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CER highlights Faith, Tech and Tourism in Malta
BY ANNIE ABRAHAMS
Rabbis, tech entrepreneurs and business leaders gathered in Malta to celebrate the CER Prize for Tech and Innovation.
CER President, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, presented prizes that support tech start-ups.
Two €26,000 awards to invest in products were made due to the pandemic. Nina Patrick of memido won for 2021 and Veronica Celis Vergara of EnlightAID won the 2020 prize.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced its backing for the CER Prize.
The 2020 and 2021 winners will visit Israel over five days for meetings with the technology sector.
The offer could boost Maltese-Israeli ties. Maltese officials may reschedule a trade delegation to Israel, postponed due to Covid-19, to coincide with the visit of prize-winners.
The Conference of European Rabbis, Malta Investment Management Company Limited (Mimcol) and Malta’s Ministry for the Economy, European Funds and Lands organised the tech investment event.
Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt, said: “The CER Prize for Tech and Innovation is our way of celebrating the best in technology where it is a force for good.”
Minister Silvio Schembri noted: “Malta has 2,000 years of Jewish history. Whether for tourism, business, or investment, we invite the Jewish community, including our friends from Israel, to consider Malta as your next destination. We will welcome you with open arms.”
Breakthrough Foundation founder Yuri Milner sponsored the CER Prize. “Creative technology ideas have immense power to improve people’s lives, and encouraging those ideas is vital,” he said.
Schembri said the conference served as an opportunity to discuss future cooperation with the CER.
“It’s been the government’s long-term vision to primarily build stronger political and economic ties with Israel who we consider as a natural partner, particularly in the sphere of joint technological research,
Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt at the awards dinner
The MC Oliver Rolofs addressing the conference
economic investments and tourism,” he said.
Schembri hopes to develop new technologies in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
He added: “Our ultimate goal is twopronged, a socio-economic approach which will yield a multitude of benefits. We intend to not only attract foreign investment and create jobs within the sector but also aim to ensure that the benefits brought about by this wave of innovation reaches more segments of Maltese society as it goes about its daily life, be it within the education or health sphere or interaction with government departments.”
Schembri launched a 316.4 million Euro Recovery and Reslience Plan for digitalisation related projects for SME’s, tourism and cultural sector projects.
Mimcol chairman Adrian Said expressed commitment to strengthen discussion and opportunities.
“Malta is the ideal home for start-ups where support can be obtained effectively as Government is nimble and entities are very supportive,” he said.
The High School boys from Beis Yisroel Shul, Manchester, enjoyed an amazing Shabbos Hisachdus with the Rov, Rabbi Yehoshua Ahron Sofer shlita. They were accompanied with Rabbi Yaakov Hibert and Reb Gershon Rose.
Beis Yisroel Shul Shabbaton in Wales. Seated, Rabbi Sofer, Rabbi Hibbert, Rabbi Rose
Central kiddush talk
Central Synagogue hosted AJEX historian Paula Kitching and Lance Corporal Dan Levy in advance of the AJEX parade.
Kitching spoke about the history of AJEX and Levy focused on Jewish membership of the British Armed Forces and fatalities suffered.
Rabbi Barry Lerer of Central Synagogue said: “It was important for the community to hear the immeasurable sacrifice Jewish servicemen have made to the country throughout the years.”
Jonathan Metliss organised the talk, he added: “This was another example of our commitment to AJEX.” The talk was part of the series of Kiddush Talks every Shabbat.
HMC Independent Jewish Day School for Children aged 4-18
Teacher of Jewish Studies
With the opportunity for additional responsibility • Full time / Part time
We are seeking a dynamic and committed individual to teach Tenach, Talmud and Jewish Knowledge and Skills to a range of ages and abilities. Teaching will include the GCSE Religious Studies syllabus. The successful candidate will prove to be an effective teacher with a wide Jewish knowledge and will identify with the Modern Orthodox ethos of the school. There is the opportunity for additional responsibility for the right candidate. Applications are welcome from ECTs or those willing to work towards a teaching qualification. IImmanuel College is entering a new, exciting era of educational and physical development, which will build on our Jewish modern orthodox, co-educational, independent roots. You will join a school characterised by high academic standards, outstanding pastoral care and a renowned programme of Jewish study. We enjoy an environment of happy, fulfilled young people who are fully engaged in the life of this friendly school, are aspirational and committed to their studies and their community. We are looking for colleagues who are eager to contribute to their futures and build a bright beacon of Jewish life and learning. Immanuel College is a vibrant, professional and caring place to work, where every day brings new challenges and opportunities. We are deeply committed to the emotional and professional well-being of all our staff and believe that happy, well-cared for staff make the best team. We pride ourselves on providing an environment where staff have the freedom to learn and grow. We provide access to the Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS), a supportive CPD system, membership to a healthcare scheme, subsidised lunches, family-friendly policies and a range of well-being initiatives. For further information and to apply, please visit our website www.immanuelcollege.co.uk An Application Form, Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form and the names and contact details of two referees should be sent to Dr Millan Sachania, Head Master, at jobs@immanuelcollege.co.uk
Applications will be reviewed upon receipt and shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview.
For further enquiries relating to the role please contact Mr Michael Lewis, Assistant Head of Jewish Studies at
mlewis@immanuelcollege.co.uk
Immanuel College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
24 NOVEMBER 2022
TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488 Charities galore take part in Mitzvah Day!
Central Synagogue members collecting for Mitzvah Day
Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely at Noa Girls Camp Simcha and Michael Sobell JCC Camp Simcha CEO Nevile Goldschneider at Ilford Jewish Primary School’s Toy drive Chai baked challah for clients for Mitzvah Day
Kenton United Synagogue
Norwood Mitzvah Day with BBYO Sir Keir Starmer at South Hampsead Synagogue Kisharon cards for Jewish Care residents
BY ADAM MOSES
Jewish charities, synagogues, schools and volunteers participated in a host of Mitzvah Day activities.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sent a message to the community.
“Mitzvah Day is a very special time of year,” he said. “It helps to foster a wonderful community spirt, celebrating diversity of faith or belief, and demonstrating that we each have a responsibility to one another.”
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer took part at South Hampstead United Synagogue to collect and pack clothes for people in need.
He noted: “Mitzvah Day is emblematic of the country we are, and the values we hold. Credit to all those involved in making it happen.”
At Kisharon there was a busy programme including ‘What is a Mitzvah’ session and packages for Homeless Action Barnet and All Aboard volunteers.
There were collection points for warm clothes for Goods for Good, and at Child’s Hill library bulbs were planted and fences painted to make a warmer environment. Tenants at supported living drew pictures and wrote letters about the meaning of Mitzvah Day for Jewish Care residents.
Rachel Ucko, Community Inclusion Coordinator, said: “Mitzvah Day is a great opportunity for us to showcase our work and how we upskill people we support.”
Camp Simcha ran an annual blood drive at North London’s Edgware Blood Donor Centre, the Joely Bear appeal and Toy Drive.
Shrubberies Synagogue in Manchester donated toys and made get well cards for children in hospital whilst Jewish Care’s Michael Sobell JCC made gift packages for neonatal hospital wards in a combined Mitzvah DayWorld Prematurity Day project.
Noa Girls welcomed Israel Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely for a bracelet beading activity. Beautiful pieces were donated to ‘Bayit Lepleitot’, an orphanage and home for disadvantaged girls in Israel.
Naomi Lerer, CEO said: ‘This was a wonderful opportunity for our girls. They loved meeting the Ambassador and harnessed their talents towards producing jewellery that others less fortunate could enjoy.”
Norwood’s activities will enrich the experience of Shabbat and Chanukah.
At Kennedy Leigh Family Centre, community groups created Chanukah cards and Shabbat placemats. Project Impact Youth Group, Finchley Jewish Cubs and Scouts, BBYO and Kinloss Synagogue participated. They were joined by adults Norwood support.
At Mill Hill cheder, members replicated activities for adults in residential care and supported living services. And Kenton United Synagogue hosted adults supported by Norwood for a community tea.
Elsewhere Councillor Debbie Morris, chair of Three Rivers District Council, opened Mitzvah Day at Northwood United Synagogue where activities included collections for JGift, Langdon College and Chabad Krakow, which supports Ukrainian refugees.
One thousand school children, teachers and faith groups across Borehamwood and Elstree engaged in a mass flower-planting project coordinated by Gratitude and Garden in a Roll.
Jewish and Muslim school children joined the community at Woodside Park Synagogue with Theresa Villiers MP for projects including making cupcakes and collecting for food banks.
Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue put on a day of activities with collections for charities including Against Breast Cancer, Comfort Cases, Food Bank Aid and St John’s Hospice.
And Mill Hill Synagogue joined neighbouring churches and mosques to collect for Sebby’s Corner. Bushey United Synagogue put on a knitting project and collection for Goods for Good.
Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue had a range of activities including collectathons, soup making and children’s activities. They joined Bob Blackman MP and Friends of Canons Park gardening group in the walled rose garden to give the area a tidy up.
Golders Green Synagogue collected 20 boxes of items from Sainsbury’s for Food Bank Aid and ran a cooking session to make a delicious meal for the Barnet Winter Shelter.
The community also knitted hats for babies in the neonatal ward at the Royal Free Hospital.
Members of Central Synagogue, including Rebbetzen Naomi Lerer, collected food outside Waitrose Marylebone. And Pinner United Synagogue supported children and babies in the Jewish community via Sebby’s Corner.
ASK THE RABBI
Looking for answers? Send your question to Rabbi@RabbiSchochet.com
I CAN’T – CAN I?
Dear Rabbi
My wife and daughter have been regularly attending Jewish classes at an outreach programme. They are certainly growing in their general Jewish observance. They are of course keen for me to do the same and to come along on the journey. I have since attended a couple of classes, and while I support my family’s choices and I enjoyed the classes, I can’t see myself growing more observant.
Jeff
Dear Jeff
You know how some things from your childhood make a lifelong impression? Well I vividly recall struggling over some math work and moaning allowed, “I can’t do this!” My teacher, Miss Spitzer, yelled across the room, “Yitzchak Schochet, there’s no such a thing as ‘I can’t!”
The great Rabbi Yisroel Bal Shem Tov was delivering a discourse in the cramped study hall in Mezebush to his many disciples assembled. A man, who had been riding by, came rushing into the hall looking for some assistance. His horse and buggy became stuck in the thick wintry mud. He approached the first person standing nearby: “I can really use some help!” The man shushed him, motioning to the grand Rabbi lecturing in the middle. “I just need someone for a couple of minutes. I’m sure with an extra pair of hands, I could be on my way and you could be back to your class.” The man, barely looking up, shushed him again, this time with increasing irritation. “Oh come on, just a few minutes. What’s the big deal? You could hear lectures whenever. I just need to be on my way. Please!” At this point the other man turned to him menacingly and hissed rather loudly: “Don’t you see. We are in the middle of an important lecture. The Bal Shem Tov is speaking. I really can’t help you!” To which the frustrated horseman retorted in Russian: “You can – only you don’t want to!” The Bal Shem Tov immediately paused in the middle of his class: “What that man has to say is a more important lesson in life than anything else I can teach you right now!”
The difference between who you are and who you could be lies in what you get yourself to do. The only obstacle - the only thing that can impede your ability to progress is that little voice that says, “I can’t.” The challenge is for you to go in search for the hero inside yourself and continue to nurture yourself at every interval in life, constantly progressing, always moving forward, aiming ever upward. Will you sometimes fail? Definitely so! But the greatest tragedy in life is not aiming too high and missing. It’s aiming too low and reaching. Good luck!
IS JEWISH GUILT A THING?
Dear Rabbi
Growing up I always had the idea of an evil inclination pounded home to me. “Get out of bed. It’s your yetzer hara telling you to sleep.” “Don’t speak like that. It’s your yetzer hara talking.” So now I go through life always feeling guilty about things – obsessed about this ‘bad angel’ hovering over me. Is this the cause for Jewish guilt?
Heather
Dear Heather
Let’s dispel with this myth called Jewish guilt. A classic Jewish greeting is usually made up of, “you’ve gained weight,” “you’ve lost weight,” “you look tired.” To the son it’s “she’s not feeding you right.” To the daughter it’s “he’s letting you work too hard,” or “why aren’t you having more children?”
The truth is there is no credible evidence whatsoever that Jewish people feel more guilt than anyone else. Sure, we may feel bad when we deviate from traditional roots, but that surely applies to any member of any faith community. And even as guilt seems to be institutionalised – think High Holidays, especially Yom Kippur – that’s part of general religious practice – it’s not something ingrained in the psyche of Jewish individuals.
If anything Jewish guilt was probably invented by Jews in order to better deal with their own estrangement. “Oh, he’s just trying to make me feel guilty about my life choices,” etc. This so-called Jewish guilt factor is little more than a buffer concocted by those trying to make themselves feel better for what they might otherwise be doing wrong. When you can blame the pressures of community or family on ‘Jewish guilt,’ then you have something tangible to reject, making it easier to get on with life.
That said, you can’t walk around obsessed about your yetzer hora the whole time. You’re giving it too much headspace. As a child, Reb Herschel of Krakow was once scolded by his father for not arising early for prayer service. “I can’t help it,” complained the boy. “It’s that yetzer hara of mine. It keeps telling me to turn over and go back to sleep.” “But Heschele,” countered the father, “don’t you see? The yetzer hara is just doing his job. The yetzer hara is an angel created by G-d with the assignment to divert people from observing His will. You ought to be smart enough to do as he does, not as he says. Next time the yetzer hara entices you to stay in bed, tell yourself: ‘Aha! He’s at it again – he’s up bright and early fulfilling his duty. I too must get out of bed quickly to get on with my task as well.’”
“Oh father,” retorted the child with a twinkle in his eye, “you make it sound so simple. But since when does the yetzer hara have to contend with a yetzer hara that tries to stop him of his assignment? Perhaps that’s why he is so efficient. I, on the other hand...”
I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions from that story.
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Pirkei Avot
Refuah sheleima for Batya bat Chava, Elchanan ben Livnat and Chaim Nochum ben Feiga Rivka
Rabbi Shimon son of Elazar taught: Do not try to appease your friend whilst they are in a state of anger and do not comfort him whilst his deceased lies before him. Do not attempt to present reasons to annul his oath at the time he takes it and do not make efforts to see him whilst being disgraced.
The first lesson is derived from Hashem Himself, who instructed Moshe after the sin of the Golden Calf, to allow Him time (as it were) for His anger to dissipate and only after that, to intercede on the Jewish People’s behalf.
The idea of not comforting someone prior to the burial of a loved one is either because attempting to comfort someone (if one is not careful) in such a state can lead to intensity of grief or because they may say words which seem to downplay the extent of the tragedy.
If one sees a person making a promise, they should not ruin the chances of this promise being annulled. To annul the promise, one would need to present a reason to a Rabbi as to why their promise only applied in certain circumstances. If the bystander presents them with circumstances in which the oath should not apply, whilst they are making the promise, the promiser may say, “I want this oath to take effect nonetheless”. This diminishes their chance at having the vow annulled. Little needs to be added to the closing words of the Mishnah - in particular in today’s digital age. When you see someone who has fallen over in the street or has been involved in any unfortunate or embarrassing scene, do not be the one who photographs or videos it and then shares it! This too, we learn from G-d, when reproving Adam and Chava for their sin, He waited until they were of respectable appearance before communicating with them.
People deserve respect - both in life and after.
