Bulletin roshnew

CTJC Bulletin Rosh Hashanah 2016

In this Issue

3 – Welcome to the CTJC Chanukah Bulletin 4 – From the Chairman…

5 – Communal Information 6 – Community News 7 – Subscriptions and Donations 8 – Three Books on the Holocaust 11 – Unveiling of the “Muttongate” Plaque 14 – The Oldest Mikveh in Europe 16 – Thoughts about the Righteous, the Wicked and Why “The Righteous Suffer While the Wicked Thrive” 18 – Bulgar Stuffed Courgettes with Pine Nuts 21 – A Sparkling Piano Recital 20 – Cambridge Limmud 2016 21 – Spot the Difference 22 – Crossword 23 – How to Make an Autumn Hedgehog

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Welcome to the CTJC Rosh Hashanah Bulletin Bulletin Number 117

We are always looking for new bulletin contributors, and would be delighted to hear from you with your articles or ideas. For instance, if you’ve visited somewhere interesting, read a book on a relevant subject, or even eaten something memorable, why not write about it for the Chanuka issue? To submit material, please email netaamior@gmail.com

This year we’ve added a section written by children (and their parents) for children – please let us know if you have anything to add to this section in the next bulletin (Chanuka).

The bulletin, like all aspects of CTJC, is produced entirely by volunteers. If you would like to get involved, please contact our Chairman Jonathan Allin.

You can read the bulletin online in full colour in the CTJC Web Site: WWW.CTJC.ORG.UK

Small print…

Views expressed in the bulletin are the views of the individual authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or of the committee of the CTJC.

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From the Chairman…

Rosh Hashanah 2016, Tishrei 5777

As ever we have an excellent bulletin. As befits a Rosh Hashanah edition there are articles to help ground our historic perspective, on righteousness, and of course food. I would like to thank Neta and Michael Amior for their hard work in bringing it together.

Once again Cambridge pulled off an excellent Day Limmud, for which we need to thank Jo and Julian Landy and the Limmud committee. There were many excellent speakers: the highlight for me was AmyJill Levine's talk, or perhaps better to say performance, on the parables of the Gospels. We so easily take something at face value, without pausing to think about the wider context and how this so often brings out a much deeper understanding.

Over the last year we have also seen much needed changes to the CTJC committee. As well as welcoming the Amiors, we are also joined by Jo Landy, who will focus on student liaison.

I'd like to use my position as Chairman of the CTJC to bring to the fore concerns many of us have: what is the purpose of the CTJC and what is our future?

There is no doubt that the core of what we do centres on supporting the shul and managing out of term Shabbat services. In addition we publish three high quality bulletins each year, provide educational visits to schools and host school visits in the shul. We provide community welfare, and we provide burial rights. Is there more we could or should be doing, in particular around events?

What of our future aims? I'd like to suggest three areas to tackle: growing CTJC membership, ensuring services are an attractive and positive experience for adults, children, and most importantly young adults, and finally ensuring that we can muster a minyan for a yahrzeit or a special service.

Perhaps, though, the elephant in the shul is the question of premises. I'm certain we all want our own building (please let me know if you disagree), but is there any realistic way that the several million needed can be found? The fund raising required would be well beyond anything the CTJC has ever been involved with.

Wishing you all ‫שנה טובה ומתוקה‬.

Jonathan Allin

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Communal Information

Learning Talmud Shiur Usually 8.00 pm at 23 Parsonage Street, led by Prof. Stefan Reif. The group is currently studying Masechet Betza. The shiur is held on a convenient evening in those weeks when Prof Reif is in Cambridge; for more information email chevra@ctjc.org.uk Various other shiurim can be found at the Lehrhaus, visit www.thelehrhaus.org or call 07830160994

Mikvah

To book an appointment at the Cambridge Mikvah, please call Mrs. Rochel Leigh on 07825 126724 at least 48 hours in advance. For more information about the Mikvah please call Rochel or email at rochel@cuchabad.org

Kosher meat and groceries Derby Stores (26 Derby St, Newnham, 354391) stock prepacked Kosher groceries and meat, and will buy to order. They get fresh from London midday Thursday, and stay open till 8pm. Sainsbury's in Coldham's Lane also stocks a range of Kosher Goods including frozen chicken legs. Ocado has some Kosher foods in its delivery list.

Hospital Visiting Contact Sarah Schechter (329172), Tirzah Bleehen (354320) for coordination if you wish to volunteer to help, or need to organise some visits.

Barry Landy or Rabbi Reuven Leigh (354603) are prepared to attend hospitals to read prayers.

Note that because of concerns for personal privacy the hospital no longer informs us when Jewish patients are admitted, so if you wish to be visited, please let one of the above know when you are about to enter hospital.

Chevra Kadisha Contact Barry Landy (570417) Brendel Lang (353301) or Trevor Marcuson (520045) Religious Services, Barmitzvahs, Weddings, Brit Milah etc.

Contact Barry Landy (570417) or Rabbi Leigh (354603) Children’s activities

For information about the Lehrhaus for Kids, the After School Club, or Ganeinu Child Care Service, contact Rochel Leigh at rochel@cuchabad.org For information on Shabbat morning children’s services (held 10 minutes walk from shul, ending in time to get to Musaf) please contact Neta Amior at netaamior@gmail.com

CTJC email list

CTJC has an email list. To join and receive regular updates about services, events, Shabbat times etc, please email Barry Landy at HonSecretary@ctjc.org.uk or Jonathan Allin at HonTreasurer@ctjc.org.uk CTJC Web Site: WWW.CTJC.ORG.UK

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Community News

Please be in touch if you have news to share in future bulletins!

Births: Mazal Tov to the Schechter family on the birth of the newest grandchild Beaui Schechter

Marriages: Mazal Tov to Lauren and Jonathan Allin and family on the engagement of Danny to Anya Dmitrieva Mazal Tov to Ben and Clare Blaukopf and family on the marriage of Daniel Blaukopf to Efrat Kraz Mazal Tov to Julian Landy and Annette Landy and family on the marriage of Imogen Landy to Charlie Gluckman

Congratulations: Mazal Tov to Simon Goldhill on being made a member of the Royal Academy

Condolences: Wishing long life to the family of Iraj Farhoumand

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Subscriptions and Donations 2015/2016

Members are reminded that their subscriptions for the coming year are now due, together with the Board of Deputies levy (£25 which should be paid to each body of which you are a member), the levy to the Chief Rabbi's Office (£8 which should be paid by each male member), and any donations to the UJIA, the CTJC or the Cambridge Chaplaincy that you wish to make.

The subscription fees for 2015/2016, as agreed at the AGM, are: Full family

£194.00

Associate family

£130.00

Full single

£134.00

Associate single

£85.00

These fees may be varied to suit individual circumstances; the Treasurer will be pleased to be consulted confidentially. Visitors for whom membership is not appropriate are invited to make a donation.

The subscription may be paid by direct bank transfer to sort code 20-17-19 account 20199192, in which case please send an explanatory email to Jonathan Allin at HonTreasurer@ctjc.org.uk; or by sending a cheque, payable to CTJC, together with this slip, indicating how much is being paid in each category, to: Jonathan Allin, 19 The Coppice Impington Cambridge CB4 4PP

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CTJC is a registered Charity, number 282849, and payment from Tax paid income can be made by means of Gift Aid, which will enable the CTJC to recover the Tax paid. A suitable declaration is available from the Secretary.

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Three Books on the Holocaust Book reviews by Barry Landy

Asylum (Moritz Scheyer) But you did not come back (Marceline Loridan-Ivens) East West Street (Phillippe Sands)

These three books on aspects of the Holocaust were, by coincidence, all published in the first half of 2016.

However the likeness ends there; the books could not be more different. One is an academic book making links between some of the major figures of the Nuremberg trials and the author's family, while the other two are first person memoirs. Of the two memoirs, one was seventy years in gestation while the other, remarkably and possibly uniquely, was written during the events it records.

Asylum by Moritz Scheyer describes his family's flight from Austria to France after the Anschluss in 1938.

Before the war he was a significant critic, essayist and travel writer, within the literary and cultural milieu of pre-war Vienna.

He was the arts editor of the NWT (Neues Wiener Tageblatt) for which he wrote a weekly column of the Arts from 1924 to 1938. He mixed in the artistic circles of Vienna with amongst others Stefan Zweig, Gustav Mahler, Bruno Walter and Joseph Roth. All this came to an abrupt end in 1938 and he decided to move to France with his family as he knew French, and was a Francophile. They first lived in Paris, and believed the assurances that all would be well, but when France surrendered they moved to the Dordogne in the "Zone Libre" (Vichy France).

Life there became increasingly difficult and after some remarkably close escapes, which included being sent home from a French concentration camp (because of ill health!), they were eventually given asylum in a convent which was an Asylum for the Insane. Not without incident they survived there until the end of the war. Having had a heart problem for several years, he died peacefully in 1948.

All during his wartime travails Moritz was writing a contemporary account of his circumstances, apparently with the intent of publishing it. The survival of the book is no less remarkable than the survival of the Scheyer family.

Before Moritz died in 1948 he had tried to have his memoir published and sent the manuscript off to some publisher. It is not clear what became of that attempt but the book was not published then, and after his death the book vanished from sight. It seems as though his stepson had disapproved of some of the content (too anti-French and likely to inflame relations with Germany) and destroyed the manuscript which had presumably been returned by the publisher. And there matters rested until the death of the stepson when Moritz' grandson (P N Singer) discovered a second copy (presumably a carbon copy of the original typescript) in his late father's attic. Singer translated this typescript and prepared it for translation without in any way censoring his grandfather's harsh (but accurate) descriptions of both the German Occupiers of France or the French Milice or the Vichy government.

This book is unique in being a contemporary account, and remarkable in that it was written by an accomplished (if little known outside Austria) writer.

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But you did not come back (Marceline Loridan-Ivens) This is another first person holocaust memoir written by an accomplished author. She was only able to put her experiences down on paper towards the end of a long, and ultimately sad life. It is a brief portrait of what the Holocaust did to the Jews, and is totally unsparing. Marceline and her father were caught in 1944 and deported to Auschwitz via Drancy. At Auschwitz they were separated, he to Auschwitz to a work camp, and she to Birkenau where she survived by being assigned to work details. Miraculously her father managed to smuggle one note to her (and an onion and a tomato!), of which she cannot remember a word except that he promised to come back. She survived and he did not come back.

East West Street (Phillippe Sands) This is completely different to the other two books. Phillippe Sands is a QC and a published author. He was not involved in the holocaust personally although he lost a lot of family during the war.

In this book he focuses on one town called variously as Lvov, Lwow, Lviv, Lemberg which has been part of Ukraine, Poland, Russia or Germany at various times.

The story interweaves three strands (and a fourth); the history of Sands' grandfather (Leon Buchholtz) and his family who came from Lvov; that of Hersch Lauterpacht who was born and grew up in Lvov but moved to Vienna in 1919, and then to England before the war, and eventually moved to Herschel Road, Cambridge. Hersch became a renowned international lawyer and his son Eli still lives in Cambridge. The third strand is the history of Raphael Lemkin, who while not born in Lvov studied there before escaping to the USA before the war.

The two legal strands converge at the Nuremberg trials of the leading Nazis. Lauterpacht wrote many of the speeches for the UK's lead prosecutor (Hartley Shawcross) and invented the term "crimes against humanity", while Lemkin tried to get involved but was only peripherally successful, He however invented the term "genocide" which only made its way into the trials during the summing up.

The book has a fourth strand: that of the trial at Nuremberg of Hans Frank who was the governor of the "Gouvernement GĂŠnĂŠral" which was what the Nazis called the dependent state of Poland.

These four strands interweave to make a compelling tale which also succeeds in making clear the horrors of the Holocaust, though in a manner totally different to the other two books which are first person narratives.

I heartily recommend reading all of these books.

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Unveiling of the “Muttongate” Plaque

By Mark Harris

READERS may recall that, for the five CTJC Bulletins from the Pesach 2012 to the Rosh Hashanah 2013 issue, I wrote a series of articles about my “Quest” for the location of medieval Huntingdon’s synagogue. Now fast forward … Never could I have imagined, on moving to Cambridge from London seven years previously, that on a very warm and sunny Sunday afternoon in the summer of 2016 I would witness the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the synagogue and mikvah, the probable site of which I had been fortunate to discover during periodic researches from 2011 to 2013.

The unveiling took place at “Muttongate”, a residential development of flats constructed by the Cambridge Housing Society and dating from 1998. The smallish block’s foundation stone had been laid by former Prime Minister and Huntingdon MP John Major. The yellow-brick building (to which the plaque is affixed) stands just off St Clements Passage, a pedestrian pathway running parallel to the grounds of St Mary’s Church, just a stone’s throw from the quieter end of the town’s High Street and a short walk from the River Great Ouse and castle hill. A large number of people attended this historic occasion, mostly locals including clergymen and members of the Huntingdon & Godmanchester Civic Society, the plaque organisers, led by their Richard Meredith (the “Borough Historian”). But several attendees came from Cambridge, including Rabbi Reuven and Rochel Leigh and their children, Barry and Ros Landy and my family.

The large, round and green-coloured plaque was unveiled jointly by Jonathan Djanogly, MP for Huntingdon (and fellow member of the Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation), and the town’s Mayor, Cllr Daryl Brown.

Headed by a Magen David, the roundel’s inscribed words state that, “On or near this site stood Huntingdon Synagogue and Ritual Bath (Mikvah) in the 12th and 13th centuries.” Rabbi Leigh, Director of Cambridge Chabad and Founder-Director of the Cambridge Lehrhaus: Centre for Jewish Thought, spoke about medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides’ standpoint that, “by using a mikvah, one immerses in the pure waters of knowledge”.

Image to the right: Mark Harris holding the “Muttongate” plaque

At the short ceremony’s close, the Mayor invited all present to join him for a reception in Huntingdon’s 18th century Town Hall. In the course of his speech, in the grand Assembly Room, Jonathan Djanogly said that the plaque was “also a memorial to the need for toleration, and for strong cultural links between the different peoples of our country”. My own talk first echoed the thought that the plaque “is not only a symbol of remembrance, but also one of reconciliation, cooperation and friendship”.

Manifestly, my address could not cover the mass of detail contained in the 2013 report of my Quest’s research findings, comparative studies and conclusions. This had formed the basis for a plaque

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application by the MP (and the subsequent, lengthy process of Council decision-making, obtaining planning permission and then the building owner’s consent).

It was amazing for me to recall that, five years earlier, I had interviewed Jonathan Djanogly (for an article in a Jewish newspaper) at the town’s riverside Bridge Hotel. During our conversation, he had mentioned the recorded existence of a synagogue in medieval Huntingdon; and which had been destroyed by a mob in the late 1280s (not long prior to the expulsion of Jews from England by Edward I in 1290). I accepted his passing reference as an implicit challenge. The rest is now, and almost literally, history!

So it was not I who had discovered the former presence of the medieval synagogue. Others more knowledgeable of the town’s history had known of it. And archaeologists had found artefacts underground in what I had alluded to (in the 2013 report) as my “target area”. My contribution was largely interpretative, by seeking to detect the meaning or relevance of such unidentified finds. This would have applied, for example, to the subterranean wooden tub that all the evidence indicated to me was a mikvah; and which likely had been associated physically with the synagogue. That circumstantial evidence was deployed principally in an official 1999 report on an archaeological excavation, adjoining St Clements Passage, ahead of the “Muttongate” development.

Image to left: Johnathan Djanogly, MP for Huntington, and the town’s Mayor Cllr Daryl Brown after the “Muttongate” plaque unveiling

In local and other archives, libraries and museums, I had perused many transcribed medieval documents of various provenances and classifications. But I noted especially the unfortunate lack of contemporaneous maps of medieval Huntingdon. The Historical Environment Team (of archaeologists), based at Cambridge’s Shire Hall, provided for my examination (at their offices) numerous artefacts and associated discoveries from different digs in the town. From within my fairly compact “target area” there was a considerable amount of medieval pottery fragments for me to inspect. As well as a single, hefty stone brick from (it had been deduced) a nearby wall which, I believe, could have been of the synagogue. And perhaps the only one missed, and not transported for valuable use elsewhere, after the house of worship was gutted. Also there was an unusually complete medieval pitcher that I consider could have been utilised for ritual bathing purposes. Particularly significant was the substantial quantity of sheep, compared to pig, bones uncovered in the vicinity and dating from the material period.

My discourse ended with a special expression of gratitude to Dr Sharman Kadish. She is the FounderDirector of Jewish Heritage UK, based in Manchester and the only organisation in this country with the specific task of safeguarding the built heritage of British Jewry. Having kindly read my proposed report back in 2013, Dr Kadish (who has written scholarly works on the history of the Jews, and of the mikvah, in Britain) felt able to give some very positive feedback on my findings, interpretations and conclusions.

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During my Quest, I would stroll to and fro along St Clements Passage, formerly “Mutton Alley” (as confirmed in famed mapmaker Speed’s town chart of 1610). And, often, I would sense around me the spirit of medieval Huntingdon’s Jewish community. Most of the original families had likely settled in south east England from France after the Norman Conquest. And, intriguingly, I felt that I was getting to know quite well a few of the principal characters in the story, like the Hebrew and Bible scholar known as “Gregory of Huntingdon”. He was a learned monk, from the nearby Great Abbey of Ramsey, despatched by its Prior to purchase several Hebrew books (which, apparently were acquired “for a song”) at an auction held in the closed Huntingdon synagogue, and before its demolition. I have explored the site of the Abbey, and imagined myself sitting alongside Gregory as he studied these volumes in its renowned library.

Image to left: At the post unveiling reception in Huntington Town Hall (from right to left): Rabbi Reuven Leigh, Johnathan Djogly MP, Cllr Daryl Brown, Mark Harris and Richard Meredith And as I walked my “target area”, another contemporary personality became almost like a sort of amiable contact from across the gulf of the centuries. Josce, or rather Josceus, was a scion of a successful and prominent Jewish dynasty in medieval England. Josce had been a resident of Cambridge (actually, Chesterton village) until the expulsion of its Jewish community to Huntingdon by Queen Eleanor (mother of Edward I) in 1275; Cambridge was her dower town. Evidently, he was much respected by the combined communities; and,

seemingly, also by the ruling authorities. Indeed, he was allowed to return to Cambridge from time to time to maintain his properties in the city; and he was appointed one of the four (two Christian and two Jewish) chirographers, or keepers, of the then combined Huntingdon and Cambridge “Royal Archa”. In effect, this was a large chest or strongbox containing records of financial transactions by members of the Jewish communities, so that the Royal Exchequer in Westminster (and thus, the monarch) could be apprised of the deeds.

Serendipitously, I discovered that Josce’s family name was “Mutun” (frequently rendered as “Muton”).

After this, I became of the view that “Mutton Alley” (which had been generally suggested was a reference to medieval Huntingdon’s Jews being called “Mutton eaters”) was more likely to have been named for (my friend) Josce.

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The Oldest Mikvah in Europe

By Rosalind Landy

In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic looking for a new route to the East. This voyage was financed by the money confiscated from Jews expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella, who ruled not only over Spain but also controlled southern Italy and Sicily and Jews were driven out from there also.

In June 2016 we visited Ortigia, the old town on the site of Siracusa/Syracuse where we visited an old mikvah. The back story is published in the booklet by Amalia Daniele, the owner of the building above the mikvah.

Amalia fell in love with Ortigia, the old area of Syracuse in which was the Jewish quarter in the C15. The whole area which had housed Jews was run down, ruined and abandoned. Amalia bought a ruin and started repairs and renovation. During the restructuring and building works she was puzzled by a walled-in area which no-one could explain. Amalia called in an expert builder who made a hole in the wall. Inside there was a little room with a vaulted arch.

There was further excavation and some water started to flow out. They installed a pump and soon discovered a trefoil shape of pools with steps down into each of them. There are also two small lateral pools. An academic was called in at this stage to say what these pools might have been used for. It appears that this is a mikvah from the C6 which had last been in use in 1493, the time when the Jews had to leave. Before departure the Jews of the city had apparently walled in the mikvah so that it should not be used for impure purposes and the whole chamber remained hidden for five centuries.

Image above: Copy of the cover of the leaflet mentioned in text

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From street level we went down about fifty steps (20 metres) to the subterranean level of the vaults.

Each section of the trefoil-shaped mikvah has a staircase going down inside the pool. The water is fresh and flowing and our guide said they are still not sure where the water comes from.

The whole Jewish quarter is interesting. We found quite a few houses, now restored, with holes on the lintel, indicating where a Mezuzzah had once hung. The narrow streets are called Vicolo I Giudecca , Vicolo II Giudecca, Vicolo III Giudecca and Vicolo IV Giudecca and they all come off the main street, Via Giudecca. Totally fascinating.

There is a feeling of Jewish history here, a frisson, with a sense of the past sitting closely beside the present. The whole area is called La Giudecca, the Jewish quarter. There is, however, no discernible Jewish presence nowadays but some Anusim (people who had been forcibly Converted) are turning back to Judaism. There is a Rabbi in Palermo who is helping with this return.

We felt it a privilege to be a link in this historic chain, bringing a living presence to mingle with what must have been a colourful past.

There is an entrance fee you wish to visit this mikvah with tours on the hour every hour and also a very new booklet* giving the background of how it came to be discovered. This booklet came out in March 2016 and is in Italian. I have no doubt it will be translated into many languages.

It is a long way to go but if you are in this region I recommend that you do not pass up the chance of a visit to the oldest extant mikvah in Europe.

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Thoughts about the Righteous, the Wicked and Why “The Righteous Suffer While the Wicked Thrive”

By E Natan

Who is a righteous (Tzadik) person? One definition is that a righteous person is one whose deeds are all good (e.g., Book of Benonim). But it impossible to prospectively define a deed as a good deed as good can lead to bad and vice versa. A more accurate definition would be that a righteous person is a person that has no will to cause harm, and his or her actions, or at least his or her intentions, are what we identify as good. Being to be such a man or a woman is not something that can be achieved easily. This is opposite of most of us, who are at times act righteously, and at times wickedly (i.e., Benonim), which makes us partially righteous, or, as we would never admit, partially wicked.

A wicked person, for purposes this discussion, is a person who will not hesitate to cause agony and torment to another for his own benefit.

I would first argue that the righteous and the wicked are alike. They are both dedicated, thus captured, in absolute moral boundaries, and are fully devoted to their, somehow extreme, sphere. We all like to think that a true wicked person cannot retreat from his or her absolute evil ways, as he or she was never ‘trained,’ thus incapable of doing Good. But similarly, this applies to the righteous. Doing Good may be the righteous person’s only choice, and controversial as it may sound, challenge will rise only in doing Evil. The reason is that patterns, habits, and the way we think are almost impossible to change.

For millennia, holy scripts have portrayed the seeming injustice in the suffering of the righteous and the success of the wicked, perhaps the most famous example being the Book of Job. Psalm 73 also struggles with this problem. The dilemma, that good or bad deeds are not rewarded correspondingly by God, has been dealt with by Rabbis and religious thinkers until today. Several approaches have been proposed to resolve the dilemma. One is that suffering is the righteous person’s test. Another approach is that the next world, which is supposedly everyone’s final destination, is where true justice prevails. It is fair to say that these answers, and the question itself, arise from the simplicity, or naivety, of human thought, implying a simple relationship between man and God (a relationship that is often conceived of as a parent-child relationship). I do not think a simple answer exists, as good deeds do not guarantee painfree life. Human intelligence, which is higher than any other creature’s on Earth, does not have sufficient resolution to grasp God’s ‘plan’ or pattern (or maybe His plan is not made of patterns).

Nevertheless, it is hard to reconcile a God who is good and great with the fact that good deeds do not guarantee a pain-free life.

I would like to add a new angle to the debate, to give a new interpretation to the famous phrase of our sages: “the righteous suffer and the wicked thrive.” (Talmud, tractate Brachot 7a).

Human beings are social organisms who can feel empathy (excluding psychotics and sociopaths). When we see another human being in misery, it is natural to feel distress, follow by sadness and oftentimes, the urge to help. The most basic seeing would be for example helping an individual who falls, or answer a beggar who asks for food. Interestingly, the word compassion comes from the two words in Latin ‘suffer with.’ The more one sees the more righteous he or she becomes, up to the point where every action taken would include the possible consequence of adding Good and avoiding Bad. Thus, the capacity to see, perceive, and feel one’s surroundings is what defines the righteous person.

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To always see the other is a great burden. When we see the world with the eyes of the righteous we suffer. It is when we ignore our surroundings that we can enjoy ourselves without guilt or a bad conscience. But this the righteous person by definition cannot do.

Even the most evil among us, do not define themselves as wicked. If they would, they would seek to change. Rather, the justifications of the wicked for their acts are many, “It is for a greater good,” or “I am following orders of a higher power (King or God),” or “This is the norm in society,” or “If not me, someone else will take the opportunity,” etc. He or she focuses on feeling somehow comfortable, even respectable, with the harmful action. And if needed, as sometime is the case, reality would be distorted for the wicked’s comfort. The more distant we are from the subject we hurt, the less guilty we feel.

Thus, one can conclude that when acting, the wicked see less of life. To see less, means not recognizing the suffering we cause, nor recognizing the price the other pays for our actions. Not seeing eases the conscience, and thus prevents the wicked from being shaken by his evil actions, and allows the fake, illusive, moral sphere he or she comfortably lives in.

As the reader must have understood by now, seeing is the righteous person’s inherent affliction, and not seeing is the wicked person’s advantage. Therefore, the ancient observation of “The righteous suffer and the wicked thrive” is not about a payoff in either this life or the next life, but in the true meaning of one’s existence.

(This article is dedicated to my daughter, who has all the unfortunate symptoms of seeing her surroundings sensitively. With its benefits, this will carry much burden.)

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Bulgar Stuffed Courgettes with Pine Nuts

By Helen Goldrein

Stuffed foods are traditionally eaten on Succot, as they represent fullness and plenty, appropriate for a harvest festival. While holishkes (stuffed cabbage rolls) are probably the most well known (Ashkenazi) Succot food, these stuffed courgettes make a delicious vegetarian (vegan!) alternative, or can also be served as a side dish.

Ingredients 100g bulgar wheat 3 medium-large courgettes 1 leek 2 cloves garlic 2-3 tbsp olive oil 1 red pepper 250ml vegetable stock 2 tbsp chopped parsley Salt and pepper to taste 30g pine nuts 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions Cover the bulgar wheat with plenty of boiling water and leave to soak. Preheat the oven to 180C. Cut the courgettes in half lengthways, and scoop out the centres to form a 'boat'. (I find the easiest way to do this is with a melon baller.) Put the hollowed out courgettes into a baking dish and set aside.

Finely chop the scooped out courgette flesh.

Trim the leek and slice finely. Peel the garlic cloves and crush them. Remove the seeds and cut the pepper into small dice.

Heat the olive oil over a low-medium heat and cook the courgette, leek, garlic and pepper for around 10 minutes, until soft.

Meanwhile, drain the bulgar wheat and press out any excess water. Add to the vegetables with the stock, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the bulgar mixture into the hollowed out courgettes - press it in well and pile it up on top.

Sprinkle over the pine nuts and drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Cover the baking dish with foil, and bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes until the pine nuts are crisp. Serve!

More recipe ideas for Rosh Hashanah, Succot, and all year round can be found at family-friendsfood.com

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A Sparkling Piano Recital

By Rosalind Landy

On Sunday 28 August the CTJC were treated to a sparkling piano recital by two Bulgarian pianists, Kristina Sandulova and Maria Kiosseva. The programme contained works by Chopin, Bach, Rachmaninov and Brahms. Having Fitzwilliam College as the venue was an inspired move, as the Bechstein has a lovely tone and the acoustic is good. Despite the date being in the holiday season, there was a good number of people in the audience, who showed their appreciation with prolonged applause.

Both Maria and Kristina were very pleased to be in Cambridge and enjoyed the warm reception they received. The evening was further enhanced by the provision of drinks organised by Lauren and Jonathan Allin.

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Cambridge Limmud 2016

By Julian Landy

The fifth Cambridge Limmud last June was a huge success and a triumph of smooth organisation. The great benefit of experience showed in every aspect of the day. For me it was a wonderful almost trouble-free day. Jo was very involved with the Young Limmud programme and worked very hard all day.

The most important aspect of any Limmud event is the food, not the presenters. If you get anything wrong with the food you hear about it quickly and repeatedly. This time we had just one, unfounded, complaint. A record. Thank you Jonathan Harris and Daniels Bagel Bakery. Other members of CTJC ago gave many hours for the event were Helen and Tim Goldrein, Sarah Schechter, Robert Marks, Brendel Lang, Jonathan Allin, Simon Goldhill (and Neta Amior for Young Limmud).

Thanks to the huge generosity of Ann and Yoav Git the fifth Cambridge Limmud was so amazingly well funded that we managed to both reduce our prices and increase the number of overseas presenters. A wonderful double boost.

The odd thing is that our event is more popular with Londoners than with local residents. Nearly seventy per cent of attendees thought it worth schlepping up the M11 or A1, but only a hundred locals bothered to come. Their loss but such a shame. This was, as usual, the biggest Jewish event of the year in Cambridge, by a huge distance. Nothing compares in either quality of presenters or quantity of presenters and participants. Yet some people remain reluctant to come. I suppose Limmud is very unCambridge, too egalitarian and non-elitist to appeal to everybody. Yet these qualities are the real strength of what is now a successful worldwide organisation. To help the doubters Limmud is considering for the annual Conference, in December, introducing presentations in both Hebrew and French. This could only happen at Conference, where there are over 2500 participants and over thirty simultaneous presentations.

For Cambridge and for all the Cambridge residents who worked for our Limmud or who volunteered on the day, 19 June 2016 was a wonderful event and a great advert for our community. I am looking forward to the next one already.

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Children’s Bulletin

Enjoy the children’s section in this bulletin, and please consider contributing a piece to the Chanuka bulletin – Please send anything you would like to have in the next Children’s Bulletin to netaamior@gmail.com

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Crossword Rosh Hashanah Kacholcholit

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Across We must NOT ... while the shofar is being blown Fruit is dipped in this sweet thing Hashem is the ... of the world The sacrifice of Yitzchak.

White coat worn by the Chazzan Rosh Hashanah is the first of ten days of ...

A shofar is made from the horn of a ...

Is the moon full or new at Rosh Hashanah?

Throwing bread into water Shofar sound not mentioned at all in the Torah Shofar sound directly mentioned in the Torah Happy New Year in Hebrew (Second word) The shofar is blown on most days in this Hebrew month

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Down What do we ask Hashem for on Rosh Hashanah?

Rosh Hashanah is the ... of the Year Which Hebrew month is Rosh Hashanah in?

The Payetan writes "On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed". But what is the name of the Piyyut?

(Second word) The Payetan writes "On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed". But what is the name of the Piyyut?

(First word) Shofar sound with a single note.

"Forgiveness", or "Sorry" in Hebrew Fruit, eaten on Rosh Hashanah Happy New Year in Hebrew (First word) Has a birthday on Rosh Hashanah

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How to Make an Autumn Hedgehog

Go on an autumn walk to collect some small sticks Take some clay and shape it for the hedgehog’s body Stick the sticks into it to form the hedgehog’s spikes Make holes or add extra small sticks for the eyes

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