1310 - 14th April 2023

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

“One bullet lodged in her brain stem, the other at the top of her spine. There was an operation, there was reason for hope. Alas, our family of seven is now a family of four.”

Those were the calm yet heavy words of Rabbi Leo Dee from Radlett, speaking hours after his wife, Leah, succumbed to her injuries from a terrorist attack.

Less than 48 hours earlier, he stood in the same place preparing to bury two of his young daughters, Maia and Rina, who were killed in the same attack.

Faced with 22 bullets, some fired at close range, the two girls and their mother stood little chance. At the time of writing, the killer(s) have not been caught.

Extraordinarily, Rabbi Dee, who made aliyah from Radlett with his family nine years ago, saw the bigger picture in his response to the unspeakable, noting that he was speaking on the first day that

Easter, Pesach, and Ramadan had coincided for 30 years. “Pesach and Easter are about redemption, about making the world a better place,” he said. “Fasting on Ramadan, I have learnt, generates empathy for those in need and is also about making the world a better place.

world a better place.

world a better place

“Making the world a better place is a good thing. All world religions believe that we have the power to differentiate between good and evil, so that we can choose to do good and, if we choose to do good, we can make the world a better place.”

Continued on page 16

‘Our family of seven is now a family of four’

Above: Lucy (left) died in hospital two days after the attack which killed her daughters Rina (centre) and Maia Dee. Main image: Lucy’s husband, Rabbi Leo Dee, embraces two of his three surviving children at their mother’s funeral

by Jotam Confino in Israel jotam@jewishnews.co.uk

In a tearful eulogy on Tuesday, Rabbi Leo Dee said he had lost his wife and “best friend”, Lucy Dee, who was killed along with two of their daughters in a terror attack in the West Bank.

“We literally travelled the world together. We made aliyah together. We built a new life for ourselves in the Promised Land.

“You would frequently say that you couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Nor could I — even now, especially now,” Rabbi Dee said at her funeral in the West Bank settlement of Kfar Etzion.

“You were so generous, you trained to be a new mother counsellor, and visited a new mother and baby weekly in Efrat to give her support. You mentored a new teacher, Zooming him weekly, sometimes two or three times, to help him learn the ropes,” he recalled.

Lucy’s funeral took place after two of her and her husband’s daughters, Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, had been laid to rest at the same

cemetery on Sunday. The sisters were killed instantly on Friday when a terrorist fired 20 bullets with a Kalashnikov at their car in the northern Jordan Valley.

The terrorist attack left Lucy, 48, in a critical condition. She was taken to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where she died on Monday.

“Maia, you were my whole world, you were my best friend, my big sister… we went through everything together,” the older living daughter, 17-year-old Keren, said at Maia and Rina’s funeral.

“Maia, my big sister, I will take up the role of the big sister at home. I hope I will do it as well as you, but I am certain I will not succeed in replacing you.

“I promise to take care of Tali and Yehudah like you took care of us,” she added, referring to the other siblings in the family.

“My Rina, my little sister, I promised you I would take care of you and I’m sorry I did not fulfil my promise. I would do everything to have been in the car instead of you.

“I am scared to think what you did in those moments of pain. How

did you cope with all that fear, and I wasn’t there to save you,” the teenager added. “The world is losing a pure soul.”

Several Israeli politicians

attended the two funerals, including the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, the national security minister, Itamar BenGvir, the Knesset Speaker, Amir

Five people have received organs from Lucy Dee, who succumbed to her wounds on Sunday after she was injured in a terrorist attack in the West Bank on Friday. Her two daughters were killed on the spot.

According to the National Transplant Center, the following people received organs from 48-year-old Dee; a 39-year-old and a 58-year-old received kidney transplants, a 25-year-old man received a liver transplant, a 51-yearold woman received a heart transplant and a 58-year-old woman received a lung transplant.

The two kidneys were transplanted at Beilinson Hospital while the lungs were trans-

Ohana, and the former president Reuven Rivlin.

The Dee family tragedy sparked an outcry both in Israel and the British Jewish community.

Rishi Sunak has condemned the killing of Maia, Rina and Lucy Dee as “abhorrent” and “appalling” and sent his “deepest condolences” to Rabbi Leo Dee and his family.

He said: “The UK condemns this appalling attack on civilians, and I send my deepest condolences to Rabbi Dee and his family. We continue to urge all sides to de-escalate tensions in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories and end the deadly cycle of violence.”

Foreign secretary James Cleverly tweeted: “There can be no justification for the murders. We will continue to work with the Israeli authorities to end this senseless violence.”

In a statement issued to Jewish News, Sir

planted at Sheba Hospital. Dee’s corneas are also expected to be transplanted in the near future.

Yediot Ahronot quoted Rabbi Leo Dee, Dee’s husband, saying: “When the doctors gave us the news and explained that she was in a condition where organs could be donated, I gathered the family and we decided together to donate her organs.”

Rabbi Dee said that in his wife’s situation it was “halachically permissible” to donate, and “even a mitzvah”.

“Only the bones and tendons are not donated and everything else is saving lives and must be donated,” Rabbi Dee added.

Keir Starmer also sent “deepest condolences to Rabbi Leo Dee and his family”, who he said were having to come to terms with “their unimaginable loss”. He added: “We must ensure the values of peace and justice prevail.”

David Lammy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, tweeted: “My thoughts are with the family and loved ones. More civilian victims of this cycle of violence show the urgent need for diplomatic efforts to de-escalate.”

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said: “No words can describe the depth of our shock and sadness at the heartbreaking news. They were much loved in the Hendon and Radlett communities in the UK as well as in Israel, and well beyond.”

The Dee family with the bodies of Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, at the first of two family funerals, on Sunday

Lucy Dee

Jewish hug of love’

OF ‘EXCUSING MURDER’

The controversial Muslim advocacy group CAGE has been accused of “excusing deliberate murder and inciting hatred” in a social media response to the Dee family murders, writes Lee Harpin.

In an inflammatory Twitter thread posted on the official CAGE page on the platform, the parents of the sisters were openly accused of provoking the scenario in which their two daughters lost their lives.

Condemning Rabbi Leo Dee, and wife Lucy, who later also died, for moving from their home in Radlett to the West Bank settlement of Efrat, the group tweeted: “We are told of two sisters killed. We are not told of the choices made by parents to put them in harm’s way.”

CAGE has previously been condemned “as “apologists for terror”, with one member of the group describing Islamic State killer ‘Jihadi John’ as a “beautiful young man”. The Community Security Trust also condemned the group’s website for displaying “antisemitic” material.

CAGE also attempted to compare and contrast the outpouring of shock and horror at the murder of the Dee family with the reaction to Shamima Begum, the 15-year-old girl who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State, and lost her legal case to return to the UK.

Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the attack shortly after, and President Isaac Herzog said: “How much we hoped, how much we prayed, but tragically Leah (Lucy), mother of Rina and Maia of blessed memory, who was fatally wounded in the terror attack in the Jordan Valley, has died of her injuries.

“On behalf of the entire people of Israel, I send my warmest condolences to the Dee family and pray that they will know no more

sorrow,” Herzog added. “May her memory be a blessing.”

Several government ministers and coalition lawmakers demanded a harsh response to the “intolerable” terrorist attacks, while some suggested that an annexation of the Jordan Valley should be considered.

Rabbi Leo Dee told The Daily Telegraph that the family “felt a warm hug of love from Jews in Israel and beyond and we are confident that justice will be done”,

referring to the terrorist who killed Lucy, Maia and Rina.

Hamas, meanwhile, praised the attack, calling it “a natural response to the occupation’s ongoing crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque and its barbaric aggression against Lebanon and the steadfast Gaza”.

The terrorists are still at large, presumably hiding in the West Bank, where the Israeli military and Shin Bet intelligence agency are working to locate them.

In an angry response to the threat, leading barrister Simon Myerson KC wrote: “Thread by antisemites excusing deliberate murder and inciting hatred.”

Myerson added in a further post: “Antisemites resort to pomposity in desperate effort to blame murders of three women on the victims for their choice of home (within the borders of Israel as set out in 1948). Racism isn’t acceptable and CAGE are racist. Shun them – for your own self-respect.”

CAGE wrote: “We do not mourn as a nation the actions of ‘stupid’ and ‘impressionable’ schoolgirls that go off to Syria and are killed. Our leading policymakers and judges unite to exclude the survivor Shamima Begum from returning home.”

In a thread posted in the early hours of Monday morning, CAGE alleged: “This journey started in practical terms from the moment two British citizens decided to take a further journey to the land of Palestine, with their family. There, they consciously chose to settle in a territory that has been colonised by a state that has no right to exist.”

Lucy Dee is pictured in 2011 attending to a friend’s child, and with her husband Rabbi Leo Dee. The couple moved from Radlett to Israel in 2014

Yoav Gallant returns to defence role, two weeks after being fired

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that Yoav Gallant would remain defence minister just two weeks after sacking him, writes Jotam Confino.

“I decided to put our differences aside and to work together on all fronts,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech to the nation.

According to Channel 12, Gallant hadn’t been informed about Netanyahu’s decision and only learned about it from watching the speech on TV.

Netanyahu also blamed the previous government, led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, for the wave of terrorism that rocked Israel in recent months,

UK minorities facing ‘high levels of abuse’

killing four people on Friday, including three British members of the Dee family.

“Under the previous government the number of terror attacks doubled,” Netanyahu claimed. “The previous government handed over territory and gas deposits to the enemy without anything in return.”

He warned Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad that he would “pay a heavy price” if rockets are fired at Israel again, following six rockets fired overnight Saturday.

While the IDF said last week it only launched airstrikes against Hamas positions in Lebanon, Netanyahu revealed that Hezbollah targets had been hit as well.

‘Death to the Jews’ chants in Germany

Berlin police are investigating a pro-Palestinian rally where protesters allegedly chanted “Death to the Jews” and

“Death to Israel”, phrases that if verified would be criminal offences under Germany’s postwar hate speech laws.

Hundreds of people attended the rally in Kreuzberg and Neukölln on Saturday, organised in response to police clashes with worshippers at the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

In video captured by a

watchdog called Democ, many were seen praising the Qassem Brigades armed branch of Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip and is considered by the European Union to be a terrorist group.

Some also chanted “Tel Aviv, the answer will come.” Authorities are investigating incitement of hate.

Iris Spranger, Berlin city

government’s interior senator, condemned the antisemitic statements in a tweet on Monday, writing “Hate has no place in our society.”

Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told Jüdische Allgemeine: “The rule of law must be applied consistently.”

The Jewish Values Initiative group called on police

and the interior ministry to explain why they allowed the march to continue despite the slogans, and why there were no arrests. Elio Adler, head of the group, said police failures had done “immense damage”.

Israeli police removed Muslim worshippers from AlAqsa last week in response to their plan to occupy the site overnight.

Ethnic and religious minorities in the UK are suffering “strikingly high” levels of abuse, according to a major survey into race equality. One in six said they had been victims of racist physical assault before the coronavirus pandemic – a figure that increases to one in five Jewish people. The research, by St Andrews, Manchester and King’s College London found that more than one in three people from minority backgrounds have experienced racially motivated physical or verbal abuse.

Podcast host guilty of stirring up hatred

A white-supremacist podcast host has been found guilty of stirring up racial hatred, with a judge saying his recordings were “a stain on humanity”. James Allchurch, 51, from Pembrokeshire, was convicted on 10 of 15 counts of distributing audio material to stir up hatred. He will be sentenced on 28 April. The judge said: “The language the jury had to put up with is vile and it is unacceptable that anybody should wish to express themselves in this way.”

JEWS BANNED AT TEMPLE MOUNT

Israel’s government has banned the entry of Jews to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount through to the end of Ramadan later this month, a decision prompted by heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions.

In past years, Temple Mount has been the site of clashes during the holy month between security forces and Muslim worshippers.

Such clashes took place last week when Israeli forces who were evacuating Muslim worshippers from the Al-Aqsa Mosque overnight were filmed beating them with clubs. Police are investigating.

Tuesday’s decision also follows a spate of violence in recent days, during Passover, that has included Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israelis, missiles fired on Israel from

militant groups and Israeli military raids in Palestinian areas of the West Bank.

Temple Mount is revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Under current regulations meant to prevent unrest, Muslims may pray on the Mount and Jews and others may visit at limited times but may not pray publicly.

A “unanimous recommendation” from the IDF, Defence Ministry, Shin Bet and Israel Police “decided to prohibit Jewish visitors and tourists from going up to the Temple Mount until the end of Ramadan”, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Eid al-Fitr, the celebration marking the end of the Muslim month of fasting and worship, ends on 21 April.

Netanyahu with Gallant and the IDF chief of staff

Jews have been told to stay away until the end of Ramadan

Saturday’s rally in Berlin

ITV diversity expert attacks Starmer’s Pesach greeting

A member of ITV’s diversity board has been accused of making a “gratuitous, misplaced attack on British Jews” after he condemned a tweet by Keir Starmer in which the Labour leader sent “warmest wishes” to the Jewish community for Pesach, writes Lee Harpin.

Dan White, whose Twitter biography – before he deleted it amid the criticism – advertised his role for ITV, was responding to a post by Starmer, who had retweeted a Jewish News article detailing the Labour leader’s latest festival video to the community, adding “Today I am sending my warmest wishes to members of the Jewish community as you prepare to celebrate the festival of Pesach.”

But in a conflation of Starmer’s goodwill message to Jews in this country with the ugly violence at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, White wrote back to Starmer saying: “Did you see what happened at AlAqsa mosque while Palestinian worshippers are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan? Your silence is disgusting.”

Asked about his comment, White told

Jewish News: “I can only apologise for the ill timing of my tweet. I am not and never have been antisemitic.

“My response was not aimed at the community, but at the silence from all political parties around the conflict which is happening. I accept my response was badly timed, I can only apologise profoundly for it. My mental health sometimes makes snap decisions. As I said I am a believer in peace, worldwide. I am sorry again for the ill timing and any o ence.” He deleted his Twitter account after the tweet was widely criticised.

Jewish Labour Movement national chair Mike Katz said White’s actions were

OPEN LETTER TO DIVERSITY CHIEFS

“a gratuitous, misplaced attack”. He added: “British Jews shouldn’t be held responsible for the action of the Israeli government, much less should a political leader be attacked for wishing us Chag Sameach. It’s deeply concerning that Mr White doesn’t recognise this yet he apparently holds a national broadcaster to account on matters of diversity.” The performer and commentator Marlon Solomon also retweeted White’s Starmer post, saying simply: “Absolute state of this.”

Promoting his role at ITV on his LinkedIn page, White states: “Proud as well to be a member of the ITV diversity and inclusion committee. ”

On a further online biog, White is said to be “an accomplished, in-demand, regular broadcaster, and countrywide speaker ... discussing the need for absolute equality and more.

BY ALEX HEARN WRITER

When Keir Starmer wished British Jews a happy Passover, Dan White from ITV’s diversity board replied angrily about an incident involving Palestinians in Jerusalem.

This conflation of British Jews with the government of Israel is the type of reply London Mayor Sadiq Khan gets from the far right about Muslims, except that they are not on diversity boards.

White’s non-apologies about not having “a prejudiced bone” and counter-accusations of critics being against “peace and equality” sound familiar. We heard them from a political party that breached the Equality Act against Jews. Jewish students also heard similar from the National Union of Students.

Anti-Jewish ideas are

becoming normalised among intellectuals and activists. Not only are Jews being excluded from diversity but some people see scapegoating them as a moral duty, just as their predecessors did with religion and ethnicity.

If diversity does not include one of the most persecuted minorities, then it is just a meaningless box-ticking exercise or a myth that society tells itself to sleep better at night.

I don’t want White removed. I would like him and every diversity board member to ask themselves whether they understand the heritage of hate against Jews.

Let’s start here: Jews wrote the concept of equality into law thousands of years ago, so that today you could have things such as diversity boards. After what some of Europe has inflicted on Jews since then, the least you could do is include us without the morally superior lectures or negative stereotypes.

Help us to make memories for Rockey this Pesach

Seder night is a time for family, a time for food, a time for singing and stories. Above all else, Seder night is a time for memories.

As dementia takes hold and Rockey’s memory fades, it is events like the Seder at The Sam Beckman Centre for people living with dementia that help bring it back, even for just a moment.

Rockey, like hundreds of others, relies on the services provided by Jewish Care. These services receive no government funding and rely on the generosity of our community.

This Pesach they rely on you.

Your donation will ensure that even as memories fade for people like Rockey, they still have the opportunity to make new ones, for as long as they last. Thank you.

Call

Sir Keir Starmer (fourth right) at the seder

UN official attacked for ‘terrorism bias’

The International Legal Forum global network of more than 4,000 lawyers and activists has urged the UN to fire ‘immediately’ its special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, writes Joy Falk.

The organisation, which is committed to combating antisemitism, advancing human rights and promoting Middle East peace, wrote to the UN secretary general and the UN high commissioner for human rights expressing “utter dismay and outrage at the abhorrent statements made by Ms Francesca Albanese”.

Albanese issued a statement after two terrorist attacks on Friday which killed three British Israelis in the West Bank and an Italian man in Tel Aviv, saying: “Israel has a right to defend itself, but can’t claim it when it comes to the people it oppresses/whose lands it colonises.”

The forum statement said: “Ms Albanese explicitly and inexcusably said that Israel does not have a right to self-defence against Palestinian terror, thereby directly endorsing the murder of Israeli civilians, including children. She has only further reiterated this position since.

“It is unfathomable that such a statement would ever be made by a UN representative but this is just the latest in Ms Albanese’s relentless, systematic and unhinged bias against Israel.”

The forum accused Albanese of having a “long history of antisemitism and virulent bias”, both before and during her term as special rapporteur.

It said the official used “age-old antise-

NAZI PLAQUE TAKEN DOWN

A plaque on the Isle of Man commemorating a known fascist and Nazi sympathiser has been removed, writes Michelle Rosenberg.

The memorial to Edouard Louage was removed by Peel Town Commissioners after a campaign by the UK special envoy for post-Holocaust issues Lord Eric Pickles, the Association of Jewish Refugees, Insiders/Outsiders, an arts festival celebrating the contribution of refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe to British culture, Jewish Renaissance magazine and the Manx Museum.

dedication is the right thing to do. We should not be honouring those who supported a murderous regime. Through the government’s disastrous policy of internment, proNazis and Jewish refugees who fled Nazism were forced to live side-by-side.”

mitic tropes such as accusing ‘the Jewish lobby’ of controlling the United States”. It also said Albanese is “repeatedly dismissing Israeli security concerns, such as following this most recent wave of terror, as well as comparing Israelis to Nazis, expressing support for the BDS Movement and charging the Jewish state with the heinous crimes of apartheid, genocide and war crimes.”

Louage was a known fascist and Nazi sympathiser who was deported to the Isle of Man as part of the government’s policy of internment in the early 1940s.

The plaque, on Peel Headland, was removed this week, and was returned to Louage’s grandson in Belgium at his own expense.

Lord Pickles said: “Removing this offensive

He added: “Remembering this history, in all its complexity, is critical to understanding the past and how the impact of the Holocaust was felt in our country.

“I pay tribute to all those who supported the refugees during their time on the Isle of Man and all those involved in commemorating this history, including the Association of Jewish Refugees, for mounting a plaque remembering internment.”

Israeli Poland trip changes under fire

Yad Vashem is calling changes to Israeli youth trips to Polish Holocaust sites “inappropriate” and “problematic”.

The changes came last month in a new agreement between Israel and Poland stipulating new sites be added to the students’ itineraries, including some that document Nazi crimes against non-Jewish Poles.

Leading historians have condemned the development, arguing the new rules advance what they call Poland’s track record of obscuring its Holocaust record.

Havi Dreifuss, a Tel Aviv University history professor associated with Yad Vashem, said the new list of sites is “dubious at best and controversial at worst”.

Jan Grabowski, who studies Polish-Jewish Holocaust history and has been prosecuted in Poland over some of his conclusions, called it “a Polish wish-list of where Israeli youth should go – a Holocaust denier’s dream”.

DANKER SACKED BY CBI

The Confederation of British Industry sacked boss Tony Danker this week and suspended three other employees after a series of misconduct allegations rocked the powerful trade body.

The board of the business group, which claims to represent 190,000 companies across the UK, said the Jewish business leader’s conduct “fell short” of what was expected.

The group admitted there had been “serious failings” in how it acted as an organisation and promised to do better.

In posts on his Twitter account, Danker said he “recognised the intense publicity the CBI has suffered following the revelations of awful events that occurred before my time in office”

and was “appalled to learn about them for the first time last week”.

He said he was “shocked” to have been dismissed, claimed allegations against him had been “distorted” but recognised he “unintentionally made a number of colleagues feel uncomfortable and I am truly sorry for that”.

The Guardian said last week it had been approached by more than a dozen women claiming to be victims of various forms of sexual misconduct, including one alleging rape.

The CBI has been rocked by allegations of a toxic workplace culture since Danker was last month accused of allegedly making unwanted contact with a woman who works for the group.

UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese

Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen with Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau last month

Suspended councillor at No 10

A Conservative councillor, previously suspended for social media posts branded “abhorrent and antisemitic” by the Jewish Leadership Council, has been invited to an event at Downing Street by party chairman Greg Hands, writes Lee Harpin.

Ishfaq Hussain, who posted on Facebook that “Jews in Israel are not true Jews”, wrote on 28 March of his “wonderful evening” at Number 10 after attending an iftar with his “friend”, the Peterborough MP Paul Bristow.

Tory chairman Hands, Bristow and Hussain were photographed together outside Downing Street on the evening of the event.

Hussain, who represents Peterborough’s Dogsthorpe ward, was welcomed back by Peterborough Conservatives last year after apologising for a succession of inflammatory posts, was last week also photographed alongside Rishi Sunak on 5 April, during a cam-

paigning session ahead of next month’s local elections.

Posting on social media a photo of himself next to the prime minister, Hussain wrote: “Out canvassing in Dogsthorpe with a special visit from PM Rishi Sunak today.”

Suspended from the Tory Party in April 2020 for the “not true Jews” post, Hussain also posted on Facebook that Israel is part of a “Zionist trilogy” alongside America and Saudi Arabia which “breed terrorists”.

He also previously turned his profile picture into an image with the caption: “This person does not recognise the State of Israel,” while claiming that “Zionism is one of the worst a ictions on the world” and “the Zionists with the help of the UK and America have already occupied 85 percent of Palestine”.

Asked to comment on the decision to invite Cllr Hussain to last month’s Downing Street

event, a Conservative Party spokesperson told Jewish News: “The party does not tolerate racism.

“We take all complaints very seriously and have an established code of conduct and formal processes to ensure complaints can be made in confidence.”

GREEN CANDIDATE BEING INVESTIGATED

The Green Party has confirmed a “formal complaint” has been raised about its candidate standing in Hertsmere at next month’s local elections after it was alerted to historic social media posts said to be a “cause for concern”, writes Lee Harpin.

Joan Bridget Collins is confirmed as the Green candidate in the borough’s Potters Bar Oakmere ward at the 4 May poll in which every borough council seat is up for election.

Her Twitter biog confirms she had previously been a Labour Party member and

supporter of Jeremy Corbyn and still features the hashtag “CorbynWasRight IStandWithCorbyn”.

Tweets shown to Jewish News, and posted on the @ JoannieCo account, appear to include references to “black people” and the “race card”.

But the full context of the posts is unclear. In another post, Collins retweets an article headlined “Trump’s immigration ban was clumsy but he’s right about radical Islam.”

A spokesperson for the Greens confirmed to Jewish News: “Our attention has been

drawn to four tweets from 2010 to 2017 that are cause for concern. The matter has been raised as a formal complaint and will be dealt with via our disciplinary process.”

Jewish News contacted Collins but she has yet to respond.

A Joan Bridget Collins post

Hussain with the PM (left) and at No 10

‘My BBYO days massively influenced my career’

Grant Shapps speaks frankly with Lee Harpin about faith, family and learning from European history

The Conservative minister Grant Shapps has revealed that the decision he and his wife took to move a family from Ukraine into their home to escape Russia’s brutal war was inspired by a recognition that both of their own families once also had to flee pogroms in eastern Europe.

The secretary of state for energy security, and his wife, Belinda, who are both Jewish, invited a grandmother, her mother, and her seven-year-old son from Kyiv, along with their dog, into their home, almost one year ago after responding to the government’s own homes for Ukraine scheme.

“Yes, it was inspired by the fact that our families were chased out by pogroms three generations ago in eastern Europe,” Shapps revealed to Jewish News. “There is that connection.”

In a revealing interview, the 54year-old, who has held senior roles both within his party, and in cabinet for over 13 years, also spoke of how he now considers that his time in the Jewish youth movement BBYO “massively influenced” his career path in Westminster.

As president of the Pinner branch of BBYO, in north-west London, a then 15 year-old Shapps would find himself involved with leadership training courses in Manchester, and even on an international course in Pennsylvania.

“It was the first time I was involved in chairing committees, understanding that process, how hidden agendas work, all sorts of leadership training through that period that most people wouldn’t get until they were in work,” he recalled.

Shapps confirmed that he would remain a staunch supporter of the state of Israel, while not necessarily being impressed by the government of the day there.

He said: “The point I would really make is that I think there’s always a big difference between supporting a nation and supporting a government. You know, there are times when Brits won’t support the government in this country but they still feel Britain is a good product, a great country. I feel the same about Israel.”

Elected as the MP for Welwyn Hatfield in 2005, Shapps’s first ministerial role came five years later, when David Cameron was prime minister, when he was made minister for housing and local government, and a succession of top roles have followed ever since, including a six-day stint as crisis-ridden prime minister LIz Truss’s final home secretary.

Despite his lofty career path, Shapps, also a former party chairman, comes across as remarkably down-to-earth and without bravado during our interview. Perhaps this

is something to do with his background, which might be a familiar one to Jewish News readers.

The son of Beryl and Tony, he describes growing up in a “more traditional, than practising” Jewish household in Croxley Green, Watford. “We belong to the orthodox United Synagogue anyway,” he adds. “But I didn’t grow up in a particularly Jewish part of the world.

“I was born in Croxley Green then we moved to Moor Park. But it wasn’t like we were surrounded by other Jewish families. I went to Watford Grammar School. So I wasn’t in Golders Green or Edgware. It wasn’t like that at all. But as a family, our identity was always as a traditional Jewish family in as much as we are loosely observant, you know... Friday night dinners, shul a couple of times a year.”

Shapps, who took a business course at Manchester Metropolitan University, would later marry his wife Belinda, a practising psychotherapist, who hails from the Prestwich community on the outskirts of the same city. And they now have three children.

It was during a walk with his wife, after Vladimir Putin’s troops had invaded Ukraine last year, when she had suggested to her husband that they should consider bringing over a family from Ukraine into their home.

Shapps recalled how the Homes for Ukraine scheme had offered up the opportunity to help people fleeing conflict in their own country in a way that hadn’t been possible during earlier conflicts in regions such as Syria and Yemen.

“We were on this walk and my wife said to me that if this scheme gets going I’d really like to take a family,” he recalled of the discussions last year. “I mentioned that to my Ukrainian opposite number, Oleksandr Kubrakov, who had written a Facebook post about it.

“I sat down with my daughter and we came up with a list of potential families. A week later we ended up with these three, and their dog. They are a lovely family.”

Asked if the decision to allow the family into their home, where they remain today, was inspired by

a Jewish sense of wanting to help, Shapps responds: “Yes, it was.”

We discuss the debt he also feels he owes his days in BBYO. He came to the movement quite late, as a 14-year-old but says he instantly loved the fact that here “an organisation run for youth by youth. There were no adults there”.

He continues: “I remember thinking, wow, this is a really interesting format. We are running this thing for ourselves and I quickly got involved.”

Shapps recalls reliving his BBYO days with another former member of the youth group in the current cabinet, the current culture secretary Lucy Frazer. “For the first time in history there are two BBYO-nics in the cabinet!” he said, laughing. “

BBYO in his time was connected to the United Synagogue. Shapps recalled that the group remained decidedly “non-Zionist” at this point, with funding for trips to Israel coming after he had moved on.

It was as a student, “with mates”, that Shapps would first come to visit Israel, and he has subsequently gone to the Jewish state either with family, or with government, since.

Last August, on a visit to Israel while transport minister, Shapps announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on behalf of the UK with the Jewish State which would see the nations share expertise on large-scale rail projects through the Department for Transport’s Crossrail International advisory company.

The UK-Israel MOU came as Israel undertakes a multi-billionpound mass transit project in Tel Aviv – the country’s largest and most complicated infrastructure project to ever exist. Last month, he confirmed, he was pleased to be informed that the UK had successfully won the contract.

Throughout the interview, it was clear how at ease Shapps is with his identity as a Jew, British citizen, and as a member of the Conservative Party.

“I’ve always thought of myself as a Brit whose religion is Jewish,” he said. “I am incredibly comfortable as a British citizen. This country just gives opportunities.”

UK digital Yom HaShoah marks ghetto anniversary

The message for this year’s UK Yom HaShoah commemoration is about bringing the community together, writes Michelle Rosenberg.

The event to remember the six million Jews murdered will be streamed live on Monday 17 April at 7.15pm from Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors Centre.

Neil Martin, chair of Yom HaShoah UK, tells Jewish News: “As survivors become less and their movements become more limited, we take the ceremony to Jewish Care, the home of the Holocaust Survivors Centre, to ensure that as many survivors can be at the ceremony. So that while they are able to, every survivor, and every refugee who wants to take part in the ceremony, can.”

Among the 125 guests will be dignitaries including Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl and Jewish Care president, Lord Levy. Ahead of its 80th anniversary on 19 April, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis will lead the tribute to the heroism and the martyrs of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

Martin tells Jewish News: “It’s important to show the fightback. It showed a glimmer of hope. That the Jewish people

35,000 of these have been bought

didn’t just sit there and succumb. There were resistance movements; the Righteous Amongst the Nations who hid Jews. Refugees who went on to fight. There’s a lot to remember.”

Henry Grunwald KC will be co-hosting the ceremony with Game of Thrones German Jewish actress Laura Pradelska, whose four grandparents were survivors.

Holocaust Survivors Centre members speaking at the event include Janine Webber, a survivor of the Lwów Ghetto in

SHADOW MINISTER PRAISES THE JLC

Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine); Auschwitz survivor Ivor Perl and Henny (Henriette) Franks, who came across on the Kindertransport and celebrates her 100th birthday in June.

Martin says he is keen for the community to access the ceremony via their Smart TV’s, telling Jewish News: “You don’t need to watch it crowded around your laptops. Simply go to YouTube on your Smart TV, search for ‘Yom Hashoah UK’ and it will come up. It’s a comfortable way to watch it in broadcast quality.”

He believes it is important that “with your yellow candle and your Smart TV, with your family, sitting on your sofa, you can all light candles simultaneously with people across the UK which wouldn’t have happened without technology. It brings the whole community together as one.”

Thirty-five thousand commemorative Yellow Candles have been bought and organisers are hoping to reach more than the 20,000 viewers in 2022.

The message, says Martin, is about “making this for the next generation”, adding: “This will bring us all together and reminds us all that we can take a day to remember.”

Shadow social care minister Liz Kendall has taken part in a communal round-table event organised by the Jewish Leadership Council focusing on the challenge of caring for an ageing population.

Five JLC members attended: Daniel CarmelBrown (Jewish Care), Richard Franklin (Kisharon), Neil Taylor (Langdon), Naomi Dickson (Norwood) and Jenny Pattinson (Nightingale Hammerson).

At the session there was also discussion about social care funding, supporting those with disabilities and the value of Jewish cultural provision.

Dickson, Norwood chief

executive, said: “I appreciated a chance to tell Liz about the vital person-centred support Norwood o ers members of the Jewish community with learning disabilities autism, enabling them to live full and fulfilling lives.

“Like other social care providers we are experiencing tough times [after] a di cult pandemic and with the cost of living having bitten hard.”

Kendall, the Labour MP for Leicester West, and a strong critic of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, said she was “delighted” to learn more about the work of the JLC members and the challenges they faced.

Liz Kendall (centre) with attendees at the JLC event

‘Humza is an ally to Scottish Jews’

The community is warming to the new first minister, writes Sam Baker

Humza Yousaf’s narrow victory in the Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership race last week demonstrated the size of the rift within the party’s membership. Winning with just 52 percent in the second-round ballot to Kate Forbes’ 48 percent, a dividing line between Yousaf supporting Sturgeonites and the more traditional heartlands of the SNP who backed Forbes has been exposed.

Outside the party’s internal melodrama, Scotland has almost 6,000 Jews. Whether victory went to Yousaf , now the first Muslim leader of a western nation, or Forbes, a committed member of the evangelical Free Church of Scotland, an actively religious first minister was guaranteed.

Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCJC) chair Nicola Livingston, a native Glaswegian, says among the 6,000 there is “every single opinion imaginable”, whether on issues of gender recognition or on independence. Jane Ginsborg, who lives in Sheffield but plans to move soon to Edinburgh where she grew up, jokes “for every two Jews, there are always three opinions.”

Yet despite these contrarian views, Yousaf’s election has been met with rare indi erence by many of Scotland’s Jews, with strong views of him as “unrepresentative.” Many, including Ginsborg, feel his leadership, as the first from a minority religious background to hold the o ce, can only be a positive for Jews and faith relations.

Standing next to Forbes was always going to be di cult for Yousaf to o end. Unlike Forbes, whose campaign was characterised by her anti-same-sex marriage views, the polished 37-year-old adopted largely the same agenda as his predecessor: socially progressive, fer-

vently pro-European and determined to see another independence referendum. His platform quickly earned him the inevitable status of “continuity candidate” – which ultimately marked him out as the “boring candidate”.

Even allegations Yousaf, as a 22-year-old parliamentary assistant, was at a meeting between a former Hamas chief and a Scottish cabinet minister failed to have much impact among Scottish Jews. Livingston said discussion of Yousaf at the meeting was “unhelpful”, even adding: “In politics, you have to speak with people you don’t agree with.”

Many are also excited about the prospect of positive interfaith relations. SCJC director Ephraim Borowski told the Jewish Telegraph Yousaf had been familiar with the Jewish community since his schooldays, when many of his and Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s classmates at Hutchesons’ Grammar School were Jewish.

Borowski also recalled Yousaf being SCJC’s guest speaker when news of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting broke in 2018. He added: “With Humza, we can be sure we will continue to find a sympathetic ear for the concerns of the Jewish community about our religious freedoms as well as our security.”

Danielle Bett, who worked closely with the Scottish Jewish community before leaving Edinburgh in 2021, also had warm experiences of working with Yousaf. She said: “I am certain we will continue to work well with Humza.” She added: “He has shown consistent allyship to the Jewish community,” pointing to his strong condemnation as justice secretary of antisemitic abuse levelled at the former Celtic player Nir Bitton following Celtic’s 2021 clash with Rangers.

Bett recalls a reluctance from many to speak out against the abuse, and appreciated

INDEPENDENCE. DIGNITY. CHOICE.

“ Raymond’s stroke had a devastating effect on both our lives until we moved in to our Jewish Blind & Disabled apartment. Now we enjoy the best of both worlds; independence with a social life on our doorstep.”

Yousaf’s strong stance. She said: “Humza has consistently not been afraid of being an ally to the Jewish community.”

The new first minister told Jewish News: “I am lucky to have always enjoyed close friendships with those in the Jewish community. Scotland should be an inclusive and peaceful society for all faith and belief communities and there is no doubt our Jewish community is a valued part of our society that has greatly contributed to civic life here over many centuries.”

If

you

New SNP leader Hamza Yousaf

News / LGB+ survey / Charity accused

4.5% of Jews identify as LGB+

Around 9,600 members of the Jewish community in England and Wales – roughly 4.5 percent – identify as LGB+, according to latest data released from the 2021 census.

The data also suggests a higher proportion of people with Muslim, Sikh or Hindu backgrounds have a different gender identity from the one at birth than those with a Christian background, though that finding has been queried by Oxford sociologist Michael Biggs, who says the gender question had a convoluted formulation that was probably misunderstood.

There are also higher proportions of people identifying as gay or lesbian, bisexual or another orientation (LGB+) among those who say they are Buddhist or Jewish than Christian.

The census included for the first time questions on sexual orientation and gender identify. The questions were voluntary for people aged 16 and over.

The latest data breaks down the responses for sexuality and gender by various characteristics, including ethnicity and religion. It

shows that 23.7 million people identified as Christian on the day of the census, of which just over 396,000, or 1.7 percent, identified as

LGB+ while 95,000, or 0.4 percent, said their gender was different from the sex registered at birth. Three religious groups had a higher

proportion of people identifying as LGB+, though their overall numbers were smaller. Nearly 246,000 people told the census they identified as Buddhist. Of that total, 7.3 percent (just under 18,000) also identified as LGB+, while almost 214,000 identified as Jewish and of those, 4.5 percent (9,600) identified themselves as LGB+.

However, of the 17.4 million people who told the census they had no religion, nearly 965,000, or 5.6 percent, identified as LGB+.

There were also higher proportions among people identifying as Buddhist (1.3 percent), Sikh (1.0 percent), Hindu (0.9 percent) and Jewish (0.6 percent); the numbers are about 3,000, 4,000, 8,000 and 1,000 respectively.

Dalia Fleming, director of Keshet UK, which champions LGBT people in Jewish life, told Jewish News: “LGBT+ people exist in every community. KeshetUK is dedicated to ensuring all parts of our community understand what they can do to ensure Jewish LGBT+ people are included throughout our community.”

Ex-JWA boss accuses charity of ‘intimidation’

The former chief executive of Jewish Women’s Aid (JWA), pictured, who left the role after just one month, has taken to

social media to accuse the charity of ‘intimidation’.

Alison Rosen, the former head of WIZO, was announced in January as successor to Naomi Dickson. Rosen officially began

work in the role in March, taking over from Dickson, who was asked to lead the Jewish charity Norwood late last year.

However, Rosen left after one month, saying: “I was very much

aligned with the values of the organisation and the tremendous work that the charity does with women to prevent abuse. With that in mind, I was shocked to be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement

about my departure.” She has now taken to Facebook to shed further light on her abrupt exit, writing: “Intimidating people to sign an NDA is not good practice. I am now putting this episode behind me.”

Jews are placed third in England and Wales’ list of LGB+ people who registered a religion

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Last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor dies, aged 103

Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving member of the prosecuting team at the Nuremberg trials that convicted Nazi ringleaders for crimes against humanity, died on Friday evening in Florida. He was 103.

Ferencz was 27 and a graduate of Harvard Law School when he was named as chief prosecutor at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, in which 20 members of the SS’s mobile death squads were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Two others were convicted of membership of a criminal organisation.

Slight and boyish-looking, he is seen in newsreel footage speaking deliberately and passionately in an accent shaped by his upbringing in Manhattan.

“Vengeance is not our goal, nor do we seek merely a just retribution,” he tells the tribunal. “We ask this court to affirm by international penal action man’s right to live in peace and dignity, regardless of his race or creed. The case we present is a plea of humanity to law.”

Ferencz, who was born in Transylvania and immigrated to the United States with his Jewish family as an infant, went on to play a key role on the team that

negotiated the 1952 reparations agreements under which West Germany agreed to pay $822m to the State of Israel and to groups representing survivors. He was featured in two recent documentaries: Ken Burns’ PBS series The US and the Holocaust and Reckonings: The First Reparations, a 2022 film partfunded by the German government.

He joined the Army after graduation from Harvard, where he was eventually assigned to the headquarters of Gen George Patton’s Third Army and a team tasked with collecting evidence for war crimes.

At Buchenwald, he once recalled, “I saw crematoria still going. The bodies starved, lying dying, on the ground. I’ve seen the horrors of war more than can be adequately described.”

He is survived by a son and three daughters. His wife, Gertrude, died in 2019.

Ambassador hosts Jobbik Party leader at seder

The US ambassador to Hungry has provoked anger by inviting the controversial Jobbik Party leader to a seder at his residence alongside leaders of the country’s Jewish community, writes Alexander Faludy.

Party leader Márton Gyöngyösi has been persona non grata in Hungary’s

Jewish circles for over a decade. In 2012 he sparked international outcry following a speech at Hungary’s parliament in which he called for drawing up lists of Jews who pose a “national security risk.” Gyöngyösi’s remarks occurred amid a parliamentary question to then deputy Foriegn Minister

W WE BUY ANTIQUES

Zsolt Németh on Hungary’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Reminded by Nemeth of the importance to good bi-lateral relations of the Jewish community in Hungary, Gyöngyösi said: “The time has come to consider making a list of Jews in the country, especially those who are in

High school removes Anne Frank book

A public high school in Florida has removed an adaptation of Anne Frank’s DiaryofaYoung Girl from its library. It is the second known instance of this edition of the book being swept up by conservatives seeking to purge schools of literature they consider inappropriate. The principal’s office of Vero Beach High School, in a community on Florida’s east coast, decided to remove AnneFrank’sDiary: TheGraphicAdaptation from its library because it was deemed to be “not age-appropriate”.

Politician arrested at abortion demo

the Hungarian Parliament, who pose a national security risk.”

Gyöngyösi also made controversial remarks in a 2012 interview, claiming:

“It has become a fantastic business to jiggle around with the numbers” when asked about the 565,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

The Jewish head of Florida’s Democratic Party was arrested at a protest for abortion rights, along with 10 other demonstrators. Nikki Fried was detailed outside Tallahassee City Hall while opposing a proposed six-week abortion ban in Florida passed by the state senate. Fried last year mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. She became the state Democratic Party chair earlier this year.

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Nazis in the dock and (inset) Benjamin Ferencz

Rabbi Dee’s words ring in our ears

Continued from page 1

“I am saddened that recently, maybe over the last 20 years, this innate ability to differentiate between good and evil, has gradually been lost from humanity.” It is the mark of a good rabbi to find the right words, even though the Jewish world was united in wishing he didn’t have to. At least that love was felt by the Dee family, who described it as “a big hug”.

Leah’s organs went to five people – five life-saving gifts from someone whose life was ended early by unimaginable bitterness and hatred and bullets. The donation did good in this world. It meant that good came from bad. Many readers will be reminded of Yoni Jesner, a 19-year-old from Glasgow on a gap year in Israel when he was killed in a 2002 suicide bombing on a bus in Tel Aviv. His organs saved the lives of two Jewish men and a Palestinian girl.

For Rabbi Dee, formerly senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue and an assistant rabbi in Hendon, his world is shattered. Likewise for his surviving daughters, who have lost two sisters and a mother. Every prayer is for them now. No one who has read the countless messages of love and support on social media in recent days can fail to have been profoundly moved by the response from Jews and non-Jews the world over.

For the wider world, this grotesque violence has been visceral, visual, audible, and personal, but it is not isolated. Tensions continue to mount, particularly on Israel’s northern border and in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Yeserday Jerusalem police said they had foiled two stabbing attacks in recent days. And an Israel’s police chief has urged gun owners to carry them.

Amid all the hurt, agony, loss, and sorrow, Rabbi Dee’s words – about knowing and doing good – should ring in everyone’s ears. Evil can neither prosper nor endure. We owe it to the Dee family to help make it so.

JEWISH NEWS CONTACT DETAILS

Why we will never choose to fly El Al to Israel again

On 27 March my wife, who is an Israeli passport holder, and I were hoping to fly home from Tel Aviv on El Al.

That day the Histadrut labour union announced a general strike. El Al told us to go to Ben Gurion airport and check in as normal. We waited in the departure lounge for boarding instructions.

Thirty minutes after our departure time we were told that due to the strike our flight had been cancelled. The same time departure with Virgin Atlantic to London left on time.

The two uninterested staff at the desk told everyone to go to the baggage hall, which meant re-entering passport control first (long queues), before we collected our suitcases and went to the third floor for hotel assistance and rebooking. We achieved this after almost two hours.

The EL Al desk on the third-floor desk was besieged by irate travellers, not unreasonably requesting hotel information and rebooking flight information. They were told “There is a strike, we cannot help you.”

We were given a phone number for rebook-

THIS WEEKEND'S SHABBAT TIMES...

night 7.41pm Shabbat goes out Saturday night 8.47pm Sedra: Shemini

ing our return flight – that number was permanently engaged. We returned to the hotel in Tel Aviv in which we had spent the past week.

Early the next morning I did get through and was told that the earliest flight we could board was on Thursday. That would have meant missing a family bris the day before. We went to a travel agency in the Dizengoff Centre who could only find flights at a price of $1,250 per person in economy or at regular prices for Friday.

We reluctantly flew back with El Al. At no time did we receive an apology from them or an offer to assist with hotel accommodation. Will we ever fly with them again? Never.

Alan Main, Stanmore

GUARDIAN MORALS BRAVO BRAVERMAN

I don’t expect many Jewish News readers also read The Guardian so they may have missed how that newspaper decided to report the murders of Maia and Rina Dee, killed by a gunman or gunmen while on a driving holiday. The Guardian seemed to suggest the murderous attack may have been a road accident, writing in its report that the incident “has been described as a terror attack”. What moral universe does The Guardian editor inhabit?

Zoe Trinkle, By email

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Letter writer David Frencel is spot on. Friendship is demonstrated by deeds, not words. That is why Suella Braverman is a true friend of the Jewish people. At the CST dinner at which she was guest speaker, she announced a special task force and an extra £1m to combat antisemitism. She correctly judged the mood of mainstream Anglo Jewry by refusing to meet the Board of Deputies president to discuss the immigration bill as a chutzpah, having no relevance to our community. The peerless (non-Jewish) author and commentator Douglas Murray once said it’s hard to convey in words the contempt in which Anglo Jewry holds the Board. Braverman similarly has her finger on the pulse.

Warren S Grossman, Leytonstone

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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.

A Pesach to remember, but it’s for all the wrong reasons

JENNI FRAZER

Dinner on Friday night at our Tel Aviv hotel, where we were staying for Pesach, was an absolute zoo. There must have been easily 500 people, all trying to eat at once and catch the eye of the harassed waiters and waitresses. Languages from everywhere and nowhere could be heard: a group of Sephardim led what sounded like a football chant on one side of the vast dining hall.

The atmosphere was relaxed and jolly: the sound was of the diaspora enjoying itself. Yes, there was renewed tension on the Temple Mount, but that was Jerusalem. Here in Tel Aviv, all was calm.

Within an hour, all that changed. Some people went out to walk o their massive meal. They would have been gently strolling across the Tayelet, the seafront promenade along the city coastline, home to runners, cyclists and dog-walkers from day to night.

From our room, suddenly, we heard what

sounded like fireworks. Improbable, I said, though in Tel Aviv it’s always better to expect the unexpected. But soon there was the wail of police and ambulance sirens, as a terrorist incident played itself out in real time across the street from our balcony.

An Israeli Arab drove at a group of people walking on the Tayelet, killing one young Italian man and injuring seven more, some of whom — though this is purely incidental — are British tourists.

Earlier in the day the news had filtered through of the murder of two British-born sisters in a terrorist attack on the West Bank.

Not fireworks, but gunshots. The wouldbe killer — for let us not mince words, that is what he was trying to do — is said to have taken out a rifle from his car before veering on to the grassed area that skirts the beach.

Though all other traces of the attack have been removed, the tyre tracks which his car gouged into the grass are still visible,.

Around 40 separate police cars drew up in and around the petrol station on the main road. Soon the TV cameras and the reporters

ANOTHER DREADFUL EVENT – AND YET TEL

showed up. It’s become a sadly well-known and practised scenario, in which everyone knows his or her part. The Israeli Arab was “neutralised”— cop-speak for shot dead.

Since my daily round more generally figures somewhat pedestrian activities, rather than crazed shooters, there was an element of surrealism about the whole dreadful event. And yet Tel Aviv — like Israel as a whole — took the attack in its stride.

On Saturday night after Shabbat, crowds of thousands gathered in cities

all over Israel to make the point, for the third month running, of their anxiety and antipathy to the proposed “reforms” put forward by the Netanyahu government.

For the Tel Aviv protesters there was an extra piquancy to their event. It began with a minute’s silence and a giant poster featuring Netanyahu as Pharaoh, with the appropriately Pesach slogan Let My People Go

Many commentators have already laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Netanyahu government, describing its leader as “Crime Minister”.

In this new administration’s short time in o ce, one thing is true — its achievements are few to recount, while the glories of the “Start-Up Nation” appear to have been lost in a welter of international condemnation over the shambolic extremist coalition.

None of this helps the family of Alessandro Parisi, whose memory should be for a blessing.

Nor does it help the Dee family, bereaved of two daughters and a mother.

This certainly is a Pesach to remember.

AVIV, LIKE ISRAEL AS A WHOLE, TOOK THE ATTACK IN ITS STRIDE

Zigi knew laughter is often our best defence

DARREN RICHMAN

AUTHOR

In the aftermath of my grandfather’s death, we were inundated with messages of condolence. The royal family, Arsenal Football Club and other less problematic institutions reached out to let our family know what Zigi meant to them. Students, teachers and academics spoke of hearing the man share his testimony and the profound e ect it had on the course of their lives. One tribute in particular stood out when it arrived in the form of a direct message on Twitter from a journalist: “I would never share this story in a more public setting, but for you, as his grandson...

“I was covering a Yom Hashoah event once and I was at his table, talking to him and a few other survivors.

A waitress came around with some cake and gave one of the other survivors a slice that was on the small size. Zigi turned to her and said, “Give him another or he’ll think he’s back

in the camps!” My face...I mean, no one else in the WORLD could make that joke.”

Zigi would not have thought twice about making that joke and nor should he. At his talks, he would stress that he did not want people to leave feeling bereft but would rather make them laugh and get the sense that the man stood before them loved life.

Judging by the messages we received and the manifold talks I attended, he successfully made people laugh while also making clear the true horrors of the Holocaust. In a sense, he did the same with the joke.

As Zigi’s grandson and a man who’s spent the better part of the last couple of decades thinking about humour and how it works, the cake comment caused me to reflect on the ways in which humour and the holocaust are more entwined than one might assume. Mel Brooks has spent a lifetime satirising Nazis but was appalled by the Oscar-winning Life is Beautiful because he felt no comedy film should take place, even in part, within a concentration camp. We each have our own set of rules but it would be impossible to claim Zigi hadn’t earned the right to make his joke.

The American Jewish comic Richard Belzer told a version of the following joke in one of his final recorded interviews earlier this year:

Cohen lives in Berlin in 1933. He’s walking along the street one day when Hitler drives up in a Volkswagen and leaps out with a Luger pistol in his hand. He snarls: “Get down in the gutter and eat the filth like the dog you are, Jew!”

Cohen has no choice but to obey and eat the filth. Hitler is so amused by what he sees that he drops the gun and Cohen senses his opportunity, picks it up and says, “Your turn, mein Führer.”

Later that night Cohen returns home and his wife asks how his day went.

“Not bad. You’ll never guess who I had lunch with!”

Belzer died a month after my grandfather and his last words, after years of ill health, were reportedly, “F*** you, motherf****r.” This heady cocktail of defiance and humour in the face of death seems to me particularly Jewish.

It is unsurprising he told the Hitler gag so close to the end since it reflects his mood as

clearly as George Orwell’s words on the page in his race against time to finish 1984 before his demise.

The joke opens ominously and builds in intensity before providing the kind of release and relief so rarely found in real life with its unlikely scene of convivial domesticity. Jokes, by and large, tend to have more joyful endings than lives.

Darren with his grandfather Zigi Shipper

Time for Labour to reach the Promised Land at last

as I waited on the party to show that under its new leadership action would be taken on antisemitism.

Slightly less than five years ago, at the peak of Labour’s antisemitism crisis, I resigned as a party member after working for a Labour MP, canvassing for candidates and even standing twice in local elections. The final straw for me was the July 2018 decision of the party’s National Executive Committee not to adopt the full IHRA definition of antisemitism.

My fight against antisemitism in the Labour Party continued from the outside, in particular by being part of the Board of Deputies, where I was involved in devising the Jewish community strategy of dealing with the problem.

Our ‘Enough is Enough’ demo managed to bring to Parliament Square thousands of Jews from all parts of our diverse community – who could have believed that Jeremy Corbyn would manage to unite the Jews in such a way?

I therefore welcomed with cautious optimism the election of Sir Keir Starmer as the new Labour leader after the party in 2019 achieved its worst result in an election since 1935. However, I have not re-joined,

It was clear this wouldn’t be a quick fix but a lengthy process where the party would have to do better on the disciplinary side but also on the training side.

It was a breath of fresh air to see antisemitic councillors suspended swiftly and antisemitic members expelled, yet there was and still are a handful of MPs who downplay the severity of Labour’s antisemitism crisis and claim it was ‘weaponised’ by the Jewish community, even after the EHRC report was quite clear how Labour committed ‘unlawful acts’ and failed to tackle the problem.

The party reaction to EHRC and the action plan it announced were steps in the

right direction, as was removing the whip from Jeremy Corbyn. The creation of the antisemitism advisory board was a major step to address the findings of the EHRC report as the board would include senior members from Jewish Leadership Council, Board of Deputies, CST, Jewish Labour Movement and Antisemitism Policy Trust.

Last week, when Labour’s NEC decided to bar Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate at the next election, it became clear to me it was now safe for me to re-join the party I love.

I have received a lot of messages of support from friends in the party who I know and from many I don’t know – the common theme was happiness to see me back at home, and at such a crucial time when the country needs a Labour government after 13 years of Tory shambles.

I am under no illusions that the problem of antisemitism has been eradicated completely in Labour, but I’m confident now it won’t run rampant.

I hope I can dedicate my time as a party member now to do more door-knocking, helping the wonderful Jas Athwal to become Ilford South’s next MP, supporting my MP and friend Wes Streeting in his important work as shadow health and social care secre-

tary – and, who knows, maybe at some point in the future standing again for election as a Labour candidate.

The timing couldn’t be more apt as we have been reading as part of Passover the story of exodus, which tells us how the Israelites were in exile in Egypt and eventually, after being oppressed, managed to escape and eventually found the promise land.

I and thousands of other British Jews were in exile and not for a short time, but now I’m back home and I sincerely hope I can give confidence to more comrades to join and help Labour to win the next election – as we say, L’shana Habaa

The obscene rationale of random retaliation

Last week, mainstream lovers of Israel doubtless watched in horror as crazed Israeli police were televised beating Palestinians with batons as they lay on the ground outside the Al Aqsa mosque.

No context of security considerations could conceivably excuse such brutality, which sadly brought to mind similar footage of so-called police attacking demonstrators in that host of countries ruled over by oppressive regimes.

The inflammatory e ect it will have worked on the latest generation of Palestinian Arabs already poisoned by decades of the big naqba lie is not hard to imagine.

Yet sickening as it was to observe the mishtara in action, it pales into insignificance compared with the random ambushing and murder of Anglo-Israeli sisters Rina and Maia Dee and their mother, who subsequently succumbed to her injuries.

It has been reported Hamas “praised”

the attack (and the Tel Aviv car attack) as “retaliation” for the Al Aqsa raids. If accurately reported, it is noteworthy Hamas did not cite Israel’s air attacks on Gaza as legitimating the Dee killings.

Presumably the air raids were accepted by Hamas as a response to the rockets from Gaza and Lebanon. Those followed the Al Aqsa raids and since most were neutralised by the Iron Dome shield, it may be deduced the Dee murders and the Tel Aviv incident were deemed sanctionable as replacement retaliation.

Even according to the Islamic fundamentalist interpretation of Lex Talionis – the prin-

ciple of tit-for-tat – the murders were of course utterly disproportionate. No one knows what might have been in the mind of the killer or killers but it is significant Hamas, as the o cial embodiment of would-be genocide, sought by praising them to draw an equivalence between non-fatal beating and homicide.

The episode again demonstrates the haphazard and muddled rationale behind Islamic fundamentalism, rooted as it is in the quasi-theocratic doctrine of qisas, the sacred duty to exact revenge in like measure.

Qisas does not require vengeance personally on the supposedly deserving criminal. If you can’t kill that individual, any old soft target will do, provided it is loosely associated with the original perpetrator. It could be regimental colleagues, family members or friends, fellow citizens or members of the same community.

It might even stretch to people only tenuously connected. The ultimate barbarism here is the Lockerbie bombing. On 4 July 1988, an IranAir jet carrying 290 passengers and crew was shot down by the American guided-missile cruiser Vincennes in the Gulf of Iran, with the loss of all on board.

The Vincennes was engaged at the time in a skirmish with Iranian fast patrol boats and mistook the jetliner for an Iranian F-14A Tomcat heading in to attack the ship. The Reagan administration’s lame attempts to excuse the disaster only added salt to the wound. Incensed, Iran embarked on qisas by collaborating with Palestinian terrorists to destroyPanAm 103 over Lockerbie the following 21 December with 270 killed.

Apart from the fact the victims were presumptively innocent, it mattered not to the Iranian government that many among them were not even US citizens and the 11 killed by falling debris were Lockerbie residents.

ANTISEMITISM IN LABOUR HAS NOT BEEN EADICATED BUT I AM CONFIDENT IT WILL NO LONGER RUN RAMPANT

ANY OLD SOFT TARGET WILL DO FOR REVENGE IF LOOSELY CONNECTED TO THE PERPETRATOR

DAVID WOLCHOVER

BARRISTER & AUTHOR

Sir Keir Starmer with the Board of Deputies

Lucy Dee

1MATZAH ON WHEELS

David, 99, was one of hundreds of Jewish Care’s meals on wheels clients delighted to receive matzah with his meal delivered by Jewish Care in preparation for Pesach. Jewish Care community centre members and members of centres for people living with dementia all received matzah for Passover.

2 HAIRCUT 1,000

Eleven-year-old Sarah Garson cut her long hair for the second time in aid of Chai, raising £1,808. Sarah said: “I know that there are little children who are not well, who sadly don’t have any hair. My hair will be made into a wig, so that other children like me, can also have hair on their head.” Sarah’s hair will be donated to Zichron Menachem, which makes much-needed wigs for children who have lost their hair during medical treatment.

3 COMMUNITY SEDER

East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue (ELELS) hosted their community seder at Clore Tikva School. Rabbi Richard and Emeritus Rabbi David Hulbert led the service, which was attended by more than 90 members and friends of the committee. Ruth Seager, chair of Liberal Judaism and ELELS member, warmly welcomed special guests Lynn Cullen, Bishop of Barking, and the venerable Elwin Crockett Archdeacon of West Ham.

4PROFITABLE LUNCH

More than 140 guests enjoyed an afternoon at the Local Angels Lunch whilst raising £32,000 in support of Jewish Care’s services for older people in Redbridge and Essex. Special guest, Claire Sweeney, actress, singer and television personality, entertained guests with stories from stage and screen. Picture: Claire Jonas Photography

5MEMORIAL WALKS

Woodside Park United synagogue’s ‘Now Old(er) Young Families’ Group walked in memory of two inspirational women, Elisabeth Barkany and Ruth Tunkel, who both died too young. Some £,1500 was raised in their honour for North London Hospice, which provided expert care.

6FOOTBALL SUCCESS

Spring term at Wolfson Hillel in PE has been very exciting. Year 5 & 6 girls won the Enfield League and finished unbeaten. Year 6 boys came second in the Enfield League but grew and improved as a team throughout each match. The boys’ team is also in the quarter final of

Yizkor, Remember

There were 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, murdered by shootings, starvation, slave labour and industrialised killings in death camps. Of these victims, 1.5 million were children, cruelly denied a future, and innocent of any crimes, apart from the perceived one of being born Jewish.

It is Yad Vashem UK’s aim to ensure that each named Jewish victim has a memorial candle lit in their honour on every HMD and Yom HaShoah.

Guardian of the Memory aims to ensure that the victims’ life stories are never forgotten, becoming part of our own treasured family histories.

Please visit:

www.guardianofthememory.org

to become a Guardian of the Memory of one victim and ensure they will NEVER be FORGOTTEN nor their EXISTENCE DENIED.

Guardian of the Memory Project

David Baddiel turns to religion Fun in Philadelphia

ranging from “subtle antisemitism, like ‘you’re not Jewish because your nose isn’t big’ and almost-Nazi antisemitism – quite extreme”.

Prof Sabine von Mering, who teaches German language and culture at Brandeis University in Massachussetts, says: “Antisemitism and other forms of hate are spreading fast and borderless on social media.”

She argues that “much more e ective content moderation” needs to be done. She also touches on the issues of social media algorithms promoting hate speech and says: “Most users are not aware that counter speech, engaging in any form with antisemitic

Jewish content creators are racking up three billion views on #JewishTikTok. This is notably more than other social media platforms – on Instagram, #Jewish has 2.3 million posts and #JewishLife has about 250,000. Jewish TikTokers are using this surge in attention to share their religion and culture to address antisemitism and educate the non-Jews, who of course make up the majority of TikTok users.

Melinda Strauss (@therealmelindastrauss), who lives in New York, is just one of several Jewish content creators who are using TikTok to try to reduce the prejudices of antisemitic discourse. Melinda

says: “I’ve been blogging since 2011. I was a kosher food blogger and then I started sharing about Judaism and answering people’s questions. I began posting on TikTok in 2021.” She now has nearly 800,000 followers, amassing around 80 million likes across her videos. Most of her viewers are non-Jewish, which leads to curiousity about her lifestyle.

Melinda tackles antisemitism by answering questions and spreading accurate information. Her most popular video, titled What are the Kosher Laws?, has 2.4 million views. It shows Melinda, her eyes bright and wearing a big smile throughout, speaking for about two minutes explaining what is and what isn’t kosher. It is easy to watch and understand, and most importantly her chatty tone keeps the viewers’ attention.

She says: “My aim is education. I learned through TikTok that there are people around the world who’ve never spoken to a Jewish person. They have never had these questions answered and have always thought that Judaism looks a certain way.”

In another video, titled Why do People feel so Comfortable Hating Jews?, Melinda talks about her experience of antisemitism on TikTok. She opens up about some of the “monstrous” comments she receives, and about some of the good experiences she has enjoyed on the app.

Despite the problems of online antisemitism, Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport (@rabbiraps) , the self-proclaimed ‘TikTok

Rabbi’, has experienced first-hand the positive side of TikTok in tackling antisemitism. He has nearly 200,000 followers and spoke about one particular user who changed their views completely after watching his videos, which mostly consist of informative explanations about Judaism and clips of his day-to-day life.

He says: “I actually had a fella reach out to me to apologise. I said, ‘Why are you apologising?’ He said he was raised in a community that had less than desirable things to say about Jewish people and other minorities. And he said he believed those views for a long time as he was very involved in a white supremacist group.

“He watched my TikTok videos and he started to feel like he actually knew a real Jewish person. He wrote me a long letter apologising for having such negative views, thanking me for putting out information and informing me that he has since distanced himself from that movement.”

Rabbi Avrohom’s experience shows the power of #JewishTikTok and related videos in spreading accurate information and changing peoples’ views. However, despite his positive experience, it shows that there is a lot of hate on the platform. Research suggests that between 2020 and 2021 there was a nine-fold (912 percent) increase in antisemitic comments on TikTok alone. It would appear that the increase in Jewish social media creators and their subsequent rise in popularity goes hand in hand with the persistence of modern-day antisemitism.

Molly Rankine (@ mollyrankinex), is one of the few British Jewish creators on the app.

Molly says she experiences a mixture of responses to her videos,

posts by disliking, sharing or commenting on them, actually promotes them further.”

There have been developments towards better handling of antisemitic comments on the app.

In 2021, TikTok announced continued commitment to fighting antisemitism. This includes strengthening policies and systems against antisemitic content and working with partners such as the World Jewish Congress. According to a TikTok spokesperson, in 2022 the app introduced search interventions to tackle antisemitism. These include a permanent public service announcement directing users to www.aboutholocaust.org and a collection of hashtags relating to the Holocaust and Jewish people.

With billions of views and counting, it’s fair to say that Jewish TikTokers are a powerful force.

Jewish TikTokers are using the platform to combat antisemitism, writes Alesia Fiddler

First Jews don’t count, now Jehovah. As he existentially approaches 60, David Baddiel is on a Blues Brothers mission from God (more on Him later) to shape the zeitgeist.

The piercing moral clarity of his first TLS extended essay, Jews Don’t Count, reframed the antisemitism debate – ripping the dressing o a sore at the centre of progressive politics. The 2021 bestseller spawned a recent Channel 4 documentary and an eponymous viral hashtag. British Jews owe him a great debt.

It would, however, be a seasplitting miracle if The God Desire has anything like the same impact. In picking apart our ravenous mortal hunger for God, the iconoclast has bitten o way more than he can Jew.

In the beginning, Baddiel makes clear that he would dearly love there to be a guy in the sky – “a superhero dad” landlord who puts us up in “post-death neighbourhoods” – but understood long ago that desire “provides no frame for reality”.

Rather, God’s absence outside our vivid imagination is just a “deeply depressing” fact for anyone who doesn’t much care for dying. “Death is necessary and makes more sense than – whatever

the Bee Gees might say – staying alive,” he laments.

His logic, if logic applies, is sound. After all, if you think Santa has his work cut out on Christmas Eve, spare a thought for planning post-death accommodation for the 120 billion humans who have lived and died on this planet in the last 200,000 years – not to mention all other possible intelligent lifeforms in our 14 billion-year-old (or 6,000-year-old) God-created Universe. We’re talking town planning that makes Milton Keynes look like my son’s Lego set.

Baddiel coins the term “Oblivion knowledge” to diagnose the desire of the book’s title – that niggling sense we all share that there was an eternity before we were born and there will be an eternity after we’ve gone. He writes: “Every bishop and imam and rabbi knows this, and that’s why so many pray so fervently. We pray and pray and pray, to drive out that knowledge.”

Mark Twain put it more optimistically: “I was dead for billions of years before I was born and never su ered the smallest inconvenience.”

The book’s sweet spot lands when Baddiel, who has very observant relatives, separates his rejection of the Jewish God with

a ection for the Jewish faith. To be a Jew “you don’t have to have much of a sense of God”, he writes. “What you need is a sense of ritual.” Which explains his atavistic a ection for ancient Jewish traditions such as Kaddish, the mourner’s prayer.

He writes about sobbing at the end of Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, a play about a Jewish family fleeing persecution, noting: “Jewish culture and traditions have strongly influenced me, and nothing can change the facts of my predominantly Jewish heritage.”

For Baddiel, the handy thing about erasing God from Judaism is that he “doesn’t have to process the idea that (friends and family) might be properly clever yet deeply believe something I hold to be absurd… It’s like having to process the idea that some of your friends might be really smart but also have an intense form of OCD.”

To demonstrate a cognitive dissonance perhaps unique to Judaism (and why there are so many branches of the faith, from strictly-Orthodox to secular humanists – it’s a Baskin-Robbins religion) he recalls turning down an invite to light Chanukah candles by telling the rabbi he’s an atheist. “So am I!” replies the rabbi.

Baddiel accepts that while you don’t gotta have God, you gotta

have faith. Something to believe in. Comparing football to faith, he predictably dredges up the lyrics of his flogged-to-death song Three Lions as an example of England supporters hoping against hope that the team might win something after 60 years. “I know that was then, but it could be again…”

The author is emphatic without yelling at the reader as does Richard Dawkins (whose 2006 book has a similar title) or AC Grayling, who witheringly accuses believers of “failing in their responsibility to themselves as intelligent beings”. The God Desire is an a ectionate two fingers up to faith.

There’s plenty to ponder whenever this wise and witty mortal whips out his chisel and tablets of stone, but being privy to another person raging against the dying of the light tends to be as riveting as hearing about their abstract dreams or fun-filled fortnight in Fuerteventura. It’s a discussion to have with the mirror or psychiatrist rather than with the reader. We’ve all got our existential struggle to juggle. No amount of God gags will make us less antsy.

Baddiel can’t shift the dial on a chicken and egg debate older than chickens or eggs – consciousness creates God/God creates consciousness. He can’t pull the sword

from the primordial stone or move the reader towards his view as masterfully managed in Jews Don’t Count. This book – a 94-page, one-sitting read – is simply the equivalent of a few beers with a funny, philosophical bloke down the pub.

Which, after all, isn’t the worst way to while away a few hours in this meaningless abyss. Or stairway to heaven.

3/5

• The God Desire by David Baddiel (hardback) is published by TLS Books/ HarperCollins at £9.99

It would be a sea-splitting miracle if The God Desire has the cultural impact of the author’s previous bestseller, writes Richard Ferrer. This time the iconoclast bites o more than he can Jew

The Philly Season

New York, Los Angeles and Orlando may be the north American cities we Brits flock to, but somewhat neglected Philadelphia should be in that list too. I arrived there feeling unexpectedly perky. The direct flights from London being full, I had taken my second choice, which involved a brief stopover in Ireland. Dublin is one of the few worldwide hubs that operates US immigration. This meant that on landing I could go straight though the airport, avoiding those notorious stateside queues.

Philly has been sister city to Tel Aviv since 1966. Both have been sites of declarations — the US Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776, and the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948.

The sixth largest city in the US was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker.

Penn was given the land, favourably situated between the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers, because the English king owed a debt to his wealthy father. It became really significant in the 18th century as the central meeting place for the nation’s founding fathers. Their plans and actions inspired and resulted in the American Revolution and here, at the second Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence was signed. Penn’s statue on the top of City Hall looms over the city, and for almost 90 years an unwritten gentleman’s agreement forbade any building from rising above his shiny bronze hat.

A great way for tourists to familiarise themselves with the main sites in this attractively laid-out

Lucy Daltro visits Tel Aviv’s sister city in the USA

confirms that religious liberty in this new country is an inherent national right. At a time when tolerance was the highest expectation for most Jews, this was a gamechanger.

metropolis is to ride the ‘hop on and o ’ Big Bus Tour. One of the 27 stops is Love Park, home of Robert Indiana’s eminently instagrammable LOVE statue.

Other stops include the Barnes Foundation, which is one of the world’s greatest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist and modern art, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, whose steps featured in the film Rocky; part of Sylvester Stallone’s training regime was to run up them at speed.

With my head full of new

experiences, I grabbed lunch at the Reading Terminal Market, which dates from 1893 and o ers a convenient way to try a huge range of global cuisines, ranging from Amish stalls that o er fresh foods from nearby Lancaster County to Hershel’s huge matzah balls and hot deli sandwiches, where the meat is carved to order. The queue was long, as befits an eatery such as this in as city with a Jewish population almost double the size of London’s.

Israeli-born chef Michael Solomonov, the famed restaurateur, is the owner of Zahav, one of the most

popular restaurants in Philadelphia. I wish I could write a review but to get a table it is necessary to book many weeks in advance – and sadly I never got there!

The most famous synagogue is in the middle of Independence Park, a position which underlines its historical significance.

Mikveh Israel is known as The Synagogue of the Revolution because of the active role played by its many members in the founding of the United States. It is the oldest continuous synagogue in America and dates back to 1740.

During the War of Independence, Jews from New York, Richmond and other cities fled to Philadelphia, seeking refuge from the British.

The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History started in the synagogue building but since 1976 has had its own grand premises on the Independence Mall.

On the fourth floor visitors can see a letter written in 1790 by the first President of the United States, George Washington, replying to a request from Jewish leader Moses Seixas. In the letter Washington

Seeing practical evidence of history makes it come alive and it was also a privilege to see this original correspondence in a Jewish Museum, as many other places could have housed this important artefact of early American history.

Jane Golden, founder of Mural Art Philadelphia – a charitable concern – is a well-known Jewish Philly resident. At one time a huge number of walls in this city were covered in gra ti but in a spectacular turnaround instigated by Jane these spaces are now inspiring, vibrant art displays. Specialised tours explain how residents of under-privileged neighbourhoods can blossom by engaging in large visual art projects.

“I think that doing my job has actually put me more in touch with my Jewish faith than almost anything else has,” says Jane. “My involvement is tied to Judaism’s notion of giving back, installed in me by my parents.”

Jane’s organisation provides consulting services all over the world and countless developers have approached her, expressing their gratitude for revitalising their neighbourhoods. Statistics seven show that students involved in Mural Arts programmes have higher rates of graduation.

Hershel’s huge matzah balls and hot deli sandwiches are very popular

The Independence National Historical Park in central Philly

Zahav restaurant is owned by Israeli chef Michael Solomonov

Walls of graffiti have been transformed into vibrant murals

Sights and sounds: the Love sculpture, the Museum of Art steps (seen in the film Rocky) and the Liberty Bell

The statue of William Penn, the English Quaker who founded the city

Business / TIPA

With Candice Krieger candicekrieger@googlemail.com

GOOD THINGS COME IN COMPOSTABLE PACKAGES

Daphna Nissenbaum, boss of eco experts TIPA, calls on the government to back businesses in switching to biodegradable material. By Candice Krieger

The co-founder of a pioneering packaging company is calling on the UK government to do more to support businesses in tackling plastic pollution.

The government recently announced a ban on single-use plastic cutlery and plates as part of its war on plastic, but Daphna Nissenbaum, whose company TIPA makes compostable packaging as an alternative to plastic, says ministers need to encourage businesses, brands and retailers actively to switch to compostable materials.

“In the UK, only four percent of flexible packaging is recyclable – 96 percent goes to landfill in the ocean,” she says. “The government needs to encourage businesses and brands to use compostable packaging by o ering tax reductions and other incentives.

“At the moment, there is not enough voice or traction. The government has a major role to play here in understanding some mate-

rials have no viable end-of-life solution, lasting forever and damaging our resources. Of course, we need to package food, but the government can take a role, encouraging the use of the right materials in which to pack food. There is a solution – fresh produce can be packed in compostable packaging and then disintegrate with food to natural resources.”

It is estimated that UK households dump a staggering 100 billion pieces of plastic packaging a year – 66 items per household per week, mainly food packaging such as snack bags and fruit and veg trays. Flexible comprises 25 percent of all UK plastic packaging, while

only six percent is recycled, meaning too much of it ends up in the environment.

Founded in 2010, TIPA manufactures compostable packaging that mimics the functionality and optical properties of plastic but is biodegradable and does not a ect shelf life. Unsurprisingly, a growing number of brands, from food to fashion, are turning to its solutions as awareness of plastic pollution grows.

Among those TIPA is working with are Riverford, Scotch & Soda and Natoora. Waitrose recently launched its own-brand Duchy compostable tea bags, now accredited with a TUV OK compost HOME certification meaning shoppers can place them directly into a home compost bin or heap once used. Tesco has said all its billion-plus a year tea bags will be compostable by summer .

Last year, TIPA joined a selection of industry professionals in the Compostable Coalition UK, a 10-partner initiative aimed at assuring compostable packaging is e ectively collected and organically recycled via existing UK bio-waste infrastructure. The coalition’s Closing the Loop for Compostable Packaging project is backed by the UK Research & Innovation’s (UKRI) flagship Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge.

The UK government says single-use plastic cutlery, plates and other items will be banned from October and replaced by biodegradable items as it attempts to tackle the country’s growing plastic waste problem. Around 1.1bn single-use plates and 4.25bn single-use cutlery items are said to be used in

England, with just 10 percent recycled once thrown away.

Disrupting the global plastics industry has long been on Nissenbaum’s agenda. She studied economics and computer science at Bar-Ilan University, then pursued a career as a software engineer before changing direction to become CEO of the Caesarea Center for Risk Management. But the problem of plastic packaging was always on her mind.

“It started with asking one of my kids why he hadn’t returned his water bottle from school. I thought we will need packaging not based on plastic, which is destroying the environment. The solution should be simple, something that already works, and I thought of an orange peel.

"When I finish an orange, I put what's left in the waste bin and it disintegrates and biodegrades organically. Why not packaging that returns to the organic waste stream? Like orange peel, the package will decompose and go back to nature.”

Nissenbaum says an increasing number of companies are greening their businesses, with food and fashion being particularly early adopters, and “sustainable brands and companies with a strong focus on the environment are becoming increasingly attractive to customers, employees, and investors. Having a good business reputation is more essential than ever and building a brand around sustainability shows the world you care about more than just your bottom line.”

 www.tipa-corp.com

plastic

Daphna Nissenbaum says 96 percent of flexible packaging goes to landfill in the ocean

MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA

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

BY SHEVI GRUNEWALD YOUNG US EVENTS EXECUTIVE

Cracking kashrut

In the second half of parshat Shemini we come across the rules of kashrut: “The law regarding animals, birds, all living creatures that move in water and all animals that creep on the ground, to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.”

Kosher food is perhaps the most defining characteristic of being a Jew. Countless households around the world only consume ‘pure and clean’ animals just as listed in the Torah thousands of years ago.

Why is keeping kosher so impor-

tant? Throughout the ages, rabbis have o ered various reasons for the laws of kashrut. There are writings of health benefits and that it is more hygienic, plus rabbonim have listed reasons of spiritual harm in nonkosher food. Yet even with these many explanations the reasons for the laws of kashrut are still shrouded in mystery.

Our sages have declared these laws as chukkim – laws beyond our understanding, with which our approach is: “I have a desire for these foods, but I will not partake since my Father in Heaven forbids it.”

Certainly, these laws are dicult to comprehend. But perhaps if we cannot understand the reason for kashrut, then we can at least marvel at what such restrictions have created for us. The magic of

Judaism is that the practical laws transform our lives.

Some years ago, a Jewish writer, David Goldman, took on the laws of kashrut in his home and wrote this some time after: “One day my daughter and I agreed that we would consume no more non-kosher meat, and we would separate it from dairy. Some months passed before it dawned on me that I had migrated to the inside of Judaism, rather than pressing my nose against the window and looking in.

“I did not take the leap of faith across the chasm toward Jewish observance, to be sure: I was pushed by a stern-faced 14-year old. Still, the world felt di erent afterward: I ate meat less frequently, and with a sense of awe at the God who rules over life and death.

JOIN BRIGHTON'S NEW KOSHER RESTAURANT

Novellino Brighton is looking for a Mashgiach to support their restaurant opening.

Start Date: Immediately

Salary: £28,000

We're excited to be opening the only fully kosher facility in Sussex. We are looking for an enthusiastic Mashgiach to join the kitchen at Novellino Brighton and work as part of the Front of House team The Mashgiach will work under the auspices of the KLBD and our license holder to oversee Kashrut compliance in the kitchen

The role is based in the brand new Jewish community hub in the vibrant city of Brighton & Hove For the full job description, please visit: www.bnjc.co.uk

To apply, send a CV and cover letter to jobs@bnjc.co.uk.

“First one does, then one understands. Judaism is a religion of the body… it impressed upon me that the narrative and the legislative parts of the Bible, the ethical and the ritual, the ine able mystery of life and death and the rules of the kosher kitchen, all are woven into one seamless fabric. Judaism instead provides a supernatural answer to the mystery: God gives us means to sanctify our physical life on earth and therewith the promise of eternal life. As the Torah states, ‘You shall eat before the Lord.’”

It seemed, he continued, that eating kosher was the single strongest change that brought him closer to Judaism and closer to a life of meaning than philosophy or prayer.

It is our practices and lifestyle that most deeply a ect us, not abstract thinking or values. That is the strange power of Judaism, with all its laws and limitations. There is good reason why kosher food is one of our most widely known practices: it permeates and fills our lives. The food we eat and what we steer clear of, whether we understand it or not, has this ability to set us apart and to focus ourselves more on serving God. It may be a mystery, but it is a meaningful, impactful one at that.

Eating kosher can draw us to a life of meaning

Progressive Judaism

LEAP OF FAITH

BY RABBI DR RENÉ PFERTZEL CO-CHAIR OF THE CONFERENCE OF LIBERAL RABBIS AND CANTORS

for meaning, with so many di erent backgrounds, and yet feeling a strong sense of belonging to the community.

A

On seder night in my synagogue, between the various blessings and instructions, I looked around the room, marvelling at the diversity of the crowd who had gathered to celebrate our liberation from Egypt.

I saw the couple whose one spouse wasn’t Jewish and yet very committed to the life of the synagogue, the two women building a family together, the single parent with her child,

and the ‘traditional’ family with a Jewish mother and father who raise their children in our tradition. Some of the parents are not married. Others have built a blended family, bringing together children from previous marriages. And I said to myself, this is the new face of my people, at least in the Progressive part of it – individuals coming together, united by their love of Judaism and their longings

In the grand scheme of things, this new reality is recent. Not so long ago, the ‘ideal’ family was a unit in which children resided with both natural parents, with a working father and a stayat-home mother who would look after the household. This model remained uncontested for centuries. Indeed, in our Torah, the roles in the family were clearly defined, or so they wanted to believe. Fathers would be at the top of the hierarchy and they all lived together, more or less happily, more or less dysfunctional.

In the past few decades, things have started to change.

Women have reclaimed their rightful place in society: not on the margins, but as equal partners with men. The situation is far from being equal just yet, but it is a work in progress. Divorce rate is at a record high.

Blended families are common. Individuals raise their children alone. Same-sex couples have children. When it comes to choosing a partner, religious background is not that important anymore.

Our Progressive movements and communities reflect these changes in the wider world.

When society changes, there are two options. One is to resist them, promoting a model that seems to be the right one, because it is the traditional one, with the risk of creating

a fantasised better past. Or we accompany change. It would be a mistake to believe that everything new is necessarily better than the old, or on the contrary, that the old is always better than the new. Therein lies, I believe, the strength of Progressive Judaism. We are not shy in embracing novelty, but it is always done in the light

Personal

of the highest ethical values of Judaism. We are invited to explore modernity and post modernity, but always asking ourselves the question: are we losing our bearings?

This is why community is so important: it is a place where we come together, explore our tradition and embrace Jewish diversity.

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

Our trusty team of advisers answers your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry. This week: Coping with sta absence, lipreading classes and hormone-free therapy for menopause and menstrual symptoms

Dear Donna

If my staff don’t turn up to work, do I have to pay them?

Ruth

Dear Ruth

The reason for their absence is going to be really important and you should find out why they are absent before making a decision. Your contract of employment is your ‘mandate to manage’ and once you know why the employee is absent, your contract should hold the answer as to whether you have to pay them or not. If they are sick, then they need to follow your reporting procedures and then the absence may be paid or unpaid depending on

like just what I need! It would be so good to learn to lipread and meet people who truly understand what this is like.

SUE CIPIN CHARITY EXECUTIVE

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION

Dear Sue

Since I started losing my hearing, I’ve found socialising really difficult and have the confidence I used to take for granted.

I feel isolated, even when I’m around others. My brother told me a friend of his goes to a lipreading class and that they not only teach about different lip shapes, but are also fun and supportive. That sounds

whether you have statutory sick pay, company sick pay and how much sickness absence they have already taken. Don’t put yourself in breach of contract and pay just because you feel bad. Be consistent and pay in line with your contract.

Other absences, e.g. for a family emergency, have a statutory entitlement, in this case for an unpaid day o to sort the emergency and put in place alternative cover. Bereavement leave is two weeks leave and companies often pay the first week at full pay and the second week at the statutory rate – but again, your contract should specify what leave you o er.

There are often statutory minimums, but as an employer, you need policies which meet the minimums and then go beyond those levels to what is culturally right and a ordable for your business. Get your policies right and then stick to them. Failure to do so could lead to claims for bullying or discrimination.

Geoff Dear Geo

You are absolutely right. Lipreading classes provide an opportunity for you to meet people in similar situations and develop new ways to cope socially in a fun, lively and stimulating class. You also get to improve your communication skills, discuss common issues and access lots of useful information.

We have a new Zoom class on Wednesday afternoons from 1pm to 3pm, which has proved very popular with people far and wide.

We also have a Monday

class here at JDA from 12-2pm for people who prefer the social interaction of meeting up in person.

If you would like to observe a class, or for more information on the course, please contact Jodie at JDA on 020 8446 0502 or jodie@ jdeaf.org.uk

We look forward to welcoming you to the JDA community … you’re going to love lipreading classes –everyone does!

ANGELA DAY-MOORE MENAPAUSE CHAMPION SASSY LA FEMME

Dear Angela

I have been using my LaBalance for a month and I think it is wonderful! I noticed changes immediately and am thrilled not to have hot flushes constantly (I have been having them for 10 years already and I had had enough). I didn’t think it would do

anything for me but was willing to try anything at this point. I am impressed and I recommend every woman tries this.

Can my teenage niece wear the LaBalance for her menstrual symptoms?

Many thanks, Linda

Dear Linda

Thanks for letting us know the LaBalance has

had a wonderful impact on improving your menopause symptoms. We are so pleased for you.

Yes, your niece may also wear a LaBalance. It does work di erently on everyone, but we have many teenagers who wear one to ease their menstrual pains and if for any reason it is not e ective, as it’s successful for seven out of 10 users, we provide a 90-day moneyback guarantee. LaBalance takes anywhere between 48 hours to 90 days to work fully –although most people benefit in the first few weeks.

DONNA OBSTFELD HUMAN RESOURCES / EMPLOYMENT LAW DOHR

Our Experts

Got

Email: editorial@jewishnews.co.uk

Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@jewishnews.co.uk

PRIVATE HEALTHCARE SPECIALIST

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

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

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

ARE YOU PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR HEAALTH PLAN?

ARE YOU PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR PRIVATE HEALTH COVER?

Get it checked, free of charge, by an FCA registered, leading health insurance consultant

Patient Health is this newspapers ‘Ask The Expert’

GEET IT CHECCKED, FREE OF CHARGE, BY AN FCA REGGISTERED, LEADING HEALTH INSURANCE CONSULTANT PATIENT HEALTH IS THIS NEWWSPAPER’S ‘ASK THE EXPERT’

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

JONATHAN WILLIAMS

Qualifications:

JEWELLER

DEVELOPMENT COMPANY FOR ISRAEL 020 3936 2712

www.israelbondsintl.com

joe.ozer@israelbondsintl.com

GOAL ATTAINMENT SPECIALIST

DR BEN LEVY

Qualifications:

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.

• Jewellery manufacturer since 1980s

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

• 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

• 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

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

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

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

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

Superb care in a setting

Looking for a care home for yourself or a loved one? Then you could do no better than to join us as part of our Springdene family. Unlike other care homes, which are often part of large corporations, we are a family business. And we’re still run by the same family that founded it more than 50 years ago.

New residents at Springdene can be sure of a warm reception. All our homes – Spring Grove in Hampstead, Spring Lane in Muswell Hill and Springview in Enfield – are rated as good by the Care Quality Commission.

Residents enjoy hotel-style luxury, with their own spacious room, complete with full en-suite facilities, personal telephone and wi-fi. There are three delicious meals a day, with a varied choice of menus.

And there are lots of regular activities, including quizzes, short stories, art competitions and poetry readings, live-streamed concerts and film-showings on a big screen, as well as walks in delightful gardens. We’ve a great team, o ering wonderful care and everyone is brilliantly looked after.

As our motto says:

To arrange a visit, or for more information, just call 020 8815 2000 or visit www.springdene.co.uk Follow us on

Muswell Hill

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

Hampstead

The ultimate in comfort, Spring Grove is situated on the Finchley Road near to Swiss Cottage and is close to local shops, cultural facilities and a tube station.

Enfield

Standing in tranquil surroundings, Springview is a purpose built home, situated near to Enfield Town with its local shops and public transport.

PREMIER CARE HOMES IN NORTH LONDON

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD

10 Language spoken in Bangkok (4)

13 Selected, picked (5)

16 Inland waterway (5)

17 Images of the body’s insides (1-4)

18 Biblical father of Jacob (5)

19 Tempest (5)

20 ___ John, knighted pianist (5)

21 Common aromatic herb (5)

24 Body of soldiers (4)

27 Boat Race crew, perhaps (9)

28 ___ O’Brien, Irish novelist (4)

29 Making use of waste materials (9)

DOWN

2 Pensive poems (4)

3 Excessive supply on the market (4)

4 Go ___, share costs (5)

5 Swine sounds (5)

6 Crystals for the tub (4,5)

7 Surpassing (9)

11 Moved round a rink (3-6)

12 Bequest (9)

13 Go up (a hill) (5)

14 Milky gemstones (5)

15 Do very well (5)

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

ACROSS

1 Medicated lozenge (5,4) 8 Cosmetic powder (4) 9 Disinclined, unwilling (9)

WORDSEARCH

The listed words to do with baby animals 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.

MF TJ QD SO SAYEB

RR E DUC KL IN GM M

KY RSOTDP WF RA A

IR EF IE HA IN OS L

TCVSOL FA EGQA E

TH ER HW GS NU LLL

EI LC RO TN AF IE G

NC PE YLS BI NL RT

OK VL IG AD EL UA R

ML NN EA N VSBS OC

ET GR IH UEHA NO S

FI LL YJ WE TO CD G

EL OP DA TR PU PPY

CALF CHICK

CYGNET DUCKLING

ELVER

EYAS

FAWN FILLY FOAL FRY GOSLING GRUB

HEIFER JUVENILE KITTEN LAMB LEVERET NESTLING

Last issue’s solutions

Crossword

ACROSS: 1 Dollar, 4 Arctic, 9 Ricotta, 10 Aster, 11 Sides, 12 Extinct, 13 Sound, 15 Eject, 20 Nut loaf, 22 Gable, 24 Apron, 25 Illegal, 26 Reword, 27 Prayer.

DOWN: 1 Duress, 2 Lucid, 3 Artisan, 5 Roast, 6 Titanic, 7 Curate, 8 Cakes, 14 Outgrow, 16 Juggler, 17 Unfair, 18 Affix, 19 Healer, 21 Owner, 23 Boggy.

OWLET PIGLET PUPPY SQUAB TADPOLE WHELP

22 Surprise (5)

23 Mild sarcasm (5)

25 Budget supermarket chain (4)

26 ___ Laurel, Hardy’s partner (4)

HILARIOUS HEBREW Word of the Week

Learning Hebrew can be fun and sometimes hilarious! Join one of the WZO's Ulpan classes near you and find out for yourself! The subsidised Ulpanim are based in North West and East London, Manchester, Brighton, Borehamwood and Bushy. Contact- ulpanuk@wzo.org.il or call 020 83715336

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.

See next issue for puzzle solutions.

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

From the book Hilarious Hebrew- the Fun and Fast Way to Learn the Language, available on Amazon and in book and gift shops throughout London. www.hilarioushebrew.com

ANTIQUES

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

years

We clear houses, flats, sheds, garages etc. No job too big or too small! Rubbish cleared as part of a full clearance. We have a waste licence. We buy items including furniture bric a brac.

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

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

Would

Highly Qualified Piano Teacher NW London Hindy Aussenberg ARSM 07944 820 283

INVESTING Avatar London ltd For individual investors only £1800 interest paid in advance on £9000 for 21 months For more information Please contact info@avatarlondon.uk

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK

Email Sales today at sales@jewishnews.co.uk