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Ukraine’s Jews hold their breath Community fears ‘anarchy on streets’ if Putin launches a full-scale invasion EXCLUSIVE 1

“We could reach a place where there is anarchy, a time where there is anarchy, and that would be a huge worry for us,” he told Jewish News.

By Michael Daventry “Definitely, we have to ensure we have enough A Ukrainian Jewish leader has warned that the community fears anarchy in the streets and security. We’ve taken a large security firm, interreprisals against Jews if the crisis in the region national security firm from Israel, and they’ve hired locals and others to ensure our secuspirals into all-out war. rity in addition to our Refael Kruksal, chief execcurrent security to utive of the Tikva children’s ensure that they would home in Odessa, said it had be able to keep us safe begun stockpiling food and within the city. supplies because of a growing “Or if necessary to help sense of danger. us find a place within Ukraine Jews could be “stuck in where we would be able to stay the middle” and fall victim to until things calm down.” gangs and looting if fighting Hopes for diplomatic soluwas to break out, he warned. tion to the crisis appeared The grim words came all but sunk this week after as Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Russian president Vladimir Ephraim Mirvis, backed an Jews in Ukraine celebrate Chanukah Putin approved the use of miliurgent appeal launched this tary force outside his country in the eastern areas of week to help Jews living in Ukraine.

World Jewish Relief (WJR) said conflict would be Donetsk and Luhansk, known collectively as Donbas, disastrous for the vulnerable and older people it sup- Ukraine has declared a state of emergency and is on high alert for further Russian incursions. ports, including elderly Holocaust survivors.

Odessa, a port city on the Black Sea coast, is far from Kruksal’s charity, Tikva, meanwhile, is responsible for more than 1,000 children in Odessa, including the flashpoint zones in eastern Ukraine, but there are Continued on page 2 300 living in orphanages.

UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH Adam Kay (inset) says his memoir of life as a junior doctor working in obstetrics is a ‘love letter to the NHS’ and Ben Whishaw, who plays him in BBC1’s This is Going to Hurt, makes it real. Full story, Page 25

REVEALED: THE BUS STOP HACK USED BY BDS ACTIVISTS EXCLUSIVE 2

By Lee Harpin

Anti-Israel activists are using detailed instruction manuals circulating on the internet to gain access to sealed bus shelter advertising boards to put up posters labelling the Jewish state “racist” and calling for it to be boycotted

over allegations of “apartheid”.

A Jewish News investigation can reveal how extremists have been using the ‘How to hack into bus stop advertising spaces’ guide to put up guerrilla ads demonising Israel at bus stops across London. Last week, posters were put up in Chalk Farm that used an image of a dictionary defi-

nition ‘apartheid’ that compared the actions of the Israeli government with “oppression by one group over another as imposed in South Africa”.

Because the posters appear on display behind a protective cover at bus stops there is concern among the Jewish community that they give the impression that they

are approved both by Transport for London and the Advertising Standards Authority.

Other posters to appear inside the sealed advertising boards since 2018include one that used the title of anti-Israel author Sally Rooney’s bestselling book to suggest “Normal People Boycott Israel”.

Continued on page 3

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

News / Ukraine crisis / Emergency appeal

Jews in Ukraine fear being ‘stuck in middle of fighting’ Continued from page 1 fears a conflict could spread there because it is close to pro-Russian breakaway regions in Moldova and to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Kruskal said he was worried that the city’s Jewish community could become “stuck in the middle just by mistake, not on purpose, not because anyone specifically wants anything to happen to Jews”.

He added: “It doesn’t make sense that anyone would specifically try to hurt us, but they could assume that maybe we’re more prepared, maybe we have money, maybe we have food piles, and that’s why we’re in danger of gangs, or just being caught in the middle of fighting.”

He said he was in touch with communities across Ukraine and plans were being made to ensure they could all maintain radio contact Youngsters at the Tikva children’s centre in Odessa, Ukraine if telephone networks went down.

“This is a possible catastrophe that we taken to Bergen-Belsen. I don’t think this a Leaving Ukraine was an option and many haven’t seen for many, many years. My father Second World War [situation], but I’m not Jewish families had prepared their paperwas in Bergen-Belsen. They prepared well sure in 1939 they knew it was the Second work for that possibility, he said, but most beforehand, and they ran away from Ger- World War either. No one knows how this is had generations of livelihoods there and did many to Holland, and from Holland he was going to open up.” not want to leave.

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In a statement to support WJR’s urgent appeal, Mirvis said: “This is a time of deep concern for the Jewish community of Ukraine, and indeed every one of its citizens.

“The Talmud famously teaches that kol Yisrael areivim ze bazeh – all Jewish people are responsible for one another. In addition to having the Jews of Ukraine in our prayers, we must do whatever we can to offer humanitarian support in their time of greatest need.”  Editorial comment, page 18

Chief Rabbi backs WJR new emergency appeal

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Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has backed an emergency appeal by World Jewish Relief (WJR) launched yesterday to assist vulnerable people in Ukraine, as tensions continue to rise in the region.

The charity said the threat of war was now “very real” as more than 150,000 Russian troops surround Ukraine on its borders and same have crossed into eastern regions of the country already held by proRussian separatists.

Mirvis said: “This is a time of deep concern for the Jewish community of Ukraine, and indeed every one of its citizens.”

WJR, which led the community’s efforts to support Syrian refugees and those fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan, said that “for innocent civilians this could mean violence, mass displacement, the resurgence of past trauma, and basic food and fuel shortages”.

For the vulnerable and older people, including a generation of Holocaust survivors who have lived through decades of conflict and instability, the outbreak of war would be disastrous, it added.

The charity said it was in close contact with local partners in Ukraine to ensure they are responding to the most urgent needs, prioritising food, cash, medical, material and psychological support to their existing client group and are ready to assist those who are forced to flee their homes.

WJR chief executive, Paul Anticoni,

Tensions are mounting in eastern Ukraine

said: “I find it almost unimaginable that it has come to this. But World Jewish Relief’s modern operational history is rooted in the Jewish community of Ukraine.

“We have been with them all this way and will help them in whatever practical way possible as this crisis unfolds.”

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3

‘Guerrilla’ posters / Oligarchs targeted / Johnson correction / News

Online hack used by activists to sabotage London bus stops Continued from page 1 An earlier image, again put in a sealed advertising box, had labelled Israel a “racist endeavour” – a contravention of the guidelines of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

Lawyer Daniel Confino, who alerted Jewish News to the ad board hacks, said: “By allowing such unfettered access for activists to place printed posters inside the panels, members of the public will believe these are properly authorised ads meeting the policy requirements of Transport for London and the Advertising Standards Association. In other words that it is acceptable and justified to promote anti-Israel and, in my view, antisemitic material.”

The widely-circulated online instructions on how to display posters give political activists details of how to unlock the plastic panels used by the outdoor advertising firm JC Decaux at bus stops across the capital.

In 2015, JC Decaux was awarded what is believed to have been the world’s largest bus shelter advertising concession by TfL in a deal worth around £600 million over eight years.

A spokesperson for Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “These unauthorised adverts are acts of vandalism and it is unacceptable for fly posting of this sort to appear anywhere on the TfL network. TfL take such incidents extremely seriously and act quickly to remove any materials found on the network.”

A spokesperson for JC Decaux told Jewish News the boards are the property of TfL and

The manual gives detailed instructions on how to open the sealed compartments so a ‘guerrilla’ poster can be inserted

a spokesperson for TfL said: “We have now identified a new lock design, which will significantly reduce unauthorised access. This has already been installed in a number of high priority locations across London and we are identifying further locations to implement this improvement.”

UK targets oligarchs The three men will be barred Boris Johnson named two Rusfrom entering Britain and all UK sian Jewish oligarchs among individuals and entities will be three people targeted in the banned from dealing with them. “first barrage” of measures Johnson announced a series in response to the Kremlin’s of sanctions against Russia on actions in Ukraine.

Tuesday after it ordered troops In a statement to MPs, he into two rebel-held regions of named Boris and Igor Roteneastern Ukraine. Five banks have berg. Boris is co-owner of SGM Group, Russia’s largest construc- Boris Rotenberg had their assets frozen. The Foreign Office later said the UK would also tion and infrastructure company and Igor is involved in drilling, infrastructure sanction Russian parliamentarians who voted and real estate. The third person named – to recognise the two-rebel held areas as indePutin ally Gennady Timchenko – is a billion- pendent last week.

But the PM immediately came under presaire hockey enthusiast with wide business interests in energy, transportation and con- sure from MPs on his own side and on the Opposition to introduce tougher sanctions. struction via his Volga investment group.

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Boris Johnson has issued a correction after wrongly claiming Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is the subject of targeted sanctions by the UK government.

The prime minister tabled a written statement in the Commons to clarify that such measures had not been imposed.

On Tuesday, Johnson had told MPs the Russian-Israeli billionaire was “already facing sanctions” after responding to a question from

Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge.

After Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Labour MP Chris Bryant was among those to dispute Johnson’s claim. He said: “I wonder whether there is a means of ensuring that, tomorrow, Hansard is printed in gold letters, or red letters, because that is the first time. It is particularly exciting that it has only taken a Russian billionaire to get the prime minister to correct the record.”

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

News / Divestment petition / ‘Apartheid’ claim

BDS-backers ‘troll community’ with Herts divestment petition

by Lee Harpin lee@jewishnews.co.uk @lmharpin

Supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement have been accused of “trolling the mainstream Jewish community” in Hertfordshire by submitting a petition for the council to divest from companies connected to Israel.

The petition has been received by the county council containing the 1,000 signatures needed to ensure the authority is bound by its constitution to receive it.

The move, which targets the Herts Pension Fund, sparked fears among locals that the council was planning to vote on anti-Israel proposal at a meeting on Tuesday.

Luke Akehurst, director of We Believe In Israel, said: “This is BDS supporters trolling the mainstream Jewish community in an area with a very large Jewish population by using procedures of council to publicise their antiIsrael agenda.

Protesters hold up placards supporting the Israel boycott movement

“It’s very heartening all the councillors who have expressed a view to reject BDS and that hundreds of residents have emailed their councillors to express their concern about this move.”

The petition was launched by David Leigh, from the Herts Palestine Support Coalition, but councillor Bob Deering explained to him that councillors cannot interfere in the commercial decisions of the Pension Fund, and that the

council has no authority to act on the petition. “It was left at that – and there was no debate,” a source told Jewish News.

Deering recommended to the chair that the petition be received and noted. No formal vote will follow.

Tory councillor Caroline Clapper was among those to write to residents to say how “uncomfortable” she was with the petition, which had been started by

anti-Zionist activists in Hertfordshire. She wrote: “Our constitution makes it clear that any petition signed by more than 1,000 people must be presented to the council.

“I can confirm this petition will be received by the council, but I can confirm the intention is [that] it will not be debated or voted upon.”

A further statement by the Tory Group said Clapper and three other councillors – Morris Bright, John Graham and Seamus Quilty – had stood “united” in their opposition to anti-Israel boycotts.

Local Government Pension Scheme funds have been under pressure for several years from BDS campaigners over links to investments in disputed Israeli territories. In May 2020, BDS supporters were given a boost when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in its case against the government. At the time, the government said it was committed to stopping “local boycotts” and would be introducing legislation to re-establish the ban.

McDonnell calls Israel apartheid The former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell labelled Israel an “apartheid state” in the Commons as he outlined his opposition to moves to ban the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) in public pension funds.

He spoke out after Tory MP Robert Jenrick had criticised what he described as the “selective” targeting of Israel by BDS. Jenrick had tabled an amendment to the Public Service Pensions Bill, which demanded that administrators of pension schemes “may not make investment decisions that conflict with the UK’s foreign and defence policy”.

McDonnell suggested it was important for individuals to express a view on countries in which they did not want their pensions being invested on “moral grounds”.

McDonnell said he had argued, “so far unsuccessfully within my own pension scheme”, that his earned income is not invested in Saudi Arabia, China, Columbia and Israel. “I do believe ... that it is an apartheid state the way they treat the Palestinians.”

He added “I want to be able to influence investments.

I believe that is my right.”

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24 February 2022 Jewish News

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Corbynite quits / Deselected councillor / Divestment drive / News

Key Corbynite quits party

by Lee Harpin lee@jewishnews.co.uk @lmharpin

A leading figure in the pro-Jeremy Corbyn Jewish Socialist Group has quit the Labour Party.

David Rosenberg attacked Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, the Jewish Labour Movement and party leader Sir Keir Starmer in a lengthy blog post, calling them “right-wing, proZionist” as he confirmed he had cancelled his direct debit to Labour.

Rosenberg had been a member of the same Islington North local party as former leader Corbyn, and they had often appeared at the same events. But writing on his Rebel Notes blog, he said Reeves “openly rejoices that so many have left, slandering us all as ‘antisemites’”.

He claimed that under Starmer the party “has been waging a full scale war,

David Rosenberg with Jeremy Corbyn

not on the most dangerous right-wing government I have lived under, but on its own members”. He attacked JLM, with its membership of over 4,000 Jewish and ally supporters, as being “an overwhelmingly right-wing, pro-Zionist Labour body”.

According to Rosenberg, in the 2019

election JLM “wanted Labour to lose, even though they knew this would open the door to a Tory government led by a known racist, Boris Johnson, who would continue a hostile environment for migrants and refugees”.

Rosenberg also used his blog to attack the IHRA definition of antisemitism, claiming it was “chilling free speech by confusing and conflating opposition to Israeli policy or to Zionism with antisemitism”.

Detailing his Labour membership, Rosenberg admitted he joined the party “starting with a few years in the early 1980s” which “add up to less than 10”.

Rosenberg then added that “they do include the last six and a half years”.

One Jewish Labour source said on Monday: “David Rosenberg was very much linked to Jeremy Corbyn and it has clear he made the decision to leave as a result of the former leader’s demise.”

DESELECTED CLLR: I’M LOYAL CONSERVATIVE A Jewish councillor deselected Lewis added: “I still believe ahead of the May local elec- in the council group’s goals tions in Bury has admitted: and therefore I will not be “Like anyone else would be, standing as an independent.

As a close friend told I’m not happy.” me, ‘You wouldn’t In a statepet a dog that has ment after Jewish just bitten you’ News reported on and I believe that the development, the same context Jordan Lewis also applies here too.” confirmed he had no Lewis, elected intention of quitting last May as a counBury Conservatives. cillor, had been a He was replaced close ally of Christhis month as Jordan Lewis tian Wakeford, Tory candidate for Church Ward by Shahbaz the Bury South MP, until he Arif, who has worked for Bury announced he was quitting the Tories to join Labour. WakeNorth MP James Daly.

To “clear up any specula- ford’s move divided opinion tion regarding my immediate among the large Jewish comfuture within the party”, munity in the region.

‘Jew process’ councillor behind Israel BDS divestment motion

Ex-Labour councillor Jo Bird

A councillor expelled by Labour for supporting a proscribed group is behind a pro-Boycott Divestment and Sanction motion targeting Israeli companies.

Jo Bird, a councillor in Wirral, Merseyside, was involved in Labour Against The Witch-Hunt, which denied and downplayed antisemitism allegations.

She had been previously been suspended by the party over speeches in which she joked about “Jew process” and claimed anti-Jewish racism was given preference over other racisms.

Bird, now an independent in the Bromborough ward, has led demands for Wirral’s Pension Committee to pass

a motion that would make the linked regional Merseyside Pension Fund call into question its investment in nine companies, accused of supporting settlements in the West Bank.

A public information pack published ahead of next this week’s vote on the divestment move names the Israeli

companies, who include Bank Leumi Le-Israel, Motorola Solutions Israel, Bank Hapoalim and Expedia Group.

It also includes a response to the divestment motion from Jonathan Turner from UK Lawyers For Israel.

Bird has been approached for comment.

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

News / Amnesty upset / Harasser jailed / Exhibition row / Commons debate / Board investigation

Amnesty UK stands by official who called Jews ‘shady people’

by Lee Harpin lee@jewishnews.co.uk @lmharpin

An Amnesty International UK staff member currently employed as the organisation’s racial justice lead labelled Jews as “shady people” in an incendiary Facebook conversation uncovered by Jewish News.

Ilyas Nagdee, a spokesperson for the human rights group’s UK operation, made the racist remark after offering his thoughts on Orthodox Jews in Bury, Greater Manchester, during an online conversation with a friend.

Responding to an observation by the friend who had said they were “laughin at Jews” but who joked “the Jew might hit me with a walking stick”, Nagdee replied: “True. There shady people [sic].”

In a further remark, apparently directed at the dress code adopted by Chasidic Jews, Nadgee also wrote: “Hahahahaha bummmmmmmmm hats.”

Jewish News alerted Amnesty UK to Nagdee’s com-

Ilyas Nagdee referred to Jews as “shady people” several years ago

ments last week. In a statement, the organisation later said: “We immediately looked into this matter as soon as we were made aware of it.

“As an anti-racist organisation, we oppose discrimination, racism and hate crime in all their forms, including against Jewish people or people perceived as Jewish.

“Ilyas has explained the circumstances of these comments made

when he was 16 years old – he has clearly and unreservedly apologised and we now consider the matter closed.”

In a separate statement, Nagdee said: “This conversation happened in 2010 when I was 16. I was completely wrong to have talked this way and I totally regret doing so.

“Like many people, I’ve been on a journey since my early years and have long opposed all discrimi-

nation, racism and hate crime – including all forms of antisemitism. I want to make clear, I unreservedly apologise for these comments from 12 years ago.”

Jewish News had earlier been alerted to Nagdee’s social media conduct in relation to posts made over the past two years on Twitter including a demand for “all Palestinian prisoners” held in Israeli jails to be freed.

Former National Union of Students representative Nagdee told Jewish News he believed Amnesty was a victim of a “smear campaign” led by Israel after a report in published on the Jewish state earlier this month sparked widespread communal outrage.

A senior community source, who was shown the messages, told Jewish News: “Amnesty has a history of employing people with unsavoury views about Jews and makes it impossible to take what they say at face value, especially on issues pertaining to Israel, the one Jewish state.”

Lord Sugar: I fear an attack Lord Alan Sugar has said he was “now always looking over my shoulder” after three antisemitic letters were sent to him, with one saying “I would like to murder all Jews in Britain, Alan”.

The letters were opened by Sugar’s assistant at his company and referred to the police.

Patrick Gomes, aged 70, denied sending the letters, but was found guilty at an earlier trial of religiously aggravated harassment, putting those targeted in fear of violence.

He was jailed for three years and six months at Chelmsford Crown Court last Wednesday and was handed an indefinite restraining order not to contact Lord Sugar.

Adam Pearson, prosecuting, said in one of the letters it was written there was “no antisemitic element within the Labour Party”, and it “went on to say the author of the letter was a Jew hater”.

One passage said: “I would round all of you up and put you into camps ready for deportation”, while another referred to “shoving your screaming head into a hot oven – we call it baking Jewish bread”.

Pearson told the court Lord Sugar said he “had been made to feel extremely scared and upset, he hadn’t told his family as he knew how scared and upset it would make them”.

The Apprentice star said in a statement read in court: “The whole incident has shaken me up and I’m now always looking over my shoulder in case someone is close to me and about to attack me or my family.”

MPs guided to ‘apartheid’ report UNI GALLERY DIRECTOR IS ASKED TO LEAVE OVER ‘LIES’ The University of Manchester has asked the director of the Whitworth Art Gallery to leave his post after a major row erupted over the contents of an exhibition relating to Israel and Palestine, writes Jenni Frazer.

Alistair Hudson was director of the Whitworth, which is part of the university, during the staging of the Cloud Studies exhibition last August. The event was put together by Forensic Architecture, which made a series of controversial claims about Israel and Palestine, including a statement of solidarity with Palestine at the entrance to the display.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) asked for the removal of the statement, and complained about the effect of the show on good relations with the local Jewish community, but Forensic Architecture said it wanted immediate closure of the entire exhibit if the statement was taken down. The show closed temporarily but reopened, with Hudson saying the Whitworth would “display prominently” alternative responses to “contextualise the issues raised”.

UKLFI chief executive Jonathan Turner said it had told the university Hudson “had falsely assured the vice-chancellor that [the Whitworth] had established the accuracy and legalities of the work presented in the Forensic Architecture exhibition”.

This was not true, Turner said, as the university admitted, after a Freedom of Information request from UKLFI, that it had not received any information as to the accuracy of allegations made in the exhibition. Eyal Weizman, the founder of Forensic Architecture, has repeatedly said there were no inaccuracies in the show.

As a result of what it believed was Hudson

MPs attending a House of Commons debate on the UK recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel have been guided to read the controversial Amnesty International report that accused the Jewish state of practicing “apartheid”.

A “debate pack” produced by the House of Commons Library included the Amnesty report as suggested reading under the headline Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians; a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity.

The same list of suggested reading from “Human rights and civil organisations” also

recommended the Human Rights Watch report from last April, titled A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution.

The Backbench Business Committee debate on UK government recognition of the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel is due to take place today in the Commons.

The Labour MP Andy Slaughter had called for the debate to be held on the seventh anniversary of the full day Commons debate on recognising Palestine.

MPs are informed on the

background of the UK position after the Commons voted in October 2014 that “the government should recognise the state of Palestine, alongside Israel, as a contribution to a negotiated two-state solution”.

This vote was not binding on the government, and the UK has continued to reiterate its position that it would only recognise Palestine at the “right time” in the peace process with Israel.

The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council issued a joint condemnation of Amnesty’s assessment of Israel.

‘Moderate your tone,’ deputy told Manchester University’s Whitworth Gallery

“lying to the vice-chancellor as to whether checks were made”, UKLFI suggested he was not a fit and proper person to be the Whitworth’s director and that there should be disciplinary proceedings.

A University of Manchester spokesperson said: “We absolutely uphold academic freedom.

Staffing matters are strictly internal to the university and we never comment on questions of this nature.” But it is understood some sort of disciplinary proceedings are likely to have been held – as a result of which it was concluded that Hudson had to leave his post. He is currently abroad and unavailable for comment.

A representative on the Board of Deputies must “moderate” his language and “not repeat” racist social media posts following an investigation, writes Jack Mendel.

Peter Baum, who sits on the Board for Southend and Westcliff Hebrew Congregation (SWHC), was investigated in January over a series of 16 tweets about black people and Palestinians. He appeared to call Desmond Tutu a “black coward”, Palestinians “Nazis” and their supporters “human excrement”, which appear to break the organisation’s code of conduct.

In a decision, following an investigation by the Board, it said Baum’s tweets contained “a high degree of abuse about Palestinians and others” and caused “repetitional damage”.

It also said Gabriel Kanter-Webber, who

provided the evidence of tweets to Jewish News and filed the formal complaint, “did the Board a disservice” because “without his intervention there was little reason to believe that a connection between Mr Baum’s views and the Board would have come to light”.

Baum was “instructed to moderate his language so he is not the subject of further complaints”, with the Board adding that since the revelations came to light, “there is direct reputational risk” if he repeated misdemeanours.

Saying he “should not repeat his views on other social media”, the Board reminded him that “his views... carry an association” with them, ”whether or not he intends this to be the case.” The panel said repeating offences will “result in much stronger outcomes”.

24 February 2022 Jewish News

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7

Mental wellbeing / Charity funding / Holocaust education / News

‘We must do more to prevent suicides’

by Jenni Frazer @Jennifrazer

The mother of a 16-year-old boy who took his own life almost four years ago has told Jewish News: “I don’t think the Jewish community and Jewish schools are doing enough” to help with suicide prevention.

Michelle Leigh was speaking after a prestigious Downing Street reception to talk about the work of the Oli Leigh Trust, which she chairs, and set up in memory of her son. The trust – which runs an online shop – has raised £100,000, used to give grants to small charities working in mental health and suicide prevention.

Leigh told the 80 guests at the reception, granted by chancellor Rishi Sunak, that Oli was someone with great potential, who had represented Great Britain at the Maccabiah Games as the futsal goalkeeper in 2017, and was the “go-to” person for many of his friends.

However, she said Oli “struggled to share his own emotions in the way his friends shared theirs with him… [neither] Oli’s school [or] his doctors were able to provide support”. She added: “They didn’t know of anywhere I could get him counselling or coaching to help him with his mental wellbeing. I discovered that the people we rely on to assist us in a crisis weren’t aware of any suitable training to help our children.”

She said that in schools, a day’s programming was of little use, particularly if a teenager had felt unable to cope on that day and had not attended school. “Training

Michelle Leigh with her sons, Scott and Oli

in suicide prevention and mental health wellbeing needs to be ongoing and easily available.” Leigh said the trust had “a mission to prevent our current and future generations from taking their lives”, continuing: “We know we cannot stop suicides, but what we can do is help to reduce them by funding free training into prevention.”

This year, the trust received 30 applications from small mental health and wellbeing charities. It plans to launch the Oli Leigh Legacy Programme, providing funding for wellbeing and prevention talks and training.

Leigh added: “I am standing here today to make a difference to our children’s futures. We want to reduce the rate of teenage suicides and provide them with the training they need to see that they do have a future, to help teenagers see through the fog.”

‘Easy to forget lessons of history,’ Dubs tells Lords Lord Alf Dubs this week warned parliamentarians that it was “becoming too easy to forget the Holocaust”, writes Adam Decker.

Addressing an evening reception in the House of Lords to mark the launch of the Wiener Library’s new travelling exhibition, Dr Wiener’s Library, the Labour peer added that “our future depends on understanding the Holocaust to ensure we can live by its lessons”.

The refugee campaigner recalled: “I was six years old when I came on the Kindertransport in the summer of 1939.

“There are not many survivors left, so it is critical that we capture the memories and history of the direct witnesses who remain.”

The Wiener Holocaust Library – the world’s oldest and Britain’s largest collection of material on the Nazi era and the Holocaust – was established in 1939 by anti-Nazi campaigner Dr Alfred Wiener.

The new exhibition traces the history of the library and its collections in the

context of the significant historical events that shaped them.

Curated by Dr Barbara Warnock, the library’s senior curator, the exhibition is displayed across several banners and aims to reach diverse communities across England.

Dubs added: “The Wiener Library is a very significant archive of Nazism and the history of the Holocaust. It’s great that the exhibition is being taken to other parts of the country – if ever people needed to be aware of the horrors of the Holocaust, it is now.”

Political commentator Lord Daniel Finkelstein, who is the grandson of Dr Wiener, told the audience: “My grandfather always had an eye on the political impact of the collections – it wasn’t merely an academic exercise.

“The library still very much operates in that tradition, ensuring its collections support our understanding not just of the past, but the present too.”  See wienerholocaustlibrary.org

Stabbing outside school Two teenagers were stabbed in front of horrified Kantor King Solomon students on Tuesday after a fight broke out on the high street close to the East London school.

A 14-year-old boy was rushed to hospital and another boy, 15, went to a nearby hospital later that day with stab wounds.

Hannele Reece, the headteacher at Kantor

King Solomon High School, told parents: “It seems clear that none of our students were victims or involved in any way.” But she added: “A number of our students did witness the incident,” and said students who had seen the fight were “very shaken up” and being supported.

Police said two 15-year-olds were arrested and questioned at nearby police stations.

MAN WITH LONG COVID GETS £10K FOR CHARITY A Golders Green man who is still suffering from the effects of long Covid has received £10,000 worth of national lottery funding for a new charity, Get Well Soon, to help the families of victims of Covid-19, writes Jenni Frazer.

In March 2020, Eli Seliger went into the Royal Free Hospital and spent 63 days in its intensive care unit. His eldest daughter, Adina Loebenstein, said during that time the local community was “amazing”.

She said: “They dropped off food, supplies… things for Shabbat. They were really extraordinary.”

Seliger, who runs the UK branch of Zichron Menachem, aimed at giving respite to parents of children with cancer, came out of hospital determined to do something to help the families of those who have contracted Covid, or suffer from long Covid, the after-effects of the condition.

Loebenstein, the eldest of seven siblings, said her father had vowed “to be able to give to others what he got, and continues to get”, in terms of love and support.

Get Well Soon will concentrate on “the pampering, the extras” that

spouses and families may not generally receive. This support could include vouchers for spa days or manicures, or games or ice creams for the children.

Seliger, who is still unable to work as a result of the severity with which he was affected by Covid, said: “Seeing how the community rallied around my family while I was ill, it gave me the encouragement to do something similar for others.”

Mr Seliger preparing to leave hospital

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News / Fitness initiative / Museum funding

AJEX’s 70-mile Jubilee fundraiser A fitness project celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation has been launched by the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX), writes Jeremy Last.

For the ‘70 Miles for 70 Years’ fundraising initiative, hundreds of Jewish community members will be sponsored to walk, run, bike or swim 70 miles between this March and August.

AJEX is aiming to raise enough money to pay for 70 trees to be planted in the Queen’s name at sites around the world where British Jewish servicemen and women served. Anyone can take part in the fundraiser, either on their own or as a group.

AJEX national chairman Dan Fox said he was proud the organisation had established a strong relationship with the Royal Family since it was established in 1936.

“AJEX has been grateful and honoured to receive

support from members of the Royal Family over our long history.

“Jewish servicemen and women have served the Crown in peacetime and in war for nearly 300 years,” he said.

“It is a source of great pride for us that a quarter of that time has been under Her Majesty the Queen’s reign.”

Chief executive Fiona Palmer said: “We hope individuals and groups across our community will join us in this special project to mark the Platinum Jubilee.

People can walk, run, bike or swim the 70 miles

“We look forward to seeing people of all ages getting involved. It will be great to see the many ways the 70 miles can be achieved.”

To get involved in ‘70 miles for 70 years’, sign up at www. ajex.org.uk or email Jubilee@ ajex.org.uk and you will be sent a sponsorship pack.

ABRAMOVICH GIVES £10M TO YAD VASHEM Roman Abramovich has launched a “strategic partnership” with Yad Vashem, pledging a donation believed to be in the region of £10 million over five years.

The Chelsea FC owner (pictured) and the World Holocaust Remembrance Center revealed the partnership on Tuesday, with the latter saying it will be used to bolster the work of Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research.

Launched in 1993, the institute has

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Abramovich paid tribute to Yad Vashem’s continuing efforts to preserve the memory of Holocaust victims, saying it was “instrumental to ensure that future generations never

forget what antisemitism, racism and hate can lead to if we don’t speak out”.

Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan said: “This partnership highlights [Abramovich’s] continued dedication to Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism and buttresses Yad Vashem’s determination to remain the gatekeeper of accurate, fact-based memory of the Shoah.”

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Memorial challenge / Prosecutor dies / News

Shoah memorial is the ‘right idea, wrong place’

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A protest at the Royal Courts of Justice against the memorial’s Westminster location

A plan to build a national Holocaust memorial in a central London park is the “right idea, wrong place”, the High Court has been told.

The London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust is opposed to the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre being built in Victoria Tower Gardens, a small triangular Grade II-listed park next to Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster.

The charity is bringing a legal challenge against planning permission for the park site, arguing that the decisionmaking process was flawed. Its case against the government, which is resisting the challenge, is focused on the impact the development may have on the heritage setting and the evaluation of alternative sites.

Richard Drabble QC, representing the trust, told a hearing before Mrs Justice Thornton at the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday that it was seeking to have the planning permission decision quashed. He said the trust “welcomes the principle of an appropriate memorial to the horrors of the Holocaust”, but summed up its position to current plans as “right idea, wrong place”. In written arguments, he said the park was chosen as the memorial site “despite its inherent unsuitability for development” owing to cultural, historical and heritage factors.

He said many of the trust’s supporters “are Jewish people whose families were either forced to flee the Holocaust or who perished in it” but opposed a memorial in that park, which

sits alongside the River Thames, and contains listed installations, including the Burghers of Calais

by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, the Buxton Memorial Fountain and the Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial.

Drabble argued that the “wrong legal test” was applied as to whether there was “substantial harm” to the park’s heritage. He alleged in written submissions there had been an “unlawful approach” to the issue of alternative sites. Land by the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth, south London, had been considered as a “viable option” by the Holocaust Memorial Commission, he said, but a planning inspector later concluded it “lacks a detailed scheme” and “carries clear potential constraints”.

Timothy Mould QC, for the government, said the trust’s case should be dismissed, arguing that there was “no error of law” and that the policy in the assessment of “the degree of harm resulting from the proposed development” was not “misinterpreted or misapplied”.

Westminster City Council is among a number of high-profile organisations and individuals to have objected to the chosen site, including former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Campaigners have also previously raised flooding concerns and issues around the “crowded and security-sensitive nature of the area”.

Planning permission for the memorial was granted last July and it is due to open in 2024.

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Eichmann lawyer dies One of the men who prosecuted Adolf Eichmann has died, aged 94.

Gabriel Bach was a state’s attorney who compiled evidence for the 1961 trial that led to Eichmann, the architect of the Holocaust, being found guilty and hanged in June 1962. Bach went on to serve on Israel’s Supreme Court.

Eichmann, who arranged the identification and transportation of Jews from across

Nazi-occupied Europe to death camps, was captured in Argentina by the Mossad in 1960 and taken to Israel for the trial.

Reflecting on his role in the trial, Bach said in 2017: “If any person deserved death, it was him [Eichmann]”.

Bach was buried this week at Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem.

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Special Report

Out-of-this-world show on beauty of Earth from space

by Stephen Oryszczuk

Ilan Eshkeri and Tim Peake

With Space Station Earth due to tour Europe, Eshkeri said he was influenced and inspired to create the show after listening to music from Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre, as well as films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Fantasia.

The Leeds graduate, who lives in north London, said that as well as creating the music, he decided to direct the film element as well, since he “had a sense of what I wanted to achieve”, adding that the ESA “provided unprecedented access” to both footage of ISS life from astronauts such as Peake and the mechanics of space exploration.

“I got to see rocket launches, a zero-gravity flight, and a chance to get lost in their video archive as well as the opportunity to get advice from ESA scientists and astronauts,” he said. “At the same time, I started creating the music with synthesisers.”

He soon added strings, brass, and a choir to deliver what he hopes will be a “visceral and immersive experience of going to space and looking back at our home, a journey very few have undertaken, communicated to the audience thorough pure emotion”.

Eshkeri added: “This mostly never-before-seen footage will be projected across three massive screens with a light show,” while Peake said: “There aren’t many

Jewish composer Ilan Eshkeri and his fan Tim Peake worked on the show with the European Space Agency

words that can truly describe the beauty of seeing Earth from space.

But Space Station Earth attempts to do this, using music and video, to capture the emotion of human spaceflight and exploration.”

The ISS was built by five partner

space agencies in a programme that now involves scientists from more than 15 countries, making it the world’s largest international cooperative programme in science and technology.

It has been permanently occu-

pied by people from these countries for more than 20 years and has been described as “a pinnacle of human achievement and a beacon of hope that is a testament to what we can achieve when we work together”.  www.royalalberthall.com

and

A Jewish composer has teamed up with British astronaut Tim Peake to create a first-of-its-kind live musical experience at the Royal Albert Hall in May, set to the stunning backdrop of space.

London-born Ilan Eshkeri and his fan Peake have worked with the European Space Agency (ESA) to create Space Station Earth, described as a “multimedia experience that allows the audience to see through the eyes of astronauts”.

With no dialogue or narration, the audience will first get a chance to ask Peake questions before being presented with a musical performance onstage, set to a backdrop of stunning space visuals over three giant screens, showing galaxies, the Earth as seen from orbit, and life inside the International Space Station (ISS).

Eshkeri, who spent time in a zerogravity environment to prepare, is best known for his work on films, composing the scores to ones such as Stardust, Layer Cake, Still Alice, The Young Victoria, and Rowan Atkinson’s Johnny English Reborn. He also scored Ralph Fiennes’ Shakespearian directorial debut Coriolanus, and has worked with Annie Lennox, Sinéad O’Connor, Coldplay, and Take That.

“My music has taken to me to many unexpected and extraordinary places, but when Tim Peake got in touch to say he was a fan, a door was opened to one of the most amazing and inspiring journeys of my life,” he said.

“There are so many facts and figures about travelling to the ISS, but no one has ever told the emotional journey astronauts go on, a journey that has startlingly similar experiences for astronauts from all corners of the world.”

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

News / Storm Eunice / Safety breach / Mayor mourned

Graves damaged by 120mph Eunice Tombstones at two Jewish cemeteries were damaged during Storm Eunice, writes Jack Mendel.

Trees landed on graves at Lauriston Road Cemetery in Hackney and Willesden Cemetery, which are both under the auspices of the United Synagogue.

The US said repairs are underway and the families of loved ones buried at the cemeteries have been informed where there is a next of kin.

Storm Eunice, which reached speeds of up to 120mph, left 1.4 million households without power, and claimed four lives.

No synagogues reported damage from the storm.

Lali Virdee, the US’s property director, said: “The United Synagogue takes very seriously its mandate to maintain the resting places of tens of thousands of members of the community. In addition, we support some 60 communities across England with both their synagogue and associated property needs and we are pleased that no damage has been reported to our shul buildings and other sites.”

A tree brought down by Storm Eunice at Lauriston Road Cemetery

Modern & Contemporary Prints & Multiples

Lauriston Road Cemetery in Hackney (top) and Willesden Cemetery

Willesden is the only Jewish cemetery on England’s Register of Parks of Special Historic Interest, and is

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A Jewish school has been fined £30,000 after pupils had to be rescued from a 3,000ft mountain, writes Jack Mendel.

Gateshead Cheder admitted “mistakes were made” over a field trip in March 2020, in which 13 boys were left stranded in icy conditions, with one pupil falling metres and hurting himself.

Organisers of the trip up Helvellyn in the Lake District ignored calls not to ascend above the snow line, Newcastle Magistrates’ Court heard last week, with adults on the trip not trained to deal with the conditions – and students wearing school shoes or trainers.

Ascending the 3,117ft mountain, the group reportedly lost its way, ignoring passers-by telling them to turn around, with one child falling and cutting himself and another reportedly having ‘panicked’ and run off.

The boys and staff were eventually found

Thirteen boys were stuck on an icy mountain

by the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team in the dark, with the Sunderland-based school admitting health and safety breaches. It was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive and fined £30,000. It was also told to pay a victim surcharge and costs totalling nearly £5,000.

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Hendon Conservative councillor and former Mayor of Barnet Anthony Finn has died, it has been confirmed.

A message tweeted by Hendon Ward Conservatives on Monday said: “We are incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Cllr Anthony Finn, a long-standing councillor in Hendon Ward and an extremely dedicated ward representative.

“His presence will be sorely missed in the council chamber.”

The Hendon Ward account

also said their “thoughts go out” to Cllr Finn’s family including his wife Anita.

Finn, 75, had been an elected representative on Barnet Council for over 30 years, holding various Cabinet positions, including on the budget performance overview and scrutiny committee.

In 2010 he was elected Mayor of Barnet, with his wife becoming mayoress for the next year. That year Finn was invited to Beis Yaakov Primary School to tell the children about his duties as mayor.

At the 2018 local elections Finn topped the vote in the Hendon ward as one of three Conservative representatives.

Last July it was announced that he had not been chosen as a candidate for the local elections in May. Finn’s current ward colleague Mark Shooter, having learned of his death, tweeted he “had the honour of working close” with Finn in Hendon for the last 12 years”.

Shooter added: “Sending love and well wishes to all of his family. Chayim Aruchim.”

24 February 2022 Jewish News

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15

Sephardi report / News

S&P ‘lacks strong leadership’ EXCLUSIVE

by Jenni Frazer @JenniFrazer

A report on the future of the Sephardi community strongly criticises “a lack of strong leadership, effective transparent decision-making and very poor communication”.

Rachel Fink, the former headteacher of JFS, who authored the report, is rumoured to be set to become the chief executive of the S&P Sephardi Community.

The news comes on the eve of a special open meeting of the S&P membership, called for 28 February, after months of backdoor complaints about the way in which the S&P is run.

Fink’s report, seen by Jewish News, includes a plan to set up a formal Office of the Senior Rabbi, due to be funded to the tune of £100,000 per year over a five-year period.

The report says that “some individuals are exploiting” the lack of clarity in the Ascamot, or constitution of the community, “to promote their own agenda and power bases”.

Fink says there is widespread consensus about the value to the community of the senior rabbi, Joseph Dweck. But, she declares: “Current arrangements prevent Rabbi Dweck from giving his best to, and on behalf of, the community, which is having a detrimental effect all round.” She recommends that “the board

A report reveals circumstances prevent Rabbi Dweck from giving his best to the community

must reclarify the roles of both the senior rabbi and the Lauderdale Road community rabbi – with the rabbis themselves and to the kahal (congregation)”.

She adds that not establishing an office of the senior rabbi would mean “the community is at risk of losing one of its greatest assets”. It needs, she says, to be established “in a way to ensure it is inextricably linked to the S&P, with a review after five years. This will enable RJD [Rabbi

Dweck] to develop the role for the benefit of the community and for his own job satisfaction”.

Other recommendations in Fink’s report include the probable closure or relocation of Wembley Sephardi Synagogue. She writes: “The probability that retaining the community at the current site will benefit from increased membership, due to a regeneration of Wembley Park, is very low. There is a difference between relocating a building and closing a building.

The communal culture at Wembley is strong and must be retained in some form.”

She says that both the Sephardi Beth Din and its kashrut supervision need shaking up and that the Beth Din needs developing “to ensure it reflects the halachic approach of the S&P and maintains a strong international reputation”. And she also ponders the possibility of the Sephardi Kashrut Authority (SKA) regulating vegan food. The S&P, she says, should represent “accessible orthodoxy” – a “moderate Orthodox halachic voice across all areas of the S&P”.

Another recommendation is the rewriting of the Ascamot to allow women to take part more fully. This might open the door for a woman to become Parnas Presidente, or chair, of the S&P. Earlier this year Rony Sabah, the chair of the S&P advisory council – the “bridge” between the membership and the Board of the community – sent a concerned email to the S&P chair, professor Stuart Morganstein. In it, he expressed concern at the turnover in personnel, saying: “Since last August, three Board members have resigned, the Parnas Presidente, the Vice-PP and a member for Lauderdale Road”.

Not long after this was sent, Lauderdale Road chair Gerry Temple also resigned. Sabah said that “such unusual events should have resulted in an EGM being held to reassure the kahal”.

Now, it seems, the open meeting – which does not have an agenda – will allow members to express their concerns and raise complaints.

Garry’s home was almost uninhabitable.

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

News / Campus protest / Terrorist sentence / Rabbi ruling

Academics hold anti-IHRA event Jewish students confronted a group of academics at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), taking part in an event aimed at building opposition to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, writes Lee Harpin.

As part of a programme of events timed to take place on a picket line at the university while strike

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action was taking place, the ‘Resisting and Refusing the IHRA at Queen Mary “teach-out” was held on diocese-owned land.

Clive Gabay, an international politics lecturer at QMUL had tweeted that he “can’t wait” to co-speak “on why the IHRA definition of antisemitism is a bad conceptual definition… harmful to Palestinians, to anti-racism and even to Jews”.

Gabay said he had staged the event at the East End institution to coincide with strike action by colleagues “because QMUL adopted the IHRA without consultation…”

While the academic, who is Jewish, has previously criticised sacked Bristol University Professor David Miller, he has also suggested: “Treating JSocs (and UJS) as the inviolable and unquestioned voice of all Jewish students, who supposedly exist

devoid of political cleavages, is itself an antisemitic position to take (i.e. it’s saying all Jews are the same).”

QMUL JSoc president Joel Azulay said: “I rebutted their comments and demonstrated, giving first-hand evidence, why the IHRA definition of antisemitism is the definition which protects Jewish students on and off campus and it is here to stay.”

A terrorist who made a pipe bomb in his Nazi memorabilia-filled bedroom could walk free from jail within months despite his bid to be released early being rejected.

The Parole Board refused to let Jack Coulson, 22, leave prison before the end of his sentence as it was not convinced there was “real reduction in risk” since his jailing.

But because of the type of sentence he is serving, Coulson is expected to be freed later this year after four years and eight months.

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Ruling: Rabbi Bassous

A Beth Din has ruled in favour of a Golders Green rabbi following a bitter battle with synagogue trustees.

A ruling was made in favour of Aharon Bassous, ensuring he maintains authority over Beth Hamedrash Knesset Yehezkel (BHKY).

In a document published by the Beth Din, details

of the disagreement were spelled out, including over the issue of wearing of masks.

Trustees wanted them worn but Bassous threatened to quit if they were enforced. At the time of the dispute, they were not legally required. It comes after tensions reached boiling point between Bassous and the trustees in 2020, after the con-

gregation moved into its new £6 million building on Golders Green Road. The Sephardi synagogue, which was founded

by Bassous’s family in 1987, disagreed over ownership and control of the building. The document concluded that BHKY and its trustees are “not entitled and have no grounds” to terminate his employment.

www.jewishnews.co.uk

24 February 2022 Jewish News

17

PTSD research / Climate pledge / Covid rules / World News

Oxygen therapy ‘can repair PTSD damage’ Israeli researchers say they have found a way to relieve the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder with a form of treatment using oxygen, writes Michael Daventry.

A study involving 35 Israeli military veterans found “significant improvement” in all classes of symptoms, raising hopes that some of the most difficult cases can be treated.

Severe PTSD is caused by nonhealing wounds on the brain that are resistant to conventional treatments such as medication or therapy.

The new method, trialled by Tel Aviv University and the Shamir Medical Centre, uses hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves placing a patient in an oxygen-rich chamber where the atmospheric pressure is greater than sea level.

Researchers said evidence in recent years had found this method improved the supply of oxygen to the brain, helping to generate new blood vessels and neurons.

Shai Efrati, who led the research team, said treatment-resistant PTSD was caused by a “biological wound in brain tissues” and that the

A scene from the 2021 Amazon Studios film Cherry, in which an army medic suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder

new treatment activated mechanisms that repair the brain tissue.

“The treatment induces reactivation and proliferation of stem cells, as well as generation of new blood vessels and increased brain activity, ultimately restoring the functionality of the wounded tissues,” he said. “Our study paves the way to a better understanding of the connection between mind and body.”

The World Health Organisation says almost four percent of the

global population and 30 percent of all combat soldiers develop PTSD. Efrati said: “We demonstrate... that direct biological treatment of brain tissues can serve as a tool for helping PTSD patients. Moreover, our findings may be most significant for diagnosis. To date, no effective method has been developed and diagnosis of PTSD is still based on personal reports, leading to clashes between the suffering veterans and the authorities.”

Herzog promises climate crisis talks with neighbours Israeli president Isaac Herzog has said the climate crisis “keeps me awake at night” as debate in Israel about the issue grows, writes Jenni Frazer.

Describing the problem as “a fullyfledged existential threat”, Herzog (pictured) told the Haaretz and Hebrew University Israel Climate Change Conference that “this is a time of emergency”, adding: “The global climate crisis is only intensifying and it is striking us with full force. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning.”

After setting up the Israeli Climate Forum, he believed its collaborations were “already showing early signs of important solutions”.

Herzog said he would make climate

the focus of forthcoming talks with the leaders of Greece, Cyprus and Turkey, adding: “I remain in close and warm contact with the leadership of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and the Palestinian Authority. I intend to get them all on board for a regional partnership confronting the climate crisis.”

ISRAEL TO EASE RESTRICTIONS Israel will ease some Covid restrictions on travel and education from 1 March.

Under the new guidelines both vaccinated and unvaccinated tourists of all ages will be allowed into the country, as long as they submit a negative PCR test before boarding the flight and take another one after landing in Israel.

Returning Israeli citizens will not have to take a pre-flight test, only a PCR on landing. Unvaccinated Israelis will

not have to quarantine after returning as long as they test negative on landing.

The announcement came after the Health Ministry last week recommended easing restrictions as the fifth wave of infections fuelled by the Omicron variant continues to recede.

“We are seeing a steady decline in the morbidity data so this is the time to gradually reopen,” prime minister Naftali Bennett said.

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.

1251

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

A week of events, dear boy, events

In March 1938, a lawless dictator obsessed with his country’s former empire invaded a sovereign neighbour under the pretence of reuniting his people. The invasion of the Sudetenland, followed by the rest of Czechoslovakia, led to the darkest days in human history.

This week a lawless dictator obsessed with returning his country to supposed former greatness invaded a sovereign neighbour under the pretence of reuniting his people. Leading to who knows what.

Let’s not overstate the case. Putin is no Hitler. Comparing the Russian autocrat to the Nazi dictator betrays the unique evil of the Third Reich which, never forget, was responsible for the deaths of 24 million Russians. Yet, as the world watches aghast as Putin rehangs the Iron Curtain, there are parallels and lessons to learn.

Despite cross-party support for punitive measures in response to Putin sending soldiers into another country, the government’s “barrage” of sanctions has failed to materialise. Freezing the assets of just three of Putin’s cronies, who don’t live in the UK, and five Russian banks is hardly the thunderous “nowhere to hide” clarion call made by the foreign secretary. It’s less a big stick than a Twiglet.

Still, it could have been radically, tragically worse. Had the last general election seen Comrade Corbyn’s politburo turn Britain into Belarus, we would have witnessed a prime minister standing in Parliament this week parroting the perfidious position of the Stop The War coalition on the Russian invasion (endorsed by Corbyn and 13 other quisling MPs).

It states: “The conflict is the product of 30 years of failed policies, including the expansion of Nato and US hegemony at the expense of other countries as well as major wars of aggression by the USA, Britain and other Nato powers. The British government has played a provocative role in the present crisis, talking up war, decrying diplomacy as appeasement and escalating arms supplies.”

Harold Macmillan’s response when asked his greatest challenge as prime minister – “Events, dear boy, events” – illustrates how reliant we are on the judgment of elected leaders in times of crisis. We may be saddled with a prime minister whose judgment is beneath the standards many expect, but at least we don’t have one with judgment beneath contempt. One only wonders which side of the fence the former Labour leader would have stood 84 years ago.

Send us your comments PO Box 815, Edgware, HA8 4SX | letters@jewishnews.co.uk

No land, no peace deal The central point of my previous letter was that Israel’s policy of keeping and controlling the Occupied Territories stems largely from Likud’s ‘greater Israel’ view (Jewish News, 3 February 2022).

This largely explains why Likud loathed the Oslo Accords and undermined them by building more settlements (Picture: Settlers fighting with Palestinians).

Four correspondents appear to dispute this in the edition of 10 February, but have not engaged with my claim. The evidence is there. The revisionists – the forebears of Likud – have a long history of maximal land claims, including their claim that the Balfour Declaration promised them Transjordan, and their rejection of the 1947

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The Board of Deputies’ ‘get back on the plane’ response to the arrival of Israeli far-right Knesset Member Bezalel Smotrich was remarkable.

Almost Trumpian! I never expected such an august organisation to speak in such terms. However, in the case of Smotrich perhaps it was right not to mince its words. His obscene opinion of Arabs, gays, bisexual and transgender minorities and non-Orthodox Jews make him unwelcome among civil people. I applaud the Board for saying it as it sees it. You spoke for me and many.

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UN Partition Plan for Palestine, which enabled the creation of the Jewish state. Likud itself is a coalition of parties formed in the 1970s of which one was called the Movement for Greater Israel.

It’s clear that Likud’s policy on the Occupied Territories is largely influenced by its historical view.

It isn’t clearwhy four Jewish News letter writers dispute this.

Answering the many dubious claims that are made by these contributors would take more space than is available here, but I note that no one tried to answer the question I posed: Without land for peace, can there be a two-state settlement? I have given my answer but, so far, no one else has.

Fraser Michaelson, Southgate

*

Thank heavens Spurs is finally opposing the use of the horrific Y-word in its name. Police will need to hold meetings with the match day stewards and use CCTV. Once the racist term is chanted, arrests should be followed by court appearances. The club has a Jewish owner and a Jewish chairman. Why have they sat back and ignored such serious racism for so long?

Ian Levene, By email

24 February 2022 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

19

Editorial comment and letters

STATS NOT RIGHT OPPORTUNISM Your editor’s claim on Sky Sports News at the recent Spurs versus Wolves game about the use of the ‘Y-word’ included the statement: “94 percent of 23,000 people acknowledged the Y-word is racist”.

This is a gross distortion. The finding was 94 percent acknowledged “some people consider the Y-word to be a racist term against a Jewish person”. This is entirely different. Spurs has a long history of connection with London’s Jews and our chant is a recognition of that, plus the esteem in which we are held by non-Jewish Spurs fans. Supporters of other clubs who want the word banned are simply wilfully ignorant of this.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed in your interview: “PM Keir? I’ve never been so optimistic,” admitting that she loves the idea of becoming chancellor, presumably something ‘PM Keir’ has already promised her (Jewish News, 10 February 2022).

It is strange, though, how politicians’ hypocrisy in pursuit of their own political careers is ignored when she is now so optimistic of a man who fully supported Jeremy Corbyn at the last general election.

Not to mention most of her colleagues in the current shadow cabinet too.

Jonathan Hoffman, Finchley

Russell Ballen, By email

Spurs need support Your editor Richard Ferrer is considerably younger than me (Your £10 is in the post, Alan! – Ed), or so it seems from the photograph accompanying his column headlined ‘Spurs flatter to deceive’ (17 February 2022) (Make that £20! – Ed).

So he might therefore be forgiven for his assertion that the Y-word “has been hijacked by Spurs fans as a cheap trigger to goad Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham fans”. Ferrer’s youth (Alan! You’re making me blush – Ed) will prevent him being aware of the nasty, vicious and incredibly offensive antisemitism that those of us who travelled to support Spurs at Chelsea and West Ham in the 1970s and 1980s were forced to endure.

I am 100 percent opposed to use of the Y-word by any Spurs supporter, Jewish or nonJewish. It debases the offensiveness of the word and legitimises its use by antisemites, but I understand why Spurs supporters adopted it. Tottenham has taken an important step.

Rather than snipe from the sidelines, Jewish News should be supporting them.

Alan Curtis, By email (Letter of the week – Ed)

Amnesty guilty of libel SHUT THE JEWISH AGENCY You reported on calls for Amnesty International to be subject to an investigation by the Charity Commission for breaching the IHRA definition of antisemitism. That would seem a somewhat milk and water reaction to what amounts to the monstrous accusation, repeated time and again in Amnesty’s recently published document, that Israel is an apartheid state.

I suggest Amnesty is guilty of libel. To win a libel case, a claimant must show they have been identified in the publication, and that the publication was defamatory. I hope legal minds in Israel are considering charging Amnesty with this. The onus would be on Amnesty to prove its statements are true. If the Israeli government baulks at taking this action, surely there are organisations and individuals able and willing to defend Israel against this false accusation?

Neville Teller, N13

I read with interest your call for the Jewish Agency to appoint a new leader (Jewish News, 17 February 2022). Perhaps it’s time to look at it another way.

The Jewish Agency leadership in recent years has become nothing more than a dumping ground for has-been Israeli politicians who have benefited from coalition machinations. Is it not time to close this

budget-sapping bureaucratic behemoth?

The state of Israel is almost 74 years old and can carry out most, if not all, of its functions.

The same applies to all the pre-state institutions, including the Jewish National Fund and the World Zionist Organisation.

Time to move on.

Joe Millis, By email

20

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

Opinion

Food poverty doesn’t just affect other people ALEX BRUMMER

CITY EDITOR, THE DAILY MAIL

F

or most residents of upmarket Jewish districts of London and other UK cities, inflation and the rising cost of living is about someone else, not them. Sure, the £700 hit to energy bills due in April, when the price cap goes up, together with the 1.25 percent new NHS and Social Care levy will hurt and we may have to turn the thermostat down a notch.

But it is not a question of choosing between shivering at home or having adequate food.

Britain is not alone in facing higher prices.

In Israel, which has enjoyed several years of low inflation, the annual rate climbed to 3.1 percent in January. That’s lower than the 5.4 percent in the UK and the 7.5 percent hit in the United States, but still a blow.

There is a rose-tinted tendency to see modern Israel as a prosperous, middle-income country with over-exuberant property values.

But as the International Monetary Fund and

the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development note, it has serious problems of social inequality, with the gap between the haves and have-nots among the highest among western democracies. This is partly accounted for by the relative poverty of large Charedi families, some new immigrant groups, Bedouin Arabs in the Negev and some uncomfortably poor Arab communities in the Galilee.

Inflation driven by higher energy prices is particularly insidious. Energy is a significant cost input for food processing and drives up the cost of produce on market stalls and in shops.

And for the least well-off in any society, food swallows a larger proportion of earnings than those who are better off.

As comfortable Jews in the diaspora or Israel, embedded in our communities and their consumerist values, it is easy to close our eyes to poverty. It occasionally jumps out at us in the shape of a sullen figure asking for money on the streets of Golders Green or arriving at the weekend day minyan with a story of woe. It is only too easy to blot out. That is why Sabrina Miller’s article in last week’s Jewish News was

❝

AS COMFORTABLE JEWS IN THE DIASPORA, IT IS EASY TO CLOSE OUR EYES TO POVERTY

so important. The cost of living crisis is not something just affecting other parts of society.

My late brother, Daniel, used to take part in food deliveries to elderly Jews in the Brighton area. He also made sure a local woman facing eviction from her family flat, having fallen behind with the rent, was relocated to Jewish sheltered housing.

The United Synagogue is playing a largely unheralded role in dealing with food poverty.

It supplies nearly 200 families with weekly food packages in a programme that has cost £400,000 since it was set up in 2020. This may be a fraction of what is required as energy bills soar, carrying food prices upwards with them.

What the United Synagogue is doing is impressive. But, to address the crisis seriously, maybe the community – that means all denominations – could come together and establish something similar to Leket Israel, the country’s leading food bank.

It rescues healthy surplus foods from agricultural and food producers across the country and delivers them to the needy. By putting in place effective logistics and co-operating with other non-profit groups across Israel, it currently delivers nutritious food to 223,000 needy families each week.

Nothing on that scale is required to keep Britain’s own less well-off Jews well-fed as the bills drop on doormats. But with its great ingenuity, strong heritage in Britain’s food production and food distribution industries, there is no reason why our community could not help to create something bigger and stronger that could reach out and build better relations with needy corners of society. Just being more aware of the extreme privilege many of us enjoy and thinking more about the unseen hardship of all those around us would be a brilliant start.

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www.jewishnews.co.uk

21

Opinion

As restrictions lift, let’s find ways to rebuild community RAYMOND SIMONSON CHIEF EXECUTIVE, JW3

A

s Covid restrictions end, let’s remember that ‘being open’ is about more than whether a building is physically open or shut This week the government lifts almost all the remaining Covid-19 restrictions in England.

When lockdown started many people asked me what would happen to JW3, known for our physical Jewish community centre at the heart of London’s dynamic community.

I’d always said that JW3 isn’t simply a building. I’m proud that over two years of being open-closed-open, we have continued to reach thousands of people week in, week out, with quality online programmes that have lifted spirits, engaged minds and enriched lives. Many of our events have reached bigger audiences than we ever had before, far beyond London, and our footprint has grown larger than our shoe-size.

As restrictions have eased, we have gradually and carefully opened our doors to all and held many of our classes, events and performances in person. Now that restrictions are ending, we

are keen to welcome more and more people back inside our Jewish Community Centre, whilst offering multiple hybrid opportunities for those unable to join in person.

However, openness extends far beyond the physical dimension, the lifting of restrictions.

Openness is a value, a mindset, a dedication and a commitment to listen to others and embrace differences. With the visionary support of the Genesis Philanthropy Group, JW3 has created programmes that promote a vibrant, diverse, and unified British-Jewish community, enabling the widest possible range of people to engage with Jewish life and, crucially, to connect to and converse with one another.

From thematic Friday Night Dinners, celebratory parties and crash courses in the Jewish Festivals, family events in Hebrew, Russian and French, to a splattering of events for groups such as Jews of Colour, LGBTQ+ community and others, everyone is welcomed.

Our micro-communities initiative offers a safe space for a variety of different identities too. Our learning programmes are always run by at least two different educators, from different denominations. Our Young JW3

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programming, dedicated to allowing younger adults to engage with Jewish life in their own terms and with their full selves, reflects this openness and diversity.

We learn from our sources that Abraham and Sarah’s tent was opened on all corners to allow anyone to stop and receive welcoming hospitality. While giving them food and water, they would also strike up conversations with them, engaging with their thoughts and listening to theirs. Such discussions, so typically Jewish, are transformational in nature. They have the power to change how both parties see the world and create new connections.

❝

OPENNESS IS A VALUE, A MINDSET, A DEDICATION AND COMMITMENT TO LISTEN TO OTHERS AND EMBRACE DIFFERENCES

I’m inspired by this and believe that organisations that are designed to create, build or strengthen community have a critical role to play over the coming years. We need to create more opportunities for people to become active members of communities. To build spaces where we know we are not alone, where we are loved and valued for who we are, and where we are offered ways to give to others. To create multiple entry points into meaningful Jewish conversations. We should encourage Jews of diverse backgrounds to connect with each other not only when we face external threats, but for positive reasons, to enrich each other’s hearts and minds, expressing their ideas, learning, shmoozing, exercising, and eating and drinking with one another. Our physical hub, the purpose-built community centre, serves to host such conversations and enable much-needed connections to be made.

During the pandemic, too many people have felt alone. For us to truly thrive and ensure we are part of post-pandemic rebuilding efforts, we need to create opportunities for people to connect through conversation, to build community.

22

Jewish News 24 February 2022

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Opinion

Oliver, don’t use Hertsmere Jews as your political prop JEREMY NEWMARK LEADER OF THE LABOUR GROUP & PRINCIPAL OPPOSITION LEADER, HERTSMERE BOROUGH COUNCIL

I

t was one of the odder political tweets of the month. Tory Party chair and Hertsmere MP Oliver Dodwen posted a picture of himself in a Washington DC hotel practicing his speech to the Heritage Foundation, using an ironing board as a makeshift lectern. (I was mildly impressed that he’d found a DC hotel that supplies ironing boards instead of the ubiquitous Corby trouser press.)

Even odder than the tweet was the organisation he had travelled to address. Members of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, are unabashed climate change deniers.

Heritage (as it is known on the Washington Beltway) has been close to political hardliners such as Pat Robertson who denounced Hinduism as “demonic” and Islam as “satanic”.

Those are some of his less extreme positions.

Heritage was a strong proponent of practices at Guantanamo Bay during the G.W. Bush administration. It was criticised in 2005 over

a business relationship between its president and Malaysia’s antisemitic prime minister.

Recently, Heritage was pivotal to the Trump presidency with more than 70 Heritage employees and alumni on the presidential payroll. The foundation strayed into the realm of conspiracy theories, publishing articles by Mike Pence and others making false claims of voter fraud in 2020 and other wild allegations.

It wouldn’t be the first time a leading Tory figure had engaged with American hardliners.

But for me, Dowden’s speech was close to home.

And deeply problematic. As widely reported, he used the opportunity to frame an attack on the ‘woke agenda’. In reality, it was a speech long on rhetoric but short on any meaningful discourse at all. He attempted to chart a political paradigm in which positions to the left of his new friends at Heritage can be dismissed as part of the ‘woke threat’ without engaging with any genuine discussion.

The reason the speech hit home for me was twofold.

First, as Labour Leader at Hertsmere Borough Council, Dowden’s home constituency, I’m acutely aware of the pernicious impact of the cost of living crisis. I know people around here want an MP who is engaged

❝

HERTSMERE’S JEWS ARE THRIVING ... BUT THIS IS NOT PROOF OF A LACK OF STRUCTURAL RACISM with their daily problems – not one who jets to Washington to buddy up with extreme Conservatives.

Second, as reported in Jewish News and the national media, Dowden cited the “large and growing” Hertsmere Jewish community, to rebut claims that UK society is structurally racist. Most of the Hertsmere Jews I have spoken to about this were appalled to have been ‘used’ in this way. They reject the essence of what Heritage stands for. In the post-Corbyn political era, we ought to be more sensitive to ‘weaponising’ Jews in political discourse, using them as some kind of political football.

Let me be clear. I am not for a moment suggesting that Oliver Dowden is in any way antisemitic. We are on the opposite side of most issues but I’ve always found him to be a steadfast supporter of the Jewish community. On that, we are on the same page. But, in seconding the Hertsmere Jewish community

as a political prop, he made an offensive error.

Hertsmere’s Jews are thriving because of fantastic local rabbinic and lay leadership.

They are thriving because of the increasing investment many communal bodies have made in the borough. None of this is proof that structural racism doesn’t exist in Britain.

Hertsmere’s Jewish community is not monolithic as Dowden appears to suggest. As a local councillor I deal with members of the community in dire poverty, homelessness, victims of abuse and victims of antisemitism.

Maybe these are not the kind of Hertsmere Jews Mr Dowden spends time with. Perhaps he ought to spend less time in Washington and more in his own constituency, in wards like the one I represent, Borehamwood’s Cowley Hill. Here, far from thriving, many local people, Jewish and otherwise, are struggling in one of the areas at the very bottom of multiple national indices of deprivation.

Bibi was not the tough man he tried to portray DAVID PATRIKARAKOS AUTHOR & POLITICAL ANALYST

T

he rulers of Iran have said repeatedly that they will have an Islamic bomb and that its first target is Israel,” wrote Benjamin Netanyahu in a newspaper article titled The Greatest Danger, in which he argued the greatest threat to Israel’s existence lay not in the Arab world but in Iran. Bibi was at pains to warn readers how close an Iranian bomb was. They could expect it, he breathlessly informed them, by 1999.

The article was written in 1993. Needless to say, Iran did not get a bomb by 1999, or in 2009 or, indeed, in 2019. Bibi never, though, stopped saying it was around the corner.

This is not to denigrate the threat to Israel – and indeed the world – from an Iranian nuke.

It’s to point to a wider truth; and one that is far from universally acknowledged: when it came to Iran’s nuclear programme, Netanyahu talked a tough game but did little. During his second tenure as prime minister, which ran from 2009 to 2021, Iran made more progress on its

programme than pretty much at any other point in its history. Progress that was only arrested by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the so-called ‘nuclear deal’ – which he furiously opposed from start to finish.

The deal was far from perfect. Former US president Barack Obama decided to ring-fence the nuclear issue; he decided not to make Iran’s wider regional behaviour – which is, across

❝

BIBI THOUGHT HE COULD FORCE BARACK OBAMA TO BEND TO HIS WILL. NONSENSE, OF COURSE Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen, pretty much universally murderous – a part of negotiations.

Netanyahu complained about this constantly and in and of itself he was right.

But the deal did stop the Iranians enriching uranium (their easiest path to a bomb) and it

did increase international inspections on its sites.

Netanyahu claimed we could have forced Iran to accept a deal that included its wider activities, but that was always a delusion. As Robert Einhorn, a key part of the US nuclear negotiating team with Iran, told me for my book, Nuclear Iran, The Birth of an Atomic State: “If you conquer a country, like we conquered Iraq, then we can push for unlimited inspection rights, because you are dealing with a defeated country,” but with Iran, he pointed out: “We weren’t dealing with a defeated country.

We had to negotiate with them and so we got the best verification we could get, which was pretty damned good.”

What makes his behaviour so foolish – and deleterious to Israel – is that it was clear from even before Obama’s inauguration that Iran was his primary foreign policy focus. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel, who advised Obama, told me that after his 2008 election win, Obama went to Israel and asked Jerusalem not to strike Iran and close off his chances of a diplomatic breakthrough.

Netanyahu knew this but thought that he, as president of Israel, could force Obama,

president of the United States, to bend to his will. Nonsense, of course. Not that it stopped him from clashing with Obama for almost the entirety of the latter’s two terms.

In the end, Obama made the deal anyway.

What had Netanyahu’s policy achieved? The alienation of so many Democrats that Israel is for the first time in danger of becoming a bipartisan issue in the US. And the actions that Israel did take against the programme – the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists – were very much a security services operation into which he had little input.

The policy was, in fact, the brainchild of Meir Dagan, a man who had strong views on what he thought were the foolish attitudes of certain Israeli politicians towards the Iran issue.

Netanyahu is a megalomanic and almost certainly corrupt, but he did do a lot of good for Israel: notably his diplomacy in Africa and the Middle East and with India. At the end of his tenure, Israel is less isolated than at any time in its history, and he must take credit for that.

But, on security issues, the man who sold himself to the world on being a tough guy was, when it came to Iran, always a bloviator of the highest order.

24 February 2022 Jewish News

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23

Community / Scene & Be Seen

1 PLEASING PLAYGROUND

The pupils at Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School have returned after half-term to a new and expanded playground. The land, which was acquired by the Finchley Jewish Primary School Trust in July 2021, provides an extra 360sq metres of playground space and has recently undergone a transformation by a team of builders and PTA volunteers. Plans are in place to include football and netball pitch markings and a living garden wall. The new playground was celebrated with a grand opening, including live music, dancing and balloons, which surprised and delighted the children.

And be seen!

The latest news, pictures and social events from across the community

2 INCREDIBLE HISTORY

Southampton Jewish Society members went on a walking tour of Winchester to discover its rich Jewish history. A statue was recently erected in the city’s Jewry Street to Licoricia of Winchester, a prominent Jewish businesswoman and a key source of financial aid for the aristocracy. She was murdered in 1277.

Email us at community@jewishnews.co.uk

3 STUDENT LIFESAVERS

Jewish students from the University of York signed up to the Anthony Nolan stem cell register while enjoying some coffee in the pub as part of Jewish Swab Week. Every year, more than 1,000 Jews around the world need to be matched with a stem cell donor who is unrelated to them to save their life.

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4 SOUP-ER MITZVAH

Jewish charity GIFT travelled north for a hands-on student session in Birmingham in conjunction with Brum Jewish Society and Aish Birmingham. More than 40 students peeled, chopped and vacuumsealed soup ingredients ready to be cooked by families in need. This is increasingly important as the cost of basic food items have risen and families now have less access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Students also had the chance to hear about a wide range of virtual volunteer opportunities through GIFT that they do while on campus.

1 3

5PURPOSEFUL RECITALS

Yavneh pupil Jasmine Harris, 13, played the piano for her learningdisabled cousin Stephanie. Jasmine, a keen classical pianist, is hoping to raise £5,000 for Norwood by performing in three charity recitals. She has raised £2,000 so far, and has one performance left.

5

6 PARTNER UP

More than 70 older people were delighted to put on their dancing shoes again last week for an evening of live entertainment with Max Curto at Jewish Care’s Sunday Social at Woodford Forest United Synagogue.

Jewish Care’s community events coordinator, Sharon Imber, said afterwards: “It was amazing to be back among friends at the first of our Sunday Socials in two years.”

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

Competition

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24 February 2022 Jewish News

L I F E The doctor

25

Inside A look

Competition Who, what & where Fun in Cheltenham

will see you

NOW

If you’re watching the BBC adaptation of Adam Kay’s bestselling book This is Going to Hurt, you’ll want to know the back story. He tells it to Nicole Lampert

A

dam Kay describes his book This Is Going to Hurt, and the present BBC1 show based on it as a “love letter to the NHS”. But you could compare it to a love letter akin to the type that one might send to a dying relative.

The series has been both applauded and criticised for what Adam admits are its “genitalwarts-and-all” look at life inside an obstetrics ward. It is brutal. The doctors are beyond tired and make frequent mistakes, patients are regarded as a factory line with orifices that need to be unplugged – whether it’s a baby or the shell of a Kinder egg containing an engagement ring – and, all the while, the stress piles up.

Only occasionally does kindness peep through.

Some female writers have picked up on a misogyny baked through both the series and the book, in which women’s most intimate bodily parts become the centre of jokes. But it’s hard to work out if this an issue with Adam himself, with the NHS or society in general.

Any woman who has attempted to have a baby on the NHS knows just how bad the treatment can be, however well-meaning the staff are. Meanwhile, Twitter is full of doctors, both former and current, saying how seeing the show has triggered memories of many unpleasant times when they were juggling too many plates.

As a nation, we have many conversations about the NHS, but Adam’s hope is that this triggers a conversation about how we take care of the people who work in it.

“The most important thing for me was that I wanted the million and a half people who work for the NHS to watch the show and feel that I did a fair representation of their job,” says Adam, 41 (pictured, top). “And I also want people who don’t work there to rethink their relationship with healthcare professionals.

“I often think back to an antenatal clinic I did every afternoon for a year, which always overran by two or three hours because there weren’t enough doctors. People would shout

at me because they’d been waiting for two had a secret passion for writing silly songs on hours and their parking was running out. Not the side. He started writing his diaries as a way once did a patient ever wonder if I wanted to of escaping the stress he suffered on the ward as be there at eight o’clock at night when I should a junior doctor. have gone home two hours earlier. It’s easy “I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was doing to forget that the people looking after you are my therapy by writing things down compulalso humans. I don’t want you to think they are sively,” he says. “My brain needed some sort of humans just because they make mistakes, but release valve, because we are very good at being this is a show about a system with all its flaws a profession that is good at caring for other and characters with all their flaws. people but not for ourselves. You have to find a “The Adam of the story is particuway to build an emotional force field. I larly complex, but all the went for humour. A lot of doctors characters are imperfect go for drink and drugs. A lot and real and human. of them also can’t cope – You can’t portray an and leave.” authentic NHS The damage without putting in the job can do there authentito a doctor’s cally flawed mental health humans.” is writ large The book throughout the This is Going series, which to Hurt has in many ways been one of the is more serious biggest sellers than the book. of the past few As the series years. It spent an progresses, there entire 12 months is a heartbreaking at the top of the nonconclusion. Adam fiction book charts, was just months away with 2.5 million copies from attaining the role of sold and translations into 37 consultant and therefore being languages. But it all happened by Ben Whishaw stars as junior able to have a bit more money and doctor Adam Kay tragic accident, caused by very time when something happened human flaws. that turned his whole life upside Adam grew up in south London in a down. A birth went terribly wrong and Adam culturally Jewish home – he says Judaism is a was unable to cope with the aftermath. “The “cornerstone” of his identity, adding: “I’m not difficult thing was that no one was there for me the most observant Jew in the UK.” Doctoring to talk about it,” he says. was almost like a religion – his father, siblings “The reaction from the people around me and cousins were all medics and a natural was as if I’d had a migraine – that’s hard for you, ability at sciences meant he didn’t have to think but you’ll still need to be at clinic tomorrow.” too hard about following them.

The flashbacks and post-traumatic stress And he was good at his job even if he also disorder we see the Adam of the series going

through are what the real Adam lived through before giving up his job without telling his family why. At first, he thought he would go back to the health service. But a hobby writing jokes became a job with TV shows as varied as Mrs Brown’s Boys and Have I Got News for You. It was only when he’d been out of the NHS for five years and was sent paperwork stating that he was about to be delisted from the medical register because he hadn’t been practising that he went back to his diaries.

It was a time of junior doctor strikes and Adam decided he wanted to give them a voice even if he wasn’t going to return to medicine.

So he turned his diaries into a stand-up show, which he performed at Edinburgh. He was almost immediately offered a book deal. It was only then that he told his family and his new husband why he had really left his job.

The success of This is Going to Hurt has taken Adam in a completely new direction.

He always knew he wanted Ben Whishaw, who starred in Paddington and as Q in the Bond films, to play him. “He was the only person I could think of – I didn’t have a Plan B. In my heart, I was never sure if what I’d written was actually performable – scenes when the character has these huge extremes – until I saw Ben do it. With him, it just feels real and true.”

The critics can say all they want; what Adam Kay cares about is ensuring that the authentic experience of the NHS is shown.

“When the book came out, I had lots of messages from doctors who said that until they read the bit about crying in the locker room, they thought they were the first doctor who had done that,” he says. “The truth is that every doctor finds themselves crying in the locker room, but none of them ever talks about it.

“I want to show them, as well as all the people who use the NHS, that doing an amazing job does not mean you are a superhero. It is okay to not feel okay.”

• This is Going to Hurt is on BBC1 and iPlayer

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

JN LIFE

&

www.jewishnews.co.uk

WHO WHAT WHERE EXHIBITION

INTERVIEW

The American Dream The author of a laugh-out-loud memoir of the trials and tribulations of a young woman who persuades her parents to move from Soviet Russia to America will discuss her experiences at an event next month. Margarita Gokun Silver humorously relates her ultimate goal of becoming American.

This, she thought when she left Russia aged 20 in 1989, would be almost as simple as acquiring some Levi’s jeans and losing her Russian accent. However, there was, unsurprisingly, more to it than that, as she reveals in her collection of essays, I Named My Dog Pushkin (and Other Immigrant Tales): Notes From a Soviet Girl on Becoming an American Woman. Margarita discuss her novel with Jewish News journalist Alex Galbinski at a free online event on Tuesday 1 March, between 7pm and 8pm. There will also be a Q&A, with a prize for the best question. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance. https://bit.ly/33IuVMa

Israeli artist at Kew

For a breathtaking exhibition dedicated to the natural world, head to Kew Gardens for Israeli artist Zadok BenDavid’s stunning work. As we wandered through the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, there were audible gasps at the spectacular display put on by the internationally renowned artist and sculptor. It has been 13 years since Zadok’s work has been seen at scale in London. This exhibition centres on themes of tragedy and hope, focusing on the constantly evolving, often fragile relationship between humanity and the natural world. The exhibition, which has been extended until 24 April owing to popular demand, includes Blackfield (pictured), an installation that contains more than 17,000 steel flowers etched with intricate detail and assembled entirely by hand. Blackfield, which plays upon sensations of perception and perspective and has been exhibited to critical and public acclaim in more than 20 countries, is extraordinary and it would be understandable if you went just for that – but there’s plenty more to inspire you. A great exhibition worthy of a five-fishball rating. Alex Galbinski www.kew.org

TV

Getting Better There are times when it would be really nice to live in the USA, and to be resident for the start of Better Things season five is such a time. Across the pond they will be watching the final season on Hulu from Monday, 28 February, while we have to wait to watch the last hoorah of the smartest, most honest and most heart-warming show on TV, for women in particular. Created by Pamela Adlon and the not-to-be forgotten stand-up Louis CK, each half hour revolves around Sam Fox (no, not that one), a single mother and working actress with no filter trying to navigate the lives of her three daughters and bohemian mother (Celia Imrie). Adlon, who writes, directs and stars in the series, is well known for her raunch in

ACTOR

Californication, but her semi-autobiographical Better Things is loaded with so much kvetching and kvelling you want to be her friend. This was never more true than when Adlon appeared on Finding Your Roots (YouTube) and discovered her mother’s half-sister and learned that her great-great-grandfather was a rabbi. Throwing her arms up yelling “Yes!” COMEDY is one of those times you want to hug her.

Better Things seasons 1-4 is on BBC iPlayer

This Month In Jewish History...

By Jewish News’ historian Derek Taylor

Jackie Fields was born Jacob Finkelstein in Chicago on 9 February 1908. His father was a Russian emigrant butcher. Jackie Fields took to boxing at a very early age. Aged just 16, he became the youngest Olympic Featherweight Champion ever at the Summer Olympics in Paris in 1924. As an amateur, he won 51 out of 54 fights and, in 1929, he won the World Professional Welterweight championship, successfully defending the title later in the year. In 85 professional fights, he was only knocked out once and was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004.

In later life, he appeared in films, chaired the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and coached the United States team for the 1965 Maccabiah Games. He part-owned the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. He died in 1987 at the age of 79.

Go Garfield We don’t like to pick a team, but after Andrew Garfield came out as a Jew on the Graham Norton Show, all bets were off. Nominated for an Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of Jonathan Larson in Tick, Tick... Boom!, Andrew told Graham that playing the late composer felt like “being reunited with a long lost older brother”, before adding: “And we’re both Jews.” “Great,” said fellow guest Dawn French, and so did all of us.

On performance alone he deserved the gong, but now...

SAY CHEESE on 1 March

The curmudgeon in you will try to ignore it, but 1 March is Share a Smile Day. With masks no longer essential (mistake), the way to get through 24 hours of required beaming is to put Charlie Chaplin’s Smile on the headset and learn from laughter makers such as comedian Rachel Creeger, who will be marking the day by smiling at her new table and chairs. “Making others smile feels like a gift,” she says, which sounds like an open invitation to view her dining room suite. She continues: “To make people smile is a shared experience. Every time you perform, you get different reactions and emotions, and that makes me smile.” For Rachel, it is all about the cheek ache.

“If they ache, I know I’ve been smiling a lot and that is a good thing!” Furniture aside, comedian, writer and podcaster Philip Simon offers a joke for National Smile Day and it is about his grandma: “Daphne Benjamin passed away peacefully in her sleep. She was surrounded by her two daughters and seven grandchildren... including Philip, 33, average build, GSOH, likes travelling, reading and long walks in the country. That’s a joke that always makes the audience laugh and always makes me smile, as I get to remember my grandma, who I was very close to,” says Philip.

Micaela Blitz

24 February 2022 Jewish News

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JN LIFE

A TOWN LIKE

ALICE

Lucy Daltroff visits Cheltenham, the town that is home to the races and a Jewish community

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state agents often talk about location, size and amenities, but the particulars of one house sold in a Cheltenham suburb referred instead to an elaborate mirror on the landing. The property was once owned by Dr Henry Liddell, and his friend Lewis Carrol used to visit.

It was this very mirror, or looking glass, that later became the inspiration for Carroll’s second story, written for Henry’s daughter Alice.

This old tale is no surprise, as Cheltenham has got an ‘old England’ glow to it, with its Regency architecture squares and well-laid-out streets. The town is just two hours’ drive from London and an excellent base from which to discover the pretty villages and attractive scenery of the Cotswolds. A good way to see it from afar is to climb up Cleeve Hill and take in the panoramic views. The less adventurous may get more out of visiting The Promenade, a wide and semi-pedestrianised street with many upscale high street shops.

Alfred Tennyson was once a resident, which may account for why the oldest literary festival is held in Cheltenham every year. It was the first of many festivals that now take place – a wide-ranging list that encompasses jazz, science and performing arts.

Photo by David Savill

On the sporting calendar, the most famous is the Cheltenham Festival, which heralds the start of spring (whatever the weather!). The 28 races that make up the festival are the most hotly contested of the entire horse racing calendar, with around 500 horses competing for more than £6.12 million of prize money.

The week of Cheltenham races – which this year begin on 15 March – climaxes with the Gold Cup on Friday, while other highlights include the Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle, the Wednesday’s Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Stayers’ Hurdle on the Thursday. It is 11 years since dentist Sam Waley-Cohen won with his horse Long Run, which also carried him to third place in 2012. The grandson of a baronet, Waley-Cohen was the first amateur jockey in 30 years to win the Gold Cup. His father, Robert, is the grandson of the president of the United Synagogue.

Pittville Pump Room is the essence of the town.

Cheltenham was just a sleepy place until the discovery of a spring in 1716, after which it became Britain’s most popular spa, enhanced further by the visit of George III and his queen in 1788.

Composer Gustav Holst was born in Cheltenham in 1874. The family were musical and the house in which Pittville Pump Room they lived is now a small but atmospheric museum dedicated to his life and work. A film shown on the upstairs landing gives a comprehensive biography, including information on his love of India, while downstairs is the very piano on which he composed his most famous work, The Planets.

Near the centre of town, Synagogue Lane leads to a handsome Regency building completed in 1839 and home to a small traditional Orthodox Jewish community. I was shown The interior of Cheltenham Synagogue, home to a small traditional community

a cheder for 20 children around by chairman and a lively social Jenny Silverston and calendar. her husband Alan, Twenty minutes’ who explained drive away is the that the building recently restored is Grade II listed, Sudeley Castle – which makes it which opens on 7 unique in GloucesMarch. The castle is tershire. They reguthe last resting place of larly welcome guests, Katherine Parr – the wife ranging from local school Afternoon tea at who survived Henry VIII children studying Judaism Ellenborough Park – and her tomb is in the as part of the national church. Katherine is the only English curriculum, to visitors from all over monarch to be buried on private land; the world. Weekly Friday night after Henry’s death she married her services are held as well as a long list fourth and final husband, Thomas, 1st of social events. I loved the wall panel Baron Seymour of Sudeley. containing the prayer for the Royal The castle is surrounded by 10 Family with Queen Victoria as the named monarch, but Jenny explained award-winning gardens, some with that it predates this, as during renova- wicker sculptures depicting the dress and readings habits of the time. Quite tion the name George II was revealed unexpectedly, the grounds contain underneath. one of the largest public collections Cheltenham also has a growing of rare pheasants. One, the Edward’s Liberal community. A merger with pheasant, has bred particularly well at surrounding neighbourhoods Studley, boosting the captive populameans membership has swelled tion of this endangered group of birds. to 175. Although they do not have a www.3cljc.org.uk/community permanent building, Danny Rich is www.cheltenhamsynagogue.org.uk their part-time rabbi. There is also

IN TOWN

WHERE TO STAY

Regency-style Queens Hotel has 84 boutiquestyle bedrooms and Victoria’s restaurant on site. Originally opened on 21 July 1838, the same year as Queen Victoria’s coronation, the hotel was named in her honour. The Palladian façade faces one of Cheltenham’s most beautiful Georgian streets, and a variety of parks, including Sandford Park, Pittville Park and Imperial Gardens, are just a short walk away.

Rooms from £117 per night inclusive of breakfast. www.queenshotelcheltenham.co.uk

OUT OF TOWN A stunning 15th century manor house in glorious parkland, Ellenborough Park is just a few miles outside Cheltenham and right at the gateway to the Cotswolds. It features original flagstone flooring, wooden beams, vast open fireplaces that speak to its rich history and 61 luxury guest rooms with furnishings designed by Nina Campbell.

Guests can take afternoon tea in the Great Hall, choose from a rich menu of sumptuous dishes in The Restaurant, or dine al fresco in the Cedar Pavilion Tent and in the hotel’s quirky dining carriages – fittingly reflecting the equestrian influence of neighbouring Cheltenham.

Dog-friendly rooms make it the perfect countryside retreat for all.

Rooms from £299 per night inclusive of breakfast. www.ellenboroughpark.com

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

Business / Education technology

candicekrieger@googlemail.com

With Candice Krieger

FIRMS THAT CHANGE THE WAY WE VIEW EDUCATION The founders and leaders of ‘edtech’ companies tell Candice Krieger why they are focusing on solving some of the weaknesses of traditional teaching systems

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around £200 billion ($270 billion), underducation technology, lining the UK’s expansion potential. aka edtech, came to the Three start-ups already having a huge fore during lockdown as impact in the arena from pre-school to postchildren across the globe school are: MyTutor, the nation’s leading transitioned out of schools provider of online tutoring, Tiney, an app that to learning online. And while it was the marvels of remote learning that trains and supports childminders to set up and run their business, and Euan Blair’s Multihit the headlines, there has been an array of other tech tools emerging to solve some verse, which provides high-quality apprenticeships as an alternative to university. of the shortcomings of the traditional education industry, from preschool to post-school.

This might be removing the MyTutor aims to provide tuition for administrative burden for teachers everyone, regardless of circumand practitioners, or helping stustance. Described by one of its dents to secure jobs after school. founders, James Grant, as The UK’s edtech is now “a kind of Airbnb for tutors”, the largest in Europe, on it connects those looking for target to be worth more than tutors with students from the £3.4 billion by the end of the UK’s top universities. year according to the Digital Sessions are run online, meaning Economy Council. Globally, edtech proximity is irrelevant and costs are is reportedly estimated to be worth lower, typically between £20 to £40 James Grant

MyTutor

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Our communications are key to informing our community, stakeholders and service lives of Jewish women. users about what we do. We are seeking recruitpacka please creative, dynamic and experienced For more details andto an application visit: http://jwa.org.uk/support-jwa/volunteer-with-jwa/ Communications Manager to deliver, grow and diversify our communications, content Or contact Lee/Anat 020 84458060; Lee@jwa.org.uk, Anat@jwa.org.uk and reach.

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an hour. In addition to partnering directly with parents and families, MyTutor also works with more than 1,000 schools and universities to reach children from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is an approved partner for the government’s National Tutoring Programme (NTP) that aims to make highquality tutoring available to schools, at a heavily subsidised rate, to help disadvantaged pupils whose education has been affected by school closures.

“Previously, tutoring was seen as a bit of an unfair advantage for those who could afford it,” says Grant, 30. “But it is now the key pillar of the government’s education strategy.

“Tutoring is the most robust way of helping students alongside their regular studies and the government wants to scale this up. It is no longer just for the small percentage who can access it through their families.”

A garden at a Tiney home nursery The platform was founded by at Barclays on its graduate programme, where Grant, Robert Grabiner and Bertie he joined the Chief of Staff team, speech writing Hubbard in 2013. Grabiner was frustrated by for senior figures. He then came up with the how hard it was to find a tutor for his daughidea for MyTutor, built the website and raised ters, while analyst Hubbard wanted to take an £150,000 from friends and family. In September evidence-led approach to solving some of the 2021, MyTutor launched its debut national education sector’s biggest challenges. Entrepremedia campaign, You Never Stop Worrying, neur Grant, who has a background in running events and student nights, was passionate about directed by Sir Ridley Scott’s son, Jake, which ran across TV and radio to increase parental helping disadvantaged children to do better at involvement in online education. school. Fast forward a decade and the edtech What other edtech trends does he see haplandscape has changed massively. pening? “There will be a lot of thinking about “Online tutoring was really new when we new subjects being placed on the curriculum; launched,” recalls Grant. “When everything things such as digital skills, mental health and went online during the pandemic, people got to financial literacy.” try to understand online tutoring, realising that MyTutor recently bought FireTech, which it was not a step down. There are many benefits delivers live online coding courses for kids such as recording lessons, watching them back during the school holidays – their first step and accessing tutors from anywhere.” towards this future curriculum.

He adds: “We have seen that parents are www.mytutor.co.uk much more engaged with their children’s education in a way they weren’t before. There’s more openness now about tutoring and it’s become more normalised.”

Tiney is using tech to transform early MyTutor has grown considerably since years provision. Through its app, Tiney the pandemic, from 45 to 260 full-timers and provides educators with all the training and 15,000 tutors. It has become the UK’s most resources they need to set up and run their trusted platform for online tuition, raising £30 own childminder businesses from home. million to date.

Founded in 2020 by entrepreneur While Grant says online tutoring Brett Wigdortz OBE and Edd Read, won’t ever eradicate in-person the former co-founder and chief tutoring, he believes it will technology officer of Graze, Tiney become the dominant force. has already made a huge impact.

“The tech will improve and Some 300 childminders are up you can get more of what you and running via the platform, don’t limit yourself to in person with more than 500 in training – and a certain radius.” a number expected to double over Grant, a member of Edgware the next couple of months.

Reform Synagogue, spent 18 months Wigdortz says: “A lack of good Brett Wigdortz

Tiney

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Education technology / Business

people is by far the biggest challenge facing early years education. Because ratios need to be small, you need a lot of great adults, and to attract great people you need to be able to pay a decent salary. By using great tech, we are reducing many of the overheads meaning the childminders can keep most of their income.”

Tiney deals with many of the typical pain

seeing the potential. Tiney has raised around £8m to date, including a recent £5m round from venture capital firms Index Ventures, LocalGlobe, founded by Robin and Saul Klein, and JamJar, the investment firm linked to the Innocent Drinks founders.

Launched in 2019, Tiney was gathering momentum when the pandemic hit. While its nurseries had to close for a few months, it enabled the company to focus on developing the technology.

“Once we could open again, things have moved pretty fast.

The pandemic has got people to look at jobs differently, and it became more acceptable to work from home.”

The pandemic has also accelerated our willingness to explore what edtech can bring to the table. Where does Wigdortz see the big opportunities?

“It’s less about the whizzy things to jazz up the classroom but more about using technology to empower and support the educators themselves. And it’s about reducing the admin load for teachers. Many find it difficult understanding the needs of each learner and tech can help them differentiate the children and ensure each child is learning in the right way.” www.tiney.co

its offering,” explains the mother-of-three who joined Multiverse in 2019.

A former consultant at Bain & Company, she is passionate about education. “I was the first generation of my family to go to university and this broadened the sense of possibilities available to me. It has driven me to focus on the equality of opportunity available for others.”

Dangoor also has a history of non-profit organisational management, having been portfolio director at the Social Business Trust, venture partner at ARK, a charity that aims to transform children’s lives through education, and operations director at Now Teach, which encourages people who have already had one successful career to retrain as teachers.

She chairs the UK Advisory Board of PJ Library, which distributes free, award-winning books that celebrate Jewish values and culture to families with children up to nine years old.

“I found that the not-for-profit sector is often structured in a way that makes it challenging to achieve the necessary pace and scale required to really make a difference.”

Multiverse has done exactly that. Since launching in 2016, it has delivered more than 5,000 apprenticeships while also expanding into the US. Last year, it broke the record for the UK’s largest edtech venture funding round.

Investors included General Catalyst, Google Ventures, Index Ventures, Audacious Ventures, D1, and Bond Capital. These institutions were

JEWISH NEWS

Multiverse

points, such as managing payments and contracts, in addition to training, continuing develEuan Blair’s record-breaking start-up is oping and publishing activities for the children, on a mission to create a diverse set of plus a tracker to help them log what they have future leaders and get young people ready done. It takes a 10 percent commission on every for the workforce of tomorrow by projob booked through the platform. viding high-quality apprenticeships as “I realised lot of children were entering an alternative to university. Focusing on primary school not ready to learn. The importhe skills of the future, the Multiverse tance of early years education cannot be platform measures potential beyond underestimated, yet is totally underacademic achievement, matching resourced, and this was the next school leavers with hundreds of problem I wanted so solve.” employers, including Google, Wigdortz, an ex-McKinsey Facebook, and KPMG. consultant, previously It has been named the founded Teach First, the number one start-up in the UK largest graduate recruiter in by startups.co.uk and recently the UK to address the lack of raised £95m ($130m) in Series C teachers in disadvantaged areas. It funding to meet growing demand became a $100m turnover company for professional apprenticeships. with 600 employees. US-born WigLibby Dangoor, Multiverse’s chief Libby Dangoor dortz, who moved to the UK 20 years of staff, says: “People are realising the ago and lives in East Finchley with future of work is changing and that his wife and three children, stepped down as its university does not necessarily provide the chief executive officer in 2017. skillset for success, particularly within tech. We “I always start with the problem, and with don’t have an effective alternative to university Teach First, it was about there not being and this was something that was really needed. enough teachers in low-income schools that “I have seen how amazing a route apprenneed them the most. With Tiney, it’s about the ticeships can be and while there is space for importance of early years and people not being both university and apprenticeships, they able to find good early years childcare.” represent an outstanding alternative.”

He adds: “We would love to get more Jewish The online-only teaching environment of applicants. A lot of our childminders come the pandemic has helped drive demand for from religious and ethnic groups, and a lot who apprenticeships as people questioned the work in a bilingual fashion, so would love to find value they might get from higher education some Israeli people who might be interested. compared to going straight into employment.

“It’s great for anyone who wants to work “We have had people turn down places at from home and look after their children.”

Oxford to do apprenticeships,” notes Dangoor.

And Wigdortz, a cheder teacher at New “Multiverse creates a strong apprenticeship North London Synagogue, is not alone in community, which is a very powerful part of

supported by angel investors, including John W Thomson, chairman of Microsoft, and Jeremy Darroch, chairman of Sky. Dangoor, a governor at Westminster Academy, says one of the biggest challenges the sector faces is preparing people for the everchanging workforce of the future. “Uncertainty is one thing we can be certain of and being able to adapt quickly within our education system is going to be a continual challenge.

“During the pandemic, some schools had to scramble to ensure the tech was in place for their students – they need to make sure they are on the front foot. Unfortunately, the attainment gap has widened and this is something we need to look at to ensure everyone has the tech support they need and people have the skillset ready for the future workplace – not just technology skills, but also teamwork and collaboration.”

She believes some of the big opportunities within edtech will be around the delivery of content and how it engages people, particularly through ‘async’ content, where learning doesn’t necessarily happen at the same time for the instructor and the learners; the content is created and made available for students to engage with on their own schedules. “There will be some really interesting developments in the way we design learning journeys and the content we deliver.” www.multiverse.io/en-GB

ONLINE EDITOR Jewish News (Free Weekly Newspaper of the Year 2021/22) is looking for an ambitious, passionate and creative online editor to take its ever-growing brand to the next level.

As online editor you will be responsible for: • Maintaining the timeliness, impact and quality of jewishnews.co.uk • Managing the homepage, writing enticing must-click headlines and writing and editing web content.

• Editing and publishing our Daily Newsletter, delivered to 20,000 inboxes every afternoon.

• Responding to breaking news and developing stories in real time.

• Compiling picture galleries and video content and ensuring the weekly podcast, newspaper page turner and supplements are uploaded.

• Ensuring newspaper content is online and feeding online content • • • •

into the newspaper.

Managing an extensive list of Jewish News bloggers.

Tracking and analysing website traffic.

Promoting content on social media in an engaging way to drive web traffic.

Updating the site out-of-hours when necessary.

We’re looking for someone with at least three years editorial experience who can write crystal-clear news and feature copy to tight deadlines.

Experience in Photoshop and content management systems preferable.

Sounds like you? Then email your CV and a covering letter to the editor at richard@jewishnews.co.uk.

Closing date: Monday 21 February.

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Orthodox Judaism

MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA In our thought-provoking new series, rabbis and rebbetzen relate the week’s parsha to the way we live today

BY RABBI ALEX CHAPPER

BOREHAMWOOD & ELSTREE UNITED SYNAGOGUE

Rebuilding the Jewish community During the past two years, the impact of the pandemic on the community has been covered extensively in these pages. We have read reports of the challenges faced not only by individuals, but also by synagogues, schools and other organisations. We have witnessed AngloJewry’s incredible response, been inspired by the innovation borne of necessity and buoyed by the collective will to survive.

As we emerge from the darkness of lockdown to the light of isolation rules ending, what will drive this once-ina-generation opportunity to refresh

our engagement in Jewish life? We can start by noting a contrast between the Torah’s account of the creation of the world, which needed just over 30 verses, and the construction of the Mishkan, which fills hundreds.

Why does the Mishkan – the temporary, portable, desert Temple – occupy more than ten times as much space? And why does the Torah repeat the account of its construction five times, recording all the instructions in both general and specific terms?

Nachmanides says the answer lies in the difference between instruction and action. Often there is a disconnect between theory and practice: we know what we should do, we even know why we should do it, but that does not necessarily lead us to do it.

That is why the Torah, in this

week’s parsha Vayakhel, gives first general and then detailed instruction, which is followed by action and an account of the work itself and then the finished product. Initially we are shown the theoretical plan, the broad-stroke vision of the entire project and then the practical application of it, turning it into reality.

Through this lens we see that the seemingly unnecessary repetition is driving home an important point. We cannot afford for knowledge of Judaism’s ideals and values to remain theoretical; we must convert them from the realms of potential into actual.

It was not difficult for God to create the world – He just spoke and it came into existence. But for we mere mortals, it is not enough just to speak of the importance of Jewish institutions, charities and care organ-

isations. For the community to thrive post-pandemic, it needs everyone to translate that acknowledgment into commitment and action.

To conceive of building an earthly abode for the Divine was about as unconventional a thought as it is possible for a human to have. It was turned into a reality through determination, hard work, skilled craftsmanship and collective effort.

So enthusiastic were the people in donating to the construction of the

Mishkan, they had to be told to stop.

Informed by the wise-hearted people who were overseeing the project that they had sufficient supplies, Moses had to tell the nation to desist from doing any more work or bringing any more materials.

As we begin to rebuild the Jewish community, if we are to be equally successful, we will need the same enthusiasm and generosity of heart.

We know what we need to do; now we must each play our part and do it.

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Jewish News 24 February 2022

Progressive Judaism

LEAP OF FAITH

BY RABBI REBECCA BIRK

FINCHLEY PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE

What would Esther say about the use of the Y-word?

I imagine that, at first, Esther, the queen of diaspora Judaism, would have suggested that we hold onto our sense of humour when it comes to debating the use of the word ‘Yid’ at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. After all, the Torah says mishenichnas Adar marbin b’simchah (when Adar enters, we increase joy) (B. Ta’anit 29a).

She would have wanted us to share joy and ease with our fellow Brits, and more so our fellow football fans.

But even she, I think, would be saying “enough now”.

The term ‘Yid’ has emotional and historical attachments.

Spurs has been known as the ‘Jewish team’ and the football team of choice for many in our community. It has always been a place you could buy bagels at half-time. Visiting White Hart Lane was my first experience of a football match and the tuna mayo bagel was very welcome.

Perhaps there was a time when the Y-word felt cosy, familiar and affectionate. But now the club’s request to stop using the

word is, for many, long overdue. Calling out language doesn’t mean that the goodwill and the history have to be lost.

I checked with hardened fans in my synagogue, including my children, who understand the shared use of the word is sometimes as an act of love and appreciation. But they also understand that it gives permission for its use in other ways, such as as racehate, when opposing fans reference death camps.

When the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013 changed its definition of the word ‘Yid’ to include a “supporter of or player for Tottenham Hotspur”, this created concern and even alarm for many. We live in febrile times, and when the word is used (as it often is) as a term of abuse, it negates its other, more benign, employment.

I’m sure that Esther would have read David Baddiel’s excellent book, Jews Don’t Count, before inviting Haman to her private rooms. It includes the description of Chelsea fan David and his brother Ivor being unexpectedly tearful at a match as the Y-word was chanted aggressively around them. “I want them to stop,” he recalls his brother Ivor saying.

Maybe we once thought that Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and its fans could reclaim the Y-word, but it no longer feels that way. I believe that Esther would have applauded the actions of the club. Times change and so does our consciousness of words, speech and their influence.

A stimulating new series where our progressive rabbis consider how biblical figures might act when faced with 21st century issues

Some Spurs fans refer to themselves as ‘Yids’

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

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Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

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Fun, games and prizes

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1

25

12

7

5 19

18

19

21 20

5 9

15

7

Sudoku 3 9 8 2 1 5 6 7 4

I

18

M E N T N P Y

COMMAND DRILL INFANTRY MARCH MILITARY

5

1

S K S O A T I

25

11 6

23

20

6

L U H U N F R S O E D O

17 21

11

9

N A O R G R S

C B N L E S A F P O A O Y E

21

20

M Y O R N S T B A T A E C O D A L

22

23

I

7

5 8 7

5

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

7

7

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.

The listed military terms 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.

21

9

SUGURU

CODEWORD 1

8

9 5 8 7 8 1 4 3

9

WORDSEARCH M A R C H M H K S H U E T

7 2 6 9 2 1 4

3

DOWN 1 Bridge of ___, Venice landmark (5) 2 Conductor’s stage (7) 3 Silent, implied (5) 5 Hit high (3) 6 Frequently (5) 7 Heavy sound (4) 12 Authority to govern (7) 13 Forbidden (5) 14 Task that must be done (4) 15 Jewish religious teacher (5) 16 Arrant, absolute (5) 18 Pertinent (3)

16

18

SUDOKU

1 5 2 7 8 6 4 3 9

6 8 4 9 5 3 7 2 1

1 4 1 2 3 2

5 2 3 5 4 1

4 1 4 1 2 3

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

Wordsearch 2 3 2 3 5 1

1 5 1 4 2 4

3 2 3 5 1 3

3 4 2 1 4 2

2 1 5 3 5 3

4 3 2 1 4 1

2 1 4 5 3 5

4 5 2 1 4 1

2 1 3 5 3 2

A B M A S E Y M M I H S R

Y N P R I P T E I S I U T

W A O H E I R T E E M G J

J C L F N P B S O B E I S

Z N K O S N O E A V T N H

T A A X S R T R G T A A U

L C I T Y O I A E U T G F

Codeword A I O R E H K R N L I S F

W M B O C R B R O G O N L

P E S T U U N V H C O B E

X S E Z G L A N C E R S I

I E A O C N E M A L F K E

E M B A L L E T N R L R P

COBWE U A UG L Y H W S T RAN R U S E D Q NUMB E E L MACA R K Z MY S E L

B MA U A L I P S L D P R O R Z OO E X R I N M ON I F T F YO

L AD Y A E T I CK H E E F I X V J E E R O T A C T T H I RON N I GU R T

L J NKAUMF H V I G O 24/02 P T WQ C E Y R X D B S Z

38

Jewish News 24 February 2022

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Business Services Directory HOUSE CLEARANCE

ANTIQUES

Stirling of Kensal Green

Top prices paid Antique – Reproduction – Retro Furniture (any condition)

Epstein, Archie Shine, Hille, G Plan, etc.

Dining Suites, Lounges Suites, Bookcases, Desks, Cabinets, Mirrors, Lights, etc.

Established over 60 years.

Know who you are dealing with.

Dave & Eve House Clearance Friendly Family Company established for 30 years

House clearances

All quality furniture bought & sold.

Single items to complete homes

Best prices paid for complete house clearances including china, books, clothing etc. Also rubbish clearance service, lofts, sheds, garages etc

MARYLEBONE ANTIQUES - 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED

07866 614 744 (ANYTIME) 0207 723 7415 (SHOP)

Please contact Gordon Stirling

closed Sunday & Monday STUART SHUSTER - e-mail - info@maryleboneantiques.co.uk

020 8960 5401 or 07825 224144

MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING

Email: gordonstirling65@gmail.com

CHARITY & WELFARE

We clear houses, flats, sheds, garages etc.

No job too big or too small!

Rubbish cleared as part of a full clearance.

We have a waste licence.

We buy items including furniture bric a brac.

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

HOME & MAINTENANCE

ARE YOU BEREAVED? Bereavement Counselling for adults and children individually. Support Groups available.

During the pandemic, we offer telephone and online counselling.

Contact Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service in confidence.

0208 951 3881 enquiries@jbcs.org.uk | www.jbcs.org.uk

Labels are for jars.

Not people.

Refer yourself or a loved one by calling 020 8458 2223 or visit www.jamiuk.org REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1003345

CHARITY & WELFARE

SILVER

PLUMBSAFE (UK) LTD

WESTLON HOUSING ASSOCIATION

“Better Safe Than Sorry”

Sheltered Accommodation

For all your heating and plumbing requirements

We have an open waiting list in our friendly and comfortable warden assisted sheltered housing schemes in Ealing, East Finchley and Hendon. We provide 24-hour warden support, seven days a week; a residents’ lounge and kitchen, laundry, a sunny patio and garden.

| boiler repairs and installation | complete central heating | | power flushing | complete bathroom installation service | | landlords certificates | project management | home purchase reports |

All NW-London postcodes covered

07860 881505 or 0800 610 12 12 Not shabbat

PLUMBSAFEUK.COM

OFFICE FURNITURE

For further details and application forms, please contact Westlon Housing Association on 020 8201 8484 or email: johnsilverman@btconnect.com

UTILITIES

Are you happy paying big household bills?

Need to furnish your home or office?

London’s leading supplier of new and reconditioned furniture.

Free assembly and delivery next working day on most items – call now!

Would you like to pay less?

Find out how ©

call Jeff on 07958 959 822

STONEMASON

A. ELFES LTD New memorials Additional inscriptions & renovations

Call 0207 205 4229 Email sales@andrewsofficefurniture.com www.andrewsofficefurniture.com

The specialist masons in creating bespoke Granite and Marble Memorials for all Cemeteries.

Clayhall Showroom 14 Claybury Broadway Ilford. IG5 0LQ T: 0208 551 6866

Edgware Showroom 41 Manor Park Crescent Edgware. HA8 7LY T: 0208 381 1525

Email : info@garygreenmemorials.co.uk

www.garygreenmemorials.co.uk

Gary Green ad 84 x 40mm JM Group v2.indd 1

18/03/2019 12:50:51

Gants Hill

12 Beehive Lane Gants Hill, IG1 3RD Telephone

Edgware

130 High Street Edgware, HA8 7EL Telephone

0207 754 4659 0207 754 4646

www.memorialgroup.co.uk

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at sales@thejngroup.com

24 February 2022 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

39

Business Services Directory LEGACY- LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR MEMORY

JEWISH WAR VETERANS

Leave the legacy of independence to people like Joel.

YOUR LEGACY

PLease remember us in your wiLL.

& THEIR DEPENDANTS NEED

legacy@cst.org.uk ►

eNABLeD

Tel: 020 8202 2323 Web: www.ajex.org.uk Email: headoffice@ajex.org.uk

visit www.Jbd.org or caLL 020 8371 6611

Registered Charity No. 259480

Legacy Classified advert v1.qxp_Legacy 16/06/2021 10:57 Page 1

Registered Charity No: 1082148

www.cst.org.uk ► 0208 457 3700 ►

Together

we protect our children’s future Please include CST in your will

Charity no. 1042391 and SC043612

COMPUTER

HELP US CONTINUE TO BE THERE FOR OUR COMMUNITY WITH A GIFT IN YOUR WILL.

Legacy advert 84x40.indd 1

16/04/2021 10:55

Call our Legacy Team on 020 8922 2840 for more information or email legacyteam@jcare.org Chancellors House, Brampton Lane, London, NW4 4AB Tel: 020 8903 8746 | Fax: 020 8795 2240 www.bfiwd.org | email: info@bfiwd.org

Charity Reg No. 802559

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at sales@thejngroup.com

Need cash fast?

Sell your gold and coins today!

9 ct per gram 16.18 14 ct per gram £25.24 18 ct per gram £32.36 21 ct per gram £37.75 22 ct per gram £39.52 24 ct per gram £43.10 Platinum 950 per gram £21.60 Silver 925ag per gram £0.49 Half Sovereigns £155.00 Full Sovereigns £310.00 Krugerrands £1317 We also purchase any sterling silver candlesticks and any other sterling silver tableware

We wish to purchase any Diamond & Gold Jewellery

Can’t choose the diamond ring you are looking for?

Come and see us in our North London showroom for the best engagement ring selection.

We can create the design of your dreams... and at a wholesale price!

We can supply any certificated GIA or HRD diamond of your choice.

Personal & confidential Customer Service Price Offered Instantly Same Day payment A free valuation from our in house gemmologist and gold experts on anything you may wish to sell.

If you are thinking of selling, the price of diamonds has never been higher! In any shape, size, clarity or colour.

WE PAY MORE than all our competitors.

Try us, and you will not be disappointed!

Jewellery Cave Ltd, 48b Hendon Lane, London N3 1TT T: 020 8446 8538 E:jonathan@jewellerycave.co.uk www.howcashforgold.co.uk Open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm (anytime) and Saturday 9am to 1pm (by appointment)

40

Jewish News 24 February 2022

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Dear teen Loneliness can sometimes feel overbearing.

You may even feel there is no one to turn to.

Reach out.

Take that step. is there for you just a text away:

07860 058823

Jteen support is a completely confidential and anonymous text-based helpline aimed at supporting the emotional wellbeing of our community teens from the ages of 11-20. Jteen support is made up of trained volunteer counsellors, qualified therapists, educators and mental health experts. Jteen's Rabbinical advisory board is headed by Rabbi S Zimmerman and Rabbi S Weingarten.

@jteensupport Www.jteensupport.org

24 February 2022 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

C

What does anxiety look like?

just a text away

07860058823

Www.jteensupport.org

Remember Jteen is confidential and anonymous and is available for anyone between the ages of 11-20.

We can't see your number and we won't ask for your name.

Rabbinical board led by: Rabbi S.F Zimmerman (Federation Beis Din) and Rabbi S Winegarten.

D

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 24 February 2022

Bringing passion and expertise to our community

Achashverosh on Trial 27.2.22 | 7:30pm FREE event as part of the LSJS 36 hour fundraiser.

Prepare for Purim with a festive courtroom drama which showcases LSJS Jewish education at its best.

Was the Persian king of the Purim story a bumbling fool or a conniving despot? Did Haman manipulate him to destroy the Jews or was he an antisemite himself? And what of his treatment of Vashti and Esther?

Drawing on contemporary and traditional arguments, and driven by eloquence and humour, this courtroom drama will deepen our appreciation of the Book of Esther.

Presiding Judge:

Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski Golders Green Synagogue; expert in Jewish Law

Prosecution and defence barristers

Adam Gersch Barrister, Goldsmiths Chambers London

Rachel Marcus Barrister, 1 Crown Office Row, London

Dr Harris Bor Barrister, 20 Essex Street London

Joanne Greenaway International Arbitration lawyer, now CEO of LSJS

Book your free place at www.lsjs.ac.uk/bookings or call 020 8203 6427