account.”

The itinerary is gruelling – often in cities for just one night – and Modi had this to say about it: “I hate it, but it’s a necessity. Luckily, I’m a good flier. And I know how to work the system - which seat to book, which airline to fly. It also helps to have a good travel agent. And I pack according to my itinerary. If it’s an ‘in and out show’ for one night, I travel comfortable and light – Lululemon, Nike sneakers. Some RochePosay [skincare products], and this amazing eye cream, I forget which brand. Leo knows them all, he’s got me into so many products. There’s always boxes of stu arriving at the door. Then I’ll pack my show outfit – I can roll a suit to perfection!”

So why the suit? Prior to comedy, Modi fulfilled many a Jewish mother’s dream by working in finance. So, between 1994 and 1999 he was doing his job in addition to the comedy circuit, heading straight from work to the comedy clubs (ah, in the suit).

By 1999 he knew that his heart lay in performing and made that switch, following the comedy route, a decision that seems to have worked out pretty well so far.

After this exhaustive performing, it’s a pretty simple wind-down for Modi, who has no desire to watch anything violent like Fauda; surprisingly he’s not interested in watching comedy either. Instead, he and Leo opt for something light, like Ru Paul’s Drag Race or Schitt’s Creek. And of course The Crown. “Before the new season came out, we rewatched from the beginning just to refresh our memories!”

Modi admits to having “never listened to a podcast before in my life”, so it’s ironic that he co-hosts one called And Here’s Modi with another Jewish comedian, Periel Aschenbrand. “Leo and I were just talking and liked the whole stripped-back conversation idea, so we decided to record a podcast. We’re not experts on anything highbrow or political and we’re not looking to solve the world’s problems. It’s just a more unfiltered and relaxed version of the person you see on stage, conversing with friends. We’ve had some amazing people on, from rabbis to friends, and most recently musician Eli Levin.

“I love celebrating Jewish music and new artists. Singing is a big thing for me, so it’s my indulgence to have these kinds of guests on.”

With a stream of shows and regular slots on the comedy circuit in New York clubs things are busy for Modi, constantly working on new material. He never just sits and writes, preferring to test things out with friends or on the podcast and see if it gets a laugh. If it lands well, then it’s maybe workable for a show.

has a huge connection with his fans, his material often highlighting cultural di erences between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews, much to the delight of his largely Jewish audiences.

Modi’s material was shared over lockdown but it was when his character Yoely reviewed Crown that things turned viral.

For his pre-show prep he likes to read the vibe from backstage and decide what material will work well on the crowd, which is arguably 99 percent Jewish. For the corporate events, he gets to play around with the material, gathering information on key sta so he can really have some fun with them.

While things might be insanely busy on tour, Modi is in talks with production companies about working on some TV and film ideas. “It’s about working to bring light into the world, bringing that ‘Moshiach energy’ to more people.

For me, that’s the most important thing.”

That, and the eye cream; Chanel, if you needed to know.

� Modi is playing Leicester Square Theatre 28 February-2 March. Visit www.modilive.com and follow @modi_ live on Instagram

Collins meets Modi Rosenfeld, the hugely popular Israeli-American comedian who’s bringing his unique humour to the London stage next week

Modi recalls his review of The Crown going viral in lockdown: ‘Everything went nuts’

Modi davens daily and often sings at his local Orthodox community in Manhattan

JOURNEY The to freedom

Elena Izmailowa opens the door of a comfortable-looking house in Finchley. The street is quiet and clearly home to well-off residents: many houses have a charging point for the owners’ electric cars.

Five weeks earlier, Elena, 33, was still living in Odesa, Ukraine’s main port city, where if there were any electric cars it’s hard to imagine them in use, because after Russians began to destroy Ukrainian power plants and transformer stations, she tells me: “We only had two to three hours of electricity a day. It’s not enough.”

Speaking to Elena last month in the days preceding Holocaust Memorial Day, it was not difficult to draw a painful parallel between the middle-class Ukrainians whose present-day lives have been utterly disrupted by last February’s Russian invasion, and middle-class European Jews of the 1940s, who regarded their Nazi occupiers with similar disbelief.

The immediate result of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was that “we all lost our jobs”. By “we”, she means her family: her husband, Sergiy, a 3D designer in architecture, her father-in-law, an artist, her mother-in-law, who sold his paintings and Elena herself, who worked as a photographer in advertising and marketing. “But none of these things matter when there is war.”

Elena, however, had other skills, specifically as a community worker. She was, and still is, the chair of the Odesa Reform community, Shirat Ha-yam, with which Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue (EHRS) has been twinned for nearly 15 years. Both synagogues are part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. She grew up in this community and was one of the main leaders of Ukraine’s Netzer youth movement, for many years organising summer camps and much more. She was also the organiser of Odesa’s Mitzvah Day.

But although Jews did leave Ukraine in large numbers when the Russians invaded in February 2022 , Elena does not draw a distinction between the attitude of young

Ukrainian Jews and her non-Jewish friends. There are people in the older generation, she says, who still support Russia “because they thought the USSR was great”, and there are those who have bought into “the Russian propaganda machine”. But for Elena and her generation, the response has been one of “real patriotism”, born of a realisation that if they do not resist the Russians, “then it is over for Ukraine. People are highly motivated to protect the land and their homes. If we don’t stop Putin now, it will be the end for our children.”

Elena’s husband, who had no previous military experience, is at the bottom of the food chain for army service. But like all Ukrainian men who would be eligible for service, he is not allowed to leave the country. So inside the immediate family, as the war raged on, there was intense discussion as to how to face the future.

“We had no jobs, except for volunteering to help soldiers and other people in Odesa,” Elena says. “It wasn’t an easy decision to leave my husband.”

In May the couple will have been married for just four years. In as much as there was any plan at all, she took the di cult step of leaving, in mid-December 2022.

“You don’t have a future,” she says, sadly. “You’re inside the situation and you can’t

change anything. You cannot have a plan. Maybe we say we’ll go to the street market tomorrow, but then there is a bombing and we have to cancel. So we thought about this for a long time, what to do. We need to work. And despite financial support from the World Union of Progressive Judaism, food prices are going up all the time and there is a strong chance that we will soon not have enough money for food for our family. It’s very scary, we don’t know what will be.”

In December, when Russia attacked Ukraine’s power plants, and electricity was reduced drastically, Elena found she couldn’t even carry out her volunteer work. “I didn’t have internet or light, and immediately after the bombing only partial heat and water. We are lucky in Odesa, I know other places have it worse, but it’s just really di cult to work”.

Ukrainian society has changed, Elena believes. “I don’t know what will happen after this war. Our economy is already in a very bad state – and what my husband and I will do professionally in Ukraine… we just don’t know. There are so many ‘ifs’ – if we will be part of Nato, if we will be part of the European Union, if we will kill our corruption system – if, if, if. I love my country, but I still don’t know.”

She came to Britain because she speaks good English and is improving it all the time. And she had contacts here because of the twinning with EHRS, which she visited 10 years ago. “My goal is to get a job so that I can support my family, members of my community and my country. And for me, it’s really important to continue my Jewish life – my normal Jewish life”. She speaks

ZELENSKY IS A GIFT TO US. WE WILL FIGHT, LIKE THE MACCABEES, UNTIL OUR VICTORY

❝

One year on, Ukrainian refugees are still coming to the UK. Jenni Frazer chatted to one of them

OPEN DOOR

Rabbi Mark Goldsmith and his wife are hosting Anya until Ukraine is at peace

Our Ukrainian guest, Anya, came to stay with us on 28 May 2022. She is from Mariupol, a city in southeastern Ukraine that was taken over by the Russians after a merciless bombardment early in the war.

Anya spent more than two months in a basement bunker surviving on scraps of food, frequently without water or electricity, living the trauma of having to help bury people in the park where she had played as a child.

Her boyfriend, Sacha, in Zaporizhzhia, helped her to escape through numerous Russian checkpoints. Through a network of local hosts, my wife Nicola and I were put in contact with Anya and were able to sponsor her for a visa to come to the UK.

Anya was 21 and a student in her final year at Mariupol University. Following a train and bus journey through Lviv and Warsaw she took the first flight of her life and Nicola brought her home from Luton Airport.

On her first day Anya noticed how

much she was reacting to each domestic plane flying above as we sat in our garden in the sun. For three months planes had meant bombing attacks.

Anya had brought with her a gift of a Ukrainian flag-coloured angel and a bar of Ukrainian chocolate with a picture of President Zelensky, both of which still adorn our mantelpiece.

Having Anya live with us has itself been a gift. Over these past eight months she has finished her degree online as Mariupol University decamped to Kiev.

She has helped to bring four other young people from Mariupol to safety here in the UK, to stay with Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue families and others. Having been a well-known student activist in Ukraine, she has been able to speak at synagogue and charity events in aid of Ukraine to help people know what her people continue to suffer every day.

She has found an excellent job in international event management and is building her skills for when she is able to return

held online services, together with those who stayed in Ukraine.

I ask her about the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and it is no exaggeration to say that Elena lights up with joy when she speaks of him. “I love him,” she declares. “He is my hero.

“I believe he is a gift to us (Ukrainians). For me, he is the Maccabee of our days. What’s happened to us is really close to the Chanukah story. We are a small country –and we will fight, like the Maccabees, until our victory.”

She voted for Zelensky when he ran for president. What she admires about him, she says, casting around for the right English word, is that he is “stubborn”. He refuses to sit in meaningless talks with Putin; “‘I’m standing here because I believe in this. I’m not moving.’

She has begun to enjoy all the delights of London with her friends from Ukraine and with us as her host family.

It is an extraordinary privilege, as a Jewish family, to be able to help a refugee from the Russian terror to continue her life, much as our forebears in our Jewish community were helped as young people by kind British families when they made it to England during the Nazi period. It did not work for all of them and we want to make sure it works for Anya.

She is a strong woman, who had to leave her family behind in Mariupol, with only the occasional phone call now possible. Anya speaks daily with her supportive boyfriend Sacha who, at the age of 25, is neither able nor willing to leave Ukraine.

Nicola and I are very proud of how Anya is working to overcome the trauma of having had her home and all she grew up with systematically destroyed by Russia. We are glad to host her until Ukraine is at peace again.

warmly of her gratitude to her British hosts, Melinda and Daniel Shaw.

Shirat Ha-yam —the Song of the Sea, so-called because the Odesa Reform community overlooks the sea harbour of the city — is a small-ish congregation of about 200 people. Elena describes it as a lively and close-knit “family” community, with an active teen Netzer youth movement and a regular Hebrew school.

Its rabbi, Julia Gris, is, ironically, Russian-born, though she has lived and worked in Ukraine for 22 years, and has been Odesa’s rabbi for the past eight. Now, however, she has moved – with members of the community – to Oldenburg in Germany. “She really loves Ukraine,” says Elena of Rabbi Gris, noting that for the past year the German part of the Odesa community has

“They [the Russians] bombed us, they raped us, they shot at us, and then they said, we need to [make a] deal. And Zelensky said no. No deal. Go away, leave our country, and then we can talk. I love that he has stayed strong for us. He’s not Putin, sitting in a basement. He’s so brave, he goes to all the hotspots.”

Elena probably did not have conversations about the strength of the Ukrainian army before February 2022. Now, however, she is fiercely determined that there will be a positive outcome if the world supports Ukraine with weapons and tanks. “We can do it. We will win. And everyone should understand that we are the umbrella for the civilised world. The price is huge. But I am waiting for our victory.”

Every week, says Elena, Russian bombs destroy civilian homes. One day, possibly, it could be the house next door to her family, one day some friends. “So how,” she asks me, “how can I plan?”

Elena was a Mitzvah Day organiser in Odesa

Rabbi Mark with Lena, his guest Anya and Alina in Cambridge home.

Photo: Alan Strutt

FUNNY MAN

David Yosef Shimon Ben Illouz Haleivi Alexander Edelman (Alex Edelman to you and me) has for the past few weeks been filling the Menier Chocolate Factory auditorium with laughter with his stand-up routine about Jews, Olympians, Christmas and white supremacists. This may sound like an eclectic mix, but the way the Bostonian-raised comedian weaves it all together is genius. You do need to be able to keep up, though, as Alex is king of that very Jewish trait of digressing – and why say something in two sentences when you can turn it into a long monologue, right? Describing Judaism as the Hotel California of religions (“you don’t get to leave when you’ve had enough”), he tells us about the sign-language-talking gorilla who mourned the death of Robin Williams, that the reason we smash a glass at a wedding is because it represents happiness, and that Donald Trump’s son-in-law sits behind him in shul. A cross between Jackie Mason and Woody Allen, and brought up in an Orthodox home, Alex is naturally full of Jewish self-doubt – am I too Jewish? Not Jewish enough? Is vaccination against the Torah? – but takes care to explain what might be unclear to non-Jews or the less observant. High-energy, highly intelligent humour. Just For Us runs until 26 Feb – don’t miss it! www.menierchocolatefactory.com

Picture This

&

Keep Smiling

It’s a bit far for us to go but Zoë Wanamaker has crossed the pond to appear alongside Fiddler star Danny Burstein in PicturesfromHomeon Broadway, a play about a photographer who takes on a 10-year project to chronicle the lives of his ageing parents. “Loads of emotions came up during the show,” said Danny, 58, who plays the son, Larry. “Larry’s desire and passion to know more and to not just look at others critically but himself critically as well is inspiring to me. It’s a beautiful story.” Based on the 1992 photo-memoir by Larry Sultan, an acclaimed photographer who died in 2009, the play also stars Nathan Lane as the father, Irving, a Brooklyn-born Jew who struggled as a salesman but eventually became a vice-president at Schick, the razor company founded in 1926 by Jacob Schick, ‘the father of electric razors’. Zoë Wanamaker plays the mother. Burstein was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Tevye in the most recent Broadway production of FiddlerontheRoof.

IN SHAPE

If you find yourself in Mayfair you might notice a rather large polished steel sculpture in Hanover Square. The British artist David Breuer-Weil’s Sister is a sister piece to Soul and Jerusalem Centre of the World, his two iconic sculptures in Jerusalem, creating a link between the cities. “I normally show my bronzes in England, but I wanted to show one of my reflective and light-filled polished steel works here as well, bringing a spiritual element and the light of Jerusalem to the English soil,” says David. From a distance the sculpture is in the shape of an egg, representing the origin of biological life and a potent symbol of growth and regeneration a er recent challenges. When viewed up close, the form of a woman encompasses the entire egg and hands, face, hair and other features create many reflected tableaus that glint in the spring sun and shi in time and space. The work matches the oval form of the newly restored Hanover Square.

Jewellery maker Annabel Bartfeld has created two special necklaces to raise money for charities close to her heart. She had gone back to jewellery-making – which she first learnt aged 18 – in 2020, following a double bereavement. “I’d lost my grandmother and my mother, who were my world,” she recalls. “I had this huge hole in my life.” In her workshop in South Molton Street, Annabel is creating 10 limited-edition pieces for charities that have touched the lives of her friends and family, and the first two are available now. A circular pendant is being sold in aid of Grief Encounter, which provides specialist help to those a ected by the death of a parent or sibling, and a ‘smile’ necklace helps Spread a Smile, an organisation which aims to brings joy and laughter to seriously ill children and their families during long stays in hospital. Fi een years ago Annabel spent a month in Great Ormond Street Hospital, so she knows first-hand how valuable it is to bring a smile to a patient. “My daughter was saved there,” she says. Annabel is giving her skills and all materials as her own donation, so the full purchase price goes to charity. Grief Encounter pendant: www.justgiving.com/annabel-b-ge Spread a Smile pendant: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/annabel-b-sas Instagram: annabel.b.jewellery; mail: a@annabel.la

WOMEN

GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT

Ahead of International Women’s Day next month some inspirational women are taking to the stage at two events. On Monday 27 February Self Care Club podcast hosts Lauren Mishcon and Nicole Goodman are speaking at UJIA Women’s Fabulous Night out at The Sorting O ice in NW11. Cocktails, connecting, dinner and an entertaining talk about self-care are on the menu. On 2 March, five women are speaking at a WIZO panel event at St John’s Wood synagogue. Sophie Eden, co-founder of Gordon & Eden, has spent over 15 years hiring digital and technology executives for global brands. Broadcaster and journalist Olivia Wayne has interviewed top sports stars and fronted the breakfast show on Sky Sports News. Former fashion editors Sarah Ellis and Philippa Ross are better known as We Are Twinset, a fashion and lifestyle blog. while Susannah Kintish, partner at Mishcon de Reya, acts for employers and employees with experience of the highest court in the land.

To book, visit: www.ujia.org/event www.wizouk.org/events

NEW

Genius: Alex Edelman

Hands up if you’ve been to South Africa (both hands if you’ve been more than once) and not seen anything of Johannesburg outside of the airport. I know that’s most readers of this article. I get it. I know it’s widely reported to be a dangerous place. And yet… people live there. Two thirds of the Jewish population of the country live in Johannesburg (circa 30,000). It has beautiful hotels, fantastic bars and restaurants, fantastic shopping and lots to see. No so much that you need a week but certainly plenty to merit exiting the airport, being collected by the lovely Leon (who fancies himself as a modern-day Jackie Mason) and chauffeured around by him for a couple of days. “Belt up it, could be a bumpy ride,” he said as we climbed into the car. “You Brits drive on the left of the road, we drive on what’s left of the road.’

We stayed at the Saxon in the opulent Sandhurst district with houses every bit as large as the hotel (which itself used to be a house). Like the homes surrounding it, it is hidden behind 10ft walls, but the solid electronic gates slide open to reveal a property that is rather more country estate than city hotel. We had a light

lunch on the terrace overlooking the pool and the 10 acres of beautiful gardens which even have a magical hidden skywalk leading to the villas. Manager George Cohen played Jewish geography with us and it turns out that he’s been to north London and we have several mutual acquaintances. He also told us about the many Jewish weddings and Friday night dinners that have been hosted at the hotel.

The bedrooms at the Saxon are vast –and I do mean vast! The sleeping area with superking-sized bed is sandwiched between a grandiose lounge and a magnificent bathroom, all open plan with high ceilings, lots of light wood and African-style contemporary décor. I have never stayed in a larger, more luxurious, better-appointed bedroom and bathroom. Plug sockets (English ones!) in all the right places, lighting up to scratch, pads and pens aplenty, every possible amenity within reach wherever you are – even a black makeup flannel behind the sink – plus a luxury range of own-brand Soul by Saxon toiletries.

The reception area with its double sweeping staircase and domed glass ceiling is light, warm and welcoming, opening onto a lounge area where afternoon tea is clearly a thing. The service is impeccable and makes everyone feel like a VIP. No wonder so many real VIPs have chosen to stay here, including Nelson Mandela who checked in after he left Robben island and it was here that he wrote Long Walk to Freedom. The suite in which he stayed now bears his name.

Leon was ours for the day and drove us to the Apartheid Museum where we were greeted with the stark ‘whites’ non/whites entrance pathways. This is a highly informative, deeply harrowing museum that chronicles, in black and white (pun intended), the story of 20th century South Africa and the apartheid years. It was with the understanding gained from this that we embarked on a full-day tour with our guide Jacob. He drove us around the

many districts of Johannesburg, pointing out areas that were previously exclusively white, where blacks were only allowed to enter with a work permit, and which are now exclusively black. We saw prestigious schools in expansive grounds that for decades were attended only by white children and are now educating black children too. We spent nearly three hours at Constitution Hill, where blacks, white political activists and even women were incarcerated in communal cells that were overcrowded, rife with disease and often governed by gangs. We saw tiny isolation cells with barely room to lie down, and the large, relatively luxurious cell where Mandela spent many years before being moved to Robben Island.

Jacob drove us to Soweto, the collection of townships that was created in the 1930s when the government started separating blacks from whites. Home to more than two million people, many of whom live in single-room corrugated iron dwellings, residents do now have access to clean water, sanitation facilities and electricity. Soweto hit the headlines in 1976 when there were serious riots sparked by a ruling that Afrikaans be used in schools there, and again in 2010 when it hosted the FIFA World cup final.

It’s not all slums in Soweto. Nelson Mandela had a home in the busy, properly formed Orlando West township, where he settled in 1946 with his first wife Evelyn and then lived with Winnie. It is now a museum. Next door lives Lerato, whose grandmother formerly owned the house. When the police were banging on Mandela’s door, he would jump over the fence and hide in her house. Lerato is turning the property into an AirBnB so you too

can be Mandela’s neighbour. Yet in truth you are Mandela’s neighbour wherever you are in Johannesburg, for the city is an ode to the man responsible for ending the apartheid regime. From the streets, highways and properties named after him to the museums, galleries and tours that tell his story, you cannot spend time in the city without feeling close to and in awe of the man known in South Africa as Madiba, which means father.

❖ Rooms at the Saxon Hotel start at 11,200 rands (£510) per night www. saxon.co.za. We were chauffeured by Leon: sherffeurscharter@gmail.com We toured with Explore Joburg: explorejoburg@gmail.com

Bespoke Kosher travel can arrange trips to South Africa

www.bespokekoshertravel.com

Where we ate

Qunu at the Saxon, named after the area in which Mandela grew up. Classics such as gravlax, steak Diane and crepes suzette alongside creative dishes including foie gras mousse with macerated berries, and seared loin of venison with pistachio crust. There is a full vegan menu.

Marble on the top floor of a building in the hip Rosebank district. With great views and a wooden interior, it’s all about the South African tradition of cooking on fire – not just meat but also fish, vegetables and bread.

Pool at the Saxon Hotel

Entrance to the Apartheid Museum

Louisa Walters visits the city that so many visitors to South Africa avoid

MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA

BY RABBI BORUCH BOUDILOVSKY YOUNG ISRAEL OF

Ritual is key to spiritual wellbeing

In a recent article published by Forbes, entitled 10 Wellness Trends You Have to Try in 2023, spiritual wellbeing came second to exercise recovery.

Described as “a person’s sense of connection to something larger than themselves, such as a higher power, a set of spiritual beliefs, or a sense of meaning and purpose in life”, spiritual wellbeing can be hard to materialise and incorporate with real and e ective life-changing results.

Judaism, as in this week’s sedra, Terumah, finds the solution in ritual.

The detail into which the Torah goes when outlining the construction of the tabernacle is enormous, which is surprising as the Torah usually writes succinctly.

What deepens this enigma is the contrast in the Torah between its depiction of creation and its depiction of the tabernacle. The Torah commits 31 verses to the creation of “heaven, earth, and their entire array”, and only several dozen to the creation of the entire universe. When it comes to describing the design and formation of the tabernacle, a structure which extended to a mere 20 by 10 beams, the Torah uses more than 300 verses. To understand this, we need to reflect on the very essence of the Torah.

The Torah is concerned mainly with the relationship between humans and God, characterised by

Administrator

Salary: According to experience and knowledge

a command from God and a human response of deference, best exemplified in the giving of the Torah at Sinai.

In a remarkable midrashic text, our sages analogically teach us that the Torah highlights the primary importance of this relationship by reserving the first letter of the alphabet (alef) to the opening of the first command at Sinai. The account of creation beginning with the second letter of the alphabet (bet), is secondary in importance.

Judaism is fundamentally radical in its definition of spirituality, which it maintains is not a product of a subjective emotional feeling but rather the objective discipline of human behaviour. A relationship with God is not developed by withdrawing into soaring feelings of meditation, but by a humble act of submission.

Hours 15 per week ( exible with some extra hours being required to facilitate the community) WFH

Catford and Bromley Synagogue is experiencing a revival within the community and especially an increase in young families.

e ideal candidate will be responsible for providing professional, proactive, e cient, administrative and communication support to the lay leaders and the Rabbi.

e administrator will posses the following: strong administrative and e ective customer care abilities; IT knowledge including databases, Microso O ce and the practical use of social media sites; have the ability to work unsupervised, manage their own workload as well as delivering results under pressure with tight time deadlines and objectives. You will need to have excellent communication and interpersonal skills ensuring that full privacy and con dentiality is observed at all times. ere is a need to also have a good knowledge of Jewish customs and practices.

Please send your CV to chairman@catfordsynagogue.org.uk is email should be used for any questions and for a copy of the job description.

The tabernacle was designed to be a place of service to God. Consistent with the Jewish idea of spirituality, it did not o er a place where people could meditate on their own terms but rather, in its construction and subsequent service, was a place which imposed requirements on people. Only by obediently performing the detailed tasks dictated by God, does

a person serve God. This is why the Torah dedicates 300 verses to the tabernacle. It is teaching us that we serve God by routinely disciplining ourselves to detailed ritual.

The daily observance of ritual is seen by the Torah as the best formula to anchor spirituality. In 2023, in our quest for wellness, daily ritual can be the key to spiritual wellbeing.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our fast-paced head office team in London and help make a significant difference to Jewish student life on campus.

After an incredibly successful online matched giving event, UJC is looking to take its fundraising to the next level, expanding and diversifying its fundraising arm which will in turn secure its future.

The focus of the role will be the development and implementation of a fundraising strategy, donor and grant stewardship, and the running of fundraising appeals, with oversight of the organisation’s marketing and communications.

In our thought-provoking series, rabbis, rebbetzins and educators relate the week’s parsha to the way we live today

NORTH NETANYA

Torah tells us we serve God by disciplining ourselves to detailed ritual

Progressive Judaism

LEAP OF FAITH

BY RABBI SYLVIA ROTHSCHILD COMMUNITY RABBI IN SOUTH LONDON

Persians (again) and the Arabs to Islamic power, Crusaders and Christian supremacy, the Mamelukes and the Ottomans.

Just as in any nation state situated in spaces that other countries claim as part of their borders, the diversity of the population, the language, the ethnicity and the narratives mean that internal as well as external boundaries can be fraught.

At the same time, a strong identity and loving attachment to the place is created, and no amount of displacement or oppression can disrupt these deep roots of belonging.

The word ‘Ukraine’ is probably derived from the old Slavic meaning ‘borderland’. While its size cannot be compared to the diminutive territory of Israel, there are many resonances between the two countries. The deep spiritual attachment to their own land – from the flag depicting sunflowers and sky to the testimony of Ukrainian people fighting to live peacefully in historically disputed territory, the echoes keep on coming.

Ukraine finds itself sandwiched between the global powers of the west and the east, an uncomfortable place to be. Israel has also historically found itself uncomfortably close to the political designs of powerful neighbours.

These neighbours range from the empires of the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the

I am struck by how powerful is the testimony of those who call Ukraine home, who initially fled the war yet often returned to the homeland they love and yearn for. I am reminded of the psalmist sitting by the rivers of Babylon, who recorded the people’s weeping and longing, the remembering of Zion and Jerusalem from their captivity and exile. The strength of relationship that the people of Ukraine have with their land impels them to fight for it even when it seems that the odds are too heavily against them; this too echoes in the Jewish soul.

Judaism has thrived in Ukraine for over 1,000 years. Byzantine Jews of Constantinople had familial, cultural and theological ties with the Jews of Kyiv and one of the city gates was named the Jewish Gate. Chasidism was born there, as were many of the founders of cultural Zionism, from Jabotinsky to Achad Ha’Am, Bialik and Shai Agnon. It is also the home of pogroms and

In

Cossacks, a place of historic persecution of Jews, of our expulsion and emigration. So many of us can trace our family roots back to this place, and it is notable that Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish and a proud supporter of both Ukraine and Israel.

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A stimulating series where our progressive rabbis consider how Biblical figures might act when faced with

One year on, the war reminds all of us that we are more Ukrainian than we know

happier times: Jews in Ukraine mark an anniversary

Ask our

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

This week: Helping with a six-year-old’s emotional difficulties, climbing out of an exercise rut and mitigating inheritance tax

you achieve?

A good way to help you answer this question is carrying out my ‘so that’ exercise. Finish this sentence:

Dear Ben

I’ve realised for a while that it’s time for a career change but I have no idea how to move forward and, to be honest, feel stuck. Can you help?

Alison

Dear Alison

You have taken the all important first step, which is acknowledging your desire for change. Now we need to help you focus in the right direction. To do this, the firstand most powerful- thing to do is to start at the end. What will changing career help

Dear Linda

SUE CIPIN

CHARITY EXECUTIVE JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION

Dear Sue

I’ve recently been issued with hearing aids and so many noises are bothering me now - like my footsteps and taps running. I keep taking the hearing aids out but I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to do. I need your advice.

Linda

You are not alone. Most people need time to adjust to their first set of hearing aids. Once you’ve got used to not being surrounded by these noises as your hearing has deteriorated, it can be quite a shock to the system to have them suddenly returned!

If you keep taking the hearing aids out, you may prolong that period of confusion, making it harder to acclimatise to them. I would suggest wearing them throughout the day to give your brain the information that this is the new normal, as there won’t be an alternative to prefer.

Do return to your audiologist if any sounds are

‘I want to do something di erent in my career so that…’

Don’t overthink it. And give as many answers as you like. We will then work together over three sessions to identify what drives you most and translate this into an achievable career goal. Then we will make a practical plan to get you there.

By the end of our time together, you’ll be clear about where you are going, why, and what your next steps are.

And most importantly, you will feel confident that you really can make this happen.

very uncomfortable or if any part of the hearing aid is hurting – small adjustments may be necessary.

Some situations might still be challenging, like when you’re trying to have a conversation in a noisy restaurant.

The good news is there are lots of devices you can use with your hearing aids, that will help to block out background noise and enable you to focus easily on what you want to hear. You can try these out in our Technology Room at JDA.

Please get in touch with us on 020 8446 0502 if you’d like any more guidance or information. We’d be really happy to help!

Dear Eric

I’m in my 50s and it’s been many years since I applied for work. I find it very daunting. Where do I begin when putting my CV together?

Jonathan

Dear Jonathan

You’re not alone, at Resource yours is a common situation, especially during these di cult times. Certainly CVs have changed over the years.

The first thing to remember is your CV shouldn’t - and doesn’t require you to - give away your age. So no date of birth, no mention of ‘O levels’ or what years you were at school for example, and no need to go back in detail over your early years in employment. A brief overview within one paragraph is fine.

It’s important that you grab the recruiter’s attention from the start. Remember, you may be competing with many other candidates’ CVs. Use the first half page to provide essential contact information and an eye-catching profile briefly summarising who you are and what you’re skilled at. Don’t waste this premium space with wordy information.

Then follow with three or

four key achievements that you’re most proud of, making them as recent and relevant to the employer as possible – and without alluding to long-ago dates!

For someone in your position we at Resource may recommend you don’t present your layout chronologically. Instead, use a functional format that highlights skills and abilities in order of relevance to the role. It’s especially important if you can demonstrate significant work experience related to the employer.

When you’ve finished ask someone to double-check for spelling and grammatical errors. And if it helps, phone Resource

and arrange to talk your job search through with us.

DR BEN LEVY PERFORMANCE SPECIALIST MAKE IT HAPPEN

ERIC SALAMON MOCK INTERVIEWER RESOURCE

Ask Our Experts / Professional advice from our panel

Our Experts

Got

Email: editorial@jewishnews.co.uk

Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@jewishnews.co.uk

CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIST

DR MONICA QUADIR

Qualifications:

• Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist with more than 12 years of experience in treating young people and their families, both in the NHS and privately

• Expertise in assessing neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ADHD and autism, and supporting families to manage these conditions

• Medical director at Psymplicity Healthcare, a private mental health clinic based in London, with a national online presence

PSYMPLICITY HEALTHCARE 020 3733 5277

www.psymplicity.com

enquiries@psymplicity.com

FINANCIAL SERVICES

ARE YOU PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR

ARE YOU PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR HEAALTH PLAN?

PRIVATE HEALTH COVER?

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Patient Health is this newspapers ‘Ask The Expert’

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See how you could significantly reduce your premiums and possibly obtain a higher level of cover, and we will always explain whether pre-existing conditions would be covered. We’re also happy for you to call or pop-in.

SEE E HOW YOU COULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE PREMIUMS AND PERHAPS EVEN OBTAIN HIGHER COVER AND WE WILL ALWAYS EXPLAIN WHETHER PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS WOULD BE COVERED WE RE ALSO HAPPY FOR YOU TO CALL OR POP-IN

020 3146 3444 trevor.gee@patienthealth.co.uk

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Where service is all about helping the client, only the client and nothing but the client

Where service is all about helping the clieent, only the client and nothing but the client

WHERE FAMILY HEALTH COMES FIRST Tel: 0203 146 3444/3446: info@patienthealth.co.uk: FCA Regulated 773729: Member of Chartered Insurance Institute

TREVOR GEE

Qualifications:

• Managing director, consultant specialists in affordable family health insurance

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

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

• LLB solicitors finals

• Member of Chartered Insurance Institute

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

JEWELLER

JOE OZER

Qualifications:

• Executive director for the United Kingdom at DCI (Intl) Ltd

• Worked in finance for more than 20 years

• Specialists in distribution and promotion of Israel Bonds

DEVELOPMENT COMPANY FOR ISRAEL 020 3936 2712 www.israelbondsintl.com

joe.ozer@israelbondsintl.com

PERFORMANCE SPECIALIST

JONATHAN WILLIAMS

Qualifications:

• Jewellery manufacturer since 1980s

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

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

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

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

CAROLYN ADDLEMAN

Qualifications:

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

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

• Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners

KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 020 8732 6101 www.kkl.org.uk enquiries@kkl.org.uk

REMOVALS MANAGING DIRECTOR

STEPHEN MORRIS

Qualifications:

• Managing director of Stephen Morris Shipping Ltd

• 45 years’ experience in shipping household and personal effects

• Chosen mover for four royal families and three UK prime ministers

• Offering proven quality specialist advice for moving anyone across the world or round the corner

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

DR BEN LEVY

Qualifications:

• Doctor of psychology with 15 years’ experience in education and corporate sectors

• Uses robust, evidence-based methods to help you achieve your goals, whatever they may be

• Works with clients individually to maximise success

MAKE IT HAPPEN 07779 619 597

www.makeit-happen.co.uk ben@makeit-happen.co.uk

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

SUE CIPIN

Qualifications:

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

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

• Extensive services for people affected by hearing loss/tinnitus

• Technology room with expert advice on and facilities to try out the latest equipment. Hearing aid advice, support and maintenance

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION 020 8446 0502

www.jdeaf.org.uk mail@jdeaf.org.uk

PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

LOUISE LEACH

Qualifications:

• Professional choreographer qualified in dance, drama and Zumba (ZIN, ISTD & LAMDA), gaining an honours degree at Birmingham University

• Former contestant on ITV’s Popstars, reaching bootcamp with Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw and Kym Marsh

• Set up Dancing with Louise 19 years ago

DANCING WITH LOUISE 075 0621 7833

www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk

Info@dancingwithlouise.com

FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE

JACOB BERNSTEIN

Qualifications:

• A member of the APCC, specialising in financial services compliance for:

• Mortgage, protection and general insurance intermediaries;

• Lenders, credit brokers, debt counsellors and debt managers;

• Alternative Investment Fund managers;

• E-Money, payment services, PISP, AISP and grant-making charities.

RICHDALE CONSULTANTS LTD

020 7781 8019 www.richdale.co.uk jacob@richdale.co.uk

MENOPAUSE CHAMPION LABALANCE

ANGELA DAY-MOORE

Qualifications:

• Founder & CEO Sassy La Femme Women’s Wellness

• Passionate about women’s wellbeing

• Home to LaBalance

• Recommended by fellow women for period, perimenopause & menopause

MENOPAUSE CHAMPION LABALANCE 0333 188 6580 www.sassylafemme.com hello@sassylafemme.com

HUMAN RESOURCES / EMPLOYMENT LAW

DONNA OBSTFELD

Qualifications:

• FCIPD Chartered HR Professional

• 25 years in HR and business management.

• Mediator, business coach, trainer, author and speaker

• Supporting businesses and charities with the hiring, managing, inspiring and firing of their staff

DOHR LTD

020 8088 8958 www.dohr.co.uk donna@dohr.co.uk

Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

ACCOUNTANT

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

DOV NEWMARK

Qualifications:

ALIYAH ADVISER

• Director of UK Aliyah for Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organisation that helps facilitate aliyah from the UK

• Conducts monthly seminars and personal aliyah meetings in London

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

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

DIVORCE & FAMILY SOLICITOR

VANESSA LLOYD PLATT

Qualifications:

• Qualification: 40 years’ experience as a matrimonial and divorce solicitor and mediator, specialising in all aspects of family matrimonial law, including:

• Divorce, pre/post-nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, domestic violence, children’s cases, grandparents’ rights to see grandchildren, pet disputes, family disputes

• Frequent broadcaster on national and International radio and television

LLOYD PLATT & COMPANY SOLICITORS

020 8343 2998

www.divorcesolicitors.com lloydplatt@divorcesolicitors.com

ADAM SHELLEY

Qualifications:

• FCCA chartered certified accountant

• Accounting, taxation and business advisory services

• Entrepreneurial business specialist including start-up businesses

• Specialises in charities; personal tax returns

• Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation Volunteer of the Year JVN award

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

IT SPECIALIST

LISA WIMBORNE

Qualifications:

Able to draw on the charity’s 50 years of experience in enabling people with physical disabilities or impaired vision to live independently, including:

• The provision of specialist accommodation with 24/7 on site support

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

• Understanding of the impact of a disability diagnosis

JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611

www.jbd.org

Lisa@jbd.org

If

IAN GREEN

Qualifications:

• Launched Man on a Bike IT consultancy 15 years ago to provide computer support for the home and small businesses

• Clients range from legal firms in the City to families, small business owners and synagogues

• More than 18 years’ experience

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

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:

• Provides free professional one-to-one advice at Resource to help unemployed into work

• Offers mock interviews and workshops to maximise job prospects

• Expert in corporate management holding director level marketing, commercial and general management roles

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 and 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

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Top prices paid

Antique – Reproduction – Retro Furniture (any condition)

Epstein, Archie Shine, Hille, G Plan, etc. Dining Suites, Lounges Suites, Bookcases, Desks, Cabinets, Mirrors, Lights, etc.

House clearances

Single items to complete homes

MARYLEBONE ANTIQUES - 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED 07866 614 744 (ANYTIME)

0207 723 7415 (SHOP)

closed Sunday & Monday

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

MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING

WESTLON HOUSING ASSOCIATION

Sheltered Accommodation

We have an open waiting list in our friendly and comfortable warden assisted sheltered housing schemes in Ealing, East Finchley and Hendon. We provide 24-hour warden support, seven days a week; a residents’ lounge and kitchen, laundry, a sunny patio and garden. For further details and application forms, please contact Westlon Housing Association on 020 8201 8484 or email: johnsilverman@btconnect.com

Are you happy paying big household bills?

Would you like to pay less? Find out how

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Water-bearing bridge (8)

5 Loch ___ monster, fabled Scottish beast (4) 9 Clothing rule (5,4)

WORDSEARCH CODEWORD

The listed speed verbs can all be found in the grid. Words may run either forwards or backwards, in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction, but always in a straight, unbroken line.

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

Fun, games and prizes

SUDOKU

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

SUGURU

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

ACCELERATE

BELT BOUND

CANTER

CAREER

DASH GALLOP HASTEN HOTFOOT HURRY

Last issue’s solutions

Crossword

ACROSS: 3 Oil, 7 Refund, 8 Errant, 9 Bragging, 10 Grid, 11 Really, 12 Rasher, 15 Drawer, 18 Uplift, 20 Ivor, 22 Besotted, 23 Skimpy, 24 Abduct, 25 Eat.

DOWN: 1 Degree, 2 Bungalow, 3 Oddity, 4 Ledger, 5 Frog, 6 Endive, 11 Red, 13 Solitude, 14 Rat, 16 Revoke, 17 Rib-eye, 18 Unseat, 19 Fleece, 21 Romp.

See next issue for puzzle solutions.

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

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Benefiting from visibility via a secure online portal and app, and live pricing of all assets from equities, bonds, property, hedge funds to cryptocurrency; clients can make better investment decisions directly or with their financial advisors and improve performance.

For more information and a presentation, call us on: 020 3817 7720 or visit:

www.shelleyinvestments.co.uk

on Trial

26.2.23 | 7:30pm Leading our community in teaching and learning

FREE event as part of the LSJS 36 hour fundraiser.

A royal courtroom drama

Caroline Stone Public Law Barrister, 3PB Barristers

|

Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski Golders Green Synagogue

Presiding Judge:

Adam Taub Lawyer and co-founder of Etgar