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VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY 8 October 2020

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20 Tishrei 5781

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Issue No.1179

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020 8908 4151 jewishchoice.org

@JewishNewsUK

One giant leap for Jess!

Jewish astronaut on completing the first all-female spacewalk P26-27

For better or worse Taboo-busting liberal rabbis to give mixedfaith marriage blessings beneath the chuppah Mixed-faith couples can now be blessed by a rabbi on their wedding day beneath a traditional chuppah, writes Jack Mendel.

The Conference of Liberal Rabbis and Cantors made its decision last weekend, with the ruling coming into effect for this weekend’s Simchat Torah celebrations.

It marks the first time a Jewish movement in the UK has introduced the chuppah into a mixedfaith ceremony.

The change will be implemented “at the rabbi’s discretion and where the couple intend to maintain a Jewish home”, according to a statement by the conference of rabbis..

Rabbi Danny Rich, vice-president of Liberal Judaism, who wrote

the paper that led to the move, said it was “long overdue”.

In a piece for Jewish News this week, he added: “Among both our supporters and critics, many thought we already offered this within Liberal Judaism.”

Liberal Judaism’s chair, Ruth Seager, also welcomed the move, saying she and her husband, Andrew, will now renew their vows after marrying in May 1983, allowing them to be recognised “properly and unreservedly” by Mixed-faith couple Helen Goldhill, the faith. right, and Lucie Spicer plan to “Andrew has always been an marry under a chuppah next year active member of the community – schlepping tables and chairs, doing to be counted when it comes to the security and attending services,” Jewish world, so now I am pleased she said. “He has always stood up that the Jewish community is

giving Andrew the welcome that he deserved 38 years ago.”

Another couple embracing the move are Helen Goldhill, who is Jewish, and Lucie Spicer, who is non-religious. They plan to marry next July and say the chuppah will provide “a beautiful symbol of our life and home together”.

“Being Jewish is a big part of Helen’s identity,” Spicer said. “It would have been very sad if certain aspects of the Jewish marriage ceremony were not available to us.”

Liberal Judaism’s interim director, Rabbi Charley Baginsky, said the move was part of its “commitment to diversity and equality – so it was time to put our chuppah where our values are”.

Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, who chairs the rabbis’ conference, said it was both a “common sense and courageous decision”.

The Movement for Reform Judaism, which works closely with Liberal Judaism, said it “doesn’t hold a position on blessings under the chuppah”, adding: “That is for each community to decide.”

It continued: “Like Liberal Judaism, we offer a warm welcome for mixed-faith couples and will extend this to anyone who wants to be part of our communities.”

No Orthodox movement approached for a reaction was willing to comment.  Editorial comment, page 16

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

News / Westminster challenge / Welsh concerns / Online hate

I face Memorial a ‘terror target’ Jenrick: death threats Plans to build a Holocaust memorial next to parliament would create a “trophy site” for terrorists, a public inquiry heard this week, writes Tali Fraser.

The £100 milllion Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, a tribute to the six million Jews murdered and all other Nazi victims, is planned for Victoria Tower Gardens on Millbank.

In evidence to a monthlong inquiry that opened on Tuesday to discuss the project, Lord Carlile QC, the former independent reviewer of anti-terror laws, branded the location of the memorial as a “selfevident terrorism risk”.

The crossbench peer, whose Jewish parents were born in pre-war Poland, said that while he “totally” supported the creation of a Holocaust memorial in London, the plans “would be a threat to the public, and also a potential threat to Parliament”.

The proposed Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre

Risks of being located near Parliament and government offices, Lord Carlile said, would be compounded by confined space and the “total inadequacy” of proposed 20-second security checks.

However, a government foundation has said there is “no convincing evidence” that the location would add any security burden.

A spokesperson from the UK Holocaust Memo-

rial Foundation (UKHMF) said: “The proposed Memorial and Learning Centre will have a level of security appropriate to any structure close to Parliament and government buildings.

“Every day thousands of people visit Westminster.

They pass structures that have advance security vigilance. They do so because the British people will not allow criminals and terror-

ists to dictate where they walk on the streets of their capital.”

Holocaust Educational Trust chief executive Karen Pollock said: “Seventy-five years after the end of the Holocaust, survivors are dwindling and this dark episode is moving from living history to just history. This is why a national Memorial and Learning Centre, next to Parliament, the heart of

our democracy, is so central in ensuring our nation remembers.

“While terrorism is a threat both at home and abroad, I would have thought as with any significant site, robust measures will be put in place.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson told Jewish News it was “confident the proposed site will be secure”.

During Tuesday’s inquiry, Christopher Katkowski QC, representing the UKHMF, said the application was “overwhelmingly in the public interest” and that the main issue at stake was whether “harm to heritage and to other interests are outweighed by the public benefits”.

A group of 42 leading Holocaust academics said the plans would harm heritage, labelling the proposed location of the memorial as “deeply problematic”.

Online trolls have threatened to “burn down” the home of housing minister Robert Jenrick over his support for the proposed national Holocaust memorial, writes Tali Fraser.

Following a high court ruling on Monday that the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government acted appropriately in its handling of the planning application for the memorial, Jenrick (pictured) told The Telegraph he was living under police protection after threats to “burn his house down”.

In a high court challenge last month brought against the government over plans to locate the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre outside the Houses of Parliament, Jenrick was accused of having a “stark conflict of interest”.

In a statement on Twitter, Jenrick, who is married to the daughter of Holocaust survivors and whose children have been brought up Jewish, wrote: “The allegations made against MHCLG, myself and the project team by those who seek to stop the memorial were baseless and disgraceful.

“That I was subject to antisemitic smears for supporting it only confirms its paramount importance.”

CALLS TO EXPEL ACTIVIST The Board of Deputies and South Wales Jewish Representative Council have written to the chair of Plaid Cymru about the party’s resistance to expel activist Sahar Al-Faifi after she shared antisemitic material online.

The letter to Alun Ffred Jones expresses “deep concern at the decision by the Welsh

nationalist party to take no action to change the membership status of Al-Faifi.

It adds: “Regrettably, a message has been sent to Jews and antisemites that antisemitism is tolerated in Plaid Cymru.”

Dr Sheila Gewolb, senior vice-president of the Board of Deputies, and Laurence Kahn, chair of South Wales Jewish Representative Council,

claim that Al-Faifi is a “serial poster” of antisemitic material, after she propagated a conspiracy theory linking police violence in America with Israel.

Following the killing of George Floyd, Al-Faifi posted a now deleted tweet, saying: “If you wonder where did these American cops trained [sic], look no further than Israel.”

Online Harms Bill is ‘complicated’

15 countries call for EU to halt PA funds

Ministers must be “very aware” of the clamour to progress legislation tackling online hate, Baroness (Nicky )Morgan warned this week.

During an Antisemitism Policy Trust event at the Conservative Party conference, Morgan added that while she “would like to get on with it”, people would have to wait for the Online Harms Bill, owing to its “complicated” nature.

Jewish organisations have called for the bill to recognise the need for Facebook and Twitter to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

Home Office minister Victoria Atkins, who has responsibility for safeguarding, has made clear that the government is due to give a full response to the Online Harms white paper consultation this autumn. She told the Board of Deputies’ Conservative Party conference event that she would imagine “any independent regulator will look very carefully” at the definition, while Morgan said she would expect amendments to the legislation to include “senior management [of social media platforms] having personal liability”.

A cross-party group of more than 20 members of the European parliament, from 15 different countries, has urged the EU to hold back on funding to the Palestinian Authority until there is an end to antisemitic incitement in the PA’s school textbooks.

The move by MEPs, associated with the Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) interparliamentary group, comes after the publication of a report into Palestinian textbook content by Israeli education research body, IMPACT-se.

It found numerous examples of sustained antisemitism and incitement against Israel in its analysis of the latest editions of the Palestinian school books. But alarms rang for the MEPs after it became clear that the Georg Eckert Institute, the German-based body commissioned by first Britain, and then the EU, to examine the content of the textbooks, was in many cases looking at the wrong books.

Instead of looking at Palestinian schoolbooks, the Eckert researchers were reviewing Israeli Jerusalem municipality books.

8 October 2020 Jewish News

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Uyghur campaign / Combating hate / PM’s pledge / News

China: JN petition is slander EE

He’s a Shai flyer stood to be being The Chinese government ! held in camps in Xinhas reacted angrily to Jewish jiang, a region in the News’s petition opposing its country’s northwest, brutal treatment of Uyghur according to internaMuslims, writes Jack Mendel.

It has branded the peti- 150 MPs and peers sign our Uy tional human rights ghur petition tion, signed by more than activists.

Rights groups 150 parliamentarians and set to be delivered to have accused China of Downing Street next week, abuses including forced as “deplorable slander”. labour and sterilisation.

A spokesperson for Chinese authorities STARMER: ME MORIAL IS VIT AL the Chinese Embassy in deny mistreatment of the London responded to the Uyghur and other Muslim campaign launched by minority groups, saying LIFE TURNED UPSIDE DOW N this newspaper saying detention camps offer it “elaborated the facts” “vocational training”. about allegations of abuse.

When asked about allegations, China’s Embassy The spokesperson added: “The claim these that China is persecuting the Uyghur Mus- in London provided a 1,300-word lims in Xinjiang is a false proposition. This response, insisting that the claims were is a sensational headline concocted by some full of “rumours and slanders”, and anti-China forces, another farce designed to saying “we strongly deplore and oppose it”.

A spokesperson said the claim that smear and discredit China.”

Jewish News, together with Conserva- “nearly one million Uyghurs in Xinjiang tive MP Nusrat Ghani and the support of the are detained” is “a lie cooked up by an antiWorld Uyghur Congress and human rights China organisation”, which it names as Chicharity René Cassin, wrote to MPs and peers nese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), and last month urging them to push for sanctions “an anti-China individual”, named as Adrian Zenz, whom it labels “a far-right fundamenand an independent investigation.

Around one million Muslims are under- talist funded by the government” of the US. FR

VOICE O F THE C OMMUN ITY • 13 Tishrei 5781 • Issue No.1178 • @Jewis

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More than 150 parliam entarians have backed Jewish News’ call for ment to ratchet the governup the pressure on China over the plight porters in the of its Uyghur Lords Muslims writes Pickles and Barones include Lord Justin Cohen. s Deech.

Communal Together with backers include Conservative Jewish News MP Nusrat Ghani, editor and with the support Board of Deputies Richard Ferrer, of the World Uyghur Congres van der Zyl and president Marie s and human rights United Synagog charity René president Michael ue Cassin, this newspap Goldstein, Union er wrote to MPs of Jewish Students and peers last month presiden t James Harris, Jewish push for sanction urging them to Care chief executiv s and an indeofficer Daniel e pendent investiga Carmeltion.

B’rith UK presiden Brown, B’nai Around one million t Alan Miller Muslims are and Mitzvah Day understood to founder and chair be held in camps Laura Marks.

Xinjiang, a region in in the country Other supporte northwest, accordin ’s rs are Dr Edie g to human Friedman, executiv rights activists e director of the . Rights groups Jewish Council have accused China for Racial Equality of abuses includin and Marc Cave, , forced labour g chief executiv and sterilisa e the National tion.

Chinese authorit Holocaust Centre of ies deny any Nottingham. in mistreatment of the Uyghur and The letter petitions other Muslim minority MPs to push groups, saying for sanctions on the detentio A Muslim man “state and non-stat n camps off prays during perpetrators” er vocational training a demonstration and for the proscripe . against China’s tion of all compani Last month, inhumane treatme es and individu criticising another for the embassy told Jewish nt of its Uyghur “facilitating these als News. letter from faith population “The so-called atrocities.”

After more leaders, the Chigenocide and The letter — than 20 Jewish nese Embassy forced sterilisat which is backed leaders backed said its contents They include ion is nothing the Board of by our campaign, were lie,” the “sheer rumour but a senior Deputies as 152 and Damian Tories Tom Tugendhat leaders and smear. We spokesperson MPs and peers well as strongly added, alongGreen, Labour’s deplore and oppose of the United from across the political Chris and the Synagogue it”, a spokesperson side a lengthy rejection Bryant and spectrum added of claims names Reform, Liberal made about Xinjiang their Democra Margaret Hodge, Liberal and Masorti to the letter, movements — . t Layla Moran, says: “After the SNP presented to Number which will be minster ratifileader Ian Blackfor West- cation of the Genocid 10 next week. e Convention d and back Caroline Lucas in 1948, the words of the Greens. ‘never again’ SupSir Keir Starmer Continued on has given his “wholeh page 2 support” to earted the proposed Starmer said: Holocaust memorial next “It is vital to Parliament, for our writes Jack nation that Mendel. The we commem Labour leader’s orate the six million backing comes ahead Jewish men, of an inquiry woman and children chaired by a planning murdered during inspector, amid Holocaust. It is a legal challenge by heritage the more importan t than ever that we educate proposed location. groups protesting its current and future erations of the On Wednesday horrors of genocide genStarmer met with .”

He added: “The Eric Pickles and fight against intoleran Ed Balls, co-chairs Lord Keir Starmer and prejudice in our UK Holocaust ce Memorial Foundat of the society, and the antisemitism, stain of significance of ion, to stress the goes on. So I off the memorial, hearted support er my wholeand push for approval. This to the Holocau comes its Learning st Memorial and Centre and its against the governmamid a legal challenge brought placement next of our democra to the heart Parks and Gardens ent by the London Historic cy. It is disappoi Trust, protestin nting that, despite almost two years the proposed passing since the memorial in Victoria g the location of tion was planning applicasubmitted, permissi The iconic statue – a Grade II-listed Tower on for the project park next to Westmin Gardens still not been of and the Houses granted. I urge has ster Abbey a lonely figure this David Ben-Gurion standing on of Parliament. the planning inspecto to recognise his the national r significance of a second week of week on Tel Aviv beach as Israelis head cut project.” this lockdo endure

highest daily Covid-

wn. The countr d 19 case numbers. y recently recorded its Full story on page 14

A father and son at an anti-China protest. Inset: Last week’s Jewish News front page

“There are many rumours and lies about the vocational education and training centres in Xinjiang, calling them ‘concentration camps’ or ‘re-education camps’.

“The truth is they are none of these,” the spokesperson claimed. “They are useful and

positive explorations of preventative and deradicalisation measures.”

The embassy said the centres addressed “the root causes for extremism” and were “no different from the Desistance and Disengagement Programme (DDP) of the UK”.

...AS PARLIAMENT SETS DATE TO DEBATE POSSIBLE SANCTIONS Parliament will next week debate imposing sanctions on China over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

More than 145,000 have signed a petition calling on the UK government to act, after reports that more than one million Muslims are detained in camps in Xinjiang, northwest China. A Jewish News petition to the government, signed by more than 150 parliamentarians, is to be delivered to No 10 next week.

The petition that led to the debate, accuses China of “cultural genocide” against the

minority Turkic ethnic group. It says “they are subject to mass detention, mass surveillance, restriction of religious and cultural identities, as well as other gross human rights abuses”, but that “nothing substantial or concrete has been done to resolve the crisis”.

The government responded to the petition in July when it passed 100,000 signatures, saying it had “grave concerns about the gross human rights abuses being perpetrated in China”. The debate is due to take place on Monday.

A legacy gift will change the lives of young people in Israel

..

Group to tackle online antisemitism Lawmakers from five countries have joined forces to launch an inter-parliamentary task force to combat online antisemitism.

The group includes legislators from the UK, United States, Israel, Australia and Canada, following the work of campaigns such as the #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate boycott in exposing online antisemitism.

Conservative MP Andrew Percy and Labour MP Alex Sobel, who are both Jewish, have joined the task force, which aims to hold social

media platforms to account through non-partisan policies protecting against hate speech.

The task force highlighted the need for Twitter, TikTok, Facebook and Google to acknowledge their responsibility to root out antisemitism.

Sobel said: “The antisemitic hate I have received has been wide and varied in nature.

“Antisemitic conspiracy theories are rife on social media, with many subscribers not realising the antisemitic roots and implications of QAnon and other right-wing conspiracy theories.”

Johnson ‘unshakeable’ on Israel Boris Johnson has restated that his government’s “commitment to Israel’s security” will be “unshakeable”, in a message to the Conservative Friends of Israel’s Informed Magazine.

In his letter to CFI supporters, Johnson says: “I have always been proud to be considered a friend of Israel.”

He adds: “From my first expeditions to Israel as a young man to my recent visits as mayor

[of London] and foreign secretary, I have always been struck by the ingenuity and fortitude of the Israeli people — and by the great achievements of the state of Israel in the face of ever-present threats and intimidations.”

The connection continues with a UJIA legacy gift

..

and inspire the next generation here in the UK too.

Supporting Israel has been part of Martin & Sheryl Harris’ life for as long as they can remember. Martin’s late father, Louis, left a legacy gift to the UJIA Community Centre in Kiryat Bialik and this inspired his son to do the same.

For Martin, remembering UJIA in his will is just the beginning. It is no less important that his daughters, Rachel and Lynsey, continue the work that his family has supported for generations. Martin’s legacy gift will not only have an impact on the lives of young people in Israel, but also on his own children too.

To find out more about the difference a legacy gift to UJIA can make, call Harvey Bratt on 020 7424 6431 or email harvey.bratt@ujia.org United Jewish Israel Appeal is a registered charity No. 1060078 (England & Wales) and Sc 039181 (Scotland).

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

News / Mixed-faith weddings

‘This is what inclusivity looks like’

Jews in mixed-faith couples are planning to marry under the chuppah

Andrew and Ruth on their wedding day

Liberal Judaism chair Ruth Seager and husband Andrew married in May 1983 at Crawley Registry Office, when they were both aged 23.

Ruth is a lifelong Liberal Jew; Andrew has no religion but sees himself as a non-Jewish member of a Jewish family. They have three children – Joshua, Rebecca and Reuben – whom they have raised to be informed and

committed Jews.

Ruth and Andrew now intend to renew their vows under the chuppah.

Andrew said: “Ruth and I met at university.

After a couple of years of joining in festivals, attending services and fasting, Ruth’s father gave me a tallit.

“I am not a religious person, but I have developed a high regard for Jewish life and found myself comfortable with the teachings of Liberal Judaism, so I was very happy for our future family to be Jewish.”

Ruth added: “After we were married, we joined Crawley Jewish community, then we moved to London and became members of what is now East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue.

“Andrew has always been an active member of the community – schlepping tables and chairs, doing security and attending services.

He has always stood up to be counted when it comes to the Jewish world, so now I am pleased the Jewish community is giving Andrew the welcome that he deserved 38 years ago.

“It is wonderful couples like Andrew and I, especially those starting a Jewish life together, can now be welcomed properly and unreservedly through the chuppah and into the tent.

“Liberal Judaism is a home for everyone’s Jewish story. This is what an inclusive movement looks like.”

FROM

INEQUALITY

UJIA is committed to improving the lives of children and young adults in Israel.

TO

O P P O RT U N I T Y

This Kol Nidre help us close the gaps in Israeli society and ensure that future generations of British Jews retain that unbreakable lifelong connection.

To support the work of UJIA today, you can donate online at ujia.org/kn20 or contact Jonathan on 020 7424 6447 or email info@ujia.org

ujia.org United Jewish Israel Appeal is a registered charity No. 1060078 (England & Wales) and Sc 039181 (Scotland).

Helen Goldhill, who is Jewish, and Lucie Spicer, who is non-religious, plan to marry next July. They say the chuppah will provide “a beautiful symbol of our life and home together”.

Lucie said: “Being Jewish is a big part of Helen’s identity and we are joining our lives together. It would have been very sad if certain aspects of the Jewish marriage ceremony were not available to us.

“With such uncertainty around weddings, and disappointment for many at having to postpone, this has really brought joy to many couples like us. After all, everyone loves a wedding!”

Helen added: “We plan to build a Jewish home and having these traditions on our wedding day will only embed Judaism in our future even further.

“I was extremely touched when I heard the news – knowing that we weren’t going to have to com- Lucie Spicer and Helen Goldhill plan for a Jewish home promise on what we wanted for our wedding. thing they wished they had. I also have friends “I know for friends and their parents in the who are currently engaged who will benefit past this wasn’t an option and has been some- from this so I am excited for them too.”

CHANGE TO MIXED FAITH WEDDINGS IS THE RIGHT THING – AND OVERDUE

BY RABBI DANNY RICH VICE PRESIDENT, LIBERAL JUDAISM

The change made by Liberal Judaism in regards to mixed faith weddings this week is not only right it is, in my view, long overdue. Indeed, among both supporters and critics, many thought this was already the case.

I was delighted to propose the successful resolution, passed by the Liberal Conference of Rabbis and Cantors (CoLRaC), that marriage blessings where a Jew is partnered with a person who does not identify as Jewish can now take place under a chuppah.

This new practise – which will take place at the rabbi’s discretion and where the couple intend to maintain a Jewish home – reflects the reality that the institution of marriage and the symbol of the chuppah itself has changed over time.

The original meaning of the word and purpose of chuppah are unclear but, before it came to refer to a wedding ceremony in general, it meant a canopy – either under which a bride was escorted to her marital home or under which a groom received the bride into their new home.

A modern chuppah is today usually made of beautiful fabric and supported by four firm poles and it is under its confines that the marriage ceremony takes place.

As one of a number of beautifying symbols of a Jewish marriage, the chuppah is frequently understood as representing the Jewish home the couple concerned are responsible for cre-

ating. Jewish homes are those places where Jewish values are lived out, where the Jewish way of life is manifested, where Jewish ceremonies and rituals take place and where Jewish families are moulded.

It is the experience of Liberal rabbis that all of this may happen in the homes where a Jew is partnered with a person who does not identify as Jewish, and, where the couple indicates it will, it would be illogical and possibly counterproductive to deny the request for a chuppah.

Liberal Judaism has always sought to increase Jewish commitment, belief and practice. It has sought to do so by offering Jews –and others – a genuine welcome into Liberal Jewish communities, synagogues, schools and youth movements.

Liberal Judaism affirms the Talmudic principle: the law of the land is the law. The current marriage law of England and Wales only permits rabbis and synagogue marriage secretaries to ‘officiate’ where both bride and groom ‘profess’ the Jewish faith.

All other couples, including a Jew partnered with a person who does not identify as Jewish must undergo a civil ceremony in order to be legally married. The wedding blessing under the chuppah would follow that.

This decision on chuppah is yet another example of Liberal Judaism’s continuing purpose: to strengthen Jewish life by bringing new meaning to ancient traditions.

Judaism comes in many shapes and sizes but the destiny of Judaism was never to be merely a tribal faith; it raison d’etre was to bring the message of ‘one humanity under one God’ to the peoples of the world.

8 October 2020 Jewish News

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Pandemic report / News

‘Two thirds of Jews suffering mentally’

by Jenni Frazer @JenniFrazer

A study published this week by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) shows that Jews in their late teens and early 20s are much more likely than older members of the community to be showing clear signs of mental distress as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But data obtained during the July 2020 survey shows that overall, “since the pandemic took hold in March, almost two-out-of-three Jews reported a deterioration in their mental wellbeing”.

was followed by boredom (28 percent) and general irritability (28 percent).

Respondents were asked The report, Hidden effects: tors of mental wellbeing. Six whether they felt the mental health of the UK’s indicators were worded nega- differently in July Jewish population during the tively: “felt nervous, anxious from how they COVID-19 pandemic, inves- or on edge”; “felt frustrated”; reacted in Febtigates the extent to which “felt down, depressed or hope- ruary, before the the coronavirus outbreak has less”; “felt lonely or isolated”; pandemic took affected peoples’ mental health. ‘became easily annoyed or irri- hold in Britain.

The answers, Students are reminded to keep their distance to avoid the virus It is the second in a series of table” and “felt bored” and two studies carried out by JPR, were worded positively: “felt say the JPR, show which will assist in planning for calm and relaxed” and “felt “a notable decline says, some people did show the younger people were, the content”. Each indicator was in mental wellbeing. The the community’s needs. markedly less stress. “For more likely they were to report The study shows levels of measured using a five-point greatest changes were in feelexample, stress levels might mental distress in the two anxiety rose across the Jewish scale: Frequently, Often, Occa- ings of frustration and feeling have declined among individ- weeks prior to the survey. nervous, anxious or on edge, JPR executive director and population in the UK in the sionally, Rarely, Never. uals who no longer had to comThe figures show that frus- with almost half of respondents context of the pandemic. The mute to work, rush to meetings report co-author Dr Jonathan nearly 7,000 respondents tration was most likely to be saying they felt more frustrated or feel they were missing out Boyd, said: “The effects of the were asked to assess how they felt frequently or often and was and anxious now than before on social events, or who simply pandemic on the mental health had felt over the previous two experienced at this level by 31 the pandemic”. had more time to appreciate of young people are particuNevertheless, the report larly troubling... Mental health weeks, based on eight indica- percent of respondents. This the natural environment”.

The study finds that “Jewish professionals and community women are more likely than leaders should take heed.”

Jewish men to say their mental • There has been the biggest state overall has taken a turn spike in coronavirus-related Golders Green ward had the highest for the week ending 26 September. for the worse since the out- deaths in the community since Covid-19 infection rate in Barnet, Golders Green has recorded the highest early June, with seven funerals break began”. according to latest statistics from the number of confirmed cases in Barnet But it is the finding about taking place last week. The figwith 899. In the 2011 Census, Golders council. young people that is most ures, as of the week ending 2 At 71.74 cases per 100,000 people, Green had the largest Jewish population striking. The survey has found October, released by the Board Golders Green ward’s case rate was two- of any ward in the country, but there is that “for every mental well- of Deputies brings the total of and-a-half times higher than the bor- nothing to link the high number of cases being indicator examined, deaths to 520. ough average of 28.6 cases per 100,000, to the Jewish community specifically.

Golders tops infection table

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

News / Eisenberg mourned / Teen convicted / Wiley mocked

Fitness millionaire dies Millionaire businessman Zef Eisenberg has died while attempting a British land speed record, writes Jack Mendel.

Eisenberg, 47, who was Jewish, founded the fitness firm Maximuscle, was involved in a crash at Elvington, near York, at about 4.30pm last Thursday and died at the scene.

North Yorkshire Police said: “Officers attended with the ambulance service and an investigation is ongoing.”

A Motorsport UK spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with the driver’s family, who have been informed, the organisers of the event, and other members of the motorsport community present.”

Eisenberg was involved in a “near-death” 230mph crash at the same airfield in 2016. He was air-

lifted to hospital after the incident while riding a gas turbine engine motorbike.

At the same airfield in September 2019, he broke the world’s fastest time for an unfaired, or ‘naked’, electric motorbike and dedicated the achievement to a teammate who died at the Isle of Man TT races.

He celebrated after breaking the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme record for a flying kilometre on the bike his friend and colleague Daley Mathison was due to ride in the Isle of Man TT Zero race earlier that year.

Eisenberg, who held more than 50 world records on bikes and in cars. told PA news agency at the

Zef Eisenberg died after attempting a land speed record

time that he carried a photo of his friend in his leathers and wore Mathison’s knee slides.

Eisenberg reportedly leaves behind his partner, Mirella D’Antonio, and two children.

BGT comedian’s Wiley gag helps him into final

Comic Nabil Abdulrashid

A comedian who made jokes about racism – including a dig at disgraced grime artist Wiley – has won a place in the final of Britain’s Got Talent.

Judges praised Nabil Abdulrashid for his routine, in which he took jabs at “angry, far-right guys” and made fun

of his “white, liberal, left-wing friend” who says he “doesn’t see colour”.

He said that in lockdown: “One of my friends proved to be the worst type of racist, these guys are so empowered by the internet, the internet is the only place you can say whatever you like

and not suffer any consequences – unless your name is Wiley. He should have known better. Wiley, man, I’m so disappointed.”

Wiley was removed from social media platforms after launching a series of anti-Jewish tirades.

NEO-NAZI, 17, CONVICTED

A 17-year-old has been found guilty of preparing for acts of neo-Nazi terrorism after researching how to convert a blank-firing gun into a live weapon.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, told police he was “a nine to 10” on a scale with “full-on Nazi Hitler” as a 10.

Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court deliberated for 15 hours over four days before unanimously convicting the boy last Friday of preparing for terrorist acts between April and September last year. The youth, from Rugby, Warwickshire, told the court he had not intended any act of terrorism.

Jurors heard that he was admitted to a neoNazi group after completing a “test” survey in which he expressed a hatred for Jews.

More than 27,000 join in prayer online More than 27,000 people took part in a Yizkor memorial service and Kol Nidre service thanks to a collaboration between the Office of the Chief Rabbi, Pinner United Synagogue and the United Synagogue.

The services were broadcast on social media and the US TV, the United Synagogue’s new ondemand video platform, and on social media.

There will be another Yizkor service this Friday afternoon ahead of Yom Tov for those people who will be unable to make it to shul on Shmini Atzeret. Yizkor will be broadcast live at 5pm on TheUS.tv

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We are seeking an ambitious and energetic professional with experience of leading teams, monitoring teaching and learning, and with experience of successfully leading improvement and raising standards. Our community is highly valued by our families and staff and as a school we expect everyone to actively contribute to and promote our strong, positive ethos.

If you are a dynamic and inspirational leader with the capacity to grow and develop in the role, if you have initiative, constructive enthusiasm, a thorough knowledge of all key stages and the ambition to play a major role in the leadership and management of our school then we would love to hear from you.

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• knowledgeable about practicing Judaism • experienced in Leading teams Further details and an application form please contact the Headteacher’s PA hbrotherton@sinai.brent.sch.uk Deadline Friday 16th October Interviews week of 19th October Sinai School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all who work here to share this commitment. The successful applicant will be subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure and other relevant checks.

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8 October 2020 Jewish News

Labour whistleblowers / IHRA debate / News

McCluskey: Anger over compensation Unite boss Len McCluskey said members were “angry” over payouts to Panorama whistleblowers, as his union cuts affiliation funding to Labour.

The general secretary of the union made his comments on Tuesday on BBC Newsnight after his executive decided to slash money it gives to the party, warning leader Sir Keir Starmer not to move it too far from the left.

This comes after Labour paid “substantial damages” and issued a public apology to ex-staffers who appeared in a Panorama expose into its handling of antisemitism in July.

He said: “They are angry because they thought it was an absolute mistake... to pay out huge sums of money to individuals who were suing the Labour

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Len McCluskey, leader of the Unite union on Newsnight

Party based on the programme, when Labour’s own legal people were saying they [the whistleblowers] would lose that case if it went to court.”

Unite is understood to be reducing affiliation by about 10

percent after a vote of its executive on Tuesday.

McCluskey said: “Funding arrangements is undoubtedly an issue that may come up” when he meets the executive next week.

‘Too few unis adopting IHRA’ The uuniversities minister has urged higher education institutions to adopt the international definition of antisemitism, threatening action if they refuse.

Michelle Donelan told the Education Select Committee on Tuesday: “I urge all universities to adopt it [the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA, definition].

If not, then we will have to be forced into taking action to ensure that they do.”

This comes after a Union of Jewish Students (UJS) report showed only one fifth of higher education institutions had adopted the definition of antisemitism, with the vast majority “defying” calls to do so.

Taking questions from the committee’s chair Robert Halfon, who is Jewish, when asked what measures the university minister would be prepared to take, Donelan

Michelle Donelan

said it was too early to specify.

“We are not seeing enough of these universities adopting this definition, and it is simply not good enough,” she said.

“It has got to the point that I am now looking at other measures we can utilise to make it happen.”

UJS said: “We welcome this change of message from the Universities Minister. We have seen time after time universities are ignoring or refusing the requests

by Jewish students and staff and the government to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

“We call on the government and universities to take effective action to ensure Jewish students are being protected by their universities. The adoption of the IHRA definition is the first step to ensure this protection.”

FOUNDATION GIVES £2.5M Dame Vivien Duffield’s charitable foundation is donating more than £2.5 million to support learning and community initiatives across the UK, including more than £1.5m for some of London’s top cultural organisations during Covid-19.

The London recipients include the Tate, V&A, Natural History Museum, the National Archives, National Portrait Gallery, Roundhouse, Unicorn Theatre and Royal Academy of Arts.

The Clore Duffield Foundation, which is chaired by philanthropist Dame Vivien, who is the founder of JW3 and a director of the Southbank Centre, is donating £2,551,371 to 66 cultural organisations in the UK. The money will go towards institutions making their educational outreach and community learning work more accessible during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The Old Vic,

Dame Vivien Duffield

which is one of the grant’s recipients, have created an Education Hub for all schools to access, running digital workshops which have reached thousands of young people.

The Roundhouse, another recipient, built an online programme as a home for its creative and pastoral support for young people.

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

Special Report / Pandemic football / Inter Aliyah

The new football fever

Jack Mendel was one of around 62 people in a stadium built for 62,000, watching Tottenham trounce Haifa From the moment I stepped into Spurs’ shiny new stadium I felt the sensory overload of its vast 62,000 capacity – tempered by the fact that there were barely 62 people actually present to watch the home team play Maccabi Haifa. Extraordinary. But these are extraordinary times.

It’s a fixture that would ordinarily stir emotions. Spurs, a club with a rich history of Jewish support, against one of the top Israeli sides, battling it out for a place in the Europa League.

As I walked into the site, confronted by a masked steward who took my temperature, I looked into the huge, empty concrete concourse that sits underneath a stand.

Half an hour before kick-off, that concourse would usually be teeming with fans – drinking, chanting and geeing themselves up for a night of

one to preach to. And there were no ‘Yiddo’ yells.

Indeed, the only controversy surrounding the fixture was Haifa having to apologise to Spurs star Harry Kane over vulgar comments about his nether regions drama. But the bars were made by defender shut, and it was silent.

Mohammad Abu Ordinarily, outFani. side the ground There may have there might have been no fans inside, been BDS activbut it wasn’t silent. ists – from the Before the game, boycott, divestas players warmed ment and sanctions up, a cacophony of movement, protesting music blasted against an Israeli from speakers, side’s inclusion in A socially distanced Jack as blinding lights the competition.

And inside, there would inevi- skirted the roof of the ground and tably be chants of ‘Yiddos’, from adverts popped up in every blank the home side’s supporters, benevo- space. Flags were draped around lently reclaiming and disarming a the ground, as if supporters were poisonous racial slur on behalf of there, and enormous sheets with club slogans covered unused seats.

Jews everywhere.

Team sheets were read out over But in these Covid times, there were only journalists – many of the PA system and big screens whom were from Israel. There played videos showcasing Spurs’ were no demonstrators to walk history.

As both managers barked compast, for they would have had no

mands at their players, an Israeli reporter in front of me was trying to get the attention of his colleague pitch-side, yelling into his phone, competing with the speakers.

As the referee’s whistle blew at kick-off, the music stopped and there was a moment of silence, before Haifa players shouted: “Yalla, yalla, let’s go,” and surged forward.

From the word go, Israeli journalists were encouraging and criticising the players with every kick.

“We need to get f****** into them”, shouted S p u r s ’ former England goalkeeper Joe Hart, while team manager José Mourinho went ballistic on the

touchline at a player for losing the ball. You could hear everything.

During the pandemic, we have all become used to watching sport on TV with canned fan noise – and it rapidly became clear why: it performs a function.

With emotions high, there was no filter as players strained every sinew on the pitch, swearing, screaming and getting reprisals from their peers.

The Israeli reporter in front of me jumped out of his seat to celebrate both Haifa goals but left before the final whistle as Spurs won 7-2.

Supporters are an intrinsic part of the atmosphere for a top-level football match. Removing them, though necessary in these dark times, has stripped the game down to the bare bones.

Harry Kane, in white, on his way to cowing Maccabi Haifa with a hat-trick

TEAM OF OLIM PRAY FOR TOUCH OF SPURS MAGIC Two Brits who made aliyah are hoping that the new football season will bring promotion for their team of olim in Israel, writes Adam Decker.

Sam Sank, from Stanmore, and Matt Keston, from Edgware, are involved with Inter Aliyah, the first all-olim sports club, whose flagship team plays in the fifth tier and whose B team plays in the amateur league.

As the 2020/21 season began, Sank said there was reason to hope that this would be Inter Aliyah’s season, having finished sixth place in Liga Gimmel last year and now considered one of the favourites to top the league this time around.

A new head coach who previously coached Charlton Athletic and the

High hopes: Inter Aliyah’s multinational first team squad

Israeli national team has joined, and most of the squad have returned.

“Last year was our best ever finish in

what was our fourth year as a club,” said left-back Sank, who co-founded Inter Aliyah. “We feel this season

could be the one we’ve been waiting for and to finish as champions.”

Sank, 30, made aliyah in 2009 and served in the IDF as a combat soldier before studying politics at Herzliya.

He captains the professional team and Keston, 35, manages the B-team.

Whereas Sank’s dream is for the professional team to make it to the top division of Israeli football, Keston said he was hoping to get over the disappointment of the season just gone.

“Last year we missed out on promotion by a single place, so this season we want to go one better,” he said. “We have a wonderful group of guys who meet twice a week to play football and because Inter Aliyah is the go-to place for olim to play foot-

ball in Israel, I have at my disposal players from all over the world.” This season he is managing players from Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Angola, Germany, the Netherlands and the US. But there is a strong English contingent, with Sank’s friends Omri Elani and Martin Orson playing after serving in the IDF together.

Friends off the pitch, Sank and Keston say many of the British olim hail from London, and most support Tottenham Hotspur. “My home can feel like the headquarters of the Spurs Supporters Club of Tel Aviv.”

As they gather to watch Premier League matches, they will be hoping some of the Spurs magic rubs off on Inter Aliyah in 2020/21.

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Head Room Café, the much-loved social enterprise by Jami, is delighted to have finally reopened its doors following the forced closure due to the pandemic.

This has meant that Jami’s dedicated and highly skilled café staff have been able to return from furlough to jobs they enjoy, and no redundancies have had to be made.

More than just somewhere to get arguably the best coffee in NW11, the closure also meant that this vital community hub, where many go to access information, take part in groups and use as a safe space was inaccessible.

Homebound and isolated from daily routines and interactions many people in lockdown started to struggle with their mental health in ways they hadn’t before.

As a result, Jami saw an increase in demand for support and referrals went up by 110%. Adapting to the needs of the community, Jami moved groups that would normally be held at the café online and developed a comprehensive programme of

events. This has enabled more people to participate than ever before and has been hugely successful.

Much to the delight of its regular customers and community supporters, last week Head Room Café reopened with a new menu - available for both take away and delivery (via Deliveroo). It includes an exciting new selection of gourmet sandwiches which fit with the café’s ethos to serve healthy food that feeds both body and mind. Proving to be most popular is the Toasted Goats Cheese, fig and honey on Sourdough’.

Old favourites such as Shakshuka and Scrambled egg with tomatoes, olive and feta have thankfully remained on the menu.

Vicky Rachel, Commercial Enterprise Manager said “Safety of our customers and staff is paramount. To ensure we offer a safe and enjoyable customer experience we have implemented all the new safety measures such as

the installation of screens, hand sanitising stations and ensuring all staff members wear masks at all times. In addition, we have a new QR code available so that customers can view the menu on their phones. We are so grateful for the community’s support during this difficult period and we are very excited to welcome back our customers.”

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

News / Hendon project / Dubs concern

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A major plan to attract young people to Judaism has been launched by the Jewish Futures group, headed by its founder Rabbi Naftali Schiff, writes Jenni Frazer.

Our Story, as the project is known, may be realised in a new building in the centre of Hendon, in which a modern space will be created to offer learning and workshop areas for people from across denominational backgrounds.

It is understood the site is the former sorting office on Brent Street.

The campaign to pitch Our Story to the community opens on Friday, with planning applications and fundraising.

Rabbi Schiff described the proposed building as “a cutting-edge space that will enable young people to experience Jewish life, practices, culture and community in an

communities; Ta’am engaging young Jews through food and cooking; and JRoots running journeys to teach young people about the Holocaust.

Jewish Futures is currently based on Hendon Way but the new project envisages a building with interactive workshop and learning spaces and offices “including We Wo r k- st y l e facilities open to young businessThe proposed site of the new building is people”. the former sorting office on Brent Street Rabbi Daniel Rowe, executive immersive and relevant way”. experiential director of Aish He added: “Over the last 20 pathways for UK, said: “Our years the demand for immer- young people Story will be a sive Jewish experiences has to experience Rabbi Naftali Schiff hub for interacgrown exponentially. This has the joy of being tive learning, informed the work of all the Jewish.” These would include which goes beyond classes organisations in the Jewish volunteering opportunities and lectures, and allows young Futures family. through GIFT; Aish UK’s edu- people to gain a deeper under“Our team is passionate cation and social programmes; standing of Judaism as a way of about offering diverse and Chazak’s work with Sephardi life, not just a set of concepts”.

Road closures Immigration ‘threaten chaos’ bill is ‘shabby’ Jewish groups have described trial street closures in the London Borough of Hackney as “a recipe for chaos” and called for a public meeting with the mayor, Philip Glanville – likely to take place next week.

The road closures affect about 30 roads in Stamford Hill during school hours, and have caused uproar within the strictlyOrthodox community.

Last week, members of the Jewish Community Council, which says the policy is “bad for traffic and will increase pollution on side streets”, held a meeting with Hackney Council to complain that there had been no prior consultation about the closures.

The council says the nationwide policy has been funded through the Department for Transport and Transport for London, whose advice is that consultation must run concurrently with the scheme. It is a trial set of closures scheduled to run for 18 months, and the council will take feedback throughout the process.

It says the idea is to stop increased traffic at school drop-off and pick-up to minimise crowds during the pandemic.

An amendment tabled by Kindertransport refugee Lord Dubs has helped inflict a string of defeats on the government’s “shabby” immigration legislation, which will end EU freedom-of-movement rules in the UK, writes Jack Mendel.

On Monday, p e e r s demanded a series of changes to the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill, including to ensure continued help for unaccompanied child refugees.

Lord Dubs (pictured), 87, the Czech-born former Labour MP

and campaigner who fled the Nazis aged six, put forward an amendment to give EU children in care and care leavers automatic and indefinite leave to remain, which was supported by 323 votes to 227.

Later, another change proposed

by Dubs, to continue existing arrangements for unaccompanied child refugees to be reunited with close relatives in the UK went through by 317 votes to 223.

Dubs told Jewish News he was “delighted the amendment passed”, calling the legislation “pretty shabby stuff”.

PROBE INTO CYBER-ATTACK ON UJIA A cyber-attack that sabotaged a UJIA charity event with the Israeli president is being investigated by the Charity Commission, writes Jack Mendel.

Hundreds of participants were kicked off a video platform or prevented from joining owing to hackers.

A UJIA spokesperson said it reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Charity Commission and Community Security Trust (CST), and is conducting its own investigation.

UJIA said it was “incredibly disappointed” that it had been targeted.

After the event had already started, “some of the 1,000+ registered guests already logged in, people began to be logged off the platform and were unable to log back in due to their registrations becoming disabled”, the organisation said.

“Others who had yet to log in and whose registrations were also disabled were prevented from entering the platform altogether. Approximately 270

households were able to experience the event as planned.”

UJIA told those affected that “the only information that might have been accessible would have been email addresses of those who had registered”. And while the attack had impacted the event log-in process, “no data has been compromised”.

The event, which included a speech by President Rivlin and a performance from Israeli singer-songwriter Idan Raichel, is now available on YouTube.

8 October 2020 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

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Holocaust discovery / News

The suitcase and the shoe The Auschwitz Museum links a note found in a child’s shoe to his father’s case, writes Jenni Frazer After some extraordinary detective work by the Auschwitz Museum, a briefcase at the memorial has been linked to a child’s shoe that was identified in July as belonging to a little boy called Amos Steinberg. The briefcase, says the Museum, almost certainly belonged to the boy’s father – and he survived the Holocaust.

Amos Steinberg was born in Prague on 26 June 1938. On 10 August 1942, Amos, his father Ludvik (or Ludwig) and his mother Ida were first imprisoned in Theresienstadt, and then deported from Czechoslovakia to Auschwitz.

Documents show that mother and son arrived at the concentration camp on 4 October 1944 and were almost certainly murdered in a gas chamber on the same day.

Researchers believe that Ida put a note inside her six-yearold’s shoe to show to whom it belonged.

But the family was split up at Theresienstadt and Ludvik was apparently sent to Auschwitz on an earlier transport.

“We know that he was transferred from Auschwitz to Dachau on 10 October 1944,” says the museum. “He was liberated in the Kaufering subcamp”. So six days after his wife and son had been murdered, Ludvik was still being processed in the Nazi system.

This summer, members of the Steinberg family, who live in Israel, contacted the museum, and sent additional biographical information and

some family photographs.

Ludvik changed his name to Yehuda Shinan and emigrated to Israel in May 1949.

He became a teacher and principal of several schools in Israel. He was highly valued and liked by his pupils and the teachers who worked with him.

He retained his love of music and worked as a cantor in several synagogues and also conducted choirs. He died in 1985. His second wife, Chana, whom he had met before the war in Prague, died in 2014.

They had six grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

The link between Amos’ shoe and the battered case was not easy to find.

The case was already in the museum collection and documentation showed that at least two men named Ludwig or Ludvik Steinberg were at Auschwitz.

But barely seen on the case is the number “541”, almost invisible to the naked eye. After infrared technology showed the number, the researchers understood that this was the number under which Amos was registered on the transport list to the Theresienstadt Ghetto.

That clue, together with material in the case itself and the date on which the Steinberg family arrived in Auschwitz,

Ludvik Steinberg’s suitcase, above, and left with his wife Ida and their son Amos

h a s led the museum to believe that the case did belong to Amos’ father.

The director of the Auschwitz Museum, Dr Piotr Cywinski, said: “I am deeply grateful to the Steinberg family for the information they have given us and for supplementing our knowledge. With this gesture, Above and right: The note Ida wrote in her six-year-old son Amos’ shoe. They perished in Auschwitz objects inextricably linked to Auschwitz lose “As an object of great docu- serve at the Auschwitz-Birk- name on it to the main exhibithe anonymity weighing down mentary value, the shoe is proof enau Memorial, evidence of the tion – and the guides at Auson them – sometimes unbear- of the suffering of a particular genocide that took place here.” chwitz will be told about the able – and acquire a deeper, person, and along with thouThe plan now is to move the heartbreaking link between it individual significance. sands of other objects we pre- case with Ludwig Steinberg’s and a child’s shoe.

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

Special Report / Pandemic portraits

Faces from Israel’s frontline Photographer at Haifa hospital captures pandemic ‘angels’ All photos by Micha Brinkman

S

ometimes it takes an outsider to understand what it looks like from the inside. Photographer Micha Brinkman knew the only way to really see what hospital workers experienced during the coronavirus pandemic was to show it in images.

He spent several weeks at Haifa’s Bnai Zion Medical Center in the spring during the first lockdown, documenting less-seen staffers, including cafeteria workers, seamstresses endlessly sewing uniforms and medical clowns looking for laughs in the children’s ward.

“The ones who are less in focus, they’re the supporting angels,” said Brinkman, a documentary photographer by trade.

The first project drew so much attention that Brinkman returned to Bnai Zion for a second round – this time just outside the coronavirus ward.

He set up a portrait studio outside the sterile dressing room, photographing each medical staff member before they entered the ward for a shift, and hours later when they emerged, after taking off their protective layers and showering.

“It’s a metamorphosis series of the medical staff; it’s pretty crazy to see it,” said Brinkman.

Head nurse Aya Eshel said she raised her eyebrows when she heard about the project, worrying that it would disrupt the intensive work flow.

“I didn’t want to have to deal with something so parenthetical to what we’re doing,” said Eshel, who worked in the coronavirus ward when it first opened in mid-March until it closed in May, and again since its reopening in July with the virus resurgence.

She found, however, that Brinkman was easy to have around.

It took time to arrange the portraits, but they turned out to be a bonus for the staff who felt they were being seen, she said.

“He really captured the atmosphere of what it’s like; the pressure, the huge number of sick people.”

Now Brinkman is thinking about his next project, which he hopes will be inside the Covid-19 ward.

For now, he’s pleased his portraits will be exhibited in the annual Local Testimony photojournalist exhibition, creating a concrete reminder of what is taking place right now.

“This is the reality we’re going through,” said Brinkman. “It will be here to remind us in a few years’ time of what happened.”

Clockwise from very top: An exhausted staff member at Haifa’s Bnai Zion Medical Center; head nurse Aya Eshel before a shift, before entering the coronavirus ward and after a shift; and another staff member in similar poses. Left: A medical clown at the centre

8 October 2020 Jewish News

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Student injured / Mikveh dig / AR project / Paris attack / News NEWS IN BRIEF

US GROUPS CALL FOR TAMIMI EXTRADITION Eighteen prominent Jewish groups in the United States have publicly called on the Trump administration to pressure Jordan’s King Abdullah II to extradite Ahlam Tamimi, the terrorist behind Jerusalem’s 2001 Sbarro pizzeria bombing, in which 15 people, including two Americans, died.

The organisations – including the Jewish Federations of North America and Yeshiva University – expressed “outrage over Jordan’s refusal to extradite the murderer of American citizens”. Tamimi was conditionally freed in a 2011 deal.

ISRAELI LEADERS SEND TRUMP GOOD WISHES Israel’s political leaders wished President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania a speedy recovery after they contracted coronavirus. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin sent good wishes over social media, after Trump revealed his diagnosis in a tweet last Friday, following a positive test from one of his closest aides. Netanyahu said: “We wish our friends a full and speedy recovery.” Trump has since returned to the White House after spending three nights in hospital.

Man attacked outside shul A Jewish student was seriously injured in an attack outside a synagogue in Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday, days before the first anniversary of the Halle synagogue attack last Yom Kippur.

Police say a 29-yearold man dressed in military clothing hit the student, who was wearing a kippah, over the head with a folding spade outside the Hohe Weide Synagogue. The student was preparing to enter the synagogue, where he was celebrating Succot.

The victim was taken to hospital with what was described as a serious head injury. He

Stephan Balliet, left, is on trial for murder

was “given first aid by passers-by until rescue workers arrived,” the police report states.

Synagogue security personnel overpowered the attacker and held him until he was taken into custody by Hamburg police, the German daily

Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.

It called the incident an “antisemitic attack”, although it reported that nothing else was known about the attacker. Police told Reuters the attacker’s motive was unclear.

On 9 October last

year, a heavily armed gunman attempted shoot his way into the synagogue in Halle, in eastern Germany. He left the synagogue and killed two people. Stephan Balliet has been accused of murder and his trial is currently under way.

The Community Security Trust said its “thoughts are with the community in Hamburg, after a Jewish student was attacked outside a synagogue yesterday, on the festival of Succot.

Thankfully, the attacker was stopped by security, and is a reminder to us why the work we do with police is so important.”

2,000-year-old mikveh to go on display An extraordinary salvage operation has taken place in Israel’s Lower Galilee with the removal of a 2,000-year-old mikveh from the site so that it can go on display to the public, writes Jenni Frazer.

The removal took place under the auspices of the Israel Antiq-

uities Authority, which was carrying out the archaeological dig before the construction of a major road interchange.

The authority and Kibbutz Hannaton co-operated on a crowdfunding campaign to move the mikveh so it could go on display

next to the kibbutz’s own, functioning mikveh.

The dig directors, Abd Elghani Ibrahim and Dr Walid Atrash, say the discovery of the mikveh changes what was previously known about Jewish life in Roman-ruled Palestine in the Second Temple period.

SPEECH BUBBLES FOR THE DEAF

A mature graduate of Jerusalem’s renowned Bezalel Academy of Art and Design has created a groundbreaking project aimed at helping deaf or hearing-impaired people.

Dalik Samkai, 33, has devised ‘Blubbles’, a communications program to allow people with hearing difficulties see the faces of those around them and read their spoken words as if they were text balloons in a comic strip.

It is an augmented reality (AR) program, which creates a written version of human speech by means of a facial recognition tool.

Samkai, who was diagnosed with hearing loss aged 17, thought up “Blubbles” when he saw his father, also hearing-impaired, struggle to keep track of Shabbat meal conversation.

Restaurant ransacked Unidentified individuals ransacked a kosher restaurant in Paris last Thursday night, destroying tables and windows and painting swastikas and antisemitic slogans on the walls.

The phrases Some of the damage spray-painted on to the walls of Mac’Queen hamburger restaurant on Manin Street of the 19th district included “Hitler was right”, “Jewish homos,” “Jews get out” and “Free Palestine”.

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.

1179

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

Would you give this idea your blessing?

In a move so divisive that non-progressive movements refused to even dignify it with a response, liberal rabbis are to give Jewish marriage blessings beneath a traditional chuppah to mixed-faith couples. The decision, announced at last weekend’s Conference of Liberal Rabbis and Cantors, comes into effect for Simchat Torah this weekend and will be a first for a British Jewish movement.

Liberal Judaism makes a virtue out of openness and inclusivity.

As Rabbi Danny Rich, the movement’s vice-president, puts it in this week’s Jewish News: “The destiny of Judaism was never to be merely a tribal faith; its raison d’etre is to bring the message of ‘one humanity under one God’ to the peoples of the world.”

The movement sees itself as a prime mover in rethinking and redefining Judaism in the modern world. Following the 2004 Civil Partnership Act, it was the first to publish a service of commitment for same-sex couples, and in 2017 it introduced ‘inclusive’ ketubot (marriage documents) for same-sex couples who do not wish to be referred to as ‘bride’ and ‘groom’.

Of course, what progressives see as innovation conservatives will condemn as watering down. Liberal Judaism comprises just 10 percent of the UK Jewish community. To a great many of the remaining 90 percent, mixed-faith chuppah weddings will be an alienating, even offensive concept – one that betrays the fundamental tenets of the faith.

Yet, clearly, this bold and enterprising move will mean so much to so many. As Liberal Judaism’s chair Ruth Seager, who has been married to husband Andrew since 1983, says: “The community is giving Andrew the welcome he deserved 38 years ago.”

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Send us your comments PO Box 815, Edgware, HA8 4SX | letters@jewishnews.co.uk

Edgware family’s lucky escape Further to your request for memories of the Second World War, I remember one vivid story.

It was 1944 and I was 12 years old. I lived in Edgware with my father. He often took me to Whitechapel in the East End to see my aunt and cousins who lived in what then were referred to as ‘Cressy Houses’. My father would then go to the ‘Turkish Baths’ in Mile End and join us later.

All the family would normally meet in my aunt’s flat above her ‘dressmaking’ shop as she had the biggest room, in those days referred to as a ‘parlour’, so there was plenty of room for our large family.

However, on this particular day, my aunt, with her husband and daughter, had gone to stay with her sister, who lived in Egham, so the family met at the ground floor flat of my cousin – directly opposite – who had the next biggest home.

After a few minutes, we heard the sirens and we

Sketches & kvetches

CONTACT DETAILS Publisher and Editor Richard Ferrer 020 8148 9703 richard@jewishnews.co.uk

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THIS WEEKEND'S SHABBAT AND SHEMINI ATZERET TIMES...

Yom Tov ends Sunday night 7.03pm

Yom Tov 2nd day begins Saturday night 7.05pm

Sedra: Shemini Atzeret + Shabbat

Anita Reuben Bushey Heath

CHAREDIM SHOULD IGNORE RABBIS I write to protest about Charedi behaviour in Israel during the pandemic. I take no pleasure in writing this as I’m Orthodox and not all Charedim are to blame.

Yet many think they can do exactly as they please, and their rabbis tell them to ignore the government’s public health information.

Israel is the first country to

go into a second lockdown, thanks in no small measure to the attitude of its Charedi leadership.

If I were prime minister, I would shut every yeshiva until its teachers and pupils learn to behave like citizens.

They are in many ways a bigger enemy to Israel than Hamas and Iran.

Name withheld on request

WE DO HAVE A MORAL OBLIGATION

Operations Manager Alon Pelta 020 8148 9693

Shabbat and Yom Tov begins Friday night 6.06pm

heard the distinct noise of a ’Doodlebug’, which immediately went silent. This meant only one thing: the engine had cut out and the bomb was now falling.

My cousin lifted me up and we ran to stand under the arch in the doorway. Within seconds, there was a large explosion, everyone screamed and some windows were blown out.

My dad, who was at the Turkish bath not far from where we were, realised the bomb had fallen and exploded very close to us. I was told later that he rushed out of the baths trying to put his trousers on and ran to us shouting: “My daughter is there!”

We all ran outside, the ‘Doodlebug’ had landed and exploded on a direct hit on my aunt’s flat and shop. Had we been there we would have all been killed.

“Uh-oh! This could be the start of a second wave!”

Once again, Jewish News is at the forefront of campaigns that positions it on the right side of history.

The title of the article, ‘We Have a Moral Obligation’, is absolutely correct.

As Jews, who have suffered throughout history and survived a genocide that, had

Hitler had his way, would have wiped us out, it is only right we now stand up for those who are under attack.

I’m heartened to read the names of the signatories to the campaign and wish there were more.

James Fenton Hendon

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8 October 2020 Jewish News

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

Opinion

Bristol's reputation for diversity – but not Jews JENNI FRAZER

I

t’s often said, and certainly bears repeating, that Britain and America are countries divided by a common language. To that, I would add “divided by culture”, too. So many things happen in America that puzzle Brits, and vice versa.

There was a long debate on social media last week about why Americans don’t have kettles, and how this affects their ability to make a decent cup of tea.

They don’t have egg cups, either, as I discovered on a first visit to New York some years ago. And their spelling…

Anyway, musing on the whole “America is strange” thing (and let us not go near comment on the current orange-coloured incumbent of the White House), I came across a news item that, try though I might, I could not imagine translating to our lives in Britain.

It was a story that the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, had been busy signing into law the possibility of speciality car number plates – at least three dozen campaigns and causes had applied for recognition.

And among them is a group of people asking for a number plate that will declare, uncompromisingly, “Florida Stands With Israel”. Some of the money for the number plate, which has not yet been designed, will go to the local United Hatzalah emergency ambulance branch, surely a worthy cause.

Yet the more I read this story, the more I wondered about whether such a number plate could exist in Britain.

That parapet we’re always invoking, the one that people sometimes put their heads over and sometimes not, would it allow for this? Could we see ourselves driving around with “Temple Fortune Supports Israel” on our cars – even if it does?

Would we feel happy, or safe, or comfortable, with our Israel-supporting number plate when driving in an area where there are few or no Jews?

I am not sure. And then this week came

❝

Not seen driving around Temple Fortune

the news of a giant swastika daubed on the bonnet of a car in Bristol.

The act appears to have taken place on Kol Nidre night. One resident, Nick Helfenbein, reportedly said: “We woke up to our neighbour’s car tagged with a giant neon swastika. It’s Yom Kippur, and this makes me sick both as a Jew and as a human.”

He added: “This is the holiest day of the

WE WOKE UP TO OUR NEIGHBOUR'S CAR TAGGED WITH A GIANT SWASTIKA. THIS MAKES ME SICK

Jewish year, and to have a swastika suddenly appear right across the street from our flat, in Bristol of all places, is absolutely harrowing.” It must have been truly horrible – and even attracted condemnation half a world away from none other than Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin.

Avon and Somerset Police, however, say they have “taken action to try to ensure the offensive symbol is removed from public view and are continuing to try to establish who is the individual, or individuals, responsible”.

Astonishingly, however, the Bristol plods “do not believe this to have been deliberate targeting due to race or religion”. Really?

What else do they think might be behind this senseless, vicious behaviour? “In Bristol of all places,” says Mr Helfenbein, probably because he thinks the city has a reputation for open-mindedness and diversity. Except, of course, when it applies to Jews.

So, no, I won’t be reaching for that Israelsupporting number plate any time soon, even if money is denied to a worthy charity.

There’s out and proud, and then there’s the completely unnecessary. There are other ways to show support.

Universities must remain on the right side of history LORD MANN

INDEPENDENT ADVISER TO THE UK GOVERNMENT ON ANTISEMITISM

T

he universities are in danger of becoming the outliers in failing to adopt effective policies and systems to deal with antisemitism.

Only 29 have so far properly adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)'s definition of antisemitism, unlike every political party present in Westminster, all but one MP and the British and many other governments.

The fact that Football Premier League clubs have done more than the universities ought to give every university considerable food for thought.

Some hide behind free speech, despite the fact IHRA does nothing at all to restrict academic discussion and argument. Some clearly do not understand the difference between a working definition –

which IHRA is, best actioned in human resources and student support services – from a legal definition, best resting in a legal department.

Most shockingly, less than half the universities with Jewish societies (JSoc) have not yet bothered to adopt IHRA, leaving Jewish students less equal and less protected than other students on their campuses.

Antisemitism on campus is very rarely physical attacks, but in what are meant to be the most tolerant places in the country, other manifestations of antisemitism stick out like a sore thumb.

❝

SOME HIDE BEHIND FREE SPEECH BUT IHRA DOES NOT RESTRICT ACADEMIC DISCUSSION

I want to see a significant majority of the Russell Group adopting IHRA before the year's end – so far, 12 of the 24 top universities in this group have done so and, as a priority, every university with a JSoc seeing it as integral to its student support and acting appropriately.

Demonstrators disrupting an event with an Israeli speaker at UCL By the time next and quality of student life. year's intake of Those universities failing to adopt university students chooses their place IHRA are making a conscious and calcuof education, I think universities will find lated decision. that Jewish students will have voted with Those that haven’t yet got their bureautheir feet. cracy together need to act promptly and Every student and every family of a student should expect equality of respect end up on the right side of history.

www.jewishnews.co.uk

8 October 2020 Jewish News

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

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Opinion

If I’m on fire, it was my mum who lit the match POLITICAL & SOCIAL ACTIVIST & CO-FOUNDER OF NAHAMU

H

elen Reddy died last week and I only just discovered her. I came across her song I Am Woman a few weeks ago. The feminist anthem from 1971 found me, in 2020.

That first day, I played it again and again, and now I listen to it every morning. I am woman. It’s such a simple, powerful, beautiful declaration. Woman is not to be whispered.

Helen Reddy roared. In my little red Skoda, on the way to wherever I have to get to each morning, I roar along with her.

If I am on fire, my mother lit the match.

She taught me, by example and by design, not to subscribe to groupthink. To wear what I feel comfortable in. To speak up and speak out. To read, write, and publish what I write. If I picture myself as a small girl, this is the mother that I see. I see her teaching, working, and advocating stubbornly for what she believes in.

It was my mother who taught me that ideas are worth exploring, and worth sharing. She would read, research, and then lead groups of women in discussion.

I would help her hang up the adverts that she typed out herself, printing them on coloured paper, to save on coloured ink, without missing out on impact. I would help lay out the snacks, and I loved taking the leftovers to school the next day.

This is my mother, who says she is not a feminist. Who loves me, but disagrees with much of what I believe in. My mother, who I worry will never be proud of me, because while she showed me how to speak up, I speak louder than what I think she finds acceptable. I challenge ideas that she does not, but it was she who taught me to challenge them. I know too much to go back and pretend.

My mother bakes her own bread. She says it is because once, back when she lived in Amsterdam, the baker left the salt out of the bread she bought. When she went back to complain, he offered her the loose grams of salt he had left out.

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She left his shop, went home, baked her own and has done ever since. My mother taught me not to accept half measures and meaningless gestures. I am woman, watch me grow.

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The late Helen Reddy, pictured in 1975

I started off advocating for myself. I started small.

Back then, I worked in the small office of a heimish-run business, and I decided to ask for an employment contract. No one else had one. No one in the business could understand why I wanted the rights that a contract would afford me. The rights that my mother’s and Helen Reddy’s generation fought for.

I pushed even further and asked for a maternity clause. I was met with confusion.

Why did I need that, I was asked. Was I planning to have a baby?

These days, I also advocate for others. For people who don’t know that the law already protects them, and that help is available. I’ll carry on doing that.

Until I make my brother understand.

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21

Opinion

List of skills today’s rabbis need has got even longer RABBI DR DEBORAH KAHN-HARRIS PRINCIPAL, LEO BAECK COLLEGE RABBINICAL SEMINARY

H

ow do you prepare future rabbis in a world with Covid-19? This question has been on my and my colleagues’ minds these past months – particularly as we began our new academic year in September.

The rabbis of the Talmud never had to deal with Covid-19. They were men (and, of course, they were men) of deep and sustained learning, able to adjudicate on all manner of legal questions; debaters, storytellers, and teachers.

The rabbis of this generation were not just leaders; they were the creators of Judaism as we know it today. But that was a couple of millennia or so ago. By the 19th century, rabbis had taken on roles not entirely dissimilar to priests and ministers – pastoral care and social work in addition to duties such as leading services (at least in the progressive world) and preaching.

Today, in addition to the roles of teachers,

leaders, jurists and creators of Jewish practice, rabbis are expected to read Torah; tend to the sick; train bar and batmitzvah pupils; be up-to-date on national and local rules affecting communities; conduct funerals; lead services; attend and sometimes chair dozens of different committees; prepare couples (of whatever sexual orientation) for weddings and officiate at that service; prepare and present candidates for the Beit Din; ensure the financial sustainability of their congregations; be spiritual advisers and guides; write for the print media; engage on Twitter and Facebook; represent their communities in public spaces and plenty more. How do you train someone to do everything just short of neurosurgery and nuclear engineering?

The list of things we want rabbis to do never gets shorter, only longer. And now, with the Covid-19 pandemic, we also want, even need, our rabbis to become adept at the newest technologies for distance programming, become experts in creating meaningful online and socially-distanced experiences, create protocols for keeping us safe when we can come together, and offer specialist support for the bereaved when we cannot even come together for the

one of the most basic human needs: touch.

We expect our rabbis to come up with ingenious ideas and manage a team of people to produce those ideas while still doing all the basic stuff we have always expected of them.

So how can we train rabbis to do all the items on the list above and equip them for Covid-19 and everything that is throwing at us?

Ten years ago, Leo Baeck College underwent a major institutional review and, following on from that, in September 2011, I took up the post of principal. Together with a working party that included students, alumni and senior management, we came up with a new programme, one we felt took our training into the 21st century.

❝

NOW, WITH COVID-19, WE ALSO WANT OUR RABBIS TO BE ADEPT AT THE NEWEST TECHNOLOGIES

The first students to have gone through that training from start to finish were ordained only in 2017, because the college’s rabbinic training is a five-year postgraduate programme.

The length, depth, and intensity of rabbinic training are similar to doctors, architects or barristers, because rabbis, like these other professionals, hold people’s lives in their hands.

The students we train and the rabbis they become are not just functionaries; they are the people who help us define the meaning of our lives. They may not keep us physically breathing, but they keep us spiritually alive, even more so now. They ensure that when we come through this pandemic in whatever fashion, that we continue to have a community around us, a set of practices and beliefs holding us together.

The training of rabbis for a post-Covid world will undoubtedly require new skills in addition to all of the ones we already teach. But these things are more likely to be about how rabbis deliver, not the content of what they deliver.

As we start this new year, I pray that the continued creation of outstanding rabbis is not merely God’s will, but our own as well.

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23

Community / Scene & Be Seen

1 SCHOOL TZEDAKAH

In keeping with the Jewish tradition of giving tzedakah at this time, Kerem School asked families to contribute to a food collection in aid of Give It Forward Today (GIFT). The charity has been providing community support for families suffering as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Rabbi Zeidman said: “GIFT relies on the community to help us support more than 350 households weekly. This collection from Kerem will be a huge help to us – thank you so much!”

And be seen!

2MITZVAH RIDE

The latest news, pictures and (virtual) social events from across the community

Nine barmitzvah boys raised nearly £12,000 from a 10-mile charity bike ride along the Dollis Valley Greenwalk last month. Friends Isaac Gordon, Rafi Singer, Josh Marcus, Daniel Levy, Ryan Stock, Jacob Kagan, Noah Graham, Harry Crystal and Zac Sugarman raised the funds for Alzheimer’s Research, Camp Simcha, Diabetes UK, Grief Encounter and Myisrael. JFS student Daniel Levy said: “Not only did we have great fun on the cycle ride, but we are so excited to have raised money for some amazing charities and it has made our barmitzvahs even more meaningful.”

Email us at community@jewishnews.co.uk

3 JUDGE TALES

TV personality and Judge Rob Rinder joined 60 members of the Jewish Blind & Disabled (JBD) charity for a Zoom discussion about his life. Questions ranged from his time on Strictly Come Dancing and what goes on behind the scenes at Judge Rinder, to how court rooms have been affected by coronavirus. Rinder spoke about his personal contact with JBD and how he has found a new ‘mishpacha’ (family) in the charity. He said: “It has been one of the great privileges of my life to see the great work of JBD.”

4 MIGHTY STEPS

A 30-year-old Hampstead barrister raised £2,800 for Jewish Care by walking 192 miles in memory of his grandparents. James Fox walked from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay near Whitby, in remembrance of Renee and Ben Hassell – and had to overcome inclement weather caused by Storm Francis. But James said he will “never forget” the experience and described seeing the scenery as “a real treat”.

Jewish Care’s Adam Overlander-Kaye said: “Taking part in a fundraising challenge is a very special way to both honour the memory of loved ones and raise much-needed funds for Jewish Care.”

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8 October 2020 Jewish News

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25

Book / Weekend

For World Mental Health Day, Alex Galbinski speaks to the author of a new book helping youngsters open up about their feelings

D

uring the emotional nights following her sister’s shiva, Esther Marshall wasn’t sleeping. On one such restless night, she channelled her thoughts into something positive – the creation of a children’s book about the importance of revealing your emotions.

Sophie Says It’s Okay Not To Be Okay, published to coincide with World Mental Health Day on Saturday, is aimed at children aged two to eight and follows Sophie and her friends Jordyn, Jamie and Bunny as they journey through Jamie’s feelings.

Marshall, 31, from Mill Hill, wrote the book after her younger sister Rebecca, who had recently completed medical school, took her own life in January aged 28.

Rather than locking away one’s feelings, she believes mental health is something that needs to be talked about, especially within the Jewish community.

“There's already a stigma around mental illness in the outside world. And when it comes to a tight-knit community, it can be even worse if people aren't following a specific path,” explains the Norrice Lea Synagogue member.

“I don't think the issue has been spoken about as much as it needs to be within parts of the Jewish community.

“There's such a pretence that everyone has to show face. Things like Mental Health Shabbat is a step in the right direction, but I’d like to see the issue spoken about more at the top of the Jewish community, be that by rabbis or others, and for it to be a continuous conversation.”

Seeing the mental torment her sister went through encouraged Marshall to speak up and try to push through greater changes in the way society handles mental illness.

After being in and out of hospital for the past seven years, Rebecca was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder last year.

Marshall can’t fault the care and treatment her sister received, although admits it was a struggle to access the care in the first place.

The former JFS pupil lauds the charities “doing

Esther Marshall reads from her new book

phenomenal work” in the field of mental health within the community, such as Jami, which helped Rebecca, but says: “I don’t feel they get the recognition some of the other charities do.

“It's just seen as a little bit of a subject on the side, and the stigma is still there. It's definitely changing, but a lot more needs to be done in this space," she emphasises.

“At my sister’s shiva, the entire community showed up, which was amazing, and people just didn't know what to say. It's always an awkward situation, but it really highlighted how much needs to be done, and how much people don't understand what mental health means.

“When you talk about physical health, you've got all the different diseases, but mental health is all grouped into one. However, there are so many different elements of mental health that people don't understand. It's very, very complex.”

This book – which she found cathartic to write and is self-published – introduces the topic in a child-friendly way; the friends visit the zoo, have fun and enjoy treats.

“The premise is not the difficult conversation.

It’s a fun and engaging book and you can talk to your children about all sorts of things. But once they want to read it over and over again, those messages become ingrained subliminally.”

The book does not mark Marshall’s first foray into writing. Her debut

Rebecca and Esther, above, and, inset, Rebecca with Asher when he was newborn

book, Sophie Says I Can, I Will, written in the early hours while feeding her baby son, Asher, now two, gently introduces the topic of gender equality with the young Sophie considering many career options.

Marshall was motivated to write it after finding a lack of books with a female lead character to read to Asher.

It was championed by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, after Marshall met the couple through her involvement with the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, which funds and connects young leaders who are working hard to change the world.

Both books are beautifully illustrated by Buzz Burry and, featuring characters of different races, are as diverse and inclusive as you would expect given that Marshall is in charge of the gender diversity strategy for Unilever in her full-time role.

Marshall was a contender in Jewish News’ 30 Under 30 in 2017 and has won numerous accolades, including a government Points of Light Award.

She came into contact with the Trust after founding the charity sTandTall, an organisation that provides support to individuals suffering from abuse and bullying via an online platform, community and education programmes after her own experience.

Marshall set up a fundraising campaign during the Covid-19 full lockdown for books to be sent to children of key workers and those from vulnerable families via schools and charities, with proceeds going to sTand Tall.

As a mother herself, Marshall says she does not consider toddlers too young to discuss their feelings and sees the book as a conduit for parents and carers to help them start a conversation.

It contains lessons she wished she had learnt earlier on: “That it’s okay to cry, it's okay not to be okay, and to understand what real friendship is – to work out which friends are going to be around you through thick and thin to give you that support.”  Sophie Says It’s Okay Not To Be Okay

by Esther Marshall and Buzz Burry is available to buy now from www.sophiesaysofficial.com To donate to the fundraising campaign, visit https://tinyurl.com/y625nd4j

In association with

A look

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Out of this world!

Astronaut Jessica Meir marks the first anniversary of her historic spacewalk

Film: Sacha Baron Cohen returns with Borat 2

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Jewish News 8 October 2020

Weekend / Jewish News meets... Jessica Meir

One year on, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir tells Francine Wolfisz what it was like to be part of the first all-female spacewalk and how she aims to become the first woman on the Moon

W

to the safety of the ISS. hen Jessica Meir was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, there was barely any hesitation.

Having overcome the most challenging She picked up her crayons and began drawing – and dangerous – of tasks performed by a picture of an astronaut standing on the Moon. astronauts, Meir ensured she took the time to Now aged 42, Meir – born to a Swedish mother and Israeli father appreciate being in space and looking at the beauty of Iraqi-Jewish descent – has partly made that dream come true, of Earth from hundreds of miles above the planet. having become a NASA astronaut and one that literally stepped In fact, she orbited the Earth more than 3,000 times, but never her way into the history books when she took part in the first all- grew tired of her spectacular view from the Cupola, the station’s female spacewalk, alongside Christina Koch, on 18 October 2019. panoramic control tower, from where she took stunning footage of Nearly a year on, American-born Meir, who has also studied lightning storms and tidal waves, as well as images of continents marine biology and physiology, is still processing that special illuminated at night by the Moon.

“We saw all the different colours and textures of sand dunes in moment and what it really meant for her.

“I knew it was a big deal, but didn’t think it would become the Africa and the Middle East, beautiful glaciers over the Patagonian ice big deal that it did,” admits a modest Meir, now back to Earth after field. Even after seven months, when I was in that incredible viewing spending seven months in space, during a candid chat over the phone. court with windows all around looking down, I would really pinch “But for whatever reason, this first all-female spacewalk really myself and think how can this be real? I’m floating and I’m looking ignited enthusiasm and inspired people in a way I hadn’t seen for down at the earth. It was just like looking at art,” she explains.

She acknowledges how strange it a very long time. was to look down at a planet that, in the “That meant so much, not from a brief duration of her time spent away, personal standpoint, but for the sake of had been overtaken by Covid-19. science and for NASA that people were “It was so surreal to think this paying attention to us. It touched them in pandemic was affecting all 7.5 billion so many ways, from looking at us as role people on the planet, except just us. models or as people fulfilling a dream.”

“When we finally came back to The significance of two women Earth in April and the hatches opened, stepping out that day from the hatch of we hadn’t seen any other humans for the International Space Station (ISS) seven months and then we saw all these during Expedition 61 also had a propeople wearing masks. It was such an found effect on Meir. odd feeling.

It was, she says, a moment of “tribute” “Having not had gravity for so long, to the generations before her that fought you feel like you’re returning to this for greater opportunities for women. alien environment, but this made us She explains: “We as women and other Jessica photographs the Earth from the Cupola realise even more we had come back to minorities have not always had a seat at the table and we still don’t, we still have a way to go in a lot of different a completely different planet.”

While coronavirus exaggerated how distant Meir must have felt realms, but I’ve been able to benefit from the struggle of generations before me. That for me was the biggest thing – that I could picture while up in space, she was at least able to take comfort from some those women who had pushed the boundaries and enabled us to go of the personal items she had brought with her from home.

Among them was a postcard from Yad Vashem with an artistic out the hatch that day together. We did it as a tribute to them.”

Nearly 12 months on, Meir is understandably proud of making image drawn by a Holocaust survivor. The picture showed a man history that day, but she tells me her only focus in the minutes and with a telescope looking up at the stars.

“It just seemed really fitting, that image of everybody being hours leading up to her spacewalk was on “getting the job done” – a task that became all the more acute after one of the station’s bat- together under the same sky. Despite the horrendous circumstances of the Holocaust, or the difficult times we are facing now tery units unexpectedly failed.

In fact, Meir and Koch’s spacewalk was not even one of the three with Covid, it was impossible not to feel like we are connected as that had been scheduled during their time in space, but rather one one people, that we’re in this together.”

Meir also took with her a painting by Rona Ramon, the wife of that NASA had just two days to prepare.

To say the pressure was on is an understatement. “If we hadn’t Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut who was tragically killed in the been successful, we would have been down a power channel on the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster of 2003. “He was a hero and still is such a hero,” says Meir, who was working at NASA with the life space station, which is pretty significant,” she says.

Making history was far from Meir’s mind, as was any notion of science team when the tragedy happened.

Four years ago, she visited Israel for an event and hoped to meet “being afraid for my life or afraid that something’s going to happen to me,” she gestures. “I’d say the only fear I had was just the fear of up with Rona, but it didn’t work out. “I really regret I didn’t have the chance to meet her,” says Meir, who hopes to revisit Israel next year. making a mistake and disappointing the teams on the ground.

As for the future, she may have just come back to terra firma, but “Christina and I were up there, driving the bolts and moving the hardware around, but they were the ones who had put in hours of Meir’s already setting her sights on returning to space – and, this time, her goal is one that harks back to her childhood dream: the Moon. work to come up with a plan of what we were going to do.”

“With NASA’s Artemis programme, we’ll be sending the first After an exhausting seven hours and 17 minutes – paused only by a phone call from US President Donald Trump congratulating the woman and next man there and hopefully it’s something I can play pair – the mission was hailed a success and the astronauts returned a role in. That would be ideal for me.”

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27

Jewish News meets... Jessica Meir / Weekend

Jessica Meir works on the International Space Station during one of the routine spacewalks she conducted with Christina Koch

NASA astronauts Jessica and Christina harvest a crop of mustard greens grown inside the International Space Station

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Weekend / Entertainment

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO Borat Sacha Baron Cohen has switched his mankini for a disposable face mask as his Kazakhstani TV star persona Borat returns for an unexpected sequel.

Borat 2 – otherwise known as Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm – Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime For Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan – will premiere on Amazon Prime Video later this month.

The film is a direct follow-up to Baron Cohen’s 2006 hit and was secretly filmed and completed during the pandemic.

A trailer released this week suggests the British-born comedian as Borat is up to his usual tricks, namely getting unsuspected members of the public to dress in strange ways, answer questions that leave

them squirming – and killing the coronavirus by hitting the air with frying pans.

In one scene, he even dresses up as Trump and interrupts vicepresident Mike Pence mid-speech at a Republican rally.

Borat 2 is released on 23 October on Amazon Prime Video.

BRITBOX Spitting Image Goop God! Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness and lifestyle brand has provided plenty of fodder for the creators of Spitting Image if the trailer for the satirical puppet show, which launched on Britbox this week, is anything to go by.

The latex version of The Politician star has been given her trademark blonde locks and

the widest of smiles in a sketch showing her smothering cream all over her hands.

Paltrow, 48, who acknowledges her Jewish roots through her late father, producer-director Bruce Paltrow, is not the only member of the tribe to be given the latex treatment. Joining her are foreign secretary Dominic Raab, whose Jewish father came to Britain as a six-year-old child following the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and American politician Bernie Sanders.

They join a host of politicians, celebrities and royals lampooned in the show that include Adele, Barack Obama, Prince Charles, Kim Kardashian, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.

Spitting Image is available now on Britbox

IN THE PIPELINE

High Desert Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette have teamed up to executive produce High Desert, a new comedy series coming to Apple TV+.

The Boyhood actress stars as Peggy, a former addict who decides to make a new start after the death of her beloved mother, with whom she lived in the small desert town of Yucca Valley, California, and makes a life-changing decision to become a private investigator.

High Desert is created and written by Nancy Fichman, Katie Ford and Jennifer Hoppe, who will also serve as executive producers.

Arquette and Stiller previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed series Escape at Dannemora and are currently working together on the upcoming workplace thriller Severance.

FILM The Witches A new trailer has just dropped for Robert Zemeckis’ magical retelling of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story The Witches, starring Anne Hathaway.

Zemeckis, best known for the Back To The Future trilogy, Forrest Gump and The Polar Express, is at the helm of this remake of Dahl’s beloved story, which was first adapted for the big screen in 1990 and starred Angelica Houston.

Hathaway takes on the role of the evil Grand High Witch, who plots to rid the world of all children in the world by turning them into mice, but she doesn’t anticipate her plans will be thwarted by one brave young boy (played by newcomer Jahzir Kadeem Bruno) and his loving grandmother (Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer).

The Witches will be released later this month on HBO Max in the US, with a UK date yet to be announced.

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Orthodox Judaism

SEDRA Shemini Atzeret

BY RABBI JEFF BERGER Shemini Atzeret has a dual identity.

It falls on the eighth day, immediately after Succot. It is a festival in its own right, but without rituals.

Yet, like Succot, our prayers refer to it as the time of our happiness (zeman simchateinu).

One tradition identified in the Talmud is to recite the Prayer for Rain (Tefillat Geshem) in the Shemini Atzeret Musaf service.

From ancient times, water was perceived as a precious resource for all living beings, even if in Britain we take it for granted. By contrast, from 2014 to 2019, Israel experienced a drought exceeding anything in its past 100 years.

In a Mediterranean climate with a few months of rain at best, Tefillat HaGeshem was a way to beseech God to provide precipitation during the winter months. When rains were delayed, leaders instituted a series of public fasts.

Andalusian poet Salomon Ibn Gabirol beautifully articulated our dependence on rain in his poem Shifat Revivim. “Open now Your

treasure, give life to all into whom You’ve breathed a soul, by causing the wind to blow and the rain to fall.”

Atzeret means ‘gathering’. We also refer to Shavuot as Chag HaAtzeret.

The Babylonian Talmud informs us that just as Shavuot comes 50 days after Pesach, Shemini Atzeret was intended to come 50 days after Succot, but God had compassion on Jewish farmers, not requiring of them another pilgrimage during the rainy season.

Shemini Atzeret thus inspires joy and gratitude. We seldom appreciate what we have until it’s absent or lost. The past months have shown how blessed we are.

As winter approaches, practising gratitude allows us to see things as they exist, not as we might wish them to be.

Rather than lamenting what we’ve lost, Shemini Atzeret dually teaches us to find joy in what we have and to be thankful.

◆ Rabbi Jeff Berger can be reached at rabbijefflondon @gmail.com

Torah For Today What does the Torah say about: Life in lockdown

BY RABBI ARIEL ABEL Some of the parts of the country are under lockdown rules, while across the nation, gatherings of more than six people have been prohibited. What does the Torah say about the concept of a lockdown?

The very first moments of history of the Jewish people began with a lockdown. The Israelites in Egypt were warned not to leave their homes at all on the night of the death of the firstborn.

Blood from the Paschal lamb or goat was daubed on the doorposts and lintel of each Hebrew dwelling.

This indicted the severity and fatal nature of the lockdown.

Rashi comments that when “permission is given to the destroyer to kill”, then the righteous risk losing their lives along with the less deserving.

It is for this reason that, according to our teachings, no matter how much we yearn to

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return to normal living and ordinary observances of the Hebrew calendar, we are duty-bound to take every care and precaution as regulated and recommended by government, by halacha and by one’s own common sense in each situation and in all of the circumstances presented.

It is interesting to note that the first mitzvah given to the people of Israel even before they left Egypt was the Sabbath, about which it

is said: “No one shall leave their place on the Sabbath.”

This early form of restriction of mobility, which we observe on a weekly basis, should surely make us very sensitive as Jews to the importance of reducing movement to essential journeys only.

Where there is concern for lifeand-death issues, corners should not be cut.

Another example in the Torah of reducing the number of people meeting up is the case of isolation of the leper, and both men and women who suffer unusual body fluid.

Social distancing and quarantine are aimed at containing the spread of any infectious disease – but also to make it easier for the sufferer to recuperate. ◆ Rabbi Ariel Abel serves Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation and is padre to Merseyside Army Cadet Force

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Progressive Judaism

Progressively Speaking

The Bible Says What?

Coronavirus changed our communities, but we have an opportunity to rebuild

‘Women are the property of men’

BY SYLVIA ROTHSCHILD

BY RABBI PETE TOBIAS I always knew the Bible was pretty tough on women (because it was, quite clearly, written by men).

But some of the rules towards the end of the book of Deuteronomy take Ancient Israelite misogyny to a whole new level.

The Biblical reality is that women were regarded as items of property to be owned by men. The regulations regarding women as they appear in the supposedly enlightened laws of Deuteronomy are appalling.

I’m not giving a full list of some of the dehumanising and offensive rules in the later chapters of the fifth book of the Torah.

Just the opening sentence of a particular scenario is enough of an indication of the position of women in the Bible’s patriarchal society: • “If a man takes a woman and she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house…”

(Deuteronomy 25:1); • “If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her, dislikes her…”

(Deuteronomy 22:13); • “If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death – the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help…”

(Deuteronomy 22:23-24).

Such extraordinary prejudice against women would be utterly unacceptable in a modern, tolerant society.

Yet our ancient text has set the scene for so many of the difficulties and challenges faced by women through the ages.

I am fortunate and proud to belong to a Jewish movement that honours, values and acknowledges the important contribution women can and do make to our lives and our world.

◆ Rabbi Pete Tobias serves The Liberal Synagogue Elstree

Since Covid-19 appeared, our communities have been evolving ways of staying together spiritually even while forced physically apart.

The seder, usually a boisterous affair with extended family, became smaller and more intimate – even isolated. Maimonides’ ruling “One who is alone should ask themselves ‘why is this night different?’” came into focus.

Many of us were unexpectedly unprecedentedly – alone. We needed to make this night and all other shared religious and communal events different in a new way. Quickly we understood that physical distance did not have to mean social distance.

Communities could reconfigure, meeting and living online.

Heschel wrote that Jews create sacred architecture in time rather than space, like Shabbat, when God is encountered in moments of time.

So, with modern technology, we created our new encounters with each other and with God. Confer-

ence platforms were downloaded, services were streamed and accessed on Shabbat. Rabbis and communities became technological mavens.

We set up shared candle-lighting on erev Shabbat and also Havdalah, each home with a small candlelit box onscreen with the smiling faces of our kehillah shining out.

We moved services and shiurim online, and others joined us from all over. More painfully, we attended funeral and shiva services. We could not hug, but we could “levayah” – accompany the dead and the mourners. We were there for each other.

Jewish communities have been

innovative and resilient in the face of the pandemic. But there are only so many Zoom coffee mornings or online discussion groups or prayers, where the majority are muted to each other, that we can attend.

While the world opens up as we travel virtually, joining communities all over the world, the need grows for touch and shared presence. We can follow services and shiurim at all times, wearing pyjamas and with steaming mug in hand if we choose, but we lose out on the nuances of encounter, of place and community.

It’s impossible to know how our communities will look when the pandemic is gone. But we know they will be changed. When Rabbi Yochanan left destroyed Jerusalem and set up Yavneh, the Jewish world reconfigured. This feels like a Yavneh moment too – building Jewish communities together. ◆ Sylvia Rothschild has been a community rabbi in south London for 30 years

“It’s heart breaking when your husband won’t accept help.

Every day I wore a mask while underneath I was crumbling” – Shoshana

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Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

Ask our

VIRTUAL ALIYAH CAN BE VIRTUOUS! Plan your 10 year tax holiday now, drive on the right later….

Our trusty team of advisers answers your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry.

This week: The importance of writing a will, benefits of workplace mediation and weight loss through dancing CAROLYN ADDLEMAN DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY

Dear Carolyn We recently had our second child and my husband has suggested we write a will.

I feel this is morbid and thought our assets would pass to each other if anything were to happen to either of us. Is this the case?

Lily Dear Lily Making a will is one of the most important things you can do to protect your family and your hard-earned assets. If you don’t make one, the Statutory Intestacy Rules will govern where your assets end up, who is appointed as executor and who is appointed as guardian of

DONIEL GRUNEWALD ADR CONSULTANT

JEWISH DISPUTE SOLUTIONS Dear Doniel Unfortunately, things have not been going so well at work for me lately. Various things have started causing friction between me and various colleagues. I’m worried this will end up threatening my job. Can you help?

Heather Dear Heather It’s really helpful that you

are reaching out early. The nature of things is that if a disagreement festers, people become increasingly entrenched in their positions, and it becomes harder for them to reach a resolution.

When I act as a workplace mediator, I work with all concerned to find an adequate resolution to the dispute.

With the focus and insight that mediation provides, there are usually a number of pathways to explore – and it is from this exploration that solutions are crafted.

In some cases, it is useful to have specialist input from those with particular expertise in workplace protocol and employment legalities.

Through Jewish Dispute Solutions, I have collaborative relationships with

your children under 18. The rules date back to 1925 and have changed very little since.

The order set down by the rules state that the first £270,000 of a married couple’s estate passes outright to the surviving spouse, together with all personal possessions. This figure (updated in February) includes the value of any property owned by the deceased.

The remaining assets are divided: 50 percent absolutely to the surviving spouse and 50 percent on trust for any children of the deceased until they reach 18. This can have a detrimental effect on the inheritance tax (IHT) liability as the share exceeding the nil rate band (£325,000) and which passes to the children will be liable to IHT at the rate of 40 percent.

By not making a will, you give up the chance to do estate planning and save IHT through exemptions and reliefs, and perhaps leaving a charitable legacy. You could think of it as an insurance policy to protect your loved ones. human resources consultants and specialist employment lawyers, and I draw upon that knowledge when the need arises.

You may well feel that your colleagues do not understand the level of your concern and have no interest in any sort of formal process.

If this is the case, I would offer you more individualised support. In some cases, this can itself fix the situation; however, where this is not realistic, I would expect it to mitigate the issues.

It is also sometimes possible to help work associates have more of an appreciation of your concerns, as a result of which they may agree to embark upon a more formal or concrete process such as the situation may require.

LOUISE LEACH

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classes but can’t imagine having the confidence to show up. I don’t recognise the person I’ve become and feel quite rubbish to be honest. Any advice?

Anon

PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

DANCING WITH LOUISE Dear Louis I have put on a lot of weight since lockdown and even now life is getting back to this new normal, I don’t feel motivated and am too self-conscious to go to the gym, even though I need to exercise more than ever.

By the way, I love to dance and when I was younger went to classes and used to enjoy dancing at simchas. I would love to try one of your

Dear Anon, Please don’t despair! A lot of readers will be able to relate to your experience. The weight issue is even more of a challenge for many right now, with all the meals we have been eating over the Yom Tovim.

The fact that you have written in is really brave and the first step in the right direction. Now you must seize the moment and take action.

When life serves you lemons – make lemonade!

One good thing here at

DWL amid all the Covid chaos, was making the move online and I think our ladies fitness classes would be a perfect start for anyone in your situation.

You can work out from the comfort of your home without feeling self-conscious. If you want, you can turn your video off for the zoom class and literally dance like no one’s watching – because no one is!

Hopefully, in doing this you will rediscover your passion for dance and, more importantly, start to boost your fitness levels and your mood.

After a few weeks, or even months, you may feel brave enough to turn your video on!

Wishing you well on this journey. Once you start you won’t look back and can enjoy getting back into shape and finding yourself once again.

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Ask Our Experts / Professional advice from our panel

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COMMERCIAL LAWYER

SARAH BENARROCH Qualifications: • Director of Literacy Specialist Ltd, educational services for children with literacy difficulties and dyslexia.

• MA in Specific Learning Difficulties (dyslexia), APC, British Dyslexia Association, PATOSS, 20 years’ experience in child education and development.

• Full diagnostic assessments and reports for dyslexia.

• Primary-age tuition in reading, writing and spelling.

ADAM LOVATT Qualifications: • Lawyer with more than 11 years of experience working in the legal sector.

Specialist in corporate and commercial work, in particular with media, sport and start-up organisations.

• Master’s degree in Intellectual Property Law from the University of London.

• Non-Executive Director of England Gymnastics, advising on all governance matters.

LITERACY SPECIALIST LTD 07940 576 286 sarah@literacyspecialist.co.uk

LOVATT LEGAL LIMITED 07753 802 804 adam@lovattlegal.co.uk

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

JEWELLER

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

CAROLYN ADDLEMAN Qualifications: Lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in will drafting and trust and estate administration. Last 14 years at KKL Executor and Trustee Company.

In close contact with clients to ensure all legal and pastoral needs are cared for.

Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

JONATHAN WILLIAMS Qualifications: • Jewellery manufacturer since 1980s.

• Expert in the manufacture and supply of diamond jewellery, wedding rings and general jewellery.

• Specialist in supply of diamonds to the public at trade prices.

SUE CIPIN Qualifications: • 18 years’ hands-on experience, leading JDA in significant growth and development.

• Deep understanding of the impact of deafness on people at all stages of life, and their families.

• Practical and emotional support for families of deaf children.

• Extensive services for people affected by hearing loss/tinnitus.

KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 0800 358 3587 www.kkl.org.uk enquiries@kkl.org.uk

JEWELLERY CAVE LTD 020 8446 8538 www.jewellerycave.co.uk jonathan@jewellerycave.co.uk

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION 020 8446 0502 www.jdeaf.org.uk mail@jdeaf.org.uk

• • •

Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@thejngroup.com

TRAVEL AGENT

Moving families from the UK to Israel for the past 40 years!

Stephen Morris Shipping Ltd. Unit 9, Ockham Drive, Greenford Park, Greenford. UB6 0FD UK.

ISRAEL ADVERT 2 100X84.indd 1

T: 020 8832 2222 E: info@shipsms.co.uk W: www.shipsms.co.uk

CRIMINAL DEFENCE SOLICITOR

DAVID SEGEL Qualifications: • Managing director of West End Travel, established in 1972.

• Leading UK El Al agent with branches in Swiss Cottage and Edgware.

• Specialist in Israel travel, cruises and kosher holidays.

• Leading business travel company, ranked in top 50 UK agents.

• Frequent travel broadcaster on radio and TV.

CARL WOOLF Qualifications: • 20+ years experience as a criminal defence solicitor and higher court advocate.

• Specialising in all aspects of criminal law including murder, drug offences, fraud and money laundering, offences of violence, sexual offences and all aspects of road traffic law.

• Visiting associate professor at Brunel University.

WEST END TRAVEL 020 7644 1500 www.westendtravel.co.uk David.Segel@westendtravel.co.uk

NOBLE SOLICITORS 01582 544 370 carl.woolf@noblesolicitors.co.uk

REMOVALS MANAGING DIRECTOR

PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

STEPHEN MORRIS Qualifications: • Managing Director of Stephen Morris Shipping Ltd. • 45 years’ experience in shipping household and personal effects.

• Chosen mover for four royal families and three UK prime ministers.

• Offering proven quality specialist advice for moving anyone across the world or round the corner.

LOUISE LEACH Qualifications: • Professional choreographer qualified in dance, drama and Zumba (ZIN, ISTD & LAMDA), gaining an honours degree at Birmingham University.

• Former contestant on ITV’s Popstars, reaching bootcamp with Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw and Kym Marsh.

• Set up Dancing with Louise 10 years ago.

STEPHEN MORRIS SHIPPING LTD 020 8832 2222 www.shipsms.co.uk stephen@shipsms.co.uk

DANCING WITH LOUISE 020 8203 5242 www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk louise@dancingwithlouise.co.uk

08/08/2020 17:04

8 October 2020 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

35

Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

ACCOUNTANT

ADR CONSULTANT

DENTIST

ADAM SHELLEY Qualifications: • FCCA chartered certified accountant.

• Accounting, taxation and business advisory services.

• Entrepreneurial business specialist including start-up businesses.

• Specialises in charities; Personal tax returns.

• Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation Volunteer of the Year JVN award.

DONIEL GRUNEWALD Qualifications: • Accredited mediator to International Standards offering civil/commercial and workplace mediation; in a facilitative or evaluative format, or by med-arb.

• Experienced in all Beth Din matters; including arbitration, advocacy, matrimonial settlements and written submissions.

• Providing bespoke alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to the Jewish community.

DR ADAM NEWMAN Qualifications: • Dentist at the Gingerbread House, a Bupa Platinum practice in Shenley, Radlett.

• Regional clinical lead for Bupa Dental Care UK. • Providing NHS and private dentistry, whitening, implants and cosmetic treatment.

• Bachelor of Dental Surgery and member of the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons Glasgow; GDC registered 212542.

SOBELL RHODES LLP 020 8429 8800 www.sobellrhodes.co.uk a.shelley@sobellrhodes.co.uk

JEWISH DISPUTE SOLUTIONS 020 3637 9638 www.jewishdisputesolutions.co.uk director@jewishdisputesolutions.co.uk

GINGERBREAD HOUSE 01923 852 852 www.gingerbreadhealth.co.uk Adam.newman@gingerbreadhealth.co.uk

INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS SPECIALIST

PROPERTY DEVELOPER

IT SPECIALIST

NAOMI FELTHAM Qualifications: • Leading currency transfer provider since 1996 with over 500 expert employees.

• Excellent exchange rates on your transfers to/from Israel.

• Offices worldwide, with local support in Israel, the UK, mainland Europe and the USA. • Free expert guidance from your dedicated account manager.

JOE GRIFFIN Qualifications: • More than 13 years’ experience in the construction and property industry, with a specialism in high-end residential and commercial property.

• Negotiation of site acquisitions and property deals; design and planning strategies.

• Focus on niche market purchasing airspace above commercial and residential blocks to create additional stories of accommodation and penthouse apartments.

IAN GREEN Qualifications: • Launched Man on a Bike IT consultancy 15 years ago to provide computer support for the home and small businesses.

• Clients range from legal firms in the City to families, small business owners and synagogues.

• More than 18 years’ experience.

CURRENCIES DIRECT 07922 131 152 / 020 7847 9447 www.currenciesdirect.com/jn Naomi.feltham@currenciesdirect.com

LONDON PENTHOUSE 020 7665 9604 www.londonpenthouse.com info@lphvgroup.com

MAN ON A BIKE 020 8731 6171 www.manonabike.co.uk mail@manonabike.co.uk

INSURANCE CONSULTANCY

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

LEON HARRIS Qualifications: • Leon is an Israeli and UK accountant based in Ramat Gan, Israel.

• He is a Partner at Harris Horoviz Consulting & Tax Ltd. • The firm specializes in Israeli and international tax advice, accounting and tax reporting for investors, Olim and businesses.

• Leon’s motto is: Our numbers speak your language!

ASHLEY PRAGER Qualifications: • Professional insurance and reinsurance broker. Offering PI/D&O cover, marine and aviation, property owners, ATE insurance, home and contents, fine art, HNW. • Specialist in insurance and reinsurance disputes, utilising Insurance backed products. (Including non insurance business disputes).

• Ensuring clients do not pay more than required.

LISA WIMBORNE Qualifications: Able to draw on the charity’s 50 years of experience in enabling people with physical disabilities or impaired vision to live independently, including: • The provision of specialist accommodation with 24/7 on site support.

• Knowledge of the innovations that empower people and the benefits available.

• Understanding of the impact of a disability diagnosis.

HARRIS HOROVIZ CONSULTING & TAX LTD +972-3-6123153 / + 972-54-6449398 leon@h2cat.com

RISK RESOLUTIONS 020 3411 4050 www.risk-resolutions.com ashley.prager@risk-resolutions.com

JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611 www.jbd.org Lisa@jbd.org

ISRAELI ACCOUNTANT

ALIYAH ADVISER

CAREER ADVISER

DOV NEWMARK Qualifications: • Director of UK Aliyah for Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organisation that helps facilitate aliyah from the UK. • Conducts monthly seminars and personal aliyah meetings in London.

• An expert in working together with clients to help plan a successful aliyah.

LESLEY TRENNER Qualifications: • Provides free professional one-to-one advice at Resource to help unemployed into work.

• Offers practical support, workshops and networking opportunities to maximise job prospects.

NEFESH B’NEFESH 0800 075 7200 www.nbn.org.il dov@nbn.org.il

RESOURCE 020 8346 4000 www.resource-centre.org office@resource-centre.org

Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@thejngroup.com

Lloyd Platt & Co. Family Law Solicitors

We are pleased to help with all aspects of Family Law, including:

• Divorce

• Pre/Post - Nuptial Agreements • Cohabitation Agreements

DIVORCE & FAMILY SOLICITOR

PALLIATIVE CARE MANAGER

VANESSA LLOYD PLATT Qualifications: • Qualification: 40 years experience as a matrimonial and divorce solicitor and mediator, specialising in all aspects of family matrimonial law, including: • Divorce, pre/post-nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, domestic violence, children’s cases, grandparents’ rights to see grandchildren, pet disputes, family disputes.

• Frequent broadcaster on national and International radio and television.

POLLY LANDSBERG Qualifications: • Polly has worked in health and social care for more than 35 years.

• Has a degree in nursing and a diploma in health visiting.

• Polly is responsible for the day-to-day management of the palliative and end of life care service.

LLOYD PLATT & COMPANY SOLICITORS 020 8343 2998 www.divorcesolicitors.com lloydplatt@divorcesolicitors.com

SWEETTREE HOME CARE SERVICES 020 7644 9500 www.sweettree.co.uk polly.landsberg@sweettree.co.uk

• Domestic Violence • Children’s cases • Grandparents’ rights to see grandchildren • Pet disputes • Settlements for Cohabitees • Financial Settlement on Divorce • Family disputes To make an appointment please telephone 020

8343 2998

Lloyd Platt & Company, Third Floor, Elscot House, Arcadia Avenue, London N3 2JU Website: www.divorcesolicitors.com Email: lloydplatt@divorcesolicitors.com Regulated and authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority

36

REMOVAL SERVICE

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 8 October 2020

HOUSE OR OFFICE

REMO VAL SDomestic E RVRemoval ICE HOUSE OR OFFICE

Office Removal

Packing Service

Storage » Domestic Removal » Office Removal

» Packing Service » Storage

Call for a FREE quote we offer competitive rates

020 3667 2597

info@fvremovals.london www.fvremovals.london

8 October 2020 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

37

Fun, games and prizes

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD 1

2

3

4

5

7

6

9 11 14 17 19 20 22 23

8

9

10

11

12 13

14

15

16

17

18 19

20

21

22

23

ACROSS 1 Spouse’s relative (2‑3) 4 Evil spirit (5)

7 Personal honour (7) 8 Piece of milk‑soaked bread (3)

R M R Y D K

O C V C H

L

Y S E R E C F

F

L

A K Y P A S

T R Y

I

F

19

F W E N R V S

T Q

H U R F

S R M F U H F

S G

S G G E D E B

Z

I

I

R F

J

L H P

I

L

A C

N T G T

A R O N S

K

I

Q F

K

E U

L R R H A R X

X B

Z R R G H K

D V S

F

A

I

D A F F

J

J

25

I

O T

FAIRY CAKES

FLAN

FRIED EGGS

FENNEL

FLAPJACK

FRIES

FIGS

FLOUR

FRITTER

FISH FINGERS

FRANKFURTER

FRUIT

FLAKY PASTRY

FRENCH STICK

FUDGE

Last issue’s solutions Crossword ACROSS: 1 Mate 3 Sherry 8 Angrily 9 Boo 10 Fruit juice 13 Hearing aid 17 Loo 18 Oil lamp 19 Eighth 20 Year DOWN: 1 Mean 2 Tiger 4 Hay 5 Rabbi 6 Yeomen 7 Bikini 11 Jiggle 12 Shelve 14 Along 15 Irate 16 Spur 18 Out

3 8 2 9 7 5 6 4 1

9 6 5 4 8 1 7 2 3

13

5

D

22

I

2

7

2

T

21

17

6 18

25

21

4

21

9

2

3

B

24

15

26

4

7

24

2

15

4

22

14

24

22 12

2

5

19

5

7

4

8

26

4

16

1 3

6

8

7

6 4 4 3

3 1

1 4 3

9 2 5

7

1

9 6 5 8

3

2

4 8 1

SUGURU Each cell in an outlined block must contain a digit: a two-cell block contains the digits 1 and 2, a three-cell block contains the digits 1, 2 and 3; and so on. The same digit must not appear in neighbouring cells, not even diagonally.

2

16

9

4

2

25

15

11

21

22

19

2

15

13

15

7

21

21

22

2

24

15

21

25

5 3

9 10

4

15

23

15

3

12

3

24 24

13

3

15

20

25 25 10 2

9

3 2

22

4

8

4

3 5

2

4 3

4

5

19 4

25

13

22 22

26

See next issue for puzzle solutions.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1

2

3

14

15

16

B

4

5

17

18

D

6

7

8

9

19

20

21

22

I

10

11

12

13

23

24

25

26

Suguru 6 1 3 8 9 4 5 7 2

5

4

21

24

22

21

10

26 16

8

25

21

A

Sudoku 4 7 1 2 3 6 8 9 5

4

19 15

12

15

19

R Y C A K E S

E G D U F N G K M

12

9

E E

C F

2

DOWN 1 Admit to a post (6) 2 Loiter (3) 3 Odd, strange (5) 4 Become desiccated (3,2) 5 Someone who calls to see you (7) 6 Edges of the mouth (4) 10 Shrill cry (7) 12 Easter ___, chocolate treat (3) 13 Tidy (6) 15 Be successful (2,3) 16 Profit (5) 18 Ballpoint (4) 21 Adhesive substance (3)

13

13

T N T N S P N P

A G

L

21

I

F W P E

1

16

Q

R U O L

Long‑leaved lettuce (3) Stand‑in (6) Woozy, dazed (6) Have regret for (3) Fury (3) Convey commercially (7) Different, alternative (5) Evil creature (5)

In this finished crossword, every letter of the alphabet appears as a code number. All you have to do is crack the code and fill in the grid. Replacing the decoded numbers 3,5 and 22 with their letters in the grid will help you to guess the identity of other letters.

The food words beginning with F can all be found in the grid. Words may run either forwards or backwards, in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction, but always in a straight, unbroken line.

J

Fill the grid with the numbers 1 to 9 so that each row, column and 3x3 block contains the numbers 1 to 9.

CODEWORD

WORDSEARCH S W N N F

SUDOKU

8 5 4 1 2 7 3 6 9

7 2 9 6 5 3 4 1 8

5 9 6 7 1 8 2 3 4

2 3 7 5 4 9 1 8 6

1 4 8 3 6 2 9 5 7

1 4 2 3 1 5

2 3 1 5 4 3

4 5 4 3 2 1

All puzzles © Puzzler Media Ltd - www.puzzler.com

Wordsearch 3 1 2 1 4 5

2 5 4 3 2 1

1 3 2 1 5 4

3 4 5 1 3 2

2 1 3 2 4 1

5 4 5 1 3 2

2 1 3 2 5 1

3 5 4 1 3 2

4 1 3 2 4 1

F F A E I T S A O T N C S

I Q G P H D U E X T O J R

Z C H I L L E D L C O G E

Z C V X Q I N D K B E C E

Y W G H T L G T C A B O H

C E L E B R A T I O N U C

B X A V F I P B Z N R P B

Codeword Z W S Y L A M W O U S K G

L L S R F P A U V T B Y Y

K Y F L Q J H O N X T T B

K M U I U R C R D G R L S

M T L O H O C L A A A H E

E E C S T Z N J P F K M M

DO O WE E L E

G O D D E S J U S A C A S U C Z OO Z N I T E

S B E G E R K F T L U EM M L O X M

OD A H L P I A Y E E N Z G Y M R E

Y E G U T

S

L A P L A V I S B SW I I N I S G Q OU U A R E L G O E A R

MP E E R P L L E E X R S I A X T C H

Y A C T Z K B G I L WQ S N V E R D O J H F U P M X08/10

38

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 8 October 2020

Business Services Directory ANTIQUES 44

The Jewish News 22 September 2016

www.jewishnews.co.uk

BUSINESS SERVICES DIRECTORY

Stirling of Kensal Green

Top prices paid

Antique â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Reproduction â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Retro Furniture (any condition)

Carer

Clothing

WE BUY ANTIQUES Carer FURS WANTED Auxiliary Nurse VERY HIGH PRICES PAID. FREE HOME VISITS.

Epstein, Archie Shine, Hille, G Plan, etc.

Antiques

Dining Suites, Lounges Suites, Bookcases, Desks, Cabinets, Mirrors, Lights, etc.

Cash paid for Mink Available support Allto Antique Furniture Hille & Epstein jackets, coats, you in your home.

Diamond Jewellery, Gold, Silver,boleros, Paintings, stoles, Porcelain, also fox coats, etc.

Glass,Days/nights.

Bronzes, Ivories, Oriental & Judaica Antiques jackets etc.

Very reasonable rates.

Full house clearances organised.

Wardrobes cleared Call Please 0208 look 958 at 2939 our website for more details Call 01277 352 560 or 07495 026 168

Established over 60 years.

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All quality furniture bought & sold.

Antique â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Reproduction â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Retro Furniture

Single items to complete homes

(any condition)

Best prices paid for complete house clearEpstein, Archie Shine, Hille, G Plan, etc. ances Lounges includingSuites, china, Bookcases, books, Dining Suites, clothing etc. Also rubbish clearance Desks, Cabinets, Mirrors, Lights, etc. service, lofts, sheds, garages etc House clearances

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WE BUY ANTIQUES

07866 614 744 (ANYTIME)

www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk

VERY HIGH PRICES PAID. FREE HOME VISITS. All Antique Hille & Epstein 0207Furniture 723 7415 (SHOP) Diamond Jewellery, Gold, Silver, Paintings, Porcelain, closed Sunday & Monday Glass, Bronzes, Ivories, Oriental & Judaica Antiques etc.

Computer FOR APPOINTMENTS CALL SUE ON:

0800 840 2035 or 07956268290

Single items to complete Please contact Gordonhomes Stirling

STUART SHUSTER - e-mail - info@maryleboneantiques.co.uk

Man on aOPEN Bike8am will TOget 9pm 7 DAYS. you working fast! RD LONDON. PORTOBELLO

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Full house clearances organised.

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Í&#x201D;Í&#x203A;Í&#x153;Í&#x161;Í&#x161; Í&#x161;Í&#x2022;Í&#x2DC; Í&#x203A;Í&#x2DC;Í&#x2DC; (ANYTIME) Email: gordonstirling65@gmail.com

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Rapid Response IT support for your PC & Mac Networks, virus problems, broadband, wireless systems, new computers and everything else you may need.

CHARITY & WELFARE For small businesses & home users.

0207 723 7415 (SHOP)

FOR APPOINTMENTS CALL SUE ON: 0800 840 2035 or 07956268290 OPEN 8am TO 9pm 7 DAYS.

Call Ian Green, Man on a Bike on

PORTOBELLO RD LONDON.

020 8731 6171 â&#x20AC;˘ www.manonabike.co.uk

closed Sunday & Monday STUART SHUSTER â&#x20AC;? eâ&#x20AC;?mail â&#x20AC;? stuart@churchstreetantiques.net

MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING

WESTLON HOUSING ASSOCIATION

ARE YOU BEREAVED?

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During the pandemic, we offer telephone and online counselling.

ARE YOU BEREAVED? Contact Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service in adults confidence.

Counselling for & children who are 0208Support 951 3881groups offered. experiencing loss. enquiries@jbcs.org.uk | www.jbcs.org.uk Call The Jewish Bereavement

Labels are forTURN, jars.

Refer yourself or aKNOW loved one by IF YOU DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T WHICH WAY TO Not people. calling 020 8458 2223 orOUR visit HELPLINE. REMEMBER www.jamiuk.org

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www.jewishnews.co.uk

39

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40 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

8 October 2020

JDA is working tirelessly to ensure that no deaf

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“ To be able to understand the paramedic and see her reassuring smile stopped me feeling so terrified.”

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Please show you care by making a donation today.

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