27 July 2017 Jewish News
www.jewishnews.co.uk
13
Allergy protection / Special report
This kippah could save the lives of kids with allergies Gabe Friedman on how an inventive mother is protecting her son’s health
A
t just three-and-ahalf years old, Peretz Apfelbaum may not completely understand it yet, but some kitchens can put his life in danger. He is allergic to peanuts, cashews, pistachios, flax seeds, mustard seeds, coconut, peas, eggs and beef. Some of the foods give him hives, but the nuts can send Peretz into anaphylactic shock. The inherent risks make it impossible to test the severity of some of the allergies, meaning he could have other, unexpected reactions to some of those foods. Obviously it is an extremely distressing situation for his mum, Chanie. But the 36-year-old mother of five is doing something other than worrying. Chanie Apfelbaum came up with a simple, clever idea to notify others that her son has severe allergies: an “allergy alert” kippah. The skullcap, which Apfelbaum
helped design with the Brooklynbased company iKippah — an online retailer with bright designs like the one inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar – is navy blue with a red circle on the front that contains the words “Allergy Alert.” It also says “flip for info” – the underside has lines to write down the child’s allergies. “We loved Chanie’s idea immediately,” Sarale Seewald, who founded iKippah with her sister-in-law, Dina Seewald. “We see a great need for this kippah, and we truly believe this design will help save lives.” The company put the allergy alert skullcap on its website two weeks ago and, according to Seewald, has already sold a few hundred. Though the skullcaps are still unavailable in stores — iKippah has
about 180 retailers as customers, in addition to its direct-to-consumer website – the company plans to make them available for wholesale soon based on the unexpected demand. Apfelbaum – a popular kosher
Striving to achieve excellence for all
Headteacher
North West London Jewish Day School is a warm, happy, NW6Orthodox • Salary: negotiable based on experience high-achievingLondon Modern Zionist primary school, always aiming for Start date: April or September 2016 excellence whilst supporting everyone to reach their potential.
FromEVENING Good toFOR Outstanding OPEN ADMISSION For 70 years North has served our local Jewish communities TOover NURSERY & West RECEPTION 2018
by providing a vibrant, forward looking, Modern Orthodox education for is taking place on its children.
Wednesday 13 September 2017
This is an exciting opportunity for pm an energetic and determined person to 7.30 pm — 9.30 shape the development of the school and to achieve high levels of excellence To view the facilities at the School, for all its stakeholders.
a presentation and tour will be followed by refreshments. Our new headteacher will be:
• An inspirational with interpersonal skills, The School provides a wideleader secular andexcellent modernstrategic Orthodoxand Jewish ableon, to lead thea entire community to Outstanding educati within warmschool and caring environment. • Deeply within our Modern ethos and the We invite applicati ons forcommitted admission to working our Nursery & Recepti on forOrthodox September Jewish 2018, and look forward toCommunity welcoming prospective families to our Open Evening. This evening will allow the school to identi fy demand for spaces in 2018 and • also A creative and innovative thinker we therefore advise all interested parties to attend. • Experienced with an excellent understanding of Ofsted and the educational landscape.
Please let us know if you will be attending: Email: nlandy@nwljds.org.uk Closing date: October Please look16at our website: www.nwljds.org.uk Take us from good and make us outstanding.
Invitations sent to shortlisted candidates: 29th October Final panel: 10 & 11 November Please note that the closing date for all applications for entry into the Nursery in
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http://www.nwljds.org.uk/ Closing date for Reception 2018 is 15 January 2018. For more information visit www.tesprime.com. For further details or an North West London Jewish Day School informal conversation about the role, please contact Emma Formby or Headteacher: Miss Judith Caplan B.Ed Hons Michael Watson on 020 Lane, 3194London 3147.NW6 7PP 180 Willesden 020 8459 3378
food blogger under the moniker Busy in Brooklyn with more than 33,000 Instagram followers – said Peretz used to wear a bracelet noting his severe allergies, but she feared it wasn’t prominent enough for others to see. The kippah is an easy way to inform anyone serving food to an allergic child — at camp or restaurants or a parent hosting a play date — that they should be careful. Plus Peretz, who is a member of an Orthodox household, already wears a yarmulke every day. Apfelbaum, a member of the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement, was worried, too, about Peretz running around from house to house in her community’s summer bungalow community in upstate New York. She started a WhatsApp group to message other parents about her
concerns, and she helped make the colony nut free. But the worries never totally disappear for the parent of a child with severe allergies, especially when he or she is very young. “I always remind him, but I can’t trust a three-year-old to remember that he always has to ask before [he eats something] and say ‘I’m allergic,’” Apfelbaum said. “I wanted something on him so that when someone looks at him, they say, ‘I can’t just give him food from my kitchen,’” she said of her kippah’s design. “It just makes me a little more secure.” Still, it took Apfelbaum a little time to become accustomed to her son wearing the same kippah every day – she would help Peretz pick out one that coordinated with his clothes. “You get so used to [using] one that matches every outfit, and now he can only wear that,” Apfelbaum said with a laugh. “But it’s worth it.” [JTA]