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BY DAVID SAFFER

Israeli Defence Forces struck Hamas military compounds in the early hours of yesterday morning in response to several dozen incendiary devices launched into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

There were 26 fires in the Negev from the balloon attacks, including 15 near Kibbutz Be’eri according to Jewish National Fund – Keren Kayemet LeIsrael.

Violent demonstrations also took place along the Gaza border where Palestinians threw explosive devices and fired firecrackers.

The hostility was a response to the ‘March of Flags’ event organised in the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday. Reports noted 5,000 people participated in the event.

The march did not lead to major incidents. According to Police there were 17 arrests made.

“Fighter jets attacked Hamas military complexes that served as camps and meeting places for

Hamas incendiary devices cause havoc

terrorist operatives in the Khan Yunis and Gaza Brigades,” an IDF statement confirmed. “Terrorist activity was clearly seen in the attacked compounds. The attack was carried out in response to the launching of incendiary balloons into Israeli territory.”

“The IDF is prepared for all the scenarios, including the

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

resumption of hostilities, in the face of continued terrorist operations from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF added.

The IDF remains on high alert regarding Hamas.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s new coalition government warned they would respond to any Hamas attacks. The IDF

operation was the first since last month’s 11-day conflict.

Public Security Minister, Labor’s Omer Barlev decided the parade may go ahead as citizens had a “right to demonstrate”.

Police approved a route that passed Damascus Gate to the Old City into Jaffa Gate and then Western Wall for mass prayers. Police deployed over 2,000 officers on the route. Thousands more were in locations across Israel to avoid last month’s violence.

Israel sent diplomatic messages to Egypt and Jordan to stress they did not wish to escalate the situation in the region. A message was also sent to Hamas via Egypt that rocket fire would be met with a powerful retaliation. Egypt demanded Hamas commit to not firing rockets.

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi warned Israel would respond to rocket fire from Gaza and it would be tougher than the May conflict.

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Boris increases Simcha numbers UK to chair International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

BY DAVID SAFFER

BY SIMCHA ABIR The UK government is to chair the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2024.

The government last chaired the Alliance, which is made up of 34 countries including the US and Germany, a decade ago.

The union unites governments to promote and strengthen Holocaust education and research.

The UK’s chairmanship will be supported by experts including Holocaust Educational Trust, UCL’s Centre for Holocaust Education, Association of Jewish Refugees, Wiener Library and Holocaust Memorial Day Trust representatives.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it was a poignant moment for the UK to chair the Alliance 80 years after the first discovery of the Nazi death camps.

“We will never forget the worst crime of modern history and we will never relent in the fight against antisemitism,” he noted.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick added, “It will be a great honour for this country to chair the IHRA and continue to lead the way in promoting Holocaust education and remembrance. Our new UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning

Centre will bear witness to the evils of the Holocaust and stand as a permanent reminder of why we need to make a stand against antisemitism wherever and whenever it appears”.

CFI ParliamenPHOTO: tary Dominic Raab Chairman WIKIMEDIA (Lords) and head of the UK IHRA delegation, The Lord Pickles commented, “At a time when Holocaust distortion and revisionism is on the increase the UK intends to be at the forefront of nations that uphold the truth of the Shoah, with a clear unblinking eye.”

He added, “The UK Chair will build on cooperation between international institutions to fight antisemitism and Holocaust denial”.

The UK was the first country to adopt the adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism in 2016. Around three quarters of local councils and over 80 universities in the UK have adopted the definition following the government’s encouragement and own adoption.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s much awaited lockdown easing announcement had ramifications for the Jewish community with caveats.

The country remains at Step 3 until July 19 but the update means that couples will be able to celebrate their wedding with Boris Johnson more family and friends from June 21.

Numbers depend on how many people a venue can safely accommodate with social distancing measures in place. Dancefloors though will remain closed.

The news is good for KLBD caterers regarding simchas after months of uncertainty.

Shul attendances and stonesettings will also see increased numbers.

The United Synagogue has welcomed the news even with limitations on certain aspects. Steven Wilson, Chief Executive of the United Synagogue, said, “Many couples have already been forced to postpone their big day a number of times. The government has said that the number of people who can attend will now be determined by how many people a venue can safely accommodate with social distancing measures in place, including guests of all ages and anyone working at the event.”

Couples are encouraged to contact their US venue to understand what is possible.

“The government has said that dancefloors will sadly have to remain closed,” noted Wilson. “We know weddings are not the same without dancing, but we recognise the government’s desire to keep guests and staff safe and we are pleased the couple will still be able to enjoy a first dance together,

should they wish.” He added, “We are so pleased that our KLBD caterers can now carry out larger wedding functions. They, together with the hospitality industry, have had an incredibly difficult time over the pandemic and we wish them all the very best for the coming weeks and months.”

PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA The US is delighted shul attendances continue to rise. In line with government guidance, social distancing and masks are still required.

“Do join us if you are able,” commented Wilson. “We will review possible changes to our guidance as and when lockdown restrictions ease further.”

The government has changed rules on stonesettings allowing an attendance limit to 50 people from Monday.

The US has already increased the limit for funerals to 50 people to help more family and friends attend.

“Ceremonies will continue to take place outside to reduce the risk of transmission among guests,” noted Wilson.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s confirmed residential summer camps can go ahead in bubbles of 30 children, a move applauded by the US and Board of Deputies.

“This means Covid-19 secure Tribe residential camps can go ahead,” noted a US spokesperson.

“This will help ensure some viability for the community’s residential summer camps for young people,” added BoD President Marie van de Zyl. The Board is meeting Department of Education officials this week and will look for reassurance that if Step 4 number limits come into force residential camp limits will be lifted.

Trial to take place over Rabbi assault Two men will stand trial over the assault of Rabbi Rafi Goodwin, of Chigwell & Hainault United Synagogue, last month.

Abderrahman Brahimi, 25, and 18-yearold Souraka Djabouri, both of Tudor Crescent, Ilford, east London, appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Rabbi Goodwin was allegedly struck over the head with a concrete brick in

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Chigwell and needed hospital treatment for head injuries on May 16.

Brahimi and Djabouri are also charged with robbery and religiously aggravated criminal damage.

Prosecutors allege Rabbi Goodwin’s phone was stolen.

Both men deny all charges. They were remanded in custody to face trial at a later date, a court official said. The trial may be listed in November.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “We are preparing for renewed fighting,” he said about the annual parade.

The US Embassy in Jerusalem banned employees and families entering the Old City on Tuesday.

The IDF was on high alert 48 hours after the new government was sworn in.

“Tensions (are) rising again in Jerusalem at a very fragile & sensitive security & political time, when UN & Egypt are actively engaged in solidifying the ceasefire,” UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland Tweeted.

“Urge all relevant parties to act responsibly & avoid any provocations that could lead to another round of confrontation,” he added.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid criticised radical protesters at the march chanting “Death

to Arabs!” He described them as “a disgrace to the Israeli people” on Twitter. “The fact that there are radicals for whom the Israeli flag represents hatred and racism is abominable and unforgivable,” Lapid noted.

The flag march, called off in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, is held on Jerusalem Day to mark the reunification of the city in 1967. For many Israelis, there is a right to march through Jerusalem. For others, the route entering the Old City through Damascus Gate and Muslim quarter is provocative.

The May 10 parade led to Hamas terrorists launching 4,400 rockets into Israeli cities.

Hostilities saw 243 Palestinians killed and 1,600 injured. Thirteen people in Israel died with 350 people injured.

The IDF stated it had struck a “serious blow” to Hamas and PIJ’s rocket production

capabilities.

Former Prime Minister Netanyahu hailed ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls’. The Iron Dome defence system intercepted 90% of rockets.

The IDF destroyed dozens of facilities used by Hamas’s military wing in its day-today running of the Gaza Strip. The IDF also killed senior Hamas and PIJ commanders, stopped underground raids, destroyed dozens of anti-tank guided missile teams and intercepted drone and naval attacks.

Netanyahu went on to lambast the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva as “shameful” for launching an inquiry into Israel’s actions against Hamas. Defence Minister Benny Gantz slated the decision which drew UNHRC’s “basic legitimacy” into question.

The UK opposed the motion. UK

Ambassador to the UNHRC, Simon Manley, “condemned” indiscriminate attacks by Hamas. US Secretary of State Blinken noted UNHRC was a “flawed body, in need of reform”.

US President Joe Biden’s administration has pledged support for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system.

A long-term ceasefire must include the return of Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed held captive by Hamas since 2014 and 2015 respectively, and IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul killed in the Operation Protective Edge 2014 conflict.

Hamas must provide proof of life as part of any prisoner swap negotiations.

There are reports Israel has provided a list of Hamas prisoners they will release in exchange for MIAs.

Edelstein appealed to Health Secretary Matt Hancock on the family’s behalf.

According to Israeli law where parents oppose cessation of medical treatment leading to a child’s death and life expectancy exceeds six months, medical treatment must not cease.

Alta lacked oxygen when she was born in December 2018 but miraculously survived.

Hopes she may come home hit complications and the hospital advised removal of support but Alta’s parents demanded private support at home or abroad, both viable.

An appeal for Alta’s care has reached £275,900.

Alta Fixsler with brother and father

Alta appeal may be heard The Court of Appeal will decide whether an appeal can be heard in the case of two-yearold Alta Fixsler on Wednesday June 23.

If granted, the appeal will be heard the same day. The judge’s current order has been put on hold.

Israel President Reuven Rivlin and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein joined the quest for Alta to be treated in Israel in preference to palliative care.

Over 36,000 people have responded to a Jewish Weekly petition launched to allow a leave of appeal to enable Alta, who suffered severe brain injury at birth, to be treated by an

Israeli or American hospital.

A High Court judge ruled life-sustaining treatment should be withdrawn. But Alta’s family want her to be transferred to an Israel or American hospital care on religious and ethical grounds.

With time running out to save Alta, Rivlin appealed to Prince Charles to help Alta’s parents’ request.

“It would be a tragedy if these parents’ wishes could not be accommodated in a way that respects both the law and their religious beliefs,” Rivlin noted in a letter to the Prince of Wales.

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World leaders congratulate Bennett-Lapid coalition

BY DAVID SAFFER World leaders have congratulated Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on forming a new government in Israel.

US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Boris Johnson were among many to look forward to forming a working relationship.

The philosophy regarding Iran, the Palestinians and security will top agendas for initial discussions.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “topple a “dangerous left-wing government” in his first address as opposition leader on Monday. But the overriding messages of support for the Bennett-Yair Lapid alliance has dominated media outlets.

Biden took a month to speak with Netanyahu after taking office but immediately welcomed Bennett in an official statement to strengthen “all aspects of the close and enduring relationship” between the two nations.

“Israel has no better friend than the United States,” he said. “The bond that unites our people is ev- Naftali Bennett PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA idence of our shared values and decades of close cooperation and as serve as Prime Minister for two years before we continue to strengthen our partnership, handing the role to Foreign Minister Lapid. the United States remains unwavering in its “As we emerge from COVID-19, this is an support for Israel’s security.” exciting time for the UK and Israel to continBiden added, “My administration is fully ue working together to advance peace and committed to working with the new Israeli prosperity for all,” Johnson said. government to advance security, stability, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and peace for Israelis, Palestinians, and peo- looked forward to a continued British-Israeli ple throughout the broader region.” “cooperation on security, trade and climate Biden spoke by telephone with Bennett on change, and working together to secure Sunday evening hours after the swearing in peace in the region”. ceremony.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel In their conversation, Bennett thanked said Germany and Israel are connected Biden for his support for Israel during the by a “unique friendship” that we want to recent operation in Gaza. The leaders em- strengthen further. German Foreign Affairs phasised the importance of the Israel-US Minister Heiko Maas congratulated the govalliance, commitment to strengthening ties ernment, noting, “Mazel tov! Germany will between the countries and maintaining se- always be by Israel’s side.” curity of the State of Israel.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also Putin expressed hope for “constructive” offered congratulations. “Austria is commitcooperation on Monday. ted to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state “I expect that your work at the helm of the and will continue to stand by Israel’s side,” government will facilitate a further develop- he said. ment of constructive bilateral cooperation Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian enalong all directions,” Putin said in a state- dorsed France’s determination to work with ment from the Kremlin. the new government in the spirit of friend“No doubt it is in the vital interests of our ship and cooperation characterised by people,” he added to help strengthen “peace, French-Israeli partnership for over 70 years. security and stability in the Middle East.”

He added, “It reiterates its unwavering comJohnson was among the first to offer mitment to the security of the State of Israel congratulations to the Bennett-Yair Lapid and its determination to work alongside it to coalition. maintain regional security and stability.”

Under the rotation agreement Bennett will Le Drian said France would support

partnership between our two countries.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris backed Biden’s comments on building strong bonds while advancing security and peace for Israelis and Palestinians.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister Lapid.

“The Secretary and the Minister discussed the US commitment to Israel’s security, the importance of maintaining a cessation of hostilities, opportunities to deepen and broaden normalisation of diplomatic relations, the threat posed by Iran and other regional priorities,” the State Department said, adding Blinken looked forward to welcoming Lapid to Washington.

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin congratulated Defence Minister Benny Gantz and continuing dialogue to deepen the US-Israel strategic partnership and commitment to Israel’s security “remaining ironclad”.

UN Middle East Peace Envoy Tor Wennesland welcomed advancing the “ultimate goal” of a PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK Yair Lapid lasting peace between Israelis and Israeli and Palestinian peace talks to reach a Palestinians. “just and lasting solution” within a two-state The United Arab Emirates Foreign Minissolution based on international law and try looked forward to progressing regional parameters. peace, strengthening tolerance and coexistPresident of the European Council Charles ence, and embarking on a new era of cooperMichel is looking forward to strengthening ation in technology, trade, and investment. the EU-Israel partnership for “common World Jewish Congress President Ronprosperity” and lasting “regional peace and ald S. Lauder acclaimed the government of stability”. national unity that included all sides of the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Israeli political spectrum. said in an official statement that the nations “The State of Israel must be a beacon of were bound together by shared democratic unity for the entire Jewish people and I am values, a long history of cooperation and vi- confident that its new government will also brant people-to-people ties. help bring Diaspora Jewry together,” he Noting common priorities, including ad- noted. Recalling meeting Bennett in Pittsvancing education, science and innovation, burgh in October 2018 immediately after of combatting antisemitism and promoting 11 Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue,” he the Middle East peace and stability. Trudeau added, “I remember his concern for all Jews”. added, “Together, we will explore ways to Lauder concluded that the government expand bilateral trade and investment, and would be committed to the “unity of the create new opportunities and jobs for our Jewish people, both in Israel and across the people, including through the modern- globe”. And he looked forward to working ised Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement.” with the government as it embarked on the He concluded, “Canada will continue to “daunting task” of providing the State of Ispromote lasting peace and security in the rael with political stability confronting the region.” growing surge of antisemitism across the India Prime Minister Narendra Modi globe that threatens Israel and the Jewish was among a number to acknowledge the people.

12-year tenure of former Netanyahu. AdThe new government holds a wafer-thin dressing Bennett, he commented, “As we majority of 60-59 Mks. The coalition comcelebrate 30 years of the upgradation of dip- prises eight parties bringing together lomatic relations next year, I look forward right-wing, centrist, left-wing and Islamist to meeting you and deepening the strategic parties.

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Marie welcomes summer camp news but blasts Starmer

BY ADAM MOSES The Board of Deputies has welcomed news from the government regarding summer camps but has criticised Labour Leader Keir Starmer for not calling out Hamas during Prime Minister’s Questions.

BoD President Marie van der Zyl responded to Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s confirmation that residential summer camps can go ahead in bubbles of 30.

“This will help ensure some viability for the community’s residential summer camps for young people,” she noted. “We look forward to meeting with Department of Education officials later this week and will be looking for reassurance that if we do move forward to Step 4, which will see nightclubs reopen for example, number limits on residential camps will also be lifted.

“The sector is eager to discuss what interventions can be mandated, for example pre-quarantining and testing, to make such a Step 4 allowance possible.”

Ms van der Zyl expressed disappointment that Starmer failed to make reference to Hamas terrorism and other Palestinian terrorist groups during last week’s PMQs. “It was a missed opportunity to show that Labour understands the threat that

Marie van der Zyl

terrorism poses in both the Middle East and the UK,” she noted.

The Board’s chief has also written to the Joint General-Secretaries of teachers’ union NEU condemning a decision to allow a woman who sprayed “Free Gaza and Palestine” on a wall of the Warsaw Ghetto

to organise “understanding antisemitism” workshops for the union.

“To have somebody with this sort of track record organising antisemitism training workshops for your union is simply grotesque,” she noted. “There are a number of outstanding Jewish communal organisations in the UK which provide training on understanding antisemitism, and I am sure that had the NEU been in touch with them, they would have been very happy to arrange such sessions and we would be very happy to recommend them to you.”

Ms van de Zyl added, “Your union represents more than half a million teachers, responsible for educating this country’s children and young adults. The NEU has a responsibility, therefore, to ensure that education it offers to its own members on antisemitism is given by providers who are widely respected within the Jewish community, rather than people like Ms Jasiewicz and her associates. To do otherwise makes a total mockery of what is often referred to as “the oldest hatred”.

Ms van de Zyl called on Joint General-Secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney to ensure this type of activity is not repeated.

“Not only does it do a disservice to your members, it also tarnishes the NEU’s

Modi’in pupils test positive for COVID-19

BY SIMCHA ABIR IDF Home Command soldiers have facilitated COVID-19 testing for students and staff at Asif Elementary School in Modi’in after 11 children tested positive for coronavirus.

Ninety year six-grade pupils are in quarantine even though Israel has lifted measures to wear masks indoors.

The national vaccination campaign has seen 5.4 million people receive a first vaccine, 5.1 million have had both. Modi’in Children aged 12 up are eligible for jabs.

Most of Israel’s student population have not been vaccinated.

The outbreak was detected when two students tested positive. Another nine were discovered in a rapid testing operation by Modi’in municipality with the Education Ministry and national health funds.

While sixth-graders are in isolation, other students can attend school under restrictions.

“The outbreak at the Asif school reminds us all that despite the easing of the coronavirus restrictions, the virus is still with us,” Modi’in municipality reportedly said in a

be required at schools, which were fully reopened on April 18.

In related news, Israeli startup MigVax Ltd has developed an oral vaccine against COVID-19.

Preclinical trials have demonstrated the vaccine is effective as a booster. MigVax-101 utilises a chimeric protein to generate immunological responses.

A triple-armed approach provides protection.

MigVax is seeking financing to launch first and second PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK phase clinical trials. If successstatement. “Therefore, we must adhere to ful, treatment would be commercially the guidelines of the Health Ministry. Do available within 12 months after trials. not leave the house if you feel unwell, do It has been reported Mig-Vax-101 offers not send children to school if there is a advantages over first-generation injected concern that they are ill or have come in vaccines including ease of administration contact with a person who has been diag- and adaptability. The vaccine may be efnosed with COVID. This is the only way to fective for longer periods before a booster prevent the spread of the virus.” is needed. It also requires refrigeration, The Health Ministry said masks are not “deep freeze” conditions. required for unvaccinated patients and “The results of this trial increase our staff in medical facilities, people going confidence that our MigVax-101 subunit into quarantine and commercial flight oral vaccine will make a positive contripassengers. bution to a world coming to grips with the According to Health Ministry Direc- new post-pandemic reality,” Prof. Itamar tor-General Prof. Hezi Levi, masks will not Shalit, MigVax, reportedly said.

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reputation,” she said.

The Board updates the community on reported funerals where the deceased contracted Covid-19 and there has been no increase in for two months. Working with the Jewish community’s burial boards, regional Jewish communities and Jewish Small Communities Network to collate Covid death figures, as of the week ending June 4, there have been a total of 903 Jewish funerals carried out.

The last reported death from Covid-19 in the Jewish community was in the week ending April 9.

“We wish bereaving families a long life and pray that the memory of their loved ones should be for a blessing,” noted a Board spokesman.

The Board liaises with seven of the largest denominational burial boards to collate an indicator of deaths where Covid-19 was a factor. Burial boards include the Adath Yisroel Burial Society, Federation of Synagogues Burial Society, Joint Jewish Burial Board, Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi Community and United Synagogue Burial Society.

Data covers deaths in hospitals and in the wider community. When making comparisons of data, data separate to this indicator may not have similar parameters.

Halimi murder investigated A French Parliamentary commission of inquiry is to investigate the murder of Sarah Halimi in 2017.

Halimi, 65, was killed by 27-year-old Muslim neighbour, Kobili Traore, after he tortured her before pushing her out of a window to her death.

Traore reportedly yelled “Allah Akbar,” along with antisemitic hate comments.

The Union of Democrats and Independents liberal political party announced the news this month.

French law allows a commission of inquiry annually. French-Israeli UDI member Meyer Habib will form the commission. She noted, “I will do everything in my power to expose the truth.”

France’s Court of Cassation ruled two months ago that Traore could not stand trial due to being high on cannabis whilst committing the murder.

Campaign Against Antisemitism held a rally outside the French Embassy in Knightsbridge in solidarity with French Jews in opposition to the ruling.

A further 10,000 supporters demanded justice for Halimi on CAA’s social media channels. The London rally was part of a global movement across France, in Israel and America.

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CAA continues call for Labour to expel Corbyn

BY ADAM MOSES Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to call for former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to be expelled from the party.

Corbyn addressed a pro-Palestine demonstration outside Downing Street at the weekend. Protesters called for an end to ‘British complicity in Israel’s war crimes’ and chanted “free, free Palestine” Corbyn called for support of Palestinian refugees at the rally organised to coincide with the G7 Summit of world leaders in Cornwall.

“We are coming together because we are united in our support for the Palestinian people,” he reportedly said. “We are here to support the Palestinian people whether we are Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Christian or no faith, our unity is a human unity.”

Corbyn noted that the demands of pro-Palestine supporters are to “end the occupation of the West Bank, the withdrawal of all the settlements and an end to the siege of Gaza”.

The Islington North MP added that he was “proud” to include recognising Palestine as a state in the 2019 Labour manifesto. He concluded, “We must stand together for the freedom for the people of Palestine.”

Corbyn later tweeted, “UK-made weapons are killing civilians, including children, in conflicts abroad. This must stop.”

A CAA evidence gathering team was present in Whitehall where placards included a number breaching the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Pamphlets were distributed that compared Israel and the Nazis, in breach of the Definition. There were also signs claiming the Jewish state abducts and murders children.

“Another weekend, another antisemitism-infested demonstration on the streets of Britain’s capital,” a CAA spokesperson said. “Heavy policing ensured the safety of the Jewish community as another convoy was permitted to pass through London. Nevertheless, it is extraordinary

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Jeremy Corbyn

that, unlike with any other minority, week after week open displays of anti-Jewish racism in the nation’s capital are deemed acceptable. If the authorities will not bring antisemitic criminals to justice, we intend to use all legal and regulatory avenues to defend our community and force the authorities to act.”

CAA added that less remarkable was the ubiquity of Corbyn at these rallies.

“Coming after his remarks earlier this week playing down Labour antisemitism yet again, the Party has ever fewer excuses not to expel him, as we have demanded for several months now,” they noted.

Saturday’s rally was reportedly organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

Protestors were joined by participants in a ‘Free Palestine’ convoy that drove from the North and Midlands to London. The convoy included around 35 cars, a smaller number than a highly publicised first ‘Free Palestine’ convoy in May. The Metropolitan Police Service declined a CAA request, supported by legal representations, to ban last weekend’s ‘Free Palestine’ convoy.

It is understood Police had conditions for the latest convoy and monitored its progress.

Evidence of an antisemitic incident has emerged that a driver in the convoy shouted ‘Free Palestine’ and another blew a horn at a Jewish person on Finchley Road during Shabbat.

CAA noted that the victim was wearing a kippah. He wrote on Twitter, “You are entitled to demonstrate for your cause but not

THEJEWISHWEEKLY.COM

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

to do so at people who are visibly Jewish.

That is antisemitism.”

The PSC is supported by Friends of Al-Aqsa, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Stop the War Coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Muslim Association of Britain.

Community leaders were concerned about the “Free Palestine” convoy last Saturday.

Community Security Trust had concerns over the planned route into central London if it went through Jewish communities. CAA asked Police to use its powers regarding the threat of the convoy under Public Order Act 1986.

Four men were arrested and bailed over last month’s convoy and an alleged antisemitic incident in Manchester before the convoy arrived in London.

Police admitted they failed badly to monitor last month’s convoy which Gideon Falter, CAA Chief Executive, said was “predictable and preventable” as it had been advertised for a week.

Falter called for those responsible to face the “full force of the law”.

At the subsequent central London rally disturbing footage went viral of a female officer embracing protesters chanting “Free, free Palestine”. A number of officers were also seen shaking hands with drivers of a convoy of cars displaying Palestinian flags.

CAA wrote to Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick to act over the actions of Police officers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary, Priti Patel led political support for the Jewish community.

17 JUNE 2021

9

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Rebbe’s legacy honoured

BY DAVID SAFFER People across the globe marked the 27th anniversary of the passing of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson last Sunday.

As with tradition the Rebbe’s passing was a day of reflection, learning, prayer and positive action. Jewish communities held events that united people with farbrengens, guest speakers and the study of the Rebbe’s teachings. Among a plethora of initiatives students concluded the 40th cycle of study of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah which took around 11 months to complete.

The day was a time to reflect on the Rebbe’s vision for the world and individual’s responsibility.

A key observance was the age-old tradition letters being placed at the Ohel of the Rebbe.

Letters are delivered throughout the year and since the Rebbe’s passing crowds have on the day hit 50,000 people. Due to the pandemic and strict social-distancing

Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson zt”l

PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA

guidelines crowds were a minimum last year. But the Rebbe’s resting place annually receives over 500,000 prayer requests via email. Virtual visitors this week will bring petitions for blessings from friends and

family around the world.

As the global vaccination effort expands communities offered in-person events, in contrast to last years’ commemorations, which were conducted virtually.

Chabad ensured virtual options remained for those unable to join in-person events.

The Chabad.org team partnered with Merkos 302 to produce Unfazed: A Symphony of Living Voices, Story and Song, illustrating lessons of resilience and self-empowerment from the life and teachings of the Rebbe.

Aired Monday, the online program was hosted by Ari Hoffman and a number of Chabad emissaries.

A special musical presentation featured violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman and tenor Shulem Lemmer.

Among a plethora of events St. Louis Chabad hosted notable author and lecturer Joseph Telushkin, who wrote the 2014 New York Times bestseller Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M.Scheneerson,

the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History.

Telushkin spent five years working on the biography and tells the story of how the Rebbe methodically implemented his vision for the world. Looking beyond Chabad’s network of emissaries, Telushkin describes the Rebbe’s positive influence on leaders and lay people, and his enormous volume of published teachings that continue to inspire and guide.

In related news, there is an abundance of online programming on Chabad.org.

Chabad’s website continues to develop and has new Mishneh Torah-study options, the Chabad.org team has created new features and tools in addition to the ever-popular Daily Study page.

Users can preload up to two weeks’ worth of classes. New for this year is an ambitious project to produce a quiz for every chapter of Mishneh Torah to be enjoyed by those following the one chapter a day track.

Budapest’s famous Rumbach shul reopens

BY LEAH WAXLER Budapest’s historic Rumbach Street Synagogue destroyed by the Nazis in the 1940s has reopened.

The synagogue, dating from 1872, is an early work by noted Vienna architect Otto Wagner. Due to the annihilation of Hungary’s Jewish population the shul was never fully restored.

But the government’s financial support of the renovation has facilitated a multi-purpose building that will be used for shul services, host arts and cultural events, and act as an education centre.

World Jewish Congress will use the building as its official office.

A moveable Bimah includes original decorative elements that will be used for religious services.

A permanent exhibition in an upstairs gallery will tell the story of Hungarian Jews through the story of the Pulitzers (Politzers) family. Other facilities include a 40-seat conference hall and kosher cafe with interactive features enabling guests to learn about aspects of Jewish life.

WJC President Ronald S. Lauder delivered a poignant keynote address at a reopening ceremony.

Lauder joined the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities (MAZSIHISZ) to celebrate the occasion.

“Without this synagogue, I would not be here,” Lauder reportedly said. “My grandparents moved to Budapest to get married and had their wedding in the very space we are currently celebrating. They eventually moved to Vienna, and then to New York as antisemitism grew throughout Hungary. And if they did not make that move, I wouldn’t be here today, let alone part of

this historic celebration commemJewish state. orating a very positive step forward Chief Rabbi of Hungary, for Hungary’s Jewish community.”

Robert Frolich, Israeli AmbasLauder had with him a stone that sador to Hungary, Yacov Hawas part of the original synagogue das-Handelsman, Hungarian passed down by his grandparents Minister Katalin Novak and WJC that he has carried during his travVice President Maram Stern els as WJC president. Lauder noted participated. the stone represented good luck as Historians recall that when WJC combat the rise in antisemiMiklos Horthy’s dictatorial govtism globally. ernment agreed an alliance Lauder joined Rachel Nagy with Nazi Germany antisemitic Kramer, a student at Lauder Javne legislation saw 100,000 Jewish Jewish Community School in Bumen sent to forced labour. Some dapest, Hungary’s Minister of Fam40,000 perished. After Hungary ilies Katalin Novak and synagogue joined the war against the Allies, architect Tamas Konig in placing around 20,000 Jews from Kamemezuzot on the synagogue to open netz-Podolsk with Polish or Sothe ceremony. viet citizenship were handed to The reopening celebration inthe Nazis and murdered. cluded a commemorative march The extermination phase PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK Rumbach Street Synagogue in the Jewish neighbourhood. came after the Nazi invasion in Community members danced with March 1944. At this time, RumTorah scrolls before a religious ceremony the horrors of the Holocaust and through- bach Synagogue was led by Rabbi Shloime placed scrolls back out the years when the sacred building was Boruch Schmalhausen serving Jews in the in the Aron Hakodesh. ruined until its recent renovation. Here, Jewish ghetto in the eastern part of BudaMAZSIHISZ President, Andras Heisler, stones and people are breathing together.” pest. Horthy had rebuffed Hitler’s pressure reportedly commented, “Rumbach should Lauder went on to hold discussions with regarding the Jews. be a space open for everyone regardless of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Over 800,000 Jews lived in Hungary as if they are Jewish or not, regardless if they about antisemitism and a renewal of Jew- a result of annexations at the time. But in have Jewish relatives or friends, if they are ish life in the country.

May 1944, deportations to Auschwitz beforeigners crossing through town, if they And the WJC chief praised the govern- gan. In just eight weeks, over 420,000 Jews are poor people or students. The space ment’s support for the Jewish community, were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. should be a house of coexistence. This particularly support of the health, social After October 1944, when the Arrow building will not be a synagogue for just and cultural institutions for Hungarian Cross Party came to power, thousands of one type of community. It will be open for Jewry.

Budapest Jews were murdered on the banks all Jewish communities living in Budapest The two leaders discussed a need to of the Danube while tens of thousands and visitors that arrive in our city.” strengthen the defence of Hungary’s Jew- marched towards the Austrian border.

Heisler added, “The stones of Rumbach ish community which is becoming again a Historians estimate 565,000 Hungarian witnessed the history from the Jewish big part of Hungarian society.

Jews were murdered during the Shoah. golden age when we thrived in Hungary in Lauder thanked Orban for his recent Details on the history of the Hungarian the early part of the 20th century, through visit to Israel and ongoing support for the Jews is available at yadvashem.org

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12 NEWS

17 JUNE 2021

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JNF ‘Ivrit festival’ arrives in UK

BY ADAM MOSES

Prospective Parents Tours We invite you to experience what Sacks Morasha is all about.

Take a walk through our corridors and meet our wonderful team inperson. You can also watch our video and unique 3D virtual tour at sacksmorasha.org.uk

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Excellent well-being programme

Providing high academic excellence

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Feeding curiosity and building confidence

Strong links with Jewish and private secondary schools

Tours are available from 28th June 2021. To register, email office.administrator@morashajps.org.uk or call 0203 115 1900

JNF UK’s Festival of Spoken Ivrit has arrived in the UK. The festival, now in its third year, features actors performing a series of Hebrew-language plays in schools and nurseries from today until June 25. There will be 49 performances held at 20 venues, including JW3 and Jewish schools and nurseries across the country.

This year the festival features three plays by renowned Israeli Hour Theatre, each one tailored for a different age range.

Two will be Hebrew-language versions of children’s stories The Ugly Duckling and Pinocchio.

The third, Me and the Lane, is an autobiographical play written and performed by Itai Chammah.

The play tells the real-life story of how, before becoming an actor, Chammah achieved his childhood dream of representing Israel in swimming at the Olympics.

“The festival has in three short years become a mainstay of the Jewish educational calendar in the UK,” said Samuel Hayek, JNF UK’s chairman. “This innovative programme helps connect young British Jews with the Hebrew language and their Jewish heritage in a fun and stimulating way. We are proud that the festival will support our wonderful teachers who are working extra-hard after the difficult past year. British Jewry have always had a strong relationship

Itai Chammah

with Israel and JNF UK is honoured to help strengthen that relationship.”

The aim of the festival is to help pupils connect with Hebrew as part of its wider mission of strengthening the relationship between young British Jews and Israel.

The festival comes at a time when Hebrew teaching in schools has been set back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For most schools, the plays will be the first large events they have hosted since early 2020. In order to keep audiences safe, each performance will utilise cutting-edge technology that will enable an actor in England to interact live with pre-recorded actors performing in Israel, who will be displayed via digital screens.

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Aberystwyth University politics graduate Andrew Dymock has been found guilty of 12 terrorism charges at the Old Bailey.

The 24-year-old was accused of creating banned neo-Nazi groups System Resistance Network (SRN) and Sonnenkrieg Division.

System Resistance Network succeeded National Action, banned by the government in 2016, following a campaign by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.

A total of 15 charges included encouraging terrorism through use of propaganda.

During the trial, Dymock, son of academics, Stella and Dr David Dymock, denied all charges.

He thanked jurors “for killing me” as they delivered verdicts. A sentencing hearing is set for June 24.

Det Ch Supt Martin Snowden, counter terrorism policing north east head, reportedly said Dymock was a “key leader” of two terrorist organisations and the conviction was a “key step in protecting the UK”.

Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward reportedly told jurors Dymock was facing prosecution for “encouragement of terrorist activity, of violence, as a means to shape society in accordance with his beliefs, rather than through free speech and democracy”.

Dymock, whose computer had extremist views dating to when he was 17 years of age, was arrested at Gatwick Airport hours after a BBC investigation exposed his extremist activities in 2018.

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Dymock claimed he was “set up” by others and told police he was a conspiracy victim.

In other CAA news, a University of Warwick sociology lecturer has reportedly claimed the International Definition of Antisemitism is part of a Conservative plot that legitimates racist speech and de-legitimates anti-racist and anti-colonial research, teaching and activism.

Goldie Osuri made the comments in April at a Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) event titled ‘Resisting the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism’.

CAA notes UCU led calls to revoke the adoption of the Definition at British campuses. The union has included the Definition on a list of potential threats in a student survey.

Osuri is reportedly among Warwick academics pressuring the university to retract its adoption of the Definition. Wawrick backed Osuri after she dismissed concerns over the Labour Party’s crisis of institutional antisemitism.

The university dismissed a complaint by Warwick Jewish and Israel Society against Osuri.

CAA shared Jewish students’ conclusion that the university chose to side with antisemites and not Jewish students.

Concerns were raised about the university’s failure to address a group chat with antisemitic, misogynistic, abusive and threatening messages in 2019.

17 JUNE 2021

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with political analyst JAMES J. MARLOW

Israeli politics and the Knesset

Last Sunday the “Change Government” was finally voted-in with a razor thin 60-59 plenum vote along with one abstention. Before the vote took place, Prime Minister designate (at the time) Naftali Bennett, spoke from the podium to a hail of shouts and name calling, mostly from MK’s of the right wing Religious Zionists party. We asked our chief correspondent some questions.

JAMES, the Israeli media highlighted the disgraceful behaviour from some members, you monitored the entire session into the night, what’s your view?

It certainly was a stormy session and one which I have not heard for some time in the Knesset. But heckling is part of a healthy, vibrant, democracy. I recall it happening in the Knesset in the eighties from the left against the right, during the time of Yitzhak Shamir. It happened in the nineties from the right against the left, when the Oslo Accords were signed.

It occurred throughout the noughties when the Likud breakaway party, Kadima, initiated and implemented the disengagement from Gaza. It happened in 2009 when Bibi returned as Prime Minister with the Likud, even though Tzippy Livni won one more seat with Kadima, but she couldn’t fathom together a coalition.

I recall the shouting, heckling and hatred from the left, after Likud won by 6 seats in 2015, against Yitzhak Herzog, when the polls consistently stated, both parties were neck and neck.

We can condemn the heckling and shouts of “liar” and “traitor” against Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and we should.

But we also have to be consistent and recall when the left used equally strong language against the right.

In any case, the Likud speaker Yariv Levin, at his last session, gave the usual three warnings to the hecklers and then they were escorted out of the plenum. I counted some 10 MK’s were kicked out.

Let’s also remember that at times, during the Brexit debates within the House of Commons, the heckling and name calling was exceptionally bad. So it’s not fair to say, it just happens in Israel and only from the right to left, or in this case, from the right to the new Left-Centre-Right-Arab alliance. It’s a healthy, vibrate democracy and it happens in democratic parliaments everywhere.

This is a government made up of 8 parties ranging from the Left-Centre-Right and the Arab Ra’am parties. How will a coalition of secular liberals, social democrats, religious nationalists, liberal nationalists and Islamists work? And all with just a one seat majority?

80% of Israelis believe this government will fall very quickly. But if Naftali Bennett can somehow focus his government on paving roads, the environment, getting businesses back to work after Covid with

no new taxes, an agreement on passing the budget and issues dealing with education and health, then it has a chance of survival.

In addition, each of the leaders of the eight parties are extremely proud of themselves for finally ousting Netanyahu, after 12 continuous years as Prime Minister.

concessions with the Palestinian Authority, in a bid to convince Mahmoud Abbas to at least come to the table after 10 years.

Or there could be other security concerns from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria or Iran, which may force a break-up of the partnership.

But for now, we are in the honeymoon period.

to remain as leader of the opposition and bring down this new government. And despite having 3 indictments against him, the Likud under Netanyahu’s leadership, received 35 seats in April 2019, 32 seats in September 2019, 36 seats in March 2020 and in March 2020, the Likud garnered 30 seats, which was 13 more than its nearest rival. So an opposition party with 30 seats in the Knesset will likely be a strong power base.

However there are around 12 candidates waiting for the opportunity to run for the Likud leadership. According to polls, former Jerusalem mayor, Nir Barkat is leading. But Yisrael Katz, Yuli Eidelstein, Yariv Levin, Gilad Erdan, Danny Dannon, Miri Regev, Yoav Galant, Avi Dicter, Tzippy Hotovely and others fancy their chances.

But Netanyahu still tops the list and he remains by far, the most experienced MK in the Knesset and will likely enjoy his time taunting the mostly inexperienced new cabinet ministers.

Any last word on the survival of this government?

President Rivlin, Prime Minister Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister / Foreign Minister Lapid

PHOTO: HAIM ZACH (GPO)

The majority of the parliament is made up of votes to the right, but the government doesn’t reflect this reality and this will likely be a major thorn in the side of Prime Minister Bennett.

They therefore believe they all have a responsibility to behave themselves and keep Bibi out, who now still sits in the Knesset as leader of the opposition, and who is waiting patiently for just one opportunity to pounce. If another election is held within the next year, the right wing parties of Yamina, New Hope and possibly, Yisrael Beteinu, will likely lose seats.

However, even if the government act as if they are all best friends, and really work hard in their human relations technics, they may have another problem. The Americans could pressure Israel into more

There are concerns over the Arab Ra’am party having access to sensitive security information, especially as they were so hostile towards Israel in the past. What are your thoughts?

Mansour Abbas and Ra’am will not be in the inner security cabinet. Their focus is receiving support, funding and other forms of assistance for Arab and Bedouin communities across the country.

Will any Likud candidate challenge Netanyahu for the leadership?

Bibi has made it clear for now, he wishes

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The majority of the parliament is made up of votes to the right, but the government doesn’t reflect this reality and this will likely be a major thorn in the side of Prime Minister Bennett and his right wing colleague, Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Only 5% of the public voted for the party that its leader became PM. This is unprecedented in Israeli history.

In any case, it will very hard to replace Netanyahu on the world stage, especially as Bennett’s party, Yamina only hold 6 seats. (One of their MK’s voted against the government).

I heard from World Likud Chairman and former Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Dannon, saying when he served in the government as a Likud MK with just one seat majority in the Knesset, it was “mission impossible”. And that was with MK’s having similar ideological views.

With so many different political, religious and philosophical opinions today in the new government, according to Danny, it will likely be “mission impossible”.

But Mr Dannon did say, although it will be hard to speak as loudly as former PM Netanyahu did on Iran in 2015, Naftali Bennett must oppose any new JCPOA agreement with Iran, not matter what the consequences are.

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‫ב”ה‪ ,‬ערב שנת השבע תשפ”ב‬

‫אל אחינו בני ישראל‬

‫קרבה שנת השבע שנת השמיטה תשפ”ב הבעל”ט ושומרי שביעית כהלכתה יראי ה’ וחושבי שמו לגיונו של מלך‪ ,‬מתכוננים באהבה רבה לקיים‬ ‫המצווה בדקדוקיה והידוריה‪ .‬כבר שיבחו חז”ל את שומרי השביעית וקראו עליהם “גבורי כח עושי דברו” המקיימים מצוה רבה זו במסי”נ במשך‬ ‫למעלה משנה שלימה שבה משביתים שדותיהם וכרמיהם‪ .‬ובוודאי שזהו ניסיון גדול וקשה‪ ,‬הן מבחינה נפשית והן מבחינה גשמית‪.‬‬

‫והנה זכינו בדורנו בסייעתא דשמיא לגילוי התעצמות מופלאה בשמירת מצוות השמיטה‬ ‫כפי שהורה והנחיל מרנא בעל החזון איש זיע”א שנהיתה לנחלת רבים על ידי‬

‫קרן השביעית‬ ‫המרכז הארצי לחקלאים שומרי שמיטה שיסדה הגאון הגדול המפורסם חסידא ופרישא מרן רבי בנימין מנדלזון זכר‬ ‫צדיק וקדוש לברכה גאב”ד ור”מ קוממיות ת”ו‪ ,‬והמשיך בדרכו בנו הגאון הצדיק המפורסם רבי מנחם מנדל זצוק”ל‬ ‫שעומדת בעזהי”ת לאחיעזר ואחיסמך לשומרי השביעית הן בהדרכה הלכתית ומעשית‪ ,‬והן בהענקת תמיכות נכבדות כדי סיפוק צרכיהם‬ ‫לכלכלת ביתם בכדי שיוכלו לקיים את מצות השביעית בהידור ובשמחה‪ ,‬לקיים מה שנאמר “ושבתה הארץ שבת לה’ כפשוטו וכמשמעו‪ ,‬ובכלל‬ ‫זה להחזיק ידם שיספקו לעם ד’ פירות שבשדות ובכרמים בחינם כמאמר הכתוב “ואכלו אביוני עמך”‪ .‬ובזכות מפעלותיהם הכבירים זכינו שנוספו‬ ‫מאות חקלאים בעשרות יישובים אל עדת מקדשי שבת הארץ והם מתרבים משביעית לשביעית כ”י ובזכות מצוה השמיטה לקיימה בלי פשרות‬ ‫מתוך הידור ושמחה של מצוה‪ ,‬מתחזקים גם סביבותיהם בחינוך צאצאיהם לתורה ולמצוות ברוח ישראל סבא‪.‬‬

‫לכן אנו פונים אל אחינו בני ישראל בכל אתר ואתר ליטול חלק ונחלה עם גיבורי כח בשותפות אמת עם אלו המוסרים‬ ‫את נפשם למען קיום מצווה רבה זו‪ ,‬ולהרים את נדבת לבם ברוח נדיבה ובנפש חפצה למפעלות הקודש של ‘קרן‬ ‫השביעית’ בראשות הגאון הצדיק רבי ישראל יצחק מנדלזון שליט”א גאב”ד קוממיות ירושלים תו”ב ועל ידי שותפות זו‬ ‫יוכל כל אחד מישראל לקיים את מצוות השביעית בהידור ויזכו להבטחת תורתנו הקדושה “וצויתי את ברכתי”‬ ‫ויהא רעווא מן שמיא שבזכות קיום מצוות השמיטה בהידור יזכו כל המסייעים להחזקת החקלאים‬ ‫גיבורי הכח‪ ,‬לרוב שפע ברכה והצלחה‪ ,‬בני חיי ומזוני‪ ,‬בריות גופא ונהורא מעליא‪ ,‬פרנסה ברווח ובנקל‬ ‫מתוך הרחבת הדעת ושלוות הנפש‪ ,‬וזכות שמירת השביעית תעמוד לנו להסיר חרון אף ולכפר על כל‬ ‫נפשותינו‪ ,‬ולקרב את גאולתנו בביאת משיח אמן‪.‬‬

‫חיים קניבסקי‬ ‫מרן שר התורה‬

‫יעקב ארי׳ אלתר‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמור מגור‬

‫מנחם נחום בהרה״צ מוה״ר‬ ‫משולם זוסיא זצוקללה״ה‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמור מטשרנוביל‬

‫אביעזר פילץ‬

‫ראש ישיבת תושי‪-‬ה תפרח‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫י‪ .‬גרשון אידלשטין‬ ‫מרן ראש הישיבה‬ ‫נשיא מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫משה צדקה‬

‫מנחם מנדיל האגר‬

‫אליעזר זאב בהרה״ק‬ ‫מנדברנה זצקללה״ה‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מנדבורנא‬ ‫‪ -‬בני ברק‬

‫נחום דוב ברייאר‬

‫ראש ישיבת פורת יוסף‬

‫בהה״צ מוהרמ״י מויזניץ זצללה״ה‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר ממרכז חסידי ויזניץ‬

‫הק׳ ישכר דוב‬

‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מבעלזא‬

‫מרן האדמו"ר מבויאן‬

‫ראובן אלבז‬

‫ראש ישיבת אור החיים וחבר‬ ‫מועצת חכמי התורה‬

‫יהודה בויאר‬

‫ראש כולל חזון איש בני ברק‬

‫ישראל בהה״צ מוהרמ״י זצללה״ה‬ ‫מויזניץ‬

‫חכם שלום כהן‬

‫נשיא מועצת חכמי התורה‬

‫משה הלל הירש‬

‫ראש ישיבת סלבודקא‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫חיים שאול בהרה”צ‬ ‫מוהרי״ד זצוק״ל‬ ‫ממאדז’יץ‬

‫מרן האדמור מויזניץ‬

‫משה יהודה שלזינגר‬ ‫ראש ישיבת קול תורה‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫אריה לייב לוי‬

‫חבר מועצת גדולי ישראל‬

‫יצחק אזרחי‬ ‫ראש ישיבת מיר‬

‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר ממודזיץ‬

‫דוד יוסף בלאאמו”ר‬ ‫מרן הגר”ע יוסף זצוק”ל‬ ‫ראש מוסדות יחווה דעת‬ ‫וחבר מועצת חכמי התורה‬

‫שרגא שטינמן‬

‫ראש ישיבות אורחות תורה‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫נפתלי נויסבוים‬

‫ראש בי"ד אהבת שלום‬

‫דוד טווערסקי‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר‬ ‫מרחסטריווקא‬

‫ב‪.‬מ אזרחי‬

‫ראש ישיבת עטרת ישראל‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫צבי אלימלך הלברשטאם‬

‫יצחק זילברשטיין‬

‫ראש כולל בית דוד בחולון‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫יעקב בהה”צ מוהר”א‬ ‫זצללה”ה‬

‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מסרט ויזניץ‬

‫אליעזר יהודה פינקל‬ ‫ראש ישיבת מיר‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫בן לאדמו״ר הגה״ק זיע״א‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מצאנז‬

‫שלמה גולדמן‬

‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מזוויעל‬

‫ראש ישיבת סלבודקא‬

‫ישראל צבי יאיר‬

‫יהודה עדס‬

‫ברוך ויסבקר‬

‫דוב לנדו‬

‫חבר מועצת חכמי התורה‬

‫בן כ״ק מרן אאמו״ר זצללה״ה מאלכסנדר‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מאלכסנדר‬

‫ראש ישיבת קול יעקב‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫ראש ישיבת בית מתתיהו‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫שמעון בעדני‬

‫יהושע רוקח‬

‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר‬ ‫ממחנובקה בעלזא‬

‫משה מאיה‬

‫חבר מועצת חכמי התורה‬

‫שמעון גלאי‬

‫רב שכונת אוסם בבני ברק‬

‫בש״ם בן ציון רבינוביץ‬ ‫בלאאמו״ר זצוקללה״ה מביאלא‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מביאלא‬

‫יעקב הלל‬

‫מאיר צבי ברגמן‬

‫ראש ישיבת רשב"י‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫דוד כהן‬

‫צבי דרבקין‬

‫ראש ישיבת גרודנא באר יעקב וחבר‬ ‫ראש ישיבת חברון‬ ‫ראש ישיבת אהבת שלום‬ ‫מועצת גדולי התורה‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫משה סופר‬

‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מערלוי‬

‫חיים פיינשטין‬

‫ראש ישיבת עטרת שלמה‬ ‫‪ -‬שדה חמד‬

‫הק׳ מנחם אליעזר זאב ראזענבוים‬ ‫בן לאותו צדיק זצללה״ה מקרעטשניף‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מקרעטשניף ‪ -‬רחובות‬

‫תנחום בנימין בקר‬

‫נכד הגה”ק מאוז’רוב חנצ’ין זצוק״ל‬ ‫כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מאוזרוב חנצין‬

‫ברוך דוב פוברסקי‬ ‫ראש ישיבת פוניבז‬ ‫חבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫יצחק הקר‬

‫ראש ישיבת גרודנא באר יעקב‬ ‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫אברהם י‪ .‬הכהן קוק‬

‫אהרן בידרמן‬

‫ראש ישיבת מאור התלמוד רחובות כ"ק מרן האדמו"ר מלעלוב‬ ‫ בית שמש‬‫וחבר מועצת גדולי התורה‬

‫מרדכי שמואל בן‬ ‫אאמו”ר הגר”י זצוק”ל‬ ‫אדלשטיין‬ ‫רבה של רמת השרון‬

16 OPINION

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OPINION

17 JUNE 2021

The opinions on this page do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper

It’s the way you tell it OPINION PIECE

BY JAMES J MARLOW “Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas last night (Tuesday) and bombed several targets in the Gaza Strip.” This is how many of the news networks reported the news on Wednesday morning. Then comes the line, “Israel says, this was in retaliation for incendiary balloons launched from the territory”.

Sky, BBC, ITN, LBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, and the list goes on. This prompted the mob of haters to comment on social media with lines like: “Homemade fire balloons versus US bombs – Is there a better example of disproportionate use of force?”

This came from popular Jewish anti-Israel activist, Ariel Gold, based in New York.

Also on my twitter thread, an account named, Jorge Orwell with the sarcastic words: “Balloons vs Fighter jets seems like a fair fight to me”.

The problem is that many people expect the worst from Israel. Many have it in their

Israeli soldiers try to extinguish fire in an area close to the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip

heads, that Israel is the “bad boy” in the classroom. He is the one who causes most

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of the friction, anti-social behaviour, provocation and of course the playground fights.

They blame the parents and constantly tell their kids, to stay away from “that boy”.

But wait, after all the anti-Israel propaganda for many years in the media, the Jewish state was suddenly praised worldwide with their Covid vaccination roll-out programme. So what happened?

It is as if someone, somewhere said, Israel cannot be doing everything right. Let’s dig carefully to find some dirt. Next you have an “editor” who says, make sure you connect it with the Palestinian issue.

What comes next? “Israel denies Palestinians the vaccine”. The truth was: (1) The Palestinian Authority never requested any assistance. (2) They had their own independent Health Ministry, made possible by the internationally recognised legal document known as the Oslo Accords. (3) Their Secretary General of the PLO, the late Saeb Erekat, insisted that Palestinians did not accept health care from Israel, despite using Israeli hospitals himself, on many occasions, for Covid and other issues. (4) The PA already signed a deal to receive the Russian vaccine, Sputnik.

If you wish to mislead the public, you would write “Israel bombed Gaza targeting militia military compounds”. It’s not incorrect. It happened on Tuesday night. But the headline or lead-in on the news channels, is highly misleading and misses a chunk of the vital story piece.

How about: “Palestinian Hamas launched more than 300 hundred incendiary balloons from Gaza into Israel, setting at least 30 separate property and agricultural land fires across the south. “In response the Israeli air force targeted Hamas compounds in the Gaza Strip”.

Both statements are correct, but the

THEJEWISHWEEKLY.COM

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

second one gives more of an explanation of what actually occurred. But news editors will tell you, people don’t have time to read the details, they just need the headlines and brief bullet points of the story.

If that’s the case, (and it is) Israel has once again been demonised with an inflammatory headline and this could affect Jewish communities around the world, (which it has done and may continue to do so).

The truth is Hamas launched the balloons in response to the Jerusalem flag-day parade which took place in the old city on Tuesday.

Hamas once again claimed victory. They always do. But you have to give them credit.

As a result of their threats of firing rockets into Jerusalem if the parade went ahead, Israel had no choice but to deploy the iron dome again. They also re-routed the parade so it would not enter the old city through the Damascus Gate and it altered flight paths for aircraft heading to Ben Gurion airport. That’s a victory.

Funny how this annual march has taken place every year, for more than 50 years with little fuss, in celebration of the reunification of Jerusalem known as Yom Yerushaliyim. Yes, this time it was re-scheduled from May 10, after Hamas fired rockets into Jerusalem, but it rarely gets this much world attention.

James J. Marlow is a broadcast journalist previously working for ITN, EuroNews, LBC Radio, Daily Express and a number of Jewish publications. In addition, he ran a Media and Communications Training Operation and was a consultant at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.

He was also responsible for the training of Shlichim at the Jewish Agency and Bnei Akiva.

18 OPINION

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OPINION

17 JUNE 2021

The opinions on this page do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper

The grim reality OPINION PIECE

BY ROBERT FESTENSTEIN Last week a convoy of cars and coaches made their way to Central London from Bradford to call for a Free Palestine. Only they didn’t. Certainly they came to London and they certainly held a rally but they had no interest in a Free Palestine, just in destroying Israel.

David Collier in a recent article reminded me of the great imbalance that exists when it comes to those supporting Palestine. They have no interest in a real Free Palestine in the way that most protestors want. There were no calls for elections on the West Bank, removal of the misogynist Hamas regime in Gaza and absolutely no demands that attacks on Israel should cease. This was all about maintaining the terrorist status quo in the West Bank and Gaza and absolutely nothing about a Free Palestine.

Yet the media are content to ignore this grim reality. David Collier drew examples on a substantial bias in the media generally. These included the BBC, Sky News

and the Guardian. They all make much of alleged Israeli crimes against Palestinians but have no or only a tiny interest in routine murders of people across Africa by various Islamist groups. For the BBC et al it would appear that only Western black lives matter, those in Africa have no value.

Similarly, when a Palestinian terrorist is killed by security forces when trying to stab Israeli citizens, there are headlines and reports on the BBC and critical articles in the Guardian. Surely the terrorist wasn’t such; his running at civilians with a knife was just his way of saying hello. Yet when dozens of Christians are murdered in Nigeria by Boko Haram there are no reports or angry newspaper articles and certainly no calls for intervention by the ICC or the UN. I quote from David’s article: “What London witnessed yesterday [13 June 2021] was an Islamist demonstration. Many of those behind it all are known Islamist activist groups and radical Mosques. The

demographic was clear and everywhere.

This wasn’t a human rights protest at all – it was an Islamist protest against the Jewish state..”.

Despite the open support of Hamas, the obsession with Israel (as described by David Collier) is deep and far reaching.

It permeates every aspect of our society, from politics, to the media, trades unions, universities and beyond. This legacy from the 1970s when the well-funded Arab and Palestinian societies on campus proclaimed that there would only be peace in the Middle East when the Israel - Palestine issue was resolved now lives on in those organisations run by these former students.

There are some uncomfortable truths to be faced about certain parts of our population; namely that they are anti-Western, anti-democratic and anti-Semitic. The Bradford convoy was not about peace and absolutely not about freeing Palestinians from the oppressive rule of Hamas or

The Bradford convoy was not about peace and absolutely not about freeing Palestinians from the oppressive rule of Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.

THEJEWISHWEEKLY.COM

the Palestinian Authority. It was about intimidating British Jews and further, declaring openly on British streets the desire to destroy Israel and declare support for proscribed terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Those who support Hamas and the firing of rockets into civilian areas should be decried for what they are: supporters of terrorism who have no place in our society. If a ten year old social media message can cause a cricketer to be suspended, then surely open supporters of Islamist terrorists should face the same scrutiny as to their conduct. We live in an open and tolerant society, and in order to maintain it we need to expose the extremists. We need to ensure they are unable to exploit our open society as part of their cynical campaign to destroy it. The grim reality needs to be laid bare for all to see.

Robert Festenstein is a practising solicitor and has been the principal of his Salford based firm for over 20 years. He has fought BDS motions to the Court of Appeal and is President of the Zionist Central Council in Manchester which serves to protect and defend the democratic State of Israel.

17 JUNE 2021

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GAMES 19

Bridge With Harold Schogger

Dealer: South Vuln: E/W

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West led the jack of clubs against this enterprising contract. East took the queen of clubs with the ace and returned a trump. Declarer could count nine likely tricks: five trumps, two hearts, a club trick and a club ruff. As it was unlikely that he would ever score more than one club ruff, declarer led a diamond at trick two. However, the chances of making ten tricks diminished considerably when the king of diamonds was taken by the ace and East followed this up with a second trump.

Declarer ruffed a club loser and led a heart from dummy. East played low and the king of hearts won the trick. After drawing the last trump, declarer continued with the queen of hearts. East took this with ace and returned a club to declarer’s king.

Declarer had lost three tricks already and still had a losing club in hand. So declarer played a low heart and covered West’s eight of hearts with the nine; this was not a not a close decision for had East began with ace-ten-deuce, he would surely have held up his ace for a second time, thereby destroying the value of dummy’s long heart.

Of course, if East had played the ace of hearts on the first round of the suit, declarer was ready to play the king of hearts and hope that it was from shortage.

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20 COMMUNITY

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17 JUNE 2021

MBE for GIFT’s founding director Michelle Barnett GIFT’s Founding Director, Michelle Barnett, was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List this week for extraordinary efforts made by individuals and charities during the pandemic. Michelle, who started the charity from her kitchen 18 years ago, explained, “I am thrilled to have received such an incredible honour. This is a real acknowledgment of the vital work we are privileged to do in the community. I dedicate this award to GIFT’s co-founder & visionary R. Naftali Schiff; to our inspiring MD R. Sandor Milun; our awesome team and volunteers who have given of themselves so selflessly - especially this year; and my wonderful family who have so generously shared me for the past 18 years with my passion for GIFT.” GIFT’s mission is to develop a giving mindset and lifestyle through education and volunteering. GIFT’s vision is a world transformed from ‘me’ to ‘we’, in which all are engaged with and empowered by the GIFT of giving. GIFT, has become the go-to for giving as it inspires giving, whilst supporting those in need. In keeping with GIFT’s mission to shift attitudes and behaviours toward giving, in March 2020, when the pandemic hit, GIFT immediately created a number of lock-down ‘giving’ initiatives that could be worked on safely within people’s homes, including making gratitude packages for the NHS/ paramedics/Hatzola, telephone befriending, making isolation packs for the elderly and a virtual tutoring & mentoring programme for young people struggling with the lockdown. GIFT volunteers became the first responders, ready and assembled to do whatever was needed to ensure the community would be supported in a plethora of different ways. GIFT was also called on during the pandemic from JAMI, Jewish

Care, Norwood, JWA and United Synagogue Project Chessed to provide volunteers to support service users in need in the community.

GIFT’s impact during Covid included giving out over £450,000 worth of food packages and 15,300+ ready-to-go meals for the most needy and vulnerable; providing hundreds of hot lunches for children on free lunch programme in schools across London. GIFT took an increase of 35% in new referrals and is now supporting over 375 households with packages and practical support. During the pandemic GIFT also received over £79,000 worth of toys, bikes and laptops, which GIFT volunteers fixed up, repaired and distributed.

Over 7,000 requests for help in essential shopping, deliveries or picking up prescriptions for those unwell and isolating were responded to. GIFT also partnered with Barnet Hospital Trust and NHSOS to distribute 6,000 NHS packages, including over 50,000 items to NHS staff and care homes. Countless befriending phone calls and safe visits to the elderly and vulnerable were arranged; and over 12,650 personalised cards were written to the elderly in care homes. GIFT created a free virtual tutoring club online, with over 550 pairs, pairing students from year 11-university who are available to tutor in a range of different subjects and the charity also delivered over 850 educational sessions to schools, synagogues and youth groups and had over 7800 unique participants in school and university programmes and initiatives.

Michelle is a true example of the values and ideals that GIFT aspires to. Having been educated at Haberdashers she took a gap year to study at Brovender’s Seminary in Jerusalem before gaining an undergraduate degree in Psychology from

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Michelle Barnett with her letter confirming her honour

GIFT started from Michelle’s kitchen table in 2004, gathering excess bread from bakeries each week and redistributing it to struggling families whilst continuing her work as a probation officer.

Manchester, an MA in Social Work from Brunel University and an MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling from Regents College. Shocked by the volume of wasted food in supermarkets and restaurants and inspired by R’Naftali Schiff’s vision, GIFT started from Michelle’s kitchen table in 2004, gathering excess bread from bakeries each week and redistributing it to struggling families whilst continuing her work as a probation officer. However, very soon it became apparent that her passion for giving and her need to inspire others, were too strong and Michelle became GIFT’s very first employee. 18 years later that passion has created an organisation that has left an indelible mark on the Jewish community and the name Michelle Barnett is synonymous with giving. The opportunities and acts of giving that GIFT has created

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now rank in their hundreds of thousands.

Many hundreds of families have benefited from the thousands of hours that GIFT’s army of volunteers have given, supporting them in numerous important ways. In her personal life, Michelle’s husband Danny has supported her in dedicating much of her married life to GIFT whilst also successfully raising their 3 talented children, all who are deeply imbued with a sense of giving, making Michelle the embodiment of the phrase - “To Live is to Give”.

“Working with Michelle has been a life-changing and career defining time for me. It is truly a privilege to work alongside someone who is so selfless, who cares so much for everyone, and who gets things done and that the time of day is just not a concern.” Rabbi Sandor Milun GIFT Managing Director,

17 JUNE 2021

COMMUNITY 21

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Cockfosters & N Southgate US rabbinic couple

Rabbi Meir and Rina Shindler

Cockfosters and N Southgate United Synagogue have appointed a new rabbinic couple.

Rabbi Meir and Rebbetzen Rina Shindler are currently at Richmond United Synagogue where they have served the community for five years.

The Shindlers, who have four children, are expected to take up their role in November replacing Rabbi Daniel and Rebbetzen Ilana Epstein who moved to Western Marble Arch earlier this year.

Rabbi Meir is excited at the opportunity to lead the north London community.

“They are a busy, thriving community who have already given us such a warm welcome,” he noted. “We keenly anticipate

working together with the enthusiastic lay leadership on forward-thinking plans for growth post-pandemic.”

Jeff Zinkin, Rabbinic Search Team chair, commented, “We are tremendously excited to be welcoming them, leading the congregation in its next phase and continuing the great work of our previous Rabbinic families,” he said. “We have chosen a Rabbinic couple of the highest quality.”

Londoner Rabbi Meir has a First-Class Honours degree in Mechatronics Engineering from King’s College, London where he received several awards. After graduating, he worked for the Export Credit Guarantee Department of Her Majesty’s Government. He spent three years in yeshiva in Israel before going to University and, after a period in industry, attended Jerusalem Kollel where he gained semicha from Rav Yitzchak Berkovits.

Rabbi Meir’s first full time Rabbinic role was as Associate Rabbi at Chigwell & Hainault Synagogue together with SEED with a primary focus on developing the profile of young families.

As Senior Rabbi at Richmond Synagogue, he founded and directed the Richmond Jewish Community Hub, an inclusive cultural and educational centre for the Jewish community.

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22 COMMUNITY

Raise a glass to Armed Forces

Fiona Palmer with two of her children raising a glass to pay tribute to veterans, say thank you to HM Armed Forces and honour British Jewish servicemen and women to mark National Armed Forces Week

AJEX and Armed Forces Jewish Community (AFJC) have launched its ‘Raise a Glass’ campaign to mark National Armed Forces Week (June 21-27).

They are honouring British Jewish servicemen and women, past and present,

17 JUNE 2021

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and their service to the United Kingdom.

The initiative pays tribute to HM Armed Forces personnel, veterans, Cadets and families, who make up the Armed Forces community.

The organisations are asking people to

take a photo with a drink of their choice during the week.

Participants can take anything from an alcoholic beverage to a cup of tea or soft drink before sharing it on social media showing support and tagging #raiseaglass #SaluteOurForces@AJEX_JMA @HMAFJC Fiona Palmer, AJEX JMA’s Chief Executive commented, “We hope the community can join us in marking this important week in the lead up to our online Special AJEX Annual Service of Commemoration from the National Memorial Arboretum.

“It is of vital importance to honour those who have fought for our freedom and those who serve today.”

Lt Col Danny Sharpe RAMC, Armed Forces Jewish Community, added, “National Armed Forces Week is a great way to celebrate and say thank you. We are incredibly proud of Jews who serve today, those who have served and immensely grateful to those who support us and our families. This Armed Forces Week, please join us with a l’chaim.

Detail on Armed Forces Jewish Community: twitter.com/HMAFJC To follow the campaign: instagram.com/ajex_jma facebook.com/ajexheadoffice twitter.com/AJEX_UK

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Woodside Gan marked Child Safety Week

Woodside Gan pupils

Woodside Gan marked Child Safety Week at nursery.

Youngsters made traffic lights and played ‘crossing the road’ in the nursery garden. The nursery was took the children on an outing to look at a pedestrian crossing and traffic lights learning what each colour meant.

Children held hands with an adult when walking along the pavement.

Headteacher, Natalie Meyer, commented, “It’s so meaningful when we can take what we learn in the classroom and experience it in real life”.

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26 COMMUNITY

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New Chabad Centre in UK Rabbi Eliezer and Chana Tunk have been appointed new Chabad representative of the Bricket Wood Jewish community in Hertfordshire.

In the past several years the village on the outskirts of London has grown over 60% in number of Jewish Families moving in. Now Bricket Wood has over 300 families who have been campaigning for an established Jewish community.

Rabbi Leivi Sudak of Lubavitch in Edgware had assisted with the needs of the community.

Due to the increase in Jewish families a couple of months ago, at Rabbi Leivi’s suggestion Rabbi and Rebbetzen Tunk from Morristown, NJ, are set to take up the post.

The rabbinic couple grew up in Edgware.

After their marriage in the 2015, they travelled to America where Rabbi Eliezer studied at the Rabbniical College and worked as assistant principal, Chana worked as principal of a local primary school.

Together with their three children, the Tunks are looking forward to making Bricket Wood home and bringing their experience to the growing Jewish Ccmmunity.

With a number of housing developments on its way Bricket Wood is on a path to becoming a flourishing Jewish community is in sight.

Despite difficulties complying with

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Abigail and Saul were the picture-perfect happy couple, with successful careers.

When Abigail was prescribed pain killers for relief from a medical procedure, she had no idea how her life was about to change. It did not take long before she was addicted to opioids. Her life started to unravel, she was filled with inner turmoil, and her home and family were falling apart.

After a burglary, the police came to their home. After seeing its awful state, rubbish piled high, dirty laundry lying all over the house, rabbits running around with their faeces littering the floor, beds unmade and the family in an awful state, the Police reported

Abigail and Saul to Social Services who promptly placed the children in protective custody.

Without judgement, The Family Centre helped Abigail seek the help she needed and arranged an appropriate therapist for Saul. They were assisted through every step of

Rabbi Eliezer and Chana Tunk

their stressful and difficult journey, with ongoing emotional support and guidance.

Covid-19 restrictions, Rabbi & Rebbetzin Tunk have travelled to Bricket Wood to begin founding a local Chabad. Together with the community they organised the first Chanukah Memorah lighting that 150 people attended.

They also distributed Mishloach Monos for Purim, provided Shmurah Matzos for Pesach, where they met up almost 100 families and for Shavuot, through a group of volunteers headed by active community member Deena Grossman, cheesecake was distributed.

There are plans of a Friday night service after rules are lifted.

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The courts ordered Supervised Contact for the parents with their children. Contact was arranged at the Centre, where they had enough space and the activities to enjoy being

a family during those precious hours. Meticulous notes were taken during contact by the Supervisor. These were then sent to court.

The team at LJFC, worked together to make a comprehensive plan to help the family reunite in a healthy, productive, and loving way. Through investigations, challenging circumstances, therapy, legal proceeding and more, LJFC was there holding their hand and supporting them through the process.

It has been a lengthy journey and it is an ongoing struggle, but Abigail is in recovery, and

Abigail with Saul are now reunited with their children. Together as a family they face the future with the tools needed to ensure the wellbeing and happiness of each family member. *Supervised Contact- Where the court has determined that the children are at-risk during visitation with their parents or other family members

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COMMUNITY 27

We Were There Too Project continues to thrive British Jews in the First World War – We Were There Too, a landmark digital heritage project was launched in June 2016.

The launch event at Bevis Marks Synagogue, became the focal point for the UK’s Jewish Community’s commemoration of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916.

This first stage of the project recorded the lives of London Jews during WWI and concentrated on building a digital platform, www.jewsfww.uk<http://www.jewsfww.uk>.

The results have been outstanding and from July 2016 until March 2021 there have been over 211,000 visits to the site.

Other outcomes from the project include the growing range of educational and informative resources available which have been taken up by schools and community organisations. Many of these are engaging in digital heritage for the first time.

In October 2018, as We Were There Too was preparing to expand into the North West, the National Lottery Heritage Fund held an event to showcase just a few of the projects it had supported as part of the commemoration of the centenary of The First World War. Out of the 12 projects

The We Were There Too project

WWTT was the only digital heritage project to be featured.

The North West Project, the second phase, was launched in January 2019 after months of preparatory work. A base was established at JLGB’s Manchester office and a programme was created to secure sponsorship and encourage community engagement.

The Nicky Alliance Centre has just reopened and the popular Art Club is now letting in it’s budding artists.

Malcolm Yaffe, Nicky Art club member

A total in excess of 1,200 adults and over 1,160 young people attended face-to-face events at a variety of venues, highlights being the launches at the historic Princes Road Synagogue in Liverpool and King David High School in Manchester, all attended by supportive military and civic dignitaries. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers also hosted a presentation evening and four day exhibition at its museum in Bury. The regiment has long standing connections with the Jewish communities in Lancashire and London, dating back to The First World War. Col Brian

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Gorski, chairman of the museum, said: “It is important to recognise the sacrifice of all people, no matter what the religion or race of the soldiers who contributed to the freedom of our country.

“We were delighted to host the WWTT presentation and exhibition at The Fusilier Museum. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers has strong links with the Jewish Community through the Royal Fusiliers, which formed three Jewish battalions during WWI and the Lancashire Fusiliers which was the regiment of choice for many Jews from North Manchester, Bury and Salford.”

WWTT now plans on building on the success and expanding the Project into the North East and Yorkshire and Yorkshire and Humberside.

Project Manager, Rodney Ross, said: “The WWTT project has been an amazing success thanks to our staff, willing volunteers and organisations such as AJEX, JLGB, Pears Foundation and the National Heritage Lottery Fund who have made it all possible. We are now seeking funds for the third ambitious stage which will take the story of the Jewish contribution to this country in time of war further afield.”

Further information on the project and how you can help is available by telephoning 0161 7678890 or emailing contacts@ jewsfww.uk

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Jnetics inaugural Norwood is recognised cycle challenge for annual dinner reimagined

Jnetics challenge participants

At the end of May, a squad of 30 cyclists travelled to the Lake District from across the UK to partake in Jnetics’ inaugural challenge event , a 180 mile cycle across 4 days. Soon after arrival at their stunning base in Great Langdale, the riders set off on a 30 mile route from their base in Great Langdale to Blea Tarn, where they enjoyed stunning views of the Langdale Pikes.

Day 2 - with 45 undulating miles to cover, an early start saw our riders on the road to Ambleside and on towards Kirkstone – the highest of the Lakeland passes at 1500 ft . The climb out of Ambleside is on a minor road called ‘The Struggle’. Now we know why! We then saw Ullswater for the first time at Glenridding – the start point for climbing Helvellyn, one of the most popular of the Lake District climbs. We followed the shore of Ullswater for 3 miles before reaching Threlkeld, a delightful village where the riders enjoyed a picnic lunch, sheltered from the rain inside the Village cricket club. Soon we were back on the road to our next lake, Thirlmere, and a fast downhill towards Grasmere. Day 2 finished with a final ascent over the pass with views of Elterwater.

Day 3 - This was the Challenge Day! 65 miles and 3 epic climbs! At least the weather started to pick up and we saw the sun for the first time! The first climb was up the infamous Wrynose Pass which has short sections of 25-30% gradients. Soon afterwards came Hardknott Pass, shorter and sharper, also with 25-30% gradients.

The subsequent downhill into Eskdale was a dream! As was the stunning route to Ennerdale Bridge with expansive views of the Lakes, where we enjoyed lunch. Soon we were at Buttermere and Loweswater, with spectacular views of the lakes and mountains beyond.

One of the cyclists, David Blank told

us “The final climb of the day took us up Honister Pass to the slate mine at 1200ft and on to our finish point at Portinscale.

The ride not only today but every day totally surpassed my expectations. At times the challenges were huge, but nothing in comparison to the challenges facing the parents of babies born with genetic disorders” David added “ I am truly privileged to be able to support such an amazing charity “ What a day!

Day 4 - Still 35 undulating miles to cover before we headed for home and we were soon past Loughrigg Tarn before descending and returning to the main road towards Ambleside, then Hawkshead for a second time and High Wray with commanding views over Lake Windermere.

Our riders continued past Esthwaite Water and cycled along the eastern side of Coniston for 5 miles, passing Brantwood, a stately home and former residence of John Ruskin, writer and painter, before the final stretch back to Great Langdale. Just time for a quick change and a final lunch to celebrate the inaugural Jnetics cycle challenge before leaving the Lakes.

Nicole Gordon, Jnetics CEO added” I am so proud of the cyclists and the team who made the inaugural Jneticycle possible.

It was a truly fantastic 4 days. To date we have raised over £50,000 which will make a huge difference to the number of young adults we can screen this year. Every penny we raise takes us one step further to achieving our mission of ensuring that no young Jewish couple should have to endure the heartache of bringing a child into the world with one of the genetic disorders that Jnetics screen for” For further information on Jnetics please visit www.jnetics.org or email nicole. gordon @jnetics.org

Norwood is delighted to announce that, having been shortlisted last month, it won the Silver award in the Best Innovation category and Bronze award in the Best Celebratory category at the EvCom Clarion Awards this week for our Annual Dinner Reimagined 2020. The star-studded event – Norwood’s first virtual landmark annual fundraising event – was hosted by Jonathan Ross, and featured guest appearances from Aljaz and Janette from Strictly Come Dancing, Craig David, Darcy Bussell, Katie Piper, Lewis Capaldi, Lulu, Michael McIntyre and Rob Rinder, plus real life stories to provide an insight into what happens every day at Norwood, all in the space of just 45 minutes.

To be recognised in this way is a testament to the sheer determination, hard work and collaboration that brought the virtual event to life. Thanks also for Verity London for all their support with the event.

The Norwood Annual Dinner is always the key event in Norwood’s fundraising calendar. With the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns in increasing Norwood’s costs

and constraining its income, the need for support was greater than ever: Staff, training, cleaning and PPE costs have all risen and we have had to cancel our fundraising events and challenges.

Norwood is the largest Jewish charity in the UK supporting vulnerable children and their families facing challenges and anyone of any age with a learning disability and autism. Norwood supports more than 2,500 people each year, giving them the tools they need to live the most fulfilling lives they can.

Norwood works with 56 local authorities and is in 40 schools, delivering wide-ranging services including residential and supported-living accommodation, shortbreaks facilities, a range of therapeutic services including occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and psychotherapy, as well as a range of support groups aimed at the whole family, not just the individual.

It costs £32m a year to run Norwood’s life-changing services, of which £12m must be raised from voluntary donations.

Manchester Pirchei Agudas Yisroel has just resumed with its members enjoying Sunday afternoon in the portacabins for boys aged 10-12 years old at the weekly programme.

Pirchei Agudas Yisroel weekly Sunday programme

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COMMUNITY 29

Talented Kisharon artists showcase work This week marks Learning Disability Week (14th-20th June). Being creative, has been a way to stay connected and positive through the challenges over the pandemic and artistic talent from across the learning disability community is being recognised this year.

“The theme of this year’s Learning Disability week is art and creativity - Kisharon has always put these at the forefront of connectivity so we look forward to celebrating the art and creativity of the people we support across our services this week.” Said Hadassa Kessler, Director of Operations.

The Kisharon Noé School recently held an art exhibition inspired by ex-pupil, Etty who displayed her artwork in a classroom in the school before she moved to Manchester. Kisharon believe in providing exciting, creative and meaningful learning experiences. The teaching staff were so impressed with Etty’s art that it inspired them to give canvasses to pupils and work together to create an art exhibition. The class, led by Helen Gillan together with Bat-sheva Cutler (a practising artist), set to work on large scale canvasses.

Talented pupils showcase exceptional artwork in an art exhibition that pupils curated from start to finish

Not only did pupils put their artistic talent to ‘canvas’ but pupils advertised the exhibition, created tickets, sent emails, researched canape recipes, sourced the ingredients in a supermarket and made the canapes in the school teaching kitchen facilities. At the exhibition pupils named

Cross Community Symposium: After Covid: Towards a strong recovery for Jewish Education Over 60 key figures involved in Jewish education, both formal & informal, gathered online to discuss lessons learnt and best ways of moving forward post Covid.

The Symposium “After Covid: Towards a strong recovery for Jewish Education” was a joint initiative by UJIA and LSJS with the aim of bringing the community together at a time when Jewish education is at a critical point. The symposium provided a collaborative space to address the issue of how to ‘build back better’ after the Covid experience. Presentations were given by Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, Dean of LSJS, Dr Rona Novick, Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, and education expert Jonny Ariel.

Drawing on recent research on post-pandemic recovery and opportunity, participants shared ideas and emerging models of success, captured learning from their lived experiences and considered how to drive change. The symposium started a critical process which aims to develop a bold agenda for Jewish education, which crucially, will bring together leaders of schools, youth movements, synagogues, and education organisation.

Joanne Greenaway, LSJS Chief Executive, says “I’m so pleased that we have been able to come together to start such a critical conversation for the future of Anglo-Jewry. This was only the start of a process but there was tremendous engagement from the participants and so many

Joanne Greenaway

ideas to build on.”

Mandie Winston, UJIA Chief Executive, says “Our community’s future rests upon the quality of our Jewish educational experiences. We were inspired and motivated by the commitment, passion and wisdom of all of the participants and look forward to turning these conversations into tangible action towards building back better.”

To find out more about the symposium or to be involved in a future event please contact joanne.greenaway@lsjs.ac.uk or Mandie.Winston@ujia.org

their work and described what each piece meant to them.

Helen Gillan commented, “We are so proud of all the pupils that took part.

Everyone enjoyed being curators; deciding how to display the artwork and where each piece should be placed. All pupils

and staff worked tirelessly to make the exhibition a success and hopefully families will be able to see the artwork in person soon”.

On the awareness week, Director of Operations, Hadassa Kessler commented, “Learning Disability week raises awareness and celebrates anyone with a learning disability - we hope the community can join with us in marking this important national week. A significant aspect is to recognise that a very positive contribution to society can be given by all and we’ve come a long way in moving past the stigma around disability so let’s keep going in the right direction – to acknowledge the journey.”

‘A Week for Chai’ Fundraising Events raise more than £3,600 for Chai in the North West The second week of June, the Community in the North West came together to take part in ‘A Week for Chai’, an annual weeklong fundraising initiative asking people to host an event in aid of Chai.

Throughout the week, Chai supporters took part in a range of innovative and creative activities which raised much needed awareness and funds for Chai’s northern hub.

The Forever Chai Committee kick started the week with a Kids Artisan Market at Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School on Sunday 6th June. The market, which raised £2,000, featured more than 20 stalls run entirely by young entrepreneurs who sold handmade jewellery, personalised art, cakes, cookies and so much more!

Chai’s Community Fundraiser, Jilly Berens said: “We had around 350 visitors in total. Everyone had smiles on their faces and the feedback has been incredible – it was fantastic to see such a brilliant turnout!”

The Whitefield Hebrew Congregation ‘Community Quiz Night’ raised much needed awareness of Chai as 43 households tuned in to Zoom for a quiz dedicated to Mark Saunders z’l. During the evening, Rachel Harris, a Chai client, spoke beautifully about how special Chai was to her when she went through her

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Works of art from the painting class

cancer treatment. The event hosted by Michal Balshine raised £1,064.

On Sunday the 13th June, nine children attended a painting class led by Sherry Marks of ‘Doodles Art & Craft Club’ in her garden in Prestwich. They created eye catching ice cream canvasses and raised £36.

On Sunday evening, Debra Kay hosted ‘In the kitchen with Debra’, a virtual baking class for eight children. Debra guided everyone step by step to bake delicious brownies and scones. The event raised £25.

Chai’s Chairman, Louise Hager, said: “Well done everyone! Each and every event is an opportunity to learn about Chai’s specialised services. A heartfelt thanks to everyone for all their generosity which helps ensure that Chai’s Big C of Care can continue to make a tangible difference to all those who turn to us.”

30 FEATURE

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From the front line…

Must we fight forever for freedom?

BY JACQUELINE CURZON Our long awaited Freedom Day has proved, despite government assurances and the futile hope of millions, another dead-end for Britain. With 65% of us having at least one jab, and half the UK population double vaccinated, one must ask, can we really wait for Zero Covid?

The hospitality, catering, wedding and entertainment sectors, already at breaking point, will simply not survive if we hesitate much longer. As I have alluded to many times, one new variant should ‘not prevent our summer,’ for further outbreaks will doubtless bring other 'variations on the covid theme.' Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has bravely said he will open his theatres regardless of further restrictions, but what of the concert halls, recording studios etc?

They cannot afford to lie empty indefinitely or worse, have such a distanced audience that it becomes a totally alien experience, as well as proving financially unviable. To those of us who have in the past enjoyed live music, dance or the dramatic arts, we might soon find ourselves living on a virtual island or a musical wilderness in the future. Boris' guidance is that we should continue with distancing measures, working from home where possible; you can go ahead with your wedding plans with an unrestricted number, but strictly no dancing or singing. Yeah, right…..

Travel categories are still not being relaxed, so summer looks pretty much off the cards, but hopefully lockdown won’t be dragged on/off until next spring - Groundhog Day then making it a neat 2 year hiatus on life.

Going back then to the UK’s 128,000 covid deaths….. I wonder if perhaps those who have fallen in the battlefields of coronavirus should be awarded a medal of recognition, for every single one of their deaths was avoidable, regardless of whether the virus escaped from a laboratory or was quietly cultivated in a pangolin.

Hospital Trusts have found themselves in hot water for issuing DNRs during the pandemic, without discussion with patients nor permission from their families.

Caroline Jackson (74) found herself in this questionable category after discharge from John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where she was being treated for a broken pelvis.

Medical staff had ticked boxes indicating consent had been granted by her, which was untrue. The NHS has repeatedly stated that such DNRs should not be invoked. An inquiry is predicted although Matt Hancock is adamant that everyone who needed appropriate care during the pandemic, got it. Reports from Mrs Jackson and others tell a rather different story, that of some medics playing G-d. To those who might consider such a rationale acceptable, or view the scourge of ongoing cancer casualties as just an inevitable, unfortunate

Jacqueline Curzon PHOTO: LARA MINSKY PHOTOGRAPHY

event in the Great Covid War, I say one would not take such a pragmatic view if it were YOUR mother, husband, wife or child who would succumb through neglect, division and non provision of treatment.

The piper's tune would change. Now, given the incidence of cancer is greater than 1:2, it could be coming to a household near you. Never did I expect 2 out of 4 within my immediate family would be struck with the Big C. It's time cancer, consultations and care were back firmly at the top of the NHS to-do list.

Scientists have successfully created a 3-D replica of a cancerous human liver which doctors can use to practice operations.

The prototype, made from a combination of synthetic gels and fibres, was created by researcher Richard Arm at Nottingham Trent University. Surgeons currently assess patients using scan data ~ ultrasound, CT and MRI. Richard Arm, a PhD candidate at the School of Art & Design at NTU and who made headline news in 2016 after creating a prototype 3-D heart (known as a thoracic trauma trainer), designed and constructed the liver. He used scanned data and was guided by Dr Christopher Clark, a radiologist at Nottingham University Hospital, who said this technology ‘could give surgeons increased confidence in the procedures’ they are undertaking.

Hopefully it will pay dividends for patients with liver cancer.

The legal age for getting married in the UK is to rise to 18 within the next year, bringing marriageable age in line with drinking, buying alcohol and voting, although if you do live in Scotland you can have your political say at the age of 16 thanks to Auntie Nic! In the past 10 years there were 3,354 cases of young marriages, and last year the Home Office forced marriage unit {FMU} intervened in around 580 cases of marriage of under 17s. The minimum age of 16 was set back in 1929 when the moral canvas of society was somewhat different, and parental influence was more weighty than is generally seen today.

A man called Ziona Chana (76), the head of a polygamist religious sect in Mizoram,

India, with 4000 members, has died and is believed to have created the world's largest family. We all know someone who might qualify for that accolade, but - trust me you're going to lose this one. Chana had 39 wives, 94 children, 33 grandchildren and one great grandchild. His family was huge by north eastern Indian standards, and if you were wondering how on earth he could accommodate this vast family, they lived in a 100 room, four storey mansion in the remote village of Baktawng Tlangnuam, and are largely self-sufficient, running their own school, farming and growing crops etc. I imagine their Friday night round-the-campfire to be tuneful and loud - a bit of a balagan.

Twin sisters made the headlines after a crocodile attack in a dangerous location in Mexico. Georgia and Melissa Laurie (28) were taken to a lagoon near Puerto Escondido by an unlicensed tour operator, where Melissa was then bitten, shaken and dragged underwater by a croc. She was saved by her sister who punched the reptile repeatedly. Melissa, a zookeeper, suffered an open wrist fracture, organ lacerations, internal bleeding and water in her lungs, and was placed in an induced coma, whilst Georgia was treated for injuries to her hands. The twins' older sister Hannah said the guide had ‘gone to where the crocodiles lived and not the location where all legally certified, sanctioned tours take place.’ So now you know the picture once bitten, twice shy!

In an unconnected event, Michael Packard (56) managed a lucky escape, after being nearly swallowed by a humpback whale, off the coast of Massachusetts.

Packard, a lobster diver, was near the seabed, when he was literally swept up, and at first thought he had been attacked by a great white shark; however the absence of killer teeth alerted him to it being a whale.

Unlike Jonah, Packard's ordeal was over within a minute or so, when the whale rose and spat him out. A nearby fishing vessel crew saw him being ejected into the air, and rescued him. Although a humpback can grow to 52 feet and 30 tonnes, their oesophagus is too small to swallow a human being. So, lucky for Packard, the humpback's lunchbox evidently wasn’t quite to its liking.

An obituary of note this week is that of Ann Russell (92), who became Sister Mary Joseph of the Trinity. Ann was an only child and was born in San Francisco in October 1928. Her father was chairman of Southern Pacific Railways and at age 20 she married Richard Miller, whose family had founded Pacific Gas and Electric Utility Company. By the time she was 27 she had five children with five more following. In her youth she had her hair done several times a week by Elizabeth Arden, she covered her parasols with Hermes

scarves, and coordinated her spectacles with her outfits. She smoked, drank, played cards and spent many hours a day on the telephone at her nine bedroomed house overlooking San Francisco Bay. She and her husband Richard would frequently entertain 40 guests at a time. According to a friend she had enjoyed a high diving, fast driving, amazing life with a shoe collection to make that of Imelda Marcos seem ‘pitiful’ by comparison. She was philanthropic and sat on the board of 22 charitable organisations.

In 1984 her husband Richard died of cancer, and thereafter she spent several years doing all the things on her Wish List, and giving away all of her wealth.

Then, on her 61st birthday in 1989, she threw a farewell party at the Hilton for her 800 closest friends. The guests listened to music by two orchestras and enjoyed gastronomic delights as Ann Russell Miller flitted through the room trailing a helium balloon behind her saying, ‘here I am!’

As a prominent socialite and a mother of 10 it was highly unusual for her to leave this privileged life, but the following day she flew to Chicago and knocked on the door of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and (according to a friend) when they opened the door she said, ‘Here I am.

Trick-or-treat!’ In this new life she spent 23½ hours of each day in silence and never again went out into the world. It was a huge contrast to her previous life: she slept on a thin mattress on a bed made from planks, was allowed one visitor a month, and even then the meetings were held with her sitting behind two sets of bars. After her death her son Mark revealed he’d only seen her twice in 30 years and she’d never met many of her grandchildren. She is survived by five sons, five daughters and extended family.

And Finally ~ the youngest recipient of last week's Queen’s awards is Amika George (21) who campaigned for girls to be given free personal care products by the government. Amika, who is studying history at Cambridge, has now received an MBE for her services to education, along with friends Clegg Bamber and Anna Miles, who were also involved in the campaign.

A man gifted with an incredible memory, has hit a world record by reciting the names of all 712 Titanic survivors in under 42 minutes. Dean Gould (56), father of three, barely paused for breath whilst reeling off the names of the survivors of the 1912 disaster. Not one to run away from a challenge, he previously recited pi {π} from memory to 1,000 decimal places, in just 8 minutes. Well then, I’ll see you roughly 10,080 minutes from now.

Love Jacqueline x

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COOKERY 31

Summer Pea Soup This soup is ideal when fresh peas are cheap and plentiful. It is easy and quick to prepare and low in fat! It is a thick vibrantly green soup that oozes with fresh taste of summer. The supermarkets today have ready podded fresh peas available most of the year, but the new season summer harvest has a delicately sweet flavour that taste delicious even eaten raw.

I like to make double quantity and freeze some for another occasion. For a winter pea soup, use frozen peas.

NB: Petit pois are the sweetest

Another delicious recipe from Denise Phillips For more recipes and inspiration visit my website: www.jewishcookery.com

Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes Serves: 4 Ingredients 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 8 spring onions – trimmed and roughly chopped 900ml vegetable stock 2 tablespoons fresh mint – roughly chopped 1 kg fresh peas in the pod or 500g frozen petit pois – podded ½ green lettuce, shredded 110g mangetout, trimmed and chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste Garnish: Fresh sprigs of mint

To serve the stylish way: Serve piping hot garnished with sprigs of fresh mint.

Summer Soups

BY DENISE PHILLIPS Soup any time of the year is a good choice to stay hydrated and full and to give your immune system a boost. Even in summer, soup can help stave off cold and flu..

Summer soups tend to be lighter than winter soups and very quick to cook using ingredients that are ready to be pureed once they reach the boil and some need no cooking at all! Fresh pea soup with fresh herbs is a particularly good example of this.

Summer soup is often served cold, but this is not essential. Gazpacho is one of the best known. It contains basic ingredients like tomato, cucumber, onion, garlic, pepper, olive oil, vinegar, salt and bread and is particularly refreshing on a hot day. I like to sprinkle an assortment of toppings to add texture to the smooth soup.

Variations using avocado also work well with a Mexican style flavour adding sweetcorn, coriander, chives, chilli and garnished with tortilla chips.

Traditional Borsht, beetroot soup, is a good example of a soup that is served hot or cold. When chilled this beetroot soup

Method - For the Base 1) H eat the oil in a large deep saucepan and gently fry the spring onions until softened. Add the stock and stir in the mint and peas.

2) B ring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the lettuce, mange tout.

3) Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4) P uree half of the soup in a blender or food processor. Return the puree to the saucepan and mix well.

5) Reheat just before serving.

tends to be milky and topped with a swirl of sour cream but when hot it is normally meaty and garnished with cooked boiled potatoes.

Vichyssoise, a French soup made with leek, onions, cream, and potatoes is another delicious choice for the cold soup menu and can be served hot!

Fruit soups during the summer are also very refreshing and a little bit different.

Marinated fresh peaches, dried apricots, honey, vinegar, olive oil and then pureed is a tasty option that you may enjoy as a starter or dessert.

Cucumber and yoghurt with fresh dill work well as does chilled edamame soup with ginger and crème fraiche. Hungarian chilled cherry soup made with whole fresh cherries, sour cream, rose wine, cinnamon, vanilla and flaked almonds looks as delicious as it tastes!

Ideally use ingredients in season for maximum flavour and nutrition.

Cold soup is perfect for Shabbat lunch when it is hot as you can prepare in advance and enjoy the next day. Serve in shot glasses for a little finesse. And remember to add garnishes for colour, flavour and texture.

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Overcoming Guilt and Achieving Moral Integrity Don’t judge yourself as a bad person.

(Ethics of the Fathers 2:18)

BY ARYEH SAMPSON

it was permitted.”

While some people regress into denial, others show the opposite tendency, known as “turning against self.” They assume too much responsibility and experience an over-exaggerated sense of guilt. This tendency can develop as a result of being made to feel overly guilty in childhood by authority figures or cultural influences. We need to gain an accurate perspective, otherwise we may find it too overwhelming to change.

One effective method to achieve this is to use a thought diary.

We all have times when we feel guilty, whether about a small matter, such as forgetting to return a borrowed object, or a larger issue, where we fall far below that which we expect from ourselves.

Guilt is rooted in the struggle between the true self (our conscience) and the deceptive self. When we follow our conscience we maintain our integrity; when we succumb to the rationalizations created by the deceptive self, we lose credibility with ourselves and guilt develops.

There have been many psychological experiments which examine people’s ability to follow their moral conscience when placed under pressure. One famous experiment, known as the Milgram Experiment, was conducted at Yale University in July 1961.

Volunteers were asked to play the role of a teacher to a student who was in another room. A man in a white coat gave the volunteers their instructions. If the student made a mistake, they were told to press a button that administered an electric shock to the student. The volunteers were unaware that the student was an actor who pretended to feel the shocks and scream out in pain, but in reality felt nothing. With each mistake, the volunteers were urged to press a button that administered increasing levels of electric voltage. This research was aimed at discovering at which point the volunteers would refuse to continue participating in the experiment. The results showed that more than sixty percent of volunteers continued to press the button, issuing shocks of 450 volts, which would have been fatal to the student.

Fortunately, there are many other examples which demonstrate people’s ability to follow their conscience under adverse conditions.

One of my favorites is the heroic actions of Chiune Sugihara in World War II: Chiune Sugihara was a diplomat in the Japanese consul in Vilna, Lithuania, during the 1940s. Jews living there were desperate to obtain travel visas to escape the threat of a German invasion. Sugihara was instructed by his superiors not to issue any visas. He knew that the plight of thousands of Jewish lives were in his hands, but if he disobeyed orders he would endanger his own career and the safety of his family. Sugihara made a decision to disobey his orders. Supported by his wife, he worked eighteen to twenty hour days issuing thousands of visas. He wrote, “I followed my own conscience and listened to it.” As a result of his decision, he saved six thousand lives including the entire

Carol, mother of three, was extremely devoted to her children; nevertheless, she always believed that she wasn’t doing enough for them. She was disorganized at times, and one day she arrived very late to pick up her sixyear-old daughter Jenny from school. When Carol arrived, Jenny was crying hysterically.

Jenny said, “I thought you were late because you had been killed in a car crash.” Carol felt terrible and she feared that she may have caused her daughter permanent psychological damage. She was overcome by guilt.

Mir Yeshiva (college of Jewish studies). Japan was infuriated by his actions and ended Sugihara’s public service career in 1947, sending Sugihara and his family into poverty. In 1984, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, recognized Chiune Sugihara with the award of being one of the “Righteous among the Nations.”

When we ignore our conscience, guilt emerges as a form of self-condemnation.

There are times when this guilt may act as a positive motivation for change. But often, it results in what can be called unhealthy guilt, or “toxic guilt,” which is when we ruminate over our mistakes as a form of self-punishment without any change occurring. Toxic guilt can cause considerable psychological suffering such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. A person may also find that this guilt causes him to become trapped in a cycle of self-destructive behavior For example, a person who feels depressed may go to the fridge and indulge in “comfort food” as a coping strategy in an effort to feel better. This may give initial relief but often leads to feelings of shame and guilt about the overeating. This guilt then causes the person to become more depressed, which leads to more comfort eating.

To restore our moral integrity and overcome guilt, Judaism teaches a process of teshuvah. This is often translated as “repentance,” but more accurately, it means “to return” (derived from the word shuv),

and refers to the process by which we can return to our true selves. We will now apply the ACTive method, awareness, control and transformation to achieving this

STAGE 1: AWARENESS

The first stage of change is to attain an honest and accurate awareness of the mistake and its causes, and to accept responsibility for it. To achieve this, we may have to overcome a desire to deny the mistake or blame it on others.

When Adam went into hiding after eating from the Tree of Knowledge, God asked him, “Where are you?” The commentator Rashi explains that God asked this question in order to give Adam the opportunity to admit his mistake and to do teshuvah. Adam failed to grasp this opportunity and went on to blame Eve, saying, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

In marital therapy, both parties will often initially blame their problems on each other.

Gradually, if the counseling is to be successful, each partner needs to become aware of his or her own role in harming the relationship and to accept responsibility for it.

One factor that contributes to the tendency to deny a mistake is that the more a mistake is repeated, the less sensitive a person becomes to the mistake. As the Talmud says, “Once a person makes a mistake and repeats it, it becomes to him as though

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Once we have accurately recognized our mistake, it is important to understand why it occurred. We may have been fooled into it by our self-deceptive thoughts with promises of pleasure and fulfillment. There are other times when a deeper psychological explanation comes into play and we follow our self-deceptive thinking to make up for a lacking or inner pain from our youth.

As an adolescent, Rebecca would get a thrill from shoplifting in expensive department stores. In therapy, she understood that the roots of her tendency to shoplift came as a consequence of growing up in a poor home where she was never able to afford the things that her friends from more affluent families took for granted.

Jacob turned to internet addictions to overcome his feelings of emptiness and depression. The original source of these feelings arose from a lack of meaningful relationships and activity in his life that started in his youth.

If you are interested in viewing a webinar on Love, Communication and Marriage, or receiving a free download copy of Go to Yourself, email aryeh.sampson@gmail. com. He also has a YouTube channel, ‘Aryeh Sampson’ where he shares insights on a range of psychological issues. For more information about counseling view www. ascounsellinginnorthlondon.co.uk

17 JUNE 2021

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LJFC hopes to raise £300k for essential works

BY DAVID SAFFER London Jewish Family Centre is holding a 36 hours matched funding campaign to raise £300,000 for a building and support initiative starting Sunday and finishing Monday.

For over 20 years the Family Centre has provided innovative children’s programmes but very few people are aware of the small but dedicated Family Support Team that operates side by side with the fun stuff!

“It’s a great combination,” said Sandy Weinbaum, the founder and director of the Centre. “Nobody feels embarrassed or uncomfortable to walk in as no-one else knows why they are coming, a music group or a Therapy session!”

“We are based totally on ‘love of the fellow Jew’,” she added. “We are non-judgmental, everyone is entitled to care, that’s been our ethos since the beginning. My vision was that all Jews could be together with good activities and appropriately kosher food at an affordable price. It didn’t matter what background anyone was from. Everyone must be comfortable.”

Back in 2004, the Centre got funding jointly with Norwood’s Kennedy Leigh Centre from Barnet to become a SureStart Centre. This provided great services from Barnet and was the start of the Family Support service.

“We started a single mum’s group, which was unusual in an orthodox community,” recalled Sandy. “People started walking through the doors looking for help. There were more problems than I could ever have been aware of in the community. Divorce and other problems were something not spoken much about back then.”

Two years later there was a change of Government and the funding was stopped.

LJFC had 20 families depending on its services, the rug had literally been pulled from under their feet.

“I’m a great believer in G-d and His benevolence, so we set up our own Family Support Unit,” she said.

Since then the service has developed and grown. Qualified therapists and counsellors offer child and adult psychotherapy and counselling. Clients can access legal advocacy and support groups. Working with Social Services, LJFC provides supervised and unsupervised contact facilities and supervised contact handover.

It is renowned for its confidentiality when it comes to advocacy work, supporting parents with local authorities and schools.

So where is LJFC different from other Social Service organisations?

Sandy explained, “We hold someone’s hand, whether It’s a woman struggling by herself with children, or a husband who can’t get access to his children after an acrimonious divorce. Whatever the situation, we will help find the right agencies to support them. We then keep in touch and find what else is needed.

“Barnet Social Services have told us we have the ability to reach families that others can’t. That has always been our strength. If a mother came with children, no one knows if she was going to the soft play area, a music group, to see therapist or family support worker. It was very anonymous.”

LJFC works with appropriate Jewish and non-Jewish organisations to achieve the best outcomes for families.

Expertise in all aspects of family support enables LJFC to bring clarity where there can be confusion. They will work with appropriate Jewish and non-Jewish organisations to get the best outcome for

their clients.

LJFC had to shut its doors when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

“All services stopped, nobody could come in,” lamented Sandy. “And then nasty things started to happen. There was a major problem with children whose safe place had been school, not home, there was no place for them to go so mothers were struggling. There were mothers not in good relationships with husbands.

They, or their husbands, had been going out to work, now they were home 24/7, all sorts of things started to come up. Our phones were ringing off the hook.

“Everything we did was done remotely where it could be done or we’d meet women in a park. We had to find a new way of working. In the third lockdown though, with help from other organisations, we managed to get three women re-housed.

“In terms of fundraising during the pandemic it was very difficult but Barnet was very kind, there were no rates to pay for the building, utilities went down and

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we were not having to buy equipment.

“We also had a small band of supporters to help out so we got through. But funding is really important.”

The work of LJFC is crucial and over the years Sandy has found issues where a woman needs to escape an abusive relationship but the relocation options offered may not be in a Jewish area.

“Suddenly they are faced with not having access to kosher food, she may have to get children to different schools,” she explained. “Reliant on public transport in the middle of nowhere, it just doesn’t work.”

Sandy added, “An area may be dangerous, even if we can get the right court ruling, but they need the security of a community. That is an insight, other organisations might not have. This is why women, and there are abused men as well, feel comfortable coming to us more than the bigger organisations.”

Looking at the future, Sandy is aware LJFC has a vital role to play.

“The Jewish community have always been good at brushing issues under the carpet, but the pile is so high it’s falling over,” she noted. “Things are no different to five years ago except everyone now talks about it. What I’m hoping is the stigma of therapy and getting help will be removed. All the talk about mental health, teenage problems in the media has been beneficial and there are places you can get help. I hope people will take advantage instead of worrying.

“Incredibly, we still have people who come to us and say, I’m fine but I’m phoning for a friend. Everyone has problems. I don’t believe anyone who says they have never had an issue.

“We are thankfully reaching a point where people are more open, they are reaching out so it’s up to charities who do an amazing service to pool resources so we can be there for families. We work with half a dozen charities and we trust each other. We have particular strengths and that has to be the way forward.”

Regarding the campaign it works on two levels.

“The ‘Matchers’ funds will be used to refurbish our new building and make it totally fit for the community’s needs in 2021, but the funds raised from the public on the day will be used for subsidising Family Support Services,” Sandy explained. “We do ask everyone to make a contribution towards services given as many people cannot pay the full cost. We do hope that the community will be there for us.”

Details: www.ljfc.com

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36 JUDAISM

ASK THE RABBI

Looking for answers? Send your question to Rabbi@RabbiSchochet.com THE SOLUTION TO ANTI-SEMITISM?

Dear Rabbi In order to reduce Anti-Semitism may I suggest that great changes are needed within the Jewish Community and a number of long established existing Jewish customs retired to history. These suggested changes are: (1) Non-Jews are freely admitted to join any synagogue without dissent or rancour.

(2) That the Rabbis and collectively all orthodox Jews are told that they must not refuse to shake a non-Jew’s hand, and to stop treating them as unwelcome and unclean persons, in effect as if they were sub-humans.

(3) That the use of Hebrew Script on all buildings and all places of worship is removed and discontinued. The same with the waving and display of the Israeli Flag.

(4) That non-Jews are allowed to join your family if a marriage between a Jew and a non-Jew appears to be on the horizon. Excluding them is a form of racism.

These obsolete rules are common-knowledge amongst the wider non-Jewish population of Britain and are totally indefensible. In my opinion they did play a huge part in the eventual creation and implementation of the Holocaust. These changes are necessary and will be welcomed by many.

Wilson Dear Wilson What I cannot ascertain from your letter is whether you are a self-loathing Jew or an Anti-Semite justifying your hate. Let’s consider:

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1) Non-Jewish admittance to Synagogues is certainly allowed. I have had many in attendance for a Bar Mitzvah etc. who certainly enjoyed the experience. But to suggest that a non-Jew’s inability to become a fully-fledged member of a synagogue is the basis for Anti-Semitism is ludicrous. Find me one Anti-Semite who applied for membership, was denied, and therefore started hating Jews. Did Stalin apply to be president of the Volgogard Synagogue in the former Soviet Union or perhaps Nazis sought membership in the Rashi Shul in Worms, and when told “no,” decided to burn it on Kristallnacht. I think most likely you might have been bumped from a Synagogue and hit your head hard on the way out.

2) To suggest that Jews don’t shake hands with non-Jews is a lie, engaging in Anti-Semitic stereotype. Or, just ignorance as a consequence of you hitting your head (see above).

3) Take all Hebrew off buildings and places of worship? So it is our fault that in a democracy, where we want to wear our Judaism loud and proud, this is offensive to non-Jews who are then justified in their hate. Would you ask a Church to remove its crosses? Or a mosque to remove any reference to Islam? If you are Jewish I suggest you arrange to have your foreskin sewn back as well. You never know whom you could be upsetting.

4) To welcome intermarriage will make all the difference. Because the Nazi won’t kill his father in law or brother in law. But why

Pirkei Avot Rabbi Chanina Ben Dosa taught: “One whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, then his wisdom endures, whereas one whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, then his wisdom shall not last”.

This means that it is wonderful to be wise and learned and be able to cite Torah sources right left and centre, but one must not become a “donkey laden with holy books”. Torah wisdom without fear of Heaven cannot be of lasting value, Yirat Shamayim

stop there? Why not have all Jews convert to Christianity. That is guaranteed to ensure our safety.

Here’s the point Wilson. The hard fact is that Anti-Semitism has existed too long and in too many disparate cultures to tolerate a claim that in each instance it is because of some distinct factor.

It is not a unitary phenomenon, a coherent belief or ideology.

To put it in the words of the book: Why the Jews? “Economic depressions do not account for gas chambers.” Jews have been hated because they were rich and because they were poor; because they were capitalists and because they were communists; because they believed in tradition and because they were rootless cosmopolitans; because they kept to themselves and because they penetrated everywhere. Arabs hated Jews because they are “occupiers.” Germans hated Jews because they were the scapegoat for a depressed economy.

Christians hated Jews because we supposedly “killed their G-d.” Stalin murdered Jews because they were capitalists, while Europeans in the Middle Ages loathed the Jew because of his financial success. Bottom line: Anti-Semitism is an irrational hatred and you should be ashamed of yourself.

MEN SUFFER TOO!

Dear Rabbi I am a keen reader of your weekly column. In a recent column you speak of the anguish of women struggling to obtain a Jewish get and that you joined as liaison to Gett Out. I have to say I found your remarks to be completely on

the side of women and bordering on gender discrimination.

You have completely ignored the importance of the mental health of men. While I am aware that there are Jewish women whose husbands maliciously refuse to give them a get I can tell you that I have first-hand knowledge of men whose wives abused them during their marriage – both physically and emotionally. It can take time for the man to be physically and psychologically able to give a get. Such men should be supported and not demonised. It can take time for the Jewish courts to issue a get because there are other serious issues at hand. The most common is child visitation. There is a place for the community to ostracise women who withhold child visitation as a way to punish men – and this should be linked to a get.

I think that you should explain to your readers that there are two sides to every story. I wish you every success but I hope that you can help Gett Out not to become an organisation “tarring and feathering any person born male.”

I expect to see an unbiased view concerning this issue printed in the near future.

A paying member of the United Synagogue Dear APMOTUS First, to be sure, Gett Out UK acknowledges the reality of instances where women can withhold receiving a get which can leave a husband in limbo and they will support the husband in that as well. But that’s not what you’re talking about.

You are discussing weaponising the get to be used against the wife in custody battles. It is never the case that the get should be

Follow Rabbi Schochet at: RabbiSchochet.com Twitter: @RabbiYYS Facebook: facebook.com/Rabbiyys.

For Refuah Shalema for Eitan Moshe Ben Tal is needed in order to ensure that one puts into practice what one learns.

It is for this reason (among others) that the Yeshivot place a great emphasis on the study of Mussar self-improvement works, even at the cost of “snatching up” another few pages of Talmud, for without fear of Heaven, merely attaining wisdom on its own has far less value.

Rav Bartenura explained that one should contemplate prior to learning (hence the Tanna’s word – “precede

his wisdom”) – ‘I am learning Hashem’s Torah in order that the learning should bring me to fear of Heaven’.

Rav Chaim of Volozhin explained that fear of Heaven is a storehouse and Torah is compared to produce.

The amount of produce that a person can receive is only as much as the storehouse can contain. Therefore, the more Yirat Shamayim a person has, the more Torah can be stored in them.

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used as a bargaining chip just as it should never be the case that kids should be used as pawns in any divorce.

In my experience mediating over divorce cases, child custody is generally determined by the court, taking into consideration a broad range of factors, above all else, the wellbeing of the children. These sorts of things, along with finances, get finalised before the decree-absolute. It is always at that time, that the Beth Din will insist the get is given as well.

I wholeheartedly acknowledge that men can certainly suffer abuse in a marriage. But if one is mentally capable of going through the legal process and has arrived at that stage of the decree-absolute, then one is just as capable of going through the get process and there is zero – and I mean zero excuse to withhold it beyond that point.

Sorry, that’s as unbiased as you’re going to get.

Arotus (A Rabbi of the United Synagogue)

Perek 3: Mishna 9

38 JUDAISM

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Torah from Israel Chukat: The Two Forms of Anger

BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN Many are familiar with the “golden mean” or the middle path of the Rambam. Regrettably, some misunderstand this as a prescription for religious mediocrity. Under no conditions did the Rambam endorse lukewarm religious adherence or “middle of the road” religious passion. Lethargic or middling religious experience is anathema to the Rambam. What the Rambam does advocate is balanced and well-adjusted character development. As we sculpt our personalities, there is a tendency to develop our traits in “extreme” degrees; the easiest way to build a quality is to radicalise it. Opposed to radical or extreme character traits, the Rambam encouraged a more temperate calibration: no trait should be radicalised but, instead, should be moderated or adjusted to the middle “mean”.

For example, a person should not act too solemnly, but also, should not behave too exuberantly; instead, he should strike to a healthy balance between jubilation and seriousness. Likewise, a person shouldn’t be too frugal but, just the same, shouldn’t recklessly squander funds. A third example pertains to our interface with our physical world. Too much indulgence can lead to hedonism or decadence and too little can invite ascetism or extreme self-deprivation.

Religious passion and religious experience must be extreme and intense. Alternatively, personality traits should be balanced.

Having proposed the middle road and having warned against radical character traits, the Rambam does support radical extremes in two areas of human character. A person should labour toward extreme humility, eliminating even traces of arrogance and haughtiness. Humility enables integrity, honesty and selflessness and thereby serves as gateway to moral behaviour and healthy relationships.

Secondly, the Rambam cautions against any trace of anger or temper. Anger is a temporary insanity which overwhelms our ration and clouds our moral conscience. It is, literally, a foreign force which invades our sanity and even manifests in physical changes: our palms begin to sweat, our heads become dizzy, and we feel overheated. Interestingly, the emotion of anger is portrayed in Mishlei (14;29) by the term kozer ruach which describes the shortening of breath which accompanies anger.

Amidst anger-induced hysteria, all moral restraints vanish, and we become capable of unthinkable crimes. Realizing the unrestrained danger of anger, the Rambam urged “elimination” not moderation.

Anger is so menacing precisely because it threatens everyman. It also afflicted the greatest moral human being to ever

walk our planet- Moshe Rabeinu. He had waited forty years, watching as the older rebellious generation faded into history.

A new generation ascended, arousing great expectations for more faith and less confrontation. When those expectations were dashed at the “Rock”, Moshe’s anger flashed. It certainly wasn’t the type of rage or fury we sometimes experience; judging Moshe by our own conventional standards is both morally inappropriate and intellectually dishonest. The anger Moshe expressed would be common for most people, however for a person of Moshe’s stature it was unacceptable. Aside for the anger itself, Moshe’s tone at the rock set a poor example for this younger generation who looked to him for guidance and for moral example. Unable to fully repress his anger – even for a passing moment- Moshe was replaced with a new leader.

In general, we experience two very different types of anger. Typically, our anger is felt toward our adversaries, rivals, or just strangers who happen to inconvenience us or harm us. We become angry at the situation, or we express our anger toward people we believe have slighted us or compromised our interests. Road rage is an example of this type of anger: one motorist has little or no relationship with another motorist. The belief that aggressive or inconsiderate driving has victimized someone, can bring that victim to verbal or even physical violence. In this instance anger is directed at a “stranger”.

The second type of anger is directed to people we are close with or share a relationship with. We care about the people we are close with, and that care and concern often generates expectations. When these expectations aren’t met, we are addended, frustrated, or both, precisely because we care so deeply. Sadly, our frustration sometimes bleeds into anger.

Obviously, Moshe, the consummate leader, cares deeply about the people who he constantly defends. When the nation fails to live up to his expectations, he is understandably frustrated, and, ultimately, allows his frustration to vent as anger. This occurs at the “Rock”, but his irritation was discernible during two episodes before this incident and during one episode afterwards. Forty years before the rock incident, Moshe had descended Sinai, bracing the luchot in his arms, only to witness the religious depravity of the golden calf. Angrily, he shattered the luchot. A few months later, during the inaugural celebration of the mishkan, tragedy struck, as the two sons of Aharon were incinerated by a Heavenly fire. Presuming that various sacrifices were improperly suspended, Moshe angrily expressed his disagreement. Finally, after

When the nation fails to live up to his expectations, he is understandably frustrated, and, ultimately, allows his frustration to vent as anger. a crucial war with Midyan, Moshe greeted the victorious soldiers returning from battle, but notices that his specific instructions were ignored. Facing these careless soldiers, Moshe is angered.

In each of these instances Moshe’s anger was a product of his deep concern for his people and the heavy consequences of their flawed behaviour. Additionally, in each instance, Moshe faced a fragile situation or an emergency. He confronted the egel rebellion, the tragedy of death on a celebratory day of inauguration and a critical war with a sworn enemy. It is one thing to remain composed when we are otherwise in a state of clam. Under normal circumstances we possess enough inner tranquillity to bear our anger and bear our frustration. Living through a crisis, it becomes more difficult to maintain our calm.

Sadly, Moshe was unable to completely transcend these moments, and his relationship with the Jewish people was damaged.

The midrash narrates a scene toward the end of Moshe’s life. He apologizes to the nation for the pain he has caused them while trying to prod them toward greater religious experience. They forgive him and beg Moshe to forgive their own truculence.

Moshe grants them forgiveness and all the anger subsides. It is a sad and poignant

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scene to cap Moshe’s career of extraordinary dedication, care and emotional investment.

AFTERWORD

My Rebbe, Harav Aharon Lichtenstein, urged us to navigate moral challenges by considering how our “role model” would behave in a similar situation. Simply distinguishing between “right” and “wrong” is less helpful. Though we often can identify proper behaviour, frequently, our conviction fails in the heat-of-themoment. Imaging the behaviour of our role models produces more compelling moral guidance. Personally, I have found this strategy very helpful in many areas of self- improvement. Particularly in battling anger, this approach has proven extremely effective. We are all familiar with people who manage anger skillfully. Thinking about their response may help us steady or own behaviour.

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 FRO M E RE TZ YISRAE L

Statutes and Rocks

BY SIVAN RAHAV MEIR “This is the statute of the Torah which the Lord commanded, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and they shall bring to You a perfectly red unblemished heifer, upon which no yoke was laid” (Num. 19:2).

The opening commandment of this parasha, to bring an unblemished red heifer in order to purify an impure person, is a mystery. The introduction to this commandment tells us that this is a ‘chok’ or statute, a law that has no reason. Unlike other logical and understandable ones, we are told that this commandment is beyond reason and we should not search for any.

For generations, our sages and philosophers have discussed the reasons for both the obvious commandments and those with hidden meanings, in a determined effort to understand them. Some

Chukat

questioned whether humans should even try to understand everything.

Maimonides writes: “It is appropriate for a person to meditate on the judgments of the holy Torah and know their ultimate purpose according to his capacity. If he cannot find a reason or a motivating rationale for a practice, he should not regard it lightly. Nor should he break through to ascend to God, lest God burst forth against him.”

Yes, we are given a challenge to learn as much as we possibly can, to search deeply for reasons, and to try and fathom the difficult-to-understand statutes, but we have to know when to stop. We are specifically warned not to belittle the value of those commandments that we cannot explain to ourselves: “he should not regard it lightly.”

Some things will always remain hidden, and we will never understand them.

We also find in this week’s parasha the

Sidra Summary

following pasuk: “And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and an abundance of water gushed forth, and the congregation drank as did their livestock.”

(Num. 20:11) For hundreds of years our commentators have been trying to understand what the big deal was about how the water came out of the rock? What difference if he hit the rock instead of talking to it, the main thing was that water gushed forth!

For this, Moses was punished and could not enter the Land of Israel? Why did this mistake cause such a harsh reaction? It seems that this incident is meant to teach us something important about leadership, the people, and the entry into the Land of Israel. Also, it seems that the water is a metaphor for the Torah.

Rabbi Eliyahu Blumenzweig, the head of the Hesder Yeshiva in Yerucham, explains: In life a person often comes up against a ‘rock’, a wall that blocks your way and does not let you by. What now?

You can hit it, but if you really want to get through to the inner strengths, to allow

prays for those who have been bitten but have not yet died. God tells him to fashion a copper snake, which miraculously heals anyone who looks at it.

After the ashes are mixed with water, a ritually pure person (tahor) sprinkles the mixture on the tameh person, using a bundle of hyssop. By doing so, the one who sprinkles becomes tameh. The Israelites come to the wilderness of Tsin, where Miriam, Moshe and Aharon’s sister, dies. The people complain that they have no water and would have been better off staying in Egypt.

God tells Moshe and Aharon to teach the nation the laws of the Red Heifer (Parah Adumah). The unblemished animal, which has never had a yoke upon it, is to be given to Elazar, Aharon’s son, who must slaughter it outside the camp. It is then to be burned by a different Kohen, who must also throw some cedar wood, hyssop and crimson thread into the fire.

Both he and Elazar will become ritually impure (tameh) through this preparatory process. In contrast, the ashes of the Heifer, when mixed with water, are used to purify someone who has become tameh through coming into contact with a corpse.

Sivan Rahav Meir is the World Mizrachi Scholar-in-Residence and an Israeli journalist and lecturer.

“Speak to the Children of Israel, and they shall take to you a completely red cow, which is without blemish, and upon which a yoke has not come” (Bemidbar 19:2).

2ND ALIYA (LEVI) – 19:18-20:6

1ST ALIYA (KOHEN) – BEMIDBAR 19:1-17

the water stored in the rock to flow out, then you have to speak. Your task is to speak, to explain, to convince, and to forge a connection. This is a more mature style of leadership. The Jewish people are about to enter the Land of Israel. The way to lead them is about to change and hitting is no longer of any avail. The same principle applies in our lives. The best way to lead is through education and explanation. We may see a stumbling block ahead of us, but living water stands right behind it. The way to access it is by using the correct language, not by hitting.

The two above ideas can be connected.

We learn from the ‘chukim’, the statutes, that there are some laws we will never understand but that doesn’t exempt us from trying to delve deeper, teach and pass on to others that which can be understood, in the best communicative and gentle way possible.

6TH ALIYA (SHISHI) – 22:10-20

The nation comes to the border of Moab, where they find a well. They compose a song about the well.

7TH ALIYA (SHEVI’I) – 21:21-22:1

3RD ALIYA (SHLISHI) – 20:7-13

God tells Moshe to take his staff and speak to a rock in front of the nation, after which water will emerge from the rock.

However, Moshe strikes the rock twice (instead of speaking to it). Although the rock then produces abundant water, God tells Moshe and Aharon that they will not enter the Land.

Point to Consider: Why was Aharon also punished if he did not strike the rock?

(20:12)

4TH ALIYA (REVI’I) – 20:14-21

Moshe sends messengers to the king of Edom, asking him to allow the Israelites to travel from Kadesh through his land.

Despite Moshe’s assurances that they will

not take any of his resources, Edom refuses and comes out to threaten the Israelites militarily. The Israelites turn away.

5TH ALIYA (CHAMISHI) – 20:22-21:9

The nation travels from Kadesh to Mount Hor. Upon God’s command, Moshe, Aharon and Elazar ascend Mount Hor. Elazar dons Aharon’s special Kohen Gadol (High Priest) garments, after which Aharon dies.

The nation mourns Aharon’s death for 30 days. Israel is attacked by the Cana’anites and defeats them. After the nation travels on, the people again become thirsty for water. After complaining, many people are killed by a plague of serpents. Moshe

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After denying the Israelites the right to pass through his land, the king of Sichon wages war against them. The Israelites defeat him, before defeating Og, the mighty king of Bashan, who had also attacked them.

Point to Consider: Why did God have to tell Moshe not to fear Og? (see Rashi to 21:34)

HAFTARAH

From the Book of Shofetim (Judges), the haftarah relates the promotion of Yiftach HaGiladi (Jephthah the Gileadite) to a leadership position. Yiftach tries in vain to negotiate peace with the king of Ammon, reminding him of the military victories described in this week’s sidrah. Yiftach leads the battle against Ammon and secures a resounding victory.

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A Torah bite for the Shabbat table

Spiritual Free Fall RABBI BEN GOODMAN In case thousands of years of anti-Semitism have not made it clear, Jews and non-Jews are different. The precise difference has been the subject of much debate and generally depends on which way the wind is blowing. However, from a Jewish perspective, there is no ambiguity; the difference is clear and to the point: we have the Torah.

The Torah is much more than a “Code of Law” or “Guide to Life” that keeps us on the right track. It is the heart and soul of the Jewish people. In this week’s Parsha, Rabbi Chaim Ibn Attar (1696-1743,) otherwise known as the Ohr HaChaim, provides an incredible insight into the Torah’s impact on the Jewish Nation.

The first twenty-two verses of the Parsha deal with the laws of impurity that accompany death and the laws of the Red Heifer (In addition to being the name of a steakhouse in Jerusalem, the Red Heifer provides the useful service of purifying a person who has been contaminated by a dead body.) Curiously, points out the Ohr HaChaim, in its introductory remarks to these laws the Torah declares in a broader sense: “This is the decree of the Torah,” as

opposed to stating more specifically, “This is the decree of impurity,” or “This is the decree of purification.”

To explain this aberration, the Ohr HaChaim quotes the Rambam who rules that a non-Jewish corpse does not contract impurity. Accordingly, a Jew who encounters a deceased gentile does not require a subsequent process of purification. The Ohr HaChaim says that the verse, “This is the decree of the Torah,” is not merely a statement of fact, but rather it addresses the underlying reason for the Rambam’s ruling and should be understood as follows: “This decree of impurity and its process of purification are the result of the Torah.” The reason why only a Jewish corpse contracts impurity, as opposed to a non-Jewish corpse, is because

of the Torah.

The Ohr HaChaim explains that in the same way honey attracts flies, holiness attracts impurity. Har Sinai and the giving of the Torah was not a book launch.

Rather, it was the spiritual transformation of an entire Nation. The Torah seared an awesome degree of holiness into our souls that changed us forever. Once we received the Torah and underwent spiritual metamorphosis, we became a magnet for the forces of impurity. Therefore, only when a Jewish person’s holy soul leaves its body are there remnants of holiness left behind which attract the forces of impurity.

Understanding the nature of the Torah and its effect on the Jewish people is so important. Torah learning is not an

Torah learning and Mitzvah observance are spiritual enterprises which infuse our souls and lives with breathtaking holiness.

academic pursuit and Torah observance is not a lifestyle. Rather, Torah learning and Mitzvah observance are spiritual enterprises which infuse our souls and lives with breathtaking holiness. This holiness, in turn, draws us closer to Hashem and the fulfillment of the purpose for which we were created.

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

Chovat Halevavot Hilchot Shabbat Where does Bitachon fit in to “duties of the heart and of the body”, i.e. actions which do not cause instantly apparent benefit or harm to a person, such as fasting, praying, performing Mitzvot such as the four species, Sikka, Tzitzit, keeping Shabbat and refraining from transgressing sins?

The author explains that three preconceptions are required in order to properly perform Mitzvot: 1. A person must choose to perform the required action (or to refrain from performing the prohibited activity) 2. A person must then plan to do it 3. A person has to then actually do it.

In the first two of the list, it would be folly to claim to have “trust in G-d” for one has the choice to choose to do the right thing and to plan it in their mind, as G-d expressly told us, “You shall choose life”. To say, “If G-d wants, I shall choose to put on Tefillin tomorrow” – is wrong.

G-d obviously wants us to to choose and

plan to do Mitzvot. Where Bitachon comes in is in the third area – that when we wake up in the morning we will have the strength and good health to do Mitzvot and not sin. If a person says, “I won’t choose or decide to do Mitzvot until I receive a G-d-given spirit in my mind to do the right thing” they are making a grievous error for that is entirely our choice. As one of the great Chassidic masters explained a statement of our sages, “Nothing stands in the way of one’s will”. Literally, this means that if a person is determined to do something they will do it. But that is not always the case. As explained earlier, sometimes G-d may withhold the wherewithal to actually perform a Mitzvah. However, the Chassidic Rebbe explained, “Nothing stands in the way of wanting – so what is stopping you from wanting”??

The reward for performing Mitzvot will therefore be threefold; one for the desire, the second for the intention and third (if G-d allows us) is the actual performance.

We continue with the laws of Ba’sis. As mentioned in the previous segment, there are five conditions that must be met in order to make a surface upon which Muktza rests, become Muktzah for the entire Shabbat – even if the Muktzah has been removed (through a non-Jew or in error).

1. The surface only becomes a Ba’sis if a Muktzah item was placed on it by its owner. If Tuvyah owns a table and Leibel places a laptop on it, Leibel cannot make the table Muktzah, unless Leibel does so with the express permission of Tuvyah or for the benefit of Tuvyah.

This is true whomsoever the laptop belongs to.

2. The surface only becomes a Ba’sis if the Muktzah item was placed on it intentionally, or if the surface is its usually designated place, such as money in a wallet. If, on the other hand, a Muktzah item fell on a surface or was forgotten there, then the surface does not become Muktzah, even if placed there by the owner 3. If the Muktzah item serves a positive use to the surface, for example, if one placed a stone on a group of papers so that they are not scattered by the wind,

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then the papers do not become a Ba’sis once the stone is moved.

4. The surface only becomes a Ba’sis if it one placed a Muktzah item on it prior to Bein Hashemashot – twilight (from sunset until Halachic Nightfall) with the intention of the Muktzah item remaining on that surface throughout the duration of twilight time period. If, one left an item there prior to Shabbat without intending it to remain there throughout the Bein Hashemashot period, or if the intention was for it to remain there throughout but it was subsequently removed before nightfall, (through a non-Jew or child or an adult by mistake) then the surface does not become Muktzah.

There are two further conditions as well as practical examples, to follow.

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JUDAISM 41

Parashat Korach: Jewish Leadership – Bamidbar & Berdichev

BY GAVRIEL COHN What is the purpose of the mitzvot? According to one school of thought (the medieval rationalists), the mitzvot serve as a means to improve ourselves: teaching us key values and thereby forming us into good, G-d-centred people. As the Rambam writes, the commandments are “a lamp to straighten crooked paths and a light to illuminate the upright ways.” So, in order to ensure that we are fulfilling the aims of the mitzvot and heading on the right path, the Rambam urges us “to meditate upon the mitzvot and find the reasons for them.”

However, this week’s Torah portion features the greatest problem to all we have just proposed. It opens with the archetypal “chok”, a divine decree with no rationale: the mysterious cleansing process of the Red Cow. Sprinkling a solution of water and ashes of a burnt red calf, the Torah informs us, cleanses a person of ritual impurity (contracted from contact with a corpse), allowing him to enter the Temple. However, it makes the one who sprinkled those ashes impure. How could a cleansing process defile someone? Even King Solomon, a figure of unmatched wisdom, could not understand this mitzvah. It defies all logic.

What then is the point of these chukkim?

If mitzvot are meant to be constructive tools to help us reach perfection, why perform actions that we don’t understand at all; what purpose could they have? Additionally, what relevance does this law of the Red Calf have to the ensuing narrative of this week’s Torah portion?

Perhaps the purpose of the chukkim is to teach us that we cannot know everything, that some things remain beyond our comprehension (which means chukkim do indeed have an important purpose). As Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists of all time, once humbly remarked: “I do not know what I may appear to the world but to myself I seem to be only like a boy playing on the seashore, now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Recognising the limits of our understanding enables us to come closer to G-d. A person “will appreciate how he is a lowly creature standing with his limited wisdom before He who is

of perfect knowledge” (Rambam, Hilchot Yesodei haTorah). Furthermore, chukkim teach us that our own personal destinies and relationships with others often lie beyond our control or comprehension.

This explains the narrative that follows the laws of the Red Cow. The Jewish People are continuously confronted with a whole string of tragic, frustrating events, all, ultimately, beyond their control: Miriam passes away; the nation then panics as they cannot find water in the arid desert. After Moshe rebukes the people and strikes a rock which gushes forth water, he is punished by G-d: “you will not bring this congregation to the Land.” Moshe’s dream and destiny, all that he had worked his entire life to achieve, are heartbreakingly ruined. Moshe then requested of Edom, a kingdom south of Israel, to allow the Jewish People to travel peacefully through their land. The king of Edom blankly refused: “you shall not pass through, lest I come at you with the sword.” The nation of Sichon also refused

If mitzvot are meant to be constructive tools to help us reach perfection, why perform actions that we don’t understand at all; what purpose could they have?

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them passage. They thus came face-toface with another of life’s chukkim, the behaviour of others. People may react in irrational ways and we can be powerless to influence them. Aaron the high priest then passes away, torn from the people. They were confronted once again with a “chok,” the sheer absurdity of death; and grieved bitterly for their loving, dedicated mentor.

After complaining once more about their insubstantial food supply, the Jewish People are attacked by serpents, and then healed by looking at a copper serpent that Moshe is commanded to make. These Divine punishments, illnesses, and cures are again all examples of life’s chukkim, tragedies and difficulties that lie, ultimately, beyond a person’s control, like many of the challenges people may face in their own lives.

In short, perhaps the purpose of chukkim is to show us that our paths, despite being lit by the torches we hold, are ultimately guided by G-d. We do not know everything. The events of this week’s Torah portion are perhaps a sampling of

Gavriel Cohn is an informal educator at Immanuel College, Bushey. He has written a number of articles for various publications.

If you have any questions or comments or would like the Torah sources for this piece, please get in touch! gavcohn@gmail.com.

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Chukat

Chukat Word Search

This week we learn of the special Mitzvah of Parah Adumah, the red cow, whose ashes are sprinkled on a person to make them pure again. The reason for the Mitzvah is not easily understood, but we follow Hashem’s commandments whether we understand them or not!

We also learn of the death of Miriam and Aaron and of the story of Moshe hitting the rock when Hashem had told him to speak to it. The Jewish people were thirsty and had gathered around a rock after demanding water and Moshe had rebuked them and hit the rock. As this was a lost opportunity for a Kiddush Hashem, Moshe was punished and not allowed to enter the Holy Land Towards the end, we learn of the wars between the Jews and Sichon ,King of the Emori and the mighty Og, King of the Bashan, two kings whose defeat placed dread in the hearts of other nations, which leads to next week’s exciting Parsha.

Tangram Challenge!

Using all the shapes on the left can you make the cow shape on the right?

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AHARON • ASHES • HEIFER • HYSSOP • MIRIAM • PURIFY • RED • WATER

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“I

’m bored!” moaned Rivki, collapsing onto the couch next to Hadassa.

‘Go away, I’m trying to read!’ Hadassa protested pushing her sister to one side.

Abba looked over from his laptop ‘Hadassa, we do not use our hands, we use our mouths nicely.’

‘Sorry Abba’ said Hadassa contritely.

‘Sorry Rivki’.

‘Hadassa, why don’t you help Rivki find something to do’, suggested Abba.

Hadassa sighed. It was the second day of the holidays, camp wouldn’t be starting for another week and it was too hot. Hadassa could feel the stuffiness in the air, no wonder everyone was bored and antsy.

‘Ok Abba’ she said, putting down her book and turning to Rivki. ‘Rivki, let’s see what we can do!’ she said in a jolly voice, hoping to spark some enthusiasm in her sister.

‘There’s nothing to do!’ said Rivki.

‘How about I read you a story?’ Hadassa replied.

‘We’ve read every book we have!’

‘How about we paint a picture?’

‘I did that yesterday!’

‘Shall we make a new bracelet with that set Aunty Rachel brought us?’

‘No!’ said Rivki, frowning and crossing her arms stubbornly.

The Leaky Bucket

Hadassa didn’t know what to do, she wanted to help Rivki, but Rivki didn’t seem to like any of her ideas.

‘Let’s at least walk around the garden she suggested, it’s cooler in the shade and we can have an ice pop and think about what we can do.’

‘Ok,’ said Rivki and they made their way into their garden licking their strawberry ice pops as they went.

‘You know’, said Hadassa thoughtfully as they settled down on the grass under the cool shade of a large apple tree.

‘I heard this story and it might help us with this boredom problem.

Once upon a time there were two buckets on a poll, each day the servant would take the poll on his shoulders down to the well to get water for his master. One bucket had a small hole in

it and used to leak a little water after being filled at the well. The other bucket would laugh at him and say that he was a better than the one with a hole in because he didn’t leak. A few months later, the buckets noticed flowers growing on one side of the path that led from the well to the house. The bucket with the hole realised that the small amounts of water he leaked each day had caused the flowers to grow! What the other bucket had seen as a lack, was actually a chance to create new flowers!’

Hadassa shifted her legs, crossing them so she was more comfortable.

‘And so you see that sometimes when there is a lack, we actually have an opportunity, a chance to use the lack to create something new’ she paused ‘what do you think Rivki?’

Rivki enjoyed the story and was thinking hard. ‘I think maybe being bored means I have been given extra time from Hashem to use for whatever I want to do.’ She smiled and said excitedly ‘I’d like to put on some music and make a dance for Ima to watch after supper tonight.’

‘That’s a great idea!’ Hadassa exclaimed, ‘I would love to help you if you’d let me?’

‘Of course!’ Rivki replied and they ran back into the house together to get to work.

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Chukat

In a nutshell An opening Mitzvah like none other greets us as we launch into Parshat Chukat! Wow how the year has flown by and we are once again reading of the red heifer.

A perfectly red cow which has never worked before, is slaughtered and burnt, with its ashes (and a couple of other ingredients) used to sprinkle on a person who has become impure due to being in contact or in the building of one who had died. We do not understand the reason for this Mitzvah, in particular one peculiar point, which is the fact that the Kohen who deals with the cow and sprinkles on to the impure man becomes impure himself, whereas the impure man – through the same activity, achieves purity. But be that as it may, we keep the Mitzvot because G-d told us to and Parah Adumah is no different. Entering the Beit Hamikdash before fully becoming pure is a terrible crime and therefore on days 3 and 7 of the process, the ashes are sprinkled on the person.

The Torah continues with the passing of Moshe’s devoted sister, Miriam. She was buried in Midbar Tzin

and now that she had died, the travelling well also ceased to exist. The Jews were therefore thirsty, and they complained to Moshe of that. G-d told Moshe to gather the Jews and talk to a rock, from where water would spill forth. Moshe gathered the congregation in front of the rock and mistakenly hit the rock instead! He also rebuked the Jewish people, calling them traitors.

Unfortunately, this was a drastic error as G-d has specifically instructed Moshe to talk to the rock and he had instead hit it – twice. As a punishment for not sufficiently sanctifying G-d’s Name on this occasion, Moshe – and Aaron were barred from entering the Holy Land.

Moshe sent messengers to the king of Edom asking a small favour – will you let us travel through your land?

We wont cost you a ha’penny. We won’t drink your water unless we pay for it! What did old cousin Edom reply – don’t even think of travelling through my land for if you do I may come out to greet you – with a sword!

So the Jews travelled on, now approaching Hor

Word Wheel 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.

Ha’Har, the mountain upon which the elder Kohen Gadol Aharon Hakohen was to die. First though, Hashem told Moshe to take Elazar, who would be Aaron’s successor, and dress him as the Kohen Gadol.

Aaron also was punished for not protesting when Moshe hit the rock. If you see someone doing the wrong thing you should (where appropriate) let them know that it is wrong.

The Jewish people then complained again and Hashem sent scorpions on them. Hashem also told Moshe the remedy – place a scorpion on a copper pole and anyone who looks at it – and repents – will merit to be spared the bite.

The parsha concludes with the wars of the Jewish people against Sichon and Og, two mighty kings who Moshe fended off in a further display of his willingness and longing to help the Jewish people eventually take over the Promised Land.

Use this area to write the words you have found.

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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 air and arc cad can

car oar rad ran acid arid

card ciao coca coda darn dona

orca raid rain rand road roan

acorn acrid adorn circa cocoa dinar

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drain radio radon accord anodic corona

inroad ordain rancid raccoon accordion

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Q. What room do ghosts avoid?

A. The living room!

Q. When is a doctor most annoyed?

A. When he is out of patients!

Q. What time does a tennis player get up?

A. Ten-ish.!

(Answers at the bottom of page upside down)

1. What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?

3.What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?

Q. What can you eat in the desert?

A. The sandwich is there!

2. You live in a one storey house made entirely of redwood. What colour would the stairs be?

3) The letter “m”.

1. A penny

2) What stairs?

You live in a onestorey house.

1. Fun in the sun 2. High five 3. Big wig

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4. Back to school 5. Doube Cross 6. Once in a blue moon

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SPORTS WEEKLY SPECIAL

EURO 2020

Bring on the Scots as England make Sterling start!

BY DAVID SAFFER

The Swiss bossed this encounter and would have run out comfortable England’s Euro 2020 Championship victors but a number of smart saves campaign is up and running as Gafrom Welsh keeper Danny Ward. reth Southgate’s team made the perWelsh talisman and skipper Gareth fect start with a win against Croatia in Bale struggled to impact the game. the opening Group D game.

Kieffer Moore equalised for Wales Kane and co take on Scotland in a after Breel Embelo nodded in from a highly anticipated clash at Wembley corner. stadium tomorrow.

Romelu Lukaka scored a brace The opening round of matches as Belgium defeated Russia 3-0 in a though was marred by shocking footGroup B fixture. age of Denmark and former TottenLukaka raced to a TV camera to ham Hotspur midfielder Cristian Erpass on a message of support to Inter ickson receiving CPR treatment after Milan teammate Eriksen after a decollapsing the clash against Finland. fensive mistake to open the scoring The match was initially abandoned in the 10th minute. Thomas Meunier but continued, Finland winning 1-0, doubled the lead when he pounced after news came through Ericsson, on a mistake by Russian keeper An29, had survived a cardiac arrest. He ton Shunin before Lukaka bagged his is in hospital have tests. second late on.

Raheem Sterling justified his seFinland’s first ever finals win, lection for England with the only against Denmark, will always be rePHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK Sterling scored England’s winner against goal in a deserved triumph at a Raheem membered for the Eriksen incident Croatia sun-drenched Wembley. Man of the and swift medical reaction that saved match Kalvin Philips, who got the nod for Sterling, he noted, “He was dangerous all his life. an advanced midfield role, set up the 57th game.”

After 15 minutes treatment, the Danish minute opportunity which Sterling clinically In the other group clash, Czech Republic’s midfielder was stretchered from the field. finished.

Patrick Schick scored a brace, including a The Finns applauded the Denmark team Phil Foden enjoyed a fine game, almost wondergoal from halfway, to crush Scot- back on the pitch, after news came through opening the scoring on five minutes, when land’s hopes of a dream return to a major that Eriksen was awake in hospital, to finhe cut in from the right only for his left foot tournament. ish the first half, then after a short break, shot to strike the inside of a post. Phillips The Scots went behind to a Schick header the remainder of the game was played to forced a save from Croatian keeper Domin- but came out for the second half fired up. completion. ick Livakovic before imposing himself on the And they had chances before Schick sensed The hosts enjoyed the better of the match game culminating with a defence splitting Scots keeper David Marshall was off his line before Joel Pohjanpalo’s nodded home a pass for Sterling to score his first ever tour- before executing a once in a lifetime strike. 74th minute winner. nament goal.

His goal sits alongside Marco van Basten’s Denmark blew a chance to equalise late Harry Kane, Mason Mount, who put in a stunning volley for Netherlands against So- on when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s spot-kick stellar shift, and Sterling almost grabbed a viet Union in the Euro ‘88 final and Paul Gas- was easily saved by Lucas Hradecky. second for England but the win was all that coigne’s solo effort against the Scots in Euro Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand mattered as they quickly turned their atten- ’96 as arguably the greatest ever. told reporters, “We tried to win. It was intion to the Scots.

In Group A, Italy were impressive on the credible they managed to go out and try to Southgate told BBC One, “The players opening night of action, easing to a 3-0 win play the second half. Honestly, there were dealt with the big occasion really well. Right against Turkey in Rome. players out there that were completely from the start, incredible heat, they played Roberto Mancini’s side, after bossing the done. Emotionally done and emotionally well and settled early in the game. There first half, came through courtesy of a Merih exhausted.” were moments where the tempo dropped Demiral own goal from a Domenico BerNetherlands secured a dramatic 3-2 victobecause of the heat but the majority of the nardino cross alongside Ciro Immobile and ry against Ukraine in Amsterdam in Group C. game we were in control and didn’t give Cro- Lorenzo Insigne strikes.

All the goals came in sensational second atia many opportunities and we looked danThis was the first time the Italians had half as the hosts built a 2-0 lead with a quickgerous.” He added, “Phillips is a player who scored three goals in a Euro finals. fire double from Georginio Wijnaldum and is so understated. He has had a fantastic start Wales dug deep to earn a share of the Wout Weghorst. Ukraine hit back with a brilto his international career. I thought he was spoils against Switzerland at the Baku Olym- liant 25-yard strike by Andriy Yarmolenko in immense throughout the game.” Regarding pic Stadium. the 75th minute before a Roman Yaremchuk

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header shortly afterwards. But Denzel Dumfries grabbed the headlines with a bullet header five minutes from time from substitute Nathan Ake’s cross.

Austria enjoyed a landmark 3-1 win against North Macedonia with substitutes Marko Arnautovic and Michael Gregoritsch striking late goals.

The match was level after Macedonian striker Goran Pandev capitalised on a defensive gaffe to equalise after Stefan Lainer had opened the scoring early on. Austria’s victory was their first at a Euro Championship.

Slovakia are the surprise early leaders of Group E after defeating 10-man Poland 2-1 in St Petersburg.

Robert Mak’s shot rebounded in off Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny for Slovakia’s opener only for Karol Linetty to finish off a fine move. Poland midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak saw red for a second booking just past the hour and Milan Skriniar fired home the winner for a shock result.

Spain bossed their clash with Sweden in Seville but could not break through a resolute defence.

Alvaro Morata missed the best opportunity for the hosts who also went close with a Dani Olmo header saved by Swedish keeper Robin Olsen.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo rewrote the record books in a 3-0 win against Hungary who battled away throughout the Group F clash in Budapest.

Indeed, the victors’ goals came in the last six minutes of the game.

Raphael Guerreiro’s deflected shot off defender Willi Orban in the 84th minute set the defending champions on their way before Ronaldo, who missed a guilt edged chance in the first half and had quiet game, slotted in a penalty to pass Michel Platini in the alltime finals scoring list then showed his nimbleness for his second in stoppage time.

Ronaldo is the first player to appear and score in five finals.

Pre-tournament favorites France edged past Germany courtesy of a Mats Hummels’ own goal in the last of the opening fixtures.

The match in Munich failed to match the hype. Kylian Mbappe and Adrian Rabiot went close to scoring, Mbappe and Karim Benzema had goals ruled out for offside against the Germans who lacked a cutting edge.

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HMH on brink of history

HMH look to strike against Jewidinese

PHOTO: DAVID SAFFER

BY DAVID SAFFER HMH are on the brink of club history as the 2020/21 league Premier League campaign comes to an exciting climax this month.

All three league titles could be decided in the penultimate round of fixtures but nothing will be taken for granted by the teams involved on Sunday.

The Premier League is between HMH and Oakwood who meet in a top of the table clash on Sunday (10am).

HMH picked up a hard fought 1-0 away win against Jewdinese thanks to an Adam Adabi only goal to move closer to the title.

Manager Avi Goldberg was delighted to come through the game with the win. “This had all the hallmarks of a banana skin with the game being played on a small, hard grass pitch and Jewdinese fresh off beating Hendon but we overcame these elements to secure the points,” he said.

‘Nese boss Darren Lawrence said. “It was a tough game. We defended so well for so long but conceded a poor goal.”

Abadi’s second half winner ensures HMH go into the title clash five points clear of the O’s at the top with the opportunity to clinch the crown for the first time in the clubs’ history.

Goldberg is well aware the title is far from

All eyes on the ball between HMH and Jewdinese

PHOTO: DAVID SAFFER

being wrapped up, a huge task now awaits.

Should HMH avoid defeat with Oakwood they can celebrate. But if Lewis Blitz’ team claim the win they can lift the title against Jewdinese in the final weekend of the season.

London Bears have sealed promotion to the top flight and are a game away from clinching the Division One title after easing to a 4-1 win against Club de Chigwell.

Zacki Doumou, with a brace, Sam Martin and Jack Miller put James Harpin’s side within touching distance of the title.

The Bears lead league pacesetters Hertswood Vale by a point and host them in a huge match on Sunday.

A win seals the title for the Bears but if Vale prevail they will be favourites to take the

crown in their final game against Faithfold Green on the same day Bears visit Borussia Barnet. “We are delighted that we are guaranteed top two which means Premier Division football,” noted Harpin. “We have saved our best performance of the season for our biggest game so far. We will be ready and focused for Hertswood.”

NWL Azzuri and Stoke Salmon shared the spoils in an entertaining top of the table Division Two encounter that finished goalless.

Azzuri remain in the box seat with a threepoint advantage and a superior goal difference. But Stoke can level on points with a win against West Hendon Wallabies however they must also go all-out attack to reduce a 12-goal differential.

Stoke’s Jamie Weiner was delighted how his team reacted a 3-0 loss to Azzuri last week. “It was an excellent performance from all the players which only lacked the final product,” he said. “Unlike the reverse fixture, we were very unlucky not to walk away with the points.”

Azzuri boss Ben Rosen noted, “It was not our best game but we got the job done and are looking forward to hopefully finishing the job properly in our last game.”

Azzuri travel to Spec and Stoke host Hampstead Ducks in the final round of games.

In other fixtures, Faithfold Green comfortably won 4-0 at Temple Fortune in Division One. SPEC defeated Straw Hat Pirates 3-1 with goals from Adam Joselyn, Josh Green and Alex Newman in Division Two. “It was a decent win and it’s nice to get back to winning ways,” commented SPEC boss Ricky Lawrence. “It was a tough game but I think we were good for the victory.”

Elsewhere, FC East London Bees came through a tight match 2-1 at Redbridge Jewish Care whilst West Hendon Wallabies drew 2-2 against Scrabble.

Fairlop and Faithfold White forfeited Premier matches against Maccabi London FC and Hendon United Sports. FC Team and Paris Saint Jewmain forfeited Division One clashes against Borussia Barnet and Brook Farm Rovers.

Away from the league, in the Cyril Anekstein Trophy, Maccabi defeated Oakwood 2-0 in a hard-fought semi-final clash. But the cup tie will be replayed as the victors played an ineligible player.

Maccabi struggled to break Oakwood down in their league encounter a few days earlier and appeared to have gained revenge for losing out on their Premier League challenge with goals from Adam Arnold and Max Kyte but the two sides will do battle again for a place in the final on June 30.

Battle for possession between NWL Azurri and Stoke Salmon

PHOTO: DAVID SAFFER

Haroldeans lifted MJSL title as Maccabi edged champions and Jewventus beat Reich

Adam Boyars, Haroldeans Captain with Jack Bookey team manager

PHOTO: LAWRENCE PURCELL

On the final match day of the league season at Brooklands, Maccabi edged Haroldeans 3-2 in a well matched contest which saw the Merseysiders defeated for the first time. A strengthened home team took full points and started the better team. On 5 minutes, a throughball caused panic in the rearguard of the visitors and a mix up saw a header own goal bounce into an empty net.

Louis Rawlings crashed a 25 yarder against the Haroldeans bar then on 36 mins Sam Hatton raced away and buried the ball in the bottom left corner leaving Jared Clein with no chance. This promoted a mini revival with the Merseysiders creating several chances that normally would have been converted by joint top scorer Adam Shiffman. As it happened, on 40 mins Max Barnett’s header found its way into the net as Maccabi defenders tried to clear their lines and narrowed the gap to 2-1 at the break.

In the second half, a pile driver from Sam Hatton soared into the top left corner on 50 minutes making it 3-1 but this seemed to prompt Haroldeans into a response with more possesssion and meaningful attacks which eventually paid dividends with a Jack Bookey penalty making it 3-2 on 70 minutes. A close finish but the game ended with the first defeat for Haroldeans in their last league match of the campaign.

Neil Collins was on hand to present the Joan Collins Premier Division Trophy to Adam Boyars with Haroldeans deservedly crowned as MJSL Champions. The MJSL Secretary of the Year was also picked up

by Trevor Harris from Haroldeans, who received the award from MJSL Chairman Paul Rose.

Elsewhere at Fred Rd, Jewventus finished the season on a high with a 4-1 victory over Reich, Jake Hadden scored the consolation although it actually saw Reich

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Trevor Harris (L) MJSL Secretary of the Year with Paul Rose,MJSL Chairman.

PHOTO: LAWRENCE PURCELL

take the half time lead. Shlomo Landes, Yosef Fletcher, Zalman Cohen & Shimmy Guttentag were on the mark for Shalom Treblow’s team as they completed their debut season with a win leaving them in fourth and Reich in fifth place.

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