4 minute read
Games
Aish Manchester year 11 group
Year 11 and 13 students attended Aish Manchester Shabbatonim this month.
Fifty year 11 pupils participated in a weekend away at Kingswood Adventure Activity Centre in the Peak District. The weekend included educational discussions and a powerful Shabbat filled with singing, sharing ideas and havdallah followed by a bonfire.
Students got to spend Sunday at the adventure centre enjoying abseiling, zip lining and laser tag. They also enjoyed the scenic Peak District.
One participant said: “The atmosphere, people and songs were amazing. I loved everyone coming together to sing and really feeling a connection.” Another student added: “The Shabbaton had the nicest atmosphere, especially with the singing. I’ve learnt so much more about my Jewish identity.”
The second Shabbaton was in Wales and was open to year 13 students. To kick the weekend off boys took part in a cholent cook off whilst the girls made use of the hot tub and swimming pool.
Students explored Torah concepts and a Judaism Q&A. Discussions included the future of the Jewish community before taking time to enjoy the Welsh countryside.
A student with their guitar helped make a musical havdallah to end Shabbat.
A participant said: “These two days allowed me to get a better understanding of what it means to be Jewish and most importantly how to get the best out of being Jewish for the rest of my life.”
Aish’s Rabbi Zvi and Miriam Gefen, Rabbi Shauly and Adina Strom and head madrichim Saul and Chani Bishop led the programme.
Rabbi Zvi, Director and Educator of Aish Manchester welcomed so many youngsters at each Shabbaton.
“They wanted to experience an inspirational, uplifting and fun-filled Shabbat with friends,” he said.
“The Shabbaton was a great opportunity for students to ask questions, explore their Jewish identity and envision themselves as an integral part of the Jewish future whilst having a great time. We’re already planning the next one!”
Broughton Jewish Cassel Fox Kindergarten children brought in tzedakah for BBC’s Children In Need.
Broughton Jewish Kindergarten who brought in Tzedakah
PHOTO: LAWRENCE PURCELL
Litter tidy up Volunteers Sunday afternoon for UK Mitzvah Day outside Habers Kosher World, Kings Road, Prestwich, headed up by Sedgley Ward Councillor Richard Gold and Kate Lurie, Project Manager for JAMH, Jewish Action for Mental Health.
Mitzvah Day in Kings Road
PHOTO: LAWRENCE PURCELL
BY ADAM MOSES
Laurence Saffer tells the fascinating story of civil rights activist Cyril Pustan who participated in the 1961 San Francisco to Moscow ‘Walk for Peace’ in a new book Plumber, Lecturer, Pacifist, Spy (?).
In an intriguing life, Cyril had tea with Nina Krushchev, wife of then-Russian premier Nikita Krushchev, at the height of The Cold War, and married Regina Wender Fischer, mother of chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer. He also survived the Blitz, witnessed the building of the Berlin Wall and struggle of the proletariat against the State to name but a few tales.
Laurence, who is married to Cyril’s niece, Sally, has had access to Cyril’s diaries and University of Bradford archives. The biography includes Cyril’s writings and accounts of others about him.
For many years Laurence, who lives in Leeds, had heard stories about Cyril’s many adventures but it was only when Sally’s mother, Ella, passed away last year, and they inherited two boxes of his writings that the full story could be told.
Laurence Saffer signs a copy of his book
“We are all used to reading about famous people like Winston Churchill, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, and the great societal changes they helped bring about, but the truth is it’s the ordinary folk who took part in these huge public demonstrations that made politicians sit up and take notice,” said Laurence. “Without them, we’d all be living in a completely different world. Each one of them, in their own way, helped save the world.”
He added: “It has been an honour to bring Cyril’s story to light, and I hope that in future, it might help enlighten a new audience, and give context to what were truly momentous times.”
Cyril was born in London, 1929, to Ukrainian immigrants escaping pogroms, and grew up in Shoreditch, London. Leaving school with no qualifications, he became a plumber and found an outlet for his political views in the Communist Youth Association and Trade Union movement.
The Walk for Peace ended in Red Square in October 1961. Cyril took part in the European leg where he met his wife and proposed on a train back from Moscow. The couple settled in Jena where he taught English through use of folk songs at Friedrich-Schiller University.
Cyril also produced a record, recorded stories for the visually impaired and had a small part in a film, The Frozen Lightening. Laurence has offered Cyril’s writings to the JB Priestley Library. He says: “There is a passage in the Talmud that says if one person saves the life of another, it is as if they have saved the whole world. This is the story of the continuum of ordinary people who might otherwise seem to have nothing remarkable about them, but when you look at their journey, in this case Cyril’s journey, you realise that in some small way they have influenced the world we all live in today.”
The Cyril Pustan archive collection has been donated to the Special Collections at the University of Bradford’s JB Priestley Library. It will be made available to researchers.
Plumber, Lecturer, Pacifist, Spy (?) is available on Amazon. (Article adapted from Neil Hudson, University of Bradford)
