Jewish news issue 984

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KVELL OF A START TO 2017!

Great and good of the community recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours See page 4

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Theresa May was ‘blindsided’ over anti-Israel vote Conservative MP focuses the blame on Foreign Office for settlements resolution Theresa May was “blindsided” by the Foreign Office over Britain’s support for the United Nations resolution on settlements, a senior Tory MP has suggested, writes Justin Cohen.

The comments represent the latest twist in a diplomatic saga provoked by the Security Council motion describing the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “occupied” and settlements as having “no legal validity”.

The US and the UK, which abstained and backed the motion respectively, faced the brunt of Jerusalem’s anger – with Israeli officials claiming the latter helped draft the motion and then pushed for it to be brought back to the table when Egypt abandoned it.

Mike Freer, MP for Finchley and Golders Green, said the “drip-drip of anti-Israel bias” from the UN “legitimises those seeking to delegitimise Israel” and vowed to push for it to be overturned. But writing in today’s Jewish News, he speculates the latest resolution could end up doing Israel a “favour” by creating circumstances which “might just cause the UN to adopt a more balanced approach, to reassess what it’s purpose is” or risk the UK and the Trump administration joining forces to penalise the body they are major funders to.

The prime minister, he said, is not a fan of backroom deals on which he claims “the UN thrives”, adding: “I doubt Theresa May will have been impressed at being blindsided by our FCO which has a patchy record at the UN regarding Israel. This too I suspect may now change.” It is still unclear to what extent Downing Street was involved in the decisionmaking process over the vote and its build-up.

It came after Downing Street issued an unprecedented rebuke of John Kerry following his speech last Wednesday on the future of Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The unprecedented statement – first revealed by Jewish News – came after the US Secretary of State warned the possibility of a two-state reality was being put in grave danger and branded the governing coalition in Israel as “the most right-wing in history” with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said: “We do not believe that the way to negotiate peace is by focusing on only one issue, in this case the construction of settlements, when clearly the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is so deeply complex.

“And we do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically-elected government of an ally.”

Continued on page 2

THE SOLDIER WHO HAS DIVIDED ISRAEL An Israeli military court has convicted a soldier of manslaughter over the fatal shooting of an incapacitated Palestinian terrorist in Hebron. Wednesday’s verdict sparked protests for and against Elor Azaria, 20, [pictured with girlfriend Orel], with Benjamin Netanyahu among an estimated 67% of Israelis [according to the country’s Channel 2 News] calling for him to be pardoned. See p3.

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

News / UN resolution / Kinder tributes

TRIBUTES PAID TO ‘KIND’ OTTO Otto Deutsch, a well-known Kindertransport survivor who “never forgot V ­ienna” after forging a new life in London in 1939 when he was 12 has died at the age of 88.

He spent years engaged in Holocaust education, and last year played a crucial role in an exhibition at the Children’s War Museum.

Ahead of a reunion of the 75th anniversary of the Kindertransport in London, he said: “My mother would queue outside the Jewish Welfare Board night after night for

‘Blindsided’ by UN vote

permission to land in the UK. She knew there was a quota for 10,000 children and was anxious I should be on the list.”

Michael Newman, chief executive of The Association of Jewish Refugees, said: “Otto was a popular and loyal member who never forgot Vienna and returned regularly to Austria to speak in schools about his experiences.”

Holocaust Educational Trust chief executive Karen Pollock said: “Otto was a lovely man with a kind way about him – he will be sorely missed.”

GOLD’S

Continued from page 1 “The government believes that negotiations will only succeed when they are conducted between the two parties, supported by the international community.”

Envoys from a dozen countries that backed the motion, including the UK, were summonsed in the wake of the vote.

However, Number 10 defended Britain’s support for the motion, saying: “The British Government continues to believe that the only way to a lasting peace in the Middle East is through a two-state solution.

“We continue to believe that the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories is illegal, which is why we supported UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

“But we are also clear that the settlements are far from the only problem in

this conflict. In particular, the people of Israel deserve to live free from the threat of terrorism, with which they have had to cope for too long.”

A US state department spokesperson said: “We were surprised by the Prime Minister’s Office’s statement given John Kerry’s remarks, which covered terrorism, incitement and settlements, were in line with the UK’s own policy and its vote at the UN.” Amid the diplomatic fallout, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office was also forced to deny a planned meeting with Theresa May had been cancelled, saying no talks had been scheduled.

Meanwhile, a demonstration will be held in central London on Sunday against the “UN’s bias and the UK’s apparent endorsement of that bias”.

Paul Charney, chairman of the Zionist Federation – which is organising the demo – said: “Yet again the United Nations has proven it is a one-

The UN’s Palestinian delegate applauds the resolution verdict

sided body, hell-bent on criticising Israel above all other nations.

“For the UK government to firstly not have used its veto to quash this resolution but even more so voting for it shows a lack of understanding and support for the Jewish nation in this so-called international body.”  Editorial comment, page 10

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UN row may be good for Israel MIKE FREER

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Resolution 2334 at the United Nations or, more accurately, the Disunited Nations has perhaps, finally, done Israel a favour.

The UN is an odd beast. Some of its sections do very good work. Unicef and UNFPA, for example, bring expertise, intervention and welcome publicity on children’s issues and issues on reproductive health. It is the toothless General Assembly and the more important Security Council that generate the publicity.

We know that the UN has issued more resolutions on Israel than any other country in recent history, while blithely ignoring the behaviour of Russia, China, Zimbabwe, North Korea, et al.

That’s why, to informed observers, UN resolutions are widely derided. The danger comes from the uninformed observers; the constant drip, drip, drip of anti-Israel bias flavours the debate and legitimises those seeking to

delegitimise Israel. It creates an atmosphere of unrelenting hostility.

However, the UN may have gone one resolution too far.

The international row it has caused has shone a spotlight on the backroom deals. In some ways, the UN votes have a Eurovision feel, with friends and allies receiving ‘douze points’ and foes ‘nul points’. Historically the politicking has been blatant with Security Council members blocking resolutions impacting themselves or their allies or potential allies.

Trump has already stated that the UN is a busted flush.

Given that the UN seems to thrive on backroom deals and as Theresa May doesn’t like backroom deals, the largest and sixth largest contributor joining forces could be a force for change.

Also, I doubt May will have been impressed at being blindsided by our Foreign Office, which has a patchy record at the UN on Israel. This, too, I suspect may now change.

At last, we have a combination of circumstances that might just force the UN to adopt a balanced approach to Israel, to reassess what its purpose is or lose a significant chunk of the funding the US and the UK provide.

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Soldier guilty / Aliyah falls / News

Bibi calls for pardon

Fewer British Jews are making aliyah

Israel’s prime minister has called for the soldier convicted of the manslaughter of a wounded Palestinian terrorist to receive a pardon.

An Israeli military court convicted Sergeant Elor Azaria over the fatal shooting of incapacitated Palestinian attacker Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21.

Defence officials had criticised Azaria’s conduct, while large segments of the Israeli public, along with members of the nationalist ruling coalition, have rallied behind him.

With his comment, Benjamin Netanyahu has plunged into a raging political debate that has divided the country, putting himself at odds with the military.

The prime minister made the remarks just hours after Azaria was convicted on Wednesday. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years. Azaria’s defence team has already said it will appeal.

On his Facebook page, Netanyahu wrote: “I support giving Elor Azaria a pardon” and urged the public to support the army and its commanders.

The country’s president, Reuven Rivlin, has authority to issue pardons but has said he will wait for the legal process to run its course before making a decision.

In delivering her verdict, Colonel Maya Heller systematically rejected all of Azaria’s defence arguments, saying “the fact that

The number of British Jews making aliyah dropped 16 percent after a particularly high rate of emigration in 2015, new figures from the Jewish Agency reveal.

Only 650 went to live in Israel last year, compared to 775 the year before. The new figure more closely resembles the recent average, with 629 making aliyah in 2014. There are now more Brazilian Jews making aliyah than British Jews.

The Agency said Israel had welcomed 27,000 new immigrants last year, including 7,000 from Russia, which now tops the list. The total is down from 31,000 in 2015, when more than 7,200 Ukrainians and 5,000 French Jews made aliyah.

Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky said the high numbers of immigrants over the past two years were “due, in part, to a series of external factors that have changed or disappeared, at least for the moment”.

He added that, despite this year’s fall in numbers, “longterm trends continue and the

Sergeant Elor Azaria sits with his parents and his girlfriend Orel, left, in court

the man on the ground was a terrorist does not justify a disproportionate response”.

The court threw out a relative of Azaria, while a second relative stormed out after his conviction.

Azaria sat emotionless as the verdict was delivered. He is expected to be sentenced in several weeks.

Israel’s defence minister said the conviction was “difficult” and that he disagreed with the verdict, but called on the public to respect the court’s decision.

Avigdor Lieberman told reporters after yesterday’s ruling that “despite the difficult

verdict, the defence establishment will do everything it can to assist the soldier and his family”.

He dismissed criticism of the military, saying: “We must keep the army outside every political argument and keep it in the widest consensus in Israeli society.”

Meanwhile, Israeli advocacy group Yesh Din has criticised what it called an “exceptionally low” prosecution rate by the Israeli military in cases of violence committed by soldiers against Palestinians.

The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment.

New olim arrive in Israel

number of immigrants to Israel, particularly from Western countries, remains high compared to the averages of the past 15 years”.

New arrivals disperse across the country, with 11 percent landing in Tel Aviv, 10 percent moving to Jerusalem, nine percent opting for Netanya, eight percent choosing Haifa and six percent making Ashdod their home.

Other destinations include Bat Yam, Ra’anana, Rishon LeZion, Be’er Sheva and Ashkelon.

RABBI’S GRAVE OUTRAGE Senior Reform Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner has hit out at United Synagogue officials involved in her late father’s stone-setting service at Willesden Cemetery, suggesting she was sidelined because she was a woman.

She described on Facebook the “bizarre and upsetting negotiation overAdvert the official Jewish News part of the ceremony with the 82.5mm(h)x128mm(w) religious authorities who con4 the Colour Process trol cemetery”.

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setting was excruciating. It exacerbated rather than healed our very public pain.”

While praising family rabbi Reuven Livingstone, she hit out at “unnecessarily harsh restrictions placed on my participation,” asking “whether it was because I am a woman – or this specific woman”.

Her brother Daniel spoke at length, she said, but “only after mustering considerable determination and many different conversations was I allowed ‘as a final concession’ to read

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A US spokesman said: “At a standard stone-setting, the officiating rabbi reads out the inscription as part of the service. In this case, we understand that the rabbi agreed that the inscription could be read by a member of the family instead.

“As far as we are aware, there was no ‘negotiation’ about the format, and an exception was made in deference to the wishes of the mourners.”

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

News / Queen’s New Year Honours

New year cheer for our finest

O

ne of the country’s top mental health campaigners, who raises funds and awareness alongside royalty after battling his own illness, a woman Charedi community leader and the secretary of the All-Party Group Against Anti-Semitism were among those recognised by the Queen in the New Year Honours, writes Justin Cohen.

Jonny Benjamin MBE, Chaya Spitz OBE and Danny Stone MBE can all look forward to a trip to Buckingham Palace after being awarded in a list of 1,197 national and local heroes.

Benjamin, who has spoken publicly and presented documentaries on the BBC and Channel 4 about battling schizoaffective disorder, famously found the man who talked him down from a London bridge after a national search.

The 29-year-old has since spoken in schools, prisons and workplaces with his saviour Neil Laybourne, with whom he will run next year’s London Marathon to raise tens of thousands for the charities coalition Heads Together. His initiative, ThinkWell, will raise awareness of mental health in secondary schools.

Benjamin, who is being honoured for services to mental health and suicide prevention, said he owed the accolade to all the organisations he works with, as well as his family and “partner in crime” Laybourne.

He said: “I hope this accolade may give some hope to others who might be struggling that there is life after a diagnosis of mental illness and that such a diagnosis should never put limitations upon anyone.”

MP Luciana Berger, former shadow minister for mental health and president of Labour’s mental health campaign, told Jewish News: “I am delighted that Jonny has been honoured in this year’s list. When still too few people’s voices are heard, Jonny has done such formidable work campaigning to challenge the stigma that exists

The Queen honoured 1,900 people

around mental health. Drawing on his own, very personal experience, Jonny has also bravely created a fantastic suicide-prevention programme for schools to empower the next generation.

This MBE is truly deserved.”

Spitz, chief executive of the Interlink Foundation, said it was “immensely humbling” to be honoured for services to the community and Jewish people in London. Interlink offers member organisations training and help in winning public-sector contracts and has become a key voice of the Orthodox community to central and local government.

She said: “For believing Jews, our faith compels us to make the most of our time in this world, and the gifts God has given us, to do good.

In this sense, I have only done what so many others do every day. Inasmuch as this award recognises the amazing work and sheer dedication within the charities we support, I am deeply honoured to receive it.”

Rabbi Avroham Pinter, a leader of the Stamford Hill Charedi community, described Spitz as a “pioneer and role model for Haredi women, passionately maintaining our community’s values, whilst taking on leadership and responsibility. Her position is without precedent and has brought positive change to the community.”

Danny Stone, secretary of the All-Party Group Against Anti-Semitism, said his MBE was “a tribute to all those dedicated parliamentarians who work tirelessly to address anti-Jewish hatred. I am particularly grateful to John Mann MP, Trevor Pears and all at the Pears Foundation for their support”.

Others honoured include Nicola Wetherall (MBE) who, as schools network coordinator at UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, is charged with maximising the reach and quality of teaching about the Shoah. Teaching at the Royal Wooton Bassett Academy for more than a decade, she developed a Holocaust, genocide and human-rights programme and is also on the education advisory group of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation.

She said the honour “means the world to me” and praised her RWBA colleagues. She added: “I am especially mindful today of the words of one of the world’s most incredible teachers and my late friend, Elie Wiesel, who described teaching to me as ‘a gift, a precious privilege, a duty’. I hope, like my grandad and dad, he would be proud today. I aspire every day in my classroom to live up to their and Elie’s faith in me and I pledge to continue this important work.”

“If this MBE enables me to develop our RWBA programme further, help champion this work in other schools and raise public awareness so as to effect change, that will be amazing.

If it could allow me to inform and shape policy as regards teacher training and ensure as many young people had the Lessons from Auschwitz opportunity from the Holocaust Educational

Jonny Benjamin MBE: Rewarded for services to mental health and suicide prevention

Chaya Spitz: OBE for services to community

Trust, that would be incredible. We must do more to ensure quality access and provision for all students across the country.”

Receiving a British Empire Medal is Gerald Granston, a former refugee from the Nazis, who speaks in schools here and in America about his experiences on the liner St Louis, whose passengers were refused entry to Cuba and then also to the US and Canada before a minority found refuge in the UK. His honour recognises his work in Holocaust education.

Sharon Bannister, current president of the Manchester Jewish Representative Council, said she was “delighted, humbled and proud” to receive the MBE. “The award reflects the outstanding and positive work that is being carried out by the council for the Manchester Jewish community,” she said.

She said it had been “almost impossible” not to blurt out the news of the honour during time with communal colleagues and friends when she was “bubbling with excitement, on the inside. I hope everyone will understand and share in the joy now.”

Ethne Woldman, 71, receives an MBE for services to the Jewish community in Scotland and Romania. She is trustee of the Targu Mures Trust, which was established in 2000 to support Holocaust survivors in Romania.

Saying she reflected on how proud her late parents and grandparents would have been, she told Jewish News: “I have always felt humbled and rewarded to have been perhaps in the right place at the right time to make a difference.

“Most often, making the difference was possible only because of the remarkable skills and generosity of friends and the Jewish community in Scotland. Without the contribution of the other trustees of the Targu Mures Trust and

Danny Stone: MBE for work on anti-Semitism

Sandra Landau: MBE for work with au pairs

the former chairmen and volunteers of Jewish Care Scotland, I would not be in this truly lovely position today.”

There was also a CBE for Professor Polina Bayvel, of Hampstead Garden synagogue, who arrived in the UK as a Soviet refusenik.

British Empire Medals are awarded to Dalia Cramer for services to Jewish women, Bernard Gingold for services to the community in Birmingham and Marcia Feldman, who said she was “thrilled” after being recognised for voluntary work for Jewish Care and JAMI. David Rigal picks up his award for services to Anglo-Jewry and diversity in the civil service.

Also recognised with an MBE is Sandra Landau, founder member and chair of the British Au Pair Agency Association.

The Edgware resident’s award is in honour of more than 20 years of voluntary service, dedicated to establishing and promoting professional standards for the unregulated au pair industry.

5 January 2017 Jewish News

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

News / Toddler hurt / McDonald’s row / Uni debate

Girl, 9, ‘shunned’ over McDonald’s A nine-year-old girl could be ostracised from a strictlyOrthodox Jewish community after her mother allowed her to eat McDonald’s fast food and go to a mixed-sex gymnastics class, a family court judge has been told.

The girl’s father told Judge Laura Harris he feared his daughter would be shunned by relatives and friends.

Family court litigation had started after the girl’s mother left her husband and moved away from the strictly-Orthodox community in London.

Judge Harris said the woman became disillusioned and frustrated by the restrictions placed on her.

A judge had ruled that the girl should stay with her father but spend time with her mother.

The man then complained about the lifestyle the girl led when with her mother, that she had been allowed to eat McDonald’s food and attend a mixed-sex gymnastics class.

The judge said the woman, who had promised not to allow her daughter to eat meat in future, should not be forced to remove the girl from the class.

Toddler, 2, hurt in robbery A mother-of-four says she thought her “time had come” when a thief grabbed her from behind and violently threw her two-year-old daughter’s pushchair to the ground.

The 28-year-old was on her way to visit the child’s grandmother in Stamford Hill, Hackney, on New Year’s Day. CCTV footage showed the suspect chasing the woman down Darenth Road before pushing over the buggy, snatching her handbag and fleeing.

The mother told the Evening Standard: “It was really frightening. I thought he could have a knife or a gun or he was trying to kidnap my child.

“I was so relieved when he grabbed my bag because I seriously thought he was going to kill me.

“I’m not easily scared but I am

CCTV footage of the scene showing the pushchair during the attack

still traumatised. I heard a noise in my house the next day and just began screaming again.”

The victim said her toddler, who suffered a bruised head, had been suffering nightmares since the attack.

Shomrim N E London and police

arrived at the scene shortly after the incident. The suspect is described as a 5ft 9in light-skinned black male, aged 25 to 30 and slim.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Ireland gives Israel debate go-ahead An academic debate on the legal legitimacy of the state of Israel that was cancelled at the University of Southampton in April is set to go ahead in Ireland.

The event, derided as a “one-sided diatribe” by Cabinet ministers before it was pulled, has moved to University College Cork, after Irish academics criticised the lack of freedom of speech in Britain.

Organisers of the conference – called International

Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Responsibility and Exceptionalism – are reported to have said other British universities had refused to host it because they were “afraid of the claws of the Israeli lobby”.

British Jewish groups had sought either to restructure or cancel the original conference, saying its heavy bias against Israel meant “it could not be treated as serious or genuine”.

NEWS IN BRIEF

SEPHARDI DASH FOR PORTUGAL PASSPORTS Hundreds of British Sephardi Jews applied for Portuguese citizenship in the wake of Brexit, according to those processing their applications.

The 80-fold increase echoes a 20-fold rise in the number of applications for German citizenship from British Jews, reported late last year.

The Iberian dash follows a decision

by Portugal and Spain – both members of the European Union – to offer citizenship to descendants of Jews expelled or killed during the Inquisition 500 years ago, in an effort to “right an historic wrong”.

LABOUR COUNCILLOR READMITTED TO PARTY A Labour councillor from Nottingham suspended after being accused of sharing blood libels online and for saying Israeli Jews should “relocate” to America has been readmitted to the party. Ilyas Aziz, who is listed as a manager of a Pakistani community centre in the East Midlands city and is an avid supporter of leader Jeremy Corbyn, tweeted: “Can resume Labour Party activities now that my suspension lifted. Thanks to all who stood by me in difficult times.”

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

Special report / High-tech conservation

Bringing water to the world An Israeli start-up company is breaking new ground in the constant battle to conserve one of our planet’s most precious resources, as Lisa Sanders reports

I

t has been raining in Israel. Children don wellies; parents rush out to buy thermal underwear and umbrellas for every member of the family. Despite the power cuts and the disruption, winter weather is welcomed and celebrated in a country that is hot and dry nine months of the year. With several days of torrential rain, last month was Israel’s rainiest since 1992.

Yet despite the downpours, Israel remains chronically short of water. The level of Israel’s biggest reservoir, Lake Kinneret (also known as the Sea of Galilee), remains at 60cm below the emergency ‘red line’.

According to Dr Doron Markel, manager for Israel’s Water Authority, filling the lake to its brim would require an astonishing four metres of water. The 24cm that fell in December is, literally, a drop

in the bucket.

But it’s not all bad news. In the past few years, Israel has made itself a world leader in the area of water conservation. Desalination plants went into operation at the same time the country reduced its demand for water by 17 percent. Israel reuses 86 percent of its water for agriculture, the highest percentage in the world (Spain is second with just 17 percent).

Last month, a delegation of experts from the United States, Thailand and the United Nations took part in a special water solutions visit to investigate how Israel is developing novel ways to tackle water shortage.

Which leads me to the team of Brits, Israelis and an Australian behind one of Israel’s waterconservation start-ups. NeoTop Water Systems was the brainchild of Israeli technology whizz Zeev Birger, who five years ago came up with the idea of creating white plastic balls that could sit on the surface of a reservoir.

Their special design means they stop water evaporating from the reservoir and also cool it by up to nine degrees. Water rises and condenses inside each ball (think back to those precipitation diagrams in school geography lessons) and oxygen is released into the water.

This makes the balls ideal for use in fish farms, where they deter harmful algae and also stop birds landing on the surface of the water.

Danny Handler, a London-based banking and finance expert, became NeoTop chairman and chief investor, funding the early research, and two years ago brought in a team including husband-and-wife duo Andrew Hamilton and Yael Grant as, respectively, Australia director and CFO, to commercialise NeoTop and sell its magic spheres not just in Israel but to the rest of the water-deprived world too. Shortly after, NeoTop won the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Grant and Hamilton are just back from a month in Australia, where they carried out a pilot scheme for the cotton industry with the University of Southern Queensland. “The guy there is a world expert,” Hamilton tells me. “Australia has a boom-bust cycle with water. You can’t store water for more than a year or two, which has a serious impact on agriculture.”

Hamilton grew up in Sydney, but says he has a special affinity with the rural Australian communities. “I went to boarding school with kids from the country and spent many of my holidays on farms,”

Top: The NeoTop team with Zeev Birger, left. Above: Andrew Hamilton, right, with an Australian farmer

he says.

For Grant, the Australian outback is a far cry from where she grew up in Wembley. She qualified as a chartered accountant, but working in a tiny tech start-up like NeoTop has brought her close to her roots: parents Sidney and Esther Grant are both active as engineers in London.

The couple have no problems working side by side. “We work well together,” Grant says, of herself and Hamilton. “Being a husband-and-

❝ ISRAEL HAS

MADE ITSELF A WORLD LEADER IN THIS AREA OF CONSERVATION

wife business couple is very normal in Australia, where many farmers are husband-and-wife teams. Our first sale is to a couple who have a store and run a farm.”

NeoTop has a pilot scheme running in Chile’s Atacama desert, another with American Water in California, and India is next. In Israel, NeoTop’s balls have been installed at the Sorek desalination plant, on a fish farm, and now in Eilat, where it is hoped they will protect the coral reef from the fierce summer heat.

As part of a fledgling start-up, every member of the team has to be hands-on, right down to clicking together thousands of white plastic balls.

“We’re looking into automation but we’re not there yet. Yael holds the record in assembling (the balls),” Hamilton says.

As more areas of the world struggle to cope with water shortages, Israel’s technology start-ups hope to lead the way in providing a plentiful supply of the precious liquid.

5 January 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

9

Israeli killed in Turkey / Netanyahu investigation / World News

Israeli teen among 39 murdered in Istanbul A young Israeli woman was among the 39 people killed in the latest terrorist attack in Turkey, after a gunman burst into an Istanbul night-club on New Years’ Eve, firing more than 180 bullets before escaping.

Leanne Zaher Nasser, 19, pictured, from the Israeli-Arab town of Tira, was in Istanbul on a short holiday with friends when the attacker entered the Reina club, which was packed with 600 revellers.

The Islamic State (ISIS) group has claimed responsibility for the attack, in retaliation for Turkey’s military operations in Syria.

One of Nasser was among 28 foreign nationals killed, with others from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, Tunisia, France, Canada, Syria, Kuwait, Belgium, Morocco, Lebanon, Russia and Libya.

Israeli diplomats said the girls’ friends had told them not to travel, citing security concerns, but Reina nightclub is known as a celebrity haunt, and the club’s owners said additional safety measures had been put in place.

“Their friends told them not to come because they thought it was too dangerous,” said Shira Ben Zion, Israel’s deputy consul in Istanbul.

“They are very shocked and confused and they just want to get back home.”

Mourners at Leanne Zaher Nasser’s funeral

An Israeli man who escaped uninjured said he hid in a corner. “I didn’t know what to do. Everyone was screaming and crying and the shooting didn’t stop,” he said.

“It sounded like an eternity. Afterwards, I was evacuated outside the club and saw that everything was ruined, and a lot of blood and people lying dead. It was a horrific sight.”

Board of Deputies’ senior vice-president Richard Verber said: “We stand in solidarity with the people of Turkey. We condemn this wanton act of violence and express our deep condolences and hope for a better year ahead.”  Read updates at jewishnews.co.uk

Bibi quizzed in gifts probe

“under caution”, a term signalling he is a suspect. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the prime minister was questioned on “suspicions he received benefits”.

Israeli media said police are looking into suspicions NetanBenjamin Netanyahu has been quesyahu accepted expensive gifts tioned for more than three hours by from two businessmen. police investigators in what could Netanyahu has denied what he be a politically-damaging criminal calls the “baseless” reports. investigation into suspicions he Erel Margalit, of the opposiimproperly accepted gifts. tion Zionist Union party, is asking The Israeli prime minister has for Netanyahu to be investigated repeatedly denied wrongdoing but over improper transfer of donathe arrival of the national fraud squad indicated questions raised Netanyahu: Questions tions for his personal use as well as reports that his personal attorney about him are considered serious over donations represented a German firm involved in a US$1.5 enough to merit an investigation. billion (£1.2billion) sale of submarines to Israel.

Police said Netanyahu was questioned

NO RETURN FOR HAMAS BODIES Israel’s security cabinet has said bodies of Hamas terrorists killed during attacks on Israelis will not be returned to their families but will be buried instead.

The cabinet, a select group of government ministers empowered to make decisions about Israel’s foreign and defence policy, was discussing bringing about the release of Israeli civilians and the bodies of Israeli soldiers held

by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The decision came a day after Hamas

released a cruel video showing what it called a birthday party for Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, who was killed during the 2014 Gaza war and whose body the terrorist group is holding.

Hamas is also believed to be holding the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin, also killed during the 2014 conflict, and Israeli civilians Avraham Mengistu and Juma Ibrahim Abu Anima, who crossed into Gaza on their own.

A Hamas spokesman called the cabinet’s decision “evidence of criminality and barbaric occupation” by Israel.

The Goldin family has said the government had not done enough to bring home their son’s body, and criticised ministers for returning terrorists’ bodies and sending goods to Gaza.

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.

984

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

Vote must not push UK and Israel apart It was a welcome gesture by Theresa May, long a supporter of the Jewish community. But the moment we published a picture online of a chanukiah in the window of Number 10, social media exploded in anger.

“Were those candles lit before or after the UN vote,” asked one Twitter user. “She needs a lesson in Jewish history,” said another. On Facebook, the UK was accused of “collaborating on the wording of the anti-Israel resolution”.

It was awkward and embarrassing stuff, in part owing to the timing – five days after the UK backed a UN resolution against settlements and just two weeks after May gave a speech to Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), which couldn’t have been warmer.

It all added to a sense of profound disappointment and, for some, even betrayal. At least in the short term, it has damaged relations.

That is not to say that many in our community do not see an issue with settlement expansion – many do. May herself told CFI that settlement building “must stop,” a policy entirely consistent with governments past.

Most understand that.

Instead, it was the one-sided nature of the UN motion that caused most offence, and the idea that Resolution 2334 is a new weapon in the boycotters’ armoury. It also emboldens Palestinians to feel they can get their way without having to make their own concessions.

Ten days later, the extent to which Downing Street was involved in discussions before the vote is still unknown. May’s unprecedented (and widely derided) response criticising US Secretary of State John Kerry, seeking to even the keel, implies that Number 10 had been kept in the dark. There are already suggestions that lessons will be learned, and that similar situations will not be repeated.

Yet whether you believe that the government was rocked by the vote’s reaction, or whether you subscribe to the theory that this was a signal to incoming President Donald Trump, May’s words were nevertheless significant. She said the settlements were “far from” the only issue at stake in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was an important message.

The problem is that it was blunted and obscured in the Twitter storm engulfing someone whose government had just backed the UN vote.

Ministers must be challenged on this counterproductive step and hear at every opportunity why this was not a move towards peace, but it is important that supporters of Israel don’t reply with a counterproductive approach of their own.

Standing with the rest of the world on settlements does not wipe out the prime minister’s record on Israel. Indeed, dismissing the many positives from her CFI speech would be a mistake, especially in the run-up to the Balfour centenary, which May said would be marked with “pride”.

If Benjamin Netanyahu spurns a first opportunity with his British counterpart as a result, as has been suggested, that would certainly be counterproductive, at a time when Israel needs friends such as Britain.

The Israeli leader goes to great lengths to stress Israel’s growing links around the world. It surely can’t be that the same world abandoned those friendships from one day to the next. Now is the time for Israel to avoid steps that could perpetuate claims of her isolation.

Send us your comments PO Box 34296, London NW5 1YW | letters@thejngroup.com

RABBI’S WRONG MEANING

TRUMP HAS MADE THE RIGHT NOISES, UNLIKE OBAMA

I write to complain about the piece written by Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers in your column The Bible Says What? (Jewish News, 29 December 2016).

Quoting Deuteronomy 22:28-29, Young-Somers stated: “If a man finds a virgin girl who was not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found,

fied. Israel is now pinning its hopes on Trump to repeal this diabolical move and he is also promising to repeal the equally diabolical Iran deal.

Trump is, and always has been, a true friend of Israel, as has his VP Mike Pence. All I can say is thank God for Mr Trump.

So spiteful outgoing President Obama could only resort to allowing, by America abstaining, a UN resolution to stop Israel building settlements on the West Bank.

All because his Middle East policy has been a shambles and Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t roll over to his continuous pressures.

The same President Obama who warned Assad not to cross a ‘red line’ in Syria or there would be consequences did nothing when Assad, with Russian support, blatantly crossed that line. Bizarrely, a vote by the same UN assembly that has done nothing to stop Assad murdering tens of thousands of his own people using banned chemical weapons perversely is outraged by Israel building houses.

The Palestinians have another political victory, but it is no more meaningful or implementable than Jeremy Corbyn’s pathetic and shambolic report on anti-Semitism.

Like or loathe him, President-elect Trump has made all the “right noises” about Israel and for that, at least, we should all be grateful.

Judith Roth By email

Russell Ballen By email

then the man who lay with her shall give 50 [shekels of] silver to the girl’s father.”

The word “seizes” is a complete misquote. I have read this verse and it clearly states “holds” – there is no mention of seizure.

Leah Clarke By email

DON’T ALLOW RUSSIA TO EXPLOIT MORE INFLUENCE Bringing hostile nations on-side by supporting them, as Donald Trump seems intent on doing with Putin’s Russia, works if this new ‘friend’ is in some way contrite about their hostility.

In any other situation this move simply appears to condone the other side’s actions as well as opening doors for them to exploit this influence even further.

Simon van Someren By email

THANK GOD FOR TRUMP! Two months ago, this newspaper and some of your readers were decrying the fact Donald Trump won the US election and made some harsh comments against him. In view of what just took place at the UN, I’d be interested to know if you would retract your toxic headline “Heaven help US”.

If Hillary Clinton had won, it would have been a third term of Obama and your headline would have been justi-

Sketches & kvetches Israel is the west

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‘Don’t be too hard on yourself. We all make resolutions to lose areas around the middle at this time of year, but no one expects it to happen!’

With the decline of Marx, the left latched onto relativism.

Now all cultures became valid. The west, because of its past assertiveness and aggressiveness, became ‘bad’, while countries that had been exploited, including Muslim countries, became ‘good’. To the left, Jewish people who were the ultimate victims have now become the ultimate aggressors.

Israel is part of the west and this is apparent in the fact there are both liberal and conservative/orthodox elements. This duality means there is a place for everyone in society.

People in every country have a natural inclination towards liberalism or conservatism, atheism or

religion, and the successful nations are the countries where this diversity is catered for. The creative tension between the beliefs leads to people being happy, productive, well-rounded citizens. There is respect for freedom of speech.

In the Muslim countries around Israel, there is conservatism and orthodoxy, although the liberal element is underdeveloped.

If, like Israel, these countries embraced diversity, liberalism and conservatism/ orthodoxy, then they could progress. Israel is the west in the Middle East – we should always recognise this.

Anson Clark By email

5 January 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

11

Editorial comment and letters

Thanks for Blue tribute LIONEL, YOU’LL BE MISSED I am the niece of the late Jim Cummings, Rabbi Lionel Blue’s partner. I would like to thank you for your recent piece regarding Lionel’s sad passing.

The last time I spoke to Lionel was when he phoned to tell me Jim was in hospital and his heart was failing.

Lionel was very unwell himself and I was shocked at how badly Parkinson’s had affected his speech.

At the end of the call, he said: “Goodbye darling, God bless you,” as he always did.

Not long after, Jim died and I was left heartbroken and so worried about Lionel.

Many years ago, Lionel had asked me to make a framed collage of his life, something I was honoured to do and gladly said yes, but then realised I did not know where to start as he had done so much.

I had a bit of a panic and had to do a lot of research, but managed to finish it some months later. I was so pleased when he phoned to thank me for it. I hoped I had captured a bit of the Lionel I knew and loved.

He was such a kind and generous person and always invited me to stay. Jim and Lionel used to come to Wallasey on the Wirral frequently to see my mother, Jim’s sister. We would sit and listen to tales of their adventures on holiday, places they had visited and people they had met with such wonderment.

Jim had a fantastic life with Lionel and they both loved each other deeply, I am so glad they found each other and had such a happy life together. Both are now sadly missed but always in my heart.

Sue Stephens By email

The late Rabbi Lionel Blue was a mentor and a friend to me. When I started the charity Aids Orphan in 2009, I asked if he would become its first patron, and he agreed instantly.

He was a staunch supporter and encouraged me in the very early days to raise money to help these children who were predominantly in Africa and were in dire circumstances. Over the years, I got to know him and Jim very well and will miss our outings.

We both worked with people affected and infected by HIV at retreat weekends organised by a small group called Oasis, which met for long weekends in the Ammerdown Centre.

Lionel was one of the founding members of this group and treated

everyone as one big extended family.

While only a few of us were Jewish, we had a traditional Friday night dinner, bringing the whole group together.

I can only call these times special Lionel times. While you are missed, you will have left a lasting legacy of acceptance and love for a much marginalised and stigmatised group of people.

I attended Jim’s funeral with you and you confided that you were going to miss him terribly, and last week I attended yours. You have been an inspiration to so many with your courage and compassion.

Professor Ian Govendir Founder and CEO Aids Orphan UK Trust

Wycombe’s wonders!

I voted for footballer Scott Kashket of Wycombe Wanderers in your Jewish Sports Star of the Year poll. The club has two Jewish players – it’s the first time two Jewish players have been on the field at the same time for a professional league team. If the team wins the next round of the FA Cup, they could face Spurs or Arsenal. Where would these clubs’ Jewish supporters stand?

Laurence Garber By email

PRO-BDS JEWISH CANDIDATE LOST – THANKFULLY I’m glad pro-BDS UJS presidential candidate Eran Cohen was beaten by a majority of Jewish students. That he even received 89 votes is a sad reflection on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which promotes the deligitimisation of Israel and denies any Jewish connection with Jerusalem and the Kotel.

Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner thinks Cohen is brave. I find his intentions wrong and misguided. Her comments about letting “Jewish students be Jewish” is difficult in our universities owing to the BDS lobby and an NUS president who is avowedly anti-Israel.

We now see the US “Brutus”, soon to be ex-President Obama and his spiteful act in the UN. He joins anti-Israel exPresident Carter. What a duo.

Sidney Sands N12

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5 January 2017

Opinion

It’s wise to w weigh things up before wading in ALEX BRUMMER

CITY EDITOR, THE DAILY MAIL

T

he end of the Obama Administration has produced a great flurry of diplomatic activity on the Middle East, most notably in the shape of western support for the UN Security Council resolution on Israel. Predictably perhaps, in a period when Israel has been out of the headlines, the train of events has produced an anguished response in the British Jewish community.

American presidents have a habit of showing their true colours in their final days in office, thinking that their last actions will seal their reputation in history. Frankly, Obama’s attitudes towards Israel, the peace process, Benjamin Netanyahu, Iranian sanctions and Russia have been framed over eight years, not a few normally quiet days between Christmas and the new year.

As difficult as all this may be for the UK Jewish community, there are real questions to be asked about the responses of leadership. Sure, it is deeply troubling to find Israel on the wrong side of a UN Security Council resolution when

Moscow is having difficulty finding support for a Syria ceasefire and peace deal at the same body.

Moreover, no one wants to see the US and UK, two of Israel’s most reliable friends, joining the extremist anti-Israel majority at the UN. So we can all properly hate the idea.

But as I understand it, the position of the leadership of the British Jewish community is that the two-state solution to the core IsraelPalestinian dispute is the preferred outcome.

In that process, continued settlement (except for a minority in Britain who still hang onto the idea of a Greater Israel including Judea and Samaria) is not seen as a desirable response.

In other words, we may not like the process, the UN, the people who supported the resolution or any criticism of Israel, but the underlying principle, in the shape of pausing new settlements, is not something most people really oppose.

This has not stopped some community leaders weighing into the debate. The United Synagogue (the biggest synagogue organisation that I happened to represent on the Board of Deputies) used its email system to send a message to all of its members expressing disappointment at UN action.

The United Synagogue is a terrific body looking after all of the community interests from cradle to grave. And it does an excellent job. Members are a very broad ‘church’, ranging from secular Jews and infrequent synagogue goers to the strictly Orthodox. But it is not a ‘political’ organisation that needs to convey its thinking directly to members.

The proper channels are for the leaders of the US to use their involvement in other communal bodies, including the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council, to do their ‘political’ work rather than directly.

The US is not alone in wanting its voice to be heard. When anything external happens, there is a tendency among all our communal organisations to speak first on political issues without thinking through the full implications.

Do our elected or self-appointed community leaders need to have a public view on everything from Brexit to Trump and the UN in what sometimes seems a race to the finish line?

Or would they be better standing back and making more considered comments?

We have no shortage of organisations in the UK that are solely focused on Israel, including Bicom and the Zionist Federation. The response of Bicom to the UN Security Council resolution was measured and analytical, which is really what the community needs.

We want our community leaders to have views on great events and we want our rabbis to refer to them from the pulpit. That is, after all, freedom of speech.

But we can do without the Tower of Babel we have seen in recent days.

❝

THE UNITED SYNAGOGUE IS A TERRIFIC BODY BUT IT IS NOT A ‘POLITICAL’ ORGANISATION THAT NEEDS TO CONVEY ITS THINKING TO MEMBERS

Hate went mainstream in 2016 – now let’s unite LAURA MARKS

FOUNDER AND CHAIR, MITZVAH DAY

Y

ou won’t read many articles looking back at 2016 with anything but shock, sadness and a little rage.

Aside from the incredible people we lost, it will be remembered as the year when hate and racism went mainstream.

Britain’s EU referendum and America’s presidential election unleashed a wave of intolerance that shows little sign of abating.

We’ve also seen a marked rise in anti-Semitism, both subtle and overt. It’s the same across Europe and much of the world.

In the UK,, The Casey Review into opportunity and integration showed the challenges that lie ahead for us in 2017. In this independent review, Dame Louise Casey found that the fear of people who are different has grown, as has the tendency to retreat into our own communities rather than engage with others.

Casey identified that this insularity is particularly prevalent in the Muslim community. While this has validity, her report seemed

❝

IT’S NOT ONLY MUSLIMS WHO LIVE ISOLATED LIVES – WE JEWS NEED TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT OURSELVES TOO overly focused on Muslims – which might have the reverse effect creating further alienation.

But it’s not only Muslims who are living isolated lives. We, as a Jewish community, need to take a long hard look at ourselves too.

Casey’s review doesn’t focus on us too much, but many of the issues we see in the Muslim community apply, as a recent Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) report showed.

Sixty percent of us send our children to Jewish schools (much higher in the strictlyOrthodox community), and they attend Jewish youth clubs and summer camps. They play in

Jewish football teams and go to Jewish drama clubs, scouts/guides, National Citizenship programmes and then so called ‘Juniversities’. I have met many Jews, who at 16 have never had a real conversation with anyone from another faith and this often continues throughout life.

Of course, there are advantages. The British Jewish community is one of the strongest and most cohesive of any faith, anywhere in the world. The JPR found that 74 percent of British Jews still marry Jews, which seems high.

But with the rise of the far-right and far-left, the natural instinct now is to withdraw even further into our own community, where we feel safe and comfortable. This would be wrong.

As Mick Davis, the chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, recently wrote: “Those of us who seek to maintain communal values of Jewish peoplehood and connection to Israel need to develop ways of building strong and resilient Jewish identities capable of withstanding broader political shifts. We need to maintain our ability to engage confidently and authentically with the world around us.”

Mick chose Mitzvah Day as an example of

this engagement and, in the changing world of 2016, it certainly felt more powerful than ever seeing 40,000 people volunteering side-by-side.

I was especially inspired by the JewishMuslim engagement, with our 80 interfaith Mitzvah Day projects playing a small role in building those vital bridges. Whichever project brings Jews and Muslims together, we must unite to make a difference. If we can rid ourselves of anxieties about Muslims, we will find out how much we have in common – from texts and traditions to our focus on the family.

Through the new Jewish-Muslim Women’s Network, Nisa-Nashim, I’ve seen first-hand how Jews – as the more established and integrated community – can support Muslims in their journey, which is so similar to ours. I’ve also seen the benefit to the Jewish group members, forming real friendships with Muslim women rather than remaining in fear of the unknown.

When people of faith work together, both parties benefit, as does wider society.

There is no magic pill from the government that will banish hatred and intolerance; it must come from us. In 2017, there is everything to play for. Let’s get on with it.

5 January 2017 Jewish News

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

Opinion

A dreadful resolution that makes progress less likely JEREMY HAVARDI

DIRECTOR, UK B’NAI B’RITH BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

A

fter eight years, Barack Obama’s Middle East legacy lies in tatters. After the wreckage of his Syrian policy, a car crash of an Iranian nuclear deal and the tribal carnage engulfing Libya comes Security Council Resolution 2334.

Owing in part to a US abstention, West Bank settlements are branded ‘a flagrant violation of international law’. That includes the Jewish quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, even the Wailing Wall. To say these Jewish holy sites are effectively Palestinian is as absurd, offensive and historically illiterate as branding Mecca un-Islamic.

The resolution wrongly conflates settlements to be annexed to Israel after a peace agreement (as stipulated in the Bush-Sharon understanding) with those likely to be abandoned. It is dangerously unbalanced and biased, concentrating exclusively on Israeli

settlements which are regarded as a primary obstacle to peace. While it condemns terrorism and incitement, these are not labelled as specifically Palestinian crimes.

In effect, it gives a free pass to the daily diet of demonisation, delegitimisation and sheer hatred that emanates from the Palestinian Authority. It is this that constitutes the primary barrier to peace.

The UN has also given rocket fuel to the BDS movement by asking countries to ‘distinguish in their relevant dealings between the territory of the state of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967’. The demand to boycott Israeli companies that have any business over the Green Line will surely intensify.

Fortunately, the resolution is not legally binding as it was not passed under Chapter VII, but it will certainly encourage a plethora of claims in the International Criminal Court.

Resolution 2334 is also dangerous because it will further disincentivise the Palestinians from negotiating. The Security Council has aligned itself with Abbas’ goal of internationalising

the conflict and condemning Israel in global forums, a strategy designed to avoid bilateral talks where painful compromises are needed.

A PA spokesman has already rejected some parameters laid out in John Kerry’s recent speech on the Middle East, including denying an Arab right of return to Israel and recognising Israel as a Jewish homeland, concessions necessary for any successful agreement.

In short, this dreadful resolution makes it far less likely there can be any progress on the ground. That is why figures such as Yair Lapid, Ehud Barak, Tsipi Livni and Isaac Herzog, all passionate advocates of the two-state solution, have condemned it so forcefully.

In the aftermath of this diplomatic shambles, many have sought to blame Netanyahu

directly. He clearly miscalculated the depth of opposition to his settlement policies. In particular, the Regulation Bill, which recently passed its first reading in the Knesset, has provoked a fierce storm of international condemnation. Expanding settlements in areas that may become a future Palestinian state is counterproductive and not the wisest political choice.

But foreign policy should never be based on pique or frustration. In this case, it should be about taking sensible steps to advance peace and co-existence. Instead, the US, the UK and other advanced democracies have become co-conspirators in the diplomatic war against Israel. As a result, this resolution should be rescinded as a precondition for renewed talks.

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FOREIGN POLICY SHOULD NEVER BE BASED ON PIQUE. IN THIS CASE, IT SHOULD BE ABOUT ADVANCING PEACE AND CO-EXISTENCE

Alarm bells ringing over Israel’s democratic future HANNAH WEISFELD DIRECTOR, YACHAD

I

f one takes a bellwether reading of Israel’s relationships with some of its closest allies, the lay of the land looks solid. The UK is Israel’s second largest trading partner, the worth of bilateral trade having doubled in the past decade to US$5billion.

In September, the US agreed a military aid package to Israel of US$38billion, the biggest aid package ever pledged by the Americans to another country.

President Obama has refrained from using the US veto at the UN Security Council once, a record that pales into insignificance in comparison with all other holders of the highest office in the US. They include Ronald Reagan, who allowed resolutions critical of Israel to pass through the Security Council 21 times.

George Bush Senior’s record was nine times, while George Bush Junior ran up a tally of six times.

So what is to be made of the accession of Resolution 2334 through the UN Security Council last week?

It is hard to paint a picture against this

backdrop of thriving relations between Israel and the US and UK that the decision by the US not to veto the resolution and for the UK to vote in support was motivated by anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment.

Countries do not deliver aid packages or trade deals to other nations around the world of the nature that Israel is in receipt of if they are not deemed close friends.

Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude something else must have motivated Israel’s allies to pass the resolution.

It is worth taking a close reading of the resolution’s wording. It contains a reiteration of Israel’s right to exist, and the right of Israeli citizens to live free from terror.

It goes on to condemn incitement and states the obligation on the part of the Palestinian Authority to dismantle the infrastructure of terror and to seize illegal weapons.

It reaffirms further the commitment to the importance of negotiations. It says it will not recognise changes to the 4 June 1967 lines (the Green Line) “other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations”, highlighting that the expectation is there will be a peace agreement in which final borders – including land swaps – are negotiated and agreed.

Therefore, no assumptions are made within the body of the text about what the final borders of Israel will be or, for example, how arrangements will be made regarding holy sites in Jerusalem.

The resolution demands that Israel “cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory” and states it does not recognise the legal validity of the settlement enterprise, which it says it believes to be a major obstacle to achieving peace.

The resolution does not change the position of the UN, the US or the UK. The policy of all three has consistently been that settlements are illegal under international law.

Demanding that Israel should freeze all settlement activity in the West Bank was a policy adopted by all three countries via the Quartet Roadmap in 2003.

For those of us who believe in Israel’s future as a secure Jewish and democratic

❝

state – one in which Israel’s citizens have a right to live free from terror – and who share the concern that ongoing settlement building is endangering that prospect, our alarm bells have been ringing loudly of late.

The reasons are various. Among them could be the attempts which are currently at play in the Knesset to legalise retroactively the building of settlements considered illegal under Israel law. These would be built on private Palestinian land, and are a move described by Tzipi Livni as “a legalised land grab”.

Another reason could be Naftali Bennett’s gleeful delight at the news of Donald Trump’s election, declaring that “the era of a Palestinian state is over”.

The wording of the resolution suggests the Security Council shares this vision.

Could it be those same alarm bells that motivated the passing of the resolution?

FORMER US PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN LET RESOLUTIONS CRITICAL OF ISRAEL TO PASS THROUGH THE SECURITY COUNCIL 21 TIMES

5 January 2017 Jewish News

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15

In association with www.norwood.org.uk

1 GRAND SLAM

A record-breaking £100,000 was raised at Jewish Care’s Bridge Extravaganza. The 20th anniversary of the UK’s largest charity bridge event, which has raised more than £1.6 million over the past 20 years, it was the brainchild of Pet Plan founder Patsy Bloom. Jewish Care chief executive Simon Morris said: “This event has become a fixture in the calendar of so many people across the community.”

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And be seen!

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

JLIVING’S 5OTH

jLiving’s longest serving tenant, 90-year-old Jack Benjamin, was guest of honour at Wohl Lodge’s celebration lunch. Helping the housing association to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Jack has himself lived at the jLiving property for more than 25 years. Its chief executive June Morton said: “We’re thrilled that our tenants are able to mark jLiving’s 50th anniversary.”

Eleven-year-old Ella Goldstein has designed greeting cards as part of a charity initiative to celebrate her batmitzvah next year.

Donating all the funds raised from the sale of her cards to RE-SPECS, one of Myisrael’s charities in Israel, she said: “I wanted to find a way to make my batmitzvah extra special. Art is my greatest passion, so I thought I could share my favourite pieces of artwork and raise money for people in need.”

4

MOLDOVA HELP

Sixteen people from Young World Jewish Relief recently travelled to Moldova to see how the charity’s projects are changing the lives of members of the Moldovan Jewish community. Young WJR deputy chair Nick Reid said: “I was very moved to see the terrible situation for our close neighbours in Moldova and have come back more determined to help improve things for them.”

Photo by Blake Ezra Photography

3 SPECS APPEAL

1

2

Make a difference in our community

Find out how a few hours of your time can 4 SUNDAY give brighter future to those we support.

17aMAY 2015

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4

For more information please contact: info@norwood.org.uk • 020 8809 8809

Patron Her Majesty The Queen • Registered Charity No. 1059050

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

Scene & Be Seen / Community / In association with www.norwood.org.uk

PACKS UP MARRIEDS 1 JCOSS FOR NORWOOD 4 YOUNG LAUNCH EVENT

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1

Five committed JCoSS students collected 50 bags’ worth of second-hand goods, including books, games, clothes and shoes, which they packed into bags and loaded on to a van to be sold in Norwood charity shops.

TAL launched its Young Married Couples group in Burger Bar in Temple Fortune. Rabbi Jonathan Tawil said: “This is a fantastic follow-up for the wonderful work we do at TAL through events, bringing together so many young Jewish professionals, securing their future enabling them to build Jewish homes.”

SCOUTS 2 CUB COOK UP A TREAT

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3

The 20th Finchley cub scout team were celebrating recently, having won the district finals of Ready, Steady, Cook. It is the first time they had entered a team in the event and one of the cubs said afterwards: “It was amazing!”

4

I WAS OVERJOYED TO MEET MANY WONDERFUL MEMBERS OF STAFF AND RESIDENTS AT NIGHTINGALE HOUSE

Elizabeth Israel took a group of H.O.P.E. (Homes Outings Programme and Entertainment) supporters from Jewish Care to visit the Central Synagogue in Great Portland Street.

Chazan Steven Leas gave them a talk on the history of the building during the afternoon and the event concluded with a tea in the Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Campus in Golders Green.

THANKED 3 DELIA FOR DEDICATION

Delia Cedar, who has worked as a volunteer at Nightingale House since 1964, was given a special thank-you by chief executive Helen Simmons on the occasion of her retirement from her long-standing service. Delia was introduced to Nightingale House through the League of Jewish Women, and has been attending regularly twice a month ever since.

Delia was presented with a bouquet of flowers by the Nightingale team and said: “I have been overjoyed throughout the years meeting so many wonderful members of staff and residents at Nightingale House and I am sure I will miss everyone.”

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5

5 SUPPORTIVE SHUL VISIT

RABBI FOR 6 NEW MASORTI SHUL

Hertsmere MP Oliver Dowden was among those who joined celebrations for the installation of Oliver Joseph as the new rabbi of the Elstree & Borehamwood Masorti Synagogue. The MP is also a co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Jews and an officer in the Conservative Friends of Israel. He said: “It was a pleasure to join the shul for the investiture of its new rabbi and to celebrate the Masorti Synagogue’s 10th anniversary.”

Your simcha announcements Nathan Gellman celebrated his barmitzvah at Belmont United Synagogue.

Ethan Katz celebrated his barmitzvah at Radlett Synagogue.

Photo by Neville Bloom

Photo by Jon Jaffa Photography

Photo by Paul Lang Photography

Hannah Brudney celebrated her batmitzvah at Barnet United Synagogue.

Photo by The Photo People

Olivia Cohen celebrated her batmitzvah at the Apollonia in Stanmore.

Have you had a recent simcha?

Send your picture to picturedesk@thejngroup.com

5 January 2017 Jewish News

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Life

17

Lifestyle

IN THIS SECTION: Health 18 / Jewish Ukraine 19 / Competition! 25

Money maven on a mission Martin Lewis had huge success with his Money Saving Expert website.

Francine Wolfisz hears how he wants your help with his brand new show

M

ortgage rates, energy bills, tax breaks and savings – there’s possibly no financial quandary that Martin Lewis hasn’t tackled since rocketing to fame 14 years ago as the nation’s number one money maven.

In 2003, Lewis founded the hugely popular website, Money Saving Expert, with just £100 to pay a web designer. Today, the site attracts more than 15 million people monthly, while 11 million are signed up for his Martin’s Money Tips email.

As for the return on his initial investment, Lewis sold the website in 2012 to MoneySuperMarket. com for a healthy sum exceeding £80 million and remains its executive chairman. He also pledged to donate a large chunk of his wealth to charitable causes.

The charismatic 44-year-old mensch also fronts The Martin Lewis Money Show alongside Saira Khan, which has just returned for a new series and aims to “deal with real problems affecting real people”.

Lewis, who has the enviable ability to crunch numbers in his head without missing a blink, adds: “The show does what it says on the tin – I help you to find ways to cut your bills without changing your lifestyle.”

Over the years, he claims to have helped people save £17m on energy bills and advises them on everything from credits and benefits to the latest bargains on the high street.

The more than 10m templated letters that have been downloaded from his website also suggest Lewis has been a driving force behind people reclaiming bank charges, PPI and council tax.

“Thanks to me, £10billion has been reclaimed from PPI, but the truth is banks prefer me to claims management firms,” he quips.

“The truth is companies love and hate me. If I’m backing one of their products as a best buy, then they love me because just having that label will help to shift their product.

“One of the things I always say to companies is at least they know where they stand – I may smack you around the face, but it’s always with a straight bat. I’m always consistent.”

In many respects, Lewis is a campaigning journalist who has not only managed to get the nation listening, but also forces large corporates, banks and energy firms to sit up and take notice. Yet it wasn’t always this way – in fact Lewis acknowledges his status as a money guru so nearly didn’t happen.

“Whether by good luck or fluke, somehow this turned into a career,” says Lewis, who was awarded an OBE in 2014 for services to consumer rights and charitable services.

Born in Manchester in 1972, his father served as headteacher of Delamere Forest, a Jewish special needs school, which he says inspired him to appreciate everything he had been given in life.

Campaigning journalist Martin Lewis wants to teach people to take on financial issues for themselves

With interests in maths and politics, Lewis went on to study government and law at the London School of Economics, and then broadcast journalism at Cardiff University.

Lewis landed a job at the BBC to work in its business unit and later moved to Sky’s programme, Simply Money, where the idea for Money Saving Expert began to take root.

“I’m a maths boy and a political boy, so I invented a job around what I’m good at,” Lewis tells me.

“I sat down and worked everything out on spreadsheets and that’s how I came to know which were the best deals to go for.”

But the plug was pulled on the

channel in 2001. “I almost quit when I didn’t succeed at first,” reveals Lewis. “I just couldn’t get anyone to hear the message.”

All was not lost, however, and, before long, Lewis was offered a column in the Sunday Express, followed by his big break on This Morning. Producers loved his no-nonsense approach to saving money and he has not looked back since.

Lewis, who has a five-yearold daughter, Sapphire, with his wife, television presenter Lara Lewington, marvels at just how popular consumer shows have become.

“In many ways, I invented the

genre,” he laughs. “Just look at how many shows on television are all about saving money!”

That said, he is keen to stress that his show empowers people and shows them not to be afraid of tacking financial problems.

“The big difference between what I do and a show like Watchdog is that I tell you how to do it yourself. The vast majority of people won’t be saved by a television show, but they can learn how to take on these issues themselves.”  The Martin Lewis Money Show airs on Mondays at 8pm on ITV1

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

Lifestyle / Health

Ask Dr Ellie Our resident GP Ellie Cannon answers your questions...

Q We are at our wits' end

However, it is really important that as well as using the treatment you carefully follow the instructions to file the verruca too, to shed away the infected skin.

Another option is freezing therapy, which is called cryotherapy. This can be done at GP surgeries, but also at a podiatrist. This kills the verruca, but it involves some discomfort and your son has to be able to sit still for a few seconds! Even this isn't guaranteed though – sometimes verrucas can be very resistant and need two or three doses of freezing. You have to ask specifically about cryotherapy at the GP, as it may only be certain doctors in the surgery who offer it.

Finally, have a look online at methods of treating verrucas using duct tape. This might sound odd, but there is some scientific evidence to show that duct tape can help. It's worth a go and is pretty risk free and painless.

with verrucas! Can you please advise us what to do, as my son has had one since last summer and it has still not gone. We have used two products, but neither has helped.

Verrucas can be very annoying and troublesome for children. They can also be surprisingly painful and can account for kids not wanting to walk much, do sport or run around in the park. They are slow growing wart viruses and, yes, they often do take a long time to clear up – often years.

The best products from the chemist are the ones containing salicylic acid.

Bespoke Kosher Travel

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I do suffer with daily hot flushes and mood changes.

Starting any medication involves weighing up the risks and benefits. Taking something to help alleviate symptoms of the menopause is perfectly valid: women going through the menopause today are very different to decades ago when

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Q While everyone is obsessed

with obesity, I'm worried my 18-year-old daughter is too obsessed with 'clean' eating, daily gym visits and avoiding anything treat-like or even vaguely unhealthy. She's very slim, but does she warrant medical help?

The medical profession is indeed gripped by the obesity epidemic, as it is thought to affect around 30 percent of the UK population. The other extreme of malnourishment is no less of an issue for someone like your daughter – it’s just that this issue affects far fewer numbers.

Your description of your daughter shows she may have some sort of eating disorder, given her obsession with gym use, low calorie intake and presumably body image.

There are very specific criteria to fulfil a diagnosis of anorexia, including a lack of menstruation, but it may be she suffers from

women in their fifties were entering "old age".

Nowadays, menopausal women are often at the height of careers, busy with young children or grandchildren and even starting new relationships.

Menopausal symptoms can not only be inconvenient, but debilitating for women busy getting on with their lives.

Symptoms can be wide-ranging, affecting mood and sleep, pain and discomfort within the bladder, as well as sexual issues and the oft-mentioned hot flushes.

Anecdotally, I would say the most common symptom women complain to me about in clinic is insomnia, which can be pervasive and is often the impetus to ask for help.

HRT has certainly made some headlines over the past few years, with studies showing the risks it conveys.

This has meant it has swung in and out of popularity. There are some small increased risks of breast cancer with certain preparations and for an individual this should be discussed before embarking on any treatment, especially if you already have a higher than normal risk, for example from family history.

The medical establishment has agreed that any women taking HRT should take the lowest dose that works and take it for the shortest duration necessary. This may be for a year or two, which can be enough to get you through the worst of your symptoms: it can certainly be worth it for quality of life.

EDNOS – eating disorders "not otherwise specified". This describes the whole range of eating disorders and obsessions we now see in teenagers fixated with body image and dietary control. It has been perpetuated by media stories of weight loss and fad diets.

One such condition is orthorexia, where sufferers often start out wanting to be healthy and follow dietary advice, but become obsessively preoccupied with avoiding unhealthy food. Being underweight for a young woman predisposes her to osteoporosis, which is a thinning of the bones, as well as menstruation and fertility disorders.

A good diet is balanced, with good quality carbohydrate, protein and fat in the form of healthy oils and dairy, but the clean eating world often advises against much of that.

It sounds like your daughter would benefit from a visit to the GP and possibly a referral to an eating disorders specialist. The physical symptoms of weight control are a manifestation of a mental health problem that needs addressing. Broach the subject of simply "talking" to someone at the GP. The word "weight" needn't be mentioned yet.

5 January 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

19

Jewish life in... Ukraine / Special report

Family on the frontline Jewish families across Ukraine have been plunged into crisis and poverty by conflict, but one charity is helping to break the cycle

N

astya Metlyaeva was only five when war destroyed her life. “We had to leave our home suddenly. I was frightened and I cried a lot,” she recalls. “I asked my mummy where we were going and she said she didn’t know but that we would be OK. We had to leave everything there, even my favourite dolls and teddy bears. It made me very sad.”

Just two years before that, life in Donetsk looked very different. In summer 2012, England fans packed the Donbass Arena and roared their team to a 1-0 victory against Euro 2012’s co-hosts, Ukraine.

Since then, Ukraine’s second-largest football stadium has fallen silent. The $400million arena stands empty, one of the many casualties of the war in the east of the country.

Shelling hit the stadium, forcing its Premier League club – Shakhtar Donetsk – to move 800 miles west of the city to Lvov, western Ukraine, the equivalent of Manchester United playing their home matches in Lyon, France.

Donetsk airport, which had seen a record number of passengers in 2013, lies in ruins after months of battles.

Beyond the buildings, the human impact is devastating. More than 9,000 people have died during the two years’ war that has been raging in eastern Ukraine. The Jewish population of Donetsk has dwindled from 10,000 to just a few hundred. Even the rabbi has left.

Across eastern Ukraine, two million people have been forced from their homes. Thousands of Jews are among them, like Nastya’s family.

Many have fled to Russia but most have tried to make new lives for themselves elsewhere in Ukraine including the Metlyaeva family: Tamara, 70, her daughter, Olga, 45, and her daughter Nastya, who is now aged seven. They left Donetsk after the fighting started.

Nastya and her family hold an unusual status under international law. They’re not refugees as they haven’t fled their own country and so are not entitled to any protection afforded by UN conventions. But they’re not quite regular citizens either, as they haven’t chosen to move homes willingly. Instead they inhabit the twilight zone where each person is labelled an ‘internally displaced person’ (IDP).

Today, Ukraine is still home to hundreds of thousands of Jews, perhaps as many as now live here in the UK.

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IT WAS OUR HOME. EVERYONE WE LOVED WAS THERE. THE WAR HAS DESTROYED OUR WHOLE LIFE

Olga Metlyaeva, top, with her mother, Tamara, and seven-year-old daughter, Nastya

Before the war began, charities such as World Jewish Relief already had a heavy caseload, supporting vulnerable Jews in Ukraine. Now there are also large numbers of Jewish IDPs in urgent need of housing, school places and access to healthcare. The pressures on the infrastructure are huge.

“Donetsk was all we knew,” Olga says. “It was our home. Everyone we loved lived there. The war has destroyed our whole life.”

Out of nowhere, their daily routine began to be punctuated by heavy artillery shelling. They had an impossible choice to make.

“We could either stay in Donetsk and protect our home and risk being killed,” says Tamara, the matriarch of the family. “Or we could run away to an uncertain future.”

In the summer of 2014, as the war intensified, the family made the decision to flee Donetsk. “We left behind our flat, our money and nearly all our possessions. We escaped with just a few bags – whatever we could carry.”

Tamara and Olga had been forced to quit their jobs, abandoning the family’s only source of income. “After we left,” says Tamara, “we had no way of earning money. We didn’t receive any support from the government.”

All their close family and friends lived in Donetsk, so Olga decided to try her luck with a distant friend in Kharkov, some 200 miles away, who had said they could live with him.

“What a mistake that was,” reflects Olga, ruefully. “My friend took us in – I really didn’t know him so well – and he turned out to be an

alcoholic. He threw us out on to the street – even my mother, a widow, and my little Nastya. We didn’t know what to do or where to go. We had nobody and nothing.”

Eventually the family found themselves shelter in a camp for IDPs in Kharkov.

Desperate for help, afraid and disorientated, Tamara and Olga approached the Jewish community centre, which directed them to World Jewish Relief’s Livelihood Programme.

The programme was featured in Jewish News last year and was set up to help vulnerable Jewish people in Moldova and Ukraine to break the cycle of poverty by finding them work.

Following the conflict in Ukraine, the programme has had to adapt to help Jewish IDPs like Tamara and Olga begin new lives.

“Being without a job was terrifying,” says Olga. “I had worked my whole life and suddenly found myself unable to look after my family.”

For the Jews of Ukraine, work isn’t only a means of being able to put food on the table. It gives families the dignity of being role models for their children and enables parents to say ‘yes’ to buying a chocolate bar after months or even years of saying ‘no’.

Tamara and Olga were given psychological support to help them begin to make sense of what had happened to them. They enrolled in a job search course, allowing them to become familiar with the job market in Kharkov.

“I am a doctor,” says Olga. “Or was a doctor back in Donetsk,” she says, correcting herself.

“After completing the World Jewish Relief programme I was employed as a cardiologist by a local clinic.” Tamara was sent on a vocational training course to learn computer skills and shortly after secured a job as a consultant for accounting software devices.

They are slowly getting back on their feet.

In turn, they are able to support Nastya. “She found her new life in Kharkov very difficult after being uprooted from her friends and teachers,” says Tamara. “It took her a long time to regain her confidence. Every time she heard a firework or a thunderstorm, it reminded her of an explosion. She would hide under the bed whenever there was a loud sound.”

Nastya could see the toll the war had taken on her mother and grandmother struggling to find work. “After recovering from the initial shock of moving towns and seeing her mother and me finally get a job, Nastya is now settled at school in Kharkov,” says Tamara.

It’s not clear what life holds in store for the Metlyaeva family, or thousands of Jews like them. The conflict in the east of Ukraine shows few signs of stopping. But unlike the football stadium back in their hometown of Donetsk, Tamara, Olga and Nastya’s lives are no longer on hold, hostages to the carnage around them.

 This is the first in a three-part

Jewish News series in association with World Jewish Relief, on Jewish communities around the world.

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

Judaism Orthodox Judaism

SEDRA - Vayigash

It’s Biblical

RABBI JONNY ROODYN Last week’s sedra, Miketz, ended with probably the Torah’s greatest cliffhanger. Benjamin, Jacob’s youngest son, is caught red-handed handling stolen goods from Joseph’s palace.

Joseph seeks to imprison Benjamin, putting his brothers in a difficult position, aware that, should they return without him, Jacob could die of grief. At this point, Judah says helplessly: “What can we say to my lord, how can we speak and how can we justify ourselves?” and offers himself and his brothers into slavery. Joseph refuses this, seeking to only imprison Benjamin. We take a breath as the curtain comes down on Parshat Miketz.

At the start of Vayigash, Judah takes a more confrontational stance against his estranged brother. Commentaries explain Judah was willing to fight with Joseph to reclaim Benjamin and the Midrash has a graphic description of the threats traded by both sides. Rav Shimon Schwab notes a change in mood between the two sedras. At the end of Miketz, Judah seems feeble and resigned to his fate, but at the start of Vayigash, he is ready for all-out war.

We overlook this as there is a week between the sedras, but in the Biblical narrative it is one episode.

Why did Judah’s attitude change so suddenly? The answer lies in the line where Judah recalls he had personally guaranteed Benjamin’s safety: “For your servant took responsibility for the youth…” (Bereshit 44:32). Acceptance and awareness of responsibility is perhaps the greatest motivating factor.

When we realise the buck stops with us, we stand up for what we believe in and ensure the job gets done, come what may.

 Rabbi Jonny Roodyn is educational director at Jewish Futures Trust

Everything you ever wanted to know about your favourite Torah characters, and the ones you’ve never heard of...

RABBI ZVI SOLOMONS THIS WEEK:

TERAH

Terah is not spoken of much, save as the father of Abram (later our ancestor Abraham) and Nahor, Lot’s father.

The family were originally from Ur in Mesopotamia, and shortly after Haran, Abram’s brother died, Terah led them towards Cana’an.

For unknown reasons they stopped short of the land that would become Israel.

According to the Midrash, Terah is a wicked idolator, who manufactures idols.

He clearly knows they are not God, because when Abram smashes up his stock of idols, Terah gets angry with him, rather than accepting his son’s false explanation the idols argued and destroyed one another.

It is Terah who takes Abram to King Nimrod, to be tried for his blasphemous behaviour in trying to persuade others to accept monotheism.

Abram is thrown into a fiery furnace and survives, leading his father Terah to repent (according to the Zohar).

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THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE MORE STATIC, SOMEWHAT VACILLATING TERAH AND ABRAM, WHO WAS ABLE TO MOVE OUTSIDE THE CONVENTIONAL NORMS OF HIS DAY, SPEAKS TO RELIGIOUS SEEKERS

Rabbi Abba Ben Kahana says in Genesis Rabba that for this, God reassured Abram that his father would have a place in the world to come when he died.

The Midrash suggests Terah, who was 70 when Abram was born, was instructed

by God to lead his family into Cana’an, but he did not have the courage to follow Divine instructions.

In Jewish tradition, Abram left his father’s house (as God instructed him) to found his own family and way of life.

Ironically, the family repeatedly return to their uncle Laban’s house, to find wives.

Laban is truly wicked, seeking to enslave Jacob and tricking him into marrying his older daughter first.

The contrast between the more static, somewhat vacillating Terah and Abram, who was able to move outside the conventional norms of his day, speaks to religious seekers in our own day, and reminds us that Judaism is an innovation in this world, rather than a form of stasis.  Zvi Solomons is rabbi of the Jewish Community of Berkshire (JCoB), Orthodox synagogue in Reading. See: JCoB.org

Progressive Judaism

Progressively Speaking We can learn each other’s Torah without becoming the same

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distinguish words of Torah and the essence of God’s word from their packaging. He could learn without compromising something fundamental about his own values.

Leaving the language of heresy aside, I wonder what the rabbis would have thought of Limmud Conference. Limmud challenges people to learn from each other and it does not make a value judgment about what is right – it is for each of us to make decisions based on how we see the world.

Hearing this text taught twice at conference reminded me just how radical a Jewish proposition this is, particularly because it takes place in our community, where denomina-

I WONDER WHAT THE RABBIS WOULD HAVE MADE OF LIMMUD CONFERENCE

Does God really recommend genocide and ethnic cleansing?

RABBI AARON GOLDSTEIN

DEBORAH BLAUSTEN In tractate Chagigah of the Babylonian Talmud (15b), our sages are faced with a problem. It appears the great Rabbi Meir, to whom all the anonymous statements in the mishnah are attributed, had continued to learn from his teacher and friend Elisha ben Abuya even after Elisha had turned away from Judaism.

Elisha is the Talmud’s archetypal apostate – some would call him a heretic – and so the idea that Rabbi Meir learnt from him is challenging.

The rabbis feared exposure to certain ideas, and were left to explain how Meir could have done this and come away ‘unscathed’.

Their conclusion is Meir was able to

The Bible Says What?

tionalism still dominates. My experience as a student rabbi at Leo Baeck College is enriched by the chance to learn from teachers of all Jewish backgrounds – Orthodox rabbis, secular scholars, and non-Jews.

Our identities form part of our conversations and learning, but that difference is not a threat.

We can learn each other’s Torah without becoming the same as each other – and if anything, the discussions we can have as a result of that are deeper.

In Pirke Avot, Ben Zoma teaches “Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.”

Limmud provides us with a chance to take that really to heart and consider ways to continue to hear each other’s Torah when we return to our daily lives.  Deborah Blausten is a rabbinic student at Leo Baeck College

“In the towns of the [Canaanites] which the Eternal One, your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not let a soul remain alive.” (Deuteronomy 20:16) Having sat and cried with my family through Forrest Gump during the holidays, the scenes of the Vietnam War and its impact on the protagonists in the story appal.

As a student and a lover of the folk and rock music of the 60s and 70s, I was drawn in fascination and horror to what, at times, seemed like a Biblical war, with the razing of entire villages.

While we can explain away the above Torah verse, which appears to incite genocide or at best ethnic cleansing, as a seventh-century addition to a text otherwise more palatable, we ignore it at our peril; as we do by denying the existence of Jewish fundamentalists.

Taken literally, or interpreted out of their ancient context, these texts are as much fodder to a Baruch Goldstein as were and are the Scriptures to the

Crusaders or today’s Muslim fundamentalists. How might Progressive Jews respond to the presence of such a Torah verse?

We might begin by stating there is no such thing as a ‘Holy’ war – humankind abuses God by suggesting so. However, given the reality of conflict, it is still possible to seek moral conduct, as David Ben-Gurion sought in introducing to the IDF the notion of tahor ha’neshek (purity of war).

Our people have suffered, perhaps more than most, a periodic threat of extermination. But while, living in a time of subjugation, we might be drawn towards a base instinct to inflict on the oppressor the treatment they seek to mete out, we are reminded the vast majority of Torah and rabbinic law and lore dwell in the spirit of the exhortation “Seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:15).

 Aaron Goldstein is senior rabbi at Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue

5 January 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

21

Expert professional advice / Ask our experts

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

This week: Making aliyah after retirement, coping with redundancy and the proper way to display car number plates DOV NEWMARK NEFESH B’NEFESH See full profile on pages 22-23

Dov My parents are seriously considering making aliyah to be with their children and grandchildren here in Israel. What can I tell them?

Jason Hi Jason Wonderful news! First, tell them they’re not alone. More and more retirees are choosing to spend their retirement in Israel.

Their main concern is likely to be healthcare: Will they be covered? Will there be any exclusions? What happens if...? The Israeli system accepts every applicant for the basic and supplemental healthcare package

ERIC SALMON RESOURCE CENTRE See full profile on pages 22-23

Dear Eric I’ve recently been made redundant and find it very difficult to talk about it, particularly at interviews.

Richard Dear Richard, The first thing to remember is that you have not been made redundant. It is the job you were doing which is redundant.

This can be because an organisation has restruc-

tured as a result of new ways of working, eliminated positions to improve profitability or is experiencing a contraction of its business.

It is the organisation that is responsible, not you.

Redundancy is a fact of life in today’s workplace and does not reflect on you.

It is important when you are describing what happened when you are questioned at an interview that you make this very clear in a positive and nondefensive manner.

Be careful not to badmouth the company or individual employees. Instead, talk positively about the experience and skills you have gained while working in your previous job.

It is also key to demonstrate that you have been

regardless of age or pre-existing conditions. Availability of long-term in-home caregivers, or foreign workers, is managed through Bituach Leumi and is means-tested.

Another concern they will probably have is what happens to their pension. All their UK pensions (state and/or private) will follow them to Israel; and how these are structured will determine if they are taxed at source in the UK. It is worth taking professional advice if they are not sure.

Your parents would also be entitled to the full basket of government benefits, just like all Olim receive when they make aliyah.

I would recommend that your parents meet with me to discuss their thoughts and concerns so I can help them plan accordingly. Appointments can be made via our website www.nbn.org.il/uk.

I look forward to meeting your parents and helping them fulfil their aliyah dreams. using your time productively. You can get involved in volunteering, undertake further training or studying.

At the same time, research alternative career options and organisations.

Keep up to date on any developments going on in your areas of expertise Don’t forget to continue to pursue your own particular hobbies and interests.

Above all, approach your job search in a methodical and planned manner.

Organisations such as Resource provide free support, advice and help with all aspects of finding a new role.

You will also be with people who are or have been in a similar situation, understand how you feel and can share experiences.

Man on a Bike will get you working fast!

Rapid Response IT support for your PC & Mac • networks • virus problems • • broadband & wireless systems • New computers and everything else you may need for small businesses & home users Call Ian Green, Man on a Bike on

020 8731 6171 www.manonabike.co.uk

meant that my plate was illegal. Is she correct?

David

CARL WOOLF WOOLF LAW See full profile on pages 22-23

Dear Carl I have a personalised number plate with three numbers and three letters which spell out my surname. It’s a black registration plate with silver letters, which I was told I could use as it’s a registration number from 1970. Recently, I was told by a traffic warden that the spacing, colour and use of the fixing bolts

Dear David Quite possibly. UK law requires you to display the registration number in the correct manner.

Since the Motor Car Act 1903, all motor vehicles that are used on public highways have to be registered and each has to display a vehicle registration number (VRN).

While you can have a VRN that is older than your car, you are not allowed to have one that makes your car appear newer than it is.

Since early 2015, the law has been that any vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1975 can display their VRNs on a black and silver plates. However, the owner

must have registered its use with the DVLA as an Historic Vehicle. Any other vehicle must have a VRN which contains black characters on a white background for the front plate and black characters on a yellow background for the rear plate.

The characters can be 3D in design and can also display the Union Jack or flag from England, Scotland and Wales.

You can’t space letters or numbers or alter them using fixing crews so that they’re hard to read or could be read as something else.

Penalties if you drive with number plates that are incorrectly displayed include losing the right to display that registration, your car could fail its MOT test and you could be fined up to £1,000.

22

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Jewish News 5 January 2017

Ask our experts / Professional advice

Our Experts Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@thejngroup.com ESTATE AGENT

CHARITY EXECUTIVE ELAINE KERR Qualifications: • Able to draw on the expertise of Norwood’s professional staff team, including social workers, educational psychologists, drug and alcohol specialists, speech & language and occupational therapists, teachers, psychologists, benefit advisers.

• Expertise in services available for children and their families and young people with special educational needs, and adults with learning disabilities.

STEVE WAYNE Qualifications: • Owner of Benjamin Stevens established in 2004 with offices in Edgware and Bushey and dealing with all surrounding areas.

• Specialist in buy 2 let investments and managing lettings portfolios.

• Dealing with residential Sales locally and an expert on all things property in North West London.

NORWOOD 020 8809 8809 www.norwood.org.uk elaine.kerr@norwood.org.uk

BENJAMIN STEVENS ESTATE AGENTS 020 8950 7777 www.benjaminstevens.co.uk Steve@benjaminstevens.co.uk

TELECOMS SPECIALIST

SOCIAL HOUSING SPECIALIST

SOCIAL WORKER CAROLYN COHEN Qualifications: • Supports couples dealing with infertility and reproductive health.

• Strictly confidential helpline.

• Specialist medical support and information.

• Counselling for individuals and couples and educational events.

• Expert medical advisory panel.

CHANA 020 8203 8455 Helpline: 020 8201 5774 / 020 8800 0018 www.chana.org.uk info@chana.org.uk

CONSULTANT PAEDIATRICIAN DR PIYUSHA KAPILA Qualifications: • MB ChB (Man) MD (Lon) FRCPCH; trained in the Childrens’ Hospitals in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and London.

• Looks after children and newborns with all sorts of general problems.

• Specialises in endocrinology and diabetes in children.

• Works at N Middlesex University NHS Hospital; private sessions at the Wellington Centres and Hsopital of St John and St Elizabeth.

DR PIYUSHA KAPILA 07741 416557 enquiries@doctorpiyushakapila.org.uk

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

MAXI ROSE Qualifications: • MD at RCUK since 1999. Grown the business into three substantial UK branches serving clients worldwide – USA, Europe & Middle East.

• Telecoms specialist in business & consumer mobile solutions, landline and broadband services and Ofcom Telecoms registered reseller.

JUNE MORTON Qualifications: • Experienced housing professional, BA (Hons), PG Dip Housing, PG Dip Leadership.

• CE of jLiving, Jewish Community Housing Association Ltd; a long established and respected provider of sheltered and supported accommodation, wprimarily for the Jewish community.

• jLiving has sheltered housing properties London and beyond.

SUE CIPIN Qualifications: • 18 years’ hands-on experience, leading JDA in significant growth and development.

• Deep understanding of the impact of deafness on people at all stages of life, and their families.

• Practical and emotional support for families of deaf children.

• Extensive services for people affected by hearing loss/tinnitus.

RCUK 020 8815 4115 www.rcuk.biz maxi@rcuk.biz

JLIVING 020 8381 4901 www.jliving.org.uk jmorton@jliving.org.uk

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION 020 8446 0502 info@jewishdeaf.org.uk www.jewishdeaf.org.uk

LANDLORD EXPERT

TRAVEL AGENT

SOLICITOR ADVOCATE

PAUL SHAMPLINA Qualifications: • Over 25 years in the legal field helping landlords with problem tenants.

• Founder of Landlord Action • Star of a Channel 5’s Nightmare Tenants and Slum Landlords • Brand ambassador for Hamilton Fraser.

DAVID SEGEL Qualifications: • Managing director of West End Travel, established in 1972.

• Leading UK El Al agent with branches in Swiss Cottage and Edgware.

• Specialist in Israel travel, cruises and kosher holidays.

• Leading business travel company, ranked in top 50 UK agents.

• Frequent travel broadcaster on radio and TV.

CARL WOOLF Qualifications: • 20+ years experience as a criminal defence solicitor and higher court advocate.

• Specialising in all aspects of criminal law including murder, drug offences, fraud and money laundering, offences of violence, sexual offences and all aspects of road traffic law.

• Visiting associate professor at Brunel University.

HAMILTON FRASER 0345 310 6300 www.hamiltonfraser.co.uk Paul.Shamplina@hamiltonfraser.co.uk

WEST END TRAVEL 020 7644 1500 www.westendtravel.co.uk David.Segel@westendtravel.co.uk

NOBLE SOLICITORS 01582 544 370 carl.woolf@noblesolicitors.co.uk

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

WEBSITE DESIGN EXPERT

PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

CAROLYN ADDLEMAN Qualifications: Lawyer with more than 15 years’ experience in will drafting and trust and estate administration, eight years at KKL Executor and Trustee Company.

Keeps in close contact with clients to ensure all legal and pastoral needs are cared for.

Member of Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

•

ANTON HALPERN Qualifications: • Professionally designed and built e-commerce and brochure websites for the professional, retail and voluntary sectors.

• Specialist departments for financial services, property agents and charities.

• Services include graphic design, software development, website support/hosting for both new and existing websites.

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

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

• Set up Dancing with Louise 10 years ago.

KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 0800 358 3587 www.kkl.org.uk wills@kkl.org.uk

WEB PRO CREATIVE 033 33 447 300 www.webprocreative.co.uk info@webprocreative.co.uk

DANCING WITH LOUISE 020 8203 5242 www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk louise@dancingwithlouise.co.uk

• •

5 January 2017 Jewish News

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23

Professional advice / Ask our experts

BUSINESS GROWTH ADVISER

ACCOUNTANT

IT SPECIALIST

MELVYN SOBELL Qualifications: • Chartered accountant FCA. • Accounting, taxation and business advisory services.

• Specialises in forensic accounting.

• CEDR accredited mediator.

• Expert witness advice for all financial matters.

JAMIE GORAL Qualifications: • 2015 UK fastest growing ActionCOACH (1st out of 108 coaches) • Business growth rates enjoyed by CEO’s/business owners I work with include:Digital marketing business – £6m loss to £1.5m profit in 6 years. Web design agency – 100% in 2 months. Health clinic – 50% in three months. Manufacturing business – 50% in 9 months. Decorating firm – 189% in 1 year.

IAN GREEN Qualifications: • Launched Man on a Bike IT consultancy 11 years ago to provide computer support for the home and small businesses.

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

• More than 15 years’ experience.

SOBELL RHODES 020 8429 8800 www.sobellrhodes.co.uk m.sobell@sobellrhodes.co.uk

ACTIONCOACH 020 7993 2420 www.actioncoach.com/jamiegoral jamiegoral@actioncoach.com

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

ALIYAH ADVISER

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

BUILDING CONTRACTOR

DOV NEWMARK Qualifications: • Director of UK Aliyah for Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organisation that helps facilitate aliyah from the UK. • Conducts monthly seminars and personal aliyah meetings in London.

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

BAYLA PERRIN Qualifications: • Free professional service delivering immediate practical help with domestic administrative matters, assisting those alone and in crisis.

• Providing workable solutions for debt management, budgeting, bills, utilities, insurance, welfare & benefits, form filling, financial correspondence, bureaucracy and divorce procedures. Cross communal and throughout London.

HOWARD GOLD Qualifications: • Member of the Federation of Master Builders.

• Member of the Consumer Protection Association offering an underwritten insurance backed guarantee of 5 years on all projects.

• Providing a tailored end-to-end property service for residential property clients in north and north-west London. Focusing on a quality service.

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

THE PAPERWEIGHT TRUST 020 8455 4996 www.paperweighttrust.com info@paperweighttrust.com

HPS 077 1005 7233 / 020 8457 1320 wwww.hpsuk.com howard@hpsuk.com

JEWELLER

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

TRAVEL MEDICINE

JONATHAN WILLIAMS Qualifications: • Jewellery manufacturer since 1980s.

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

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

• We buy for instant top cash prices.

HAZEL KAYE Qualifications: • Able to draw on the charity’s 45+ years of experience in providing specialist accommodation designed to enable independence.

• Knowledge of the features and innovations that can empower people to undertake everyday tasks and awareness of relevant grants and benefits available.

• Understands the impact of a diagnosis of disability.

DR JOSEPH DAVAR Qualifications: • Consultant cardiologist at the Royal Free Hospital specialising in non-invasive diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, heart failure and cardiomyopathies.

• More than 30 years’ experience in the field of cardiology and honorary senior lecturer at UCL. • Recipient of British Heart Foundation grant and was elected an International Fellow of the American College of Cardiology in 2011

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

JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611 www.jbd.org hazel@jbd.org

ROYAL FREE PRIVATE PATIENTS 020 7317 7751 www.royalfreeprivatepatients.com rf.privateenquiries@nhs.net

PERSONAL TRAINER ABIGAIL FELSENSTEIN Qualifications: Level 3 personal training (plus International NASM bridging course).

Olympic weightlifting instructor/competitive weightlifter.

Diploma in studio instruction (exercise to music and specialisms).

Emergency first aid.

• • • •

DYNAMIC DEFINITION FITNESS TRAINING 07952 564003 www.dynamicdefinitionfitness.com abigail.dynamicdefinition@gmail.com

FAMILY SOLICITOR

SPECIALIST CAREER ADVISER ERIC SALAMON Qualifications: • Career in corporate management working for among others Mars Confectionery, CBS Entertainment, Storehouse Retail & H.J. Heinz Foods, holding director level marketing, commercial and general management roles.

Provides specialist advice to help unemployed get work.

Free one-to-one mock interviews and workshops on making an impact.

• •

RESOURCE THE JEWISH EMPLOYMENT ADVICE CENTRE 020 8346 4000 www.resource-centre.org office@resource-centre.org

CARE SERVICE MANAGER

REBEKAH GERSHUNY Qualifications: Member of Resolution, Law Society Accredited and registered with the Family Mediation Council.

Collaborative family lawyer, with more than 20 years’ experience and founder of family mediation practice, Evolve Family Mediation.

Promotes a constructive and non-confrontational approach.

•

POLLY LANDSBERG Qualifications: • 35 years care experience in supporting elderly people at home and in the community.

• Qualified nurse, providing advice and support for individuals with a range of needs.

• Providing care at home for those requiring reassurance and companionship, assistance with personal care, help around the house and specialist services for those living with long-term conditions.

FREEMANS SOLICITORS 020 7935 3522 www.freemanssolicitors.net rg@freemanssolicitors.net

SWEETTREE HOME CARE SERVICES 020 7644 9554 www.sweettree.co.uk info@sweettree.co.uk

• •

Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@thejngroup.com

Professional building services in London, the suburbs and surrounding areas working on Extensions, Conversions, Refurbishments, Renovations, Kitchens, Bathrooms and so much more.

GET IN TOUCH TODAY. admin@hpsuk.com 020 8457 1320

www.hpsuk.com

5 January 2017 Jewish News

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24

Travel / Lifestyle

Lochs so fine!

Stephen Oryszczuk enjoys a Highland fling through Scotland’s most dramatic landscapes

B

idding farewell to England, we cross the border with anticipation and cleave our way through Glasgow and Edinburgh on the M9, to Stirling, Scotland’s former capital and the brooch clasping together the Highlands and Lowlands.

Stirling’s famed castle charges £29 per couple for entry, but the city offers its ancient walls for free. Meandering through 900-year old stone buildings, listening to bagpipers, there are few more pleasant ways to spend an afternoon.

Just up the road, beyond Dunblane, is Andy Murray’s hotel Cromlix, our first stop. In autumn, the Perthshire colours of its 34 acres are dazzlingly beautiful and slow down time, as the sweeping tree-lined drive up to this old baronial mansion beckons you in, with its Virginia creeper painting the turrets red.

The hotel’s interior is duck-egg blue and (tasteful) hand-painted gold, the handiwork of the tennis star’s mum, Judy. Murray gave his new luxury hotel a lick of paint in 2014, and it shows. With five suites and 10 bedrooms, Cromlix is characterful, homely and spacious.

Furnishings are top-quality, beds are dangerously comfy and bathrooms are bigger than most London apartments. Downstairs, there’s billiards and beams, leather and local whiskys sampled in the old gun room, alongside a chapel adorned with century-old Highland drums.

❝

HOWEVER BIG YOUR CAR, YOU’LL FEEL DWARFED BY THE DRAMATIC MOUNTAINS OF GLEN COE, CLOSING IN ON YOU FROM BOTH SIDES Outside, there are tennis courts (of course), a croquet lawn, a lake, grounds that include one of Britain’s best climbing trees, and what Mrs O describes as “very impressive lichen”.

A happy wife makes for a happy stay, so my delight equalled hers when she saw the bath products, including bergamot and ginger bath salts, which I’m told is ‘a thing’.

After breakfast (which may include Loch Fyne kippers, or pain perdu – a delicious sweet bread with cream), strike out west for Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, a glorious national park resplendent in copper and yellow.

Glen Finglas offers the Brig o’ Turk Loop, a gentle but fascinating three to four mile wildlife stroll through oak, self-sown birch, willow, alder, Scots pine, hazel and the red-berried Rowan (aka Mountain Ash), my favourite.

Start at the Woodland Trust office on the A821 and keep an eye out for golden eagles, red squirrels and pine marten. Finish off with lunch and something warming by the fire at the Byre Inn, before heading north, with a minor detour to Killin and the spectacular (and free) Falls of Dochart.

However big your car, you’ll feel dwarfed by the dramatic mountains of Glen Coe, closing in on you from both sides of the road, as you follow signs for Fort William, where Ben Nevis looms into view. Five miles beyond Britain’s highest peak is our next stop: Inverlochy Castle Hotel.

Once Queen Victoria’s Highland retreat, this Relais & Chateau masterpiece is widely regarded as Scotland’s

best hotel, with fabulous frescos and a Rolls Royce Phantom to whisk you in.

The romantic setting amid lochs backed by giant Canadian Redwood help this stunning venue to top most lists. Check out the snooker room and its walls of antlers, where one measures 10 feet across or delight your palate with the six-course evening taster menu.

In the morning, climb the big Ben (peak), or – for something less strenuous – explore Glen Affric, a national treasure whose stunning scenery and gentle walks win hearts. If you have children, opt for Rothiemurchus, in the whiskyrich, snow-topped CairnGorm Mountains, where Segways, quad bikes and horses whizz young and not-so-young around the estate.

We climb further north, aiming for pretty Ullapool and Scotland’s breathtaking west coast, then cruise down the A832, stopping every few minutes to jump out with our cameras, as each new corner offers a new “best view ever”.

We couldn’t leave Scotland without driving to Applecross, up the kind of road you’d usually find in the Alps, featuring Jeremy Clarkson and a Ferrari. From here you can opt for the Isles of Mull or Skye (the latter easier accessed because of the bridge linking it to the mainland) or the justly-famed Loch Lomond, which points down towards Glasgow, where the majority of Scot-

Top: The west coast of Scotland. Above: Mr and Mrs O at Glen Affric. Below: Stunning colours at the Iverlochy Castle Hotel

land’s Jewish community lives today.

Heading south of Scotland’s biggest city, we arrive in Lanarkshire to spend our last night, in the newly-opened Crossbasket Castle Hotel.

Once owned by the inventor of the waterproof raincoat (Charles Mackintosh), the hotel was bought in 2011 by Steve Timoney amd Alison-Reid Timoney. The building was in a sorry state. £9 million later, it reopened in May. Featuring only nine bedrooms, it is immaculate, impeccable and faultless. Everything about it exudes effortless class, and is sure to win awards, not least for its four-storey tower suite.

Ask to stay in the Mackintosh room, with its show-stopper bathroom.

If you’d like to connect to the scattered Jewish community in the Highlands, contact the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, which has used Lottery money to help bring the country’s northernmost Jews together.

WHERE TO STAY...

Stephen was a guest of ICMI at Cromlix, Inverlochy Castle and Crossbasket Castle. A selection of winter deals are available, including two nights for the price of one. For more details visit icmi.co.uk

5 January 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

25

We’re giving away tickets to a top wedding show! / Fun, games & prizes

WIN TICKETS TO THE NATIONAL WEDDING SHOW!

JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD THE JewishNews CROSSWORD 1

2

3

4

5

6

17 Feather scarf (3) 18 Repugnance (7) 19 Items to be discussed (6) 20 Ale (4)

7 8

9

10

11

DOWN 1 Haystack (4) 2 Desert animal (5) 4 Hole in a needle (3) 5 Artillery volley (5) 6 Unpretentious (6) 7 Variety of brandy (6) 11 Put in a box (6) 12 Irrational fear (6) 14 Letting contract (5) 15 Discharge through the pores (5) 16 Cause trouble (4) 18 Achieved (3)

12 13

14

15 16

17

18

19

20

ACROSS 1 Sports day running contest (4) 3 Discarded cargo (6) 8 Calm, settle (7)

9 Young boy (3) 10 Calumnious (10) 13 Incompletely prepared (4‑6)

Last issue’s solutions

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

7 9 2 3

2 1

4

6 7

1 6 8

9 6

4

2 5 9 9 7 1 2 3 7 6 8

ACROSS: 1 Hedge 4 Cross 7 Sew 8 Pointer 9 Pips 10 Jack 13 Ebb 15 Urge 16 Arch 19 Message 21 Sir 22 Their 23 Yodel DOWN: 1 Hiss 2 Downing 3 Expose 4 Chit 5 Opt 6 Strike 11 Accused 12 Summit 14 Barely 17 Lair 18 Oral 20 SAE

Jewish News and The National Wedding Show have teamed up to offer five lucky readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to attend the year’s most prestigious wedding event!

The National Wedding Show returns with a spectacular line up for spring 2017, packed with the nation’s finest wedding suppliers and the hottest names on the high street, plus tons of entertainment and tastings for the entire bridal party to enjoy.

Touring the country, The National Wedding Show brings brides-to-be the very latest in stationery, fashion, honeymoons, beauty, plus much more!

There’s something for everyone on the renowned Revlon Runway showcasing the latest trends from the Bridal and Designer Boutiques to the marvellous Makeover Theatre (available in London and Birmingham) and Express Nail Bar, promising to leave you feeling relaxed and fully prepped for your big day.

The National Wedding Show takes place at London Olympia, from 17 to 19 February; Birmingham NEC, 3 to 5 March and Manchester EventCity 11 to 12 March.

Sudoku 8 9 1 6 7 5 2 3 4

6 3 4 1 8 2 7 5 9

2 5 7 4 9 3 8 1 6

1 7 2 3 6 4 5 9 8

5 4 8 9 2 1 3 6 7

3 6 9 8 5 7 1 4 2

4 8 5 7 3 6 9 2 1

9 2 6 5 1 8 4 7 3

7 1 3 2 4 9 6 8 5

JUST ANSWER THIS QUESTION: ENTER ONLINE: jewishnews.co.uk

See next issue for all puzzle solutions.

05/01

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Five readers will win a pair of tickets to The National Wedding Show, valid for the venue of their choice. Tickets are valid any day and are limited to one pair per winner. No cash alternative. Travel and accommodation not included. Prize is as stated and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or exchange in whole or in part for cash. By supplying your email address you agree to receive marketing information from the JN Media Group or any of its affiliates and carefully selected third parties. The promotion excludes employees of Miroma, their immediate families, their agents or anyone professionally connected to the relevant promotion. Proof of eligibility must be provided on request. Normal T&Cs apply and can be found at jewishnews.co.uk/about-us/ promotions-terms-and-conditions. For full Ts and Cs see jewishnews.co.uk. Closing date: 19 January 2017.

By Paul Solomons

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

Complete the following wedding-themed saying: Something old, something new, something borrowed and something…

A: Green B: Red C: Blue

THIS WEEKEND'S SHABBAT TIMES

Shabbat comes in Friday night at

15:53

Shabbat goes out Saturday night at

17:08

|

Sedra: Vayigash

26

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 5 January 2017

Business Services Directory CLOTHING

ANTIQUES

44

The Jewish News 22 September 2016

FURS WANTED

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5 January 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

27

Business Services Directory ANTIQUES

HOME & MAINTENANCE

Stirlings of Kensal Green

WE BUY JEWELLERY COMPLETE DISCRETION & CONFIDENTIALITY

FREE DOOR TO DOOR SERVICE. IMMEDIATE SAME DAY HOME VISITS. NO NEED TO POST OR TRAVEL WITH YOUR VALUABLES. WE ARE MOBILE JEWELLERY BUYERS we come to you.

CARPETS 40% DISCOUNT OFF ANY MAKE OF TWIST, VELVET, DEEPSAXONY

• FREE FITTING • WOOD/LAMINATE FLOORING • HOME VISITS ARRANGED

Established over 60 years.

Know who you are dealing with.

All quality furniture bought & sold.

ON THE SPOT CASH OR BANK TRANSFER. WANTED: ALL ANTIQUE, VINTAGE & PRE OWNED JEWELLERY. KUTCHINSKY. CARTIER. BOUCHERON GEORGE WEIL etc Certified & Uncertified Diamonds. Diamond Solitaires, Loose stones.

Rubies Emeralds, Sapphires etc.

Gold Bullion Bars. Gold Coins Krugerrands Sovereigns Etc. Watches: Rolex, patek phillipe.Omega etc.

Scrap Gold & Silver.

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

FOR APPOINTMENTS CALL: 0800 049 6228 or 020 7294 7597

Please contact Gordon Stirling 0208 9605401 or 07825224144

Email: gordonstirling65@gmail.com

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Networks, virus problems, broadband, wireless systems, new computers and everything else you may need.

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Tel: 020 8905 7275

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Edgware

130 High Street Edgware, HA8 7EL Telephone

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Call Ian Green, Man on a Bike on

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Fax 020 8905 7197

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e Handel Smithy, 105a High Street, Edgware, HA8 7DB

sales@thejngroup.com

Email memmasters@aol.com www.memorialmasters.co.uk

LEGACY- LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR MEMORY

Leave a legacy and create the future leaders of Israel Youth Aliyah Child Rescue Trojan House, 34 Arcadia Avenue, London N3 2JU t: 020 8371 1580 e: info@youthaliyah.org.uk www.youthaliyah.org.uk

1 in 4 people will experience mental illness.

Leave a legacy to Jami to support those with a mental illness across the Jewish community.

Charity No: 1077913

020 8458 2223 info@jamiuk.org www.jamiuk.org #jamithinkahead

Remember our future Please remember the future of Jewish children by remembering Jewish Child’s Day in your will. It is the legacy that will last a lifetime.

To find out more call 020 8446 8804 or email info@jcd.uk.com

Reg Charity No. 1003345 Registered Charity No. 209266

15-040-ER Small legacy advert v2_Legacy 26/01/2015 15:54 Page 1

HELP JEWISH CARE MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH A GIFT IN YOUR WILL. Call Alison on 0208 922 2833 for more information or email arubenstein@jcare.org Charity Reg No. 802559

ILL you...

Caring for the people of Israel

020 7319 9169

Leave a legacy for future generations of children and families in Israel WIZO Registered Charity Number 1125012 Company Number 6634748 UK

central@wizouk.org

Leave the legacy of independence to people like Joel.

PLease remember us in your wiLL.

eNABLeD visit www.Jbd.org or caLL 020 8371 6611

Registered Charity No. 259480

The British Friends of Reuth

People come to Reuth broken, with no physical and mental independence.

The patients need your legacy to help rebuild their lives T: 020 3286 4100 E: info@reuth.org.uk W: www.reuth.org.uk Charity no: 1126124

28

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 5 January 2017

Sport / Football’s back!/ Be’er Sheva cup win

Second-half kick off!

Which teams will hold their nerve as the season enters crunch time?

By Andrew Sherwood andrews@thejngroup.com @JewishNewsUK

Jewish football returns from its halfterm break on Sunday, with three key questions set to be answered in the second half of the season...

• Can David Garbacz lead Hendon A to arguably their greatest ever title triumph?

• Is Redbridge B capable of going the entire season unbeaten in Division One? • Will L’Equipe mark its 10-year anniversary by securing the Division Two title?

When Hendon A manager David Garbacz resigned at the end of last season, many wondered who would be able to fill his mighty boots. However, with the post still vacant a week before the start of the season, Garbacz sensationally announced he’d be returning to the helm and the club haven’t looked back since.

Sitting pretty at the top of the Premier Division table, unbeaten, with nine wins from 10 games, the only blip of the season so far came in the Peter Morrison Cup where hopes of a fourth straight win were ended by the Lions Masters side.

However, lifting the title in May would make up for that and crown off arguably Garbacz’s greatest triumph of all. Looking ahead to the challenge, he says: “We’re in pole position in the league and have spent the break trying to patch up some of our injured players and get them ready for a massive first game of 2017 against Redbridge. I’m very satisfied so far at the halfway stage, but there’s a long way to go.”

Redbridge B are currently trailblazing

their way in Division One. Sporting a 100 percent winning record – the only side in the league to do so – with seven wins from seven games, they also have the meanest defence in the league.

Sam Rank’s side sit joint-top in the table, though have played two, if not three, games less than their other title challengers. Out of both cup competitions, the Essex men can now fully focus on the league and it will take a good side to take points off them this season, with Los Blancos their next opponents on Sunday morning.

L’Equipe manager Nick Stern predicted big things for his side before a ball had even been kicked back in August, insisting they could mark their tenth anniversary by lifting the Division Two title. Eleven games in, his side have done him proud, having registered ten wins and a draw to give them an eightpoint lead at the top of the table – and with games in hand on their nearest challengers.

Speaking pre-season, he said: “Our aim is the league title. We’ve made some fantastic signings and this being our tenth year, it’s time we added some silverware to the cabinet.”

Halfway through the campaign, his mood has though slightly changed with him now refusing to entertain talk of being champions. He said: “The C word is not being used within our camp. At the moment we’re the best team as we are top of the league, but nothing more than that. I’m thrilled with how it has gone so far, but that’s it, so far.”

 FC Team B have become the latest side to quit the league. The squad sat in the bottom three in Division Two. Full details at jewishnews.co.uk

There’s plenty to play for across the three divisions as the MGBSFL resumes on Sunday morning

Ben brace seals Be’er Sheva win Hapoel Be’er Sheva completed the first part of a potential Israeli league and cup treble by beating Ironi Kiryat Shmona 4-1 in the final of the Toto Cup. Two goals in two first half minutes from former Chelsea striker Ben Sahar, coupled with late strikes from Maharan Radi and captain Elyaniv Barda, saw the team triumph in Netanya.

Published by Jewish News Ltd, PO Box 34296, London NW5 1YW

Email info@thejngroup.com

Tel 020 7692 6929