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COURT'S CONVERSION RULING ‘MORTAL BLOW’ TO ORTHODOXY
Chief Rabbi David Lau
PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA
BY DAVID SAFFER Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled this week that Reform and Masorti conversions in Israel are acceptable for citizenship under the “Law of Return”.
Orthodox rabbis and politicians immediately slammed the decision. Less than three weeks from a general election on March 23rd, the debate over conversion will make headline news in campaigning. Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau reportedly noted, “Those who converted through Reform conversions and the like are not Jewish. No High Court decision will change that fact.” He added, “It is unfortunate that through its decision, the Supreme Court approves flooding Israel with immigrants who have nothing to do with Judaism. Every Israeli citizen needs to ask himself on this sad evening, ‘How is the state of Israel a Jewish state when every foreigner can become a citizen?’” Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak
Yosef described the decision as “extremely regrettable”. “What the Reform and Conservative (movements) term ‘conversion’ is nothing but a falsification of Judaism and will mean bringing thousands of Gentiles among the people of Israel,” he reportedly added. Moves are afoot to overturn a deeply controversial ruling in Orthodox quarters. Shas Party’s Interior Minister, Rabbi Aryeh Deri labelled the decision “wrong and very unfortunate.” “It will cause controversy and a severe rift among the Jewish people,” he noted on Twitter. Deri added, “I undertake to amend the law so that only
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Anti-Semitic graffiti discovered Graffiti has been discovered on a wall in Hackney, London. Police are investigating after “Zionist police state” was daubed on the building. A Jewish witness reportedly described the incident as “shocking and insulting”. A police spokesman confirmed the force is aware of the graffiti and has contacted the council to get it removed as a matter of urgency. This is not the first time such a phrase has been spotted in the area. Last year, a sign reading “Welcome to the Zionist police state” was displayed on a building overlooking a Jewish
cemetery in Mile End, in London’s East End. A swastika was also seen on a house in Golders Green, north London and reported by Shomrim. The sign was removed by police. Campaign Against Antisemitism regularly produces reports of Home Office statistics illustrating hate crimes directed at Jews in England and Wales. Anyone discovering graffiti or anti-Semitic signs or is concerned should contact the police on 101 or telephone CAA on 0330 8220321 or email https://antisemitism. org/contact/
Soldier dies after training accident An investigation has begun into the fatal shooting of an IDF soldier when a weapon reportedly misfired at a military base in the Jordan Valley last week. Staff Sgt. Yonatan Granot, 22, was fatally injured in the incident and rushed to Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem but died last Friday. Granot, an organ donor, was buried at Kibbutz Einat last Sunday. Five patients including a coronavirus patient at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer have undergone life changing operations since the tragedy. The Covid patient is the first to undergo a lung
transplant. GOC Southern Command, Gen. Herzi Halevi, has appointed Harel Brigade commander, Col. Elad Schwartz, to investigate circumstances of the incident. Initial reports have noted that a commander selected a rifle to check after shooting practice and randomly pointed at an area on the base. The rifle accidentally discharged, striking Granot. The incident is under investigation by Military Police. The base was being used for training by troops preparing for duties in the Gaza Division.
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 conversion according to Halacha will be recognised in the State of Israel.” Yamina’s Naftali Bennett, backed by Deri, vowed to introduce legislation to revert the injustice. The Supreme Court “is intervening in government decisions and forgetting its role,” Bennett reportedly noted. “We all need to live here together.” State policy on conversion will be determined by the “democratically elected representatives of the people, not by jurists,” Yamina added in a statement. Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman and United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni called for advancement of an ‘override’ clause for the Knesset to vote as a pre-condition to join a coalition following this month’s election as it harmed “Jews in Israel and the world and threatened to tear us apart”. Litzman and Gafni reportedly noted that the decision was “disastrous for the meaning of the term ‘Jewish state’, they added, “throughout all the generations, Israel knew how to recognise its religion and beliefs without forgeries and imitations and this will continue into the future.” “The High Court decision is scandalous! It will bring disaster upon us,” MK Miki Zohar tweeted. Zohar added, “Anyone around the world can go to a Reform rabbi and receive permission to immigrate to Israel within 30 days. It’s clear that in a short time, Israel will no longer be Jewish or democratic.” The High Court’s ruling is a “radical departure from the Jewish religious tradition bequeathed to all Jews and a body blow to true Jewish unity” noted Agudath Israel of America in a stark statement. “The court’s decision is both misleading and dangerous. Misleading, because conversion is not a secular change of status, it is, inherently, a religious one. And dangerous, because bestowing legal status of any sort to “conversions” that lack the essential elements that have defined conversions for millennia can only confuse the Jewish public and increase disunity. “We in the United States have watched in anguish how non-halachic “conversions” have created a plurality of “Jewish peoples” here, with predictable and lamentable
impacts on the ability of halacha-faithful Jews to marry many who were raised in non-Orthodox Jewish communities. We fear the spectre of any similar bifurcation taking place in Israel.” AIA has appealed to Knesset members to recognise that the ruling threatens to further exacerbate societal disunity in Israel. “The Knesset should craft and pass legislation clarifying that conversion is an inherently religious procedure, and that defining it is the role of the Rabbinate, not any secular body,” they added. The High Court ruling has been criticised in Europe. Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, noted, “Israel today is a country of the first world, to which millions of citizens of third world countries are aspiring to emigrate. The liberalisation of the conversion process to non-official rabbinical courts, whether Orthodox or others, might bring millions of people from different countries to Israel as tourists, go through a pro-forma conversion and dilute the character of the only Jewish state in the world.” Justice Noam Sohlberg voted against the ruling but backed the “legal conclusion of the verdict”. For Sohlberg, the Knesset needed more time to make a decision. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has not as yet issued a statement on the ruling. The decision has divided MKs, opposition leader Yair Lapid welcomed the decision. He said in a statement, “We need to live here together with tolerance and mutual respect”. Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beitenu saluted a “historic” decision. The Reform and Masorti movements began an appeal process in 2005 calling for citizenship to converts. “We refrained from issuing a ruling in order to allow the state to advance legislation on the issue,” noted Justice Dafna Barak-Erez on Monday. But as people’s “rights hang in the balance” and no such legislation advancing, the court decided to issue its ruling. Orthodox and non-Orthodox conversions that take place abroad are recognised in Israel.
“The Knesset should craft and pass legislation clarifying that conversion is an inherently religious procedure, and that defining it is the role of the Rabbinate, not any secular body.”
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Bibi blames Iran for ship explosion in Gulf BY ADAM MOSES Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Iran for an explosion on an Israeli-owned ship, MV Helios Ray, in the Gulf of Oman last week. The carrier was flying a Bahamas’ flag on route from Saudi Arabia port Dammam to Singapore with a stopover in Dubai when the blast occurred around 50 miles from Muscat. There were 28 crew members onboard. No one was injured.
MV Helios Ray
PHOTO: MARINETRAFFIC.COM
Syrian media reported an Israeli air strike near Damascus on Sunday night. Israeli media reported the strikes were a response to
the ship attack in the Gulf. Israeli businessman Rami Ungar owns the cargo ship which diverted to Dubai’s Port Rashid for inspection and repairs to port and starboard sides according to American defense officials. It has been reported damage was caused by a missile or mines attached to the boat by a commando unit. Channel 13 News reportedly said Israeli officials believe the Iranian navy launched a precision strike to avoid casualties.
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It remains unclear what actually caused the blast but Israeli’s leader is resolute in his responses. “It was indeed an act by Iran, that’s clear,” Netanyahu reportedly told KAN TV. “Iran is the greatest enemy of Israel, I am determined to halt it. We are hitting it in the entire region.” Defence Minister Benny Gantz also accused Iran of striking the ship on the media channel. “Iran is looking to hit Israeli infrastructure and Israeli citizens and in everything related in any way to the State of Israel,” Gantz told Kan TV on Saturday. “The location of the ship in relative close proximity to Iran raises the notion, the assessment, that it is the Iranians, but this is something that needs to be examined.” Israeli Ambassador to the US, Gilad Erdan, added on Army Radio, “It was no secret that the Iranians are trying to harm Israeli targets”. The Helios Ray made a number of stops in the Gulf before the explosion. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said an investigation was underway, and has warned vessels in the area should “exercise caution”. Iran rejected Netanyahu’s claims over culpability though footage appeared on Iranian state television. Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh reportedly said in a news conference on Monday, “We strongly reject this accusation. The security of the Persian Gulf is extremely important for Iran.” Khatibzadeh’s comments have been dismissed by Israeli security who believe the ship was targeted in ongoing Iranian efforts to avenge the death of chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh who ran its nuclear program two decades ago last November. Iran blames Israel for the killing. According to Bicom, Israel cancelled a delegation attending a defence expo in Abu Dhabi over fears of being targeted. There are also tensions between the US and Iran over the JCPOA nuclear deal. The Abraham Accords has seen a hike in ships sailing between the Persian Gulf and Eilat. Iran is suspected of attacks on ships in the Gulf and Israeli intelligence have noted that Iran can threaten ships at large distances from its coast. In related news, the attack followed US airstrikes in Syria targeting facilities near the Iraqi border last Thursday. The Pentagon said strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq last month that killed a civilian contractor and wounded coalition troops. Regarding the latest attacks in Syria, Israeli intelligence have noted that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah operate in the area, although an Israeli military spokesman declined to comment on the matter. This is a standard protocol. However, Gantz said last Friday that Israel was taking “almost weekly” action to prevent Iranian entrenchment in Syria. Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against military targets in Syria in recent years.
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Frontier Airlines eject orthodox family BY SIMCHA ABIR Frontier Airlines are in the middle of a media storm after video footage emerged of an orthodox family with a 15-month old toddler being forced to exit a packed plane before takeoff last Sunday. Allegations of anti-Semitism by Frontier staff has been forthcoming. The incident hit national news in America. The shocking episode revolved around the tot not wearing a mask on flight F9 2878 from Miami International to La Guardia Airport. Witnesses allege Frontier staff ‘cheered’ and ‘high-fived each other’ after ordering the Jewish passengers off the plane. The airline says the baby was not the issue but adults in the group removing masks on the plane. The Anti-Defamation League and politicians have called on Frontier Airlines to launch a ‘full and transparent investigation’. New York State Senator, Simcha Felder, tweeted, “This video is extremely upsetting and its proximity to recent similar incidents signals an alarming and disturbing trend. I am asking @Sen Schumer to conduct a full investigation to ensure the rights and safety of ALL passengers.” Frontier are investigating what is the latest episode involving an orthodox family in a matter of days. Only last week an incident
occurred on a Delta flight from Miami International to La Guardia Airport. Last Sunday’s episode saw disturbing images of flight attendants discussing removing a family despite airline regulations stating face coverings “not” being required for children under two. Jewish and non-Jewish passengers backed the young family. With emotions escalating the incident resulted in passengers protesting. The plane did not take off. After passengers departed, footage emerged online of Orthodox Jews exasperated at airline customer services staff. A number of eye-witnesses offered testimony to Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council regarding flight attendants actions. OJPAC posted the interviews, later tweeting, “EYEWITNESS VIDEO! Multiple people say on the record in this video that as the Chasidic couple started leaving the airplane, @FlyFrontier staff applauded, exchanged high fives and one allegedly said “a job well done to those Jews.” During footage, a passenger warned the airline they will ‘pay the consequences,
another passenger notes the incident is ‘an anti-Semitic act’. As the storm broke on social media, Frontier Airlines tweeted, “Members of a large group, including adults, refused to wear masks as flight 2878 was preparing for departure from MIA-LGA. Repeated requests to comply with federal law necessitated their removal from the flight. The issue did not stem from a child under 2.” The airline has since provided a statement regarding the incident to the media. “While flight 2878 from Miami to New York-La Guardia was preparing for takeoff, a large group of passengers repeatedly refused to comply with the U.S. government’s federal
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mask mandate,” noted Frontier Airlines spokesman Jennifer de la Cruz. “Multiple people, including several adults, were asked repeatedly to wear their masks and refused to do so. Based on the continued refusal to comply with the federal mask mandate, refusal to disembark the aircraft and aggression towards the flight crew, local law enforcement was engaged.” She added, “The flight was ultimately cancelled. Frontier Airlines and U.S. government policy mandate that all passengers over the age of two, other than those with a recognised ADA disability that prevents them from wearing a mask, must wear a mask while onboard an aircraft. To be clear, the issue did not stem from a child under the age of two.” The Delta incident resulted in a group of orthodox men being ejected. Before departure an elderly orthodox passenger, reportedly with heart issues, briefly took off his mask to eat something. After protests, all passengers eventually had to depart the aircraft. Allegations of anti-Semitic comments were reportedly made.
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Israelis follow Purim guidelines BY ADAM MOSES Israeli citizens in the main followed government and police advice to socially distance during Purim. There were sporadic incidents where police handed out fines as Israelis celebrated the festival. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Israelis to “be happy, dress up and follow the rules” prior to the three-day festival whilst police appealed to people not to travel and stopped cars entering Jerusalem at checkpoints on Saturday night. Rabbonim wrote to communities pointed out that a state of drunkenness was “risky and unseemly”. A nighttime curfew with limited public transport came into force last Thursday until Sunday night. Police checkpoints were set up although there were exceptions for some private vehicles. Police warned transport operators entering Jerusalem faced NIS 5,000 fines. The Transportation Ministry said measures would “prevent expected gatherings” for holiday events. Netanyahu met with his Health and Public Security Minister, the Police, MDA and HMO heads on the eve of Purim. “Last Purim there was a dangerous outbreak that infected very many and you remember that we had to close down the country,” he said. “This cannot reoccur. This Purim, on the contrary, we
are all commanded to keep the rules. We can rejoice. We can put on costumes. However, we must follow the rules. This is incredibly important because we really are on the verge of exiting from the pandemic.” Outlining five stages to exiting the pandemic, he added, “The first stage is Purim, this is now. We need to get through Purim in peace.” Netanyahu concluded, “With G-d’s help and yours we will get through Purim in peace so that we will be able to celebrate Passover together. This Passover we will again ask, why is this night different? And this time we will answer, this night we are all vaccinated. Therefore, I ask that you all follow the directives. Have a happy Purim, still with masks.” The coronavirus cabinet had backed the night curfew. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein called for festive measures during a National Security Council meeting. Edelstein called for a significant reduction in public transportation over Purim. His comments came after Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch commented there was no choice but to implement a curfew. Coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash appealed for prayer sessions and holiday dinners to take place with close relatives whilst parties were strictly forbidden. There were reports of long lines of shoppers buying Purim outfits in the build-up to the festival.
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Israeli spy footage discovered BY DAVID SAFFER Israeli spy Eli Cohen’s widow has appealed to Russia to recover her husband’s remains. Reports emerged last month on an Arabic website of Russian troops searching a cemetery at al-Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus. The online resource has published incorrect reports in the past. “I want to believe that we’re not getting our hopes up for nothing,” Nadia Cohen reportedly said. “I ask the Russians for help, use your capabilities to bring him back to be buried in Israel.” She added, “I would very much like to believe (the reports). It gives us hope and I’m hoping these are not just castles in the air and that there is real interest in bringing him to be buried in the Land of Israel. It was his last request, if not in life, surely in death.” Russian news agency RT released images of a man, thought to be Cohen, walking down streets of Damascus in a new documentary series about Syria. The film was discovered in an antique shop in Saint Petersburg. Producers noted that Boris Lukin, a specialist in communications for the Soviets, took the footage. Mossad are aware Lukin and Cohen were in Damascus at the same time. Cohen’s widow, Nadia, who is setting up a museum in Herzliya in her husband’s memory, told media outlets, “I watched the footage for the first time and my excitement peaked. We saw Eli walking down Damascus. Someone was shooting and he turned his head away from the camera. You can see Eli is broken. It’s not him, uncouth, trapped. He seemed heavy, slim and in much pain. I saw a dead Eli in front of me. His hand in his pockets, like he needed someone to hold them for him. It’s not Eli. It was unnecessary to release (the footage).” Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Cohen was multi-lingual which helped him access senior officers of the Syrian military and government officials, including President Amin al-Hafez, in the early 1960s. This enabled him to pass Syrian military
Eli Cohen
PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA
plans secrets to the Israeli government. Though talented in espionage, Cohen at times was careless and in 1965, Syrian counterintelligence identified his radio signal resulting in his arrest and conviction in a military trial. Cohen was sentenced to death and publicly hanged in May 1965. Cohen was described by the Syrians as “the greatest Israeli spy who has ever operated in an Arab country.” His remains have yet to be returned to Israel despite efforts.
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Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen are due in Israel today to discuss expanding cooperation on coronavirus vaccines. Kurz is aware new mutations will require updated inoculations. “The aim must be to adapt the existing vaccines and treatments as quickly as possible or to produce new ones as quickly as possible and to do so independently,” he reportedly said. Kurz added that Israel, Austria and
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Denmark had been in close contact to fight Covid-19. The three nations are to undertake research and production of vaccines and treatments. A first priority was to accelerate “production and procurement of vaccines” for the future” he noted. Israel has gained global praise for its vaccine programme. Latest studies illustrate two Pfizer doses cut symptomatic cases and serious illness by 94% in all age groups.
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MEET THE PARTY LEADERS SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2021 AT 8:30 PM
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CAA launch appeal against BBC BY ADAM MOSES
in Britain, and it is telling that it does so in relation to the Jews. These segments show Campaign Against Antisemitism has sub- why, according to our research, two thirds mitted a complaint and launched a petition of British Jews view the BBC’s coverage of calling on the BBC to apologise for an in- Jewish matters unfavourably.” sensitive segment on its Politics Live show CAA noted that the titled “Should Jews count as an ethnic mi- pretext for the debate nority?” earlier this week. was stirred by a Rayner The section featured a debate with four tweet that “airbrushed panellists. Jewish party leaders Regarding a tweet by Labour deputy from history”, despite leader Angela Rayner about previous Jew- the fact she was first ish political leaders, host Jo Coburn sug- elected an MP while gested that “many Jews have succeeded in Labour was led by a reaching high political office and therefore Jewish person. don’t need to be seen as a group needing “This sort of omission does nothing to recognition in the same way as others”. restore Ms Rayner’s reputation, which has Contributor Ben Cohen obbeen sullied by accusations of antiserved that Jews clearly face semitism,” CAA explained. “In this anti-Semitism and racism. He connection, our complaint against also referenced Labour Party’s her remains outstanding and we institutional anti-Semitism await the Party’s independent and added that while he was disciplinary process later this sure Rayner ‘didn’t mean to year before action should be say what she said’, she should taken.” have corrected herself on CAA added, “There are Twitter. around 250,000 Jews in Britain. Over 1,000 people have We suffer almost four times as already signed up to much hate crime per capita as the petition. any other religious group. To “It is outrageous hold a debate on whether or that the BBC has not we “count” as an ethnic aired a segment minority is appalling. The on whether Jews BBC must apologise.” count as an CAA noted that historethnic minoriically at least four party ty,” said a CAA leaders have been Jewspokesperson. ish, Benjamin Disraeli “The show’s (Conservatives), Herown guest rightbert Samuel (Liberly considered als), Michael Howard the debate to be (Conservatives) and ‘ridiculous’. It is a Ed Miliband (Labour). question that the There have also been Corporation would minority leaders in never presume to minor parties includAngela Rayner ask of any other miing the controversial PHOTO: WIKIMDEDIA nority community Salma Yaqoob of the
Respect Party, who has since joined the Labour Party. The Board of Deputies posted a statement about the segment. “We were disappointed by the lack of sensitivity shown by the BBC as regards this discussion,” a spokesman said. “Jews, regardless of whether they are at all religious or not, are subjected to anti-Semitism every day and have been subjected to mass murder, in living memory, on the basis of their ethnicity. Our community should expect solidarity and support, not questions about whether we deserve any.” A BBC spokesperson reportedly said, “We invited Benjamin Cohen on to the programme to discuss his tweet which objected to Angela Rayner’s assertion that Anas Sarwar was the first ethnic minority leader of a political party in the UK. The discussion reflected the fact that many official ethnic minority monitoring forms do not include a category for Jews.” Lee Rowley MP, Conservative Party deputy chairman, Labour life peer Lord Wood, Kate Andrews, The Spectator’s economic correspondent and Miatta Fahnbulleh of the New Economics Foundation appeared on the panel. It was recently reported Labour opened and closed an anti-Semitism investigation into Rayner based on a CAA complaint. The inquiry relates to Rayner’s promotion of a book entitled The Holocaust Industry. “Despite the reports, we maintain our expectation of a full and transparent investigation once the independent disciplinary system, mandated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, is in place later this year, and that therefore our complaint remains open,” noted CAA.
“Our community should expect solidarity and support, not questions about whether we deserve any.”
Qatar pledges $60m for Gaza gas pipeline BY SIMCHA ABIR Qatar has pledged $60 million to build a natural gas pipeline from Israel to the Gaza Strip. The European Union has pledged over $24 million to fund the Gaza side of the border. A Qatari statement, published on its Foreign Ministry website, came two days after reported closed-door negotiations on the pipeline that has a 2023 target completion date. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh welcomed the pledge as it “resolves the problem of electricity in Gaza completely”. A gas deal with Leviathan field partners has yet to be finalised. Natural gas will flow from the field operated by Chevron through
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an existing pipeline into Israel to Gaza in the proposed extension. Gaza’s power station currently produces electricity for 12 hours a day on diesel. Israel announced last month about importing natural gas to power Gaza’a power station. The deal is part of an international accord brokered by Qatar, European Union and
United Nations. The first contract sees Israeli energy giant Delek sell gas to the Palestinian Authority on route to Gaza. A contract includes construction of a pipeline from Israel to Gaza’s power plant. The agreement was reached after negotiations with the PA, Delek, Middle East Quartet representatives and European diplomats. The gas plan will aid economic and humanitarian challenges in the Strip where there is limited power supply and growing demand. The Strip has one power plant and is dependent on diesel from the Israel Electric Corporation as well as Egypt for power. A team of officials is being set up to convert the power station from diesel to natural gas.
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Bibi welcomes UAE emissary BY ADAM MOSES Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed United Arab Emirates Ambassador Mohammad Al-Khaja to Israel on Tuesday. Netanyahu congratulated UAE’s first official diplomat in a landmark meeting in Jerusalem a day after his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport. Al-Khaja landed at Ben Gurion just five months after the two nations normalised relations in the first of four accords brokered under the Trump administration. His arrival signals a seismic note on progress made by Israel with Gulf nations. “We’re changing the Middle East, we’re changing the world,” Netanyhau said. Israel’s leader and Al-Khaja discussed developing joint regional and bilateral projects in a broad range of fields. National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat and senior officials attended the meeting.
Mohammed Al-Khaja
PHOTO: UAE MOFA
During a busy schedule Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi joined Al-Khaja for the first of a number of official meetings on Monday. Ashkenazi described it as a “historic day” for the region. “It’s another historic day in the Middle East and a major step towards strengthening peace between nations and peoples,” he reportedly said. “We have a historic opportunity to present a model of warm and comprehensive peace between our countries.” Ashkenazi added, “The opening of our foreign missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and the opening of the UAE Embassy in Israel are critical in establishing bilateral relations and promoting peace.” Following a meeting between embassy staff and Israel’s Foreign Ministry team, Al-Khaja visited President Reuven Rivlin’s official residence for a traditional ceremony including an IDF honorary parade. A military orchestra played the Emirati and Israeli national anthems. Looking ahead to the visit, Al-Khaja noted on Twitter, “For Emiratis and Israelis a new chapter of openness, understanding and prosperity is beginning.” UAE’s Foreign Ministry delegation has been in Israel for two weeks to set up the embassy. Al-Khaja is expected to return to the UAE then return to Israel when the embassy is fully established after Pesach.
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Lockdown continues to ease in Israel BY DAVID SAFFER
Restaurants and cafes can serve customers outdoors under strict social distancing measures on Sunday as Israel’s government further eases lockdown restrictions. Green Pass holders (Israelis with two vaccine doses or who have recovered from Covid-19) can eat indoors and enter event halls, conferences and tourist attractions. Hotels will also return to full operation, including indoor dining areas. Public gatherings are 20 people indoors and 50 people outdoors except virus
‘hotspots’ where a maximum of 10 people indoors and 20 outdoors is applicable. Caution however is the watchword with Covid cases and reproduction rates being closely monitored. A final decision is due today when the coronavirus committee meets. “Nothing is a done deal,” Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch reportedly said. “On Thursday, a decision will be made based on the coronavirus data. There is a huge difference between a basic reproduction number that is below 1, which means a declining epidemic, and higher than 1, which means an expanding epidemic. If the R number rises
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significantly, we will not approve another reopening, we will recommend halting it.” Kisch added, “We are managing (the exit plan) with the professional echelon of the Health Ministry. There is a plan, first in the world, which is not just about reopening but having restrictions with the Green Pass. This is the ability the State of Israel has thanks to the vaccines. They changed the game here. We are doing this carefully, we see that the coefficient of infection has not yet exceeded 1.” Street shops, shopping centres, open-air markets opened last month. Entry to gyms, cultural and sporting venues, art galleries and swimming pools are available to ‘Green Passport’ holders. Health Ministry data illustrates how matters are improving with a contagion rate at 4.7%, the lowest since December. There are 717 patients hospitalised in serious condition, 224 ventilated and 5,797 fatalities to date. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu noted in an Army Radio interview earlier this week that Israelis might need a booster vaccination due to virus variants and the long term effect of the Pfizer vaccine being unknown. “We may need to get vaccinated twice in one year, so we’re in talks with Pfizer and Moderna for the establishment of a vaccine factory in Israel,” Netanyahu reportedly said. “We’re negotiating with Pfizer and Moderna to sign an agreement to purchase vaccines which are effective against the new variants. If we need to vaccinate every citizen in Israel twice a year, we’ll need a total of 36 million vaccines.” Israeli’s leader added, “We’re preparing for the possibility of renewing the Green Passport system every six months. We don’t know exactly how long the vaccines last. It says six months, it could be longer but we have to be prepared for the less optimistic option.” Netanyahu told listeners that if he’s re-elected later this month his main objective is to ensure 36 million vaccines would be available in 2022. Over half Israel’s population have received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, 3.4 million have had a inoculation. There are concerns of an increase in Covid cases with measures easing for businesses. A spike is expected but it should be less serious due to the vaccination campaign. Prof. Eran Segal is behind a Weizmann Institute model. “We said that March will see a rise in infections, but due to the vaccines, we will see less serious patients,” he reportedly said. Segal added that a Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center report stated that vaccines are 88% effective based on mask and social distancing measures being adhered to. “If we will see any serious change in the public’s adherence to restrictions, we risk losing this effectiveness,” he reportedly explained. Segal backed reopening the economy despite the small rise in the reproduction rate. “It is possible that the vaccines are capable of counterbalancing the increase in the R number as a result of the economy’s reopening,” he reportedly said. “Before the vaccination drive, about 70% of serious patients were over 60 and now it completely turned
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4 MARCH 2021 around, over 70% of hospitalised patients are under 60.” Ben Gurion Airport, meantime, is increasing operations for Israelis who no longer require a permit to enter the country from Sunday. Some 3,000 Israelis will be allowed to enter from abroad and can quarantine at home in accordance with Health Ministry instructions. Quarantine hotels will be used for citizens who cannot maintain home quarantine. Vaccinated Israeli citizens can leave Israel in accordance with flight limits approved by the Transport Ministry. An exceptions committee will discuss applications for unvaccinated citizens to leave the country. The coronavirus cabinet and police will monitor returning Israelis reporting new Covid variants. The cabinet is considering police proposals to double fines from NIS 5,000 to NIS 10,000 for home quarantine breaches. In related news, Israel is extending the school year until the end of July to enable pupils to catch up fully on missed studies. Netanyahu made the announcement with Education Minister Yoav Galant and government officials in a press conference starting with preschools to grade 11 in high schools. It is thought Grade 12 is excluded so as not to delay call ups to the IDF. Netanyahu added that measures had to be agreed with the Teachers’ Union. “The Education Minister and I are bringing you an outline for the extension of the school year until the end of July,” Netanyahu reportedly confirmed. “We must ensure that all children are given an opportunity to make up what they missed.” Teaching staff will receive additional payments for overtime work. “We will ensure teachers’ rights, all will be paid for this, I will make sure of it,” Netanyahu noted. “I take full responsibility for this with the education and finance ministers. This is what the children of Israel need and deserve.” Finance Minister Israel Katz informed the media that NIS 2.4 billion would be allocated to the Education Ministry and NIS 20 billion to the Health Ministry. Teachers’ Union chief Ran Erez called on teachers to back the proposals. “It will be voluntary work with pay, those who will not teach will not face any punishment,” he reportedly said. The Teachers’ Association, National Student and Youth Council have backed proposals. Haim Bibas, Federation of Local Authorities in Israel, informed municipal leaders that schools will reopen in ‘green’ and ‘yellow’ communities with low coronavirus infection rates. “I am happy to announce that the federation’s outline to fully reopen the education system in ‘green’ and ‘yellow’ communities will go up for a government vote on March 1 and is expected to pass,” he reportedly confirmed. “The return of all students to schools in ‘green’ and ‘yellow’ authorities is a crucial aspect in our mission to prioritise the lives of the children in the education system. We will continue to work until every student in every city is back in school and ensure that no one is left behind.”
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ZAKA’s founder wins Israel Prize
Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Galant and ZAKA founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav
BY SIMCHA ABIR ZAKA Founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav and former Foreign Ministry director-general Joseph Chechnover have been awarded the Israel Prize. Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Galant announced the Lifetime Achievement and Special Contribution to Society and the State winners earlier this week. The committee noted Meshi-Zahav’s accolade was for an “outstanding contribution” in advancing assistance at disaster events and for creating unity and bringing people together in Israeli society. “For three decades, (Yehuda)
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Meshi-Zahav has headed the ZAKA Search and Rescue organisation which has become an essential arm in rescue efforts, saving lives and identifying the victims in mass disasters in Israel and around the world,” they noted. “He serves as an example and role model for the spirit of volunteering in Israeli society in all its forms. Yehuda dedicates his life to unity within Israel out of a sense of mission and a genuine belief in the need to build bridges and maintain a dialogue between all sectors of society as the key to a shared existence in the State of Israel.” Meshi-Zahav recently lost his brother and parents within a month.
He said, “In a month full of tears of pain and sorrow after the triple family loss that I have suffered, finally my eyes shed tears of happiness.” Meshi-Zahav noted that after meeting Education Minister Galant he would go to the grave of his parents to tell them “good news and give them moments of contentment”. He added, “The award is not only mine but belongs to the thousands of ZAKA volunteers in Israel and around the world who dedicate their lives to helping others, saving lives and honouring the dead. Thousands of ZAKA volunteers understand that everyone has the place and opportunity to contribute, volunteer, help and assist others regardless of religion, race or gender. In our volunteering for the citizens of the country, we connect all sectors of the nation.” Meshi-Zahav thanked Galant and the committee members for a joyous decision. He concluded, “I see the award as a commitment to increase our activities for Kiddush Hashem, sanctification of the Name, for bringing people together, selfless love and unity within Israel, concern for others and mutual guarantee.” The award committee chaired by Director-General of the Haim Sheba Medical Center, Professor Yitshak Kreiss included Israel Prize recipients Miriam Peretz, Yeshayahu (Shaike) Levi, Yehudit Grisero and Professor Haim Teitelbaum.
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Gantz campaign medal approved Defence Minister Benny Gantz’s proposal for a campaign medal to IDF and South Lebanon Army soldiers has been approved by the government. Thousands of soldiers fought in operations between September 1982 and May 2000. Gantz was the last commander of IDF’s Lebanon Liaison Division during Israel’s withdrawal from the security zone in 2000. “As the last soldier to leave Lebanon, it feels like a great privilege to give recognition to thousands of combat soldiers today, both those who have returned home and those who have not,” Gantz reportedly said. He added, “Awarding this medal is also a symbolic message to the soldiers currently serving in the IDF, stressing the state’s appreciation of its soldiers and their dedication, the risks they face and their work to protect the nation.” The IDF and SLA held a defence line from 1985 until Israel’s withdrawal, 559 IDF and 660 SLA soldiers died in operations. The buffer zone spanned 10% of Lebanese land and was home to 150,000 residents in Shi’ite, Maronite and Druze villages. Some 6,000 SLA soldiers and families returned to Israel to evade prosecution.
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By Marc Ovits With the tax year end (TYE) approaching, individuals should be making the most of the tax reliefs and allowances currently available. This can lead to a reduced tax bill and potentially a boost to savings. Below is a checklist of 5 of the top 10 TYE planning opportunities to take advantage of together with the key information you need to make these opportunities a reality. 1. PENSION SAVING: MAXIMISE TAX RELIEF Additional and higher rate taxpayers may wish to contribute an amount to maximise tax relief at 40% or 45%. For those with income over £100,000, the point at which the personal allowance is eroded, an individual contribution can reverse this. Those with sufficient earnings can use pension carry forward to make contributions in excess of the current annual allowance. For couples, consider maximising tax relief at higher rates for both, before paying contributions that will only secure basic rate relief. Many individuals don’t know they can top-up pensions for their partners - and not just by £3,600, but up to their partner’s earnings. And their partner can get tax relief on top. 2. HIGH EARNERS: MAKING A PENSION CONTRIBUTION BEFORE THE TYE COULD INCREASE THEIR ANNUAL ALLOWANCE High income individuals could face a cut in the amount of tax-efficient pension saving they can make, although the thresholds before this kicks in are higher this year. This means some high earners will be able to pay more in this year than last. The standard £40,000 annual allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 of ‘income’ over the new ‘adjusted income’ limit of £240,000, until the allowance drops to
£4,000. If an individual exceeds the adjusted income limit, it’s possible that some of these individuals may be able to reinstate their full £40,000 allowance by making use of carry forward. The tapering of the annual allowance won’t normally apply if income less personal contributions is £200,000 or less (the ‘threshold income’ limit). A large personal contribution using unused allowance from the previous three tax years can bring income below £200,000 and restore the full £40,000 allowance for 2020/21 3. INDIVIDUALS APPROACHING RETIREMENT: BOOST PENSION SAVING NOW BEFORE TRIGGERING THE MPAA Anyone looking to take advantage of income flexibility for the first time may want to consider boosting their pension pot before April, potentially sweeping up the full £40,000 annual allowance from this year, plus any unused allowance carried forward from the last three years. Triggering the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) will mean the opportunity to continue funding into DC pensions will be restricted to just £4,000 a year - with no carry forward. If income is required, it might be worth considering other ways of meeting that need. In this way, the MPAA can be deferred and the full annual allowance retained for a while longer . Alternatively, individuals who do need money from their pension can avoid the MPAA and retain the full £40,000 allowance if they only take their tax free cash. 4. EMPLOYEES: SACRIFICE BONUS FOR AN EMPLOYER PENSION CONTRIBUTION The tax year end often coincides with business year ends and, for some employees, this could mean a bonus payment.
‘Exchanging’ a bonus for an employer pension contribution before the tax year end can bring several benefits. The employer and employee National Insurance (NI) savings made could be used to boost pension funding, giving more in the pension pot for every £1 lost from takehome pay. 5. BUSINESS OWNERS: TAKE PROFITS AS PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS For many directors, taking significant profits as pension contributions could be the most efficient way of paying themselves and cutting their overall tax bill. Of course, if the director is over 55 they will have full unrestricted access to their pension savings, although this might trigger the MPAA of £4,000 if any income is taken in addition to tax free cash. There’s no NI payable on either dividends or pension contributions. Dividends are paid from profits after corporation tax and will also be taxable in the director’s hands. By making an employer pension contribution instead, tax and NI savings can boost a director’s pension fund Employer contributions made in the current financial year will get relief at 19%. In many cases, effective tax year planning can produce a higher level of savings than the investment return you generate from the amount you invest! Having advised clients for almost a decade, I am yet to meet a prospect who has fully optimised their finances and taken advantage of all the available tax allowances and reliefs. Perhaps you could be the first ? If not, then do yourself a favour and get in touch with a competent financial adviser to see find out what you are missing out on. Expert advice could be of substantial benefit to YOU!
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Ashkenazi ‘Zoom’ chat on Iran BY ADAM MOSES Israel and the United States won’t make decisions on their own accord regarding Iran. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi informed Israeli representatives to East Asia and the Pacific about the scenario in a Zoom call on Tuesday. Historically, it has not happened and Ashkenazi is of the view the position will not change. “If anyone thought the Americans would run to make an agreement with Iran, it did not happen up until now, and I hope it will not happen going forward,” Ashkenazi reportedly explained. Ashkenazi noted positive relations with the Biden administration and US Foreign
Minister Anthony Blinken. “There is a decision by a small forum constituting the Prime Minister, Defense Minister, Foreign Minister and heads of the Defense establishment to enter a dialogue with them in a non-oppositional manner, discuss Israeli interests and how to forge a great agreement that will safeguard Israeli and regional interests and prevent a nuclear Iran,” he explained. “Our policy is to exhaust this dialogue in person and to professionally converse with the Americans as allies.” Ashkenazi spoke about Iranian threats globally after a suspected attack near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi last month. He
anticipates that Israel will establish relations with more Arab countries this year after deals with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco in recent months. “It’s not a question of if, but under which condition,” he noted. Ashkenazi added that a ministry goal was better relations with Jordan and Egypt including business activity. To this end, Ashkenazi met Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at the Allenby Border Crossing during the day to promote economic and civil matters in a statement from his office. This was the third meeting between the ministers at the crossing.
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In related news, Gantz wants to develop a “special security arrangement” with Gulf Arab allies regarding Iran. Gantz was guarded over a Kan News report on a definitive deal but confirmed security ties was under consideration. “We are going to develop defense relations with every country that we have relations with,” he reportedly said. “We have this process of setting up (a) special security arrangement and within this arrangement we can continue and develop our relations.” Gantz also confirmed Israel had no opposition to the sale of 50 Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth jets to the UAE in a deal from the Trump administration. Gantz maintained Israel’s stance under White House administrations was that a “qualitative military edge” had to be preserved between the two allies.
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14 NEWS
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Election 2021 News Exclusively covering the election for The Jewish Weekly is weekly columnist JAMES MARLOW with his report, news briefs and latest polling according to Israeli surveys. James has been covering Israeli Elections since the eighties and has extensive knowledge of the many Parties, Candidates, Proportional Representation system and analysing coalition agreements. In addition James gives intriguing insights into
The Marlow Report There is almost zero movement in the polls this week, which means there is almost zero chance of a coalition building attempt. This tells us that the two opposing sides in Israeli politics are once again, evenly balanced, but I could have told you that before this fourth election was voted upon. Likud remains the leader of the pack by 9-10 seats with Yesh Atid coming in at a distant second. Around twenty per-cent of voters are still undecided which party they will choose on 23 March, but most know which side they are considering. For example, a typical Israeli voter, including myself thinks, do I want a left wing or right wing party? Do I go for a religious or secular faction? Or do I choose a smaller party that could make a significant difference when building a coalition or avoid running the risk of wasting my vote, if the party fails to cross the minimum threshold? These are the questions that cross a voters mind when he or she walks into the booth and is confronted with a blue tray of Hebrew lettered slips – 39 of them this time, each representing one of the 39 parties running. But the election could end up being decided by not who is at the top of the polls, but rather, at the bottom. Meretz, Blue and White and the United Arab List (Ra’am) on the left, with the Religious Zionists Party on the right, are all polling on the borderline and fighting for their political lives. It is impossible to predict which of these parties will make the 3.25% electoral threshold and which one will flush away tens of thousands of votes. As with past elections, The Jewish Weekly presents a “guide for the politically perplexed” as a service to its readers. The guide includes their poll numbers, the top candidates, Anglo names and strategies of parties that are expected to cross the threshold.
LIKUD Poll position: 28-31 Top five: Binyamin Netanyahu, Yuli Edelstein, Yisrael Katz, Miri Regev, Yariv Levin Top Anglo candidate: US citizen Yair Gabai, No. 36, US-born Yehudah Glick, No. 43 English website: https://www.likud.org.il/en/ Strategy: Presenting Netanyahu as a leader running against politicians. Painting him as a unifier and statesman and emphasizing his role in bringing vaccines and peace deals. Warning that voting for another party on the Right could result in missing an opportunity for a right-wing government and could bring “Yair Lapid and the Left” to power. YESH ATID Poll position: 17-19 Top five: Yair Lapid, Orna Barbivai, Meir Cohen, Karin Elharar, Meirav Cohen Top Anglo candidate: US-born Moshe Tur-Paz, No. 21, Anglo division head Michal Cababia, No. 29 English website: https://www.yeshatid.org. il/?languagecode=en Strategy: Presenting Lapid as a clean and professional alternative to Netanyahu, who will form a “sane government” and end political chaos. Disregarding Netanyahu’s handling of the coronavirus as a failure that cost thousands of lives. NEW HOPE Poll position: 11-14 Top five: Gideon Sa’ar, Yifat Shasha-Biton, Ze’ev Elkin, Yoaz Hendel, Sharren Haskel Top Anglo candidate: Canadian-born Haskel, No. 5, English campaign head Jonathan Javor, No. 42 English website: https://www.newhope.org.il/en/ home/ Strategy: Presenting Sa’ar as the candidate most fit to succeed Netanyahu and bring about unity and stability. Emphasizing the need to replace Netanyahu while keeping the Right in power. Focusing on the need to decentralize the national government in favour of local authorities. YAMINA Poll position: 11-13 Top five: Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Alon Davidi, Matan Kahana, Amichai Chikli Top Anglo candidate: Former US citizen Bennett, No. 1, Chicago-born Jeremy Saltan, No. 16 English website: None
Israel’s fourth election in 2 years on Sky News, LBC Radio and many online events, including for the Zionist Federation, Ner Yisrael, Glasgow Friends of Israel and United Synagogue through Zoom. Strategy: Presenting Bennett as the true professional who can bring about a more efficient government focusing on the needs of the people, especially in the fight against the health and economic crises caused by the coronavirus. Saying that Netanyahu needs to be replaced but avoiding at all costs being defined as either the pro-Netanyahu or anti-Netanyahu camp, in order to maintain support from both camps. JOINT LIST Poll position: 8-9 Top five: Ayman Odeh, Ahmad Tibi, Sami Abu Shehadeh, Aida Touma-Sliman, Osama Saadi Top Anglo candidate: None English website: None Strategy: Presenting the need for Arabs to get out the vote to maximize the power of the Joint List in the next Knesset. SHAS Poll position: 8-9 Top five: Arye Deri, Ya’acov Margi, Yoav Ben-Tzur, Michael Malkieli, Haim Biton Top Anglo candidate: None English website: None Strategy: Presenting Shas as an island of stability in a chaotic world that its voters can rely on, inspired by the late Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, z”l. UTJ Poll position: 7-8 Top five: Moshe Gafni, Ya’acov Litzman, Uri Maklev, Meir Porush, Yaacov Asher Top Anglo candidate: Former US citizen Yitzhak Pindrus, No. 7 English website: None Strategy: Presenting the need for chareidim to get out the vote and maximize the power of UTJ in the next Knesset. YISRAEL BETEINU Poll position: 6-7 Top five: Avigdor Liberman, Oded Forer, Evgeny Sova, Eli Avidar, Yulia Malinovsky Top Anglo candidate: None English website: None Strategy: Presenting Netanyahu as weak against the chareidim and failing at stopping the coronavirus, using the slogan “Lieberman: Ending the rule of the chareidim.” LABOR Poll position: 5-7 Top five: Merav Michaeli, Omer Bar Lev, Emilie Moatti, Gilad Kariv, Efrat Rayten Top Anglo candidate: None
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English website: https://havoda.org.il/en/ Strategy: Presenting Michaeli and Labor as an honest alternative for voters on the Left. Not directly endorsing Lapid to form the next government. Party emphasizes that Kariv, No 4 on the list is a Reform rabbi, and eighth candidate is Nachman Shai who chaired the United Jewish Communities. RELIGIOUS ZIONISTS Poll position: 3-5 Top five: Bezalel Smotrich, Michal Woldiger, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Simcha Rothman, Orit Struck Top Anglo candidate: None English website: None Strategy: Emphasizing the need for ideology and substance on the Right and not abandoning the ideals of the Right despite the current focus on the coronavirus. MERETZ Poll position: 3-4 Top five: Nitzan Horowitz, Tamar Zandberg, Yair Golan, Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi, Esawi Frej Top Anglo candidate: US-born Laura Wharton, No. 12 English website: None. Strategy: Using the betrayals by other parties in the past three elections to remind voters on the Left that Meretz is the only safe vote for those who do not want to continue to empower Netanyahu. BLUE AND WHITE Poll position: 3-5 Top five: Benny Gantz, Pnina Tamano-Shata, Chili Tropper, Michael Biton, Orit Farkash-Hacohen Top Anglo candidate: South African-raised Ruth Wasserman Lande, No. 10, US-born Alon Tal, No 11 English website: None Strategy: Portraying Gantz as an honest leader who can end the political manipulations of Netanyahu. Gantz, who is acting justice minister, says he wants to keep the portfolio in the next government, which he says will not be led by Netanyahu. RA’AM (UNITED ARAB LIST) Poll position: 2-4 Top five: Mansour Abbas, Mazen Ghanaim, Waleed Taha, Saeed Alharomi, Iman Yassin Khatib Top Anglo candidate: None English website: None Strategy: Persuading Arab voters that they can have an impact on the next government’s policies, despite not joining it, by cooperating with parties on the Right and not being seen as in the Left’s pocket.
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ELECTION NEWS BRIEFS:
IMPORTANT DATES:
• As expected, the High Court overturned a Central Elections Committee vote (16-15 with 2 abstentions) to ban Labor’s number 7 candidate, Ibtisam Mara’ana Menuhin from running for Knesset. In the past, she has made many insensitive comments about the Holocaust, but the court ruled, she should still be able to run. Labor are polling between 5-6 seats.
March 9 Election television and radio commercials begin March 11 Diplomats and soldiers begin voting March 19 Final polls released March 23 Election Day March 30 Final results presented to President
• Senior Likud officials are complaining over not receiving a role in the party election campaign. PM Netanyahu last week pledged to appoint campaign managers in the field, but Likud MKs have said the party’s director is blocking campaign efforts because he says, there is no budget to operate field positions.
April 06 Deadline for President to choose candidate to form government May 18 Deadline for first candidate to build coalition June 15 Deadline for second candidate to form coalition July 6 Failing the above, deadline for any MK to form government October 5 Date of next election if no government is formed
• Shas and United Torah Judaism parties this week threatened not to join a government led by Netanyahu unless he commits to reverse the high court decision this week, recognising reform and conservative conversions received in Israel.
• The Chairman of the Central Elections Committee Justice Uzi Fogelman has banned segments of the “Stand-Up Nation” TV show in which PM Netanyahu explains his handling of the corona virus pandemic and the peace accords. Fogelman said the clips could be shown after the election, but right now constitute election propaganda and influence voters. The Likud party says it will appeal, as there are non-stop interviews with other politicians. • Blue and White leader Benny Gantz continues to be defiant in calls for him to pull out of the race before election-day. Some polls have shown that Blue and White will not cross the minimum 4 seats required to gain entry into the Knesset. But Gantz has been polling at a steady 4-seat prediction, with one poll this week putting him on 5 seats. • The Likud postponed the launch of its election campaign at the Jerusalem Convention
Centre last Tuesday night. The party planned an “in person” event, in line with Green Pass regulations, but came under sharp criticism for a mass event before the next phase of opening comes into effect. The reason given for the postponement was last Tuesday afternoon’s urgent corona virus cabinet meeting. • Yamina head, Naftali Bennett, told Kan News that he would not sit in a government, headed by Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid. Bennett said, “Lapid is from the left and the majority of the country is on the right”. However Bennett did concede that he would sit with Lapid in a government. The next day, New Hope leader, Gideon Sa’ar also confirmed he would not allow Lapid to become PM. In response, political commentators speculated that Bennett and Sa’ar could merge after the election giving their bloc around 23 or 24 seats and have a rotation PM role with each other. This is a serious blow to Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beteinu) who last week, called on Bennett and Sa’ar to nominate for PM, the leader of the second largest party, which is likely to be Yair Lapid.
ISRAEL VOTES 2021 JAMES MARLOW compiles the poll numbers based on leading Israeli Pollsters for the news networks and newspapers. He has taken the
average number of seats being predicted for each party. In total, 39 parties have registered to run for the twenty-fourth Knesset.
If a party receives less than 3.25% of votes, which is equivalent to less than 4 seats, all of those votes are discarded.
NAME OF PARTY
HEADED BY
SEATS IN MARCH 2020
CURRENT POLLING
LIKUD
Binyamin Netanyahu
36
28
YESH ATID
Yair Lapid
Broke from Blue & White (33)
19
NEW HOPE
Gideon Sa’ar
NEW PARTY
13
YAMINA
Naftali Bennett
5
11
JOINT LIST (Arab Parties)Hadash, Balad, Ta’al
Ayman Odeh
15
9
SHAS
Aryeh Deri
8
8
UNITED TORAH JUDAISM
Moshe Gafni
7
7
YISRAEL BETEINU
Avigdor Lieberman
7
7
LABOR
Merav Michaeli
1
6
RELIGIOUS ZIONISTS – OTZMA YEHUDIT – NOAM
Betzalel Smotrich (3 Parties)
RZ broke away from Jewish Home
4
MERETZ
Nitzan Horowitz
5
4
BLUE AND WHITE
Benny Gantz
33
4
RA’AM (Arab)
Mansour Abbas
Break away from Joint List
0
NEW ECONOMY PARTY
Yarom Zelekha
NEW PARTY
0
TOTAL NUMBER OF KNESSET SEATS
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OPINION
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World continues to talk about Israel OPINION PIECE BY JAMES J MARLOW Despite the positive press Israel has received worldwide on its roll out of the vaccination programme and its handling of the pandemic, there was a recent “blip” when Israel was condemned for not supplying the Palestinians with the jab. We all know that the Oslo Accords signed in 1993 made it clear, that the Palestinians, at their own request, would take care of their own medical needs and concerns. Therefore the Palestinian Authority was entirely responsible for their own autonomous areas and their own people. Initially, the Palestinians refused any assistance from Israel. But more importantly, they never once requested help. In fact the Palestinian Authority made a deal with the Russians to purchase the Sputnik vaccine. But journalists, bloggers and anti-Israel folk all over the world, jumped at the opportunity to condemn Israel for its “systematic, apartheid, racist policies of not looking after the Palestinians in the occupied territories”. Few people however were unaware that
around a hundred vaccines were initially given in early January to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, who promptly used them to vaccinate their senior leadership, including of course, President Mahmoud Abbas. Little attention has also been given this week to Israel’s decision to approve coronavirus vaccinations for Palestinians, who work in Israel and in the settlements of Judea and Samaria. It was reported that around 110,000 Palestinian workers are expected to receive the jab in the coming days and weeks. Israeli medical personnel, will administer the moderna vaccine, at special vaccination sites set up at border crossings and industrial zones in Judea and Samaria. But I can see how this positive development of Palestinian workers receiving the vaccine at Israel’s expense, can be turned into something very negative. Those journalists who wish to “stick it to Israel”, could easily establish a narrative that reads, “Israelis view Palestinians as the virus and as variants and inject them with an unknown substance at border crossings.” This is what is being written on social media, by some of the most vicious and venomous haters of Israel and the Jewish
people. Meanwhile the plan to ship surplus coronavirus vaccines, to a group of friendly nations around the world has now been halted, as authorities examine whether Prime Minister Netanyahu had the authority to authorise this. The Justice Ministry (Blue and White) announced it had put a freeze on the plan that would have seen up to 100,000 vaccine doses sent to over a dozen countries around the world, including Italy, Czech Republic and several countries that have recently established new ties with Israel. It was Defence Minister Benny Gantz who contacted the Attorney General, asking him whether it was legal to export vaccines that were meant for Israelis. The truth is according to figures released from the Health Ministry, around 1500 people a day are still being diagnosed with Covid 19. There are more than 40,000 active Covid cases in the country and almost 1000 are in serious condition. The death rate from the current pandemic has now reached almost 5800 people. 4.7 million Israelis have received the vaccine, including almost 3.4 million who have received both jabs. Another 775,000 Israelis have recovered
from Covid. Over 1.5 million Israelis over the age of 16 have not been vaccinated and experts say over 10% of the 9.3 million Israeli citizens, say they are not planning to get vaccinated. Israel’s Corona virus coordinator Professor Na’aman Ash said, parties over the Purim holiday (which include both religious and secular communities) spread the coronavirus and the transmission rate is now back up to nearly one. Ash said “There was a massive disregard for health ministry regulations”, and this is deeply worrying as it makes it difficult to reopen the economy even further. Regarding the death of another foetus, apparently from coronavirus, Ash believes this was linked to the British variant of Covid 19. He added there were around 10 pregnant women currently hospitalised in serious condition, which means that pregnant women should be vaccinated. The Covid war is far from over and it is unlikely that tourists will be able to visit Israel for the Pesach holidays. James Marlow is a broadcast commentator and communications trainer Facebook: James Jeremy Marlow Twitter: @James_J_Marlow
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LSJS BIG Super Seder Day Side by Side Purim fun Prepare yourself and your family for Pesach Seders this year at the LSJS Super Seder Day. With three options at every time slot starting from 10.30am and ending at 9.30pm, there is plenty to choose from. We have gathered some of the best teachers from around the world including Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, S&P Senior Sephardi Rabbi Joseph Dweck, Nic Abery, Dr Aviva Dautch, Gila Fine, Rabbi Jonny Solomon, Tanya White, Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, Dr Yael Ziegler and many more. As well as great shiurim, there is a special family track, and multiple approaches to Pesach including medieval art, Ladino music, visual art and comics. And its ALL online – book now to reserve your place. The day will feature a special keynote address from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in conversation with Stuart Roden and Gila Sacks. ‘The Politics of Freedom – The challenge of strengthening social justice and civic society today and the influence of Rabbi Sacks’. Gordon Brown described R’Sacks zt”l not only as a Chief Rabbi but a “philosopher, academic, writer, raconteur, broadcaster and
teacher whose intellectual insights and moral leadership captured the imagination of a generation”. Do not miss what promises to be a fascinating conversation. Dean of LSJS Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum “We’ve put together the best programme we could think of to excite you for Seder this year, and having a former Prime Minister discuss Rabbi Sacks and his ideas about politics and freedom, are the icing on the (Kosher for Passover) cake!” Joanne Greenaway, LSJS Chief Executive “We are so excited to be offering so many outstanding educators all on one day and to showcase so much great talent from around the world. I for one will struggle to choose but will catch up on the recordings afterwards!” You can book just for the keynote address or for the whole day. If you book for the whole day recordings are available afterwards for any session you miss. To see the full timetable & to sign up please visit www.lsjs.ac.uk or call 020 8203 6427. Price is £25 before 7th March (£30 after) for the day or £15 for keynote session only.
Purim at Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School
Fun times at Purim at Side by Side
Side by Side special needs school in Stamford Hill delivered an informative programme of activities for pupils for Purim. All nursery children were able to participate in a fancy dress parade, irrespective of their needs, and those in wheelchairs were supported to participate in the events Pupils were given musical instruments to play Purim songs. Some children chose their favourite songs and had the opportunity to sing solos.
Gerald Lebrett, Side by Side headteacher, said: “It has been wonderful seeing the pupils getting ready for Purim. We have aimed to provide additional activities to enhance the children’s Purim.” The schedule included a visit from a local musician, cooking sessions, sharing Mishloach Monos and giving Tzedakah. All activities are COVID-friendly with assigned bubbles, appropriate social distancing and cleaning between the activities.
Woodside Park Scouts make hamantashen
Reception pupils George Pownsey, Joel Knott and Joey Roozendal
PHOTO: LAWRENCE PURCELL.
Nothing could stop the 20th Finchley scout group from celebrating Purim - as the leaders led an on line bake your own hamantashen session so the children could have their very won hamantashen to celebrate Purim with. There was lots of fun had by all.Here are a few of the successes - all made by their own hands - they mixed everything by hand, and measured the ingredients using cups so no scales needed - and the verdict was that they were delicious. They were so good that some of the children asked for the receipe to be sent so that they could make them on zoom with some other friends.
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Showing off their home-made hamantashen
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Message from editor, Yossi Saunders I owe a huge vote of thanks to my wonderful team without whom this paper could not be put together each week. As always, we wish to thank wholeheartedly all our readers and our dedicated advertisers who have supported us over the last four years. There is something for everyone in The Jewish Weekly and we are glad to appeal across the country to people of all It is with tremendous gratitude ages and backgrounds. to Hashem that we celebrate This year I would like to dedour 4th anniversary this week. icate my editorial to the heroes We have now reached a read- of the pandemic. The brave ership of over 60,000 across the medical staff, teachers, volunUK and many readers will have teers and all the key workers enjoyed our celebratory balloon have worked really hard in difdisplays this week. ficult and testing times to keep
the country running and for this they must be commended. We must also spare a thought to the tremendous knock on effects of the pandemic. Mental health has become a more significant issue than ever before as people struggle to cope with the difficulties caused by Covid-19. Financially many people have been severely affected and we pray that all wounds both physical and invisible will be healed. Our thoughts go out to those who have lost loved ones in the past year and we pray for a speedy recovery for those who are battling the virus. I would like to share a
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thought one of our readers shared with me this week. On the 4th day of creation, G-d created the sun, moon and stars to light up the world. The 4th commandment is to keep Shabbat. He told me that The Jewish Weekly has lit up his family’s Shabbat for four years! Whilst it was a lovely message, the essence rings so true. We created the paper to bring communities together and help bring additional meaning to people’s weekends. We look forward to continuing to do so for many more years to come. It is my pleasure to present you with our 4th anniversary supplement in association with Kisharon.
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BY DAVID SAFFER
History maker Tzipi to make an impact in the UK Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely is six months into an historic post. Israel’s first female UK emissary spoke exclusively about domestic and global challenges to The Jewish Weekly to mark our fourth anniversary.
Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely is Israel’s 18th ambassador to the United Kingdom and first woman in the post. Until last summer only pictures of male Ashkenazi ambassadors, including former UK Ambassador Mark Regev, adorned the walls of the Israeli Embassy but now an orthodox Sephardi with Georgian roots hailing from Rehovot has joined a select list of diplomats to take the esteemed position. Just as former Prime Minister Golda Meir made her mark in Israeli history, UK’s latest emissary, who was the youngest member of Israel’s 18th Knesset in 2009 before joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government four years later, is set to be a hit in Jewish communities and international affairs. From the coronavirus pandemic to Middle East security, Israel-US-UK trilateral relations, Netanyahu’s legacy, anti-Semitism and Covid-safe weddings, Ambassador Hotovely has forthright views. Arriving during a brief period of calm after the first UK lockdown, normal interaction with communities was impossible but the 42-year-old mum of three daughters, is reveling in her UK appointment to serve the State of Israel. Taking time out prior to a whistle stop trip to her homeland for Purim to spend precious time with family and receive a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, Israel’s emissary spoke to The Jewish Weekly about her opening months in London. A lawyer, journalist and TV panelist, Ambassador Hotovely has been described as a “religious right-winger” but politics disappears in this post. WHY DID YOU ACCEPT THE UK ROLE FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND WHAT ARE YOUR IMMEDIATE CHALLENGES? “The United Kingdom is a great country to serve,” she explained. “I’m Israel’s first female Ambassador and I’m well aware there have been two women Prime Minister’s in the UK’s history. When it comes to diplomacy in Israel, very few places make an impact like Washington and the UK. We call it the trilateral relations of America, Israel and UK in terms of a deep and intimate cooperation in top national security issues. So, when Prime Minister Netanyahu offered me London it was a great honour and amazing opportunity to serve my country. “After Brexit, the opportunities are bigger. In terms of trade, we are not fulfilling half our potential because the trade agreement is old fashioned. We need to have trade based on a new technology economy and put these agreements in a new trade agreement. Of course, we also share the same threats. Iran is a major threat to western society and we can take this battle on together.” Ambassador Hotovely added, “I really believe that by taking this opportunity to serve my country, I can make a difference. The fact that I was a Minister in the Israeli government is also a great honour for the British government. It’s a declaration
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about the importance of this arena. For many years, diplomacy was a main playground for us to develop strategic interests and the UK is a place we want to do that. For me, the fact there is a large Jewish community, as an orthodox woman, is something I cherish and appreciate. I am a voice of the Jewish people here and want to have a bridge to the Jewish community. “I am also here to build bridges with the British government. As a politician, I create a debate under political questions, but as a diplomat, I represent the State of Israel. And this is a really good time for Israel because we have good relations with the Johnson government. We can do great things together.” REGARDING THE UK JEWISH COMMUNITY, HOW FRUSTRATING HAS IT BEEN NOT BEING ABLE TO VISIT COMMUNITIES LIKE PREVIOUS AMBASSADORS AND WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO? “I have been very happy to receive a warm reception from the Jewish community whom I have met,” noted Israel’s latest emissary. “We hopefully have passed the most difficult time with the pandemic. Spring time will bring more good news, many more people will be vaccinated by the summer and hopefully we can get back to normal. Thank G-d the term for an Ambassador is more than a year, it’s a long-term appointment so I will be able to enjoy exciting and wonderful things that Ambassadors do in interacting with communities. “Of course, I have done many Zoom discussions with communities but it is not the same and it has been a difficult six months. Diplomacy is based on personal connections and personally, I feel bad that I have not been able to be a part of my local synagogue, St Johns Wood.
Ambassador Tzipi Hotolevy Born 1978, Rehovot, Israel. 18th Ambassador of Israel and first woman in the post World Jewish Students and Bnei Akiva representative Served with Sherut Leumi Completed national service with Jewish Agency, Atalanta and Rav Kook House, Jerusalem Member of Knesset (2009-20) Minister of Diaspora Affairs Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister of Transportation Chaired Women and Gender Equality Committee Qualified lawyer and member of Israel Bar Association. Graduated at Bar-Ilan University with LLB and LLM degrees. Editor, Legal Review, Bar-Ilan University
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However, I have spoken with Dayan Ivan Binstock. He is a great rabbi and wants to host us, unfortunately that is not possible because of restrictions. But I really cannot wait to interact with the great communities and personalities around the UK.” SINCE AMBASSADOR HOTOVELY’S ARRIVAL, LOCKDOWN HAS RETURNED. THERE HAVE BEEN CHALLENGES BUT IN TERMS OF VACCINE PROGRAMS IN ISRAEL AND UK THERE HAS BEEN GLOBAL RECOGNITION IN TERMS OF PEOPLE INOCULATED. WHAT ARE HER THOUGHTS? “This has been the main issue I’ve dealt with in recent months,” she said. “Our embassy did a major job in connecting professionals in Israel and Britain to create a ‘round table’ about important health issues. The UK’s Secretary of Health Matt Hancock and our Minister of Health Uli Adelstein cooperated on a professional basis. Israel is a leading country in efficiency and diplomacy. “For many years, Israel thought about medicine in terms of research and the quality of doctors. Today, it is also about organisations being digitised to bring about a mass vaccination program. Everyone is connected to a digital database. Health care providers are subsidised by our government and we should give a lot of credit to Prime Minister Netanyahu who realised the only way to get out of the Covid crisis was a vaccination program for the population. Netanyahu decided we should move from vaccinating vulnerable people to everyone over 16 years of age. When I had the first vaccine, my 18-yearold brother had been vaccinated as he was in the IDF as was another brother who is an IDF officer. My parents were also getting a vaccine. Everyone was in the process. I had mine in Tel Aviv, there were huge hubs and you could see people arriving. In two minutes, I was vaccinated. It has been one of the most efficient projects Israel has had. “It’s about making decisions about everyone being vaccinated. This is a reason why Israel is leading the world and we have shared best practices with the British government and professionals around the world.” ISRAEL IS COMING OUT OF ITS THIRD LOCKDOWN. ARE ISRAELIS READY AND WHEN WILL THE TOURISM INDUSTRY OPEN? “This is a topic we have been discussing with our tourism attaché and Israel is going to be one of the leading areas where I hope people can go for a vacation,” Ambassador Hotovely said. “I hope that by the summer we can host British tourists.” A member of the Knesset with the Likud Party since 2009, Ambassador Hotovely served Netanyahu government’s as Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Transportation. She has also chaired the Women and Gender Equality Committee. BY THE LAST WEEK OF MARCH, THE LATEST ISRAELI ELECTIONS WILL BE OVER. HOW DO YOU APPROACH THEM? “I will vote for the first time away from
The pandemic has made us all more grateful for the simpler aspects of our lives which may have been previously underappreciated. Israel,” UK’s emissary enthused. “Our embassy votes two weeks before the election, we do that at all foreign embassies around the world. It’s an exciting moment, I will vote as a diplomat and not as a politician.” DOES A FOURTH ELECTION IN TWO YEARS DEMONSTRATE A STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS OF ISRAELI POLITICS? “We need to have a stable government,” noted Ambassador Hotovely. “Having so many elections is not something anyone in Israel wants, but what I can say about the strength of Israel as a country and the government is that even though we have an election, we have led the world in the vaccination program. We are a leading country in how to get out of a pandemic crisis and we managed this with the vision of the Prime Minister to create historic moments with the Arab world by having four peace agreements. This is an incredible achievement and shows the strength of Israel’s leadership.
“We have a vision for peace, of moving forward and bringing the region to a better place. Our strategy in fighting the Iranians is known. It continues during elections which shows the strength of Israel’s leadership.” BENJAMIN NETANYAHU HAS LED ISRAEL FOR A HISTORIC PERIOD OF TIME. WHATEVER THE OUTCOME OF THE NEXT ELECTION, WHAT IS HIS LEGACY? “He is a very powerful and ideological leader,” noted Ambassador Hotovely. “What he brings is amazing experience, which is really important when it comes to the challenges Israel faces. He has major ability when it comes to international diplomacy. He can speak to any leader when it comes to the interests of Israel and I think the people of Israel appreciate that, this is why he has been re-elected. Of course, I don’t know how this election will end up. “Netanyahu is a symbol of a right-wing
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economy. It started in the mid-80s when Netanyahu was Chancellor. Our economy changed dramatically. People got the fruits of his policy and the level of life kept rising. “Netanyahu also stopped the paradigm that if you make more concessions things will be better in the region. He has really articulated the issues with Iran and said that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is not the main thing in the region. Netanyahu changed the paradigm that we should move forward with the Arab world. These are issues history will remember. And because he is so energetic and full of vision, so long as the people of Israel elect him, I am sure he will achieve more things and be remembered in our history.” A vocal critic of the Olmert administration, she backs causes close to her heart. In 2011, Ambassador Hotovely sat at the front of a Mehadrin bus where Charedi women had to sit at the rear. A supporter of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) settlements, five years ago, as Israel’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, she famously told the Knesset Channel that her dream was to see the Israeli flag flying on Temple Mount. “It’s the centre of Israeli sovereignty, the capital of Israel, the holiest place for the Jewish people,” she noted. SO, WILL THERE EVER BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST? “There is already,” noted Ambassador Hotovely. “There are four new peace agreements that are really historic. Menachem Begin was the first leader to make a peace agreement with Egypt, then Yitzchak Rabin with Jordan. Now we have more
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Arab countries having peace agreements with Israel.” DO YOU THINK THE ACCORDS WILL PRESSURE THE PALESTINIANS TO FIND A WAY TO PEACE AS WELL? “We want them to be inspired with our brothers but it’s up to them,” Ambassador Hotovely said. “We cannot enforce peace, we can only say that we want peace without the Gaza disengagement. We do not want to see more radicals getting over the border. This is not real peace. We want real peace and I think whenever the Palestinians would like to live next to us, and not just fight, Israel is a nation that
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wants to have peace.” She added, “People realise that at the moment Israel is talking about peace. “We have a proven record as we brought good to the region with the Abraham accords. The argument that Israel does not want peace is weak. Also, the Israel-Palestinian peace deal is not a top issue on the international agenda. People today are more concerned about the pandemic and economic crisis. The agenda has changed.” Regarding the media, Israel’s emissary said her job was to have positive stories in the British media. On the international stage, Israel and the United States have a long history as allies. With US President Joe Biden administration succeeding the Trump era, how are relations developing. “We started dialogue on day one,” Ambassador Hotovely noted. “I have seen close up Israeli democracy and our alliance with the US. Support for Israel in the United States is bipartisan. This is a shared partnership based on common values. This is the case with the new administration. America has been at the forefront of peace agreements throughout Israel’s history. We will continue to strengthen bilateral relations and tackle the challenges of our time.” AND HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE THE LEGACY OF FORMER PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP?
“When it comes to Israel there are many good things that happened, one of the greatest moments for me as Deputy Foreign Minister was when the American embassy moved to Jerusalem,” she recalled. “The heart of the very existence of the Jewish people is Jerusalem, it is so important for us that all embassies are located in Jerusalem. I really hope the British government will face the historic truth of over 3,000 years connection of the Jewish people to its capital. If I achieve this as Ambassador, I will be very happy.” SADLY, ANTI-SEMITISM IN EUROPE IS GROWING. ARE YOU CONCERNED? “This is a problem not just for the Israeli Embassy but for all governments in Europe,” commented Ambassador Hotovely. “The British government have adopted the IHRA definition and we have a close dialogue about how to fight anti-Semitism. Having a debate about the right of Israel to exist is modern anti-Semitism. We want to fight this together with the British government. I witnessed the Jewish community concerns with the Labour leadership. Many Jews were active about anti-Semitism. This is a battle that every western free country should have against all radicals.” FINALLY, RETURNING TO THE PANDEMIC, THERE HAVE BEEN CONSTANT STORIES IN THE UK JEWISH PRESS AND ISRAELI MEDIA ABOUT
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LARGE GATHERINGS AT WEDDINGS, EVEN SOME FUNERALS IN ISRAEL. WHAT IS YOUR VIEWPOINT? “I can only quote the highest order of Jewish tradition which is to do anything to keep everyone around us healthy,” noted Ambassador Hotovely. “For months we didn’t visit grandparents because we care about them so we must do everything to make sure we act safely on a daily basis till everyone is vaccinated.” Regarding reports of vast numbers attending orthodox weddings both here in the UK and Israel, UK’s emissary is well placed to comment and has an interesting perspective. “There were 2,500 people at my wedding,” she recalled. “My husband (Or Alon) and my dream was to have a ‘minyan’ wedding, just us and a minyan, so I’m jealous of people who have had a small wedding. It’s much nicer for the bride and groom. They can actually feel that this is our event. If we had left our wedding no one would have noticed! “In Israel, there has been a very romantic moment for many couples. But I feel really bad for funerals where family members want to share the sadness of someone passing away. But when it comes to Smachot, I think it is beautiful you can have basic family around you. There is something very spiritual, less about the ‘big show’ and more about the real thing.”
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Syrian Lentils with Pasta Sephardi style recipes tend to be full of spices and herbs and this is no exception. I love this colourful array of two carbohydrates together. Traditionally called Harak Osbao which means ‘burnt fingers’ because it tastes so good, one is encouraged to enjoy immediately with one’s fingers! And it just happens to be vegan too.
Another delicious recipe to celebrate the 4th anniversary of The Jewish Weekly from Denise Philips For more recipes and inspiration visit my website: www.jewishcookery.com
Preparation Time: 25 minutes Serves: 4-6
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients 4 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for drizzling 200g dried fettucine – broken into pieces ~ 4 red onions -peeled and finely sliced 4 cloves garlic – peeled and finely chopped 2 teaspoons cumin ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons sumac 1 tablespoon dried coriander ~ 200g green lentils 400ml vegetable stock 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses Juice of 1 lemon 25g fresh coriander – finely chopped 15g fresh mint leaves Garnish 50g pomegranate seeds 20g walnuts – roasted and roughly chopped 2 pita breads –cut into cubes and toasted
Method 1) Heat two tablespoons of the olive oil in a deep saucepan. Fry the dry fettucine until just golden for about 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside. 2) Heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil and sauté the onions and garlic. Add the cumin, cinnamon, sumac and coriander and season well. Cook for about 5 minutes. Set aside. 3) Pour the stock into a separate saucepan, bring to the boil. Add the lentils, pomegranate molasses and lemon juice and simmer for 20 minutes. 4) Then add the toasted fettucine, 100ml water and leave to cook for about 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is almost cooked. Leave to rest for about 10 minutes for the remaining liquid to be absorbed by the lentils and pasta. 5) Transfer to a large serving dish. Add the onions, chopped coriander and mint leaves. 6) Garnish with pomegranate seeds, walnuts and pita bread cubes.
Using Up Your Chametz BY DENISE PHILIPS
COOK WITH ME ONLINE CLASSES Everyone is welcome. All abilities. Book a place for yourself, or book a space for a friend as a gift. Once booked, you’ll receive ingredients and equipment lists. Online, from the comfort of your home we will cook tasty, good looking menus together. Can’t wait to see you!
Mon 15 March – Exciting Pesach Cooking Tues 20 April Artisan Breadmaking Tues 25 May Tray Bakes Time: 7.30pm-8.30pm Cost: £25 or £70 for all three
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Once Purim is over it is a 4 week countdown to Pesach. The work starts -cleaning, decluttering, and removing the chometz in the house. Time to stop buying the pulses, grains, bread, cereals, jars, tins or frozen foods that are not permitted during Pesach. Any opened jars in your fridge that include sauces, mustard, pastes like pesto, tahini, hummus, mayonnaise, ketchup need to be used or thrown. It makes me laugh when it comes to the last week before Pesach - the concoctions that I hear about from friends and family just to use up ‘chometz’ items. UFOs (Unidentified Freezer Objects) are used, food that you had forgotten about or thought you would use ‘one day’ and have just not. Let me share some tasty creations for your family meals that might help you use up some of the ‘chometz’ in your kitchen. Soups of all description are a good start; lentil, rice, pasta and sauces work well, but add in small quantities or to taste. Do check the flavouring regularly when adding random food items as over seasoning or too many flavours and the recipe will be a disaster. Stews, casseroles, hot pots using chicken pieces, lamb or beef are a great way to use up opened bottles of wine, whisky,
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spices, tomato sauces, BBQ sauce, grains of all description, but not pasta -over cooked pasta is not nice. Make sure you have enough liquid to accommodate the extra required to cook the pulses. Brown rice uses more liquid than white and if you use bulghur wheat, cous cous or barley – you can cook these for long periods of time as they do not spoil. Opened bottles of teriyaki, hoisin sauce and pesto make tasty toppings for fillets or sides of salmon or cod. Any excess bread can be cut up into croutons and baked; they are delicious on top of salads or stews, or transform into breadcrumbs using the food processor. Use the breadcrumbs in meat, veggie burgers or fishballs, or as part of a crunchy gratin topping. Bread puddings, especially chollah bread and butter pudding is a great family favourite in my household. Make schnitzel with the left-over breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, crushed tortilla chips, cereal, oats or crackers. A new favourite in the making! Stuffed apples and apple puddings are also a tasty way of using up bread, spices, flour and oats. The variations are endless; let me know your favourite ‘chometz creation’ before Pesach. Email me at denise@jewishcookery.com
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Four in Judaism
beautiful legacy, the Hadass representing the third generation which keeps the precious few Mitzvot they know about and the fourth generation who are completely dried out of any religious feeling.
BY RABBI MORDECHAI ULLMAN If you were to be asked: “What is four famous for in Judaism?”, you would be hard pressed to not be able to answer the question with ease. The four matriarchs, the four sons of the Haggada the four species and the four Torah paragraphs in Tefillin are but four examples that spring to mind with ease. Famously, we are also taught that a Jew, in performing the will of G-d, should be 1. “bold as a leopard, 2. light as an eagle, 3. swift as a deer and 4. mighty as a lion”. Here is how one can explain the common theme of all the above examples (and thereby be prepared extra early for Pesach too). Let us begin with the four sons. The great teacher, Rabbi Uziel Milevsky z”l explained that the four sons, The Wise Son, the Wicked Son, the Simple Son and the Uninformed son, represent the four generations of Jews we encounter when our nation takes up residence in a new country. As was often the case;
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1. The father (“The Wise Son”) arrived with every good intention of keeping the tradition. 2. The next generation (though the temptations were far greater than we can imagine) unfortunately, threw off the yoke of Torah. 3. The third generation knew little about their religion and 4. The fourth generation was through no fault of their own, almost ignorant. We are aware too that on Sukkot we take four species. 1. The Etrog, which we are told, represents the Jew who is both learned and observant; 2. The Lulav, which represents the one learned but not committed, 3. The Hadass, which has only Mitzvah observance and, finally 4. The Arava which has neither Torah nor Mitzvot. We can say that these connect to Rav Milevsky’s explanation of the four sons. The Etrog represents the first generation, the Lulav, the second generation – the child who went to Cheder and who experienced Shabbat but nevertheless rejected our
We can take inspiration in this respect from our four mothers, all of whom grew up in the home of idol-worshippers but nevertheless were able to embrace monotheism and play a pivotal role in establishing the Jewish people. 1. Sarah, in her farsightedness “like an eagle” saw far ahead, identifying a possible negative influence on her son Yitzchak and recommending the necessary actions. This is similar to the Chacham, whose definition is one who “anticipates the future”. 1. Rivkah, who showed enthusiasm for acts of kindness, being as “swift as a deer” giving not only Eliezer water to drink but insisting on doing so for his ten camels too! This is a possible antidote for the third generation Jew, to be quick to seek out more knowledge about their history. 3. Rochel is remembered for her “boldness like a leopard” in stealing her father’s idols. This could be the antidote for the fourth generation Jew, - don’t be shy! Seek out a Rabbi or teacher to guide you and reawaken the dormant spark inside you!
4. Leah for being deeply saddened by the thought of marrying Esav, representing her contempt for evil. This is the antidote for the Rasha, to be “mighty as a lion” in rejecting immoral conduct. On an encouraging note, Jewish men lay Tefillin each weekday morning, in which four paragraphs of Torah are written. On the Tefillin placed on the arm, all four paragraphs are placed on one scroll, whereas in the “head Tefillin”, they are separated with one section is each. As we know, the “arm tefillin” are placed on the arm, tilting towards the heart, whereas the “head Tefillin” are placed on the head, in a position corresponding to “between the eyes”. The commentators explain that the “one compartment of love” as opposed to the “four compartments of providence” is to allude to the following. Although the personal protection and attention G-d pays to us may depend on our level of Mitzvah observance, His love for us is equal, no matter how low we think we may have fallen there is only one standard of great love that G-d has for all of His nation. Each time we put on Tefillin we should remember its positive message and each time we pray and say the words – just prior to Shema, “[G-d] Who loves His nation” we should contemplate the words and feel exceptionally proud!
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Jewish Women’s Aid celebrates International Women’s Day BY MICAELA BLITZ This Sunday, 8th March, is International Women’s Day, a global celebration recognising the achievements of women, and addressing issues of women’s rights and gender equality. The day is also an opportunity to raise awareness of female-focussed charities and organisations, and the work that they do. As part of this event, Jewish Women’s Aid (JWA) have a week of exciting virtual activities starting on Sunday that women can sign up to. These include a challah baking session, a book launch and even a Pilates class. JWA supports women and children within the Jewish community affected by domestic abuse and sexual violence. The specialist organisation helps women to overcome potentially harmful situations and rebuild their lives in safety. It also works with communities and leaders from across the Jewish spectrum offering training and
The specialist organisation helps women to overcome potentially harmful situations and rebuild their lives in safety. education to help recognise and understand how to respond to issues that may arise within their own communities. JWA’s CEO Naomi Dickson hopes that the events taking place throughout the week will enable women to celebrate the importance of community and strength, whilst supporting the organisation. Tickets can be purchased individually or for the whole programme, and all money raised will help the charity to continue their important work across the Jewish community. To find out more and buy tickets, please go to www.jwa.org.uk/iwd.
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Bridge With Harold Schogger
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West’s Opening bid shows 6 card suit and 6-10 points weak two. South took his chances with a practical sensible 3NT bid in 4th seat West led the queen of spades and declarer counted eight top tricks. There was little point in playing on diamonds for surely the spades
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Chess Checkmate in three moves. White to move.
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Hood To Go
BY MICAELA BLITZ The idea behind Naomi Harris’ new business, HoodtoGo, first started many years ago, as she tried to find a solution to a simple problem that affects many people – getting caught in the rain! For Naomi, living in Manchester being caught finding herself in a sudden downpour was a regular occurrence, and as an Orthodox woman this meant having to make many journeys to her sheitel macher to deal with the soggy after-effects. Using an umbrella, although a simple solution, was not always practical one especially when she had to carry shopping, hold on to her children, or manoeuvre a buggy at the same time! She also found umbrellas were not robust enough to withstand strong winds and would often blow inside, making them completely useless. Even a coat with a hood was not always a suitable option. As she explains; “Often the hoods on coats can be very large so need to be held in place. When I tried to wear one on the school run it was impossible to keep the hood on, whilst holding the hands of my four young children as I crossed the road, so it ended up blowing off leaving me soaked yet again!” She then bought a different coat this time with a drawstring hood which she decided to test out on one particularly drizzly Shabbat when it was not possible to carry an umbrella. After a twenty-minute walk to and from shul, she realised that although it had stayed in place, it was not waterproof leaving her again with a wet and soggy sheitel. Naomi began to research other options to deal with this issue, but found that there was nothing suitable on the market. In order to solve her problem, she realised she would have to create something herself. She began experimenting with different fabrics, and patterns that might be suitable. As she explains: “I’m no seamstress, in fact my background is in book-keeping and accountancy, rather than fashion, but I knew what I wanted to achieve and couldn’t find it anywhere else. What I wanted was a hood that I could wear with any coat and that would not require zips, or buttons. And so eventually, Hoodtogo was born.” Hoodtogo combines a portable water-resistant hood with a vest that can be worn under any coat which gives great protection to the wearer. The product is made from 100% poly microfibre, which is a tight weave soft fabric with a slight sheen often used for sport and performance wear
customers have been purchasing them directly from her website as well as buying them from stockists across the UK, Europe and Israel, and hopes to expand to other countries soon. As she explains: “Having seen the response to the product, I can see that there was a definite need for this product within the Orthodox community, and I am pleased to have been able to resolve it.” To find out more about HoodtoGo, visit www.hoodtogo.co.uk, email Naomi on hoodtogouk@gmail.com or WhatsApp/Call her on 07985670934. so is breathable, durable and will not inhibit movement when worn underneath a coat. It can also be worn on its own or under a jumper or hoodie if required. Naomi designed the hood in black as she felt that this was the most popular and can be co-ordinated with any coat but would be happy to consider bringing out other colours if required. One of the key features of the product is that it is easily transportable and has a matching pouch, so it can be stored in bag or pocket when not being worn making it much more appealing than a large umbrella or heavy coat. As Naomi points out: “It is for women for any occasion, whether it is a party, business meeting or interview, and
means they can always arrive at their destination with dry hair and looking presentable and ready to go. I like to say you can’t be ready for everything... but with HoodtoGo you can at least be ready for the rain!” Since launching the product in January, Naomi has been overwhelmed by the response from customers and is really pleased that so many people are able to benefit. Naomi is proud that after so many years of thinking about this problem, she has managed to finally find a solution that will not only help her but benefit other women as well. The vest comes in two sizes so is able to be worn by women of all shapes and sizes - size 1 is for UK ladies 6-14 and size 2 is UK ladies 12-24. Many of her
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From the front line… BY JACQUELINE CURZON Our covid daily death rate has dropped to around 300, which in a population of 67 million, is - dare I say it - acceptable, given seasonal flu would kill far more. Daily covid cases are also dropping, with a figure of 5-6,000 just this week. Matt Hancock has credited these low figures with the roll out of the vaccines. A London council has told its primary schools that children as young as 4 should wear face masks all day. Redbridge wrote to its 56 primaries to direct that children were to wear masks in all areas of the school, including both teaching and non-teaching spaces. Hello? Little Molly or Moshe - aged 4 - should now wear a mask all day, apart from when eating. This would be around 6 or 7 hours. Who will provide the masks? Who provides replacements when their masks become moisture-logged? [unlike the NHS staff who can freely change their masks umpteen times each day]. This goes against Government advice, and common sense. DfE have stated that only pupils in year 7 and above should wear masks, with bi-weekly lateral flow testing being introduced to identify early infection and minimise transmission. Separately, Dr Susan Hopkins of PHE has said ‘people should ideally wear masks made up of three layers to get the best protection.’ This followed publication of a study by CDC (US Centres for Disease Control) which found the best way to stop infection was to wear a cloth mask over a surgical mask.’ A year ago, this may have been sensible advice, but given how close we must be now to escaping our interminable lockdown prison, I can’t quite follow upping the ante. I remember in days of old, the must-have pocket accessory - the rain mate. We can do much better than that. Perhaps we should double mask, with a balaclava and headscarf, a visor to top it off and some natty PPE gear, including some marigolds for extra peace of mind? Surely that combination would be fail proof, as I think the visual ‘fright factor’ would scare off virtually everybody. You would be safe at your 10-metre enforced distance to never have to bump into another human being. Political correctness takes another step forward, with school textbooks getting a BLM makeover. Pearson, which owns the exam board Edexcel, has drawn up its first in-depth guidelines on race and ethnicity. Amongst the changes to be made are to remove the terminology ‘master’ and ‘slave’ which are used in engineering and computer science to describe a system where one device controls another. I suppose by extension, the use of female and male (used to describe electronic connections) will also be removed, but I’d like to know what they’re going to use as replacements. Authors are also being discouraged from using terms like disadvantaged, oppressed and vulnerable in relation to individuals or groups from minority ethnicities or religions, and all content production staff
Jacqueline Curzon PHOTO: LARA MINSKY PHOTOGRAPHY
From Holyrood to Hollywood… should be given ‘mandatory unconscious bias training on a rolling basis.’ Where does this end? In conjunction with recent news where midwives were given new guidance by the RCM not to refer to a birthing mother as a woman, female, mother, in a move to mollify the transgender movement, I despair of this wording reassignment. I am a woman, a mother of 7. To the best of my knowledge, no man - even with genetic modification - has grown or delivered a baby, unless he is an embryologist or an obstetrician. And whatever my gripes about the physical encumbrances of being female, I can never be a man. To remove all anatomical or gender appellations to either sex is futile. Eventually we will eliminate 'him,' 'her,' 'he,' 'she' and just become ‘it.’ The High Court has recently intervened in a Ministry of Justice policy which places trans women in female prison wings. This was instigated by a female who was attacked in a women's prison by a trans woman, who had convictions for serious serial assault. Surely this is exactly the point? Unless there is segregation for those born male who identify as non-male, proximity and opportunity will conspire to create a risk scenario, which would otherwise not exist. That may just as well apply in shop changing rooms, gym facilities, public conveniences and any other arena which allows gender vulnerable individuals to be exploited. According to research, there were 125 t-g prisoners in 2017, 60 of whom were serving time for sexual offences. I recall a report which found that some inmates actively choose to identify as the opposite gender, because the prison conditions and regimes are more preferable in a female prison, aside from providing predatory access to women. Let's hope common sense prevails in the Royal Courts of Justice, where the hearing is reaching a conclusion. Prince Phillip (99), is now under the care of St Barts cardiac care unit, following a recent downturn in his health. Quite rightly the Palace press office has declined to comment
on the H&M American saga, stating that they have “more important things to worry about.” Too true. I for one, am not interested in the attention-seeking musings of those no longer part of the establishment. I also have ‘more important things to worry about,’ like living long enough to see my elder children pass exams, my twins make secondary school, and the youngest perhaps finishing primary. And, of course, I have my own gargantuan battle to fight. Professor John Mallard died this week, aged 94. He was a lead person in the Aberdeen team who developed the first wholebody MRI scanner. Peter Sharp, Professor of Medical Physics at Aberdeen University said, “hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide have benefited from his vision for medical imaging.” I am of course intimately acquainted with both CT and MRI, state-ofthe-art technologies which are widely used in diagnosis of cancer, dementia and injuries. I was extremely moved and upset to hear of the sudden death of Osnat Ben-Shitrit (31), a young mother of 4 from Jerusalem, who lost her life to covid a few weeks ago. Despite massive efforts to save her and her 30-week old unborn baby son, neither could be saved. She leaves behind her husband and children aged 11, 9, 6 and 1. As a show of solidarity, I would appreciate anyone considering donating to my cancer fundraiser this week, to instead make their donation to her chesed fund. Details are found at the bottom of this page. There is something fundamentally corrosive when a leader of state can manipulate the rule of law to cover their backs. Without knowing the ins and outs of Nicola Sturgeon's alleged misdemeanours, suffice to say it’s telling that she insisted the public - and the enquiry - remain in the dark over the allegations. On Monday, John Swinney [Deputy First Minister] confirmed that he would finally hand over key legal documents relating to the Salmond - Sturgeon battle, but only after MSPs, Scottish Tories, Scottish Labour and the Lib Dems threatened the DFM with a vote of no confidence. Swinney made a comment about the ‘importance of being ‘frank,’ and that the integrity of the legal system was being challenged,’ countering that the material released ‘would confirm that the allegations were false.’ It feels as if the ends will always justify the means, an example being that the SNP knew long before the 500k settlement (for Salmond's legal fees) that they would likely lose their case against Salmond, but still they continued. To misquote Marcellus {Hamlet, Act1}, ‘something is rotten in the house of Bute.’ Even if Sturgeon holds her nerve and convinces all that she did not mislead the Scottish Parliament, she is unlikely to emerge from this unscathed, wearing the aroma of fresh thistle. The barbs may follow her into the future, and potentially affect her obsessive drive for Independence. Sturgeon’s spokesman said 'calling for a vote of no confidence during a
pandemic was utterly irresponsible.' I disagree, and never mind she trained as a lawyer! Politicians would do the same if our PM had been controlling the legal system, withholding evidence and then caught lying to Parliament. She needs to toughen up. On the Independence point, Nigel Biggar [Telegraph 28 Feb], opines that ‘Scottish independence is more a moral vision than a practical solution, with economic arguments which might restrain older voters.’ Let’s hope she has a back-up plan…. Any economic arguments are unlikely to appeal to the visionary young, hoping to free themselves from the hand of their bossy southern relative, thereby transforming the north into a shiny, progressive, European Scotland. Now that’s something to get your head around. Nicola - your new flag beckons….. noughts and crosses. Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin critic who has crossed Vladimir Putin, has now been sent to serve his 2 1/2 year sentence in one of the worst prisons in Russia. According to former inmates and prisoners rights groups he has arrived at penal colony No 2 in the town of Pokrov, outside Moscow, although his arrival hasn’t yet been confirmed by his legal team. The colony is one of 684 work colonies established by Stalin, and today holds nearly 400,000 prisoners. It’s understood he will be quarantined there as a Covid precaution before joining prisoners in the colony. Former inmates are obviously reluctant to speak about the conditions there as they fear repercussions, but some have shared that if he is there, he will be subject to a combination of intense isolation and gruelling psychological - if not physical - torture. Konstantiv Kotok, who served time there after being jailed for protesting in support of Navalny, said he was forced to stand for 14 hours every day, with his hands tied behind his back. Convicts are constantly watched, are not permitted to speak freely and neither can they receive phone calls. He said that other prisoners were incentivised {with money or promises of early release} to incite trouble and provoke reactionary responses from individuals. Nationalist activist Dmitri Demushkin, who spent two years there, corroborated this account, saying Pokrov - one of the worst colonies in Russia - was intended to ‘psychologically break you.’ Maxim Trudolyubov, editor of Medusa website, says penal colonies are ‘a blunt instrument used by the Kremlin to break the spirits of opponents.’ It was disgraceful that Amnesty International recently removed Navalny's status as a prisoner of conscience, playing straight into the hands of the Kremlin. My trip across Siberia - on ice currently might include Pokrov, but ostensibly just to see the tourist attraction, which is a monument to chocolate. Mondelez International (owners of Cadbury) gifted a bronze statue of a fairy holding confectionery. In the meantime we can only hope for a fairytale ending, and urge our politicians to intervene under human rights grounds. Love Jacqueline x https://thechesedfund.com/kindnesstoday/ benshitrit
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US ‘Purim in a Box’ reaches hundreds of people
Hampstead Garden Suburb Shul hosted the US’s women’s megillah
United Synagogue’s ‘Purim in a Box’ delivered a socially-distanced Purim to hundreds of people. The US provided 350 festive seuda breakfast boxes and delivered 1,700 mishloach manot parcels to families in need. And £3,550 was donated for matanot l’evyonim
and given out confidentially to Jewish families. Over 4,000 people took part in the US and Tribe’s online Purim programmes broadcast on TheUS.tv and Facebook. A dozen live megillah readings were run online for those unable to hear it in shul or
Stanmore gets ready for Pesach With its sizeable community, Stanmore are coming together for Pesach! Not physically, but pastorally and supporting-ly. Aside from its regular calling round, the Community Cares department are sourcing volunteers to visit those who will be spending time on Pesach safely visiting those who are having Seder Night alone. In addition, the young families are writing
Pesach cards to the shul’s seniors and the youth are planning something on producing something special to show the older segments of the community that you are never alone when you have community. Together with the US initiatives such as Seder in a Box, the Shul aims to replace feelings of loneliness with feelings of community and belonging.
from someone at home. Options included family readings, an explanatory reading, two readings by women for women and a fast reading. Other highlights included a Tribe Purim Adventure with Captain Calamity, a Purim musical extravaganza with singer Eitan Freilich and musician Luis Herszaft, cocktail making for Young Professionals, and a magical presentation from illusionist and TV’s Britain’s Got Talent finalist, Josh Horus. For youngsters, Tribe hosted over 1,000 children from 12 primary schools across London for a packed Purim programme on Zoom. During Tribe’s largest ever schools event education manager, Malki Abramzyk, told students a Purim story before Britain’s Got Talent’s Josh Horus put on a spectacular magic performance. Some lucky students particpated in the show. The programme ended with a Kahoot! quiz challenging students’ Purim knowledge. Miss Chaya Mitz, Rimon Jewish Primary School head of Kodesh, said thanked the
Tribe team. “The children loved it, so many students took part from home and those in our classes in school joined in too,” she noted. “The children chosen to help the magician absolutely loved taking part.” David Collins, US chief programming officer, said, “In ‘normal’ times Purim is a festival which demands social interaction. This year, with strict social distancing, we had to create a Purim programme through which our members and the wider community could fulfil the four mitzvot of Purim in a Covid-secure and engaging way. “We have been blown away by the wonderful feedback we’ve received. Our programmes complemented the extraordinary work of our Rabbinic teams and communities who worked so hard to provide their members with a meaningful Purim in the most difficult of circumstances. He added, “We pray that next Purim we will be able to come together again and celebrate as a community but we must incorporate some of the ideas we have learnt during the pandemic to ensure we can maximise engagement across the community.”
Prestwich Great Grandmother Mrs Edwina Rosenberg (pictured outside her home) had a quiet Purim this year due to the Covid Pandemic. She usually visits the local care homes handing out mishloach manot and bringing a smile to the residents. She hopes to resume this act of kindness next Purim PG!
L’Chaim Chabad Lubavitch generously donated Mishloach Manot boxes for every pupil at King David Primary school. The headteacher and JS staff went out delivering these to pupils at home. Pictured is Head of Jewish Studies Rayna Glickman delivering to pupils Tali, Joel and Jay Berger.
Mrs Rayna Glickman head of KD Primary Jewish Studies
PHOTO: LAWRENCE PURCELL.
Mrs Edwina Rosenberg dressed up for Purim
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Lockdown can’t stop Purim in the streets of Mill Hill the Norwood Carnival As the people could not come to Purim at the shul, the shul took Purim to the streets. Driving across various locations in Mill Hill, a procession of seven cars, played festive music, and delivered 1000 Purim parcels. The fancy dress was as good as ever, with the community children – and the not so young – had a ball dressing as aliens, witches, Harry Potter characters, superman, ballet dancers, or even Queen Esher and King Ahasuerus. Social distancing was observed, so the usual Purim dancing was rather more modest on individual driveways, but the spirit of celebrating Purim definitely won over. Proving that Purim is not only for the children, one elderly member said: “It was so wonderful to welcome the Rabbi and the volunteers. It made it the best Purim in the circumstances.”
Norwood resident Laurie shows off his mask
Last Sunday (28 February) Norwood hosted its first ever Norwood Carnival. The launch event, held to coincide with Purim and hosted online this year, brought families together with Norwood residents for a feast of activities and entertainment that attracted hundreds of attendees and raised more than £3,000. The event featured a Makaton (sign language) masterclass held by Norwood resident Laurie (who lives in the charity’s Carlton Avenue home in Kenton), a mask-making workshop hosted by student volunteer Yona Taub, family entertainment from puppeteer/magician/comedian Skittleman and a
disco run by London Rox Events. All who signed up were sent a Norwood Carnival pack that featured arts and crafts materials, gifts and information about Norwood’s work specifically produced to engage children. The Norwood Carnival was sponsored by Credo Wealth and the Gardnor Group. Norwood’s head of community engagement, Natalie Burger, says: “The first Norwood Carnival was great fun and hugely worthwhile. It perfectly showed us all the magic that can happen when you bring families and young children together with the people Norwood supports and I can’t wait until we can host this event again next year.
Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet sharing Purim joy with his community
Rabbi Mendel’s Purim-joy-ride
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Every one of us, together
Saatchi Synagogue’s Rabbi Mendel Cohen’s brought socially distanced music, lights, Purim treats and the megilah to the streets of St. John’s Wood & Maida Vale. The Purim-Joy-Ride proved a hit with local residents, who waved from balconies
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while others came down in fancy dress to see a modified convertible Jeep Wrangler. “With children stuck at home, and members in isolation it was important to bring live joy and happiness to lift up the spirits,” he said.
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Kisharon raise £19,000 this Purim Kisharon faced a challenging Purim as their usual fundraising ‘Bucket’ appeal was not able to take place. Instead, a ‘Virtual Bucket’ appeal took place to raise money for the charity, together with Hipe Unite’s spiel and Gift & Homeware Store, Equal selling Mishloach Manot cards – in total Kisharon raised a fantastic £19,000. Jessica Levy, Acting Director of Fundraising at Kisharon said, “We are so delighted to have been able to fundraise in unique ways that were Covid safe this Purim. All at Kisharon are so grateful that the community supported us via our online fundraising, through the Hasmonean Hipe Unite campaign and the Kisharon Social enterprise Home and Giftware Store, Equal for Purim”. All services across Kisharon celebrated Purim. Kisharon Day Opportunities, The Further Education College, Supported Living and people attending from home all enjoyed the festival by preparing and baking hamantashen and making masks and greggers. They all came together online to hear the megillah using a prepared easy read megillah to follow along with followed by a seuda on zoom with music and entertainment. Purim challah was also made by College students to use at their seudas. “It was wonderful to come together online and
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Kisharon College student shows off his Purim mask
see everyone using the skills they have learnt over the past year to create something that they could enjoy at the seuda” said Aviva Braunold, Manager of Kisharon Further Education College. Kisharon Tuffkid Nursery and the Kisharon Noé School also held fun activities and children dressed up.
Chai’s Big Quiz of EVERYTHING raised £4,000 The competitive spirit of 70 household teams from all over the UK, shone through our screens on Sunday night as their knowledge was put to the test at ‘Chai’s Big Quiz of EVERYTHING’. The fun-filled virtual event, hosted by the fabulous Craig Squires of The Events Factory and organised by Chai volunteers, husband and wife, Andee and Barry Roback, raised a fantastic £4,000. Judge Rinder kicked off the evening, welcoming contestants and thanking them for their support, he said: “On behalf of Chai, thank you for supporting such a wonderful charity.” Throughout the evening, rounds such as ‘The noughties’ and ‘There was more to 2020 than Covid’, kept everyone thoroughly entertained. Players were also surprised and delighted to see celebrity guest appearances from Matt Lucas, Lesley Joseph, Don Black and Tom Chambers, who sent video messages of support. Following the quiz, Andee and Barry said, “It was a real privilege to be part of the team that delivered such a fun and enjoyable quiz. It is never easy to write a quiz that can appeal to all ages and all levels of knowledge, but judging by the smiles on everyone’s face, I think we may have got it right. Zoom has allowed us to stay part of a community that cares for those in need
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Matt Lucas
and continue to support those who might otherwise become isolated. The Chai Quiz brought us all together, made us smile and helped raise much needed funds.” Danni Blumenblatt, Chai’s Corporate and Challenges Fundraiser said: “It was wonderful to work with Andee and Barry. We are absolutely thrilled with the evening’s success - raising more than £4,000 for Chai! I’d like to say a special thank you to event sponsor Douglas Martin Estate Agents, we are so grateful for all their continued generosity.”
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Purim in Hendon a success story
Unmatchable Alta’s story is an inspirational one. A long awaited sibling to their 5 year old Hershey Alta was born almost 2.5 years ago in Manchester, to Avraham and Chaya. Alta lacked vital oxygen at birth and despite doctors declaring she wouldn’t survive she miraculously did. Alta’s parents spent day and night by her bedside and according to doctors, it is because of this love that Alta began to gain strength and grow into a beautiful little girl. Not too long ago the hospital was ready to send Alta home which is where every child belongs, and the hospital trained Alta’s parents to look after her independently. Unfortunately, due to a few complications, the move home was delayed. Recently, the hospital has changed it’s approach instead of looking to improve Alta’s condition and looking to bring her home with the right support, they want to remove all forms of support. This move would Chas Vshalom cause Alta to be niftar. Of course, Alta’s special parents demanded that their child be allowed a chance at life, and even insisted that they would seek private support for Alta and bring her elsewhere, with home or another country some of the options. The hospital has made it clear that they
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feel they are in charge of the child and they will not allow Alta’s parents to make any such decisions and have therefore taken the Fixsler’s to court. As this is a matter of life and death for their precious child, Alta’s parents have taken the best lawyers to stop the hospital ending Alta’s life and iyh, they will be able to win and we can hope for a positive outcome such as Alta being moved home with the right care, equipment, and support or being moved to Eretz Yisroel. However, it goes without saying the tremendous legal expense that this comes, with guidance from the local Rabbonim, The Fixslers, have taken out the best lawyers who iyh will be able to fight for Alta and give her a chance to live. The positive possibility of Alta being brought home privately or being transferred to Eretz Yisroel is increasingly likely, and again, these are big expenses. This is Alta’s beautiful yet painful story. We can all continue writing the story. IyH we will be able to help ensure that the next chapter of Alta’s life is a good chapter. Alta deserves a good life and that is why we have called the campaign “Alta L’chaim Tovim”. IyH, WITH YOUR HELP, we can give Alta the life she deserves and keep writing this beautiful story in a positive way.
Around 600 people tuned in for Hendon United Synagogue’s megillah at one of eight live Zoom broadcasts. The community raised a total £11,000, three times the norm, via its online mattanot la’evyonim portal, facilitated by the Hendon Co-ord. Organisers distributed £6,500 on the day to families in need and individuals in the community, £3,500 to WST (a local charity supporting families in need) and £1,000 to families in need in Israel.
Some 150 senior single members received Mishlo’ach Mannot by volunteers in a project overseen by the Hendon Cares Team with support from US Chesed. A HUS Kids Purim WhatsApp group attracted 50 children who took part in a virtual Purim fancy dress parade. Rabbi and Rebbetzen Ginsbury sent a Purim day message. Raleigh Close youth leaders Matthew and Debbie held a ‘Chocolate Hamantaschen baking’ by Zoom event after the Megillah for youngsters and their families.
GIFT volunteers Noam Field, Rafi Berke and Yona King sorting the surplus mishloach manot donations
GIFT’s initiatives inspire thousands this Purim This Purim saw one of the busiest and most exciting times for GIFT. A wonderful collaboration with Seed and Borehamwood Connect encouraged the community to give mishloach manot to friends, neighbours, those shielding as well as those in need. Thousands of individual mishloach manot packages were also made up by GIFT volunteers across London & Manchester and distributed to families supported by GIFT as well as to Jewish Care homes and Norwood service users. As the traditional spieling couldn’t take place this year due to lockdown, GIFT launched the 1st ever online Purim Spiel platform through which the community was invited to showcase their talent, helping raise thousands of pounds for their chosen charities. 28,000+ visits to the GIFT Spiel Factor page were recorded, with over 70 spiels submitted for over 50 different charities, raising much needed funds. The winning spiel with 1,600 likes was in support of a Jewish boarding school in Pinsk, winning £3,000 for the charity. GIFT Israel ran a well-attended England-Israel bake-off, where participants
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were treated to a free humantashen baking class. GIFT’s Matanot Le’evyonim text code gave the community the opportunity, through one simple text, to perform the wonderful act of giving to those in need on Purim day and hundreds donated through this medium. Finally, but incredibly, thousands of pounds worth of surplus mishloach manot together with much needed staple food items were once again donated by the community to GIFT at their food drive on the Sunday after Purim, with collection points across London and Manchester. Michelle Barnett, GIFT’s Founding Director told us, “We were delighted with the response to our food drive and are hugely grateful to the community for their generosity.” GIFT has seen a 40% increase in referrals to its food bank since lockdown and is appealing to the community’s generosity for food donations. For those who missed this opportunity, GIFT is again holding a pre-Pesach food collection on the Sunday prior to Pesach, 21st March, at various locations across London & Manchester (www.jgift.org for more information).
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Purim in Manchester and London Photos by Lawrence Purcell and Avi Yodaiken
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ASK THE RABBI
Looking for answers? Send your question to Rabbi@RabbiSchochet.com PURIM CANCELLED Dear Rabbi I didn’t celebrate Purim this year. Where I once enjoyed coming to Shul and listening to the story of the Megilah, I have become sceptical. After all the misery of this past year it certainly wasn’t a cause for celebration. I think I am done with it all. Mark Dear Mark And yet you are writing to tell me, which means you want some inspiration and some response. There’s was a policeman sitting in his car outside a Purim party the other night hoping to really catch someone on the night. He got very excited when he saw one man come staggering out of the party swaying to and fro holding a set of car keys. The policeman fixed his eyes on him waiting with glee. The guy tried one car, then another. The policeman was delighted – it had made his wait worthwhile. Meanwhile people are leaving the party but this policeman had his prey – waiting to pounce. Finally the guy gets into the right car, and first the window wipers go on. Then the radio is blaring. More and more people are leaving the party and finally when all is still, this man starts up his engine and proceeds to drive. The policeman, his moment has arrived, zooms out in front of him and orders him out of the car. The man gets out. “Blow into this.” The man blows into the breathalyser. Nothing. The policeman changes it for another one. Still nothing. “These must be broken. You’re going to have
to come down to the station with me.” The man looks up to him: “You know you’re wasting your time don’t you?” The policeman looks to him: “Why’s that?” “Because I’m tonight’s designated decoy.” Throughout the course of Jewish history there have been decoys of different sorts; different allures – people or situations that look to distract us from our higher calling. Nowhere was that more evident than in the Purim story as Haman sought to have the Jewish nation abandon their faith at risk of annihilation. What’s compelling is that during the entire twelve months that the threat was lingering, not one Jew capitulated. We remained firm and steadfast in our commitment to our ideals and our traditions. This year we faced an altogether different threat, and yes, it’s been very difficult, for each and every one at their level and in their own way. But is that really a reason to abandon it all? I don’t blame you for becoming sceptical. But I do think that the Purim story in itself serves as inspiration. When Mark Twain asked the question, “What is the secret of the immortality of the Jew?” the answer is in the word “Jew.” Where does the term Jew stem from? Jew comes from Judah, just as the Hebrew for Jew, Yehudi come from Yehudah. And yet, if you comb through all the Biblical texts you will never find the term Yehudi used until the Purim story, where we are introduced to Mordechai haYehudi. Why? Because he was the first real Jew as he personifies the constant challenge of the Jew in
exile. Mordechai is living in the 4th Century BCE, following the destruction of the First Temple. He is also encountering the very first real threat of Anti-Semitism as he confronts a tyrant committed to the annihilation of him and his people simply because they are a different nation, they have different rules, a higher set of standards. And yet Mordechai does not cow-tail to the demands of the enemy, nor does he cower in the face of any pending threat. He stands up for his principles, and thereby implants this sense of pride in the hearts of the masses. The name stuck because for the next 2500 years, our Jewishness is constantly tested. Under countless regimes – both friendly and hostile – we struggle with supposed friends and obvious enemies who seek to undermine our spiritual integrity. And like Mordechai, time and again we earn the name Jew because we rise to the challenge.
SHABBAT SHUL READING MATERIAL Dear Rabbi There’s a guy who sits near me in shul on Shabbat who, instead of davening like everyone else, brings in a copy of the Jewish Weekly with him and reads your column. What is your view on this? Adam Dear Adam I think it would very much depends on when he’s doing the reading. If it is when he should be praying then by all means, report him to the Rabbi. But if he’s reading it during the sermon
then I suggest that you might want to ask him to share some of the paper with you.
PESACH PANIC! Dear Rabbi I’m at that neurotic stage of my life again where Pesach is looming and I am panicking. Any tips for how to cope with this cleaning craze? Fiona Dear Fiona Welcome to PPPPP - Post Purim Pre Pesach Period. This is a syndrome diagnosed by the NJA – Neurotic Jews Association. Symptoms usually include hot flushes, erratic heart rate, night sweats and loss of appetite. The good news is there’s a simple cure: Soak yourself daily in elbow grease, sleep with a mop under your pillow and carry a shmateh in your purse at all
Follow Rabbi Schochet at: RabbiSchochet.com Twitter: @RabbiYYS Facebook: facebook.com/Rabbiyys.
Pirkei Avot
Please daven for Shmuel Eliezer ben Perel who is in an induced coma with Covid in Antwerp.
Rabbi Yehoshua taught: “An evil eye, the evil inclination and hatred of human beings removes a person from the world”. Simply put, a bitter person, who is led by their Yetzer Hara and is full of hatred and jealousy, is sometimes put through tremendous heartache that can make them meet their end sooner than otherwise. Rabbi Ferber zt”l taught that one can explain the Mishna as follows: An “Evil eye” (which is another way of describing a feeling of jealousy) which comes about through negative behaviour of people, such as cheating in business, causes one to not enjoy this world. On the other hand, a
jealousy that comes from the Yetzer Tov, from good deeds and from a good example set by others, causes a person to enhance their Mitzvah observance and is a blessing. The classic example of this was when our nation was in the wilderness and they were due to offer up the Korban Pesach. A group of people were impure and questioned: “why should we lose out?” This rhetorical question earned them – and Jews for generations to come – a “new” Mitzvah called “Pesach Sheni” – all of which arose from the “jealousy” of sincere Jews looking
Perek 2: Mishna 11
to keep Mitzvot. We must ensure that our envy is devoted to the correct role models. A Jew once approached Rav Steinman zt”l in Bnei Brak and said he was in a quandary as he was about to purchase a beautiful new car and was worried about arousing the envy of his less-affluent neighbours. Rav Steinman asked the Jew if he could test him on a Tractate, or Chapter or perhaps one page of Talmud. When the Jew answered in the negative, Rav Steinman told him – “You can buy the car. No-one will be jealous of you”.
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times. Or alternatively, relax. Pesach cleaning is not, I repeat, not – spring cleaning. Sure, we have a responsibility to ensure our homes are cleansed from any leavened matter or such like, but that doesn’t mean that the cupboard you haven’t gone into in the past five years has to be vacuumed out or the other rooms in your home that you know no food is ever brought into, has to have the pain in every nook and cranny scrubbed down to the wall. A calm, reasonable approach is ensuring your eating areas and wherever food is likely to have been brought in is cleaned. And cleaned means vacuumed and washed, not crawling on all fours with a magnifying glass looking for every potential spec of dust that might be a crumb. Oh, and don’t hesitate to get your husband join in the chores. It’s his responsibility too!
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Purim Corona Diary #23
Free Your Mind BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN Moshe descending from the mountain, clutching the Divine tablets is one of the most iconic images of the entire Torah. Finally, after close to two thousand and five hundred years, the word of G-d was written and delivered to humans; Heaven and earth merged. Sadly, the luchot would not long endure human disobedience. Witnessing the golden calf and the carnival of depravity, Moshe shattered the heavenly stones and the eternal word of G-d soared back to its Heavenly origin. It took months of uncompromising prayer to reverse this tragedy and introduce a second pair of luchot back into our world. The word of G-d wasn’t actually printed upon the stone tablets but was engraved. The Torah employs an interesting term to describe this carving into stone: “The text was ‘charut’ on the luchot”. The word ‘charut’ or ‘engraved’ sounds very similar to the term ‘cheirut’ which means freedom or liberty. Noticing the similarity between the word charut and cheirut, our Chazal (in Pirkei Avot) announced: “true freedom (cheirut) is only achieved through submission to Torah law (charut).” This association appears very enigmatic. We certainly embrace the value of religion and the importance of submission to Divine command. We are born into this world as summoned individuals, ‘called upon’ to fulfill the will of G-d and to live as His servants. This lifestyle can be called many things such as pious, or virtuous, but how exactly are we considered ‘free’ through absolute submission to a comprehensive system of Torah law? How exactly does religion liberate us and convert us into free men? How does ‘charut’ provide ‘cheirut’? Firstly, and most obviously, Torah frees us from the most intrinsic and basic limitation- our mortality. We all pass through this world, entering with great potential and leaving with unfulfilled accomplishments. Despite our best dreams and hopes, we all pass from this world unremembered and barely noticed. Man has always been frustrated by this basic condition of defeat; we appear to live freely but, in reality, are handcuffed to our own mortality. Religion emancipates us from this captivity. A religious life, is lived for something larger than ourselves; religion links us to the eternal- the word of G-d which transcends time and the eternal afterlife. We occupy a fleeting world but while we inhabit this transience we taste from eternity. The luchot brought Heaven down to Earth; by adopting the contents of the luchot we, ourselves, ascend to
Heaven even while inhabiting this Earth. However, this is only a partial answer. Judaism doesn’t emphasize the afterlife while ignoring this world. We don’t view Torah law as a sellout or suppression of this world just to punch our ticket to eternity. Of course, our world is an entrance to the ultimate palace, but we all realize the impact of religion upon life ‘in the entranceway’. A religious life frees us from the curse of mortality but how does it liberate us while we still walk on this earth? It all depends upon how you define freedom. We typically define freedom as lack of restraints or limitations. A free life is one which isn’t curbed or coerced by external factors limiting our activity or conduct. It is this freedom which has become enshrined and protected in modern democracies. Religion respects that form of freedom or liberty, but certainly ‘encroaches’ upon it by dictating a life of commandment. A religious person isn’t absolutely free to behave as they wish and without restraints. However, there is a second and more significant freedom which religion actually empowers. Life is a constant search for meaning and for purpose. We have been granted life and we have been vested with great faculties, but there must be some larger purpose for our existence. We dream of being architects of something larger- families, relationships, communities, national achievements and historical impacts. We find great ‘purpose’ in our dreams and great satisfaction when these dreams are even partially fulfilled. We sense deep purpose to life. However, we are also subject to urges, desires, pettiness, pressures and weaknesses which threaten these achievements. We are trapped in a battle between two versions of ourselves: the better version of yourself, which hopes to lead a meaningful life, and the lesser version of yourself which can suffocate those achievements. We believe that Torah unlocks and empowers that better version and allows it to author and control our lives. Torah teaches us how to calibrate the swirling forces in our world and the powerful desires in our hearts while leading a lifestyle of purpose and meaning. This is a higher and more elusive form of freedom – one which submission to G-d’s word provides. We may be restrained by halacha and its mandates, but our better self becomes liberated in ways that we may not always fully even comprehend. This ‘corona-year’ has certainly forced us to reimagine much of our lives and, in particular, how we view our freedom. We
The pandemic has made us all more grateful for the simpler aspects of our lives which may have been previously under appreciated. have forfeited much of the first form of freedom; we have suffered necessary, but restrictive limitations upon our lifestyles. Our freedom of movement and social freedom have each been severely obstructed. For many, economic hardship has further restricted our lifestyles. How the pandemic has affected the second variety of freedom is a more nuanced issue. A year in to this pandemic, do we feel greater purpose and meaning to our lives or less purpose and meaning? The pandemic has made us all more grateful for the simpler aspects of our lives which may have been previously underappreciated. We have greater appreciation for life itself, for our families and for our most immediate communities. Sometimes the struggle to reach our dreams provides a sharper sense of what those aspirations are, and how they define us. Everything in this world can be taken
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from us except our relationship with G-d. For many, this year of ‘loss’ has sharpened that relationship. As the surrounding noise in our lives has been muted have we felt closer to G-d or more distant? If we have felt G-d more deeply, and sensed our core dreams more acutely, this has been a year of freedom. We may have traveled less, and shopped less but may be more aware of how religion is meant to amplify purpose to life. Ironically, in many ways, we may be closer to freedom than in past years.
Rabbi Moshe Taragin is a rabbi at Yeshivat Har Etzion/Gush, a hesder yeshiva. He has smicha and a BA in computer science from Yeshiva University as well as a masters degree in English literature from the City University of New York.
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Weekly Dvar Torah FR O M ER ETZ Y I S RA E L
Why we value understanding Hashem BY RABBI JESSE HORN According to the Rambam (Hilchot Yisodei HaTorah 1:10) Moshe’s request of Hashem to “Show me your honor (way)” (Shemot 33:18) captures his heartfelt request to understand Hashem in an unparalleled manner, to see Him objectively and not be limited by human lenses. The Raaved (quoted by the Kesef Mishneh, ibid.) attacks the Rambam’s interpretation. He argues that such a request is unbefitting of Moshe. Moshe would have never been so selfish as to desire such a profound comprehension of Hashem. The Raaved buttresses his position with a Midrash stating that celestial angels wanted to expel Moshe from the heavens because of the incredible insight that he had already achieved. That being the case, it is incomprehensible that Moshe could have selfishly requested more. The Rambam argues that Moshe correctly requests a meta-human understanding of Hashem, whereas the Raaved
thinks that inappropriate. In short, there is a philosophical debate whether it is praiseworthy or inappropriate to make such a strong request. What is the logic for each opinion? What is really behind this Machloket? The Raaved’s attack seems very difficult to understand at first glance. Is it bad to desire a greater understanding of Hashem? It is unprecedented to critique one who wants to accomplish more mitzvot, learn more Torah or reach higher levels in Avodat Hashem. Why then, does the Raaved think that is critique-worthy of Moshe to request a greater comprehension of Hashem?
Perhaps the answer for the Raaved lies in his understanding of why the Torah values knowledge of the Divine. In truth understand Hashem can be understood in one of two ways. One potential viewpoint is that philosophical truth is intrinsically valuable. In other words, knowledge of Hashem is praiseworthy because it has inherent meaning. Alternatively, perhaps knowledge of Hashem is meaningful because Hashem declared it so. According to this idea, we only value knowledge of Hashem because it is a fulfillment of Hashem’s command. According to the first model, because the value is intrinsic, there is no concept
Requesting an understanding of Hashem, which by definition was never intended for man, is not obeying His command and is therefore inappropriate and selfish.
of wanting to know Hashem “too much,” and the Rambam therefore applauds Moshe for such a request. The Raaved, by contrast, may accept the second approach, arguing that we value knowledge of Hashem only because Hashem instructed us to value it. It follows that requesting an understanding of Hashem, which by definition was never intended for man, is not obeying His command and is therefore inappropriate and selfish. Hashem commanded man to understand Him as best as a man could. A request for more, is not what Hashem wants, and is therefore, according to the Raaved, not the correct understanding of Moshe’s request.
Rabbi Jesse Horn is a Senior Ra”m at Yeshivat Hakotel and Program Director of Mizrachi Mechanchim. He is a member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau (www. mizrachi.org/speakers).
A Torah bite for the Shabbat table
Using quarantine to enhance your Shabbos RABBI GOODMAN As well as being a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system by rhythmic contraction and dilation, a heart is the central or innermost part of something. In this week’s Parsha the Chofetz Chaim unequivocally states that the heart of a Jew is Shabbos. Without Shabbos, the innermost part of a Jew is empty. He might look like a Jew, have Jewish parents and Jewish friends, and read the Jewish newspaper, but for all intents and purposes, his Jewish life is dead. The Chofetz Chaim explains this alarming assertion. By observing Shabbos, we acknowledge the core tenets of Judaism - that Hashem is the ongoing Creator of the world, the Master of everything in the world, and that we are His subjects, obligated to fulfil His Will with all our heart and soul. If we neglect Shabbos, we neglect Hashem and without Hashem, we have no Judaism. However, despite its fundamental significance, Shabbos is a relatively low-key Mitzvah. The thirty-nine general categories of forbidden labour on Shabbos considerably
inhibit our movement and communication. Rather than celebrate the creation of the world and allegiance to our Creator with razzmatazz and razzle-dazzle, instead we celebrate with relative seclusion and quarantine. Rav Avigdor Miller (1908-2001), a Torah disseminator of profound depth, presents a fascinating insight into the concept of quarantine. The Midrash says about the plagues in Egypt, that each one was accompanied by a pestilence, as well. Rabbi Miller explains this phenomenon with a Gemara in Bava Kama (60b) that says, “Dever b’ir, kanes raglecha,” meaning ‘When there is an epidemic in the city, stay at home.’ Do not going to public places to share your germs with each other, rather stay well at home. Considering this principle, when each plague with its measure of pestilence
struck Egypt, the Jewish Elders told the Jewish People to stay home. Once at home in isolation, the people had nothing else to do but discuss the plagues which were ravaging the Egyptians. The more they spoke and debated, the more they recognized Hashem’s Divine Providence and Justice. Incredibly, their quarantine granted them the opportunity to internalize the truth of what was happening and its significance in their lives. Hashem incorporated pestilence into each one of the plagues to ensure that the Jewish People would properly learn the necessary lessons. Perhaps this principle is also true of Shabbos. Staying home and sharing Shabbos with our families provides us with the perfect circumstances for internalizing the fundamental principles which Shabbos represents. If, instead of this, we were out each Shabbos, celebrating the creation
Hashem incorporated pestilence into each one of the plagues to ensure that the Jewish People would properly learn the necessary lessons. THEJEWISHWEEKLY.COM
of the world with lavish parties and razzmatazz, we would no doubt miss the point. Instead, our Shabbos meals are an invaluable time to appreciate our Creator and impress upon ourselves our mission in this world. A project of My Dvar Torah, Torah Bite is your resource for a short, dynamic, and meaningful Dvar Torah to share at the Shabbos table. Originally from London, Rabbi Ben Goodman has spent 20 years in Jerusalem, teaching and inspiring students from all backgrounds and from all over the world. He is the director of My Dvar Torah, providing tailor-made Divrei Torah for all occasions. www.mydvartorah.com. He encourages feedback & ideas: ben@mydvartorah.com
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RABBI DR RAYMOND APPLE
because He makes inconvenient laws and expects them not to kill, steal, commit adultery. A flag on a pole – any flag, any pole – is acceptable. A tragedy!
HOW CRAZY CAN YOU BE?
SEVEN TIMES SHABBAT
The story in the sidra is sad and shocking. Moshe and the Israelites have left Egypt at G-d’s word. They have made a stop at Sinai where Moshe has ascended the mountain and HaShem has proclaimed the Ten Commandments. But Moshe has not come back and the people have lost patience. They go to the second-in-command, Aaron, and ask him to make a god for them. The result is the Golden Calf, which the people acclaim with the words, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Ex. 32:4). How crazy can you be? An idol of gold, just completed, is credited with bringing Israel out of Egypt? History can be re-written so radically, so stupidly, so dangerously? You wouldn’t think it could happen, but it did, and it repeats itself – not least in our own time. One of the strangest things is why they ask Aaron to make them a new god. Why not expect Aaron to take over as leader whilst keeping the real G-d? If Aaron is good enough to fashion a god, surely he is good enough to be the leader! But they don’t need a human being; they need a symbol. They need a flag on a pole. The real G-d isn’t good enough
The Torah reading this week refers to Shabbat seven times, which leads Rabbi Yitzchak to say in the Mechilta that the days of the week should all be counted as part of the seven-day week. Sunday is the first day to next Shabbat, Monday is the second, Tuesday is the third… and so on. Every day one should add a piece of the plan for the coming Shabbat. On Sunday we could start the week by working out what we will spend for Shabbat. On Monday we could nominate one of the things we will dedicate to Shabbat. On Tuesday we could plan whom to invite for Shabbat meals. On Wednesday we could decide what we will talk about on Shabbat. Every day is thus a part of Shabbat in some way – seven days, seven ways, seven thoughts, seven blessings.
COUNTING & FORGIVENESS
The name Ki Tissa is usually translated as “When you shall count”. The context is
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counting the number of members of the people of Israel. The verb nasa can also mean “to forgive”. In that sense it tells us how important it is to be forgiven for the sins that tend to stain our record all the time. It’s important not only to be forgiven by HaShem, but to forgive ourselves. Sin becomes an obsession if we cannot move beyond it and say with Maimonides (Hilchot Teshuvah), “I am sorry for what I did. I shall be careful and not commit this sin again!”
R&R
This week’s sidra says that G-d shavat vayyinafash, “rested and was refreshed” (Ex. 31:17), which must be the origin of the term “R and R”. Vayyinafash can’t mean that G-d literally rested: He is not a physical being who is tired from bodily exertion. The rabbis link vayyinafash with nefesh, a soul, and say that on the seventh day G-d was on a spiritual high (though even that is hard to grasp unless we recognise it as poetical metaphor). Resh Lakish said that G-d attached a n’shamah yeterah, an “extra soul” to Shabbat, giving all who observe the day
Every day one should add a piece of the plan for the coming Shabbat.… Every day is thus a part of Shabbat in some way – seven days, seven ways, seven thoughts, seven blessings.
an inrush of spiritual feeling that is unlike any other emotion. When the Christian critics of the Jewish Sabbath accused it of being dark, burdensome and restrictive, Solomon Schechter wrote that this picture is totally foreign to the Jews he knew who observed the Sabbath in their own lives. The R and R of Shabbat suffuses your soul to such an extent that your life is not just inspired but inspirited.
Rabbi Apple served for 32 years as the chief minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, Australia’s oldest congregation. He is now retired and lives in Jerusalem. Rabbi Apple blogs at http://www.oztorah.com
Chovat Halevavot Hilchot Shabbat
The author has now explained why, if all that comes our way is anyhow predetermined by G-d, would we nonetheless need to work to earn a living. It was explained that (1) it was to test a person to only earn their living in a Torah-true manner and (2) in order to engage a person productively so as not to allow them time to sin. Chovot Halevavot explains therefore, that the need to earn a living is actually a great favour of G-d for mankind. Being busy means that one does not have time to seek out the less important stuff, or to waste mental energy pondering what was in the past or will be in the ultimate future (and all the more so, having forbidden thoughts). According to the reasons provided, we can begin to understand why there exists a portion of the Jewish people who indeed do not seem to work to earn a living (such as Kollel students and great Rabbis). If one has achieved a level of
love and fear of G-d which has led them to understand the futility of worldly pleasures and is not drawn to morally repugnant behaviour, the need for such an individual to spend time and effort earning a living is less than it is for the average Jew, and they therefore can confidently spend their entire day in spiritual pursuits. As King Solomon taught in Mishlei: “G-d will not starve the soul of
the righteous”. The big question that remains is: Why do we nevertheless find sincere Jews who cannot always put bread on the table? Another question is: Why would G-d grant success to the wicked? More to follow, but this is included in Moshe’s question to G-d in this week’s Sidra – “Show me Your way”. As we shall see, however, it would not be possible for a “one-size-fitsit-all” approach as to why individuals see success or not, as each person has their unique past and purpose.
The Shabbat meal draws to an end; the family walks away all energised and happy and… there remains a chore to be done: The Dishes! The husband (or wife) approaches the sink and then stops, wondering: Am I actually allowed to do this today? Firstly, four important introductions. (1) no water may be heated on Shabbat. (2) one must be mindful of the laws of “Borer” – selecting and sorting and refer to those laws when separating pieces of cutlery etc, which are in a mixture. (3) one cannot use a sponge or a regular brush and (4) one cannot intentionally kill insects in the process of washing up. How about soaking the dishes or cutlery in water? Generally speaking, it is only permitted to wash dishes if they will be used on Shabbat. Simply put, if one finishes a meal on Friday night, it may be likely that these will be needed on Shabbat day, whereas once one finishes Seuda Shelishit on Shabbat afternoon, it is
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most likely the dishes will not be needed anymore on that day. So, one must consider if it is likely that the dishes or cutlery will still be used on Shabbat prior to washing them. Drinking glasses may be washed in all circumstances as they are not meal-dependent, although in the last few minutes of Shabbat they should not be washed as they clearly will not be used again prior to Shabbat going out. One need not count each piece of tableware and calculate if it will be used again on Shabbat; the general activity can be performed without concern as to individual items. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was of the opinion that cleaning the dishes in order to tidy a kitchen due to the expected arrival of guests is also permitted, as this is considered a “Shabbat need”, if one will be ashamed to show them a dirty kitchen.
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Ki Tissa
Ki Tissa Word Search
The Jews were counted in a very special manner. Each person gave a half shekel coin and Moshe counted the coins. Moshe is taught about the Kiyor which was the washstand in the Mishkan, and also about the anointing oil and the Ketoret. The Jews are reminded of the importance of keeping Shabbat, which we are still proud to do 3000 years later!! The Jewish people were waiting for their great leader Moshe to come down from Mount Sinai, but he seemed to be delaying. Unfortunately, this led them to create the famous “golden calf” which some of them danced around and offered up sacrifices in honour of. When Moshe did come down the mountain, he saw the celebrations and broke the Luchot. He then pleaded with Hashem
to forgive the Jewish people, which He agreed to do, but the idol worshippers were punished. Hashem then tells the Jews once again how important it is to destroy all idols upon entering Eretz Yisrael and teaches them some of the laws of the festivals, such as not eating Chametz, which we will soon be hearing all about! Finally, when Moshe came down the mountain with the new set of Luchot, his face shone too brightly, so he had to wear some form of mask when he spoke to the Jewish people. They knew, though, that behind the mask was their beloved leader, Moshe Rabbeinu and we know too, that even when Hashem appears to “hide” from us, He is right there with us, guarding us and protecting us.
Tangram Challenge! Using all the shapes on the left can you make the number four on the right?
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CENSUS • COVENANT • FIRSTBORN • GOLDEN • MISHKAN • PARAH • SHABBAT • SHEKEL
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Ki Tissa In a nutshell At the beginning of this week’s Sidra, Moshe is instructed to count the Jewish people. The way he was to do so was by taking half a shekel from each person and counting the coins instead. When all the silver was collected, it was melted down and used for the sockets for the “walls” of the Mishkan. He was also told to create a “Kiyor” a washing utensil for the Kohanim to wash their hands and feet before doing the service in the Mishkan and Beit Hamikdash. Then we learn of the anointing oil used for sprinkling onto the Mishkan, its furniture and on to the Kohanim, as well as, in the future, Kings of Israel. Hashem tells Moshe that his nephew Betzalel, has been inspired with an unusual level of wisdom and that it is he who shall create the Mishkan and its furniture. Hashem also appoints Ohaliav to assist Betzalel. The Jews are reminded however, that they must observe Shabbat as it is a “sign” between Hashem and his people. The holy sage the Chofetz Chaim
taught, that so long as a shop “sign” is on, one can be aware that the business is still functional even if the shutters are down. If, however, the “sign” is taken down, it means the shop has unfortunately closed down. The same is true with Shabbat acting as a “sign” that the Jewish people still belong to Hashem as it were. If you recall, Moshe had gone up the mountain to study the Torah for forty days and nights. He was due to come down with the previous Luchot. However, the Jews miscalculated when the forty days were up and just before that day, they assumed he wasn’t coming. Unfortunately, that led a significant portion of them the next day, to create an “Eigel”, a golden calf, which they saw as some form of holy replacement to Moshe. They celebrated and danced around it. Just then, Moshe came down the mountain, and broke the Luchot. Moshe prays to Hashem to forgive the Jewish people, but, nevertheless, whilst the nation achieves
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.
some level of forgiveness, 3000 people were put to death by the tribe of Levi. Hashem tells Moshe that instead of Him taking the Jews into the Holy Land, it will be an angel instead. Moshe asks Hashem for it to be reconsidered and is told that Hashem will indeed lead them Himself. Hashem told Moshe to carve new Luchot and on there the ten commandments are engraved once again. Moshe is taught the 13 “Middot of Mercy”, which we say many times over the Yamim Noraim period. Hashem then promises to keep His presence only with the nation and then tells them to ensure that all idolatry is destroyed in the Land of Israel. He teaches the laws of not mixing meat and milk and some of the laws of the major Jewish holidays. When Moshe comes down the mountain a second time, he does not realise that his face was shining. Moshe then needed to wear a veil as the Jews found his shine too great to bear.
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Last week’s words: Here are some words you may have found from last week - you may have found more! cue eel ere lee nee one ore roe
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2) He’s washing windows inside the building.
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City take on United Sixteen-goal Lions in charge to Premier title rout Scrabble in Cup BY DAVID SAFFER
Manchester City will move 17 points clear of rivals BY DAVIDManchester SAFFER United in the Premier League title race if they win a home derby clash Mogilner at the Etihad Stadium on as Sunday afReiss scored six goals Maccabi ternoon (4.30pm). London Lions thumped Scrabble A in the Only round a calamitous dip Anekstein in form can halt second of the Cyril Cup. City’s canter toLeague the title with 11 games to The Premier side racked up a 16-0 go. with Daniel Green and Michael Kenley win Pepbagging Guardiola’s champions-elect both a hat-trick. Ed Brafman, side Dawarmed up and withAdam two victories at complethome in vid Dinkin, Hassanali thethe past week. ed rout in a mismatch of a tie. City eased tohave a 4-1 scored win against Wolves on Lions could in the opening Tuesdayofnight after abut hard-fought 2-1 win minute the clash soon opened the against and Champions chasing West scoring led 9-0 byLeague half time. Ham TheUnited. Division One team, though outGabriel Jesus bagged late brace against classed, battled away to athe end. The Hammers to seal a 21st successive vicLions boss was lost for words at full time tory, 15 thedisplay league,from after his Conor Coady such wasinthe team who had equalised an own from Leander gave every respect to thegoal opposition. Dendoncker in thesure first-half. “I’m not really there’s anything to Riyad Mahrez been in startlingto form say, we are happyhas to make it through the and completed the scoring deep into stopnext round of the cup, ” he commented. page time after VAR ruled his goal Hendon United Sports ran out 3-1onside. victors West Ham remain in fourth place. London against League One outfit North Guardiola told Match of the Day, “We Raiders. were bit anxious butsecond we reThelittle Premier side ledafter early1-1 in the actedonly really afterto(and) we scored the half for well Raiders equalise but struck goals.late It was welltodeserved.” two goals book a place in round Regarding the winning streak, he notthree of the competition. ed,Hendon “The record we will about in now turn theirtalk attentions to the future. time,to November, league In as winter they travel OakwoodDecemA for a ber, January in the England, is hell! more crucial top of table itclash onIt’s Sunday than remarkable. I’m more than proud but (10am). at Daniel the same time, Liverpool are the chamKristall’s team stunned league pions. To win the Premier League we2-0, needa leaders last month when they won those victorypoints.” would move them to within a point Espirito ofWolves Hendonboss with Nuno a match in hand.Santo told Match of theinDay, “The round boys were solid Elsewhere the latest of fixtures, and compact. gameGalaxy went by but itwea 10-man North The London made were not able to sustain thisDivision and weOne got three-way title race in the only punished.” He added, “City are very talentclash of the day after defeating Oakwood B. ed,Jamie amazing players, amazing manager. All Murray saw red early on but Galaxy the other teams come findand it difrallied with goalsthat from Joshhere Cohen Jaficult because they are good opponent.” cob Leigh to record an aimportant 2-1 away City extended their winning run against win. the Hammers with a John Stones’ secGalaxy head Redbridge Jewish Care A in ond-half strike. David Moyes team equalthe table by just one point after 10 matches, ised Michail Ruben thirdthrough place Fairlop FCAntonio are fiveafter points beDias hosts front. hind had withput twothe games inin hand. Manchester United a frustratRafi Bloom scored forendured Oakwood. ing“Itnight Crystalperformance Palace at Selhurst wasagainst a fantastic in a
16-goal Maccabi London Lions
must-win game,” commented Galaxy player-manager Luke Lewis. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK Manchester City boss “We sat back and allowed Oakwood the Pep Guardiola ball, given the one-man advantage and looked to hit them on the counter attack last withnight. pace. Ole Gunnar Solkjaer’s side pos“Both goals came down thebossed right-hand session butcrossed failed to down Easide. Leigh thebreak first one intothe Cohen gles in an open clash and were in the end to finish, before slotting home himself. Up indebted to ”keeper Dean Henderson for to first we go. a late The result all but ensures PalThe save. Division Two title race also took ace’s survival. a twist with league leaders Herstwood Thegoing Redsdown are one ahead at of Temple LeicesVale to point a 2-1 defeat ter and seven points clear of fifth-placed Fortune. Chelsea. Faithfold B have played a game more Solskjaer Skylevel Sports, than Vale buttold moved with “It’s a 5-3 disapwin at pointing. We were just a little bit off. If North London Raiders Masters. you’re spotstruck on you won’t win games. Jacobnot Kalms twice for Fortune who Palace it hard for James you. InMilthe scored always throughmake leading scorer second half17th we goal never going.” He addletwith his of got the season. ed,Th“There the first half we e resultwere was times all theinmore remarkable built some pressure, had some half decent as Temple were down to 11 players with chances but Rebuck kept giving it away.aThen you ‘keeper Ben dislocating shoulder don’t build up. momentum and that’s the in the warm game get.”a fantastic win given the “Thisyouwas
in the battle for a Champions League place, he told Sky Sports, “We should have had a penalty, 100 per cent. I don’t understand whatsoever, not at all. From here you can see it’s a handball but you think it’s our player who does it. When you look at it on the video it’s two points taken away from us.” Tuchel told Sky Sports it was a high-quality game between two very strong teams. Regarding the penalty incident, he commented, “How can this be a VAR intervention? The player in red plays the ball with the hand and then we are checking for a penalty? Why does the referee have to see this? I’ve seen it on the iPad, I don’t understand why the referee has to check it but I’m glad it was no penalty. That would make it even worse.” Third-placed Leicester City have been hit by injuries but briefly moved level on points with United in the table after a 1-1 draw at Burnley in an early kick off last night. The Clarets took the lead through Matej Vydra but the visitors hit back through KelPHOTO: DAVID SAFFER echi Iheanacho. Both sides had opportunities to win but settled for a draw. Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers told BBC Sport, “I didn’t think we started either half well but the mentality of the team to come back from that was good. In the moments we played and moved the ball I thought we were very good. From a physical perspective we gave everything in the game. I thought once we got going in the second half we looked like the team that could win it but it is OK, a point and we move on.” one will enjoy.” The were disappointing in a 3-1 Vale Foxes boss Jacob Emanuel was quick to home defeat well to Arsenal at the wish Rebuck following hisweekend. injury. Youri Tielemens opened theeveryone scoring for “First and most importantly, at the hit back‘keeper with a Valehosts wouldbut likethe to Gunners wish the Fortune David headerwe before a quickLuiz recovery, hopeAlexandre to see himLacaback zette a soon penalty just before on theslotted footballhome pitch as as possible, ” he half said. time after VAR ruled Wilfred Ndidi had a Nicolas Pepe strike at goal. Ashandled for the defeat, Emanuel commented, Pepe sealed a deserved win just after the “It doesn’t matter how big a squad you break. have, you can never account for unavailLiverpool and Only Everton a point ability or injury. fiveare of both today’s team adrift Hamwin in over the Champions played of in West our recent FC Team, a League battle. lack of top-four togetherness and poor individual
“It was a proper old school performance, we battled and defended for the 90 minutes On Henderson’s save late on, he noted, “That’s Man Utd our goalkeeper, sometimes Experience proved andatook chances. you have to keep concentrating. He’s growing that position. I thank”him for to beinthe winner. one point and not zero.” Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
Regarding David de Gea’s return, Solksjaer added, “That’s matter. It’ll circumstances, ” saida private delighted Fortune take time it takes.” boss the Simon Linden. United shared the spoils with the “We had a number of players out,Blues Reat Stamford Bridge at the weekend. buck got injured, so I couldn’t have asked The visitors aggrieved fullBen timea any more from felt the players. Weatwish over a recovery. first half penalty shout for handspeedy ball Callum turned “It against was a proper oldHudson-Odoi school performance, down by referee Stuartfor Attwell he we battled and defended the 90 after minutes checked a pitchsideproved monand tookthe ourincident chances.onExperience itor. are unbeaten under to beChelsea the winner. It’s a big win, oneThomas we will Tuchel and were thwarted by de enjoy and we hope to build on it in Gea 2019.but ” the spot kick proved themarks key incident thea He added, “This win 50 yearsofas clash. football club and will be one Nigel Kyte and Solkjaerassociated lamentedwith the loss of two points everyone the club from day
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4 MARCH 2021 Both are in action tonight, Jurgen Klopp’s side hosting Chelsea while Carlo Ancelotti’s team travel to West Brom who are battling to stay in the league. The Merseyside giants both paid tribute to Liverpool legend Ian St John who died this week. St John scored the winning goal in the 1965 FA Cup final against Leeds United, which was the Reds first triumph in the competition. A Scotland international, St John was a key part of Bill Shankly’s famous team that won two league titles and the FA Cup in the 1960s, scoring 118 goals in 425 appearances. His partnership with 1966 England World Cup hero Roger Hunt was among the best of the era. Shankly’s side included skipper Ron Yeats and hardman Tommy Smith in a resolute defence. St John went on to find fame after hanging up his boots in television especially when he teamed up on ‘Saint & Greavsie’ with Tottenham Hotspur and England legend Jimmy Greaves. Liverpool bounced back to winning ways after four consecutive defeats with a comfortable 2-0 win at Championship bound Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Only the heroics of Blades keeper Aaron Ramsdale kept the score down but he was unable to stop Curtis Jones and Roberto Firmino sealing the win to bring up a landmark 7,000th goal in England’s top-flight league. Only Everton have scored more goals with 7,108. Klopp told Match of the Day, “We created an awful lot (of chances) and should have been 3-0 up. Andy Robertson could have had a hat-trick. The clean sheet is very important. Adrian showed pure class and character. I’m really happy for him. He was very front-footed. That was a really good game.” Richarlison scored for a third successive game as Everton backed up a sensational derby win against Liverpool last time out with a 1-0 triumph against struggling Southampton at Goodison Park. Ancelotti told BBC Sport, “It is an important victory, it was a difficult game, we knew it would be beforehand. We started well and controlled the game. We didn’t concede chances until the last minutes when they put in a lot of effort. We deserved to win.” Ancelotti praised the performances of Richarlison and England keeper Jordan Pickford who has returned to form after a difficult spell. In terms of a top-four spot, he told Sky Sports, “To fight for European places we need to improve the home run, this performance and victory can help us have a better run at home. It will be a dream to be in the top four at the end of the season. We are quite close, if we win Thursday (against West Brom), but the decision is long, we have to stay in our goal which is to play Europa next season.” Southampton’s Ralph Hasenhuttl voiced his concerns at a dreadful run of form to BBC Sport. “Thirty points are not enough to stay in the league, and we need points and maybe next weekend (versus Sheffield United),” he said. “Every week is an important game.” Tottenham returned to winning ways
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Gabriel Jesus struck a brace against Wolves on Tuesday night
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
“I don’t think it was a performance from another galaxy but we were solid. We needed a game where the players could express themselves against a team that never gives up.”
Harry Kane scored Tottenham’s second goal against Burnley
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
and a shot at Europe after a comfortable 4-0 win against Burnley at the weekend
and can further progress if they overcome Fulham at Craven Cottage tonight. Gareth Bale was the star of the show against Burnley with a brace, Harry Kane and Lucas Moura completed the scoring. The Clarets were fortunate they did not suffer a far heavier defeat such was the hosts dominance. Jose Mourinho told Match of the Day, “I don’t think it was a performance from another galaxy but we were solid. We needed a game where the players could express themselves against a team that never gives up.” On Bale’s performance, Mourinho noted, “We don’t need the Gareth Bale of five or six years ago. That player wouldn’t be here, he’d be at Real Madrid. He is winning duels and you saw his speed and direction. I’m very happy for him, very happy for the team because the team needs his talent. When his condition is good he can do things like today, his game was very good, not just scoring, changing speeds, going inside.” Aston Villa are still battling for a European place despite a disappointing 1-0 defeat at 10-man Sheffield United last night following a hard-fought win against Leeds United at the weekend. David McGoldrick scored the only goal for the Blades, who had Phil Jagielka dismissed for a foul on Anwar El Ghazi, who scored the winner at Elland Road. Leeds failed to produce their free-flowing football that has seen only four teams score more goals.
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Sheffield boss Chris Wilder told BT Sport, “It was everything you want in a performance. “That was a game like 90% of our games last season.” Regarding Jagielka’s red card, “Not a great decision. I don’t think Villa can ever complain about the decisions that have gone against us in our previous three fixtures. We got on with it and kept the ball out of the back of the net. He was a long way out. I still think (Kean) Bryan is close enough and we had retreating players. I think it’s harsh. “Some of the decisions, not just for us, but for everyone else are head-scratching.” In the relegation battle, Newcastle United lamented missed chances as they failed to hold on a hard-fought lead against Wolves. Jamaal Lascelles had nodded the Geordies in front early in the second half only for Ruben Neves to head a 73rd minute equaliser. Fulham had a chance to move level on points with Newcastle and Brighton, who lost at West Brom in a controversial encounter at The Hawthorns, but had to settle with a goalless draw at Palace. Scott Parker’s side bossed the game at Selhurst Park but blew a terrific opportunity. However, they are the form side of teams at the wrong end of the table having picked up more points in the past five league games compared to Southampton, Burnley, Brighton and Newcastle. Sam Allardyce’s West Brom are nine points from safety but defeated Brighton 1-0 in a must-win game at the weekend. Kyle Bartley scored the only goal in the match which included a farcical moment when Lewis Dunk slotted in a first half freekick to level the scores only for referee Lee Mason to disallow the goal then award it and then disallow it again after VAR intervened to illustrate he blew his whistle twice. The visitors rightly protested but could have no complaints as they missed two penalties, Pascal Gross striking the crossbar and Danny Welbeck hitting a post, which would have negated the game’s main talking point. Baggies boss Sam Allardyce told BBC’s Match of the Day, “I am just laughing about how bizarre this game was. Obviously the most important thing for us was a clean sheet and a corner we converted very well. (There were) lots of chances after that for both teams, we managed to get the one and they managed to not score any of theirs.” Brighton’s Graham Potter had no excuses, he told Sky Sports, “It is what it is. We’ve not helped ourselves with the two penalties so I cannot put it all down to that (disallowed goal). We need to improve and get better at that (taking penalties). We’re never going to get two better chances. We have to stay calm.” And so, the relegation bandwagon continues in the coming days with some intriguing encounters. Southampton and Newcastle travel to Sheffield and West Brom respectively in what could be make or break six-pointers for the bottom two clubs while Burnley and Brighton host Arsenal and Leicester. Fulham have the task of taking on Liverpool at Anfield. West Brom and Sheffield’s recent wins are probably too late to save them but as Saint & Greavsie used to quip, “football is a funny old game”.