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RASHFORD’S FREE MEALS BENEFIT JEWISH SCHOOLS BY DAVID SAFFER PaJeS is running a support programme for families on Free School Meals in Jewish schools across the country. One in six Jewish households is in serious hardship following the Covid-19 pandemic or highly vulnerable according to an Institute for Jewish Policy Research study. The issue became a national concern following a high-profile campaign spearheaded by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford last year. His #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign highlighted 2.3 million children experiencing food insecurity in the UK.
Rabbi David Meyer, PaJeS Executive Director
Food poverty and insecurity affects hundreds of children attending Jewish state schools with financial pressures on families exacerbated by the contagion. Over half of households identified in the JPR study as acutely disadvantaged reported losing jobs, being furloughed or having pay or hours reduced. Over 7% of householders stated the pandemic resulted in borrowing money, struggling to pay bills, shrinking household food consumption or turning to food banks. A far-reaching food support programme was initiated before schools closed for the winter break in December 2020. Electronic food
vouchers are being distributed to pupils at 38 Jewish state schools. Over the winter holiday period, over 800 children received £15 electronic food vouchers per week, providing support to families in addition to free school meal contributions made by the Government and local authorities. The programme will run during school holidays through to June 2021 and includes primary and secondary schools across the religious spectrum. It is open to pupils registered for free school meals and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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Met Police arrest Corbyn over lockdown-Auschwitz flyer BY ADAM MOSES
Marcus Rashford
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 administered by schools. School leaders and communities have made clear the importance of the national initiative. “Even before the closure of schools, our teachers and leadership team were aware that food poverty and insecurity are increasingly affecting families,” said Rachel Fink, Headteacher JFS. “Funders’ immediate response to support families during the first lockdown made a huge impact. It is fantastic that this food support programme is now readily available across the community, so that any child attending a Jewish state school can access the healthy food they need to fulfil their potential.”
Rabbi David Meyer, PaJeS Executive Director, added, “In what has been a very difficult year, the financial pressures felt by families across the UK are greater than ever. Within our own Jewish schools’ network, we want to do what we can to provide vital food assistance to help alleviate the strain that families are under. We are grateful to the funders across the community who responded with speed and generosity ensuring that we could roll out this provision.” The food initiative was initially run in a number of Jewish schools funded by The Wohl Legacy with other funders during the first lockdown in spring 2020. The Wohl Legacy was joined by Genesis Philanthropy Group and other funders in December 2020 to expand the programme.
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The Metropolitan Police arrested Piers Corbyn in Southwark on suspicion of malicious communications and public nuisance at the end of last week. A leaflet contained material appearing to compare the “Covid-19 vaccination programme with the Holocaust” according to a police statement. A 37-year-old man was also arrested in Bow, east London, on suspicion of a public order offence. A Metropolitan Police Service spokesperson said, “Both men were taken to a south London police station. They have since been bailed to return on a date in early March.” CAA previously reported that the 73-year-old brother of the former Labour leader conceived and distributed flyers comparing lockdown rules to Auschwitz. Distributing leaflets in Barnet and now Southwark prompted the arrest. A CAA spokesperson said, “These grotesque flyers comparing the lockdown to the Auschwitz death camp are just the latest stunt in (Piers) Corbyn’s long history of Jew-baiting, which apparently runs in the family. Lately, he even shared a platform with the modern day anti-Semitic hate preacher David Icke. It is time that Corbyn faces the legal consequences of his trolling of Jews.” Corbyn has previously retweeted images relating to Lord Jacob Rothschild and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also claimed “Zionists” were conspiring against his brother when Louise Ellman complained of anti-Semitic attacks against her. Responding to his arrest, Corbyn argued he could not be anti-Semitic as he had been married to a Jewish woman and had employed a Jewish person who was a superb worker. Corbyn has spoken at rallies against lockdown rules, recently with former BNP leader, Nick Griffin, who also compared the lockdown to Auschwitz. Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination networks are hotbeds of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Meantime, disgraced peer, Baroness Tonge, has reportedly announced her intention to step down from the House of
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Piers Corbyn
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Lords. The announcement came days after she spoke at a debate on anti-Semitism in university campuses and reportedly blamed a rise in anti-Semitism on the Israeli government. CAA noted on its website that Tonge has a long history of “Jew-baiting”, ‘suggesting that the anti-Semitic attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue might be Israel’s fault, blaming Israel for a rise in anti-Semitism and sharing a cartoon comparing Israel’s policies to those of the Nazis.’ CAA joined 88 members of the House of Lords condemning remarks on Facebook by Tonge following the 2019 general election when she claimed the “pro-Israel lobby won our General Election by lying about Jeremy Corbyn”. Lord Pickles called for reform last year in the House of Lords after Tonge called Israel America’s “puppet master” and received no sanction. A CAA spokesperson said, “It is shameful that Baroness Tonge has been permitted to remain in the legislature for so long and is now retiring of her own accord. She should have been stripped of her position and honours long ago. Every day she sat in the House of Lords was a stain on our democracy.”
WHAT’S INSIDE THIS WEEK 02 News 20 Opinion 22 Community 28 Feature 30 Cookery 32 Behind The Business Card
33 Health & Wellbeing 34 Judaism 42 Kids 44 Youth 46 Sport
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Bibi makes Golan sovereignty clear to Biden administration BY SIMCHA ABIR Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is adamant the Golan Heights will always be part of Israel after Secretary of State Antony Blinken failed to validate former US President Donald Trump’s recognition of the Golan in a TV interview. Blinken noted the Golan was of “real importance” to Israel’s security on CNN but was guarded regarding Israeli sovereignty over the territory. “Legal questions are something else and over time, if the situation were to change in Syria, that’s something we look at, but we are nowhere near that,” Blinken reportedly said. White House advisers have stated Biden will not withdraw US recognition of the Golan but Blinken’s comments strayed from the position. Blinken did acknowledge Bashar Assad’s government and Iran-backed terror groups were a “significant security threat” to Israel and noted the US would retain its embassy in Jerusalem but the question over the Golan remained. Speaking with reporters, Netanyahu gave Israel’s position. “Look, they said they are looking at it,
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but I have already looked at it,” he reportedly said. “As far as I am concerned, the Golan Heights will remain forever part of the State of Israel, a sovereign part.” “Should we return it to Syria?” he added. “Should we return the Golan to a situation where mass-slaughter is a danger?” Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights has not been ratified internationally but Trump recognised Israeli sovereignty at the White House in March 2019. Witnessing the historic ceremony, Netanyahu noted its significance and praised Trump for his “extraordinary support” towards Israel’s right to defend itself. “This is truly a historic day,” he said. Trump said the US recognised Israel’s “absolute right” to defend itself. He noted, “The State of Israel took control over the Golan Heights in 1967 to safeguard its security from external threats. Any possible future peace agreement must account for Israel’s need to defend itself from Syria, Iran and other regional threats.” Israel captured the strategic position in the 1967 Six Day War. Netanyahu has welcomed President Joe Biden’s administration but has yet to hold formal talks.
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Netanyahu slams ICC “war crimes” allegations
Neo-Nazi teen dodges custodial sentence BY DAVID SAFFER
International Criminal Court
BY DAVID SAFFER Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has slammed a decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel over alleged “war crimes”. The ICC voted 2-1 that the court had jurisdiction over possible crimes committed in Judea and Samaria, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. A prosecutor can pursue allegations against Israel, Hamas and Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu vehemently lambasted the move and vowed to defend the State of Israel. “When the ICC investigates Israel for fake war crimes, this is pure anti-Semitism,” he reportedly blazed. “The court established to prevent atrocities like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish people is now targeting the one state of the Jewish people. First, it outrageously claims that when Jews live in our homeland, this is a war crime. Second, it claims that when democratic Israel defends itself against terrorists who murder our children and rocket our cities, we are committing another war crime. Yet the ICC refuses to investigate brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria, who commit horrific atrocities almost daily. As Prime Minister of Israel, I can assure you this, “We will fight this perversion of justice with all our might!” Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid said the court’s decision was a “disgrace that will serve to deepen the conflict and to encourage Palestinian rejectionism”. “Israel won’t allow any international court to judge our soldiers,” he added. The IDF backed Netanyahu and Lapid in a statement. “The State of Israel’s position is that this is a biased and prejudiced decision which steps beyond the ICC’s jurisdiction,” a spokesman noted. “The IDF has determinedly defended and will continue to defend, the security of Israel and its citizens
PHOTO: ICC
in the face of every threat, while adhering fully to the IDF Code of Ethics, the values of the IDF, and national and international law. “The IDF fully supports and will continue to support its soldiers in active and reserve service, who courageously and devotedly act to safeguard and protect the State of Israel and its citizens.” The statement added, “The IDF is ready to provide all and any support and assistance which may be required by its soldiers and commanders.” And Israel’s Security Cabinet rejected what they described as a “scandalous decision” as the ICC had no authority to make a decision. “Israel is not a member of the international court and the Palestinian Authority does not have the status of a state,” the Cabinet noted, adding, “Even as it allows the investigation of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East that is committed to the rule of law, the court shuts its eyes to the awful war crimes being perpetrated time and again by dark dictatorships such as Iran and Syria. “The claim that Jews living in their homeland and their capital of Jerusalem constitutes a war crime is scandalous. Also, the claim that the IDF, there is no more ethical army, is carrying out war crimes even as it protects us from terrorists that launch rockets at our cities, is no less scandalous.” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US had “serious concerns” about the decision, adding the Biden administration did not believe the ICC had jurisdiction and Palestinians could not be considered a party to the Rome Statute. “We do not believe the Palestinians qualify as a sovereign state, and therefore are not qualified to obtain membership as a state, or participate as a state in international organisations, entities or conferences, including the ICC,” he noted. “We have serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction
over Israeli personnel. The US has always taken the position that the court’s jurisdiction should be reserved for countries that consent to it, or that are referred by the UN Security Council.” Netanyahu welcomed the US stance. “The court has proven once again that it’s a political body and not a judicial institution,” he said in a statement. “The court is ignoring real war crimes and is persecuting the State of Israel instead, a country with a strong democratic regime, which sanctifies the rule of law, and is not a member of the court. With this decision, the court has violated the rights of democracies to defend themselves against terrorism and played into the hands of those who undermine efforts to expand the circle of peace. We will continue to protect our citizens and soldiers in every way from legal persecution.” Former US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions against ICC officials last year. The US and Israel do not recognise the court’s jurisdiction. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said steps were meant as retribution for investigations into the US and its allies. ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called on the court to investigate alleged Israeli and Palestinian war crimes as well as Israeli settlement building following a five-year preliminary examination of the “situation in Palestine” in December 2019. The examination focused on potential crimes during Operation Protective Edge, Israeli settlements in the West Bank and ‘March of Return’ riots at the Gaza border. Bicom noted, “Israel places great emphasis on its judicial system. It has independent investigative bodies and an independent judiciary. The Supreme Court maintains judicial oversight over the actions taken in the territories. Given the Supreme Court’s international credibility and prestige, the hope was that it would shield Israel from any ICC investigation.”
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Jewish organisations have criticised a “weak” court decision at the Old Bailey on Monday ruling out a custodial sentence for the UK’s youngest convicted neo-Nazi terror offender. The teenage boy, now 16, received a twoyear youth rehabilitation order and will undergo counterterrorism interventions. He is banned from contacting extremists or using devices that cannot be checked by youth offending services or police. Judge Mark Dennis QC accepted the teen, who cannot not be named, recruited members for a neo-Nazi group and was “susceptible to the influence of others” after conversing with extremists online but had not acted upon terrorist manuals or planned an attack. Judge Dennis told the teen he would be jailed if he commits further offences. “You have the opportunity to put this behind you and redirect your future,” he said. The ruling however was not justice or a deterrence for Campaign Against Antisemitism or CST. “While rehabilitation of young offenders is a priority, so are justice and deterrence,” noted Stephen Silverman, CAA Director of Investigations and Enforcement. “This convicted terrorist has recruited other youth to a violent far-right cause and must be held accountable for the impact on society and on the future lives of those he has influenced, and it is difficult to see how a non-custodial sentence achieves this. A weak sentence also sends precisely the wrong signal to other would-be terrorists, broadcasting the message that recruitment of minors to violent terrorism carries no real cost.” “Judges may have their reasons for not imposing a prison sentence, but there also needs to be a strong deterrence against this kind of behaviour, because increasing numbers of terrorists are very young and it is of course innocent people who end up being murdered,” added Mark Gardener, CST chief executive. The teen was 13 when he committed the first of 12 terror offences. Judge Dennis said the teen had “developmental issues” from an abnormal childhood. A custodial sentence would affect his mental health. Judge Dennis took into account a guilty plea and remorse. It is understood the teen joined far-right social media forum Fascist Forge. Police found a Nazi flag, a racist slogan painted on the garden shed and downloaded manuals about making weapons at his home. No weapons or explosive components were discovered. Since October 2018, the teen had expressed anti-Semitic, racist and anti-gay views online. He spoke of “gassing” Jewish people and contacted the founder of banned neo-Nazi terror group Feuerkrieg Division. FKD advocates violence and mass murder in pursuit of an apocalyptic race war.
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Thousands mourn Rabbi Wosner in Bnei Brak BY DAVID SAFFER Thousands of mourners attended the funeral procession of Hagaon Hagadol Rabbi Chaim Meir Wosner in Bnei Brak last Sunday. One of the world’s leading rabbis, Rabbi Wosner, 83, was head of Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin, Dayan of Bnei Brak and rabbi to the Zichron Meir community in the city. The renowned Talmudic scholar also wrote a number of acclaimed books on Jewish law. Rabbi Wosner fell ill with coronavirus last month, he was hospitalised but passed away on Sunday. Discussions between police and rabbinic leaders failed to stop huge crowds breaching Covid-19 measures to pay respect to the late Rabbi Wosner. Police hoped to prevent mass crowds similar to the funerals last week in Jerusalem of
Rabbi Chaim Meir Wosner z”l
PHOTO: TWITTER
Hagaon Rabbi Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik and later in the day Hagaon Rabbi Yitzchak Aryeh Shiner. National criticism followed footage when 15,000 attended. Regarding Rabbi Wosner’s funeral, Police barriers were taken down by mourners leading to some clashes with officers on duty at the funeral. Criticism followed in political factions. Rabbi Chaim Meir was born in Vienna. Eldest son of Rabbi Shmuel Halevi and Rebbetzin Rivkah Wosner, his parents escaped Nazi Germany to Israel before World War Two. Cared for by his maternal grandparents, he survived the Holocaust and via Czechoslovakia was reunited aged eight with his parents. Rabbi Chaim Meir studied Torah with his father prior to serving Chachmei Lublin, then the Satmar community in London for 18 years. Rabbi Shmuel Halevi brought his son
Tributes to former US Secretary of State Shultz BY DAVID SAFFER Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and World Jewish Congress led tributes to former US Secretary of State George P. Shultz following his death in Stanford, California aged 100. Describing Shultz as one of the “giants of 20th century statesmanship and diplomacy”, WJC President Ronald S. Lauder recalled that President Ronald Reagan and Shultz guided the free world through the end of the Cold War. The longest serving Secretary of State since World War Two, Shultz, he noted, was a “loyal friend” of the Jewish people and State of Israel. “His advocacy on behalf of Soviet Jewry and his principled stance in ensuring Israel’s security as a US foreign policy priority, stand as a hallmark to his commitment to freedom,” Lauder said. “On a personal note, I had the opportunity to work under Secretary Shultz when I served as US Ambassador to Austria in the 1980s and always appreciated his clear and intelligent guidance.” Lauder added that the US had been blessed with brilliant public servants who put their country before themselves. The quintessential Shultz, he noted, was a “brilliant economist, statesman and public servant, who always put his country first”. As Secretary of State, Shultz fought for Jewish refuseniks in Soviet Russia and brokered a deal between Israel and Lebanon although he was unable to forge a lasting peace Middle East deal. Shultz was the first Secretary to call for Jonathan Pollard to be freed in 2011. Writing to US President Barack Obama, he noted that Pollard had “paid a huge price for his espionage on behalf of Israel” and should be released from prison. Shultz saw his endeavours recently fulfilled.
Netanyahu mourned the passing of a great friend of Israel. “An economist by training, Shultz led a team of experts that advised Israel how to move to a market economy,” recalled Netanyahu. “As Secretary of State he stood by Israel in our fight against terrorism and in countless other challenges, contributing greatly to the alliance between Israel and the United States. I never met a man more decent, honest and wise. America has lost a great patriot and we have lost a wonderful friend.” “Few men have played a role in so many of history’s critical junctures as former Secretary of State, George Shultz,” tweeted New Hope head Gideon Sa’ar. “He was a true friend of Israel, and one of the great statesman of his generation.” Shultz served three Republican presidents, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Nixon’s Secretary of Labour and later the Treasury, Reagan appointed Shultz his Secretary of State in 1982. Shultz was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989. “George Shultz was a legend,” said US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken in a statement. “As Secretary of State, he helped achieve the greatest geopolitical feat of the age, a peaceful end to the Cold War. He negotiated landmark arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and after leaving office, continued to fight for a world free of nuclear weapons. He also urged serious action on the climate crisis at a time when too few leaders took that position. He was a visionary. “An ardent champion of diplomacy, Secretary Shultz strengthened America’s relationships and advanced our interests with strategic brilliance and great patience. The men and women of the foreign and civil services
George P. Shultz z”l
PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA
were devoted to him because he uplifted their work and relied on their judgement. “When it came time to name the campus of the Foreign Service Institute, where America’s foreign service officers are trained, they named it for him.” Blinken noted that every Secretary of State who came after Shultz studied his work, judgment and intellect. “Few people came to the role with as much experience as he,” said Blinken. Shultz’s record as Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Labour, director of the Office of Management and Budget was as “distinguished a record of public service as any in American history”, said Blinken. Shultz was a “patriot”, he continued, “He (Shultz) took pains to remind his fellow diplomats that their first duty was always to the American people. Before he sent new US ambassadors to their overseas posts, he would invite them to his office and direct them to a huge globe in the corner. “Point to your country,” he would say. The ambassador would spin the globe and point to the country where he or she was heading. Then the Secretary would gently place their finger on the United States. “That’s your country.” He never forgot it.” Blinken concluded that Shultz was a “towering figure” in the history of the State Department. “The work we do now is shaped
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back to Israel in preparation to serve the Bnei Brak community. Rabbi Chaim Meir, who married Rebbetzin Shulamis, the daughter of Rabbi Avraham Eliyahu Meisels of the Edah Charedis community in Jerusalem, took up the roles of his esteemed father in Bnei Brak following his death aged 101 in 2015. An estimated 100,000 mourners attended his funeral. Rabbi Chaim Meir is survived by his wife, brothers, sisters and sons Rabbi Yosef Binyamin (Rosh Yeshiva, Chachmei Lubin), Rabbi Avraham Eliyahu (Bnei Brak), Rabbi Mordechai Ze’ev (Khal Machzeh Avraham, New York), Rabbi Moshe Shimon (Rabbi Chateau Park, Lakewood), Rabbi Aharon (Rosh Kollel Sheiris Yosef), Rabbi Akiva (Jerusalem), Rabbi Yisrael (New York) and Rabbi Shulem (Manchester). He is also survived by six daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and thousands of Talmidim. by his legacy,” he said. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a statement said, “Our colleague was a great American statesman and a true patriot in every sense of the word. He will be remembered in history as a man who made the world a better place.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that the world had lost a “revered statesman and brilliant public servant”, adding he had “dedicated his life to promoting a more peaceful and secure future, and his work to advance democracy worldwide leaves a powerful legacy for generations to come”. “George was known and esteemed as a person of honour,” she added. California Gov. Gavin Newsom recalled Shultz as an “extraordinary statesman, public servant and friend” who shaped America’s foreign and domestic policy. “Our state is fortunate that Secretary Shultz headed west later in his career, bringing his wisdom and insight to advising Governor (Arnold) Schwarzenegger, roles at the Hoover Institution and more,” Newsom noted. Born in New York City in 1920 and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, Shultz studied economics, public and international affairs at Princeton University before serving the US Marine Corps during World War Two. Gaining a PhD in economics in 1949, he taught and was later dean at the University of Chicago. In 1982, as Secretary of State, Shultz worked with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to curb Cold War tensions. Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987. The Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s. In 2000, Shultz backed George W. Bush, serving as an informal adviser in his successful election campaign. Shultz refused to back Republican nominee Donald Trump in 2016. He was quoted as saying “God help us” if Trump won the White House. Shultz married Helena “Obie” O’Brien, they had five children. After her death, in 1995, he married Charlotte Maillard in 1997. He is survived by his second wife, children, 11 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
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Oxford students face anti-Semitic backlash BY ADAM MOSES Jewish students at Oxford University are facing an anti-Semitic backlash online after opposing an event with controversial filmmaker Ken Loach at St Peter’s College on Monday. Loach has a history of anti-Semitism denial and inflammatory comments. Online abuse includes “rich Jewish students”, “***** Zionists” and Oxford Jewish Society is a “lying racist organisation”. Individual Jewish students have been targeted. CAA is providing support and legal assistance to Oxford JSoc. Oxford Jewish Society condemned the event hosted by Prof. Judith Buchanan, Master of St Peter’s College. After raising concerns, dialogue before the event between Jewish students and Prof. Buchanan failed to reach an understanding. JSoc President and vice president told Oxford Student that Jewish students at St Peter’s met with Prof. Buchanan to express their upset and dismay at the event’s happening. Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl wrote to Prof Buchanan, calling for the event to be cancelled, describing a decision to invite Loach to speak at the college ‘entirely unacceptable’. She noted, “That an Oxford college would not conduct its due diligence and allow (Ken) Loach to address students is entirely unacceptable. Higher education institutions have a duty of care to their students, which must include a zero tolerance policy to antisemitism and those who minimise or deny it. We have been in touch with Jewish students in Oxford and wholeheartedly support their condemnation of the event. This event should not take place.” Oxford JSoc President, Samuel Benjamin, was deeply disappointed Loach was due to speak. The invitation had come “at the expense” of the welfare of Jewish students in Oxford, especially those at St Peter’s College, he noted. Benjamin added, “As a Jewish Society we will not shy away from our duty to protect the interests of Jews on campus.” Last year, the Board wrote to charity Show Racism The Red Card, strongly criticising a decision to select Loach to be a judge for an anti-racism competition. Oxford Student confirmed Jewish students noted statements by Loach were anti-Semitic according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, which the University had adopted. But a St Peter’s College spokesperson told the publication the event was the latest in a run of occasions Loach had been invited to speak in College. Regarding Jewish student concerns,
Ken Loach
PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA
The invitation had come “at the expense” of the welfare of Jewish students in Oxford, especially those at St Peter’s College. they noted, “College affirms without reservation its very strong opposition to anti-Semitism. It recognises the appalling atrocities that anti-Semitism has wrought and can bring. While not believing that no-platforming is the way to pursue goals of a free and open academic community, it is committed to supporting students who find such decisions painful and to finding ways to address these questions within College as part of a broader, ongoing conversation.” Since the talk, Oxford JSoc released a statement to members noting there was no mention of anti-Semitism in the talk itself. Prof. Buchanan provided a brief explanation why the event was not cancelled before introducing Loach. She did not directly address allegations of anti-Semitism levelled at Loach. Oxford JSoc continued, “Shortly after the event, multiple public figures signed a statement published on ‘Artists for
Palestine UK’, entitled: ‘Artists stand with Ken Loach and against MaCarthyism’. Following that (the musician and controversial activist) Roger Waters shared our statement directly on Facebook, and then on Twitter. Accompanying his post is a trope-ridden caption that reads, ‘Don’t let the Israeli Lobby rewrite our dictionaries with this McCarthyite, racist, claptrap. We know what anti-Semitism is and being anti-Israeli apartheid ain’t any part of it.’ “As a result of this, the statement has garnered huge publicity, and with that, anti-Semitic comments have been posted on the JSoc Facebook and Twitter pages, as it was a public post. Waters’s own post has amassed a large number of likes, shares and retweets. I am deeply sorry that this has caused so many students such upset and anger. We were left with little choice by the leadership at St Peter’s in publishing a statement. And we will continue to do everything we can to protect students from anti-Semitic speakers, and from
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anti-Semitism itself.” Binyomin Gilbert, CAA Programme Manager, said it was perverse Loach was invited to one of Britain’s most prestigious universities despite a history of incessant anti-Semitism-denial. He added, “Jewish students are facing an extreme anti-Semitic backlash merely for raising concerns, and we are making available legal assistance and support. We are particularly grateful to the Oxford student body for their solidarity with their Jewish peers. It is perverse that someone who spouts hate and belittles the lived experience of Jews is given a platform while those who courageously call him out find themselves targeted by hate.” In related news, CAA has welcomed Education Secretary Gavin Williamson insisting universities report and act against anti-Semitic incidents. Failure may attract financial penalties. Williamson has written to the Office for Students regarding adoption of the International Definition of Anti-Semitism. The OfS is regulator and competition authority for the higher education sector in England. Williamson covered numerous topics in his letter relating to universities and campus life. And he called for the OfS to undertake “a scoping exercise” to identify providers reluctant to adopt the definition. Williamson called for consideration of mandatory reporting of anti-Semitic incident numbers by Higher Education providers. This audit would “ensure a robust evidence base” to assist regulation by the OfS. He added that where anti-Semitic incidents took place at a university, subject to the response, it may be appropriate to consider “sanctions, including monetary penalties”. Williamson noted that at least 31 additional institutions had adopted the definition. Gideon Falter, CAAA chief executive, said Williamson was right to urge universities to adopt the definition and would be writing to the OfS with latest figures. “Jewish life on campus must never be allowed to come under threat because of anti-Jewish hatred on the part of any academics or students,” he noted. CAA recently launched a project monitoring adoption of the definition by universities in real time and providing figures to the OfS. The project includes universities yet to adopt the definition or have declined to do so in addition to summaries of select anti-Semitic incidents on university campuses. Students concerned about anti-Semitism on campus should contact CAA on email at campus@antisemitism.org or telephone 0330 8220321.
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CST records fall in anti-Semitic incidents in 2020 BY DAVID SAFFER Community Security Trust recorded 1,668 anti-Semitic incidents in 2020 despite Covid-19 restrictions. Although an 8% fall from incidents in 2019 it is the third-highest figure recorded in a calendar year. A further 402 reports of potential incidents received by CST were not deemed anti-Semitic. Many involved suspicious activity or hostile reconnaissance at Jewish locations, criminal activity affecting Jewish people/buildings or anti-Israel activity. Anti-Semitism in the UK in 2020 was strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The lowest monthly totals recorded came in December (89 incidents), April (107) and March (117). These months correlate with periods when pandemic-related restrictions affected society at their
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most stringent. In contrast, the highest totals came in January (188), June (178) and February (140) when the pandemic had not struck with full force or restrictions eased. Nevertheless, the fact that over 100 incidents were recorded in all but one month sustains a pattern of high anti-Semitic incident figures. December 2020 was the first month in three years with fewer than 100 incidents. CST surpassed 100 incidents on six occasions between January 2006 and December 2015. There were 53 incidents affecting Jewish schools compared to 122 (2019). CST recorded 18 incidents targeted at synagogue congregants on their way to or from prayers compared to 32 (2019.) Both reductions came with synagogues and schools closed or used in limited ways. In contrast, CST recorded 158 incidents at people’s homes compared to 118 (2019). A new type of anti-Semitic incident during the pandemic saw CST receive 19 reports of Jewish educational, social or religious online events being hijacked in ‘Zoom-bombings’. This problem became so prevalent CST developed specialist online security advice to counter it. Forty-one incidents involved references to the pandemic alongside anti-Semitic rhetoric. This ranged from conspiracy theories alleging Jewish involvement in creating and spreading COVID-19 to Jewish people catching the virus and die from it. Overall, 332 incidents involved conspiracy theories compared to 370 (2019). CST recorded 100 violent anti-Semitic incidents, a 39% fall on 2019. Ninety-seven were classified as ‘Extreme Violence’ compared to a year earlier. There were 72
incidents of ‘Damage and Desecration of Jewish property’, 1,399 ‘Abusive Behaviour’, 85 ‘direct anti-Semitic threats’ and 12 cases of mass-mailed anti-Semitic leaflets or emails’. All totals are lower than 2019. Online anti-Semitic incidents decreased by 9%, from 700 (2019) to 634 in 2020. But it is the second-highest annual total reported to CST, reflecting a growing role. However, the totals understate the scale of online anti-Semitism. CST records incidents reported by the victim or witness, if content shows evidence of anti-Semitic language, motivation or targeting, and if the offender is based in the UK or has directly targeted a UK-based victim. Targeted campaigns often involve dozens of accounts sending hundreds or thousands of tweets, images or posts within a concentrated timespan, or hundreds of tweets from a single offender. Each campaign is recorded by CST as a single incident. “CST had hoped anti-Semitic incidents would fall by more than this during 2020,” said CST Chief Executive Mark Gardner. “The fact that they didn’t means they must remain even more vigilant for 2021, especially as the economic impact of Covid-19 may cause more extremism and division within society.” Home Secretary Priti Patel noted, “It is shameful that in the 21st century, the Jewish community still faces racist abuse and the desecration of their synagogues and other religious and community sites.” Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds added, “A fall in anti-Semitic incidents is to be welcomed and is testament to the work of CST and the wider Jewish community. However, any act is
one too many and the overall numbers remain far too high.” HM Government’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism, Lord Mann, commented, “It is clear that Covid-19 has led to a rise in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and the use of dangerous alterative media platforms. Whilst it is partly to do with better reporting and knowledge, it is worrying that this trend isn’t coming down and it also shows the vital importance of CST.” National Policing Lead for Hate Crime, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said, “Where anti-Semitism fuels criminal activity, we need victims to have the confidence to report the crimes so we can ensure they get the support they deserve and that we bring offenders to justice. However, one crime is too many and everyone has a right to live their lives free from targeted abuse. I would encourage all victims of hate to report crimes, either to the police or to the CST.” Two-thirds of all incidents in 2020 were recorded in Greater London and Greater Manchester. CST recorded 941 incidents in Greater London, a fall of 1% on 2019, and 153 in Greater Manchester, a fall of 31% (2019). Elsewhere in the UK, CST recorded incidents in all but one Police region across the country. CST recorded 58 incidents in Gateshead, 50 in Leeds, 20 in Liverpool and 20 in Borehamwood & Elstree. Several Police regions saw increases in incidents due to improved data sharing between CST and Police under a national information sharing agreement. CST has recorded incidents since 1984, there were 1,690 in 2018, 1,420 (2017) and 1,275 (2016).
‘Genocide’ amendment goes back to Lords BY DAVID SAFFER Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl has reacted to a lack of opportunity for MPs to vote on the Genocide Amendment to the Trade Bill on Tuesday. The government blocked MPs having a straight vote on the Lords amendment enabling UK Courts to halt a trade deal with a country believed to be carrying out genocide. MPs voted 318 to 303 on a Neill amendment that now goes to the House of Lords. “We expect it to return to the House of Commons and will give it our vocal support,” noted Ms van de Zyl. She added, “We are determined to continue to support the Uyghur people against the genocide which is currently being perpetrated and give them their day in court. We hope that we can move forward and work with the Government and
SNP Leader Ian Blackford
PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA
MPs of all parties to do whatever we can to ensure that the terrible situation in Xinjiang is not allowed to continue.”
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The Board called on MPs to support the ‘genocide’ amendment in a Zoom event on Monday attended by representatives of the Uyghur people, a Holocaust survivor and Parliamentarians. Delegates heard about the plight of Uyghurs in concentration camps in Xinjiang province, China. “Nobody could fail to notice” similarities between what is alleged to be happening in China today and what happened in Nazi Germany 75 years ago,” Ms van der Zyl said. SNP Leader Ian Blackford said it was right Parliament remembered past genocides. “We cannot turn away, we must not turn away,” he said. “Tomorrow is our opportunity to do the right thing.” Holocaust survivor Dorit Oliver-Wolf told MPs to set aside politics and “bring out your humanity”.
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Use them or loose them ! Have you taken advantage of available tax reliefs ? Vol 1 The writer is the Owner and Managing Director of Alpha Wealth Management Ltd – a boutique independent financial advisory practice. As a Chartered Financial Planner and drawing on over twenty years’ experience in financial services, Marc helps private clients, businesses, charities, and trusts optimize their finances. Prior to acting as a financial adviser, Marc was a Director at several global investment banks, providing investment advice to Europe’s leading institutional investment and pension fund managers.
Every year we hear pre-Budget rumours there could be fundamental changes to the tax incentives for pension saving, perhaps unsurprisingly given that the net annual cost to the Exchequer is around £40bn. But this year the cost of pension tax relief will come under even greater scrutiny given the extraordinary Government spending needed to support the economy throughout the COVID 19 pandemic. On 3 March, the Chancellor will announce the Budget. The smart approach to your financial planning would be for you to take advantage of available tax reliefs prior to this date. Otherwise you risk losing them !
WHY PENSION FUNDING MATTERS
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For many people, a pension remains the best way to accumulate provisions for the long term, particularly for retirement. The combination of income tax relief on the way in, and tax free cash on the way out means that, pound for pound, pensions will in most cases provide a higher net income than most other investment products, including an ISA. Unfortunately, most people don’t realise just how much money they need to have saved before they retire to live off their investments and state pension. After all most of us may be wanting a 25-year retirement. That doesn’t come cheap ! Factor in the cost of care and the need is even greater ! The earlier you start, the more you will benefit both from attractive tax reliefs and the power of compounding investment returns. Looking beyond retirement incomes, pensions also make family wealth transfer easier. Savings are protected from inheritance tax, and the option of drawdown for beneficiaries not only extends inheritance tax protection, but also means that investment income and gains remain tax free.
PENSION V ISA
There is no tax on income and gains made
on investments in a pension or an ISA. They are the same in this respect. Pension funds are, however, protected from IHT, while ISAs are not. For retirement savings, pensions have an edge over ISAs because of the tax reliefs given on contributions made and the fact that on withdrawal, a quarter of the fund can be taken tax free, with the rest taxed at the individual’s marginal rate of income tax in retirement, which may be lower than the rate they paid during their working lives.
EXAMPLE
Esther is 55 and is a higher rate taxpayer. She is a company employee paying into a pension through the net pay system. She has just received a small inheritance of £10,000 and wants to save it for her retirement at 60, when she expects to become a basic rate taxpayer. Ignoring investment returns (and assuming like for like investments), making a pension contribution at a net cost of £10,000 would boost her pension fund from £10000 to £16,667 (£10000 / 0.6) (40% income tax relief). If she withdrew once she has retired and a basic rate taxpayer, the net return would be £14,167 – a return of over 41%, and all down to tax relief. The ISA fund would still be £10,000. Even if she withdrew it immediately as a higher rate taxpayer, she would get back £11,667 – a return of over 16% (note, if she did this, her ability to make future contributions would be limited to the money purchase annual allowance of £4,000).
HOW MUCH CAN BE PAID IN?
Individuals have an annual allowance of £40000 upon which they can receive income tax relief. Companies can pay any amount into a person’s pension but only the first £40000 will be relievable against Corporation Tax in that tax year. That said, if a person
has had a UK registered pension in the past and they have not used all their available annual allowance, if they have a large enough tax liability for this tax year, they could pay in more than their annual allowance for this year. Pension carry forward allows one to benefit from unused pension allowance for the prior three tax years once this tax year’s allowance has been used up. This provision is not widely known and it can provide a huge amount of tax relief for people receiving higher employment earnings or company owners thinking about taking higher company drawings.
OTHER BENEFITS OF PENSION SAVINGS
Saving into a pension not only provides the obvious benefits in retirement and beyond, but they can also play an important part in minimising the amount of tax your individuals pay on income and gains now. When a individual makes a contribution into their pension, the tax paid on income and gains may reduce because: • • • • •
both earned income and savings income, including dividends and bond gains, may be taxed a lower rate capital gains made on investments may be taxed at 10% and not 20% personal allowances could be re-instated child benefit tax charge may reduce For high earners facing a tapered annual allowance, an individual pension contribution could restore the full allowance by taking ‘threshold income’ below £200,000.
If you are unfamiliar with what a pension can do for you or simply need a refresher, it’s worth speaking to a competent financial adviser to see what your options are and how you could benefit from pension payments.
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Auschwitz survivor Shoshana passes away at 105 BY SIMCHA ABIR Holocaust survivor Shoshana Ovitz has passed away at Mayanei HaYeshua Hospital in Bnai Brak aged 105. Her 104th birthday ‘once in a lifetime’ celebrations surrounded by 400 descendants from around the world at the Western Wall in 2019 went viral. Surviving Auschwitz, Shoshana married another survivor, Rabbi Dov Ovitz, whose wife and four daughters were murdered by the Nazis. From Austria they emigrated to Israel, settled in Haifa where they had four children and became respected members of the Viznitz community in Bnai
Brak. Shoshana said her long life was due to respecting her parents until they were murdered in Auschwitz. She recalled “Angel of Death” Nazi doctor Josef Mengele selecting her mother at Auschwitz leading to her death. Shoshana’s father also died at the death camp. Shoshana’s eldest granddaughter, Pnina Friedman, reportedly told Walla News that it was not easy to organise the Kotel event. “She asked us to put together a list of all the names of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren so that she could look and pray for them,” Pnina said.
Shoshana Ovitz with her 400-strong family at the Kotel celebrating her 104th birthday
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Israel slowly exits lockdown BY DAVID SAFFER Israel is slowly coming out of its third lockdown and plans to open some hotels, gyms and leisure facilities by February 23rd. Having administered Pfizer vaccines to 40% of its 9 million population an official app link to the Health Ministry will detail who has been vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19. Those not applying can get a test, negative results will be displayed. The ‘Green Pass’ will aid travel abroad. The ‘R’ reproductive rate is 0.93, down on last week. “There is an encouraging sign,” Health Minister Yuli Edelstein reportedly said yesterday. “If this vector continues, we will meet all of our commitments.” The country heads to the polls on March 23. If restrictions meet targets it is expected to boost Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election prospects. Israel saw its lowest coronavirus infection rate in over four weeks on Tuesday. Health Ministry data illustrated 24.13% of Israelis had received both vaccination doses. Of 1,606 patients hospitalised, 1,020 are in serious condition and 317 ventilated. The number of seriously ill patients under 59 continues to rise. Data shows 17.2% are in their 50s, 9.5% 40s, 5.3% 30s and 2.7% 29 or younger. Of 70,444 active Covid patients, 10,159 live in Jerusalem, 3,696 Bnei Brak, 2,698 Tel Aviv-Yafo, 2,455 Modiin Illit, 2,315 Petah Tikva and 2,081 Ashdod. There are 5,223 fatalities to date. Edelstein confirmed the government was
Jerusalem
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
considering legislation for teachers to be vaccinated at a cabinet meeting. “No one has the right to endanger the children of Israel,” he reportedly told a press briefing. “It is not clear to me why a janitor should give his tax money to fund the madness of someone else, who chooses not to get vaccinated. Anyone who does not want to be vaccinated will have to be tested frequently and it could also be at his expense.” Edelstein, meanwhile, warned against mass celebrations for Purim later this month. “In order for Purim not to become another Tisha B’Av, the joy should be very limited,” Edelstein reportedly said. “Whoever wants to celebrate Passover with the family, should stay at home on Purim. No gatherings, no parties.”
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Coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash noted 20% of recent cases had been recorded in Charedi communities and there was concern it would increase during Purim. Ultra-Orthodox communities have a higher rate of infection than the national average. “Celebrate while maintaining the sanctity of life,” Ash reportedly said. “Everyone should take care of themselves, their family and friends and not act irresponsibly. We all remember the wave of infections after Purim last year.” Health Ministry Director-General Hezi Levy added that Purim celebrations could be under heavy restrictions like last year when the pandemic first hit. “The epidemiological danger of Purim parties and gatherings is known to us,” he reportedly explained. “We are trying to make it as easy for the public as possible, but without taking unnecessary risks that will increase the infection. We will wait to see what the infection trends will be.” Levy continued, “Even if there is no lockdown and we do not restrict gatherings, mass Purim celebrations, parties in confined spaces, it must not take place this year. Even if it is celebrated among the nuclear family and not in huge parties on the street, I believe this year we won’t be able to do it if the infection rate is not low.” Levy is aware of economic and emotional hardship of keeping businesses and schools closing, but the country could not risk a spike in hospitalisation figures. Ash, meantime, presented a three-stage lockdown plan at a cabinet meeting not only for education but also businesses and entertainment this week. Ministers voted to reopen the education system for kindergartens and school grades 1-4 in ‘green’, ‘yellow’ and ‘orange’ rated cities if 70% of the over 50s have received both vaccinations. Grades 11-12 will continue to learn remotely, schools in ‘red’ communities remain closed. The second stage is set for February 23 where school grades 5-6 would return. Supermarkets, shopping centres, gyms, event halls, sports venues, museums, galleries, libraries, small shops and hotels with no
dining areas may reopen to Israelis with both vaccines (this includes 90% of over 50s) or if citizens have recovered from the virus. A third stage is set to begin on March 3 where grades 7-10 can return to school in all low-to mid-level infection cities. Cafes and small restaurants can also reopen including to people not vaccinated. Entry to restaurants (with a reservation), hotels with dining areas, event halls, attractions and conferences will be permitted to those with both vaccines. The exit plans, whilst firm at the moment, is dependent on Covid cases and the vaccination targets. “We have a very small margin of error when reopening the economy and it all depends on how we can control morbidity and move forward with the vaccination campaign,” Ash reportedly explained. “All of these should be implemented with the utmost responsibility with masks and limits on gatherings still in place.” He added, “There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but there are still challenges ahead. I hope that with responsible behaviour we will achieve these goals and move forward.” Prof. Eli Waxman of the Weizmann Institute warned about opening measures too quickly. “In order to safely reopen, 90% of the population needs to be vaccinated, including children, and we are far from it,” he reportedly said. “We are taking a risk, in a few weeks we might reach a situation where we will have to choose between a fourth closure and a spike in serious cases and deaths.” Waxman called for larger time intervals between phases of an exit strategy. “Given our current situation, we must wait,” he reportedly said. “We must see that the steps we have already taken do not cause an increase in infections. We must see that we are on a path to a continuous decline and then consider another small, careful step.” Waxman added, “It should also be remembered that the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing the infection spread is not completely known at the moment.” In related news, Israel’s cabinet has extended the closure of Ben-Gurion Airport to commercial flights until February 21. Israelis will be unable to enter or exit the country except under special circumstances. Israelis outside Israel must apply online to the Foreign Ministry, Health Ministry, Prime Minister’s Office or Interior Ministry’s Population Authority. Circumstances include medical treatment including pregnant women who wish to give birth in Israel, attending a funeral of a ‘first-degree’ relative, accompanying a body to Israel for burial, to aid an immediate relative in need of assistance, legal proceedings, humanitarian mission or state delegation. Israelis may request to leave Israel for similar reasons. Non-Israeli citizens can request entry Israel for aliyah that cannot be postponed. Israelis who left the country before January 25 must quarantine in state-run hotels.
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Election 2021 news Once again covering the Israeli Election exclusively for The Jewish Weekly is our weekly columnist JAMES MARLOW with his report, latest poll numbers according to several Israeli surveys and his News Briefs. James has been covering Israeli Elections since the eighties and has extensive knowledge of the many Political Parties, the Candidates, the Proportional Representation system and analysing coalition agreements. In addition James is giving his intriguing insights into Israel’s fourth Election in 2 years on Sky News, LBC Radio and a number of online events including at Edgware United Synagogue through Zoom on Wednesday 3 March from 8pm, Ner Yisrael and the Zionist Federation.
The Marlow Report
Thirty-nine political parties this time registered with the Central Elections Committee, which is slightly below the average number, probably because several parties dropped out, right before last Thursday night’s deadline. Of the 39 competing parties, no more than 13 are seen as having a realistic chance of winning a minimum of 3.25% in the 24th Knesset, which is equivalent to 4 seats. Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu is bidding to extend his unprecedented 12 consecutive years as Prime Minister in a fourth general election within two years. This time Bibi is facing challenges primarily from the centrist Yesh Atid party, led by Yair Lapid, the New Hope right-wing party, founded last December by former Likud Minister Gideon Sa’ar and the right-wing Yamina party, led by Naftali Bennett. Once again no party on the left is able to challenge the Likud and it remains the only team to beat. Several of Netanyahu’s fiercest critics – Avi Nissenkorn, Ofer Shelah, Ron Huldai and Moshe Ya’alon have now all bowed out of politics. Two of the three former IDF chiefs of staff, who joined together to bring Netanyahu down for three elections, have now quit and the one remaining, Benny Gantz,
may not even receive enough votes to make it back into the Knesset. The four factions of the Arab Joint List party have now become three, as Ra’am decided to run alone and may not even reach the minimum threshold on Election Day. In addition the nightmare scenario for Netanyahu of Gideon Sa’ar and Naftali Bennett uniting their parties, failed to materialise, as both leaders insisted on being in charge. Neither Sa’ar nor Bennett brought in a last-minute “star candidate” and their lists were submitted without any fanfare. Now Netanyahu’s two potential rivals on the Right, are practically tearing each other apart. Amazingly Yair Lapid in the centre, has outlasted the party heads of Kadima, Labour and Blue and White and according to polls, is
Now Netanyahu’s two potential rivals on the Right, are practically tearing each other apart. the closest party to the Likud and growing in support, despite not merging or making any significant editions. But Lapid’s efforts behind the scenes to bring about a merger of the Center-Left camp failed. Ofer Shelah from the political left, broke away from Lapid’s Yesh Atid party to form his brand new Tnufa party, but could not gain much support. Another on the political left, Avi Nissenkorn, who was the Justice Minister from the Blue and White party, dumped Benny Gantz
to join Shelah. Ironic considering we are having this election because Likud wanted Nissenkorn removed from the Justice Ministry, but Gantz refused to do so. Now Nissenkorn is not even running. Tel Aviv mayor, Ron Huldai who boasted he would run for Prime Minister and oust Netanyahu, initially polled 7 seats. But when he declared, he would overrule the Health Ministry and re-open Tel Aviv as normal, his small following plummeted. Huldai also found out he was not as popular with the country as he thought he was. Merav Michaeli won the leadership of the Labor party and is now polling just past the minimum threshold, but she also wanted to be the “boss” and couldn’t stomach a merger with the centrist Lapid. As for Nitzan Horowitz who heads the farleft Meretz, he claimed that Labor did not want to join with his party. But in response, Michaeli said, it was Horowitz who didn’t want to join. There is a good chance that Labor or probably Meretz, will not cross the minimum threshold, which could be disastrous for the Left camp. Moshe Ya’alon who is on the political right, decided to leave Lapid’s Yesh Atid to run alone, but no one could bear to vote for him, so he pulled out of the race. Voters on the Center and Left now have a choice of three parties, Yesh Atid, Labor and Meretz. All three are led by former journalists of Ashkenazi descent and all three live in Tel Aviv. The anti-Netanyahu camp is still strong if you also count the two right wing parties of New Hope and Yamina. But the polls suggest they could only oust Bibi if all the right and left parties along with the far-left Meretz join together in a coalition, which is almost impossible to envision. If neither side reaches the magic number of 61, Israelis will look forward to yet another rematch later in the year.
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IMPORTANT DATES: February 11 Deadline to challenge party lists and candidates February 21 Final party lists set after challenges to Supreme Court March 9 Election commercial begin March 11 Diplomats, soldiers start voting March 19 Last day for polls March 23 Election Day March 30 Final results presented to President April 06 Deadline for President to choose candidate to form government May 18 Deadline for first candidate to build coalition June 15 Deadline for second candidate to form coalition July 6 Deadline for any MK to form government October 5 Date of next election if no government is formed
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ELECTION NEWS BRIEFS: • The first ever woman to be elected leader to the National Religious Camp has withdrawn her party from the race. Hagit Moshe who won the leadership of the Jewish Home party, failed to secure a deal with Betzalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party. She said she had grown frustrated with Smotrich’s negotiating tactics and ultimately signed an agreement with Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party where she would quit the race, but back Yamina in the election. • Senior Likud figures pressured Betzalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party to merge with the far-right wing Otzma Yehudit and anti-LGBT Noam party, in order to have a better chance of crossing the minimum threshold. The last time Otzma Yehudit ran with Smotrich, in 2019, the list included
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Jewish Home, and garnered five seats, just above the 3.25% electoral threshold. • The current Yamina MK Ophir Sofer is now running with the Likud in the upcoming election. • The Veterans party led by Danny Yatom has dropped out of the race after failing to secure enough support. • Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai who vowed to run for Prime Minister and oust Netanyahu with his Israelis party, pulled out of the race after the party fell apart just before the deadline to submit applications. Druse candidate Anan Wahabi announced he was quitting politics. The Israelis party was polling 7 seats when it was launched in December, but
gradually fell below the minimum threshold according to all polls • Good news for Netanyahu as former Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah who broke away from Yair Lapid’s party to form his own, announced he was not running. He was one of Netanyahu’s fiercest critics but every poll showed he was not going to make it into the Knesset. • More good news for Netanyahu as former Likud and Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s Telem party also pulled out of the race because he also could not garner much public support. Ya’alon was a Likud MK and Defence Minister but stormed out of the party when Netanyahu had a cabinet reshuffle in 2017. He formed Telem and vowed to run for PM against Netanyahu. But because Ya’alon could not pass the 3.25% threshold, he joined Blue and White. The party fell apart soon after last
March’s election and Ya’alon allied his Telem party with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid. However after recent disagreements between the two leaders, Ya’alon decided to run alone ago, but found he only had 0.2%. • Labor leader Merav Michaeli chose not to include ex-Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah from Tnufa or Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai’s The Israelis party on Labor’s slate. Both men subsequently abandoned their campaigns. • Benny Gantz (Blue and White) who is barely clearing the threshold in the polls, failed to draw any merger partners, but has vowed to run “till the end.” • Ra’am’s Mansour Abbas defied criticism and broke away from the Joint List, a move that seems certain to weaken the Joint List — thus benefiting Netanyahu — and
ISRAEL VOTES 2021
could see Ra’am fall below the threshold. • Meanwhile, Netanyahu gave unpopular politician Orly Levy-Abekasis (minister in the outgoing coalition) from the Gesher party, the fairly safe slot of number 26 on the Likud slate. It was reported that Netanyahu received pressure from her family (her father is former Likud MK and former foreign minister David Levy). In response Gidon Sa’ar gave a slot on his party list to the Levy’s family rival, former Beit She’an mayor, Rafi Ben Shetreet. • Netanyahu also placed the Likud’s first-ever Muslim candidate, Nail Zoabi, in the 39th slot. Zoabi is a school principle. • The Pirate Party will once again be running in the upcoming election. They believe in smoking pot all day and partying.
JAMES MARLOW compiles this week’s poll numbers based on several Israeli leading pollsters including Panels Politics, Direct Polls, Midgam Panel, Statnet Institutes, TNS Teleseker, Camille Fuchs, Dr Mina Tzemach and Mano Gever. In total, 39 parties have registered to run but only the parties expected to cross the 3.25% minimum threshold are listed below. If a party receives less than the minimum 4 seats, the votes are discarded. The election for the twenty-fourth Knesset is Tuesday 23 March.
NAME OF PARTY
HEADED BY
SEATS
CURRENT POLLING
LIKUD
Binyamin Netanyahu
36
29 – 31
YESH ATID
Yair Lapid
Broke from Blue & White (33)
16 – 18
NEW HOPE
Gideon Sa’ar
NEW PARTY
13 – 14
YAMINA
Naftali Bennett
5
11 – 13
JOINT LIST (Arab) Hadash, Balad, Ta’al
Ayman Odeh
15
8 – 10
SHAS
Aryeh Deri
8
7–9
UNITED TORAH JUDAISM
Moshe Gafni
7
7–8
YISRAEL BEITENU
Avigdor Lieberman
7
5–7
LABOR
Merav Michaeli
1
5–7
RELIGIOUS ZIONIST, OTZMA, NOAM
Betzalel Smotrich
Break away from Jewish Home
3–4
MERETZ
Nitzan Horowitz
5
3–4
BLUE AND WHITE
Benny Gantz
33
3–4
RA’AM (Arab)
Mansour Abbas
Break away from Joint List
3–4
NEW ECONOMY PARTY
General Yarom Zelekha
NEW PARTY
1–2
TOTAL NUMBER OF KNESSET SEATS
120
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OPINION
The opinions on this page do not reflect the opinions of this Newspaper
Covid Conspiracy Conversations Continue OPINION PIECE BY JAMES J MARLOW I received my first Covid vaccination earlier this week and I have to tell you that the effects were immediate. They began with visions of Bill Gates instructing me to follow the rules. At that point I noticed I was being followed down the road by what can only be described as a large 5G metal antenna. This device began to pick up its pace and eventually chased me down an alleyway, where a drone hovered above, as if it was tracking me and I ended up at a dead end. Shortly after, I could feel I was turning into a tomato??? But it doesn’t matter because at least I’m protected against Covid 19 :) Before anyone quotes me, as there is always one, let me say, except for the part about having a jab, the rest did not happen.
But it’s quite extraordinary how some people within our community, still believe in these ridicules conspiracy theories. Even if they accept that there is a virus called Covid, “But many more people die from the flu”, a neighbour opined to me last week. I replied, “But that’s not true” and proceeded to point out the facts. According to the World Health Organisation, around 450,000 – 500,000 people die each year from the flu. In a really bad exceptional year, that figure jumps to 650,000, but that is extremely rare. So far, more than four times as many people worldwide have died from Covid. Those that survive, well some of them, have all sorts of long term health issues, including body pain, chronic fatigue and sometimes, difficulty in breathing normally. In addition, almost every single country in the world does NOT lock down for flu. So why do we prefer to listen to the “bloke”
in the shul down the road, instead of the overwhelming medical experts across the world? Another neighbour remarked on how it was a “chillul Hashem” for a Jewish newspaper, (not the Jewish Weekly) to print a story of the regular illegal weddings taking place in Stamford Hill. This person went on to say, “We cannot stop weddings. Young people need to get married – it’s our way of life.” I replied, “A wedding needs a chupah, mesadeh kiddushin and two witnesses – You don’t need 200 people to sit down at a 5-course meal with dazzling dancing in between courses and music that makes your ears pop.” My response didn’t go down too well because the reply was, many of the guests are family members in any case. I happen to be in one of the safest shuls in town, where the windows and back
doors are open, ushering in a whiff of cold fresh air, circulating the Beis Hamedrash. Everyone wears masks over their mouth and nose and we exercise the one metre ruling. We do it to protect each other as we have lost several members of our shul, to this dreadful plague. The official figures of Jewish burials related to Covid in the UK today, has reached just under 850. I recall older folk calling one of the phone-in shows on LBC Radio last month, saying during the blitz, the rule was clear – when you hear the sirens at night, you turn out your lights. But one gentleman explained there were some who refused to adhere to the rules because, “It infringed on my personal freedom and right to choose.” The problem was in keeping his lights on, he put everyone else in danger, as the German bombers didn’t care which civilians they killed. Ve’Nishmartem Meod Lenafshoseichem (The mitzvah of self preservation) is what comes to mind when we ignore the danger and come into contact with people, outside our immediate circle. Someone who erroneously believes, “If I’m alright Jack, it’s OK” is foolish. Just for the record, I believe in going to shul and learning, if the environment can be made safe. I believe in getting our kids back to school and ourselves back to work again, if we can do so safely. The vaccine distribution is making excellent progress in the UK and we have a clear path ahead. But to ignore the rules completely, hold illegal weddings and create hatred against our community has got to be wrong on all levels. We should be setting the example, not causing people to loath and hate us. James Marlow is a broadcast commentator and communications trainer Facebook: James Jeremy Marlow Twitter: @James_J_Marlow
Zoombombing and Covid conspiracy theories make CST annual report OPINION PIECE BY DR DAVE RICH , DIRECTOR OF POLICY AT THE COMMUNITY SECURITY TRUST This year’s Antisemitic Incident Report from CST shows how adaptable antisemitism can be, always changing to find the best fit with whatever is going on in our society. In 2020 the restrictions imposed as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic affected daily life and the Jewish community in many ways, and antisemitism changed as a result. For example, CST recorded fewer antisemitic hate incidents affecting Jewish schools, students and staff than in previous years, because for much of the year many of our schools were either closed or ran a reduced operation. The same goes for abuse shouted at congregants walking
to or from synagogue services, which also fell in number because during last year’s lockdowns there were fewer synagogues open, and those that were open often had fewer people attending services. This doesn’t mean the antisemitism went away. As so much of Jewish community life moved online, with religious, educational and social events taking place on zoom, so the antisemitic abuse followed them online. CST recorded several incidents of Jewish community events being targeted with ‘zoombombing’, where groups of people would gain illicit access to a community event and then shout or post antisemitic abuse until they were thrown out. It seems that hate will always find a way through, and CST had to develop new guidance for online security to shut down this avenue. We all spent much more time at home last year than is normally the case, and
many people have felt increased stress and anxiety during the pandemic. It is easy to see how this combination of tension and opportunity can lead to conflict, and consequently CST recorded an increase in antisemitic incidents at people’s homes last year. Perhaps the most telling aspect of this adaptation of antisemitism is in the way conspiracy theories about Coronavirus kept popping up in the incidents reported to CST last year. Some antisemites claimed that the virus was all a hoax, invented by Jews for some malevolent purpose; others said it was a real virus but Jews either invented it or were deliberately spreading it. Either way, they sought to blame Jews for the latest terrible and frightening development in the world – just as antisemites always have done. Most sickeningly, when the virus ripped through our Jewish communities
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in March and April last year and so many people sadly died as a result, there were antisemites on social media celebrating this fact. While antisemitism will always adapt to new circumstances, it is vital that CST does the same. CST kept working throughout the year, with remote working and new Covid-secure operating procedures for volunteers and staff. This ensured that we were always able to respond to antisemitic incidents and give our community the support and protection they need, via our dedicated Incidents Team and our 24/7 emergency national security centre, which has remained operational throughout the pandemic. Even if the patterns of antisemitism change from year to year, the threat it poses to our community does not, and CST will always find new ways to respond to it.
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OPINION 21
Covid comment OPINION PIECE BY JACQUELINE CURZON Recent news discusses the prevalence of the South African strain of covid, which has now been identified in at least 32 countries. South Africa is putting their own AstraZeneca programme on hold because of its poor efficacy against B.1.351 - it only stands at 10%, according to their Health Minister. Nadhim Zahawi has told us to have confidence in this vaccine, even though it is apparently less effective than other vaccines. I have confidence…. not! Olivier Vera, the French health minister has just received the Oxford vaccine, so it’s good to know those out there who got the Pfizer - or one of the more effective ones - rolled a six. Zahawi said the Oxford jab would still be good against ‘severe’ disease, but this sounds a bit of a lame answer, translating perhaps as, ‘better than nothing.’ Dr Benjamin Killingley, of UCLH and a member of NERVTAG, said it would be sensible to double mask as protection from this variant. Oh well, it’s not enough that we are
practically locked up at home, can’t send our children to school, can’t go to most of the shops, can’t plan a holiday, can’t visit family, are forbidden to cross an internal border, and are forced to live on zoom. Now we are advised we should double mask and socially distance in perpetuity, lest some new variant emerge. The debate over issuing covid passports to those who are vaccinated continues, and is another potential obstacle to resuming normal life, whatever that is..! It is encouraging to hear Logifect, iProov and Mvine are working on phone apps which could provide passports and change all this. I do wonder how many households have bitter disputes over coronavirus measures? We have just seen our first domestic manslaughter conviction, where a woman was choked to death after telling her husband to ‘get over it’ {his concerns about contracting covid}. Anthony Williams (70), of South Wales, has pleaded to diminished responsibility and is to be sentenced at a later date. On a separate but connected point, a favourite complaint amongst the driving members of communities is the extension of pavements, and subsequent loss of parking for shoppers. I have not witnessed recently any crowds
on pavements sufficient to requisition roadway or parking bays. It’s a manoeuvre designed to tick the box that ‘[councils] are covid aware, they’re doing something!’ Too right, they’re killing businesses - who are doubtless paying their fair share of council tax. What happens, say, when a bread shop on your local parade wants a permanent boxed extension to the pavements for their Friday {challah} queue, but the other shops argue they lose customers every day, because foot traffic is habitually low. No one bats an eye that the queue for the bank runs the length of the high street, with adjacent queues forming, because of an arbitrary decision to only allow 2 people inside! The regular pedestrian has to walk the gauntlet between 2 parallel queues. Councils appear to concede to the 10%, whilst causing disadvantage to the 90%, and this is becoming endemic across London. On my regular journeys, I witness a surfeit of closed roads, pop up cycle lanes, expanded concrete pavements or boxed pavement extensions. Were it the case that these are being heavily utilised no-one would mind, but they are largely just white elephants, effectively preventing shoppers
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from supporting local businesses. As it stands, they force traffic into a slow snaking traffic jam, often creating more pollution than they alleviate. Drivers are further frustrated by a barrage of ‘all-hours’ bus lanes, which you enter at great peril. Darren Rogers, of Chiltern Law brought a case recently on behalf of London’s black cab drivers, and Mrs Justice Lang said that in her judgement Sadiq Khan had closed roads unlawfully, and ‘took advantage of the pandemic’ to try to make the capital car-free. At least 10 campaigner groups are seeking a judicial review to overturn roads being closed and these cycle lanes. The Mayor and TfL called their programme Streetspace Plan and Guidance and wanted it to become permanent. The schemes will not be removed at this point as TfL is appealing. Key issues include a lack of consultation with residents, emergency services, local businesses, and a failure to consider the needs of disabled people. ‘Impact assessments’ must record in detail risks associated with those protected under the equality act. How are we to regenerate our local businesses if councils are so obsessed with covid appeasement?
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Camp Simcha supporters raise £3.2m in 36 hours Camp Simcha has raised £3.29million in a 36-hour online appeal with a record 600 plus members of the community coming together to fundraise on the charity’s behalf. With ‘team leaders’ in London, Manchester, Leeds, Gateshead, Glasgow, Gibraltar, Israel, South Africa, USA and Australia, over 21,000 donations were made to the charity’s campaign to support its work helping UK families with seriously ill children. More than a quarter of the team leaders fundraising for the appeal were present or past families who have benefitted from the charity’s support. Camp Simcha chief executive Neville Goldschneider said they were overwhelmed by the community’s “truly incredible generosity”, which has secured the charity’s future in very uncertain times.
“We are humbled by the support we have received and so grateful for the amazing success of this campaign, which has ensured we can continue to be there for each and every family that needs us. “We do not know what the future holds, both in terms of fundraising, but also in terms of the impact delayed diagnoses could have on our referral numbers. Since January we have seen a dramatic rise in new cases and, throughout Covid-19, an increased demand for many of our services. “The appeal’s success will also give us the confidence to continue the development of critical new services which we have been piloting in response to community needs. This includes our Mental Health pilot project, launched a year ago, and an increased range of support for siblings.”
Rachely and Meir Plancey after the appeal
“Having a seriously ill child is painful and stressful in any circumstances, but Covid-19 has made everything so much more overwhelming and terrifying for our families. “They are juggling their ill child’s complex medical needs with their other children, together with home-schooling during lockdown, their jobs and all the usual pressures of everyday life. For some, there is also the stress of cancelled medical appointments for their child’s ongoing treatment, and emergency hospital admissions, made so much harder due to the one-parent policy. “All of this combined with the isolation their situation brings, has meant Camp Simcha’s practical, therapeutic and emotional support services are needed more than ever.” Among the Camp Simcha families, who were fundraising on the charity’s behalf, was the Stern family from Manchester, who have been supported by Camp
Simcha since four-year-old Ari was born with complex congenital heart disease and a highly compromised immune system. On their fundraising page, they said: “We could not imagine life without Camp Simcha. Whether it is our Big Sister volunteer for each sibling, starting from the week Ari was born – and now for Ari as well; hot meals for the whole family when in hospital or after a hard day of appointments; support packages… Chanukah and Purim parties; day trips; constant delivery of activities through lockdown; art sessions; coffee mornings; a listening ear from our unbelievable family liaison officer (who quickly became just ‘family’); therapy, and the indescribable family retreats. “Your donation will literally help a family like ours go to sleep at night knowing that no matter how difficult the situation, Camp Simcha will be there to do whatever is humanly possible to make the whole family’s challenge more bearable.”
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24 COMMUNITY
Golders Green Shul online ‘Shabbaton’
Challah making with Rebbetzen Vicki Belovski
Golders Green Synagogue held its first virtual Shabbaton. Online Shabbat GGS events ran every day except Shabbat. The programme began with a sourdough challah workshop followed by a virtual challah make led by Rebbetzin Vicki Belovski with guest speaker Rebbetzin Shalvie Friedman. Following the challah make, the shul hosted an online guest shiur with Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, Dean of LSJS. All programmes were hosted on Zoom prior to and after Shabbat.
On Friday afternoon, Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski led a Kabbalat Shabbat service, a community Havdalah was led by Rabbi Sam and Rebbetzin Dr Hadassah Fromson after Shabbat. Each day prior to Shabbat, recipes and divrei torah were distributed from community members. The shul executive and rabbinic teams recognised some programmes would be held online for those that were not able to attend in-person due to the pandemic. Due to the lockdown, it was decided the programme would move online midweek. “I’m delighted that we were able to hold our annual winter Shabbaton, even in these unusual times,” said Rabbi Belovski, Golders Green Synagogue senior rabbi. “It is more important than ever to come together and celebrate Shabbat as a community, even when we cannot meet in person.” Shabbat GG was the latest feature in a diverse online programme through the winter months. Other events have included a ‘Tapping into Wellness’ event to mark Mental Health Awareness Shabbat, a Tu B’Shvat programme, educational talk on vaccination and series of shiurim with Rabbanit Ramie Smith. “We are very much looking forward to getting back to davening and meeting together in person, but our online programme has been a lifeline for our community throughout the pandemic,” said Naomi Verber, GGS chair. “Shabbat GG was the latest innovation that brought people together to connect to Shabbat and the community in challenging times.”
Hasmonean Primary head to retire Hasmonean Primary School has announced that its current Headteacher Dr Alan Shaw, aged 65, will be retiring at the end of this academic year. The Governing Body will shortly commence a search and recruitment process to identify a new Headteacher. Announcing his retirement, Dr Shaw said: “It has been a privilege and an honour to have been at the helm of the Hasmonean Primary School and to have worked with outstanding governors, staff, parents and pupils. During my thirty-three years of headship, I have led three amazing schools [the other two being Moriah Jewish Day School and Ilford Jewish Primary School] and have so many wonderful memories - I have been extremely fortunate and blessed.” Dan Sacker, Chair of Governors, said: “Since Dr Shaw joined Hasmonean Primary in 2013, we have been privileged to have such an experienced Headteacher leading our school. This was recognised by Ofsted in their most recent report and has been especially evident during the past year as the situation in relation to COVID has become increasingly challenging. “Throughout his tenure, Dr Shaw has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the school and staff. His love for
Christian Wakefield MP
BY ESTHER ULLMAN
PHOTO: LAWRENCE PURCELL.
Dr Alan Shaw
the children and his determination to help them achieve has been clear since the day he joined the school. I want to take this opportunity on behalf of the entire school community to publicly thank him deeply for everything he has done and wish him the best for his retirement.”
Christian Wakefield MP interviewed
Manchester King David Primary School year 6 pupils pictured in their classroom during morning davening, under the direction of teacher Mr Yaacov Goldin.
Tamsin Lavin during morning lockdown Tefillah
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In a recent conversation with Mr Christian Wakefield, the Conservative MP for Bury South, numerous points of community interest were raised. Mr Wakefield began by saying that he has a great relationship with the Jewish community and that he feels it is his duty not only as an MP, but as a British citizen, to put an end to hate crime and anti-Semitism. This is true wherever it is to be found, whether on the streets of Manchester or beyond. Mr Wakefield had much praise for
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the educational institutions in his constituency. As for wellbeing of the community, he said he personally has gone on walks around with off-duty policemen, pointing out what improvements could be made to pedestrian crossings. He also noted the great work being performed by various mental health organisations. When questioning the MP regarding Marcus Rashford’s free meal proposal, Mr Wakefield replied that he is supportive of free meals for children in need, but that the gaps formed due to children being out of school should be bridged with Covid-safe activities and the like, not exclusively by offering free meals. Since aged 18, he said, he was interested in politics. He was nominated as a candidate for deputy mayor for the Conservative party, in addition to his earlier career working in a bank. He hopes that his positive relationship with the Jewish community should continue. He said he has visited Three Bakers among other Jewish attractions in Manchester. He shaved his hair to give money to the FED. He mentioned a shul meeting he attended and how impressed he was with them. Regarding the broader community, Mr Wakefiled has been impressed with the efforts of the “One bed a night” scheme, which provides shelter for the homeless street during Covid.
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Hatzola praise during pandemic
Manchester Jewish Burial Society’s Moishe Sinitsky spoke about Hatzola’s “staggering” acts of kindness in Jewish communities during the pandemic during a BoDCast entitled ‘Tiers, Fears and Vaccine Engineers’ this week. The Board of Deputies event had a number of experts covering different aspects relating to communities. “The chesed that Hatzola has done here in Manchester and in London and all over the place, the amount of people they are looking after at home, and have stopped people going into hospital, taking a burden off the NHS, is incredible,” enthused Mr Sinitsky. Dr Charlotte Benjamin, Clinical Lead for
Covid Vaccine for north central London, noted key misconceptions people have about receiving the vaccine. “Overall there’s a lot of excitement and most people are desperate to get the vaccine,” she explained. “The majority of vaccine hesitancy comes from people being not sure how the vaccine has come so quickly. The speed of it is well understood because of huge collaboration. This has allowed it to happen in a year, instead of 10-15 years.” Professor David Katz, Jewish Medical Association and the Board’s medical advisor, Dr Daniel Staetsky of Jewish Policy Research also spoke.
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Dexter Lever
Oscar Mason
During lockdown, King David Primary School Manchester, ran a KS2 (Years 3-6) Online chess tournament. 20 pupils entered and were drawn against each other. Matches were played over Zoom using an online chess website. Many matches went down to the wire. Some incredible performances were displayed by some Year 3 & 4 entrants who beat some Year 6 pupils!
Eventually the final 2 competitors were Dexter Lever & Oscar Mason both in Year 6. “The final was a great battle and was a close match with Dexter Lever coming out just on top. Thank you to all our pupils who entered the tournament and played in such a sporting manner.”
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From the front line… BY JACQUELINE CURZON It’s well known amongst my family and friends that I’m an absolute lover of border collies, having grown up with them from a very young age. I remember the first dog we had when I was around five, this followed by a succession of other collies, but it was the second one [Scott] I recall best as a teenager and young adult. It was apparent from the day we adopted him at the farm, how clever he was, and one of his party tricks was where he would be told to lie down, in typical stealth mode, whilst we would roll a Jacqueline Curzon favourite ball (or a tasty nibble), to PHOTO: LARA MINSKY PHOTOGRAPHY a distant spot, or carefully executed to stop only a foot or less from his nose. Most animals would be unable to resist the impulse to grab it, but Scott would wait for as long as you decided, before fetching and racing back for another round of ‘patience.’ This waiting time could be anything from 30 seconds up to 5 minutes, and I recall in admiration the occasions he resisted the urge for 15 minutes, when the human had forgotten to call ‘fetch.’ Our collie would bring you not just the ball you Firstly, let me clarify I’m absolutely not an accessory aficionado, but the photo caught asked for, but the specific colour where my attention because the artisan handbags there were several to choose from. This were created from decommissioned fire was an animal you could depend upon to hoses. Check out the website of Elvis & wait with you at the kerb, to sit unleashed Kresse; founded by Kresse Wesling MBE by the door of the shops, or to happily in 2005, and based in Kent; they rescue run cross-country with you in a planned materials which would otherwise end in outing. Collies are not only intelligent, landfill: fire-hoses, parachute silk, cardloyal and obedient but incredibly savvy, board boxes, leather cuttings from Burberinstinctively aware of dangerous surry. Even more impressive, they donate 50% roundings, with acute hearing, incredibly of their profits to The Firefighters Charity. responsive to commands and even your Their products are not only ‘on trend’ and tone of voice. Essentially, all the qualities fashionable, but you are literally saving the you would want in a marriage! It came as no surprise to me this week to read about a planet as well. We say ‘an Englishman's home is his female border collie called Kim, who at 12 castle.’ Conjuring up visions of palatial months old has now become the world's splendour or at least of being able to swing most expensive sheep dog, after selling a dish towel, it is literally wherever your for a whopping £27,000. Dewi Jenkins, the Welsh farmer who trains Kim, said she was heart is. No matter your vision of paradise, ‘extremely intelligent’ and a fast learner. He spare a thought for those considering a home on sale in Shepherds Bush, where wasn’t surprised by this figure, which had your total castle will be just 5 foot 6 wide. beaten the previous record by more than Wedged between a hair salon and a doctor's £7,000, as he said everything he trained surgery, the five-floor property boasts 2 her to do she knew by the second time beds, a study, roof terrace and landscaped working cattle and sheep, she was ready garden, and is the perfect des-res for those for any trials or farm work for anybody. He had put together a half hour video showing wanting to downsize. Not suitable for those of claustrophobic disposition. Yours, for a Kim’s abilities, which included corralling neat £950,000. Slim applicants only. stubborn cattle. To top it all the collie had Readers will recall I mentioned Putin's an interesting red tinge to its fur which Palace a few weeks back. Alexei Navapparently is in vogue. Given a working alny had uploaded a video, which was dog could generally be purchased for viewed millions of times, to the chagrin an average of £2,000, I believe that Kim’s of Vladimir Putin. Russian State TV has price was reached more by its ability and tried to get its revenge by doing the same less by any capacity to be an Instagram to him, where Sunday news show {Vesty hit, although she definitely qualifies as a Nedeli} have exposed Navalny's rented flat good-looker. in Freiburg, replete with coffee machine, An interesting photo of handbags apIKEA furniture, 2 sofas and fresh fruit. peared in The Telegraph on 7th February.
From handbags, to fresh fruit and curtains. Your castle of luxury awaits, m’lady!
Wow, if that’s luxury, we can barely contemplate the conditions in the average Russian apartment, or worse, imagine his accommodation in prison. Readers with a sensitive disposition should skip the next paragraph as it relates to unspeakable violence. I was appalled to read this week about two teenage girls who have been given lifelong anonymity, despite their crime being one of the most violent on record. The fact that they were aged only 13 and 14 when they tortured and murdered Angela Wrightson (39), a highly vulnerable woman, then took selfies whilst beating her to death, in no way diminishes their culpability and the fact remains that they plainly knew what they were doing. In fact they revelled in antics which any person with half an ounce of decency would have shied away from. Identified only as F and D, these individuals were jailed for life in 2016 and because of their ages were not publicly identified. That injunction was due to expire once they turned 18 and Mrs Justice Tipples has now added them to a list of child criminals who will be given lifelong anonymity. She was satisfied that if they were named there was a real and immediate risk of them harming themselves. Ms Wrightson - the victim - suffered a sustained attack with more than 100 separate injuries as she was hit with a shovel, a TV, a coffee table and a stick studded with screws. During this heinous attack the pair laughed and posed for selfies, which they uploaded to social media. Well, I’m sorry, in any civilised society such behaviour is abhorrent. It wasn’t like Angela’s death was the result of a driving accident, where one could argue that they had been ‘under the influence’ and therefore unable to appreciate the severity or significance of their actions. It makes me wish that we had an American-style justice here - putting firmly aside the fact that some states still can order up a death penalty - but at least for the most heinous of crimes, a life sentence over there is expected to mean life, and usually is for the taking of one. I think of a particular case which I read recently of Edward Lowry who was walking home late one night, minding his own business, and was set upon by three 19-year-old youths who attacked him, robbed him, stamped on him and then one of them stabbed him four times, causing exsanguination in a matter of seconds. They then ran off jiving, smiling and hi-fiving each other before running to the nearest shop for sweets and cigarettes. Were it not for a long and complicated investigation of CCTV footage, where their predatory behaviour was captured, none of them would have been brought to justice. When they were sentenced, aged 20, one was given 60 years
(50 for good behaviour) and the other who committed the stabbing - was given 100 years. A hundred years means that the murderer will only be released if he makes it to 120. However, the severity of such sentences undoubtedly act as a deterrent for any other individuals who think taking a life for a few hundred pounds or for their quick fix, will create a buzzy moment. Let’s think not of the freedom they are losing in this process, but of the life they stole without hesitation or regret. We are living in a world where justice is often tokenism, or we look for provocation by the victim, and a sentence may be chopped in half because of overcrowding. So my views on the murder of Ms Wrightson are fashioned by compassion for the victim (as with PC Andrew Harper), and not empathy for the perpetrators. Apologies if these views are at odds with your own, but I feel that crime is often under-sentenced in the UK, making sentences a bit of a mockery. I finish up with The Sound of Music. As a child watching this movie in the late 1960s, I remember being absolutely enchanted by the characters: Maria, who gave up a dream of religious service for an handsome, eligible widower with traditional values; the children {especially the cutesy Gretel} - who wouldn’t want an instant family of compliant children, obliging and with good manners, and accepting of hand-me-downs made from curtains? a glamorous, elegant life with society dinners and balls, and the maternal, eternal wisdom of the Mother Superior at moments of crisis. Most especially it had cheery, florid music, of which Climb Every Mountain and Lonely Goatherd [well, the whole score, actually] have never left my musical mind. Quite simply, it was a magical film which had it all. I never could have imagined one day I would have seven children of my own, although mine are far less mannered and pathologically resistant to any clothing suggestions. Ah, to sleep, perchance to dream… For Christopher Plummer, the Canadian actor who died last week aged 91, his movie wedding to Julie Andrews (now 85), was a movie ‘marriage’ made in hell. Aside from the fact he was not the first choice for Captain Georg Von Trapp - other contenders included Bing Crosby and Rex Harrison - Plummer’s casting propelled him to stardom, and gained him an Oscar. He was often quoted as saying he couldn’t abide Andrews’ ‘incessant cheerfulness,’ and hated the stiffness of the plot. Although he was thoroughly grounded in Shakespeare, often performing at the Old Vic, he showed his diversity in later films including The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Knives Out (2018). Captain, we regretfully bid you Auf Wiedersehen. Adieu. Love Jacqueline x
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Poppy Seed Squares This is the perfect Purim seudah or Purim celebration dessert. I like to make them parev, hence the use of almond milk and non-dairy cream cheese but you can make them ‘dairy’ if you prefer. This recipe is quite straightforward and cuts up into squares when cool. And… of course do have toothpicks in case the poppy seeds decide to stick into your teeth! Preparation Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time 1 hour Serves: 12
More delicious recipes from Denise Phillips For more recipes and inspiration visit my website: www.jewishcookery.com
Ingredients For the Poppy Seed filling: 150g poppy seeds 250ml almond milk 40g non-dairy margarine 60g honey 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 25g semolina or plain flour 1 large egg Zest of half a lemon
Method 1. Combine the poppy seeds, milk, margarine, honey, and cinnamon in a large pan and heat up while stirring constantly. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, add the semolina or flour and mix in. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the mixture thickens. Leave to cool for 1 hour then add the egg, lemon zest and mix in well. 2. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a shallow baking tin 23cm x 23cm with parchment paper. For the streusel put the flour, sugar, salt, margarine and vanilla extract into the food processor and pulse to produce streusel crumbs. Set aside. 3. For the dough add ‘cream cheese’, almond milk, oil, and sugar to the food processor and mix until combined. Add the flour with baking powder and mix again until just combined. The dough will be quite sticky but that is fine. 4. Transfer to the prepared tin and spread evenly in one layer. Pour the poppy seed filling on top and smooth out evenly over the pastry base. 5. Sprinkle with the streusel. 6. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the streusel is golden. Take out of the oven and let cool down completely. Cut into squares when cool.
For The Streusel: 150g plain flour 50g caster sugar pinch of salt 100g non-dairy margarine – cut into small pieces 1 teaspoon. vanilla extract For the dough: 100g non dairy ‘cream cheese’ 50ml almond milk 50ml vegetable oil 25g sugar 200g plain flour 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
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Celebrating Purim 2021 BY DENISE PHILLIPS Most Jewish holidays begin with blessings over candles and wine – along with Chanukah, Purim does not have this element. The Purim seudah, festive meal, serves as the hallmark of the holiday that is all about unity, family and togetherness. The story is about being triumphant over adversity, the plot of the Scroll of Esther itself hinges greatly on the community. This year more than ever, we need to try and connect to achieve camaraderie, strength, and an uplifting atmosphere to create this happy joyous festival… even if this means in a virtual way with zoom and facetime. Festive food is always a good way to bring people together and this year I would like to share options for a Persian feast - party time at home in fancy dress with a vegetarian feast suitable for a King and Queen. And vegetarian as this was how Queen Esther managed to keep kosher in the palace. Starting with a mezze platter, the items that can go on it are endless. I love to include two types of hummus to be enjoyed with: • Bread – pita bread sticks, or homemade pita or savoury crackers • Fresh vegetables – cucumbers, peppers, fresh tomatoes and celery sticks, a crudité selection • Marinated vegetables – artichokes,
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sundried tomatoes and olives • Nuts – A handful of roasted almonds, walnuts always add texture to the platter • Bite size food – falafel, mini carrot burgers and borekas work well A main course of: • Layered aubergine bake flavoured with cumin, garlic, sumac, coriander, oregano and cooked with tomatoes, dates, feta cheese and honey. Topped with walnuts and garnished with sprigs of parsley. • Persian Rice – the delicious crispy rice called Tahdig. Tahdig literally means ‘bottom of the pot’ and it refers to a beautiful, pan-fried rice that is fluffy on the inside with a golden crust at the bottom of the pot. Laced with saffron and scented with orange zest. • Salad Shirazi – this a refreshing Persian cucumber and tomato salad, remarkably similar to an Israeli salad. I like to add pomegranates, dill, mint, lime juice, green peppers to the chopped tomatoes and cucumbers. And for dessert… Traditional Persian desserts might include saffron rice pudding, halva, baklava, rice custard all frequently with added rosewater, pistachio nuts, and pomegranates. I will be serving poppy seed squares – see my recipe above. Happy Purim and Chag Sameach
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Danke Judaica BY MICAELA BLITZ Danke Judaica started in the early 2000s, when Karen Last could not find a modern, stylish challah cover, so decided to design one herself. The result was a colourful popart-inspired challah cover, which is still the signature piece of the collection. Karen ran the company for many years designing and creating interesting and unique pieces of Judaica. Now fifteen years later and with Karen having made Aliyah in 2012, her daughter, Shari is running the business and following in her mother’s creative footsteps. Shari, who is also a freelance editor and writer, has always been creative and since taking over the business has embraced the opportunity to develop not only her design skills, but also her media, marketing and customer liaison so that she is able to run every part of the business. Shari has also introduced different styles and ranges that reflect current fashions for more muted colours and tones. Most recently she has designed two Havdalah plates in this new style, something that was not part of the Danke range previously. As Shari explains: “A customer was looking for something special and asked me if I would ever design Havdalah plates. I created two different versions and put them on the website, and they have become very popular.” All of the products on the Danke Judaica website are created through digital printing and the products are reproduced by small UK-based businesses. Every item can be customised in some way with names or other personalised details, as well as using images or drawings to create unique items. The inspiration for her ‘My Challah Cover’ range actually came from her own children, as Shari explains: “I have four young boys and when my eldest son, Eitan, was younger
he was obsessed with raccoons and wanted to have a challah cover with one on, so we created one together. He loved it so much and other people love it too.” For her second son, Josh, she actually used one of his own pictures to create his own personal challah cover which he was very happy with. For any customers who may be looking for specific products or personalisation, it is possible to contact Shari through the website to gain further information and she is always happy to respond. Whilst running the business on her own may keep her busy, being able to offer that personal touch to her customers is something that she enjoys and feels that her customers really
appreciate. Shari has also managed to get some of her products into shops in the UK, US, Canada and Israel and she hopes to be able to build on this in the future and would love to work with other UK-based outlets as well. Shari is also happy to collaborate
with existing Judaica designers to bring new items to market. To check out Danke’s range of modern Judaica and gifts, please go to the website - https:// www.dankejudaica.com/
If you are a businesswoman and would like to tell us more about your business, please contact Micaela - micaela@thejewishweekly.com THEJEWISHWEEKLY.COM
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Overcoming Anger Part 1
HEALTH & WELLBEING 33
This article is part of a serialisation of the book ‘Go to Yourself’ transformation through Jewish wisdom and Psychology’. The author Aryeh Sampson is a psychotherapist based in North London and counsel’s online. It combines approaches from psychotherapy and Jewish wisdom to address many psychological issues that modern man is faced with. This includes overcoming anxiety, low self esteem, improving relationships and creating a greater sense of meaning and spirituality. BY ARYEH SAMPSON One slow to anger is better than a strong man, and a master of his passions is better than a conqueror of a city. (Proverbs 16:32) If you have ever exploded with anger and regretted it shortly afterward, or felt yourself simmering with resentment for days, you will know how destructive anger can be. Anger can wreak havoc on our relationships and turn our lives into nightmares. Medical research has also shown that anger is detrimental to our health. According to recent studies, the risk of a heart attack increases nearly five-fold and the risk of a stroke rises more than three-fold in the two hours following an angry outburst. Applying the ACTive method can have a dramatic impact on one’s ability to manage and transform anger.
STAGE 1: AWARENESS
The first step in overcoming anger is to understand angry thoughts and their source. This should be done when in a calm state of mind; if a person has recently exploded with anger, he should take some time to cool off before contemplating the situation. Then we can ask ourselves, “What was I thinking about when I became angry?” Once we have identified these thoughts, we ask, “Which thoughts caused the greatest upset?” It is particularly important to identify these thoughts, as they are the triggers of the anger. In cognitive therapy, these triggers are known as “hot thoughts.” Take the case of Rachel and Adam, who have been married for five years. One evening Adam came home an hour late from work without calling Rachel to let her know. Rachel had prepared a special supper which was now cold. When Adam finally arrived home, Rachel was extremely upset. She took one look at Adam as he walked through the front door and began to scream, “You…” If Rachel were to analyze the thought process that led to her outburst, she might become aware of the following inner dialogue:“I have asked him five times to let me know if he is going to come back late. He never listens. He is so inconsiderate and self-centered. He even forgot our anniversary last year. Ever since we were married he has
been this way. My parents never really liked him and would have been much happier if I had married someone else. I must be an idiot for putting up with this. He just doesn’t care about me!” What upset Rachel most and played a key role in triggering her anger — the hot thought — was the idea that Adam didn’t seem to care about her. This was particularly painful because it hit her sense of self-worth, as anger is often brought about through a real or imagined affront to one’s self-esteem. The source of anger can also come from projection. At times, we may become angry with someone but feel unable to express it directly and then project it onto others. A man who is angry with his boss at work but is afraid to express it directly may instead flare up at home with his wife or children. Projection also occurs when we transfer feelings from past relationships to current ones. A child who is repeatedly told by a parent that he is lazy and will amount to nothing, may not react at the time. Later in life, however, when his wife implies that he is lazy, he may respond with an unwarranted level of anger. This is because the pain of his earlier experiences has been reawakened and it intensifies the pain of his wife’s statement, much like a person who has a sunburn “overreacts” when slapped by a friend on the burned area. Our angry thoughts and feelings can also be rooted in our own self-defeating traits. In the Purim story, for example, Mordechai refused to bow down to Haman. Even though Haman was in a position of extreme power, was very wealthy, and had everything going for him, he was overwhelmed with anger at Mordechai’s simple act of defiance. His anger was rooted in his arrogant and hateful personality. Understanding the roots of anger can be illuminating, as it can provide a deeper insight into oneself. As the Talmud explains, “In three things a person’s true personality is revealed: in his cup (when drinking), in spending money, and in anger.”
STAGE 2: CONTROL
Once one has understood what is causing the anger, the next step is to learn to control it and to prevent it from recurring. Although in all the other chapters I share
one of my children to “stay in your room and go to sleep!” for the tenth time, and then added, “Otherwise you are going to get a serious punishment.” Immediately after saying this, my daughter walked out of her room. I was ready to lose it, but I stopped myself for a second to try to understand what was happening. “What are you doing?” I asked. “I just wanted to give you the goodnight kiss that I promised you,” she said. I realized that I had totally misjudged what she was doing and instead of getting more upset, I gave her a big kiss and she went happily off to sleep.
methods to gain control using thought, speech, or action (either individually or in combination with each other), with anger I suggest a person first use some action-oriented approaches. This means that when a person is feeling that he is about to explode with anger, methods such as removing oneself from the situation, taking a few deep breaths, or counting to ten can be very effective. After doing this, and avoiding an explosion, we can use the following methods to gain control to help us avoid losing our temper in the future. 2(a): Thought When we become angry, we often think very irrationally and blow things out of proportion. The things we are telling ourselves, which are triggering our anger, may be exaggerated or completely incorrect. We need to learn to look at these anger-provoking thoughts more objectively. One of the most effective ways to do this is for us to try to see the situation from the other person’s perspective. As Hillel the Elder, the spiritual leader of the Jewish People in the first century BCE, taught, “Do not judge your friend until you have stood in his place.” In other words, we are instructed to strive to see a situation from the other person’s viewpoint by understanding his attitudes, motivation, and background. When a matter can be construed in either a negative or positive light, Jewish thought teaches us to “give the benefit of the doubt.” Children can be very disobedient, especially when it comes to going to bed. I once told
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Cognitive therapy, uses “thought diaries” to help people look at situations more objectively and thus gain a better perspective. This is done by recording in the diary all angry thoughts and underlining the most upsetting one. Next, the evidence for this hot thought being true and the evidence for it being false are evaluated in order to gain a more realistic and less hostile view Reflecting on how we may be projecting anger onto a situation also helps us to reduce it. This is because we acknowledge that the hurt we are experiencing is not all due to the person who presently appears to have wronged us, but has its origin in unresolved issues from other relationships or from within ourselves. As a child, Rachel had always felt overshadowed by her successful older sister, who was the apple of her parents’ eyes. As a result, she grew up feeling unappreciated. When she felt unappreciated by Adam, it was even more painful, as it stirred up her angry feelings from the past, which she then projected onto Adam. Realizing this helped lessen her anger, as she understood that her upset was not just due to his behavior but due to her own oversensitivity in this area.
To receive a free download copy and newsletter, email aryeh.sampson@gmail. com. To purchase a hard copy go to www aryeh.sampson.com Jewish bookshops or amazon He also has a YouTube channel,’ Aryeh Sampson’ where he shares insights on a range of psychological issues. Aryeh can be contacted at aryeh.sampson@gmail.com. For more information about counseling view www.ascounsellinginnorthlondon.co.uk
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ASK THE RABBI
Looking for answers? Send your question to Rabbi@RabbiSchochet.com APPROPROTE REPOSNSE?
Dear Rabbi Howard wrote to you last week, expressing his struggle with being isolated. You suggested to him to hang in there and tough it out. While I appreciate your response, would you not have been better off suggesting he get help from the likes of Jewish Care etc.? I think that would have been a more appropriate reply. David Dear David I am sure Howard appreciates your sensitivity and to be sure, I think I was sensitive to his concerns as well. To quote precisely what I wrote: “I am really sorry for what you are enduring, especially as it is just you and the stillness around you without any technology etc.” And then again later in my response, “I am not saying it’s easy, nor am I looking to mitigate your plight.” Perhaps you’re right that I might have referred him to an organisation, but you are missing the main point of his letter which was wanting to abandon all his previous observance which, he maintains, makes no sense in the face of his current struggles. It was that which I dealt with in elaborate detail while also adding the point that part of the challenge in being Jewish is that “when the going gets tough the tough get going.”
THANK YOU!
Dear Rabbi I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for the “ask the rabbi” column in the Jewish Weekly. It is truly inspirational and on behalf of my family we would like to express our sincere
thanks. Keep up the great work. Steven Dear Steven Thank you very much for your kind words. It always helps balance things out. One compliment for every one criticism (see above).
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Dear Rabbi When I was young, living in Israel, I changed my surname to a modern name. My father did not approve. Now looking in Genesis we find that the angel confronted Jacob and told him no longer shall you be called Jacob rather you will be called Israel (Yisrael). Now when you look at the portions that follow we find that he is still called both. So I would think it is OK for me to change my name and sometimes use both. Sason Dear Sason Names, as I wrote about here previously, are very significant, and reflect something of the essence of an individual. In fact your name Sason means joy and I would hope you would never consider changing it. For the record, once you are given a Jewish name, you cannot typically change it – and at most, in unique circumstances, look to add to it. Only G-d determined to change the actual names of Abraham and Sarah and, as you note, added a name to Jacob which remained interchangeable. Notwithstanding all this, you make specific reference to your last name. That has no practical significance of any sort. Once upon a time people didn’t have
Pirkei Avot , וְ ֵאּלּו ֵהן,יֹוחנָ ן ֶּבן זַ ַּכאי ָ ֲח ִמ ָּׁשה ַתלְ ִמ ִידים ָהיּו לֹו לְ ַר ָּבן וְ ַר ִּבי,הֹוׁש ַע ֶּבן ֲחנַ נְ יָ ה ֻ ְ וְ ַר ִּבי י,הֹור ְקנֹוס ְ יעזֶ ר ֶּבן ֶ ִַר ִּבי ֱאל . וְ ַר ִּבי ֶאלְ ָעזָ ר ֶּבן ֲע ָרְך, ְו ַר ִּבי ִׁש ְמעֹון ֶּבן נְ ַתנְ ֵאל,יֹוסי ַהּכ ֵֹהן ֵ ּבֹור,הֹור ְקנֹוס ְ יעזֶ ר ֶּבן ֶ ִ ַר ִּבי ֱאל.הּוא ָהיָ ה מֹונֶ ה ִׁש ְב ָחן ַא ְׁש ֵרי,הֹוׁש ַע ֶּבן ֲחנַ נְ יָ ה ֻ ְ ַר ִּבי י.סּוד ֶׁש ֵאינֹו ְמ ַא ֵּבד ִט ָּפה , ַר ִּבי ִׁש ְמעֹון ֶּבן נְ ַתנְ ֵאל. ָח ִסיד,יֹוסי ַהּכ ֵֹהן ֵ ַר ִּבי.יֹולַ ְדּתֹו הּוא. ַמ ְעיָ ן ַה ִּמ ְתּגַ ֵּבר, ְו ַר ִּבי ֶאלְ ָעזָ ר ֶּבן ֲע ָרְך.יְ ֵרא ֵח ְטא , ִאם יִ ְהיּו ָכל ַח ְכ ֵמי יִ ְׂש ָר ֵאל ְּב ַכף מֹאזְ נַ יִ ם,אֹומר ֵ ָהיָ ה .יע ֶאת ֻּכּלָ ם ַ ַמ ְכ ִר,הֹור ְקנֹוס ְּב ַכף ְׁשנִ ּיָ ה ְ יעזֶ ר ֶּבן ֶ ִֶו ֱאל ִאם יִ ְהיּו ָכל ַח ְכ ֵמי יִ ְׂש ָר ֵאל,אֹומר ִמ ְּׁשמֹו ֵ ַא ָּבא ָׁשאּול וְ ַר ִּבי,הֹור ְקנֹוס ַאף ִע ָּמ ֶהם ְ יעזֶ ר ֶּבן ֶ ְִּב ַכף מֹאזְ נַ יִ ם ְו ַר ִּבי ֱאל :יע ֶאת ֻּכּלָ ם ַ ַמ ְכ ִר,ֶאלְ ָעזָ ר ֶּבן ֲע ָרְך ְּב ַכף ְׁשנִ ּיָ ה
last names, and even as they were later added, it usually reflected some family association – Jacobson, or one’s profession – Goldshmidt etc. So changing yours, while I appreciate might be upsetting to your father, has no halachic ramifications. (Though you ought to consider the bigger picture and your obligation to “honour your parents.” You don’t mention if you had some real reason for making the change). In keeping with the spirit of Purim (this weekend already being the first of Adar), I am reminded of a certain Rabbi Sam Ting. People thought it a most peculiar name for a Rabbi, until he once explained: “Ven vee vere emigrating from Poland, the man in front from me vas asked his name at Immigration. He had to come up wit an original and American so he said, John Jacobs. Ven it waz my turn I couldn’t think of anything so I told him, ‘sam ting.’”
RELATIVE THINKING
Dear Rabbi Do you think that as a Jew, it is incumbent upon me to embrace the view of Maimonides that the sun revolves around the earth? Brenda Dear Brenda The Theory of Relativity, as accepted by all scientists, posits that when two bodies in space are in motion relative to one another, science declares with absolute certainty that both possibilities are equally valid, namely that the earth revolves around the sun, or the sun revolves around the earth. Thus, in principle it is
impossible that it could be scientifically proven, which of the two, the sun or the earth, revolves around the other. Needless to say, anyone is entitled to their personal opinion on the matter. But it remains a personal opinion, choosing one school of thought. It would not however, be correct to say, that science has resolved the question in favour of one school of thought over another.
Follow Rabbi Schochet at: RabbiSchochet.com Twitter: @RabbiYYS Facebook: facebook.com/Rabbiyys.
For a refuah Shalema for Yitzchak Refoel Chaim ben Rifka Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai had five disciples and they were: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, Rabbi Yose, the priest, Rabbi Shimon ben Nethaneel and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach. He [Rabbi Johanan] used to list their outstanding virtues: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus is a plastered cistern which loses not a drop; Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah happy is the woman that gave birth to him; Rabbi Yose, the priest, is a pious man; Rabbi Simeon ben Nethaneel is one that fears sin, And Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach is like a spring that [ever] gathers force. He [Rabbi Yohanan] used to say: if all the sages of Israel were on one scale of
the balance and Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus on the other scale, he would outweigh them all. Abba Shaul said in his name: if all the sages of Israel were on one scale of the balance, and Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus also with them, and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach on the other scale, he would outweigh them all. The previous Mishnah showed us how Reb Yochanan warns against taking credit for what we are born to do. To further illustrate this point, he now further enumerates the best Torah qualities of his finest students. We see the importance of the ability to
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Ultimately, when I have the option of choosing a school of thought, where both are essentially valid, as per the above, as a Jew it makes more sense to side with Maimonides than it does to side with Copernicus. Nobel Prize winner, Arnold Penzias, once remarked: “What we see marking the flight of galaxies with our telescopes, Maimonides saw from his metaphysical view.”
Perek 2: Mishna 9 remember Torah and constantly strive to learn more and more, like an ever increasing fountain. This can only be achieved through proper chazara, which will lead us away from sin. Learning Gemoroh four times has become a popular program followed daily by thousands across the world. May we all merit to remember our learning, Amen.
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Torah from Israel
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Murder Hornets and The Long Walk Home BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN The past year shook the world. Humanity faced a pandemic, the likes of which only occurs every hundred years. Locked in battle with an invisible but deadly virus, we also discovered that, bees can also be deadly. Regular bees sometimes cause irrational fear because they buzz and are airborne. But their sting rarely inflicts more than temporary discomfort or passing irritation. This past year, the Northwest region of the USA was introduced to “murder hornets” which are highly venomous, aggressive, and capable of wreaking significant damage both to the “ecological balance” as well as, in rare cases, to human beings. Parshat Mishpatim actually describes murder hornets – swarming wasps which G-d dispatched to defeat the residents of Israel and pave the way for Jewish settlement. This promise of supernatural victory, spearheaded by deadly hornets, suggests a very quick and easy conquest of the land and a rapid and trouble-free settlement of Israel. Dashing these expectations, the very next verse cautions us that, the process will be slow and staged. Conquest and settlement will not occur quickly but slowly and gradually; the overall process of inhabiting the promised land of Israel lasted over a fourteen-year period. In His very first detailed description of Jewish entry into the land of Israel, G-d reminded us not to expect a quick or immediate process. The Torah lists two reasons that the schedule will be delayed: Firstly, the frontier cannot be quickly tamed; if the entire land were immediately delivered to the Jewish people, the frontier would overwhelm the city and the jungle would overrun human habitat. A more gradual pace allowed the Jews to slowly build their cities and villages and to stabilize their society. However, it wasn’t just the threats of the frontier which dictated a more gradual pace of settlement. For internal reasons as well, the young and fledgling nation wasn’t yet prepared to settle the vast land. Ensuing verses describe the extensive borders of Israel – a swath of land which could not possibly be inhabited by a young nation of former slaves; a more paced and gradual timeline would allow natural growth and would allow the nation to slowly ease into their homeland. The promise of murder hornets vanquishing their enemies may have aroused undue expectations about a rapid conquest of the entire land of israel. The Torah quickly ramps down these expectations by stressing that, for both internal and external reasons, a more staged pace of settling Israel is beneficial and preferable.
Jewish History is all about patterns- what happened before is bound to happen again. We study past redemptions to uncover the general outline of our own redemption. Thousands of years later, we, once again, find ourselves living the “historical pattern” described in Mishpatim. G-d has returned His people to His land; we haven’t exactly witnessed murder hornets but the overall experience feels very similar. We have lived through amazing miracles and G-d has blessed us with the ability to protect ourselves against innumerable enemies; we may not have murder hornets but G-d has enabled us to assemble a pretty impressive air force! We are back in the land that we have dreamed of for over two millennia. Two thousand years of dreams often stokes unrealistic expectations. In our dreams, we sometimes expect the return to be immediate and “electric”. When we struggle or when the process lags, we sometimes lose our enthusiasm and, sometimes, even our faith. Evidently, G-d has others plans for our return; evidently now, as then, the process will be more staged than electric. Evidently, then, as now, there are both internal as well as external reasons for the delayed process. The external reasons for this delay surround G-d’s desire to conduct our return to Israel through the historical process. Though God can “impose” redemption upon history, He often chooses to “stream” redemption “through” human history. Rather than wrecking the historical order and introducing apocalypse, G-d often works within historical factors. In Egypt, G-d could have effortlessly and immediately emancipated the Jews, yet he chose to operate within Egyptian politics; our fate and ultimate redemption was streamed through the will of Pharoh, who ultimately became the driving force of our release from Egypt. Our return to Israel has, so far, been similar to the liberation from Egypt. Our return in 1948 occurred within the most historically dramatic decade of the past century. During the 1940s, wars raged, Communism ascended, Fascism was defeated, European colonies were dismantled and the maps of Europe were redrawn. This events of the first half of the 20th century served as the historical platform for our return to Israel. If the return of Jews to Israel is meant to repair all of humanity, the process must be embedded within the history of humanity. However, if redemption evolves within history it will also be slowed by geopolitics, diplomacy and various other historical pressures. The pace of our return may be slow since, at least at this stage, G-d has chosen to encase our redemption within human history and within human historical factors. The “seas of history” haven’t parted yet, and we are
Our return to Israel has, so far, been similar to the liberation from Egypt. Our return in 1948 occurred within the most historically dramatic decade of the past century. still struggling for our homeland within the battlefield of history. If Mishpatim warns the Jews about the beasts of the jungle, today, we face the “beasts of History”! However, beyond the “external factors” delaying the process there are also internal “holdups”. Rebuilding our national identity after two thousand years of dispersal isn’t an easy task nor can it be completed in one or two generations. Israel has assimilated Jews from fifty-two dialects and from vastly different cultures; creating a common national identity will take time. Additionally, and sadly, our country is still badly split between religious and secular Jews and, regrettably, the Corona experience is likely to exacerbate these tensions. Incredibly, we have built a robust democracy but evidently haven’t “bred” the type of visionary and selfless leaders which the “founding generation” enjoyed. Additionally, there are many specific “thorny” issues which probably cannot be solved in our generation. Hundreds of thousands of Jews in Israel, many of them emigres from Russia, seek Jewish and Israel identity without a desire for full halachik conversion. We can’t compromise our standards for conversion but we also can’t ignore so many “Jews” living in Israel but without halachik Jewish identity. Another
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dilemma surrounds the status of the kotel which should, and does, serve as a magnet for different Jews across the world and across many different denominations. The proper standards of prayer-which includes separation between men and women- must be preserved at the kotel. Alternatively, we must carve out space for people who, currently, don’t desire or adhere to those standards. It would be a pity if we severed Jews from the kotel and from greater Jewish identification. These, and many other issues, will probably take time to solve and, evidently, G-d has decided to give us the time and the opportunity to devise our own solutions. G-d can always decide to shuffle the historical deck, descend into our world, and immediately resolve all these dilemmas and challenges. Until that day we all need a little patience. Building a nation will take some time, and G-d is giving us the opportunity to iron out the wrinkles. History is all about patterns. Rabbi Moshe Taragin is a rabbi at Yeshivat Har Etzion/Gush, a hesder yeshiva. He has smicha and a BA in computer science from Yeshiva University as well as a masters degree in English literature from the City University of New York.
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Weekly Dvar Torah FR O M ER ETZ Y I S RA E L
Drawing Near to the King BY RABBANIT SHANI TARAGIN In last week’s Parashat Yitro, the Torah recounts Am Yisrael’s response to what they saw and heard at Har Sinai: “And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the horn, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off… And the people stood afar off; but Moshe drew near unto the thick darkness where G-d was.” (Shemot 20:15,18) The description of Moshe “drawing near” while the nation (twice mentioned) “stood afar off” reminds us of another scene eighty years earlier – namely, the salvation of Moshe in his first months of life. Moshe was laid by the reeds of the river – “And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him” (Shemot 2:4). In addition to the textual similarities, the allusion is sharpened as the situations are quite similar: Both Miriam and Am Yisrael stood from afar motivated by fear; Miriam, apprehensive regarding Pharaoh’s decree, and Am Yisrael fearful of Divine revelation. In both
cases, Moshe remained alone to confront the source of fear, and in both cases, Moshe’s encounter with “higher authorities” edified his personality and prepared him for political and religious leadership. Miriam witnessed the compassion displayed by Bat-Pharaoh who drew Moshe from the water and raised him as her son. The Torah immediately thereafter teaches us of Moshe’s adolescent years wherein he went to see the oppression of his brethren Hebrew slaves: “And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he smote the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And he went out the second day, and, behold, two men of the
Hebrews were striving together; and he said to him that did the wrong: ‘Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?’” (2:11-13) How strikingly similar this scene is to the initial mitzvot commanded in Parashat Mishpatim, following the description of Am Yisrael standing from afar as they watched Moshe enveloped by the cloud of G-d! The parasha of statutes begins with the laws of the Hebrew slave and female maidservant (21:1-11) immediately followed by “He who fatally strikes a man shall be put to death” (v.12) and “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with stone or fist…” (v.18). Perhaps the Torah is teaching us how Moshe, already as a young man, was worthy of transmitting the Divine words of the Torah as he lived them in a microcosmic manner even prior to Har Sinai! He acted on the moral statutes commanded
Miriam witnessed the compassion displayed by Bat-Pharaoh who drew Moshe from the water and raised him as her son.
in Mishpatim – he smote the Egyptian who was fatally striking a Hebrew slave, and chastised his brethren for quarreling one with the other. But then Moshe had to flee for his subjective and personal moral standards were contrary to the Egyptian rule and culture. In this week’s parasha, as those same moral statutes are commanded through Divine revelation to the entire nation of Yisrael, Moshe does not retreat. On the contrary, he “draws near” prepared to teach and lead us “to the place that I have made ready” (23:20). This week’s parasha corroborates Moshe’s personal moral imperative as Divine law. Moreover, it ‘redeems’ Am Yisrael as “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation”; a nation that witnessed revelation and is implored to display sensitivity to all human life, beginning with slaves, not based on ‘natural law’ but ‘Divine law’, is transformed from a nation of slaves to a nation of G-dly emissaries. Rabbanit Shani Taragin is Educational Director of World Mizrachi and the Director of the Mizrachi Matan Lapidot Educators’ Program. She is a member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau (www. mizrachi.org/speakers).
A Torah bite for the Shabbat table
To Listen, or To Do, that is the Question RABBI GOODMAN Our crowning moment as Hashem’s “Chosen Nation” took place when we unitedly and unequivocally announced at Har Sinai, “Kol asher diber Hashem na’aseh v’nishmah,” – “Everything that Hashem has said, we will do, and we will listen.” As Rebbe Simai vividly describes in the Gemara in Maseches Shabbos, that at the moment Klal Yisroel declared “Na’aseh (We will do)” before declaring “Nishmah (We will listen),” six hundred thousand ministering angels arrived on the scene and tied two crowns to the heads of each Jew; one crown representing “Na’aseh” and one crown representing “Nishmah.” Rabbi Moses ben Yitzchok of Lublin, author of the Mahadura Basra and son in law of the Maharsha (an acclaimed early seventeenth-century commentator), explains that by placing “Na’aseh” before “Nishmah,” Klal Yisroel effectively declared their readiness to fulfill Hashem’s Will regardless of whether or
not they understood it. “First we will do what Hashem is asking and only then will we strive to appreciate its meaning and significance.” “Na’aseh V’Nishmah” was an awesome display of Klal Yisroel’s willingness to accept upon themselves Hashem’s absolute sovereignty. However, close to 3,332 years later, shelving our own wants and accepting upon ourselves Hashem’s absolute sovereignty is not so popular. Unfortunately, we’ve become a Nishmah V’Na’aseh Nation - when the Torah’s requirements suit us, we’re happy to comply and even lead our lives accordingly, but when push comes to shove, if the shoe doesn’t fit, we won’t wear it.
Interestingly, though, a Na’aseh V’Nishmah lifestyle is not as foreign as we might think. When it comes to following the dictates of Western society and its influence, our selflessness is quite remarkable. We eagerly swallow the media’s fabrications and the billboard’s lies. If the cereal box tells us its contents are high in nutritional value and the way to start the day, we happily munch away. We have no problem accepting our doctor’s diagnosis and will readily pop the pills he prescribes. We all possess the inner strength to declare Na’aseh V’Nishmah; the only question is whether to apply it to our physical lives or spiritual lives. Although our default position tends towards the
when the Torah’s requirements suit us, we’re happy to comply and even lead our lives accordingly, but when push comes to shove, if the shoe doesn’t fit, we won’t wear it. THEJEWISHWEEKLY.COM
physical, thankfully our forefathers have already laid the groundwork in our spiritual DNA, making it considerably easier for us to switch to the spiritual and wholeheartedly dedicate our lives to Hashem’s will. A project of My Dvar Torah, Torah Bite is your resource for a short, dynamic, and meaningful Dvar Torah to share at the Shabbos table. Originally from London, Rabbi Ben Goodman has spent 20 years in Jerusalem, teaching and inspiring students from all backgrounds and from all over the world. He is the director of My Dvar Torah, providing tailor-made Divrei Torah for all occasions. www.mydvartorah.com. He encourages feedback & ideas: ben@mydvartorah.com
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Mishpatim RABBI DR RAYMOND APPLE
MISHPAT & HALACHAH – THE DIFFERENCES
Hebrew has several words for law. From this week’s Torah reading we derive the term mishpat; from many other places in the Torah we get the word halachah. Halachah, based on the verb halach (“to go”), is the path which the believing Jew makes into a way of life. Occasions (e.g. Shabbat and the festivals), activities (e.g. eating kosher food), spiritual patterns (e.g. prayer), intellectual duties (e.g. Torah study) and moral attitudes (e.g. generosity) are all part of halachah. We live by and with them because that is the will of G-d. In a sense we could translate halachah as progress. Life according to halachah is true progressive Judaism because it brings us closer to the Almighty. Mishpat (civil and criminal law) is part but not all of halachah. Religious believers regard it as a duty to G-d to live by the Jewish legal code but some people regard mishpat in secular terms. They say “Do not steal” is a national Jewish ethic, but religious believers say it is law because it comes from G-d.
EYES & TEETH
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” – the lex talionis – has a bad reputation. Those who believed the Jewish G-d was a harsh, vengeful G-d decided that this law
TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488 proved their case. You can understand why. If someone injured you, so the critics read the verse, you go and injure him. Measure for measure. Tit for tat. It sounds like the Code of Hammurabi which said that if a house collapsed and killed the son of the occupant, then the son of the builder could be executed. Yet in Judaism there is no evidence of any such act of retaliation being carried out. On the contrary. This was not a law of physical vengeance but of monetary compensation. The very context in which the law appears (Ex. 21:24) proves it, and indicates that “an eye for an eye was not a law of retribution but of compensation… An eye for an eye expressed the need for justice, for correct compensation, not for vengeance… The Mosaic law set limits: the punishment must fit the crime” (S. Levin). What we are dealing with here is technical idiom: not literally gouging out an eye or pulling out a tooth, but having as it were a tariff of compensation that would ensure that the victim is not under- or overcompensated, and that the compensation payable does not vary according to the socio-economic status of the person concerned. Unfortunately, the fairness and sensitivity of Jewish law has still not been universally emulated in human thinking. Wild revenge is still far from obsolete. A minor slight brings massive over-reaction. Even when a person has not opened their mouth or done a single thing, the mere shape of their face or the colour of their skin can provoke victimization and violence… “Why are you hitting me?” “Because you’re
black, or old, or fat, or a woman, or a Jew…!” It’s not even an eye for an eye: it’s an eye without an eye, a tooth without a tooth. There’s no justice here, or decency, or humanity, or morality. I much prefer the Jewish system.
I AM NOT A LIAR
The Torah says, “Keep away from anything false” (Ex. 23:7). In the Ten Commandments we are warned against distorting the truth; in the sidra we are not only told not to tell lies but not to be anywhere near an untruth. The rabbi of Lublin once gave advice to the Chasidic personality, the Seer of Lublin. He told him to minimise his greatness and not let people acclaim him. He should just say to people, “I am just a simple person like anyone else!” The Seer did precisely that and when people heard him saying he was an ordinary person they praised him because of his modesty. Sometime later the Seer said to the rabbi, “I did what you advised but it didn’t work. People praised me all the more!” The rabbi now said, “Tell your followers you are a great man, a Talmudic giant, a tzaddik!” The Seer said, “I can’t do that. I am prepared to say I am an ordinary Jew because that’s the truth. But if I show off that means I am really great and that’s just not true. It would make me a liar!”
“AND”.
The Bible often begins its sentences with “and”: “and the Lord spoke to Moses”, “and
11 FEBRUARY 2021 if you hearken intently”, “and you shall love the Lord your G-d”, “and you shall love your neighbour as yourself”. Of all the many “ands”, hardly any attracts as much commentary as the “and” which commences this week’s sidra: “And these are the ordinances which you shall place before them” (Ex. 21:1). The sages explain that this “and” links the civil law code which follows, with the Ten Commandments which were read last Shabbat. Just as the Ten Commandments emanated from Sinai, they added, so was the civil code. The Ten Commandments establish principles; the civil code translates them into day-to-day detail. The one text tells us not to steal, the other sets out what is to happen if a person does steal. A society cannot live by principles alone; it needs a pattern of practical applications of principle. That is why it is a mistake to dismiss the detailed rules of halachah as pettifogging and uninspiring. WH Lecky says in his History of European Morals (1877 ed., vol. 1, page 292), “Simply to tell men what is virtue, and to extol its beauty, is insufficient. Something more must be done… if the characters are to be moulded, and the inveterate vices eradicated”. For Judaism, the “something more” is halachah. Rabbi Apple served for 32 years as the chief minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, Australia’s oldest congregation. He is now retired and lives in Jerusalem. Rabbi Apple blogs at http://www.oztorah.com
Chovat Halevavot Hilchot Shabbat
In addition to having clarity that all that happens to a person is pre-determined by G-d and that there is no point in trying to “bring forward” pleasures that G-d has designated, a person must also be aware the Hashem can see whatever they do, and nothing is hidden from Him. Part of being a “Bote’ach” – a person who trusts, is that the trust is exclusive to G-d. A person does not trust in G-d but also in others – “Baruch HaGever Asher Yivtach B’Hashem” – blessed be the man who trusts in Hashem. Another crucial component of fitting the title of a “Bote’ach” is that one seeks to constantly fulfil the will of G-d and to perform His Mitzvot as well as being careful to not sin. In the same way a person wants G-d to fulfil their expectations and desires. As the Sages taught in Ethics of the Fathers: Make His will yours so that He will make your will like His. Someone who, on the other hand, is
a wanton sinner, and then expresses their “trust in G-d” is foolish, for in our day-to-day interactions with people we are aware that if someone is willing to bestow goodness on their friend and they ask their friend to do something or to not do something and their friend ignores their request, usually, that goodness will be withheld from the friend. The same is true (to a certain extent) with G-d. How can we transgress His commandments and then expect Him to bestow goodness upon us? (It must be clarified that the extent of G-d’s kindness is beyond our comprehension and we may not always see a mirror response to our behaviour, nonetheless, the verses in Tanach admonish those who committed adultery or murder and then came to the Temple, praying and seeking refuge.) In other words, trust in G-d, but try to be a person who is worthy of receiving the benefits of that trust.
A good method of reviewing the principles of prohibited vs permitted cooking on Shabbat can be provided by the example of “Instant Noodle Soup”. Please note that some types may be manufactured differently to what will be described but the principles are correct. First, to recap: Keli Rishon - the container which was on the fire and has been removed from there. Keli Sheni - the container into which the contents of the Keli Rishon are poured. Keli Shelishi - the container into which the contents of the Keli Sheni are poured. Kalei Habishul - foods that are easily cooked from raw to edible. Instant Noodle Soups are often comprised of the following ingredients: Noodles. These are pre-cooked until they are edible and then dry heated using hot oil. As a dry food, they are not subject to reheating prohibition on Shabbat and therefore would be able to have hot water poured on them even from a Keli Rishon. The powder in the instant soups is comprised of a mix of spices. As the spices have not been cooked previously, they cannot
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have hot water poured on them from a Keli Rishon. However, since they are not “Kalei Habishul” they may be placed in a Keli Sheni. The third ingredient in the soups are the vegetables. These have never been cooked and remain preserved due to the dehydration they undergo. This dehydration is not at the temperature of Yad Soledet Bo (about 45 degrees) and therefore they are not considered “pre- cooked”. For this reason, they should not be placed even into a Keli Sheni. With all the above in mind, the correct method of heating up an instant noodle soup is to pour hot water from a Keli Sheni onto the dry ingredients, or, to place all of the dried ingredients into a Keli Shelishi. This should do the job of heating up the soup without transgressing the laws of Shabbat. (Source: R’ YY Winkler, Lakewood, Kol haTorah Journal Vol 85.)
A big thank you For the past ten months, JDA has worked flat out to make sure all our most vulnerable clients have food, medication and everything they need to stay safe during COVID-19. And not only are they all healthy and stable, they’ve been able to stay connected with their JDA friends, had regular visits from our support staff and even had their challahs delivered fresh each Friday morning! And our efforts have not gone unnoticed.
Tobi, one of our professional interpreters just taught a 93 year old to Facetime!
Many of our Deaf clients have dementia, learning disabilities or frail mental health. JDA’s innovative support services have been featured on national TV - and Deaf charities all over the country have been learning from us how we’ve kept such high risk people free from Coronavirus, healthy, happy and out of hospitals and care homes.
...to JDA staff and volunteers
...and to you, our supporters
But this has only been possible because of our support workers who have been working unbelievably hard to look after those in our community who have no one else to get them through.
Running JDA’s emergency services during lockdown is costly. But they must continue and there is no question of cutting corners when lives are at stake.
And they’ve been aided by a team of volunteers who have spent their days keeping the spectre of loneliness and isolation away from our clients.
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Mishpatim
Mishpatim Word Search
After getting the ten commandments at Har Sinai, the Jewish people learned all about the Mitzvot of how to treat their fellow. Parshat Mishpatim is full of fascinating Mitzvot, like how to care for one’s slave, how to protect their neighbor from harm and how to take care over other people’s property. We first learn of not mixing meat and milk in this week’s sidra as well as the positive Mitzvah of Prayer. The Jews are told that they would be traveling to the Promised Land and to make sure that when they arrive they must destroy all idols. Moshe goes up the mountain for forty days and nights where he learns the entire Torah which he was only too pleased to share with the nation and which we are proud and privileged to learn until this day.
Tangram Challenge! Using all the shapes on the left can you make the penguin shape on the right?
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Mishpatim In a nutshell After the epic revelation of G-d at Har Sinai it was time for the Jews to learn the material shared in detail. The Torah opens this great Sidra of Mishpatim which discusses many Mitzvot “Between a person and their fellow” with the laws of the Hebrew slave. If a man stole and did not have enough money to pay back, they were sold as a slave to a Jewish family. There, they would be treated with dignity and respect and learn how to be a decent person. At the end of 6 years, the slave would have the option of being set free. If he chose to stay on, he would have his ear pierced, to remind him that his “ear” heard at Mount Sinai, that we are to only be slaves to Hashem and not to anyone or anything else. The Torah then goes on to explain the laws of a Jewish maidservant and teaches how to treat these people with respect too. If a person committed a crime involving the harm of another
person, there are specific laws relating to them. Kidnapping, stealing and injuring are some examples of this. What belongs to you is your responsibility to take care of and to ensure it does not cause harm to others. This applies to your animals as well as your land, or works you carry out in the public domain. If your ox would kill someone, you would need to pay. If a fire went out of control and landed in the neighbour’s property, then the person who lit the fire also needs to pay. How about if you dig a pit in a public path and did not cover it and someone’s animal fell in and died? We are also taught about the four guardians. These are four types of arrangements in which a person is entrusted with their fellow’s property. You could be doing it in one of four ways: As a favour, you are protecting their items. Or you are being paid to do so. Maybe you have borrowed it?
Word Wheel
Use this area to write the words you have found.
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The goal of a word wheel puzzle is to create as many words possible with the letters in the word wheel. Each word must contain at least three letters. You can only use each letter once and every word must have the letter in the centre of the wheel.
Or, you could have rented it. All these four types have different levels of liability if the item is lost or stolen or if it breaks by accident. So, for example, if you borrow your friend’s camera and it got lost you would need to pay for it, whereas if your friend gave you his rabbit to look after and you were careful, but it got lost, you would not need to pay. The Parsha is packed full of interesting laws. We are first introduced to the ban on mixing meat and milk together. We are also taught the concept of serving Hashem, which is what we do especially when we pray. The Jewish people are promised to be brought to the Holy Land but warned that they must ensure not to serve idols there. Finally, we are taught that after the giving of the Torah, Moshe went up to the mountain for forty days and forty nights, leaving Aaron and Chur in charge of the nation.
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Last week’s words: Here are some words you may have found from last week - you may have found more! aid ail air ale and ara are ear
era lad lea nan rad ran aide anal
area aria arid dale dare darn deal dean
dear dial earl earn idea ilea lade laid
lain lair land lane lard lead lean liar
lira nail near raid rail rain read real
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arena dinar drain ideal inane laden laird learn
nadir naiad renal aerial anneal denial derail inaner
inland laired lander linear nailed nailer radial radian
railed rained redial relaid adrenal alanine annelid adrenalin
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Q: What do you call bears with no ears? A: B
Q: What’s a pirate’s favourite letter? A: R A man got hit in the head with a can of Coke, but he was alright because it was a soft drink.
(Answers at the bottom of page upside down)
1. What goes through towns and over hills but never moves?
Two gold fish are in a tank. One looks at the other and says, “Do you know how to drive this thing?!”
2. Where can you place one line to make the following true, 5+5+5=550?
3. When is a door not a door? 3) When it’s ajar! 1. A Road
2) Add a line to the first plus sign to make it the number 4, 5+5+5=550.
1. To big to ignore 2. A little bit on the large side 3. Running away from home
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4. Home stretch 5. Long over due 6. Who’s in charge?
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Premier favourites Sixteen-goal Lions City thump Liverpool rout Scrabble in Cup BY DAVID SAFFER Manchester City will take some stopping BY DAVID SAFFER in the Premier League title race after a 4-1 victoryMogilner at defending Reiss scoredchampions six goals asLiverpool Maccabi last Sunday. London Lions thumped Scrabble A in the City’s round 10th consecutive league win sent second of the Cyril Anekstein Cup. them five points clear of Manchester UnitThe Premier League side racked up a 16-0 ed, seven ahead Green of Leicester City and 10 in win with Daniel and Michael Kenley front bagging of Liverpool. Pep Guardiola’s charges both a hat-trick. Ed Brafman, DaalsoDinkin, have a game in hand over their rivals. vid and Adam Hassanali completWith games go the four-time ed the16rout in a to mismatch of a tie. Premier winners are favourites to land fifthopening crown. Lions could have scored inathe Jurgen Klopp’s side have struggled minute of the clash but soon openedwith the serious and injuries all by season, particularly in scoring led 9-0 half time. defence with Virgil Dyke,though Joe Gomez The Division Onevanteam, outand Joelbattled Matip away not expected to return beclassed, to the end. fore the summer. Lions boss was lost for words at full time Liverpool now under intense such was thearedisplay from his team preswho sure to make a Champions League gave every respect to the opposition. spot. Chelsea, Ham, Tottenham “I’m notWest really sureEverton, there’s anything to Hotspur and AstontoVilla areitall in the shake say, we are happy make through to the up European nextfor round of thespots. cup,” he commented. Pep Guardiola’s charges were imHendon United Sports ran out 3-1in victors perious form at Anfield. After a goalless against League One outfit North London first half, Guardiola altered his formation, Raiders. moving Phil Foden to the right wing, and The Premier side led early in the second the visitors quickly opened the scoring half only for Raiders to equalise but struck when Raheem inside in from the two late goals Sterling to bookcut a place round left, Reds keeper Allison Becker could only three of the competition. parry Foden’s totheir Ilkayattentions Gundogan,towho Hendon nowshot turn the slotted home. Liverpool equalised just league as they travel to Oakwood A foraf-a ter the hour from Mo Salah after crucial top of theatable clashpenalty on Sunday a(10am). rash tackle on the star forward by Ruben Dias. But Kristall’s City wereteam not to be denied AlliDaniel stunned the as league son endured a nightmare with two hashed leaders last month when they won 2-0, a clearances. Foden up to Gundogan, who victory would moveset them within a point had missed a first half penalty, for a simple of Hendon with a match in hand. goal on 73 minutes, Bernardo Silva then Elsewhere in the latest round of fixtures, teed up Sterling moments later. 10-man North London Galaxy made it a Foden, 20, showed influence three-way title race inhis thegrowing only Division One on the side with a rasping shot into the top clash of the day after defeating Oakwood B. corner minutes toGalaxy seal a Jamieseven Murray saw redfrom earlytime on but massive win.goals from Josh Cohen and Jarallied with Guardiola slowly integrated 2-1 Foden to cob Leigh to has record an important away the first team and his man-management is win. paying off.head The Redbridge time is right for the youngGalaxy Jewish Care A in ster to display skills at after the highest level the table by justhis one point 10 matches, for City and England. third place Fairlop FC are five points beGuardiola BBC hind with twotold games in Sport, hand. “In the second half, the way we reacted to the goal, Rafi Bloom scored for Oakwood. the way we played with quality, madeinthea “It was a fantastic performance
Ilkay Gundogan stuck twice against Liverpool
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
“We deserved to win the game but that is football for you. You have to take your chances and cannot concede with every shot. The fans can see we are a team that is trying to go for it. Even at 3-2 up we wanted to get the fourth.” Everton boss Ancelotti noted to BBC Sport, “It was like a win but it is just one point, We competed against one of the best in the Premier League. We are not at the same level but we can fight and compete with our qualities.” Two wins in five games has severely damaged United’s title prospects and Leicester’s chances also took a hit in a disjointed draw against Wolves at Molineux. Both teams had a great chance to win but Fabio Silva saw Wolves’ sole shot on target superbly saved by Kasper Schmeichel then the normally clinical Jamie Vardy failed to hit the target with a header in stoppage time. Chelsea, meantime, are looking dangerous in the battle for Champions League places but don’t discount Tottenham especially if they keep talisman Harry Kane PHOTO: DAVID fit. SAFFER The Blues are four games undefeated since Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as manager and they deserved a 2-1 win at Championship-bound Sheffield United. Oliver Burke almost caught the visitors cold in the opening minute but Chelsea struck with a Mason Mount strike just before the break before gifting the Blades an equaliser when Antonio Rudiger inexplicably scored an own goal on 55 minutes. Chelsea though were quickly ahead when Timo Werner, set one will who enjoy. ” up Mount for his goal, was brought down by Sheffield’s Aaron Vale boss Jacob Emanuel keeper was quick to Ramsdale. Kevin Friend initially wish RebuckReferee well following his injury. waved Chelsea penalty appeals “Firstaway and most importantly, everyonebut at VAR came to the rescue and Jorginho slotVale would like to wish the Fortune ‘keeper ted home. a quick recovery, we hope to see him back In north London, got back to on the football pitch Tottenham as soon as possible, ” he winning ways with a 2-0 win against lowly said. West Brom. As for the defeat, Emanuel commented, The hosts settled match half time “It doesn’t matterthe how big after a squad you with two goals in four minutes from Kane have, you can never account for unavailand Son side ability orHeung-min. injury. OnlyJose five Moutinho’s of today’s team had slipped in recent weeks without Kane played in our recent win over FC Team, a leading line. lack of the togetherness and poor individual
Jurgen Klopp’s side have struggled with serious injuries all season, particularly in defence with must-win game,” commented Galaxy player-manager Luke Lewis. Virgil van Dyke, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip not “We sat back and allowed Oakwood the “It was a proper old school performance, expected to return before the summer. ball, given the one-man advantage and 16-goal Maccabi London Lions
looked to hit them on the counter attack with pace. difference. ” Speaking to Sky Sports, he add“Both goals came down the right-hand ed, is ancrossed important but into it is Februside.“ItLeigh the win, first one Cohen ary. Of course, gap to fifth himself. is big right to finish, beforethe slotting home Up now (qualifying) for the Champions to firstand we go. ” League next season important, 10 The Division Two istitle race alsobuttook wins in a row in this period is something a twist with league leaders Herstwood exceptional. ” Vale going down to a 2-1 defeat at Temple As for Foden, he noted, “We know he is a Fortune. huge talent. Hopefully he canastill improve. Faithfold B have played game more” Klopp told BBC Sport. “Coming out in than Vale but moved level with a 5-3 winthe at second half, they changed the system and North London Raiders Masters. weJacob didn’t move enough We Kalms struck twicein formidfield. Fortune who scored our goal and in that moment it was scored through leading scorer James Milpossible the17th game goes in our direction, but letwith his goal of the season. Alisson made two massive mistakes, gave The result was all the more remarkable two goals away and then a genius situation as Temple were down to 11 players with from Foden. ‘keeper Ben”Rebuck dislocating a shoulder Manchester in the warm up.United and Everton shared the six-goal win thriller at Old “Thspoils is wasin a a fantastic given the
we battled and defended for the 90 minutes Trafford. and took our chances. Experience proved Credit to the visitors who came from behind but winner. this was a game to betwice the ” United should have secured on the 63rd anniversary of the Munich air disaster that was marked prior to” kick circumstances, saidoff.delighted Fortune Edinson Cavani boss Simon Linden. headed home a pinpoint Marcus midway “Wecross had from a number ofRashford players out, Rethrough the first half before Bruno Fernanbuck got injured, so I couldn’t have asked dez superb second just before any fired morehome from athe players. We wish Ben a half time. The Toffees hit back after the speedy recovery. break through Abdoulaye Doucoure, who “It was a proper old school performance, then set up James Rodrigues for a clinical we battled and defended for the 90 minutes finish on our 52 chances. minutes. Experience Scott McTominay and took proved headed home a Luke Shaw freeone kickwe before to be the winner. It’s a big win, will Dominic Calvert Lewin had the final enjoy and we hope to build on it in 2019.say ” deep stoppage timemarks when50 United He into added, “This win yearsdithas a ered in defence. football club and will be one Nigel Kyte and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer toldclub BBC Sport, everyone associated with the from day
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11 FEBRUARY 2021 He told BT Sport, “Kane is a special player in the history of the club. He is one of the best strikers in the world. The team depends a lot on him, we can’t hide that. It’s the goals he can score, the assists he can make, the link play he has, that personality that players like that can have and he is always an important influence for us.” In other games, Villa picked up a 1-0 win against Arsenal with an Ollie Watkins second minute goal. Both teams wasted opportunities but the hosts deserved the victory. Leeds United leapfrogged the Gunners into a top 10 spot with a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace in the Monday night fixture. Jack Harrison’s deflected 3rd minute strike and Patrick Bamford’s 100th career goal sealed the points but the star of the show was £17m playmaker Raphina whose rasping drive was too hot to handle enabling United’s talisman to notch a landmark goal. Marcelo Bielsa’s side were solid at the back, an unusual sight for Leeds fans, but going forward they should have scored more goals. Centre back Pascal Struijk missed two sitters in front of goal and there were other opportunities. After years away
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TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488 from top-flight football, the club is Minamino reduced the deficit on the back in the big time. half hour but a horrendous error by In the battle for survival, Saints keeper Alex McCarthy enaNewcastle United are 10 points bled Almiron to score on half time. clear of the bottom three and Saints hit back with a superb James showed tremendous courage Ward-Prowse free kick. After Hento defeat Southampton 3-2 in a dricks saw red the visitors pushed terrific clash on Tyneside. for an equaliser but Newcastle dug The hosts played half an hour deep for a second crucial win in with 10 players after Jeff Henthree games. dricks dismissal for two Burnley and Brightbookings then after on shared the spoils using all their substiin a hard-fought tutes the last 20 minscrap at Turf utes with nine men Moor. when defender FabiThe Seagulls an Schar was carried are revitalised, off. and after deAn entertaining feating Liverclash saw the hosts pool midweek, lead 3-1 at the opened the break. Joe Willscoring from cock opened the a Pascal Gross scoring on his corner when debut, Miguel Lewis Dunk Almiron doupowerfulbled the lead ly headed PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK home. before Takumi Harry Kane scored Tottenham’s opening goal Berg
Gudmundsson equalised after the break and the hosts looked likelier to pick up the win but by full time the result suited both sides. Relegation threatened Fulham failed to break down West Ham and remain in deep trouble eight points back from Burnley above the drop zone. The main talking point of the game was Tomas Soucek ludicrously being sent off for an apparent elbow on Aleksandar Mitrovic in injury time. The red card by referee Mike Dean was rescinded on Monday but the fallout has seen Merseyside Police begin investigations into “allegations of malicious communications” following alleged death threats and abusive messages aimed at Dean in the aftermath of the incident. Referee head Mike Riley said, “Threats and abuse of this nature are totally unacceptable and we fully support Mike’s decision to report these messages his family received to the police. Nobody should be victim of abhorrent messages like this. Online abuse is unacceptable in any walk of life and more needs to be done to tackle the problem.”
City in record breaking form as Everton win 9-goal thriller BY DAVID SAFFER Manchester City eased into the FA Cup quarter finals at Swansea with a record-breaking 15th consecutive top-flight triumph last night. Pep Guardiola’s side swept up domestically in 2018/19 and odds on another domestic treble is shortening after a 3-0 win at Liberty Stadium. City are also among the UEFA Champions League favourites which resumes this month. The visitors opened the scoring when Kyle Walker’s right-wing cross evaded everyone including Swansea keeper Freddy Woodman on the half hour. Raheem Sterling slotted home on the resumption before Gabriel Jesus settled the tie with a sublime finish on 50 minutes. City went close to a fourth but Morgan Whittaker grabbed a consolation goal 13 minutes from time. Regarding City’s achievement, Guardiola told BT Sport, “It is a measure for ourselves, we came here to win the game, that is the most important thing. But we cannot deny how pleased and proud we are for our club to break this record from a long time ago. Records are there to be broken until another team does it. It’s not easy in the modern era to make 15 games in a row but it is good.” Walker, commenting on his goal, quipped to BT Sport, “I saw the far post and thought I’d put it in the back of the net! No, it was a cross, but we deserved a bit of luck the way we’ve been playing.” As for the win, he commented, “We knew it going to be tough, you always get surprises
Scott McTominay scored Manchester United’s extra time winner
in the FA Cup, it was a professional win.” In other fifth round ties, Everton defeated Tottenham in a nine-goal all-Premier thriller at Goodison Park. Davinson Sánchez nodded home a Son Heung-Min corner on three minutes only for Dominic Calvert Lewin, Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdson, with a penalty, to edge the Toffees 3-1 ahead two minutes before the break. But Erik Lamela reduced the deficit with a smart finish in first half stoppage time. Sanchez knocked in his second from a
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
Toby Alderweireld header brilliantly saved by Robin Olsen just before the hour to level at 3-3. However, the hosts moved ahead through Richarlison with a sensational finish from a tight angle on 68 minutes. Michael Keane wasted a glorious chance for Everton before Harry Kane sent the game into extra time eight minutes from time. Everton sealed a dramatic tie when Bernard clinically finished on 96 minutes. Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised his teams’ mentality in an extra time triumph against West Ham at
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Old Trafford. Scott McTominay hit the only goal on 97 minutes to book a last eight spot for a seventh consecutive year. In a game of few chances West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski stopped Victor Lindelof’s deflected header in normal time until Marcus Rashford, on his 250th club appearance, set up McTominay with a deft pass for the key moment of the match. Leicester City super sub Kelechi Iheanacho broke Brighton hearts with a 94th minute header from a quickly taken corner in the last attack of stoppage time. The Seagulls had five players in the penalty box with the game heading to spot kicks but nobody picked up the Foxes striker who sent his team through to the next round. Bournemouth sacked manager Jason Tindall after six months last week but caused the shock of the round at Burnley to book a quarter-final spot for the first time in 64 years. Sam Surridge opened the scoring in the first half and Junior Stanislas slotted home a penalty two minutes from time. Sheffield United overcame 10-man Bristol City with Billy Sharp’s VAR-awarded penalty on 66 minutes. Referee Robert Jones sent off City’s Alfie Mawson after officials spotted David McGoldrick’s goalbound shot striking the defender’s hand. Sharp duly delivered the killer blow. Wolves host Southampton and Barnsley welcome Chelsea in other fifth round ties tonight. The quarter final draw takes place after both matches.
Headteacher - Kisharon Noé School Kisharon Noé School, with its brand new campus, is recruiting a visionary headteacher for its Jewish-Faith Special Free School. We are a special school for students aged 4 to 19 with a wide range of learning disabilities.
The applicant will be able to offer strong leadership to guide the school’s continued growth to its full capacity of 72 pupils. The Headteacher should be able to demonstrate the skills to work with all stakeholders to transform the educational and life opportunities for its pupils. The school is in Hendon, London NW4, and is proud of its state-of-the-art IT, learning and therapy provisions. The applicant will have the qualities to be the lead professional and positive role model within the community, driving forward the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievements through promoting excellence to pupils and staff. This exciting role offers the chosen applicant the opportunity to shape Kisharon Noé School into the beacon of the special needs community we have all dreamed of and to nurture the Jewish ethos of the School. To find out more about this exciting opportunity and apply visit www.kisharonschool.org.uk/vacancies for the link to all details. Once completed please submit your application to: headship@epm.co.uk If you would like more information from the School please contact: neha.mehta@kisharon.org.uk Kisharon Noé School is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from any background. Kisharon Noé School is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and vulnerable young adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. An Enhanced DBS criminal check will be required.
54 Parson Street, London NW4 1TP 020 8455 7483 • kisharonschool.org.uk • office@kisharonschool.org.uk
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Salary: L21-L35 (outer London)
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Application deadline: Friday 19th February 2021
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Interviews will take place: w/c 8th March 2021
