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Putin’s war on Ukraine

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

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Full coverage of Putin’s war

FREE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

3 March 2022

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30 Adar Rishon 5782

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Issue No.1252

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@JewishNewsUK

• Russian and Ukrainian Israelis unite P4-5 • Briton and Ukrainian girlfriend flee P8 • Zelensky embodies Jewish hope P7, P44 • Comment and editorial opinion P20, P22 • Support, sanctions and escapes P9,13 • Analysis: Ukraine’s Jewish history P10-11

The statesman remembers

BABYN YAR 2019 Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky pays tribute in 2019

…the psychopath destroys EYEWITNESS EXCLUSIVE

By Oz Katerji at Babyn Yar

A thick cloud of acrid smoke hangs in the air at the scene of Tuesday night’s Russian missile strike on the Kyiv TV tower, which left chunks of debris scattered across the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site in the heart of Kyiv.

The complex and the memorial park are separated by a small concrete wall and narrow asphalt road. While smoke from the attack continues to rise, snow is settling on the grass in the empty park.

There appeared to be no serious damage to the large memorial statue at the centre of the park when Jewish News visited the site yesterday afternoon or, thankfully, to the cornerstone near its entrance. But large chunks of clay bricks had been scattered across a wide area housing the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial site. The explosion was powerful enough to uproot a tree at the edge of the park, and the smell of burning hangs in the air, as fresh snow covers debris.

The scattered rubble fell just short of the marble cornerstone, and the brick fragments were

BABY N YAR Y ESTER DAY

The blast felled trees metres from the site of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial. Inset: Damage around the Kyiv TV tower can be seen from inside the memorial compound

travelling so fast that they tore the bark off a tree that stands less than 10 metres from it. If anyone was in the park at the time, they will have been gravely injured by thousands of fragments that now lie strewn across the

hallowed ground, where 34,000 Jews are buried following the Nazi occupation.

Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said on Tuesday night that five bystanders were killed Continued on page 6

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UKRAINE CRISIS APPEAL

DONATE NOW www.worldjewishrelief.org/ukrainecrisis 020 8736 1250

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3 March 2022 Jewish News

Russia’s unjustified war on Ukraine has created a humanitarian crisis across eastern Europe.

World Jewish Relief is responding on behalf of the UK Jewish community in Ukraine and its neighbouring countries.

Through our 29 partners in Ukraine, and now partners in Poland and Moldova, we are responding to immediate needs for those who remain in Ukraine, and those who have been forced to flee, from the Jewish community and beyond.

We are providing: » » » » »

Emergency cash transfers Medical support Home care assistance Food packages Psychological support

In Poland and Moldova, we supporting families who have fled the conflict. We are providing: » » » »

Emergency accommodation Food packages Water PPE

The people of Ukraine need your support. Their homeland is being attacked, their cities bombed. We have worked with some of Ukraine’s most vulnerable people for more than 30 years, and they have never needed our help more than they do now.

Head to www.worldjewishrelief.org/ukrainecrisis to donate now.

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PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

‘Only way to win this is to unite

By Jeremy Last in Tel Aviv

Dozens of Ukrainians and Russians put on a display of unity in Tel Aviv on Tuesday as they prepared packages for families in Ukraine.

Jewish News spoke to volunteers at the city’s Ukrainian Cultural Centre as they worked into the night, in an emotionally-charged atmosphere, packing boxes of toiletries, clothes and medicine donated by local Israelis.

The boxes were being loaded on to a lorry headed for a warehouse in central Israel where they were to be sent directly to Ukraine by air.

Valeria Ivashkina, a 31-year-old journalist who moved to Israel from Odessa, Ukraine, 10 months ago and lives in Ramat Gan with her husband, had been at the cultural centre for most of the day.

“It’s hard to not cry, because my relatives – my parents, my sister and my grandparents – are in Ukraine,” she said, as she took a break from filling boxes with sanitary products and clothes. “This is my country. When I see what the Russian army is doing with our cities, I feel like I was hit in the solar plexus and I can’t breathe.

“My stepfather is fighting in the military and my mother is a dentist who has volunteered since 2014. I’m helping from Israel: finding contacts and speakers from Ukraine for international journalists, co-ordinating translators, gathering humanitarian aid, but I feel that it’s not enough. I should be there.”

Expressing a sentiment echoed among the group of volunteers, Ivashkina said she has nothing against regular Russians.

“I can tell the difference between Russians who support Putin and those who are against him. I am not against Russian culture or language. I am okay with it, but I am not okay with aggression and with chauvinism.,” she said. “We will fight for peace.

“I have Russian friends in Israel and in Russia. They feel ashamed because they don’t want the war.”

Ivana Mereulova, 32, from Magadan in north-eastern Russia, said she felt obliged to take a stance against the invasion of Ukraine.

Holding a sign stating, “I am ashamed to be Russian,” she said: “I wanted to support Ukrainians because I love them so much. I have friends there who don’t want to leave the country because they want to volunteer. And their brothers are at war – it’s just awful.

“Right now I feel like I want to die because my friends are at war. It’s an awful feeling. I am shaking all the time. I can’t sleep – I’ve slept two and a half hours each night since this started.

“I am ashamed that the Russian army are killing my friends in our brother country.”

Another Russian, Tanya Reznikov, 45, from

Russian Ivana Mereulova and, inset, Ukrainian Michelle Levina at Tel Aviv’s Ukrainian Cultural Centre

Moscow, has lived in Israel for 22 years. “I feel terrible about what’s going on now,” she said.

“It is painful for me to know that two countries that I think are brothers are at war now.

“I am here to help the people. It doesn’t

Zelensky’s faith is ‘irrelevant’

Russia’s ambassador to the UN has said the Ukrainian president’s Jewish heritage is irrelevant because his government is under the control of “radicals and neo-Nazis” who defy him.

Vasily Nebenzya made the remark on Monday, when asked how Ukraine could be controlled by Nazis when Volodymyr Zelensky is a Jew. Russia has repeatedly said, without offering evidence, that its invasion was needed in order to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

£7.5m for Jews of Ukraine

An emergency fund has been created to help Ukrainian Jews affected by Russia’s invasion. Genesis Philanthropy Group (GPG), co-founded by Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan, has allocated $10 million (£7.45m) to assist Jewish communities caught in the conflict. GPG, which supports Russian-speaking Jewish communities across the world, will use the funds to distribute emergency supplies, evacuation efforts, homes for the elderly, and other communal necessities, for those unable or unwilling to leave the country.

matter who is here; Ukrainian, Russian, it doesn’t matter. Israel is my country now and I think it is terrible, horrible what is going on.”

The volunteers, young and old, come from all parts of Ukraine and Russia.

‘IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO BE APPALLED’ When Refael Kruskal said last week that he was preparing for looting and anarchy on the streets, it sounded almost implausible, writes Michael Daventry.

His bleak assessment, which Jewish News reported on its front page last week, came before war had broken out.

But just hours after he spoke to this newspaper, Kruskal found himself leading 400 children and young people – all connected to the Tikva children’s home he leads in Odessa – on a convoy of buses out of town to escape the fighting.

On Wednesday, Kruskal was in the Carpathian Mountains of western Ukraine, where the convoy made camp after their bus drivers demanded a vastly inflated sum to continue their journey.

“We stopped at a petrol station where we had Kiddush and it was very, very overwhelming. People [were] crying,” he said.

“It reminds us of evacuations and times gone by, times which we would never have to repeat.”

This week, vast swathes of Ukraine simply fled. Nearly 900,000 people have left the country and a similar number are internally displaced, the UN’s refugee agency estimates. Many of those who stayed behind did so because they have no choice.

“Our main target audience are elderly, Jewish elderly, mostly lonely elderly, and elderly with disabilities, chronic illnesses,” said Volodymyr Vysotskyi, who runs a programme to help them in and around Kyiv.

He described a grim situation in Boyarka, south-west of Kyiv, where there has been street warfare and blocked roads. Many towns are physically isolated after bridges were blown up by Ukrainian forces to halt the Russian advance.

Vysotskyi, whose programme is supported by World Jewish Relief (WJR), says help is being crippled by logistical problems.

“For some people in Boyarka who are, for example, diabetic, they are looking for medicine, insulin. Every person who has any sort of health problem is under huge risk because the supply chains have been broken and the pharmacies were open until two days ago.”

Jewish charities around the world have launched fundraising

3 March 2022 Jewish News

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PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

e against the evil’

Ukrainian Dariia Nor and Russian Svetlana Singer

Michelle Levina, 19, from Dnipro, Ukraine, has lived in Israel for a year. Like many at the centre, her family remains in Ukraine.

She said: “Of course we are all feeling very shaken up. My heritage and tradition are from Ukraine. I was born and raised there. We feel very sad but at the same time angry at the Russian government for invading our country and starting a war. We were at peace, we were fine.”

Levina had harsh words for Vladimir Putin.

“He is sick and mad and I think he should suffer for everything he is doing and all the lives that he is taking right now.”

Underlining the positive atmosphere at the Tel Aviv venue, she added: “We work with anyone who supports Ukraine and we are all

united. Because the only way to win this thing is to stand united against the evil.

“My family are saying it’s scary. They are saying they need to spend their evenings in bunkers. They are crying but they are all united.

We all have hope. We believe in our army. I love Ukraine and I hope this all ends soon.”

Svetlana Singer, 31, was born in Magadan in Russia, lived in Kyiv for 15 years and moved to Israel five years ago. Her mother lives in Kyiv.

“I don’t think it is a conflict between Russia and Ukraine anymore. I think it has to do with every citizen of every country in the world,” she said. “It’s normal, peaceful citizens against evil.

You cannot just sit quietly, because tomorrow it will be at your door and you will feel it.

“Putin is killing innocent people. The building 100 metres from my mum’s building was bombed. My sister with two tiny children, my nephews, who I couldn’t see because of Covid, I am not sure I will see them.”

Singer said her family has been divided by the conflict. “My father, uncle and aunt are in Moscow and my father has been calling my sister and claiming there is not a single Russian soldier in Ukraine.

“This is insane. Families are being broken down because of some ambition of a psycho, tyrant. I don’t feel Russian. I think every Russian who has pride should be ashamed and stand up against war, against murder.”

‘Nobody ever dreamed carnage would be like this’ A senior Ukrainian rabbi fought back tears when he was asked in a live interview about his feelings when he saw footage of Jews praying in underground bunkers, writes Michael Daventry.

Rabbi Yaakov Bleich said it was difficult to watch the pictures after his 32 years helping to rebuild Ukraine’s Jewish community following decades of suppression under communism.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday: “This has been definitely the most harrowing, harrowing experience and I feel like I’m there with them, even though I’m not but I’ve just been with them since the beginning.

“And I just hope that the thing ends.”

Footage of a group of Jews being led in prayer in a long corridor went viral over the weekend after it appeared on social media.

Bleich, who is one of Ukraine’s chief rabbis, spoke of his anguish “to see everything that you built over so many years – and I’m not only talking for myself as the chief rabbi, I’m talking for every single rabbi in that country – to see your community being disintegrated and bombed in front of you.

“I’m telling you, many of the rabbis who swore they’d never leave – they’re running because nobody ever dreamt that the carnage and the bombing would look the way that it’s looking. Nobody.

“People that are praying in those bunkers.

I’ve been begging them to leave. Just evacuate

People shelter in a bunker for safety

and get out.” He added he himself had been forced to leave Kyiv in recent days for “my own security”.

“I had to leave right when the war was starting. I couldn’t stay there for many reasons, one of the reasons is that I’m not particularly one of Putin’s favourites and I was on one of his lists.

“However, I have not stopped, I haven’t slept since this began.”

JN video report at jewishnews.co.uk

The devastation in Freedom Square, Kharkiv after an attack by a Russian war missile

campaigns, part of a monumental effort to help people inside the country and on its borders.

WJR alone has raised more than £1 million.

Israel’s Jewish Agency has fielded more telephone calls from Ukrainians asking about opportunities to make aliyah in the past week than in all of 2021.

The organisation says it making $1.5 million (£1.1m) in small grants available to Jewish organisations in Ukraine to help them bolster their security.

But accessing hard cash remains difficult in a country in which most banks are now closed: Kruskal recounted how he tried to use digital wire transfers between European banks to persuade bus drivers to take out their convoy.

World Jewry was already shocked by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s wild claim that

he was deploying troops to rid Ukraine of Nazis in its leadership. A further defining moment in came on Tuesday, when a Russian rocket struck the complex that hosts Kyiv’s Holocaust memorial, Babyn Yar, killing at leave five people.

But Vysotskyi said the threshold for Jewish outrage had been crossed a long time ago.

“I want to assure you that it’s not the biggest thing. The last drop was much, much earlier.

“Jews don’t need to wait until they hit Babyn Yar. Even with the hits of hospitals, their homes, kindergartens, it’s enough to be just appalled and to understand everything you need to understand about our eastern neighbour.”

The real challenge, he said, would come once the fighting ended, regardless of who prevails, and another seemingly insurmountable task begins: rebuilding.

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PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

Even Kyiv’s Holocaust memorial isn’t spared Continued from page 1 in the blast, which also caused damage to nearby roads and several other small buildings, including a gymnasium equipment store.

Footage was shared on social media last night of the burnt corpses of several people lying on the ground in front of the now destroyed sports shop. All that remains on that site are charred black marks along the street.

Glass and debris fills the streets, cables and street lights have been torn down and lie amid the smouldering wreckage of the attack.

The missile strike itself targeted a building in the communications complex surrounding Kyiv’s main television tower, causing extensive damage to the building itself and the nearby area.

There are no eyewitnesses around, and the only people walking near the site are members of the Ukrainian

German pacifism is blown apart ANALYSIS

The attack on Kyiv’s TV tower, and an archive photo of president Zelensky at a Babyn Yar memorial event

armed forces and civil defence and other war journalists.

Workers have already begun to patch up the damage to the fencing around the TV tower complex.

Leaving the site of the attack, one can see the streets are being further reinforced with barricades and check-

points, as a column of Russian tanks 40 miles long moves to within striking distance of this city, home to more than three million people.

As Kyiv braces itself for what is sure to be another very difficult night, one is left wondering how much worse the Russian war against the

Ukrainian people will get, and how many more atrocities are to be carried out on land that has already had far too much blood spilled over it.  Editorial comment, page 20 JN video report at jewishnews.co.uk

When Olaf Scholz laid a wreath at Yad Vashem yesterday, he did so on behalf of a country transformed overnight, writes Michael Daventry.

It had been just three days since the new German chancellor announced his country’s biggest rearmament programme in nearly a century.

This was Scholz’s response to the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Germany would bolster Ukrainian defences with antitank weapons and surface-toair missiles, he said. It would finally meet a Nato benchmark by spending more than two percent of its national income on defence.

There is also going to be a new, gargantuan pot of money, €100 billion (£83.3bn), for the German military to spend on equipment and weapons. It is nothing short of stunning.

The last time Germany deployed hard military power

and spending on this scale, it was under Adolf Hitler.

The biggest rearmament programme since the Nazi era does not mean the country is returning to its old ways.

Today’s Germany is Israel’s biggest European trading partner and home to a burgeoning community of Jews.

Rather, it is a sign of how far Russia has upended the world order.

The form of pacifism that Germany has observed since 1945 has been shattered by the assault on Ukraine.

And although the measures have not yet been approved by parliament, they appear to be overwhelmingly popular.

One survey for the news channel n-tv found that 78 percent of Germans thought it was right for their government to boost military funding.

There has been a lot of speculation over the past week about whether the post-Cold War settlement is finally over.

Germany’s move surely means that is beyond doubt.

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PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

Zelensky embodies Jewish spirit of bravery and hope HEN MAZZIG

SENIOR FELLOW AT THE TEL AVIV INSTITUTE

I

n 2019, during his inaugural speech as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky told officials: “I do not want my picture in your offices: the president is not an icon, an idol or a portrait. Hang a photo of your children instead, and look at them each time you are making a decision.”

Zelensky, a Jewish Ukrainian leader, is one of two Jewish head of states in the world. For the years after he came to office, few brought up his Jewish heritage or speculated on why exactly it matters. When war came to his nation, however, so many Jews, including myself, felt an intimacy with him.

As I saw him refuse to be rescued and instead risk his own life and those of his children to protect his country from invasion, I felt a pride swell in my chest – a pride in being Jewish, just like him.

As Russian tanks crossed into his border, Zelensky isn’t practising Jewish prayers or rituals, yet he is as Jewish than ever. At the darkest hour, he perfectly embodies the Jewish spirit of resistance, courage and hope when all odds are against you.

The central narrative of Judaism is resisting assimilation and annihilation as imperial forces try to crush us. There are many examples of Jews throughout history tasked with this mission, but the most

obvious one is of the Maccabees. These historic Jewish rebels fought against a strong empire led by the Vladimir Putin of their era – Antiochus IV, king of the Greek Seleucid Empire. Putin and Antiochus are both brutal tyrants who desecrated the Jewish heritage of those they sought to conquer and colonise.

Antiochus’ cruelty took the shape of slaughtering a pig in the Jewish temple and erasing the Jewishness of our holiest space.

Putin also seeks to defile Jewish heritage, by co-opting the murder of Jews in the Holocaust to excuse his personal war crimes.

The Russian dictator has claimed that his invasion of Ukraine is to “de-Nazify” the nation, propaganda that intentionally attempts to erase Zelensky’s Jewishness, and the fact that his grandfather is the only one out of four brothers who was not murdered by the Nazis.

Yet, Zelensky, much like the Maccabees, did not kneel in front of Putin as he wished to repress his people and steal his country. He fought back, a very Jewish thing to do.

What thousands of years of oppression taught many Jews is that we cannot lie down while a bully keeps on punching us.

My grandparents learned it living under the Arab Empire for centuries as an oppressed minority, so they escaped to the Jewish state, where they live as free people, not needing to discount themselves for any empire. Zelensky’s grandfather learned it as he valiantly fought the Nazis in the Second World War, much like thousands of Jews who served in allied armies, fought in partisan

Volodymyr Zelensky and his cabinet on the streets of Kyiv during the first 24 hours of fighting

resistance groups, and even staged a rebellion within the confines of Auschwitz.

Much like Zelensky, Jews everywhere have refused to surrender even when they were outmanned and outgunned – because to be Jewish means to survive with your head held high, even when all the odds are against you.

The Jewish people learned long ago that we must stand up for ourselves, because no one else will. World powers, even the greatest armies on this planet, have done very little to support the Ukrainian people in the face of unprovoked invasion. But Zelensky did not wait for allies. Instead, he immediately stepped up as the leader his nation needed.

It is not a Jewish tradition to seek war, but if you wage battle with us, our leaders

will not back down from the fight. Resilence is a Jewish heirloom. Zelensky inherited it from Judah Macabee, Queen Esther, Natan Sharansky, Roza Robota, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Hannah Szenes, Uri Ben Baruch, Harvey Milk, Eli Cohen and generations of Jews who stood tall in the face of injustice.

President Zelensky will be remembered long after this war for his valour. But we will also remember that he represents the Jewish values we must cherish most: courage, dignity, fulfilling your responsibilities and, most importantly, standing by your people to the end.

He makes me proud to be Jewish, and he should remind everyone that being Jewish is something to be proud of.

Unless we act now we’ll all be embroiled in war BORIS MINTS

CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF PATRONS OF THE CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN RABBIS

R

ussia’s invasion of Ukraine has rightly shocked the world. It is the most tragic event of our century so far, with parallels to Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939.

The excuses and justifications given for these two invasions are strikingly similar, both groundless and horribly deceptive.

I speak out categorically against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Since Putin’s landmark speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007, Russia has repeatedly broken international law, yet

faced no significant negative consequences or condemnation. If it is possible to annex Crimea without punishment, Russia realised, then Ukraine could be free for the taking as well.

The West must stop being afraid.

All believers in a civilised world must do their utmost to stop aggression and hold the ones who instigated it responsible. While collective action, including military aid and sanctions, are necessary, the system of inter-

❝

ALL BELIEVERS IN A CIVILISED WORLD MUST DO THEIR UTMOST TO STOP AGGRESSION

national law and justice must be strengthened and tightened, ensuring that justice and the basic rights of all people are upheld, and every aggressor stopped.

Leaders have to know that there will be personal consequences for reckless and unlawful actions that endanger the lives of innocents.

If we in the West fail to act, we will remain passive bystanders, watching and remaining silent as innocent people are placed in mortal danger.

Many Russian citizens, perhaps even the majority, are categorically against the invasion of Ukraine.

However, a large number still stand in support of Russia’s invasion, believing the false justifications of the Russian government in the absence of a genuine democracy and of a free media to question its actions.

Whatever further machinations are being planned at the moment by a bunch of criminals, Russia will soon have to return to its senses.

Knowing the Russian people as I do, I am ultimately optimistic that Russia will eventually and inevitably return to a civilised and harmonious path of development.

It is, after all, a great country, with incredible human and natural resources. But how long this takes depends on many factors, including the actions we all take to make it so.

The aftermath of the Second World War showed us the frightening consequences of war for nations embroiled in it, even for those that tried to remain outside observers.

If we remain passive bystanders today, reading the headlines without mobilising international law to prevent further destruction, the same fate awaits us.

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PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

British Jew tells of horrific scenes at border as he and girlfriend flee

by Nicole Lampert

A British Jew from Manchester who fled Ukraine with his girlfriend has described horrific scenes as people tried to leave.

Jeremy Myers got caught up in the crush after flying to Ukraine to see her for Valentine’s Day. When the first bombs hit the country, they planned their escape as his girlfriend of two years, journalist Maria Romanenko, 29, is a prominent anti-Putin activist.

With hundreds of thousands clogging roads to the borders, it took them nearly a day to get to the crossing town of Shehyni. They were then involved in a 24-hour crush to cross to Poland.

“It was absolute pandemonium,” said business consultant Myers, 44, speaking from Poland. ‘There was very little organisation and the closer you got to the front, the more people were pushing. Every so often there would be these big surges and people would be screaming.

“There were lots of young children and it felt very dangerous. Terrifying. Fights broke out as people accused others of pushing in or of hurting them. People had blood running down their faces. We saw a couple of women fainting and being carried above the crowd. And there was a strong rumour that someone had been crushed to death – the Polish border guards confirmed they had heard it was true.

“I have got bruises on me from all the pushing

and I am just pleased that we finally managed to make it to Poland.”

He said there was a festive atmosphere when they first reached Shehyni. But that dissipated once people realised how slowly the queue was moving. “There were probably about 2,000 people queuing in the first bit,” he says.

“It was mainly women and children with some older people. There were also a few overseas students. After that initial queue, we headed towards a rectangle space, which also had thousands of people, and then into a smaller cage-like pen. At each stage, people were getting closer and closer together.

“There were just a couple of soldiers with guns and when anyone went up to them and asked if they could organise the people, they just glared back really menacingly.

“People were trying to help each other if they could but everyone was in the same miserable position. There were no toilets and no place to get food or even water. There wasn’t even space to sit down, so people had to stand for hours on end even though they were exhausted.”

After the first check, they had to queue for another 12 hours for passport control.

The Polish border was a different experience.

“It was fully manned and we got through there quickly,” said Myers. “Once we were through, there were hundreds of volunteers who gave us food and drink and even clothes. People were

Jeremy Myers, from Manchester, and Ukrainian girlfriend Maria Romanenko are now in Poland

standing there with signs offering to take people wherever they wanted to go for free.”

On Tuesday, the pair were at the British Embassy in Warsaw when they saw Boris Johnson arrive. As he was grilled by an angry Ukrainian journalist, they queued to attempt to get Romanenko’s visa.

They are due to fly to Manchester.

Romanenko, who studied at Leeds University, can only watch on in horror as her homeland, where the rest of her family remains, is pummelled. “I know she only left the country because I forced her to,” says Myers. “But I won’t let her go back there while she could be in danger.”

Putin ‘trivialising’ the Holocaust ofthe historical facts of the Holocaust’, which have been used by Vladimir Putin and parroted across Russian propaganda.”

The Board repeated its earlier support for the UK government’s “actions in helping the Ukrainian people The Board of Deputies has accused Russia’s president, to defend themselves, and the role Britain has played Vladimir Putin, of a “trivialisation and distortion of the alongside other nations in ensuring strong economic historical facts of the Holocaust”. measures are brought to bear on the Russian regime”.

The communal organisation said in a statement It said it hoped that the authorities “will do this week that alongside the UK Jewish community, everything possible to aid those seeking refuge while it had been “deeply affected by the invasion of Ukraine this crisis continues”.

by Russia and the siege of Kyiv being undertaken by The statement concluded: “Above all, our thoughts Russian forces”. are with all those caught up in this conflict; the It added: “This senseless aggression flies in the face Ukrainian people, including many Ukrainian Jews. of justice and decency. We continue to both be inspired “World Jewish Relief, the British Jewish by the resolve of the Ukrainian people and to pray community’s leading international humanitarian for peace.”

The Board of Deputies accuses Vladimir Putin of distorting history agency, has launched a Ukrainian Crisis Appeal, as However, the Board also made apparent reference has World ORT, which operates schools in Ukraine. to Putin’s statement to the Russian people in which he The statement continued by quoting Yad Vashem, claimed that military actions were “for the demilitarisation saying: “We join the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial We would urge all those who are able to donate towards in Jerusalem in condemning the ‘trivialisation and distortion these causes.” and de-Nazification of Ukraine”.

by Lee Harpin lee@jewishnews.co.uk @lmharpin

49 RABBIS URGE JOHNSON TO CHANGE ASYLUM BILL Forty-nine UK rabbis have joined more than 1,000 British faith leaders in urging Boris Johnson to make urgent changes to an immigration bill, saying it “punishes vulnerable asylum seekers”, writes Lee Harpin.

The Nationality and Borders Bill has been criticised for effectively disqualifying asylum seekers from consideration as refugees if they come on ‘unsanctioned’ or ‘irregular’ routes.

In a letter to Johnson, leaders from Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist backgrounds

said the Bill – which is in the report stage in the House of Lords and will have its final vote in the upper chamber this week – will “fundamentally damage the values that bind UK citizens together”.

The faith leaders wrote: “Criminalising and punishing vulnerable asylum seekers who have little choice but to arrive in the UK through ‘irregular routes’, when the majority are subsequently able to prove that they have a legitimate basis for their asylum claim, is

a disgraceful and dishonourable policy, and should be abandoned.”

Signatories include the Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism, Jonathan Wittenberg, Rabbi Charley Baginsky, CEO of Liberal Judaism, Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris, principal of Leo Baeck College, the Senior Rabbi of Finchley Reform Synagogue, Miriam Berger, Rabbi Jeremy Gordon of New London Synagogue and Rabbi David Mason, of Muswell Hill Synagogue.

They joined prominent religious figures who

signed, including the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, Zara Mohammed.

The letter called on the prime minister to make last-minute changes to the bill – including abandoning the government’s plan to criminalise and restrict the rights of all people arriving in the UK seeking refugee protection outside pre-arranged schemes.

A Home Office spokesperson defended the Bill, saying it would “deliver the most comprehensive reform in decades”.

3 March 2022 Jewish News

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PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

Jewish oligarchs under microscope Boris Johnson has been questioned by a Ukrainian activist about his intention to apply sanctions to Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.

Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of Ukraine’s AntiCorruption Action Centre, confronted him in Warsaw, Poland, about taking action against the billionaire.

“You are talking about more sanctions, but Roman Abramovich is not sanctioned,” she said. “He is in London, his children are not in the bombardments.”

Johnson responded that the UK had been among the first to “tighten the economic noose” around Vladimir Putin’s regime. He added: “Putin and Putin alone” was responsible for the suffering of Ukrainians.

Jewish News revealed on Monday that Abramovich was helping Ukraine to try to negotiate with Russia. His spokesman said: “I can confirm Roman Abramovich was contacted by the Ukrainian side for support in achieving a peaceful resolution, and that he has been trying to help ever since.”

In the Commons yesterday, Johnson was asked by Sir Keir Starmer “why on earth” Abramovich was not facing sanctions. “Roman Abramovich is... a person of interest to the Home Office because of his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices,” the Labour leader said.

Later at Prime Minister’s Questions, Johnson said a list would be published of people in the UK with links to

An Instagram post by Roman Abramovich’s daughter, Sofia and, inset, her father

Putin. His spokesperson said a “significant proportion” of people on the list would be sanctioned.

London-based Russian Jewish businessman Mikhail Fridman, who has had sanctions imposed on him by the European Union, said this week he will fight the “unfair” punishment.

Fridman, 57, who is also an Israeli citizen, is one of 26 people the EU considers to have “a significant economic role in supporting Putin’s regime”. He has been a vocal critic of Russia’s invasion since it was launched.

As Jewish News went to press, it was being reported that a Swiss billionaire had claimed he had been offered the chance to buy Chelsea FC from Abramovich.

Jewish Agency ready for wave of migrants The Jewish Agency is processing migrants wanting to leave Ukraine next to at least five land border crossings with other countries.

Stations have been set up in Hungary, Moldova, Poland and Romania to help an expected wave of Ukrainian Jews fleeing war following last week’s Russian invasion.

A first group of immigrants crossed into Poland from the western Ukrainian town of Lviv on Saturday afternoon.

They were put up in a hotel close to Warsaw until they can be flown to Israel.

Israeli foreign ministry officials say they

ISRAELIS ASKED TO FLY TO UKRAINE AND FIGHT

Ukraine’s embassy in Israel has tried to recruit Israelis in a Facebook post to join the Ukrainian fight against Russia.

“The embassy has begun the formation of lists of volunteers who wish to participate in combat actions against the Russian aggressor,” it wrote in a Facebook post that was later taken down, according to Ukraine’s embassy has called for volunteers The Times of Israel.

Powerful photos have circulated in Volunteers were asked to tell coordinators about any “military spe- the news and on social media showing cialty” they have. Most Israelis com- people who were civilians a week plete mandatory army service after ago armed with guns provided by the government, ready to defend their secondary school.

The call for volunteers came country against the Russian invasion. as Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Civilians in Ukrainian cities targeted Zelensky, who is Jewish, asked Israel by Russia have been asked to prepare to mediate talks with Russia. Israel Molotov cocktails to use against the has good relations with both countries Russian army.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro and has tried to maintain that status Kuleba also called for foreign volunthrough the early days of the war.

Zelensky also asked for foreigners teers in a tweet on Sunday.

“Foreigners willing to defend to come to Ukraine and fight alongside Ukrainian soldiers and civilian con- Ukraine and world order as part of scripts. “Anyone who wants to join the the International Legion of Territodefence of Ukraine, Europe and the rial Defense of Ukraine, I invite you to world can come and fight side by side contact foreign diplomatic missions of with the Ukrainians against the Rus- Ukraine in your respective countries,” sian war criminals,” he said on Sunday, Kuleba wrote. “Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin, too.” according to CNN.

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are expecting a “significant wave” of migrants and are making preparations to care for people in the field until arrangements can be made for a flight.

The Jewish Agency added that it was preparing to house immigrants in hotels in countries bordering Ukraine.

Officials are preparing for a significant number to relocate to Israel.

JN video report at jewishnews.co.uk

Passports burnt in front of Russian embassy in Tel Aviv

A passport is held up

People set alight their Russian passports outside the country’s embassy in Tel Aviv as Israelis and Ukrainians protested against the invasion.

A crowd gathered outside the building, chanting and calling for an end to the crisis.

“We all came for the same reason, just to support, protest and to tell the Israeli government to take a stand, do something,” said protester Danat Noy. “I need to show my protest and I need to show people and I need to

show society and all media that we are here,” said another protester, Yrtalyii Betrov.

Earlier, Israel condemned the Russian attack and called on world powers to resolve the crisis swiftly.

“Russia’s attack on Ukraine is a grave breach of international order. Israel condemns the attack,” foreign minister Yair Lapid said in a televised statement.

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

Jewish leader who is Kyiv-based Natalie Gryvnyak reports on Ukraine’s Jewish history and its president Volodymyr Zelensky’s relationship to Judaism

I

n 2019, shortly after being elected president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky met with representatives of the country’s religious communities.

During his meeting with leaders of the Jewish community, one of the delegates – a rabbi – recounted to Zelensky the famous exchange in which Henry Kissinger told Golda Meir: “First I am an American, second I am secretary of state and third I am a Jew,” to which Meir responded: “Henry, you forget that in Israel we read from right to left.” The rabbi then added: “Don’t forget that the Jews of Ukraine also read from right to left.” Presumably, the rabbi was not merely trying to deliver a punchline but also a Golda-esque reminder to Zelensky that he is not only a former comedian, but also Jewish.

In Ukraine, Zelensky has been famous for years. Yet his Jewish identity has attracted relatively little attention. In 1997, aged 19, he organised the ‘95 Kvartal’ team that participated in KVN, a Soviet-era international comedy competition that is still popular in post-Soviet countries. His team twice made the finals. Building on his fame, he organised comedy shows, and created, produced and appeared in films and television series, including – after the outbreak of war with Russian-backed separatists – the Ukrainian version of the KVN competition.

In 2015, Zelensky appeared in a TV series, Servant of the People, in which he played a character who accidentally becomes president. Accidentally or not, three years later he entered politics, founding the party Servant of the People. In April 2019, he became president of Ukraine after a landslide election victory in which he received 73 percent of the vote.

His swift and unusual political rise overshadowed another feature of his career: he was Ukraine’s first Jewish president. Indeed, his election meant that Ukraine, for the first time in its history, had a president and a prime minister, Volodymyr Groysman, who were both Jewish and open about their origins. Yet neither promoted nor relied on his ethnicity in his politics. Nor did Zelensky’s Jewish identity play any apparent role in his career as a comedian or as a businessperson.

The more significant element in Zelensky’s political biography was that he came from eastern Ukraine – a region where Russian is widely spoken alongside Ukrainian – where he developed his political and business ties. He grew up in Kryvyi Rih, a steel-making city in central-eastern Ukraine with a population of more than 600,000.

Tatiana Tsyba, a former media and public communications adviser who is now an MP in the Servant of the People party, was a childhood friend of Zelensky. “We were raised in the 95th Kvartal neighbourhood of Kryvyi Rih, a district composed of many families of engineers, professors: intellectuals,” she recalls.

“We were lucky to be studying in the pres-

tigious gymnasium reading Mikhail Bulgakov and Solzhenitsyn, and in our spare time we were hanging out and listening to the Beatles.”

Tsyba says Zelensky almost never mentioned his Jewish background, and it wasn’t something people would talk about. “It never mattered ...There were a lot of Jewish people around yet there was no particular interest in who was who. Neither were there any bad feelings towards Jews.”

Zelensky’s father was a professor at the Kryvyi Rih National University, a mathematician, and head of the informatics department.

His mother, now retired, also has an engineering background. “[We were] an ordinary Soviet Jewish family,” Zelensky told The Times of Israel in 2020. “Most Jewish families in the Soviet Union were not religious.”

The first Jewish merchants and craftsmen arrived in Kryvyi Rih and the surrounding Dnipro region in the 1860s, and the 1930s construction of factories led to an influx of Jewish workers. But much of the community was scattered or murdered during the Nazi occupation in the Second World War, and any surviving Jewish institutions such as schools and synagogues were closed during the Soviet era.

As a child, Zelensky had little connection to Kryvyi Rih’s Jewish community. Instead, his Jewish ties have largely been to the community of Dnipro, the largest city in the region. Shmuel Kaminetsky, the chief rabbi of Dnipro, which now has about 50,000 Jews, met Zelensky in 2010 after inviting the comedian to perform at a Purim celebration. Since then, they have met on various occasions, including at the new president’s meeting with the Jewish community in 2019.

Kaminetsky’s parents emigrated from the Soviet Union to Israel and returned to Ukraine as part of a wave of Chabad rabbis who have attempted to revive Jewish culture in former Soviet territory.

During the days of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union, says Kaminetsky, “people were changing their names and were living in suffering and fear”. But the Jewish community of Dnipro and the surrounding region is now one of the strongest in Ukraine.

“It was hard at first,” he says. “There were not even 10 people to attend synagogue when I came Dnipro.

“The KGB was following us around. Yet, step by step, we started to change this. We started with festivities,

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky

concerts. We started to switch suffering to pride.”

Dnipro now has 10 synagogues and a sprawling community centre, Menora, which was funded by donations from Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky and other business figures. Believed to be the largest Jewish community centre in the world, it consists of a hotel, business centre, concert hall, schools, a kindergarten and a medical centre that has been used for Covid-19 vaccinations. It is visited by more than 40,000 people daily. Today, says Kaminetsky, “everyone is Jewish in Dnipro – even if they are non-Jewish”.

Yana Dobroserdova, a local entrepreneur who is not Jewish but has Jewish roots, says she didn’t even know Zelensky was Jewish.

“We are so intermixed; everyone has either a brother or friend with a Jewish background.”

In the past decade, Ukraine has experienced a revolution, the annexation of Crimea and a war on its eastern front. In each case, the Jewish community was a visible presence at the frontlines. From 2013, members of the

Jewish community were active during the Euromaidan demonstrations that led to the ousting of the pro-Russia president Viktor Yanukovych, and they joined the battle against Russian-backed separatists in the east.

In 2014, Kolomoisky, who was the governor of the Dnipro region, funded a volunteer battalion to prevent the region suffering the fate of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, parts of which are now occupied by separatists supported by Russia. In late 2015, a Jewish subgroup – complete with its own mobile synagogue – was formed as part of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, led by Dmytro Yarosh, an ultra-nationalist. Some Israelis also come to fight for Ukraine.

Asher Cherkasskiy, a well-known activist and volunteer fighter in the war, is an observant Jew who maintained religious practices while on the frontline. Formerly a deputy in Dnipro’s city council and now a board member of the city’s veterans’ union, he said the local Jewish community played a major role in defending the region. “That all had an impact on the level of trust of Jews and its representatives in Dnipro, not only in the region itself, but in Ukraine as a whole.”

Zelensky’s career unfolded in this changing Ukraine. Although a survey in 2019 by the Anti-Defamation League found some antisemitic stereotypes remain, a study by the Pew Research Center in 2018 – which Zelensky has cited in interviews – found that Ukraine had the lowest rate of antisemitism in Eastern Europe. This conclusion matches research by Ukrainian Jewish organisations.

Zelensky’s Jewish identity did not prevent him from becoming a popular celebrity or politician, and was not a significant feature of his career or his campaign. Yet his background, and his links to the thriving and prominent Jewish community in Dnipro, reveal much about the nature of politics and power in modern Ukraine. Konstantin Batozkiy, a political analyst, says Zelensky’s dealing with the Dnipro Jewish community was “practical when [the connections were] needed for him”. “People some-

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11

PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

Putin’s arch enemy times are coming to the community because it opens possibilities for them,” he says.

And the Dnipro community is a place of connections. It has a concentration of figures who have had an impact on the region’s and nation’s economy and politics, including Viktor Pinchuk, a businessman, politician, billionaire oligarch and philanthropist and son-in-law of the second president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma.

There was also Hennadiy Korban – a businessman and founder of the small nationalist party Ukrop, which was informally linked to Zelensky’s party. And there was Kolomoisky, a businessman, politician and public figure, and the eighth-richest person in Ukraine. He has been president of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, vice-president of the Football Federation of Ukraine and president of the European Jewish Union. He also had business dealings with Zelensky’s entertainment company Studio Kvartal 95 and owned the broadcaster that aired Servant of the People.

In 2016, Kolomoisky, who was accused of stealing billions of dollars from a bank he owned, fled to Switzerland and then Israel.

Zelensky visited him regularly in each place.

Weeks after Zelensky’s election, Kolomoisky returned to Ukraine. The oligarch has since been put on a sanctions list by the Biden administration. At the moment, Zelensky

is avoiding acknowledging public ties to his former business partner.

Josef Zissels, co-chair of Jewish Organisations and Communities of Ukraine, says Zelensky’s Jewish background has been less impor-

Ukrainians take shelter in an underground train station in the capital, Kyiv Pro-Ukrainian protesters outside Downing Street

tant to his public standing than his ties to Kolomoisky. The association between the pair, he says, risks being “toxic in people’s minds”.

As president, Zelensky has ended up being not so bad for his opponents and not so good for his supporters. Since being elected, his approval ratings have dropped, owing to his unfulfilled promises and scandals within his party and administration. Yet his action against pro-Russian oligarchs – particularly

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Kolomoisky in general than to Jews.”

Lykhachev says Zelensky, if anything, benefited politically from being Jewish – he was seen as a “smart Jewish boy”. But his Jewishness was not the most important factor. “What matters in Ukraine is the region you are from,” he explains.

“Dnipro was a Soviet-urbanistic region during USSR times. The philosophy of the region is ‘It doesn’t matter’. This is exactly the approach that formed Zelensky’s philosophy.”

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the TV channels and businesses of Russian-backed Viktor Medvedchuk – have boosted his popularity. He has also started to position himself as more pro-Western, and to talk more with nationalist organisations, after his earlier rhetoric proved unpopular.

Vyacheslav Lykhachev, head of the National Minority Rights Monitoring Group, says Zelensky was affiliated with Kolomoisky’s media and empire but “didn’t become its marionette”. “There is more negativity towards

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

‘It’s horrific not being able to protect family’

by Stephen Oryszczuk

About 10 minutes into the call, he looks up and out through the window.

“Jets,” he says after several moments, returning to the screen. “Russian jets just flew over my house.” He makes a swift motion with his hand and manages half a smile, together with a bit of a shrug, a semi-raised eyebrow, and a downward glance. Enemy aircraft, bombing his city – the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. What do you say to that?

He carries on, telling me about how the Russians yesterday bombed Babyn Yar, then the connection cuts. It’s about 60 seconds since the jets passed. Did they kill the power? I hold. Nothing. I email. Finally, he replies. Yes, let’s recommence.

“Sorry, that was my mother calling from Kharkiv. The Russians just bombed next to her apartment. Now it has no windows. It’s cold, really cold, minus two.

She’s 81. My father is 84. They can’t leave.”

Aleksey Tolkachov is the head of a Jewish charity in Kyiv. Others have left, but he has stayed. His day job is helping Jews there find work or set up in business.

I find myself close to tears throughout

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(my family is Ukrainian). “Aleksey, I’ve never lived in a war zone. Most of our readers won’t have. Can you describe it?”

“It’s less a fear, more a paralysis,” he tells me. “You can’t think, you can’t do anything. People have an animal fear; they fear for their own life.

“For me, it’s the helplessness. I can’t do anything to change the situation, to stop this war. I can’t physically evacuate my parents from Kharkiv because people are being shot by Russians while they drive their cars. I want to take a rocket and kill Putin, but I can’t. The most awful feeling for a man is not being able to protect his children, his wife, his family.”

Yet he is protecting people. “Me and my girlfriend took my Jewish bookkeeper and her husband to my house in the south of Kyiv. They are 70. I also took four elderly Jewish relatives. In a few hours, the shelling will start. When it does, I don’t know what to do with these elderly people.

I cannot protect them. I have no weapon.

I tried to get a gun but they ran out.”

Are there still escape routes? “Some.

But where should we go? For me, for younger people, it’s normal to take a car or train and go somewhere. But for an elderly

Damaged buildings in Ukraine

person to leave their house, it’s catastrophic. I feel Ukraine is very strong right now, but on a personal level, I feel weak.

“But I found out weakness can be overcome by helping people. I started to help get elderly people first to my house, then onto a train, to get them far away from Kyiv. People started calling and asking me to help evacuate their parents from the city, so I did. And here, now, I am talking to you because we have electricity and internet. If it goes in the next few hours, I won’t know what to do next.”

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PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

Israeli football star’s ‘crazy’ escape An Israeli football star playing in Ukraine has described his 25-hour journey to Poland as he fled the Russian invasion, writes Jeremy Last.

Manor Solomon, who moved to Champions League side Shakhtar Donetsk in 2019, found himself in a war zone after the Russian army began bombarding Kyiv last Thursday morning.

Originally based in Donetsk, Shakhtar have not played in the city since the conflict with Russia began in 2014. This season they are playing in Kyiv, where Solomon has been staying in a hotel. After consulting with team officials on Thursday, the 22-year-old midfielder decided to flee alone, catching a ride to the Polish border, which ended up taking 15 hours.

He then waited for more than 10 hours in freezing temperatures before a rescue vehicle

morning I woke up to the sound organised by Israel’s Foreign Minof explosions and alarms and istry took him to safety in Poland.

I immediately contacted the Solomon is now back with team and my friends from his family in Kfar Saba, but Kiev. After realising that I was shaken by the experihad to take care of myself ence. “My heart goes out to I decided to set off and at the people who are still there 18:30 I was picked up by a and unable to get through, I friend’s Ukrainian driver.” wish I could help,” he wrote The former Maccabi on Instagram. “My heart is Petah Tikva youngster said with the Israeli and Ukrainian he did not know what to expect citizens who are still stuck in the when he left Kyiv. “The road country and of course with was very long with crazy all my teammates, take care Manor Solomon is back in Israel traffic jams and panic of of yourselves.”

Solomon, who has played 26 times for the people fleeing. Traffic laws seemed to just be Israeli national team, wrote: “On Thursday a recommendation and petrol stations were

blown up. After more than 15 hours of hard driving, the driver dropped me off near the border with Poland in the hope that I would be able to cross.”

When he finally arrived at the Polish border he found what he described as chaos.

“There were tens of thousands of people, women and men with families and crying babies standing with suitcases in the freezing cold, in great uncertainty.

“After more than 10 hours of queuing with luggage in a crowd of people, the phone call I was waiting for arrived and I was happy to get into a car that had another Israeli family rescued, and together we crossed the border.

“Huge thanks to everyone who tried their best to help me, really appreciate it.”

OUR TEAM WILL HELP PEOPLE CROSS TO SAFETY

BY ETHAN SCHWARTZ ISRAAID

Alex is a single father in his forties. He had travelled for several days to reach the border. “Many people have had the same experience,” he said. “They just jump in the car and try to escape.”

Arriving at Moldova’s south-

eastern border with Ukraine at Palanca with IsraAID’s Emergency Response Team, we saw two lines of cars. On the right, parked cars with Moldovan licence plates – locals, volunteers and officials, here to help. On the left, driving into Moldova, private cars with Ukrainian plates, alongside buses and minivans carrying people on. We got out and walked down, dodging traffic, to the Moldovan side of the crossing, where we met Alex.

He had crossed earlier and was waiting for someone he’d never met – the cousin of a colleague – and they would travel to Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, and work it out from there.

Most people we met at the border knew they would move on quickly but did not know where they would end up. The vast majority were women and children. They had waited for hours in the snow to cross the border.

IsraAID’s initial team got to Mol-

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dova in the early hours of Monday with two key tasks: to bring urgent support, including essential supplies, to the people who need them most, and assess the situation in the country so we can plan our broader response.

Visiting Palanca, we saw how dozens of local Moldovan volunteers have come together to support the Ukrainians. Grandmothers handing out soup and grandfathers handing out blankets. People arriving with

cars and buses to drive Ukrainians wherever they wanted to go. With the numbers fleeing looking likely to keep rising, more help is needed to ensure the protection of vulnerable people both immediately after crossing at Palanca and wherever they go next.

We will be back at the border, working with Moldovans and Ukrainians to ensure the people crossing the border find safety. IsraAID’s team will be here for as long as this crisis lasts.

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

PUTIN’S WAR ON UKRAINE

Israeli rescue expert steps up for Ukraine

by Jenni Frazer jenni@jewishnews.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE

Israeli-American rescue contractor Moti Kahana has teamed with the Amer-

ican Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (the JDC, or “Joint”) to rescue 200 Jewish orphans from Ukraine, via Romania.

For Kahana, famed for his work in Syria and Afghani-

Aid for fleeing Ukrainians

stan, this will be a family affair: the rescue is being co-ordinated with his uncle, Tovia Zeter, in a small village near the Ukrainian-Romanian border, Arbore — and his mother, Amalia, 73, who was born and raised in Romania, is flying in from Israel to help with the translation.

Kahana told Jewish News that he was due this week to fly to Romania, where his uncle had already set up camp with the aid of the Joint, with a field kitchen and tents. “There is a JDC team of 12 people on

the ground. I’ve been asked to bring 400 people in total, 200 children and the rest are teachers and relatives.”

The Jewish refugees from Ukraine, said Kahana, would fly on to Israel, while the nonJews would probably be resettled in several European countries. But he made clear that he did not distinguish between Jews and non-Jews when it came to rescuing them from the battlefields of Ukraine.

“I saw what happened in Syria when Putin was carpet-bombing Aleppo,”

he said, “and nothing has changed.” He was determined to do whatever he could in a humanitarian mission.

Kahana’s own family history has a lot to do with his decision to help the Ukrainian refugees.

“Many of my relations were killed in Jassy in 1941 — and there were Ukrainians (collaborators with the Nazis) who were involved in the killing. But I am proud to help Ukrainians today, and I am doing it in honour of my family.”

Corbyn could face Labour disrepute charge over rally Jeremy Corbyn could face a charge of bringing the Labour Party into disrepute after his expected speech at a Stop The War rally last night.

The former Labour leader was due to be the main speaker at a ‘No to War in Ukraine’ event in central London, which in its promotional literature accuses Britain of playing a “provocative role” ahead of the invasion. Jewish News

understands that Corbyn’s speech will have been monitored by Labour chiefs – with a view to bringing possible disrepute charges against him.

Corbyn further infuriated party bosses last week by failing to heed a call from the whips’ office to remove his name from an earlier statement by Stop The War that condemned the “eastward expansion” of Nato and attacked the British govern-

Jeremy Corbyn at an earlier rally

ment for “indicating disdain for Russian concerns”. Sir Keir Starmer had ordered 11 Labour MPs to remove their names from the Stop The War letter on the crisis.

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15

Addiction centre / News

Professor reviews NHS work on addiction to help Israelis

by Jenni Frazer @JenniFrazer

Israel is looking at the NHS’s “pioneering” work to start to include “behavioural” addictions in its basic treatment of addicts – from gambling to obsessive screen time or addiction to social media.

Professor Shauli Lev-Ran is co-founder of the four-year-old Israeli Centre on Addiction, (ICA) an umbrella research and training group that is holding its first fundraising event in London on Sunday. He says that around 10 percent of Israeli society – a figure roughly comparable to most developed countries – suffers from varied addiction problems, from alcohol or drug abuse to troubling sex abuse issues.

Caption here please The ICA offers treatment and training – treatBut Lev-Ran says that “there were two major things in the ment to sufferers, and training to medical professionals in order to help them recognise addiction, and get 90s which probably contributed to increased national stress”.

These were the absorption of more than a million immipatients the best and most appropriate aid.

During the pandemic, the ICA found “significant chal- grants (mainly from the former Soviet Union), and the rise of lenges for all of us, including home quarantine, reduced contact terrorism and suicide bus bombings.

“Addiction is basically a pathological form of self-medicawith close friends and family, job losses, financial anxiety, and tion,” says the professor. “The higher the level of stress, the a relentless stream of fear-inducing news”.

It added: “This combination of anxiety, on the one hand, and more we need some sort of self-medication.”

But, cheeringly, although one might expect this to mean quarantine and boredom, on the other, can lead people with addiction issues to experience increased cravings and a return that Israel would have a high level of addiction, it does not.

The reason, says the professor, is that “we are quite a resilient to addictive behaviour patterns.”

As a military society, there is an additional layer of stress for society”, adding: “Resilience is built on encountering hardships, but not succumbing to them.”

Israelis – PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

1 INT O5UR

ISRAEL NT S PARTICIPA UJIA A RECEIVES RY BURS A

The ICA has an NHS representative on its international advisory board and Lev-Ran says Israel is keen to continue formal and informal links, “because there are similarities between the NHS and the Israel public health system”.

He continued: “The NHS opened the first gambling addiction clinic as part of the public health sector, and is also providing treatment for internet gaming, screen addiction, social media… we are trying to learn from the NHS experience as to how to do it on a systemic level, and how to convey it to policymakers and stakeholders.”

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

News / Guilty plea / Terror charges

Company boss admits controlling behaviour over wife’s denial of get The owner of a property company has pleaded guilty to engaging in coercive or controlling behaviour after failing to grant his wife a Jewish religious divorce.

Alan Moher, 57, and Caroline Moher, who have three children together, separated in 2016 and divorced in the Family Court.

But Moher did not give her a get – a document formally recognising the end of an Orthodox Jewish marriage, meaning she was unable to remarry, have more children or enter into a relationship with another man.

Ms Moher brought a private prosecution for a charge of controlling or coercive behaviour between January 2016 and January last year in what was described as “a landmark case” by her lawyers.

Moher, from Salford, was due to stand trial at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, but changed his plea to guilty.

The charge states he “used or threatened her with violence causing her to fear for her own personal safety

Alan Moher outside court

on two or more occasions; exercised unreasonable financial control, including by obstructing any financial

settlements ordered by the Family Court; agreed to a civil divorce but prevented her from obtaining a get (Jewish religious divorce) enabling her to remarry in accordance with Jewish law and practice”.

Moher had first pleaded not guilty and his barrister, Jeffrey Israel, explained his basis of plea did not “reflect the particulars” on the indictment.

In the document, agreed between prosecution and defence, he admitted his behaviour “was controlling in a number of ways which made it more difficult for her to regain control of her life” before he was notified of the prosecution in November 2020.

It states the case did not involve “an outright refusal” to give a get, but “did involve conduct which was likely to have been interpreted as using unreasonable manipulation of the inherent control a Jewish man has to give his wife a divorce, and thereby release her from the marriage”.

It added: “Specifically, at various times, financial discussion was raised with the complainant to induce her

to take less money than had been ordered by the Family Court proceedings in order to facilitate the giving of a get.

“There were periods of time when maintenance payments were made on an ad hoc basis, and a few times not at all, sums which the complainant was entitled to and relied upon for her and her daughter’s everyday living expenses.

“There were incidents when the defendant behaved in an abusive and threatening manner towards the complainant.”

The couple separated in 2016 and a decree nisi was granted by the Family Court the same year, but the divorce proceedings were not finalised until 2019.

The court heard Moher has a previous conviction for a public order offence after shouting that Ms Moher was “going to get what’s coming to her” following a hearing at Manchester’s Family Court.

Judge Martin Beddoe granted Moher bail on conditions not to contact Ms Moher, who lives in London,

and to live at his flat ahead of his sentencing on 1 April.

The judge said he had “not made a great impression” but described as “encouraging” that there have been no more incidents since the prosecution was brought.

“In adjourning sentence and extending your bail, you should not be under any illusions that an immediate sentence of custody is a potential outcome,” he added.

Gary Lesin-Davis, a solicitor at W Legal, the firm instructed to bring the prosecution, said: “Individuals have the right to bring private criminal prosecutions in appropriate cases.

“Prosecution can provide a powerful remedy to protect vulnerable women whose treatment by recalcitrant husbands strays into criminal offending.

“Get refusal involves a serious restriction on the liberty of the victim and is behaviour designed to control and undermine a victim, keeping her in an intimate relationship against her will and preventing her from remarrying.”

NAZI ‘SYMPATHISER’ ON TRIAL ON TERRORISM CHARGES An alleged Nazi sympathiser started building a home-made submachine gun in his garage in order to fulfil his “mission” of fighting in a religious war against Jews and other targets of right-wing terrorists, a court has heard.

Birmingham Crown Court heard Ben Styles, who has a BTEC in engineering, posted in an online group called “#Kill All the Jews” and described the Holocaust to friends as the “holohoax”, adding: “I hope the holocaust [sic] is real next time.”

Prosecutors allege the 24-year-old, who denies the charges, told his friend he was “just getting as strong as possible for the war” and sent a picture of his phone lock screen, which included images of swastikas.

The court heard messages were also recovered from Styles in 2019 following the terror attack in Christchurch which said: “I just got back from New Zealand – it made me superracist. Then that happened and I had a good day.”

Opening the case against Styles last Friday, prosecutor Matthew Brook said a police search of Styles’ garage in Leamington Spa recovered the lower part and top part of a home-made submachine gun, as well as shop-bought blanks alongside manuals that “showed the reader how to convert blank bullets into functioning live ammunition”. He said officers also uncovered a Nazi fitness manual and a book titled The SS family yearly – celebrations of the SS family.

Brook continued: “In this case, the evi-

dence will prove that the defendant, Ben Styles, fully believed in extreme right-wing ideology.

That is the twisted ideology of Nazis and white supremacy. The evidence will show that the defendant had collected on an encrypted USB drive instruction manuals about how to build guns and how to make live ammunition.

“When the police searched his home on 15 February last year, they found that he had closely and carefully followed the instructions in one of those manuals and was well on his way to making a home-made submachine gun. He had also started to make ammunition.

“He had also written a manifesto which talked about, in his words ‘working to fulfil my mission’, and set out his views about being in a

Styles’ case is at Birmingham Crown Court

religious war against the Jews and other targets of extreme right-wing terrorists. The evidence will show, it will prove, that the defendant was preparing to commit a terrorist act.”

The trial continues.

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

News / Board criticised

‘Downright insulting’ – Israel’s president attacks Board tweet Israeli President Isaac Herzog has claimed a tweet posted on social media by the Board of Deputies when far-right Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich visited the UK was “downright insulting”, writes Lee Harpin.

Speaking at a meeting of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency on Monday, Herzog added: “I have never supported the opinions of Bezalel Smotrich but I respect democracy.”

Smotrich – who once organised a so-called “Beast Parade” to show his opposition to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and once said Arabs “are citizens of Israel for now at least” – had flown to the UK earlier last month to gain backing for his campaign against religious reforms in the Knesset.

As he arrived, the Board tweeted in Hebrew: “Get back on the plane, Bezalel, and be remembered as a disgrace forever.”

A second tweet noted his past statements against Arabs and the LGBT community, and said it rejected Smotrich’s “disgusting ideology that promotes hatred”.

Addressing the issue on Monday, Herzog said: “[Bezalel Smotrich] leads a very well-known right-wing party, which has support in the Israeli public. ... Just as Jewish communities correctly expect their leadership to be respected in Israel, simi-

t.

Es

to converse with other larly I would expect Jews and other JudaIsraeli leaders to be isms. treated with respect in “This is why I found the diaspora.” the Board of DepuThe Israeli presities’ recent English dent said he was a “firm and Hebrew tweets believer in open, sincere communication concerning MK Smoand dialogue”.

President Isaac Herzog, left, criticised the trich a few weeks ago He continued: “This Board’s tweet about Bezalel Smotrich, right deeply inappropriate.

The Hebrew version approach, of constant dialogue, stems in part from my own upbringing, was downright insulting and elicited great which stems from the British Jewish commu- discomfort.”

Herzog insisted: “I believe in dialogue, and I nity, which has always been open and willing

urge my dear friends on the Board of Deputies to take a pause and invite Bezalel Smotrich to a conversation. Sound your pain, express your views and reservations. Protest and debate. But do so as you sit down and talk.”

During his visit to the UK Religious Zionist Party MK Smotrich was pictured at a meeting with Mizrachi UK chief executive Rabbi Andrew Shaw and two emissaries from the Zionist youth movement Bnei Akiva UK. Both groups later released statements attempting to distance their organisations from the meeting.

Jewish News revealed he had also met with representatives of the Chabad-Lubavitch UK movement while here. A Chabad spokesperson said: “Chabad-Lubavitch welcomes all Jews from across the spectrum, regardless of whether we share their opinions or beliefs.”

The Board said: “We understand that some people did not like our strong statement, which was in response to Mr Smotrich’s visit to the UK and his request to meet with UK Jewish groups.

“We would note, however, that we have received a great deal of thanks for our stance from Jews in Israel as well as the UK and the wider diaspora. We will continue to strongly support Israel, while opposing those who approach our community to seek backing for a message of division and hatred.”

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19

Art restitution / Victims remembered / Torah scroll / Canadian campaign / Diaspora News

France will return precious looted art The French senate has approved the return of 15 works of art looted from Jews during the Second World War as the government seeks to accelerate restitutions.

Among the pieces to be returned to the heirs of the original owners is Rosebushes under the Trees by Austrian master Gustav Klimt that is currently held in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the only Klimt artwork owned by the French state.

French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot welcomed the “historic” vote, which allows public museums and galleries to return art “acquired in troubling circumstances during the occupation because of antisemitic persecution”.

Bachelot described the art to be returned from public collections, such as Klimt’s Rosebushes under the Trees, as “objects that ought not and should never have been there”.

The bill cleared the lower house of parliament in January and just needs sign-off from president Emmanuel Macron. In 2018, he set up a special unit to try to track down the heirs of the owners, rather than waiting for them to come forward.

Rosebushes under the Trees was bought in good faith in 1980 but later research showed how it was forcibly sold by Austrian collector Eleonore Stiasny in Vienna in 1938 before she was deported and killed.

The vote signals the latest round of restitution in France, after another four

GERMANY

AUSTRALIA

CYPRUS

UNITED STATES

The Cypriot defence minister has paid tribute to 50,000 Jewish survivors who took refuge on Cyprus after the Holocaust, adding that a monument to them was testament to CypriotIsraeli friendship. Charalambos Petrides was speaking on the 73rd anniversary of the closure of refugee camps.

Gustav Klimt’s Rosebushes under the Trees has been marked for return

works of looted art were returned to their Jewish owner’s legal heirs in December. These included watercolours and drawings by 19th century French artists that were seized in 1940 from

was moved to act after Israel and the UAE agreed to normalise relations between the two countries. An expanded version with other countries later became known as the

Jewish businessman Moïse Levi de Benzion.

The French government has said up to 100,000 artworks were seized in France during the Nazi occupation.

Abraham Accords, which were signed in 2020.

Krausz travelled from her home in Zurich to Abu Dhabi for the ceremony to welcome the Sefer Torah scroll to its new home, handing it to the Jewish Community Centre, which is based in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Two years ago, she donated a Torah scroll to the Jewish

community in Iceland “because they never had their own Torah”, she said.

“Then when the [Abraham Accords] were signed between the UAE and Israel, I wanted to do the same again.

“It costs a lot of money to fund such a project, as you have to pay the scriptwriter for a full year, but I was adamant.”

Campaign highlights Canadian antisemitism

The awareness campaign launched across Toronto

An antisemitism awareness raising campaign has unfurled across Toronto in Canada after figures showed a recent 18 percent rise in anti-Jewish racism in the country.

Your weekly digest of stories from the international press Leading German dictionary Duden has changed its definition of the word ‘Jew’ (Jude in German) after an online edition said it could be ‘perceived as discriminatory’ because of the Nazis’ use of it. German Jewish leader Joseph Schuster said the word ‘Jew’ is ‘neither a swear word nor discriminatory’.

ZURICH WOMAN’S SCROLL FOR UAE A Jewish woman in Switzerland has donated a handwritten Torah scroll to the nascent Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Adina Krausz said she

WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF

Giant billboards now adorn buildings. One asks: “Does your church need armed guards?

Our synagogue does.” Another reads: “We’re just 75 years since the gas chambers. So, no, a billboard calling out bigotry

against Jews isn’t an overreaction.” The campaign is run by organiser JewBelong, a nonprofit organisation set up to fight antisemitism, together with the Canadian branch of pro-Israel advocacy group

StandWithUs. Last year, B’nai Brith Canada released the results of its annual audit of antisemitic incidents, which found that 2020 was the fifth consecutive record-setting year for antisemitism in Canada, an 18.3 percent increase from 2019.

“Antisemitism has become tolerated and normalised in far too many circles in both the US and Canada,” said Archie Gottesman, co-founder of campaign organiser JewBelong. “The time of Jews being silent in hopes that the hate will disappear has passed.”

The billboards have reached Canada following a US tour appearing in cities, such as Los Angeles and Boston.

Australia’s Anti-Defamation Commission has criticised local billionaire Clive Palmer as ‘perverse’ after he reportedly bought a bulletproof Mercedes once owned by Adolf Hitler.

The mining magnate, who is also a Senate candidate, bought the vehicle from an unnamed Russian at a London auction.

More than 3,000 teenagers from 40 countries attended a BBYO convention in Baltimore in one of the largest Jewish gatherings since the pandemic began.

Among the speakers was Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, who fielded calls from the hostage-taker in January’s assault on a Texas synagogue.

Turkey remembers Struma victims Turkish officials have paid their respects to the 768 Jews killed 80 years ago when the vessel named the Struma that they hoped would take them from Romania to British Mandate The Bet Yaakov Synagogue, Istanbul Palestine was torpedoed in the Black Sea by a Soviet submarine.

Turkey held “neutral” status during the war, but analysts today say Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is anything other than neutral towards the country’s 15,000-strong Jewish population. Although he has previously made controversial statements in relation to Israel, Erdoğan’s government has made efforts to protect and support Turkey’s Jews, almost all of whom are based in Istanbul.

A major revival of Jewish heritage across Turkey had been funded, with historic synagogues renovated, and a centre for Sephardic life now holds an annual culture festival.

PRIZED AMSTERDAM ART IS FINALLY RETURNED A painting by Wassily Kandinsky has finally found its way back to the descendants of a Jewish art collector whose family was forced to sell the painting after the Nazis invaded the Netherlands.

Painting with Houses, painted in 1909, was once owned by Emmanuel Lewenstein, whose wife and son sold it to a museum in Amsterdam “under stress” in 1940.

Overseeing the transfer this week was the city’s deputy mayor, Touria Meliani, as well as Rein Wolfs, the director of the Stedelijk Museum.

“As a city, we bear a great responsibility for dealing with the indescribable suffering and injustice inflicted on the Jewish population in the Second World War,” Meliani said. “To the extent that anything can be restored, we as a society have a moral duty to act accordingly.”

A statement issued jointly by the heirs and the municipality said they had “reached a settlement agreement… on the basis of mutual respect”.

The restitution dispute has been running for almost a decade.

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.

1252

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

Putin’s bloodbath Ukraine’s Jews are mainly elderly and staying put. Many began their lives by living through German bombs. Now, approaching their final days, the bombing has started again. This time it is from the Russians. Like Hitler, Putin’s aim is to invade and conquer.

References to the Second World War have come as thick and as fast as Putin’s rockets. The flimsy pretext for his unnecessary war is the mysterious “Nazification” of Ukraine, something no Ukrainian Jew recognises or can explain.

This claim led to opprobrium across the Jewish world. Rarely have Jewish Diaspora organisations so willingly ignored the unwritten rule of Jewish political neutrality when it comes to interstate conflict. Almost none held back in their outrage – the European Jewish Congress (EJC) being the glaring exception.

Here, the Board of Deputies was reassuringly forthright – and even seemed to back the deployment of British arms. “Vladimir Putin falsely claimed that the Ukrainian government are Nazis,” it said. “Now his forces have bombarded a site [Babyn Yar] commemorating an infamous Nazi atrocity… We hope our government will continue to do everything it can to help Ukraine defend itself.”

Others joined in. The United States’ Holocaust Memorial Museum called out Putin’s “outrageous” invasion, saying he “misrepresented and misappropriated Holocaust history by claiming falsely that democratic Ukraine needs to be denazified,” adding that his genocide claims were “equally groundless and egregious”.

Yad Vashem slammed Putin’s “propagandist discourse,” which he said was “saturated with irresponsible statements and inaccurate comparisons with propaganda before and during the Holocaust”.

It was a similar theme elsewhere. “Russian aggression cannot go unpunished,” said the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

And although Donald Trump recently called Putin “a genius”, the Republican Jewish Coalition said the Russian president “aims to destroy the nascent democracy in Ukraine, to threaten the former Soviet republics in eastern Europe, and to weaken the NATO alliance,” adding: “The free world must stand up to this now.”

The EJC – led by oligarch Moshe Kantor – has been conspicuous in its silence, but this newspaper joins with others, and calls on the UK government to do all it can to allow Ukrainian refugees in. Given the collective Jewish history of seeking refuge, this feels like one of those moments when you simply open the gate. If for no other reason than sheer bravery, they deserve safety.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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

Israel rhetoric is wrong As a regular reader of Jewish News, over the weeks I find the continued rhetoric between correspondent Fraser Michaelson and his opponents becoming tedious in the extreme. All the Israel issues have repeated themselves.

As a fervent supporter of Israel, I would like to read more about denouncing the moronic boycott, divestment and sanctions movement trolls who denigrate the Jewish state, even in a debate in Hertfordshire County Council. Do they really think they can make Israel grovel and disappear? Along with Amnesty International and the likes of John McDonnell, their ‘apartheid’ hyperbole rumbles along.

Both Amnesty and BDS should now change their stance and focus on Russia and the megalomaniac Putin, who threatens not only Ukraine and its Jews but Jews in other eastern countries.

Robert Dulin, Brickett Wood

Sketches & kvetches

Shabbat goes out Saturday night 6.34pm

HISTORY REPEATING? This decision by Russian president Putin to invade Ukraine shows once and for all the true colours of this ex-KGB intelligence officer.

It will no doubt send great fear to the likes of Latvia, Estonia, Georgia and the Czech Republic, as well as possibly Poland. Russia under Putin might start to move stealthily to occupy territories he believes should now return under their sphere of complete influence, creating a major refugee crisis for Europe. What will the west actually do as it sees history repeating?

Stephen Vishnick, Tel Aviv

PUTIN LIVES IN THE PAST

THIS WEEKEND'S SHABBAT TIMES...

Shabbat comes in Friday night 5.31pm

Fraser Michaelson asks “Without land for peace, can there be a two-state settlement? I have given my answer, but so far, no one else has.”

The burden of proof rests on Mr Michaelson to show that giving up land will, indeed, bring peace, for if he is wrong, for Israel’s Jews the “peace” would be the peace of the grave. Thus far, he has not done that.

The first duty of the Israeli government, as with any government, is to keep its people safe.

The proof that Mr Michaelson is wrong is that between 1948 and 1967 the land west of the Jordan river was divided into a de facto two-state solution, with not a settlement or Jew anywhere beyond the green line. The result was not peace but the Six-Day War, waged on Israel by three Arab armies to destroy her.

James R Windsor, Leytonstone

Sedra: Pekudei

and

“Me? A Russian oligarch? No, I’m Portuguese!”

My heart goes out to the Jews of Ukraine, who are facing down the barrel of Putin’s gun. Who would have thought we would see a lawless dictator invade a peaceful neighbour on European soil after the horrors of the last century?

Putin and his cronies live in the past. They are led by ego and blood lust. If they succeed, we will go back 80 years.

Silvia Shepie, By email

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3 March 2022 Jewish News

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Editorial comment and letters

POOR RELIEF Your readers might be interested to know that Chabad North East London & Essex, under the directorship of Rabbi Aryeh Sufrin MBE and Devorah Sufrin, have been supplying and delivering food packages to those in need, of all religious denominations and none, in the Gants Hill and surrounding area on a weekly basis.

This began approximately five years ago, when they became aware of people sleeping in the subways of Gants Hill station.

They would take cups of freshly made soup to those in need and spend time speaking with them. This need rapidly expanded as people who were struggling would ask Chabad Gants Hill for help.

With the onset of the pandemic, this has

increased greatly and they are now helping to provide fresh, tinned and dry produce to food banks and charities who supply freshly made meals to more than 1,500 families each week.

Graham Nygate, food co-ordinator, Chabad NE London & Essex

LIPSON TIES I was surprised Lucy Daltroff’s survey of Cheltenham’s Jewish connections made no mention of its most famous Jewish resident, the anti-Zionist Daniel Lipson, who in 1937 won the Cheltenham by-election as the Independent Conservative candidate after the local Conservative Association refused to adopt him because he was Jewish.

Geoffrey Alderman, By email

Memorial money for homeless Every day when I walk to my office in London, I see dozens of homeless people sheltering in doorways or begging for money or food. I try to do my bit by buying them a hot drink and a sandwich from one of the many fast food joints.

Perhaps better use could be made of the upwards of £100 million on the already tarnished project to establish a Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre in a small, loved park near parliament. Perhaps, instead, this money could be split between programmes to help the homeless and Holocaust education more widely. It would be a magnanimous move by the leadership of the British Jewish institutions if they could ask the government to do this.

Joe Millis, By email

Letter to Kamilla

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

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Opinion

Courage is infectious and Putin’s afraid of infection TOM TUGENDHAT MP

A

fter two years learning about viruses, we’re learning in Kyiv that courage is also infectious. After an absence of leadership in many countries, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky is showing the difference it makes.

The comic turned politician has a powerful combination of skills. He’s an orator with the moral clarity of a prophet. He came to power to clean out the corruption of the Ukrainian state and take on the oligarchs who had robbed the people.

Zelensky knows how to read his audience.

His broadcasts from the front have gone viral.

They have defeated the polished propaganda coming from Moscow and have brought a people together. After decades of division and corruption, the national ideal he has embodied has led to a united response. From every walk of life, every age, the struggle to defeat the invader has united a people.

The film of those lining up to take a weapon is striking. People introduce themselves as actors, tennis players, drivers, cooks, business owners and parents. It’s moving to see a single

motivation – to protect – bringing these people together.

Zelensky is part of it. His handheld selfies, speeches and images of himself in fatigues has shown a leader not just comfortable with his people, but part of them. Not separated by palace walls, but walking among them.

A little touch of Harry in the night, as Shakespeare said about Henry V at the siege of Honfleur, was more motivating than all the gold the enemy could offer.

Courage is infectious. Ukrainian MPs I met recently are following his lead and sharing images of themselves armed with rifles they’d never held before and ready for a war they didn’t choose showing themselves to be part of what can only be called a national movement.

Scenes of people across the country doing what they can are mesmerising because bravery is a quality we all crave. We watch villages standing in the way of tanks, old and young filling petrol bombs, citizens taking their place in the line and ask ourselves, ‘Could I do that?’

That courage has carried Zelensky further.

His courage, quiet wit and moral clarity are providing an example that many around the world are finding inspirational. Because we

❝

UKRAINE’S LEADER HAS PROVED HIMSELF TO BE AN ORATOR WITH THE MORAL CLARITY OF A PROPHET all know that leadership matters. And how it contrasts with others.

Zelensky is not leading a cult. At his inauguration, he called out the corruption that let the rulers get away with crimes others would pay for. Democracy, as he explained in the most powerful description of government of the people, by the people and for the people in many generations, means that everyone is president, and everyone is responsible for the country. So even running a red light, would be an affront to his constitutional oath.

That human touch, the equality and reminder of family duty as at the heart of duty to the whole nation, are a stark contrast to the ruler who sits alone in Moscow.

In his golden palace, so afraid of a virus that he can’t even meet his generals, so cut off that he doesn’t know how poorly his army is doing, so deaf he doesn’t hear the cries of his own people, sits Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky with Boris Johnson outside No 10

Though the arms are massed against him, Zelensky and Ukraine are showing that courage is infectious. Putin is afraid of infection. What a difference leadership makes.

Answer your children with honesty and reassurance JO HEMMINGS

BEHAVIOUR PSYCHOLOGIST

T

his is a tough time for parents, with children of any age. Having just been through two years of a pandemic, we may have got used to answering questions from our children about what was happening, how they could stay safe and generally reassuring them about Covid.

But while there were palpable signs of safety and protection during the pandemic – face coverings and social distancing for example, we have no such obvious reassurances when our children are watching images of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, happening in real time. Seeing mothers, babies and children struggling and stressed on crowded train platforms, separated from their fathers, uncles and brothers who have been left behind to support their country.

These children look like your children, their mothers and fathers like us. Many of us have Ukrainian grandparents or great-

❝

UNLIKE PREVIOUS CONFLICTS, THIS IS HAPPENING IN EUROPE AND IT’S CONSTANTLY ON THE NEWS AND OVER SOCIAL MEDIA

grandparents and we may have an enduring emotional investment in the current situation. But the images are graphic and compelling – triggering memories from some who remember conflict themselves and frightening our children of all ages.

So, what can we do to comfort our children? To answer their questions?

First, I believe that as a parent you have a duty to respond to your children’s questions in an honest but reassuring way.

If you don’t, they may pick up misinformation elsewhere on social media or from their friends, which might make them even more distressed.

And if your child is not asking questions, but their behaviour has changed in any way – they may be more withdrawn, more excitable, have trouble sleeping or have changed their eating patterns – please ask them about their concerns and have a frank but comforting conversation with them.

You, as a parent, are the eyes through which your children see the world. You will know instinctively how to talk to them in an age-appropriate way as well as recognise how much information they are able to cope

with – that sometimes-difficult balance between truth and protecting them. But, unlike previous conflicts, this is happening in Europe and it’s constantly in and on the news and all over social media and, sadly, we can’t hide it from them.

Try not to let them see your fears, speak to them calmly and on a level that they will understand but will also reassure them.

Offer them hope and some positives – what a strong and brave leader is the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, how he is Jewish like them, how the people of Ukraine love and respect him and work together, just like any ‘family’ to make sure that they will all be safe.

Show them old photos of their grandparents or great-grandparents and frame the narrative, so that they see unity, strength, determination and joy in being Jewish.

The balance between protecting your children and answering their questions to allay their fears is a fine one, but it’s one as parents we all have to find to ensure that our children find the reassurance and the resilience that they will need to get through these terrible times.

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Opinion

Putin is slaying my relatives, however distant they may be JENNI FRAZER

O

ne hundred and twenty-eight years ago, my grandfather – an energetic and adventurous young man, by his own account – arrived in Britain, bringing, so family legend has it, his parents with him rather than the other way round.

He was, apparently, an only child, very unusual in the days when Jewish families were sibling rich. I suppose there might have been other brothers and sisters who either died young or elected not to join my greatgrandparents and their son.

In any case, with almost no education, he found a warm welcome in the Jewish community of Manchester and, once married, went on to found his own mini-dynasty of eight children.

And where had he come from? Well, of course, Ukraine. Berdychiv to be exact, which is about 120 miles south-west of Kyiv, and is in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. It is a city perhaps more familiar to us as Berdichev, a place where,

at the end of the 19th century when my grandfather and his parents were living there, Jews comprised around 80 percent of the population. They had the pick of 80 synagogues!

Like everyone else, I expect, I have been glued to the news this week about Ukraine, and, of course, with my little bit of skin in the game, wondering whether there remained any relations, no matter how distant.

If people ever asked where my family was from I used to say offhandedly, “Russia”, because, to be honest, Ukraine was a closed book to me.

And when I began to learn a little about what had taken place during the Holocaust to Ukraine’s Jews, and the collaboration of Ukrainian nationalists with the Nazis, I was profoundly grateful that my grandfather had shlepped his parents out of the country.

This feeling only intensified a few years ago – pre-pandemic – when I went to Kyiv to report on the building of a grand museum and memorial on the site of those murdered at Babyn Yar. But, as with so many issues, it’s not all black and white. It was certainly true that there were

❝

WE HAVE WATCHED WOMEN MAKING MOLOTOV COCKTAILS, READY TO DEFEND THEIR COUNTRY still Ukrainian nationalists who celebrated the actions of Second World War collaborators, and who insisted on honouring them.

But there were also large numbers of people who wanted to honour the Jewish community – and those who wanted to make a distinction between the former Soviet Union and Ukraine.

Natan Sharansky, it’s worth remembering, was born in Ukraine – in Donetsk – when it was under Soviet rule. But he made an appearance at the launch of the Babyn Yar memorial as a son of Ukraine, not as an ex-Russian.

And today, with great pride, we can point to the leadership of Volodomyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s unashamedly Jewish president, representing his country with panache and courage. Zelensky is often mocked as a former comedian, but he won the 2019 election in a

landslide victory and – at the time of writing – is displaying great bravery in the face of Putin’s aggression.

I’ve watched the women of Ukraine making Molotov cocktails, ready to defend their country against the heavily-armed Russian forces. I’ve read about the families sleeping in basements, and listened to the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK on the radio talking about his 74-year-old mother spending nights in her Toyota.

And I couldn’t understand why I was so obsessed with this story. Except that, if my grandfather hadn’t been so determined and mule-ish… well, you know the rest. Either one more Holocaust statistic in the murder pits of the Ukrainian forests, or facing up to Putin today. So thank you, Grandpa.

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3 March 2022 Jewish News

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

Opinion

My 11 hours in shul, staring down the barrel of a gun JEFFREY R COHEN

ONE OF THE CONGREGANTS OF BETH ISRAEL, HELD HOSTAGE IN TEXAS

I

f I have learnt anything over the past month, it is that racist tropes are not harmless words. They must be actively and consistently challenged.

The racist tropes peddled about Jewish people are plentiful. What you may not know is that antisemitic tropes caused my friends and me to be held hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas.

Our Shabbat morning service on 15 January began normally. I had just sat down after the morning Amidah. Within a few seconds, I heard that unmistakable sound of an automatic pistol chambering a bullet. A man we invited into the synagogue on that cold morning so he could warm up was screaming. He waved his gun at us and threatened to blow us up with a bomb.

Without turning around, I picked up my phone from the chair next to me, dialled 911, and returned it, screen side down, to the chair. I stood up and faced our attacker. I slowly moved so I was in line with an exit. Many of you are

aware of the terror that unfolded over the next 11 hours. One of us was released after about six hours; the other three, including me and Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, escaped by running out a side door five hours after that.

Our attacker had a specific demand. He wanted to free a person being held in a US federal correction centre. And he thought we could get that done. “Jews pull all the strings.

Jews control the banks and the media. Jews control the government,” he repeatedly told us.

Trump would listen to his demands rather than allow even one Jew to get hurt. He had clearly bathed in racist tropes about my community.

Words have caused, and will continue to cause, harm. And those little throwaway tropes we all endure may be the most damaging because, when repeated often enough, people begin to believe them.

When not addressed directly, racist tropes make all of us bystanders to hatred and participants in another’s suffering. We live in a society

❝

RACISM MAKES ALL OF US BYSTANDERS TO HATRED AND PARTICIPANTS IN ANOTHER’S SUFFERING He demanded we get the “chief rabbi of the United States” on the phone – but there is no such thing in the US – not that a chief rabbi would have that kind of power in the first place.

Our attacker frequently told us not to worry because President Biden and former President

in which we hold onto the premise that racists are the minority. We say nothing because we don’t want to bring attention to ourselves or the comments. Sometimes we even tell ourselves “we are stronger than those who hate us”. We may well be. But that doesn’t mean the actions

PRECIOUS STONES

of the hateful should be coddled or tolerated.

Racist tropes must be challenged consistently and vigorously. How many of us have been taught if we ignore the taunt and do not engage the bully, they will go away? That didn’t work in primary school; it won’t work now. Words matter; they influence. Repeated racist tropes dehumanise. Unchallenged words signal acceptance. Here are things I am committing to do: • First, question what I hear, in the moment.

I will ask: “Did I hear you correctly? What did you just say?” I believe we can force speakers to acknowledge their words and confront social norms. It also empowers others to speak out; •Second, inform the individual their comment is unacceptable. I will do better about sharing in the moment something like: “Statements like that are not acceptable here.”

• And third, respond to the trope with truth and appeal to the speaker’s sense of right and wrong. I might share: “Both the fascists and the communists used antisemitic tropes as propaganda. They needed a scapegoat to blame for their failings. Don’t follow in their footsteps.”

If we don’t challenge racist tropes, we have no hope they’ll ever stop.

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Inside A look

Who, What & Where Body confidence JN Junior

Josh Tapper, right, pictured with his family in the series Gogglebox

ouncillor Best known as a sofa critic on Channel 4’s Gogglebox, Josh Tapper now has political ambitions, he tells Lee Harpin

I

t’s 10 years since a large proportion of UK telly watchers first watched then teenager Josh Tapper, his dad Jonathan, his mum Nikki, and his sister Amy on Channel 4’s Gogglebox. Their hilarious banter and sheer love for each other was infectious.

That was then. Now ex-Rosh Pinah Primary School and Yavneh College pupil Josh, 25, has set his sights on a rather different role. Having quit Gogglebox in 2017 to join a Civil Service apprenticeship scheme, in the forthcoming local elections he is standing as a Labour Party candidate for Edgwarebury, the ward in which he grew up.

Josh’s great-great grandpa, Morris Bloom, came to the UK from what is now Lithuania, and founded the well-known kosher deli eaterie Blooms in Brick Lane, London’s East End. It was passed down through the family and, when Josh was young, his father ran the Golders Green branch of the restaurant.

“I’ve got such fond memories of Sunday lunches when I was child,” recalls Josh. “I was too young to enjoy the salt beef sandwiches, but I loved the schnitzels!”

Blooms gave Josh his first experience of campaigning for change. “I was instrumental in making sure we got spaghetti bolognese on the kids’ menu at Blooms,” he says, with a big smile.

Josh speaks fondly of his childhood days in Edgware, where he still resides today.

Alongside his father, he was a regular at

Edgware United Synagogue. “Jewish identity is still very important to me,” he says. “We keep kosher at home, and when out. We do Friday night dinner every week – it’s a big part of my identity, friends and family coming together.”

Viewers of Gogglebox – during which the Tapper family stayed on our screens for five years and tallied up a total of 11 series – got their own glimpse of Josh’s parents. But it’s still amusing to hear his assessment of his mum – who runs the nursery at Sinai Jewish Primary School – and his dad.

“My dad is a very relaxed person; my mum is slightly louder,” he observes. “Anyone who has watched us on TV will know mum is not quiet!

She’s very chatty, and she knows everyone.

I don’t want to say dad’s a pushover, but my mum definitely wears the trousers.”

Nikki had dabbled in appearing on reality TV shows and when the family was notified of a newly-created show named Gogglebox, they jumped at the chance to be involved.

“We had to do a casting session,” Josh says of the first audition. “They pulled out pictures of celebrities and other events from that time and we just had to talk. I was 15, my sister was 13. It all felt very exciting.”

After the four weeks of series one, they were invited to do a second series, and this time they were commissioned for 13 episodes.

“Then Gogglebox blew up out of nowhere,” he says. “I spent the next five years living that

life while also trying to live a normal life. But I was the guy who was on TV. “My days were long as we were filming the scenes in addition to school. We were spending a lot more time as a family on a sofa than we were used to. That was nice in many respects – but we often argued, too!”

Top: Josh Tapper as he is today and, above, pictured Josh laughs as he remem- outside Rosh Pinah Primary School bers how his family made others to take this option if they don’t want to the Gogglebox crew adapt to their traditional go to university.”

Jewish lifestyle as they filmed them at home.

Josh was taken on by the Civil Service and “We tried to stay clear of filming on Friday worked across the Cabinet Office and No 10. nights, but the schedule meant we had to do a He was exposed to high-profile work and few,” he recalls. “There was an agreement that people and learnt a lot about what goes on in if we did have to do Fridays we had to break for government. He says the Civil Service should dinner. We introduced the crew to Kiddush, be a force for good that isn’t political. challah, chicken soup, egg and onion and But in 2019, he found his political views chopped liver. coming to the fore and, to his family’s surprise, “As the only traditional Jewish family on left the Civil Service to join the cross-party the show, it felt like we were representing the think tank and research outfit Demos. entire community at times,” says Josh. When He also joined the Labour Party when Sir Pesach came around, the crew were warned not Keir Starmer became leader. While there is to bring their own food into the Tapper’s home. “still work to be done” around eradicating The crunch point for Josh came as he antisemitism, he says the party now is incomtook his A-levels, while still a Gogglebox star. parable to that under Jeremy Corbyn.

Despite being academically bright, he had I ask why he thinks he would make a good never excelled at exams. A place at Birmingham local councillor.“I’ve lived in Edgware all of my University was a distinct prospect if he felt life,” he says. at ease with exam conditions, but he didn’t.

“I go to synagogue in the ward and I underInstead, he explored the prospect of a Civil stand the issues the community faces, like Service apprenticeship, open to non-graduates, fixing potholes, boosting our economy, issues which offered similar chances of progression to such as green spaces and local parks. These are those attainable for university students. really important to me.

“It opened my eyes to the opportunities “I will listen to the community and work apprenticeships can provide,” he says. “I’ve with them to try to make things a little better.” been back to Yavneh to give talks to inspire

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

JN LIFE

&

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WHO WHAT WHERE NETFLIX

A Jewish Invention

ISRAEL TV

Who hasn’t been or isn’t currently hooked on Inventing Anna? As addictive as The Tinder Swindler, the Netflix series created by Shonda Rhimes has kept us all up too late and longing to stay at La Mamounia hotel in Morocco. And the clothes! Holding us in her spell as fake heiress Anna Delvey, an infamous scammer socialite, is Ozark’s Julia Garner.

Extremely talented, but “not conventional Hollywood beautiful” (her words), Julia describes herself as “kind of weird-looking, especially at 16, when I had weird curly hair and a gap tooth. I still look the same. So, I get cult members. I get pregnant Mormon girls”.

And still she got Anna Delvey, the darling of Manhattan’s party set, from whom she stole thousands but planned to take millions. Julia told Rolling Stone magazine that, ahead of filming, she visited Delvey – real name Anna Sorokin – in prison, where she was serving a four-to-12-year sentence for larceny, but the working-class Russian girl who repackaged herself as a billionaire German heiress was still a mystery. “Anna doesn’t know herself, and it’s really hard to play someone who doesn’t know themselves.”

Julia was raised in what she describes as a colourful Jewish household in the Bronx. Her father is an artist and her Israeli mother, Tamar Gingold, was once a sketch comedian on Israel TV, but is now a therapist and transformed their living room into an improv stage. In her next film, The Assistant, Julia is Jane, the browbeaten assistant of a Harvey Weinstein-esque mogul, for whom she organises everything, including the things she really shouldn’t, such as erectile dysfunction medicine, and calls from his wife. Not nearly as much fun as going to parties in Alexander McQueen dresses and Celine sunglasses as Delvey (right), right), right ), but no doubt as compelling.

Until its release, fans will make do with the meme T-shirt.

SPORT

Run for Tel Aviv

The Tel Aviv Marathon took place last Friday, with tens of thousands of runners from more than 40 countries taking part. Taking the crown for the men was Vincent Kipsang Rono of Kenya, with a time of two hours, 12 minutes and 55 seconds and the women’s winner, Israeli Mantamar Bikaya, shortly after on two hours 53 minutes and one second.

Taking place for the first time after receiving the label of the World Athletics Association, the 2022 Samsung Tel Aviv Marathon is the first Israeli marathon to hold this licence.

Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai said: “We were proud the event was the first Israeli marathon to receive the standard mark of the World Athletics Association and officially become one of the leading marathons in the world.”

CINEMA

Life’s a Beach

The Kosher Beach is a gated 100-metre strip of beach in Tel Aviv with dedicated days for women and men to bathe separately. It’s only a half-hour drive from Bnei Brak, a closed Orthodox city, but for the ‘Brave Bunch’, a female Orthodox sisterhood from Bnei Brak, it’s light years away. It’s their source of quiet sanity; their own private haven of freedom where they can be themselves, take a deep ocean breath and open their hearts to the sea.

An entire hidden world full of humour is exposed, which only exists from the moment they get on the minibus that takes them to the beach to the moment they get off the bus and re-enter their city. What happens when the heads of their community threaten to close the strip down is what you will see in Kosher Beach now on www.streamisrael.tv

WORLD BOOK DAY

Weekend of Wonder In celebration of the 25th anniversary of World Book Day, Camden Lock’s Stables, Hawley Wharf and Buck Street Market are coming together this weekend to hold a literary event to capture the imagination of bookworms of all ages.

No day out is complete without nosh, and food establishments across Camden’s markets have created a special menu of limited-edition dishes straight out of the pages of children’s books. The BFG’s Frobscottle, Alice in Wonderland-inspired pancakes, Eat Me cookies and a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party brunch are among the many amazing culinary creations. Famous authors including Nicholas Allen and Konnie Huq will read from their books on one of Camden’s iconic barges.

There’ll be the chance to create World Book Day-inspired customised hats, T-shirts, shoes and more. Butterfly-winged stilt walkers will create a giant version of the iconic character from The Hungry Caterpillar while face painting, caricature drawing and even a Hansel and Gretel treasure trail make it the perfect day out for all the family. Some events are ticketed, and fancy dress of your favourite book character is encouraged! www.camdenmarket.com

Interfaith love A shortish (100 mins) but very sweet film, A Starry Sky Above the Roman Ghetto is showing at JW3 this week. The discovery of a photo and a letter in an old suitcase prompts a group of Jewish and Christian high school students to learn about the fate of the little girl in the picture – and of the Roman Jewish community to which she she belonged. Bursting with youthful energy, this charming drama looks back at Italy’s dark war years while celebrating the modern culture of coexistence, tolerance and interfaith love.

A young film for all ages. www.jw3.org

DRESSING UP

Marvellous Fashion

With the launch of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel season 4 comes all the memorabilia. The T-shirt is the most obvious way for fans to show their support of the stand-up housewife, but if you’re nifty with stitching and want to model a Midge creation, Etsy is selling a pattern for the dress costume designer Donna Zakowska made for Mrs M in season one (pictured right, ( created in red silk faille). If you manage to pull it off (or on), show your creation on our Instagram @jewishnewsuk and tag @CostumeIndustryCoalition. www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1062680609

3 March 2022 Jewish News

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Come and join our Springdene family Premier care homes in North London

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ooking for a care home for yourself or a loved one?

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New residents at Springdene can be sure of a warm reception. All our homes – Spring Grove in Hampstead, Spring Lane in Muswell Hill and Springview in Enfield – are rated as good by the Care Quality Commission.

Residents enjoy hotel-style luxury, with their own spacious room, complete with full en-suite facilities, personal telephone and wi-fi. There are three delicious meals a day, with a varied choice of menus.

And there are lots of regular activities, including quizzes, short stories, art competitions and poetry readings, livestreamed concerts and film-showings on a big screen, as well as walks in delightful gardens.

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The ultimate in comfort, Spring Grove was purpose built in 1992 to luxury hotel standards. With 40 single and three double rooms, it is situated on the Finchley Road near to Swiss Cottage and is close to local shops, cultural facilities and a tube station. It has large terraces and attractive, well-planted gardens.

Standing in tranquil surroundings, Springview is a purpose built home, situated near to Enfield Town with its local shops and public transport. It is adjacent to green belt countryside with views overlooking Enfield golf course and beyond.

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

JN LIFE

I lost my hair and

Confidence is often tied in with how a person looks, but one woman tells Alex Galbinski how losing her hair was the making of her

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izi Jackson-Barrett was distraught when she discovered an egg-shaped bald patch while getting ready for her 40th birthday party. She was recently married and had lost five stone to feel she was her best self. Within six weeks, though, she was devasted to lose all her remaining hair. So how is it that she now describes herself as “short, fat and bald” yet says she is the happiest she has ever been?

Lizi, 44, who details her journey through self-loathing to self-acceptance and confidence in her book, How to Feel Beautiful, is a coach and motivational speaker and helps women come to accept themselves, improving their self-esteem.

Her book – and indeed her work – is aimed at any woman who has ever looked in the mirror and found herself lacking. “The overarching aim is to help women see that you don’t need to be wishing for a different appearance in order to achieve some kind of happiness that is eluding you. And that, actually, you can find that happiness, self-love and contentment

Lizi is now a confidence coach and motivational speaker

without changing a single thing about yourself.”

Lizi, who lives in Romford, rails against the general consensus of beauty. “It’s got nothing to do with how you look and everything to do with how you look at yourself,” she emphasises.

“Beauty can be found in every single person and every single shape and size of body. We’ve got this received wisdom that beauty has to fit within these really narrow parameters of shape and size. And I completely reject that.”

Lizi did try to squeeze herself into those very parameters she now eschews. The year before her wedding, she existed on shakes and soups, which took her from a size 22 to a size 12-14. Yet while she looked great and the compliments came thick and fast, she wasn’t happy.

“I now very deliberately introduce myself to people by saying, ‘I’m short, fat and bald, and I feel beautiful’, because I know that is the kind of antithesis of what we’re told a beautiful woman looks like. The truth is that I feel more confident and better about my appearance than I ever have done.”

Lizi wasn’t happy even at her thinnest

because she felt – like most of the women she’s ever met – that she needed to continue to change herself. “Women are told, from the youngest age, that our mission is to keep striving for perfection and that no matter what we do to our bodies, there’s always something else to be aiming for.

“Once I lost my hair, I gave myself permission to stop doing that, to stop that cycle of looking for the next way to change myself to try to be more beautiful.”

Lizi had been dreading her hair falling out.

Her father had lost his hair from alopecia in his early 20s and she had feared it could be hereditary.

She felt “terror, just absolute pure fear” when her hand touched her naked scalp for the first time. “It was this fear of the shame that comes with it, the idea that if people notice it, what are they going to say about me? And how am I going to hide it?”

Doctors prescribed high doses of steroids, which caused her to regain her weight, but it did not save her hair. “For a few months, I was in really quite a dark place and I cried constantly,” admits Lizi, who is a member of South West Essex and Settlement Reform Synagogue.

“There was this belief that no matter what I did, I would never be beautiful. Until this thought came into my head: that if I’m never going to be the thing I’ve been trying to be my whole life, it means I’m allowed to stop trying.

“And that was the moment where everything shifted – my entire perception of the world, of myself and my place in it.”

When she first lost her hair, her husband

Above: Lizi Jackson-Barrett as she is now and left, after she lost weight and before her alopecia diagnosis

told her he didn’t see her any differently because she was the woman he had always loved and found beautiful.

“He said my beauty was never dependent on my body shape or anything else and it came from something much deeper and more important.”

Lizi believes her alopecia has ultimately had a positive impact on her and her family. Her twins, who are nearly 13, see her speaking positively about herself in spite of not fitting the ‘normal’ ideals of beauty. “I’ve seen a difference in the way they talk about themselves as well. It’s given me the chance to be a role model for them and to show that you can call yourself beautiful and see your own beauty, no matter what you look like.”

Lizi also views herself differently. “It’s made me stop wasting so much time, energy and money. I’ve been able to put all of that into really positive things: growing my business and making time for my children and being happy with my husband – everything that brings us real happiness. So on that level, I’m grateful I’ve got alopecia.

“And I feel like I have been given this gift that means I’ve been able to share my story with so many women from so many walks of life, which has helped them to re-evaluate the way they see themselves. I don’t think I would have been able to have that impact on the world if I still looked like an average woman.”  How To Feel Beautiful by Lizi JacksonBarrett is available from Amazon, priced £4.47. www.lizijacksonbarrett.com

3 March 2022 Jewish News

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Why Sababa?

SABABA NEWS ST O P P R E S S !

As their current sponsored charity, Sababa are collecting funds** towards the purchase of 30,000 packages of emergency food supplies across 180 Jewish Communities in Ukraine.

Be aware that this is a real, down to earth, campaign, with real people, in real danger. This really is a life and death situation. Any amount that you can donate would be of serious help. and greatly appreciated. Please be as generous as you can .

PLEASE support them - For full details of what you can achieve with just a small donation: go to www.charityextra.com/ukraine/55057 **Donations matched by a generous donor.

As a small gesture of appreciation, Sababa will also give a Sababa Voucher for £10 for all donations of £180 (after ‘matching’.)

P r i v a t e E ve n t s

Not everyone is aware that we also cater for private events.

When: Weekday or Shabbat / Yom Tov Location: Sababa, shul, communal buildings / home.

Occasion: Sheva Brachot, Birthday, bar-mitzvah, batmitzvah, brit seuda, upsheren, kiddush, communal, business breakfasts, office parties etc Facilities: Full Sababa Menu + Catering Menu, crepe stations, sushi stations, buffets, full service, platters, breakfasts, dinners, lunches and more… (Ready made platters with food from our menu e.g. sushi, pizza bites, fish ’n chips, salads…)

froyo

froyo

Sababa

Planning an event? Discover the Sababa Advantage! Email: hannan@sababaa.uk

TEL: 020-8191 0308

OPENING HOURS

33-35 Shenley Rd

Sunday - Thursday:

Borehamwood

9.30am - 9.30 pm Friday: 9.00 am - 2.30 pm

WD6 1AE

SATURDAY NIGHT 1 hour after Shabbat - 10.30 pm

Email: hannan@sababaa.uk Email: W e b :hannan@sababaa.uk w w w. s a b a b a a . u k We b : w w w. s a b a b a a . u k

Seasonal Drinks

New ‘JUST BAKED’ Range…

We are delighted to now be offering mouthwatering biscuits, cakes, rogelech etc from Just Baked

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

JN Junior / In association with

JN Junior

Make a Grogger ON! S D AN !

The big question

H HANDS ON

What does ‘growth’ mean to you?

HHAANNDDSS OONN! !

Genius Jake says: There is a lot to celebrate this month! On 16 March it’s Purim, when we celebrate the Jewish people living in Persia being saved from extermination by Esther, a young Jewish woman. In synagogue, we read the Book of Esther (or ‘Megillah’) and it’s customary to hold carnival-like celebrations and dress up. And today is World Book Day and British Science Week, between 11 and 20 March, is a 10-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths, with the theme of ‘growth’. There are examples of this all around us – think of the growth of towns and cities, how plants grow, how buildings are constructed and the human life cycle from baby to adult. There are ways we can grow as people, such as improving a skill or behaviour, being creative, using our time better and trying new things.

Last year, I struggled to do fractions, and now I’ve learnt how – this is also a type of growing! Finally, it’s Mother’s Day on 26 March, so do something to make your mum smile!

Make a Grogger

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Sasha Spencer, age eight, north London I joined Cheder in Year 1 and could not read any Hebrew. I slowly learnt to read each letter. The Hebrew alphabet has 32 letters. Once I finished learning the alphabet, I moved onto vowels. The first was kamatz, the second patach and the third was tzeireh. Initially, it was hard reading the vowels with letters, but with practice it has become easier and I can now read some longer words. As you grow you can learn more things and I am enjoying learning this new language!

Good news for...

Lego and hospitals

The LEGO Group is creating model MRI scanners to help explain the MRI process to children. LEGO will donate them to radiology departments within hospitals with the aim of familiarising children with the MRI process, making it less scary and allaying any anxiety. The build is split into two rooms, one containing the MRI scanner and another for staff to stay and monitor the patient.

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Five things to enjoy this month

1

Beano exhibition at Somerset House The Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules ends on Sunday. Generations of children have loved the puckish cartoon archetypes including Roger the Dodger and Dennis the Menace. www.somersethouse.org.uk

2

British Science Week To celebrate British Science Week, London Transport Museum is holding interactive STEM sessions for KS2 pupils on 9 & 11 March to explore the impact of vehicles and engineering. www.ltmuseum.co.uk

Compiled by Candice Krieger candice@jewishnews.co.uk

3

The Elves and the Shoemaker Younger children will enjoy watching Elvis Schumacher, cobbler and craftsman, trying to save his shoe business from evil businessman Bunyan Sole-less. Two shows on Sunday 13 March. www.artsdepot.co.uk

4

Family fun day at Ascot

5

There’s top quality Jumps racing plus themed activities for all ages at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire on Monday 27 March. www.ascot.com

Purim at JW3 On Sunday 13 March, kids can design a superhero costume, fuel up on hamantashen and enjoy games, songs, face paints and more at JW3’s Purim Party Justice Carnival. www.jw3.org.uk

3 March 2022 Jewish News

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35

Orthodox Judaism

MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA In our thought-provoking new series, rabbis and rebbetzen relate the week’s parsha to the way we live today

BY REBBETZIN DINA GOLKER ST JOHN’S WOOD SYNAGOGUE

It’s the thought that counts The old saying, ‘It’s the thought that counts’, really might be true!

Nicholas Epley, a behavioural science professor at Chicago University, proposes that we, as gift givers, feel closer to the recipient when we have made an effort in selecting their gift. A relationship is enhanced with a thoughtfully considered gift, based on what the recipient genuinely needs and desires. Admittedly, this is not always an easy task and, contrary to general opinion, research suggests that perhaps we are better off just asking what the recipient would like.

Parshat Pekudei deals with the construction of the Tabernacle and the priestly vestments. You will notice that after every directive, the phrase ka’asher tzivah Hashem et Moshe (just as God commanded Moses) appears.

Why this constant repetition?

One suggestion is that the Tabernacle was a tikkun (atonement) for the sin of the Golden Calf and, with this insight, we can learn something significant about creating and maintaining good relationships.

A superficial reading of the text indicates that we created an idol to serve as our new deity. However, we had just been redeemed from Egypt and witnessed earth-shattering miracles. Had we not heard directly from God Himself just six weeks earlier: “You shall not make for yourself any graven images”?

Many commentators maintain that we did indeed trust God, knowing that we would ultimately receive the Torah, but there was a delay, and we felt something should be done meanwhile to serve God, to make Him happier with us and improve our divine connection.

The Israelites reasoned that since Moses hadn’t returned, they now needed a new intermediary to connect with God – and this was the Golden Calf. But they failed to consider what God would desire from them to create such connection, and therein lay their sin.

It now becomes easier to understand the repetitive ka’asher tzivah Hashem after each directive, because this Tabernacle was meant to be built exactly according to God’s wishes, to enable us to connect

Specialist Dietitian

Sometimes it is best to ask the recipient what they would like

with Him through His chosen method, not ours.

A fine line exists between the construction of the Tabernacle and that of the Golden Calf. Both were acts of love on the Israelites’ part in their endeavour to get close to God,

but one accorded with His will and the other with theirs. Bearing this in mind should help us improve all our interpersonal relationships, by giving not exclusively on our terms, but by taking other people’s wishes and aspirations into account too.

JEWISH NEWS

Noa Girls is a charity supporting adolescent girls in the Orthodox Jewish Community

ONLINE EDITOR

We are seeking to recruit a specialist dietitian in an exciting opportunity to join Noa's new and unique specialist Eating Disorders Programme.

Jewish News (Free Weekly Newspaper of the Year 2021/22) is looking for an ambitious, passionate and creative online editor to take its ever-growing brand to the next level.

The successful applicant will have at least two years of clinical dietetic practice, including experience in mental health, eating disorders and nutrition support, as well as experience of working with challenging client groups.

Salary - £33,000 - £44,000 FTE (depending on experience) Part-time (12 hours per week).

For an application pack please email HR@noagirls.com Closing date: 9am, Monday 14th March 2022

As online editor you will be responsible for: • Maintaining the timeliness, impact and quality of jewishnews.co.uk • Managing the homepage, writing enticing must-click headlines and writing and editing web content.

• Editing and publishing our Daily Newsletter, delivered to 20,000 inboxes every afternoon.

• Responding to breaking news and developing stories in real time.

• Compiling picture galleries and video content and ensuring the weekly podcast, newspaper page turner and supplements are uploaded.

• Ensuring newspaper content is online and feeding online content • • • •

into the newspaper.

Managing an extensive list of Jewish News bloggers.

Tracking and analysing website traffic.

Promoting content on social media in an engaging way to drive web traffic.

Updating the site out-of-hours when necessary.

We’re looking for someone with at least three years editorial experience who can write crystal-clear news and feature copy to tight deadlines.

Experience in Photoshop and content management systems preferable.

Sounds like you? Then email your CV and a covering letter to the editor at richard@jewishnews.co.uk.

Closing date: Monday 7 March.

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Jewish News 3 March 2022

Progressive Judaism

BY RABBI RODERICK YOUNG

FREELANCE RABBI LIVING IN NORFOLK

In the face of Covid, what would Job do?

In the first instance, we have to know what Job did when visited by tragedy. There is an expression, ‘the patience of Job’. It suggests that Job accepts all the appalling things that happen to him without complaint.

But this is untrue.

In the face of losing his family and possessions, Job laments: “Perish the day on which I was born.” He exclaims: “I am disgusted with life.” He moans that God has “congealed me like cheese”. Much of the Book of Job is filled with his angry railing. Maybe we should talk about ‘the impatience of Job’?

Job’s friends try to convince him that God is punishing him for sinful behaviour and they urge him to uncover his sin, do penance and then all will be well. But at the end of the book, it is Job’s friends who are chastised by God for giving him rotten advice! This is a remarkable moment in the Bible, for it means that Job’s friends are wrong and that suffering is not the wages of sin.

So why does Job suffer? God finally gives an answer,

of sorts. In a beautiful poem filled with questions, God asks Job: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?”

And later God asks: “Can you tie the cord to Pleiades or undo the reins of Orion?”

God is saying that we are just one part of creation and that we can never hope to understand the grand design of the universe or comprehend why suffering exists.

We don’t talk about the impatience of Job because, for all the horror that befalls him, Job never gives in and curses God. He is pushed to the limits of endurance, but he never does what his wife suggests: “Curse God and die!” And at the end of the Book, he rebuilds his estates, has 10 more children and, in a final revolutionary act, he wills land to his daughters as well as to his sons.

So, in the face of Covid, what would Job do? He would cry and complain about illness, lockdown, masks and death. And it would be healthy to get that off his chest. He would understand that this disease is a part of creation, even as he doesn’t understand why. He would approve of the scientists’ search for cures and the temporary laws to keep us safe, because he knows humans must fight when faced with disaster.

However, he would never despair, because that is to doubt God. Instead, he would roll up his sleeves, get triple vaccinated and help to rebuild the shattered world.

Photo by Isaac Quesada

LEAP OF FAITH

A stimulating new series where our progressive rabbis consider how biblical figures might act when faced with 21st century issues

Job would complain about having to wear a mask

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Ask our

37

Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

Flights to Israel are becoming possible again!

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

This week: Help to be able to hear the TV, securing business premises and monitoring employees’ email and internet use SUE CIPIN CHARITY EXECUTIVE

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION

Dear Sue I’m stuck at home and the television is vital company for me. But I have a hearing loss and can’t make out what is being said, even with my hearing aids. I’m desperate to be able to enjoy it more, as I live alone.

Please help.

Martha Dear Martha This must be so frustrating for you. The good news is that we can refer you to your local council who should be able to offer you a television listener.

The devices normally provided are used instead of, or together with, hearing aids

STUART WOOLGAR VACANT PROPERTY SECURITY

GLOBAL GUARDIANS MANAGEMENT Dear Stuart I own a few lock-up shops in various locations across London, some with storage or accommodation upstairs.

However, in the current uncertain retail climate, the tenants have closed down their businesses and vacated and since then I’ve been bedevilled with everything from squatters to vandalism, even though I have shut-

ters across the fronts as a deterrent. What do you suggest I do to secure these premises until I can relet them, which may be many months or even next year?

Maggie Dear Maggie Your best solution is to put property guardians in. Shutters don’t keep determined trespassers out, they simply

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If necessary, we can help remove them for you and then secure the building.

EMMA GROSS EMPLOYMENT LAW AND DATA PROTECTION

SPENCER WEST LLP Dear Emma I’ve recruited a salesman to the team and have noticed he’s always looking at dubious websites. I’ve spoken to him and he’s promised to stop. As an employer, am I entitled to monitor my employees’ use of electronic systems and websites in the office? Is there a right to privacy in the workplace?

David

Dear David Employees’ use of email and the internet (including their activities on social network sites and blogs) can lead to performance issues, damage to the employer’s reputation, loss of business and various legal liabilities. However, employers can only monitor employees’ actions to prevent liability arising in certain circumstances and there need to be specific policies in place.

Monitoring employee use of email and the internet involves the processing of personal data which, according to the GDPR, may not be processed unless there is a lawful basis for it.

Employees must be informed of the basis and purposes for which it will be processed.

The Employment Practices Code contains guidance on

monitoring at work, including that workers have a legitimate expectation of privacy and that monitoring must only be carried out if it is proportionate to do so and that workers are informed. It also recommends encouraging workers to mark personal emails as such in the subject line.

I’d recommend adopting an IT and communications policy that outlines the standards employees must observe when using these systems, when you will monitor their use, and the action you will take if they breach these standards.

18:40

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Ask Our Experts / Professional advice from our panel

Our Experts Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@jewishnews.co.uk Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@jewishnews.co.uk

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VACANT PROPERTY SECURITY STUART WOOLGAR Qualifications: • CEO of London’s largest guardian company with more than 20 years’ experience • Well-known and highly regarded British security industry expert • Specialists in securing and protecting empty commercial and residential properties • Clients include small private landlords to major national property companies and managing agents, as well as those in the public sector

PATIENT HEALTH 020 3146 3444/5/6 www.patienthealth.co.uk trevor.gee@patienthealth.co.uk

GLOBAL GUARDIANS MANAGEMENT 020 3818 9100 www.global-guardians.co.uk info@global-guardians.co.uk

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.

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

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

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

Specialist in corporate, commercial, media, sport and start-ups.

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

• Non-Executive Director of various companies advising on all governance matters.

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

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.

• •

SUE CIPIN Qualifications: • 20 years+ hands-on experience, leading JDA in significant growth and development.

• Understanding of the impact of deafness on people, including children, at all stages.

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

• Technology room with expert advice on and facilities to try out the latest equipment.

Hearing aid advice, support and maintenance.

KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 020 8732 6101 www.kkl.org.uk enquiries@kkl.org.uk

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

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EMMA GROSS Qualifications: • Specialist in claims of unfair dismissal, redundancy and discrimination.

• Negotiate out-of-court settlements and handle complex tribunal cases.

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• Contributor to The Times, HR Magazine and other titles.

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• Advising on maximising cover, lower premiums, pre-existing conditions.

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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.

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Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE

ACCOUNTANT

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

JACOB BERNSTEIN Qualifications: • A member of the APCC, specialising in financial services compliance for: • Mortgage, protection and general insurance intermediaries; • Lenders, credit brokers, debt counsellors and debt managers; • Alternative Investment Fund managers; • E-Money, payment services, PISP, AISP and grant-making charities.

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.

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.

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RICHDALE CONSULTANTS LTD 020 7781 8019 www.richdale.co.uk jacob@richdale.co.uk

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

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

INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS SPECIALIST

IT SPECIALIST

LEE SHMUEL GOLDFARB Qualifications: • Hands-on service, with full and personalised support for international transfers.

• Get the most out of your currency exchange with regards to pension income, when purchasing your first house in Israel or benefitting from an inheritance from aboard.

• UK leader in financial exchange and partner to brands such as St James Place and Hargreaves Lansdown with industry-beating Trustpilot score.

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.

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

If you would like to advertise your services here Email: sales@jewishnews.co.uk

Lloyd Platt & Co. Family Law Solicitors

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

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INSURANCE CONSULTANCY

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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 mock interviews and workshops to maximise job prospects.

• Expert in corporate management holding director level marketing,

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

DIVORCE & FAMILY SOLICITOR

TELECOMS SPECIALIST

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.

BENJAMIN ALBERT Qualifications: • Co-Founder and Technical Director of ADWConnect – a specialist in business telecommunications, serving customers worldwide.

• Independent consultant and supplier of Telephone & Internet services.

• Client satisfaction is at the heart of everything my team and I do, always striving to find the most cost-effective solutions.

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

ADWCONNECT 0208 089 1111 www.adwconnect.com hello@adwconnect.com

Regulated and authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority

Registered Charity No. 259480

Leave the legacy of independence to people like Hayley.

eNABLeD PLease remember us in your wiLL.

Visit www.jbd.org or call 020 8371 6611

40 Jewish News

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3 March 2022

JDA – keeping older Deaf people active, supported … and flattered!

The bus driver said I was too young to have a bus pass.

When Arzo signed to me what he said, it made my week!

Please show you care by making a donation today.

020 8446 0502 www.jdeaf.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1105845 Company Limited by Guarantee 4983830

3 March 2022 Jewish News

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41

Fun, games and prizes

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD 1

2

3

7

4

5

9 10 13 15 16 19 21 22 23

6

8

9

10

12

13

11

14

15

19

18

20

21

22

23

ACROSS 1 Sheep’s neck joint (5) 4 Company representative (5)

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

Expenditure (4) Measurement of land area (4) Even so (3) Highly motivated (4) Compass point (4) Anonymous (7) Smartphone program (3) Cloth made from flax (5) Deprived (5)

1

7 Increase the speed of an engine (3) 8 Bridge roll with a sugary topping (4,3)

CODEWORD

The words related to the Moon 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.

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 with their letters in the grid will help you to guess the identity of other letters.

18

T N E C S E R C F K X Q A E G P S P Y T

I

20

B R O D Y

17

S N H H A M T D O L H M O P

I

A O C T S

I

Y D O L

I

D S M E U E O N U F R D

L N E G O C W L N E E C A S B N A R T

L

I

A A R

I

U E A

O

I

I

N A T

I

T A S

I

R

18

I

PHASES QUARTER ROCKET SATELLITE SEAS

Last issue’s solutions

19

Crossword ACROSS: 1 Surety 4 Also 8 GPS 9 Cohabit 10 Sprat 11 Demon 13 Timid 15 Rings 17 Bran tub 19 Ale 20 Oats 21 Linear DOWN: 1 Sighs 2 Rostrum 3 Tacit 5 Lob 6 Often 7 Thud 12 Mandate 13 Taboo 14 Duty 15 Rabbi 16 Sheer 18 Apt

9 4 6 8 5 3 1 7 2

19

SERENITY SPACE SPHERE WANING WAXING

5 7 8 2 1 9 3 6 4

4 2 9 1 3 5 7 8 6

3

8

14

26

13

26

24 20

3

24 17

13

6

15

13 13

25

16

20

17

18

19

24

17

8

21

23

24

17

18

9 8

8

10

8

20

20

23

21

25

4

13

1

15

1

19

8

9

8

26

10

20

18

8 1 3 6 7 2 5 4 9

3 8 4 9 2 1 6 5 7

8

23

11

20

23

16

2

16 13

22

3

10 8

8 4

4

16 13

6

8

8

R

26 13

10

19

8

1

13

4 1

17

U

23

3

N

10

1

2

3

4

4

5 25

3

See next issue for puzzle solutions.

14

15

16

17

R

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

N

Suguru 7 6 5 4 9 8 2 1 3

8

17

5

10

8 7

20

1

25

23

12

13

6

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.

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

Sudoku 2 3 1 7 4 6 8 9 5

3

6

26

20

S P H E R E T E K C O R Y GIBBOUS LANDING LUNAR MOUNTAINS ORBIT

8

2

S A Q L E W P R H N

ASTRONAUT BAY OF DEW CRATER CRESCENT ECLIPSE

6

24

G L N G N N U A M E K E O R G

10

26

8

T R L W

L B H X D

17

E

E

8

21

F

I

3

SUGURU

3

WORDSEARCH M S E A S T R O N A U T B

4

3 1 5 5 3 7 5 9 8 6 2 2 5 3 4 2 3 1 6 4 9 1 6 4 7 8 2

DOWN 1 Ride the waves (4) 2 Italian ricotta-filled dish (7) 3 Subject to a penalty (6) 4 Hairy primates (4) 5 Receding tide (3) 6 Christmas glitter (6) 11 Waterfall (7) 12 Informal (6) 14 Tissue attaching muscle to bone (6) 17 Prayer’s final word (4) 18 Active, especially of an elderly person (4) 20 Affectionate name for grandma (3)

16 17

SUDOKU

1 5 7 3 6 4 9 2 8

6 9 2 5 8 7 4 3 1

1 4 1 2 1 2

2 3 5 3 4 3

5 1 4 1 5 1

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

U

Wordsearch 3 2 3 2 4 2

5 4 1 5 1 3

1 2 3 4 2 5

1 2 3 2 4 1

3 4 5 1 5 2

2 1 2 4 3 4

3 5 3 1 2 1

1 2 4 5 4 3

4 3 1 3 1 2

M D N A M M O C E D E I H

A L G O U Y D B L T L E B

R L E N M O A N U T G A R

C I L R I R L L H I S E E

H R A O R N A E U E C M G

M D D A R S I S N I N R I

H I C Y R T N A F N I O M

Codeword K K L L P B A F R B S F E

S N S I E A O P S T K I N

H G A R T T R O O P S N T

U S E R E A G A E E O U N

E T E H S E R O D C A M P

T A C T I C S Y O E T P Y

CR E E P O Q R P RUD I Y I Z ON C E S O T A XMA I V T A F F E C R R HO I S T E A E D E R I D

Y

A T S E S H A O R A F F L U N F L B T A R N E J AC O U E CR

T ACH L E L I A S B I L I C T A AUN T N E AGE O S K D AW L A A YON

C D JWA T E F S Z I N K 03/03 MVGP H L ORQY X UB

42

Jewish News 3 March 2022

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Business Services Directory HOUSE CLEARANCE

ANTIQUES

Stirling of Kensal Green

Top prices paid Antique – Reproduction – Retro Furniture (any condition)

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

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

Established over 60 years.

Know who you are dealing with.

Dave & Eve House Clearance Friendly Family Company established for 30 years

House clearances

All quality furniture bought & sold.

Single items to complete homes

Best prices paid for complete house clearances including china, books, clothing etc. Also rubbish clearance service, lofts, sheds, garages etc

MARYLEBONE ANTIQUES - 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED

07866 614 744 (ANYTIME) 0207 723 7415 (SHOP)

Please contact Gordon Stirling

closed Sunday & Monday STUART SHUSTER - e-mail - info@maryleboneantiques.co.uk

020 8960 5401 or 07825 224144

MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING

Email: gordonstirling65@gmail.com

CHARITY & WELFARE

We clear houses, flats, sheds, garages etc.

No job too big or too small!

Rubbish cleared as part of a full clearance.

We have a waste licence.

We buy items including furniture bric a brac.

For a free quote please phone Dave on 07913405315 any time.

HOME & MAINTENANCE

ARE YOU BEREAVED? Bereavement Counselling for adults and children individually. Support Groups available.

During the pandemic, we offer telephone and online counselling.

Contact Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service in confidence.

0208 951 3881 enquiries@jbcs.org.uk | www.jbcs.org.uk

Labels are for jars.

Not people.

Refer yourself or a loved one by calling 020 8458 2223 or visit www.jamiuk.org REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1003345

CHARITY & WELFARE

SILVER

PLUMBSAFE (UK) LTD

WESTLON HOUSING ASSOCIATION

“Better Safe Than Sorry”

Sheltered Accommodation

For all your heating and plumbing requirements

We have an open waiting list in our friendly and comfortable warden assisted sheltered housing schemes in Ealing, East Finchley and Hendon. We provide 24-hour warden support, seven days a week; a residents’ lounge and kitchen, laundry, a sunny patio and garden.

| boiler repairs and installation | complete central heating | | power flushing | complete bathroom installation service | | landlords certificates | project management | home purchase reports |

All NW-London postcodes covered

07860 881505 or 0800 610 12 12 Not shabbat

PLUMBSAFEUK.COM

OFFICE FURNITURE

For further details and application forms, please contact Westlon Housing Association on 020 8201 8484 or email: johnsilverman@btconnect.com

UTILITIES

Are you happy paying big household bills?

Need to furnish your home or office?

London’s leading supplier of new and reconditioned furniture.

Free assembly and delivery next working day on most items – call now!

Would you like to pay less?

Find out how ©

call Jeff on 07958 959 822

STONEMASON

A. ELFES LTD New memorials Additional inscriptions & renovations

Call 0207 205 4229 Email sales@andrewsofficefurniture.com www.andrewsofficefurniture.com

The specialist masons in creating bespoke Granite and Marble Memorials for all Cemeteries.

Clayhall Showroom 14 Claybury Broadway Ilford. IG5 0LQ T: 0208 551 6866

Edgware Showroom 41 Manor Park Crescent Edgware. HA8 7LY T: 0208 381 1525

Email : info@garygreenmemorials.co.uk

www.garygreenmemorials.co.uk

Gary Green ad 84 x 40mm JM Group v2.indd 1

18/03/2019 12:50:51

Gants Hill

12 Beehive Lane Gants Hill, IG1 3RD Telephone

Edgware

130 High Street Edgware, HA8 7EL Telephone

0207 754 4659 0207 754 4646

www.memorialgroup.co.uk

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at sales@thejngroup.com

3 March 2022 Jewish News

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43

Business Services Directory LEGACY- LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR MEMORY

JEWISH WAR VETERANS

Leave the legacy of independence to people like Joel.

YOUR LEGACY

PLease remember us in your wiLL.

& THEIR DEPENDANTS NEED

legacy@cst.org.uk ►

eNABLeD

Tel: 020 8202 2323 Web: www.ajex.org.uk Email: headoffice@ajex.org.uk

visit www.Jbd.org or caLL 020 8371 6611

Registered Charity No. 259480

Legacy Classified advert v1.qxp_Legacy 16/06/2021 10:57 Page 1

Registered Charity No: 1082148

www.cst.org.uk ► 0208 457 3700 ►

Together

we protect our children’s future Please include CST in your will

Charity no. 1042391 and SC043612

COMPUTER

HELP US CONTINUE TO BE THERE FOR OUR COMMUNITY WITH A GIFT IN YOUR WILL.

Legacy advert 84x40.indd 1

16/04/2021 10:55

Call our Legacy Team on 020 8922 2840 for more information or email legacyteam@jcare.org Chancellors House, Brampton Lane, London, NW4 4AB Tel: 020 8903 8746 | Fax: 020 8795 2240 www.bfiwd.org | email: info@bfiwd.org

Charity Reg No. 802559

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at sales@thejngroup.com

Antiques Buyers WE BUY ANTIQUES

TS. VERY HIGH PRICES PAID. FREE HOME VISITS. rcelain, in, All Antique Furniture Hille & Epstein Diamond Jewellery, Gold, Silver, Paintings, Porcelain, aica Judaica Glass, Lowry Prints, Bronzes, Ivories, Oriental & Judaica sed.

Antiques etc. Full house clearances organised. ails Please look at our website for more details

o.uk k www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk

ON: FOR APPOINTMENTS CALL SUE ON: 90 0800 840 2035 or 07956268290 OPEN 8am TO 9pm 7 DAYS. PORTOBELLO RD LONDON.

Wanted all Antiques & furniture including Lounge Dining and Bedroom Suites. Chests of drawers.

Display and Cocktail Cabinets. Furniture by Hille.

Epstein. Archie shine. G plan etc in Walnut. Mahogany.

Teak and Rosewood.

We also buy Diamonds & Jewellery. Gold. Silverware.

Paintings. Glass. Porcelain. Bronzes etc.

All Antiques considered. Full house clearances organised. Very high prices paid, free home visits.

Check our website for more details www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk Email: info@antiquesbuyers.co.uk Please call Sue Davis on Freephone: 08008402035 WhatsApp Mobile: 07956268290 Portobello rd London By appointments only.

* Modern Maccabee

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3 March 2022 Jewish News

C

D

Jewish News 3 March 2022

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