Community

Communities, charities and schools celebrate Purim in style PHOTOS: COURTESY •LAWRENCE PURCELL. • HENRY JACOBS

BY DAVID SAFFER

Jewish communities, charities and schools celebrated Purim in style this year with a host of fun activities.

Camp Simcha spielers were out in force in North London led by their mascot Simi the Monkey.

The charity sent 800 hamantaschen to staff at Great Ormond Hospital as part of their hospital outreach and Jewish awareness raising activities, as well as Purim arts and crafts for children on the wards.

Children from Camp Simcha’s B’nei Mitzvah programme also packed Mishloach Manot which were delivered to families the charity supports.

Ohel David Sephardi Synagogue held its first Purim party for two years.

Thirty people across Essex attended a Megilla reading with festive food and drink.

Chazan Shimon Tivoni said, “Our community offers a Jewish experience like no other in Essex. When people visit us for the first time, they say it is like being transported to another part of the world, like being in a synagogue in Jerusalem, Cairo or Baghdad.

We offer a warm welcome to both new and familiar faces.” Sacks Morasha pupils undertook a challenge this Purim with the Megillah being read by pupils. Over the years the school has had regular participation from boys and girls who have read sections but this year there are sufficient participants to read the whole Megillah. Under the guidance and teaching of

Rebbetzen Mandy Lawrence of Kinloss

Synagogue, more children in key stage 2 have been eager to join the Megillah club and children with previous experience took on more Pasukim. Rebettzen Lawrence gifted each child a specially crafted ‘Yad’ to read their section.

Head of Kodesh and Deputy Head, Justin Kett, said, “Purim at Sacks Morasha is not just about the creative and wacky costumes, it is about the level of engagement and connection they have to the Chag. Learning a skill, such as leining the Megillah, is something they will take with them once they leave to go onto secondary school and beyond. We know that some of our alumni have been instrumental in creating and leading a Megillah reading at Haberdashers Girls school.”

There was no stopping people Norwood supports and staff celebrating Purim this year.

From hearing the megillah to receiving Mishloach Manot donated by the United Synagogue, waving greggers, wearing masks and enjoying hamntaschen generously donated by Kosher Kingdom, Daniel’s Bakery and Just Kosher.

The highlight of Purim festivities was a virtual party with dancing to the tunes of DJ Dan Kraines.

Kisharon hit the streets for its 2022 Purim Bucket Collection Challenge.

The charity asked supporters to take part to ‘Make a Change’ to people it supports.

Around 110 buckets went out across 60 individuals, shuls and services within Kisharon. Holland Park Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue and Leeds JSoc also supported the charity.

Collectors were out making a ‘change’ and Kisharon gave out prizes for the collector who raised the most in a particularly creative way and with the most original costume.

Each student learnt about the megilla in an easy read form together with the laws and customs of Purim. They also tied it into ways we can give to people in Ukraine.

Students helped Social Enterprise in a remarkable Purim pack putting together 1800 gift bags.

Kisharon College were busier than ever preparing for Purim working on a joint project providing children in Jewish Primary schools in north London with Mishloach Manot gift bags for the festival.

This is the first project students have completed in partnership with local primary schools including Sinai, Etz Chaim, Alma Primary and Rimon Primary.

Students packed gifts for communities hosting Purim parties at Cheder and other communal events.

And they joined in with Pick It! Pack It! Gift It! Project at Kisharon Gift & Homeware Store, Equal.

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Jemima, Yakira, Alciia andLaila at their fundraising stall Last Sunday, a group of 9 year old girls raised £515 selling cakes for Ukraine. [L-R] Jemima Gillis (Independent Jewish Day School), Yakira Pauwen (Hasmonean Primary), Alicia Landy (Rimon School) and Laila Steel (Hasmonean Primary) sold an assortment of sweet treats to the HGS football players and supporters raising much-needed funds for World Jewish Relief’s Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

Alicia said “When I heard about the war in Ukraine and all the refugees I really wanted to help. I was so happy that our cakes and biscuits were so popular with all the players and parents and we couldn’t believe how much we raised!”

Kosher l’Pesach sunflower oil shortage

Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is a severe shortage of Kosher l’Pesach sunflower oil this year.

Ukraine and Russia are the two largest global producers of sunflower oil.

KLBD, the kashrut division of the London Beth Din, have confirmed the following brands have been approved for use on Pesach 2022/5782 even without bearing a Kosher l’Pesach label or logo.

They are Taam Tuv Sunflower Oil (sold in kosher shops), KTC Sunflower Oil and Pura Sunflower Oil.

One, two and three-litre bottles of supermarket own brand sunflower oil are also approved, if bearing “H” as part of the ink jetted date code on the neck of the bottle.

The Clean Speech Project

The Clean Speech Project is launching big across the UK at the end of May. The project is all about encouraging positive speech and avoiding negative speech and has had massive traction. At time of writing, twenty schools and twenty-five communities are excited to be involved: from teaching syllabuses, parent-child learning sessions, community events, challenges and education. The Clean Speech Project is also producing thousands of branded ‘kind words stick’ post-it notes for people to write kind words to others on.

The Clean Speech Project origins are in Colorado, where the month-long project was so successful it was adopted by the state. The brainchild of Seed & GIFT and supported by the Wohl Legacy the Clean Speech Project in the UK is a week long (May 22-27th) and has created a wave of excitement across organisations, schools and communities. One of the founders, Rabbi Daniel Fine commented “the theme of clean speech is so current. Speech has become divisive, whilst there is so much Jewish wisdom about putting speech right and using it well. It’s inspiring to see how receptive people are about the project – from youth organisations to schools and Shuls. We even had a very positive meeting with a large city firm about taking on the project.” The Clean Speech Project is not centrally run – their soon-to-bereleased website contains ideas and resources, as well as video testimonials and endorsements from the Chief Rabbi, JTeens, various other educators and celebrities – from Uri Geller to the Maccabeats, from Karen Harris to Juliette Lipshaw. Rabbi Avrohom Zeidman, one of the project heads, commented “Whilst people can be givers in various forms, giving positive speech is a prime one.” “It would be ironic if otherwise, but nobody has had a negative word to say about the project,” Rabbi Fine mused.

Manchester Mesivta Careers Fair 2022 in the School Gym for 6th form and GCSE students. Parents and students chatted to the many professionals from the careers on offer.

Manchester Mesivta Careers Fair 2022

PHOTOS: LAWRENCE PURCELL.

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Paperweight – gold and silver charity film award winner!

The Paperweight Trust last night won a golden accolade at the FIFTH Charity Film Awards in central London.

The winning entry, ‘Evie’s Story’, was one of 13 impressive finalists in Paperweight’s category; the film also won Silver in the People’s Choice category. Over 300 charities entered the awards this year and over 57k members of the public voted for their favourites.

Designed by world renown Israeli sand animation artist Ilana Yahav, the two-anda-half-minute film tells the moving story of Paperweight client ‘Evie’ and formed part of the charity’s first ever crowdfunding campaign in 2021. An ‘Israel’s Got Talent’ Finalist, sand artist Ilana has performed at the Vatican and for the Kings of Belgium and Spain.

Paperweight Chief Executive Bayla Perrin said: “Ilana’s film was thought-provoking and expressive, perfectly and beautifully illustrating the Paperweight story. We are absolutely thrilled.”

Paperweight is the Jewish community’s citizen’s advice bureau. It supports people from across the entire religious spectrum, who come to Paperweight at very difficult times in their lives, frequently due to life-changing circumstances such as job loss, family breakdown, serious medical diagnosis and bereavement. In 2021 alone, Paperweight dealt with over three

Paperweight’s Bayla and Alan Perrin at the awards

thousand separate case issues, accounting for more than 50,000 volunteering hours.

It’s the second award in recent months for Paperweight; they recently won the ‘Outstanding Initiative in Response to the Covid 19 Pandemic’ at the inaugural Barnet Faith and Belief Awards.

To view ‘Evie’s Story’ by Ilana Yahav, visit: https://smileymovement.org/ organisations/the-paperweight-trust

Mindu Hornick MBE Book Launch

In January 2020 just before Covid hit we launched the film “return to Auschwitz” featuring Mindu Hornick MBE.

Now just on two years later on the 20th March over 80 people attending the book launch for Mindu’s book entitled “My Story” printed by AJR.

The afternoon opened with words of welcome by Rabbi Jacobs followed by the 22 minute film.

Debbie Barnes from AJR then began the book launch and invited Nick Lampert who wrote Mindu’s book to come onto the stage and interview Mindu.

The conversation was amazing and so very moving.

The vote of thanks was given by Keith Rowe who formerly worked for AJR and put Mindu forward for having her story written.

Rebbetzen Rachel Jacobs and Mindu Hornick MBE

Resource and JW3 get comfortable with the uncomfortable

Michal Oshman

PHOTOS: GALIA VERTHIME SHERF

Resource and JW3 were joined by Michal Oshman, tech thought leader and author of What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid? Over 100 attendees heard Michal extol the virtues of risk-taking, putting yourself out there and finding the right path for you – or as she quoted, “The whole world is a narrow bridge, and the important thing is to have no fear.”

Michal also spoke candidly about how challenges in her life had influenced her decision-making at various points in her career, which has included stints at Facebook and TikTok. After the interview with Michal, Resource’s Relationship Manager, Lynne Cantor, provided some practical guidance on how and why to network. One audience member commented, “What a great webinar. I’m so pleased I was able to watch. Michal is an inspirational speaker.”