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BRITAIN’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER 9 March 2017

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UK Jews blast ‘undemocratic’ Israeli law that bans boycotters Community alarm at indiscriminate policy barring entry to BDS backers

By Stephen Oryszczuk stepheno@thejngroup.com @JewishNewsUK

Britain’s Jewish community delivered rare and unanimous criticism of Israeli policy this week, in response to a new law banning entry to visitors from organisations that support anti-Israel boycotts.

The Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, New Israel Fund, Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and Trade Union Friends of Israel were among those branding the move “anti-democratic”, “indiscriminate” and “deeply problematic”.

The law not only bans individuals who support a boycott of Israel or settlements, it also applies to leaders and repre-

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Breast cancer warning BRCA gene carrier Gaby Jacobs, who had a double mastectomy, urges women to get tested See page 4

sentatives of organisations that support settlement boycotts – even if that person opposes boycotts.

Jewish student leaders said this would have profound implications for Jewish students who join the National Union of Students (NUS), or for non-Jewish student union leaders who personally oppose boycotts but whose own unions voted for it.

“This law has the potential to have damaging consequences for Jewish and non-Jewish students alike,” said a UJS spokesman.

“It is deeply problematic that there will be Jewish students, many of whom may visit Israel regularly, who could be turned away because of their association with NUS or the handful of students’ unions which support

the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign.”

He added: “The clear polarisation that exists in the student movement on the issue of IsraelPalestine highlights the importance of providing student leaders with the opportunity to visit Israel and Palestine and meet those who are affected by the ongoing conflict, as we have done for a number of years. This law has the potential to hinder that work and further entrench the divisions we see on campus.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for TUFI: “Putting aside the credibility that this policy gives to the BDS movement, we are concerned that pro-Israel trade unionists would be prevented from entering Israel, because their national union supports BDS. We need to get union activists into Israel, to meet with Continued on page 12

From bacon to benching Ukranian oligarch Gennadiy Bogolyubov talks exclusively of his journey to faith See page 13

GREAT SHAKES: BORIS FIRMS UP ISRAEL TIES

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson met Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem yesterday and discussed upcoming celebrations to mark 100 years since the Balfour Declaration. Read Boris’ exclusive column on his Israel visit on page 2

UNSEEN BEN-GURION FILM Never-before viewed clips of David Ben-Gurion, the first Israeli prime minister, has been discovered and turned into a documentary See page 26

‘Calling out the loons’ Palestine conflict is an unexceptional land dispute now fetishised by the left, writes Maajid Nawaz See page 25

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

News / Boris Johnson in Israel / Corbyn accused / Hate books banned

‘I share the pride British Jews feel in Israel’s achievements’ nations in the world.

Year after year, Israeli scientists, surgeons and engineers push out

BY BORIS JOHNSON the frontiers of human knowledge.

One fact tells its own astonishing FOREIGN SECRETARY story. Last year, Israel ranked four places above China in the Global Almost a century ago, my prede- Innovation Index. cessor Lord Balfour sat at the very I hope my Chinese friends will desk I use today and signed the not mind when I point out that letter that would pave the way for Israel has only eight million people the birth of the state of Israel. while China has 1.3 billion.

On 2 November, the UK GovernThere is simply no other country ment will mark the centenary of of Israel’s size or population that the Balfour Declaration and Brit- can match its record of invention ain’s role in helping fulfil the vision and discovery. of a “national home for the Jewish So it’s fantastic that British and people”. I’ve taken this message of Israeli scientists and entrepreneurs enduring friendship to Israel this are working together hand-in-hand. week.

Today, Britain has become IsraOn every visit, I’m reminded el’s second-biggest trading partner all over again of the scale of Israel’s and we are the number one desachievements, the strength of its tination for Israeli investment in democracy and the tolerance and Europe. In 2015, El Al agreed to buy openness of the only free society in Rolls Royce engines for the new the Middle East. generation of Boeing 787 DreamThis small country – barely the liners, amounting to the biggest deal size of Wales – has managed to ever signed between British and become one of the most innova- Israeli companies. tive and technologically advanced It goes without saying that this Government has no time for anyone who would try to obstruct the burgeoning flow of trade between Britain and Israel. We abhor those who use the language of sanctions and boycotts or question Israel’s legitimacy.

One of the obligations of friendship is that if Israel comes under attack, Britain will stand by its right to selfdefence – a right that is guaranteed to all member states of

NEWS IN BRIEFS

RIVLIN INVITES ROYALS TO JOIN THE BALFOUR CELEBRATIONS Israel’s president has invited the Royal Family to visit the country to mark the Balfour centenary.

President Reuven Rivlin conveyed the message to visiting UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, saying: “This is a very important year in the history of the relations between Israel and the UK.” During the meeting, he added: “We will mark 100 years since the Balfour Declaration and I’m honoured to extend an invitation to the Royal Family to visit Israel to mark this event.”

Last year, Prince Charles travelled to Jerusalem for the funeral of Rivlin’s predecessor, Shimon Peres, where he met Israel’s current president after the service.

Were the Queen and Prince Philip to visit, it is likely they would attend the grave of Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who was recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem for sheltering Jewish refugees in Athens. She is buried at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Simon Johnson, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: “We would sincerely hope that the invitation from the president of Israel is welcomed and accepted by those who advise the Royal Family on foreign visits.”

BALFOUR ANNIVERSARY TO GIVE £500 GRANTS FOR FESTIVITIES

Top: Boris Johnson with Israel’s UK ambassador, Mark Regev, and the UK’s Israel envoy, David Quarrey and, above, with President Reuven Rivlin. Inset: Alongside Israeli Labour Party leader Isaac Herzog

the United Nations under Article 51 of the Charter. But, as a friend, we also have an obligation to speak out when we think mistakes are made.

Britain stands firmly for a twostate solution to the conflict. We believe that only the birth of a Palestinian state can guarantee Israel’s future as a Jewish democracy. And Britain regards the expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory as contrary to interna-

tional law and damaging to the cause of peace.

When I meet my Israeli colleagues, I make these points respectfully but insistently – and always in a spirit of friendship.

As I do so, I never forget the pride felt by many British Jews in Israel’s achievements. I share that emotion myself. Indeed I have only to enter my office to see the place where one chapter of that story began.

The committee organising the Jewish community’s celebrations of the Balfour Declaration centenary later this year has said it will give grants of up to £500 for local events.

While big central events will get more money, the Balfour 100 Committee said this week that its communal activity fund would dish out several smaller grants, providing activities met the requirements of ‘charitable purposes’, such as having clear educational or cultural content.

Applications are now being welcomed from synagogues, youth groups, schools, and other Jewish communal organisations, regardless of whether or not the applicants are registered charities.

The deadline is 30 June and applications are being considered on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

A range of unique activities are anticipated, including panel discussions, debates and presentations, meals, Shabbat events and special summer/winter camps.

AMAZON REMOVES HOLOCAUST DENIAL

Ronson: ‘Corbyn more likely to join anti-Semitic anti-Zionism’

CHARITIES WELCOME HAMMOND’S BUDGET

Amazon UK has removed from sale four books that question or deny the Holocaust, following discussions with the Board of Deputies.

The titles, including Holocaust: The Greatest Lie Ever Told and The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry, were withdrawn from sale this week, despite it being legal to sell them in the UK. Board of Deputies’ vice president Marie van der Zyl said: “It is very welcome that Amazon has listened and removed the offending titles from its website. These are not works of historical integrity. They are an anti-Semitic attempt to exonerate the Nazis of their crimes and to stoke the fires of hatred.”

Amazon UK earlier refused to pull them from sale because there are no laws against Holocaust denial in the UK, unlike in other European countries such as Germany and France.

After the apparent U-turn, Van der Zyl added: “Should any member of the public find further offending works, please get in contact with us and we will report them.”

The chairman of the Community Security Trust (CST) has delivered a devastating assessment of Jeremy Corbyn’s approach to antiSemitic anti-Zionism – suggesting he is more likely to “join in” than oppose it.

Gerald Ronson’s comments in front of an audience, including Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson and new Met Commissioner Cressida Dick, are perhaps the strongest condemnation yet from a senior community leader in such a forum.

Ronson (pictured) told the CST annual dinner: “I don’t doubt that the Labour leader opposes anti-Semitism when it comes from Nazis, but when it comes dressed up as anti-Zionism, he is more likely to ask if he can join in. This is far more subversive than the danger posed by Nazis.”

A spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn told Jewish News he has “consistently spoken

out against all forms of anti-Semitism and condemns all forms of anti-Semitism, which is why he set up the Chakrabarti inquiry into anti-Semitism and the Party is implementing its findings.”

At the event, Amber Rudd confirmed £13.4 million of funding to help cover the costs of security guards at Jewish institutions.

Ronson earlier insisted that fighting antiSemitism must never be a party political issue – stressing that the community has many friends in the party and inviting applause for Labour MPs standing up on the issue.

He added: “We have many good Muslim friends here this evening, but I wish we had many more. The more Muslim friends we have, the better off both communities will be. We’ll need it because in the future we expect more antiSemitism, more terrorism and more division.”

Britain’s two largest Jewish charities have welcomed the chancellor’s announcement of £2billion in extra funding for social care – but warned it is still nowhere near enough.

Jewish Care and Norwood were swift to acknowledge the extra monies made available in Chancellor Philip Hammond’s budget on Wednesday, but were sceptical that it would make much difference.

Hammond allocated £2billion for adult social care over the next three years, but the Jewish charities said the government needed to go further and announce plans to secure long-term funding.

“Further steps must be taken to ensure providers can continue to deliver front-line services,” said a spokeswoman for social care charity Norwood.

“Local authorities pay for these services through allocated government funds, so insufficient funds affect the services the charity is able to provide.”

9 March 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Labour inquiries / News

Walker to face Labour panel over comments Labour activist Jackie Walker has been referred to the party’s national constitutional committee after a panel found she had a case to answer over comments on Holocaust Memorial Day and anti-Semitism, writes Justin Cohen.

The former Momentum vice-chair was filmed at a Jewish Labour Movement training event at the party’s annual conference saying Holocaust Memorial Day should include other genocides – which it already

Jackie Walker: ‘Case to answer’

does. She also said she had not yet seen a definition of anti-Semitism she could “work with” and questioned why Jewish schools needed special security measures.

Walker lost her position in Momentum after her comments attracted widespread condemnation but it was decided not to suspend her membership of the Labour Party.

The disputes panel last month decided against pursuing the case against those accused of harassment at Oxford Union Labour Club. But this week it chose to pass the case to the next stage of the process.

The disputes panel also referred a number of other cases involving anti-Semitism to the NCC, including that of Marc Wadsworth, a prominent Labour Party activist in the 1980s who heckled Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth during the press conference last year unveiling a report into anti-Semitism by Shami Chakrabarti – the former Liberty director who was later given a peerage and a seat on Jeremy Corbyn’s front bench.

Jeremy Newmark of the Jewish Labour Movement said: “These reported decisions appear to be a step in the right direction and could be a critical move towards the party beginning to turn a corner on this issue.

However there is still a long way to go.”

UPCOMING EVENT

We Were There Too Stanmore & Canons Park Roadshow 19TH MARCH 2017, 2.30-4.30PM, LONDON HA7 VENUE Stanmore & Canons Park Synagogue, London Road, Harrow HA7 4NS FREE ENTRY with complimentary tea and cake

If you had a Jewish family member living in London 1914-1918, or are interested in learning more about a new project to find and preserve stories of London Jewry in the First World War, please join us at Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue, on 19th March, for a short explanatory talk and the opportunity to chat to the team.

EVERYONE WELCOME Suitable for 10+

We would love to know if you have family stories, photographs, medals, letters or other items relating to the 1914-1918 period or if you would like to volunteer to help others with research and uploading information.

 @LondonJewsWW1  @LondonJewsFWW  we_were_there_too

Please RSVP to contactus@jewsfww.london or just come on the day. Everyone is welcome.

www.jewsfww.london

For information about all our events, visit www.jewsfww.london/event-list.php

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

News / BRCA1 warning/ Pork blunder / Al Jazeera probe

Double mastectomy a ‘lifesaver’

Photo by Alex Lentati

A young Jewish woman who had both breasts removed last year to avoid a deadly cancer in her family has urged all Jews to get tested – including men, writes Stephen Oryszczuk.

Gaby Jacobs, 26, a make-up artist from Borehamwood who had a preventative double mastectomy six months ago, heard her mother Alison speak in Parliament last week about her ongoing battle with breast and ovarian cancer.

Alison Dagul, 55, from Hampstead, said she was left “heartbroken” after learning that she had passed the BRCA1 gene mutation on to her daughter, but was pleased Gaby acted swiftly after tests confirmed she was a carrier.

The genetic mutation entered the public consciousness in 2013, when actress Angelina Jolie revealed that she, too, carried the BRCA1 gene mutation, and had had both breasts removed to reduce the 85 percent risk of devel-

Gaby Jacobs with her mother, Alison

oping breast cancer.

This week, Gaby said the decision to have the operation was “the best thing I ever did,” adding that she wanted to raise awareness of the deadly genetic inheritance in the Jewish community, where it is particularly prevalent. One in every 40 Jews are thought to carry the faulty gene, but many do not realise it can be passed along the paternal line too.

Alison, who was diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer in 2014 after inheriting the faulty gene from her father, spoke at Parliament last week as part of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Week, and firmly backed Gaby’s decision.

“It’s not a boob job, it’s a lifesaver,” she said. “There was no option. She’d seen the suffering cancer and chemotherapy brought to my life. Her breasts were ticking time bombs waiting to explode.”

Addressing MPs, she said: “I’m sure many of you have

absolutely no idea that a father can give this terrible gift to his daughter. I inherited it from my father. I’d always assumed, incorrectly, that it was only passed down the maternal side. It was this mutation that caused both my cancers.”

She added: “Just being Jewish put me at risk, but no-one thought to run a simple and cheap CA 125 blood test, so eight months went by before I was diagnosed. It was like receiving a death sentence for a crime I did not commit.”

Gaby, who expedited her wedding to her now-husband Adam, has been told she must have her ovaries removed before she is 35 to reduce the

 If you are worried that this may affect you or your family, visit your GP to find out more and to ask if you can be tested. If you can’t be tested on the NHS but still want to know, visit color.com, which offers paid-for spit tests. If you know you are a carrier, Caroline Presho runs the BRCA Umbrella support forum. See brcaumbrella.ning.com

JFS says staff redundancies will not affect its standards JFS is to lay off both teaching and non-teaching staff after an email to parents said austerity cuts meant the Kenton school “must take action swiftly” to reduce expenditure.

It is understood that while up to 40 staff members will be affected, only around 15 will be made redundant – with the number of teachers laid off being fewer than 10.

These will be in curriculum areas where there is an over-supply of teachers, and the school is hopeful that most will be through voluntary redundancies, which it is offering.

The school, which is urgently seeking to raise funds, said it was being hit by the government’s forthcoming National Schools Funding Formula. This reallocates money to the neediest children in every borough. JFS has the lowest percentage of needy children in Brent, so is expected to be among the hardest hit.

The sweeping changes were announced by new headteacher Deborah Lipkin, who tried to reassure parents that it would not affect teaching.

In an email, Lipkin said a new non-teaching

OFCOM INVESTIGATING AL JAZEERA EMBASSY STING An Al Jazeera undercover documentary alleging links between the Israeli embassy and British political and student groups is being investigated by the media watchdog Ofcom.

The four-part series, The Lobby, which aired in January, drew four complaints after claiming Israel’s UK embassy was trying to influence British democracy through ties to British groups.

“We are investigating whether this programme complied with our rules on due impartiality and offence, and whether it materially misled the audience,” an Ofcom spokesman said on Monday.

Most investigations are completed within 50 days.

The documentary covered allegations of undue interference

by Israel on the Labour Friends of Israel, with embassy employee Shai Masot – who has since been sent back to Israel – featuring prominently. In one covertly-made recording, Masot is heard joking about “taking down” MPs critical of Israeli settlements.

It prompted questions in the House of Commons, with Speaker John Bercow describing it as a “serious concern”. The documentary also led to the resignation of Maria Strizzolo, a former chief of staff to deputy Conservative Party chairman Robert Halfon MP.

JFS is facing increased financial pressures

staff structure would be in-place in two months’ time, and that those laid-off would be gone by 31 August, but that the school’s performance would not be affected.

“The proposed changes will ensure that we

Pork in kosher aisle Morrisons has apologised to a Jewish shopper in Essex who said he was “laughed at” when he complained that kosher food was placed next to – and in some cases was touching – pork products such as pork pies.

Mitchell Cohen, a solicitor-advocate, said he first raised the issue with a manager at the Loughton store in mid-February, and was told it would be addressed “immediately”.

But when he next visited he found the layout had not changed, and complained to the store manager, who laughed. “I told him I didn’t find it funny,” Cohen told Jewish News on Monday. “He then said he was laughing at the store’s own stupidity, that that it was ‘head office instruction’ and that he could do nothing until he was authorised.” A third visit by Cohen revealed the items had still not been moved.

Morrisons later apologised. A spokesperson said: “The store has incorrectly filled the shelves and will put it right.”

risk of ovarian cancer, which is referred to as the ‘silent killer’ because of its lack of symptoms.

She has been advised that she can have a form of IVF known as PGD, which screens and only uses those embryos that do not carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, thereby stopping this deadly inheritance.

“Look into your family history,” she urged the Jewish community. “Every Jew should be BRCA tested because both men and women can be carriers.

“I know it’s scary, but you can save your life. A lot of people put their head in the sand about it, but it’s so important to know.

Knowledge is power.”

have the levels of teaching staff that will fully meet our needs in all curriculum areas, and will not have an impact on classroom teaching,” she said.

A JFS staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “There is no job security and now staff are being asked to take voluntary redundancy. If something needs to be purchased by a department, like replacing broken equipment, it is often denied. We are often told the school has no money to purchase anything.”

Announcing a 30-day consultation, Lipkin said that “increased costs across the public sector that we now face, mean that we must take action swiftly to reduce our expenditure.

“Unfortunately, this has led us to the position of having to consider reducing the number of staff, both teaching and non-teaching.”

PRO-ISRAEL ORGANISATION REACHES 15,000 MEMBERS A pro-Israel group in the UK has launched a campaign showing the failure to renew peace talks in the Middle East is down to the Palestinian Authority alone – as it welcomed its 15,000th activist.

We Believe in Israel, which kick-started its ‘Time to Talk’ campaign with petitions and Twitter ribbons, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had offered to hold peace talks without preconditions and that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas should reciprocate.

However, it emerged last month that former US Secretary of State John Kerry had brokered an outline agreement in 2015 for peace between Israelis and Palestinians which Egypt and Jordan backed, with the promised support of Gulf and Arab states, but Netanyahu rejected the proposals after consulting his cabinet.

The grassroots group this week celebrated a “milestone” moment, after recording 15,000 activists, representing a doubling in size from this time last year, with almost half its activists being Christian. We Believe director Luke Akehurst said: “It is staggering that we have grown from just 1,000 activists when we launched.

The next step is for us to reach 25,000 activists.”

9 March 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

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Polish tribute / News briefs / News NEWS IN BRIEF

NEW INTERIM BOSS APPOINTED FOR CRISIS CHARITY The government has appointed an interim manager at a Jewish charity being investigated for financial irregularities.

Adam Stephens, an expert on insolvency and fraud, was appointed to The Rav Chesed Trust by the Charity Commission to “secure the charity’s property”.

He was appointed “to the exclusion of the charity’s trustees”.

The regulator began investigating after it failed to submit returns.

SWASTIKA GRAFFITI FOUND AT EDGWARE SHOPPING CENTRE Swastika graffiti was removed from an Edgware shopping centre.

The Nazi symbol was discovered on a wall at the Broadwalk Centre last week and has since been covered up.

A spokesperson for the centre, said they “were shocked and dismayed” to find the swastika and that the panel had been covered up and would be removed.

They added: “We will not accept any form of vandalism in the centre.”

Poland pays tribute to courage of the Righteous Schoolchildren have met a Holocaust survivor at the Polish Embassy to celebrate the establishment of a new charity.

Lili Pohlmann grew up in Krakow, was saved by a German woman and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and is now honorary president of a new charity called Learning from the Righteous.

The charity uses workshops and learning to encourage children to reflect on the heroism of those who sheltered Jews during the Holocaust.

More than 40 children aged 10 to 13 from London’s Jewish and Polish schools presented a short essay or poem on the topic to parents and teachers.

The educational initiativeturned-charity was praised by Sir Eric Pickles, the UK special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, who attended the event.

He said: “Poland suffered more than any other country, and the Polish Government has made a tremendous effort to preserve the memory of the

Exceptional new project marks triumph of hope

BY ARKADY RZEGOCKI

POLAND’S UK AMBASSADOR

Lili Pohlmann and Sir Eric Pickles at the Polish Embassy launch

Holocaust. Projects such as Learning from the Righteous, which recognise the heroism of the people who saved lives and set these stories in the painful context of human brutality and indifference can make a real mark on today’s world.”

This year, more than 400 children participated in the charity’s workshops, ending in the project-sharing event.

Writing on its website, Jakub Szpaczynski, 13, said: “One act of love can combat a thousand acts of hate. We can’t change the way the stars and

the planets behave, but we can change this world through the way we behave.”

Charity director Antony Lishak said: “I have been involved in countless projects, but none means more than Learning from the Righteous.

“Everyone is committed to the ideal of ‘never again’, yet often the subject of the Righteous lurks in the shadows. It is the embassy’s and my hope that, as a registered charity, we can now teach more children about this sensitive and hugely important field of education.”

ISRAEL: GET CONNECTED

The Righteous Among the Nations are the personification of hope during one of the darkest events in human history. As Europe was engulfed in Nazi Germany’s racist ideology, those brave souls, whose actions put others’ lives above their own, are a reminder to the world of our common humanity.

The subject is close to me, as Poles constitute the largest national group of the Righteous Among the Nations, although the current total of 6,706 Poles honoured by Yad Vashem surely underestimates the true level of assistance.

Despite facing the death penalty, numerous Poles helped their Jewish neighbours, as well as complete strangers. Others, such as Witold Pilecki and Jan Karski, did all they could to inform the Western Allies of the Holocaust, to no avail. It is within this context that the excep-

tional courage and devotion of the Righteous needs to be seen.

What makes Antony Lishak’s project so special is its focus on the bonds formed between the rescued and the rescuers, shedding light on unique stories of heroism.

His sensitive approach enables students to identify with the Righteous and to better understand the difficult choices they had to make, encouraging them to reflect upon their own attitudes in life.

Indeed, there are many questions all of us could ponder: Given the terrible circumstances of the time, would we have the courage to risk our lives to help others? Sadly, it is a question even more pertinent in today’s challenging world.

I am glad Antony teaches with such courage about those important matters. I look forward to supporting the development of this exceptional educational project.

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

News / Banksy hotel / North-south divide

West Banksy’s Bethlehem hotel

An Israeli and Palestinian have a pillow fight in one of the hotel rooms

REVEALED: LONDON JEWS DIVIDED ALPHABETICALLY North London Jews prefer place names beginning with one half of the alphabet, while south London Jews prefer living in places beginning with the other half, claim academics.

The intriguing findings, published this week, have highlighted the latest cause of divi-

sion within the Jewish community, but analysts say the numbers back up the claims.

“Jews in north London prefer living in place-names beginning with the first half of the alphabet, while Jews in south London tend to go for the latter half,” said Esther

A guest house packed with artwork

by British graffiti artist Banksy has been unveiled in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, with a sneak peek of what the owner called the “hotel with the worst view in the world”.

Wisam Salsaa, 42, said the nineroom establishment named The Walled Off Hotel will open officially on Saturday, but he offered a handful of reporters a tour of the property, which looks directly at the West Bank separation barrier erected by Israel to ward off Palestinian terror attacks.

The barrier is decorated heavily by artists and Banksy has previously painted several murals on a walled

Statitsky of the Institute of Jewish Affairs.

Those south of the river prefer the likes of Putney, Richmond and Wimbledon, she said. Those north pick Barnet, Brent Cross, Borehamwood, Bushey, Camden, Chalk Farm, Colindale, Edgware, Elstree, Finchley, Golders Green, Hampstead and Highgate.

“There is a striking correlation,” said Statitsky, co-author

segment of it.

The hotel, several of whose rooms look on to an Israeli security watchtower, is awash in the trademark satirical work of the mysterious artist.

The highlight is room number three, known as Banksy’s Room, where guests sleep in a king-size bed underneath artwork showing a Palestinian man in a headscarf and an Israeli soldier engaged in a pillow fight.

Banksy’s works have been valued as high as hundreds of thousands of pounds. This one appeared unannounced in the Gaza Strip in 2015.

The hotel also features a presidential suite and a museum with the art-

of a paper on The New Jewish Divide: How the first letter of where you live defines your Jewish geographic identity.

“The only anomaly was Stamford Hill. But it’s Stamford Hill, so we disregarded it.”

The findings are to be presented to Jewish policy-makers next week, after the latest fiveyear review showed a need to understand changing communal demographics.

ist’s politically-charged work. It has the markings of a gentleman’s club from the English colonial period.

The entrance to one small niche accommodates a life-size figure of Arthur James Balfour signing his 1917 letter that became the Balfour Declaration, and was the basis for the international push for the creation of Israel. The cheapest rooms are available from £24.50 a night.

The project took 14 months to complete and was kept under complete secrecy, in accordance with Banksy’s request to protect his anonymity.

Salsaa said the entire interior was overseen personally by the artist.

North London favourites: Brent Cross, Edgware and Finchley

9 March 2017 Jewish News

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Nisa-Nashim conference/ News

Jewish-Muslim sisterhood

JULIE SIDDIQI

CO-FOUNDER, NISA-NASHIM

Photo by Yakir Zur

Jewish and Muslim women have pledged to “stand together and fight bigotry and hatred” and address the “mistrust, suspicion and open hostility” between the two communities, writes Francine Wolfisz.

More than 200 women attended the inaugural conference of Nisa-Nashim, the National Jewish Muslim Women’s Network, at the University of Westminster at the weekend.

Co-founder Laura Marks, who also set up Mitzvah Day and is a former Board of Deputies senior vice president, said it was “time for a new approach”.

She said: “Traditionally, we have been told that Jews and Muslims don’t get on. There is mistrust, suspicion and, at worst, open hostility.

“We are deeply aware that with 3million Muslims in Britain and 300,000 Jews, most Muslims will never have met a Jew and most Jews will only have had fleeting acquaintances with Muslims.

“But Jews and Muslims are so alike – especially our women. Our fixation on family

WOMEN’S VITAL ROLE IN BATTLE AGAINST HATRED

More than 200 women attended the inaugural Nisa-Nashim conference held last weekend

first, our traditions, way of dressing, our rules on charity and on what we eat, and our scriptures are very similar.

“It’s time for a new approach, a fresh approach and a female approach.

We believe the first step is building friendships.”

Julie Siddiqi, who also cofounded Nisa-Nashim and is a former executive director of the Islamic Society of Britain, added: “Anti-Muslim hatred is very real, as is anti-Semitism.

We need to stand together and

fight the common enemy of bigotry and hatred. As a Muslim I need to be standing in solidarity with my Jewish cousins. We also need to be brave and call out prejudice in our own communities, in our families, online.”

Keynote speaker the Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, chaplain to the speaker of the House of Commons and to the Queen, said the establishment of NisaNashim had “given birth to a new possibility of real peace.”

She said: “Today I am

among women who believe in change, who are determined to be the change they want to see, women with a cause, a purpose.

“By your very presence, you are challenging that narrative out there which tells you that you have nothing in common, that says you are poles apart.

Let this become a worldwide movement that affirms all that we have in common.”

Last weekend I was proud to introduce the UK’s first Jewish/Muslim women’s conference, hosted by NisaNashim, alongside my ‘Jewish sister’, Laura Marks.

It was an incredible day that saw inspiring female speakers, presenters and workshop facilitators from all walks of life and 200 passionate women from both faiths forming, or cementing, genuine and longlasting friendships.

Someone we spoke about a lot during the conference was Jo Cox. We even had a quote from her on the back of our volunteers’ T-shirts. Her death had a huge impact on me, and the entire country, last June.

I was on my way to an iftar at Alyth Synagogue during Ramadan when I heard the news.

What we saw around that time in politics in the UK and the US, and many would say what led to Jo’s death was really not OK.

Anti-Muslim hatred is very real, as is anti-Semitism. We need to stand in solidarity and fight the common enemy of bigotry and hatred.

I think women have a special role to play in this, which has not been utilised properly in either of our communities.

We need to challenge the male leadership on a number of levels.

From my experiences, women also seem more likely to cross the religious divide to form real friendships. NisaNashim groups all over the UK have proved that.

To give one example, at the start of 2015 we saw the Paris attacks unfold on our screens.

Despite not being in Paris, I got messages from my Jewish friends asking if I was alright – that’s what friends do!

We need to reach out more, and work harder, at bringing people together. This conference taught me that.

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

News / HMD events / Dead Sea drama / Survivor’s revelation

AGENT CONNED OLYMPIC STAR Olympic gold medallist Greg Rutherford said he was left “feeling sick” after finding out his former manager had cheated him out of tens of thousands of pounds to fuel a gambling addiction.

Gaby Stone, 34, (pictured), who was sole director and company secretary of GSE Management, took more than £48,000 from the star between October 2014 and March 2015. Stone, of Edgware Road, west London, was jailed for 18 months at Blackfriars Crown Court on Monday after admitting fraud by abuse of position.

Judge John Hillen QC told the court: “Mr Rutherford, in his victim impact statement, stated that the thought that someone who had responsibility for a large part of his life and work, someone who he had placed trust in, had in fact been dishonest, left him feeling sick.”

He said that Rutherford and his family had faced “emotional distress” owing to financial concerns, not least the worry that they would face income tax on money the athlete had not received from Stone. The long jumper was left under “severe financial pressure” while training as a result, he added.

Rutherford, who attended Norwood’s annual fundraising dinner in November, was introduced in 2009 to Stone, who has managed appearances, merchandise and sponsorship deals for celebrity clients including three Olympic stars, the court heard.

Defence barrister Julia Flanagan said Stone, who plays Jewish league football for Temple Fortune, is “remorseful” about what happened.

‘Astonishing’ rise in HMD memorials

LIPMAN IN TELETHON AGAINST ISOLATION Maureen Lipman is taking to the telephone to tackle loneliness and isolation in the six weeks leading up to Pesach, making sure everyone who wants to go to a seder can attend one.

She has joined Reform Judaism’s Connecting with Members telethon to wish all 42 congregations ‘chag sameach’, urging members to “phone each other, chat, check they have a seder to go to and see where the conversation takes you”.

She said: “Synagogues shouldn’t be about names on membership lists; they need to be about people and relationships.”

PUPILS EVACUATED OVER WW2 BOMB Almost 8,000 events took place across the UK to mark this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day

There was an “astonishing increase” in the number of activities around the country as part of Holocaust Memorial Day this January, educators announced this week.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT), which is charged with overseeing events, said that more than 7,700 activities were recorded on 27 January this year – up from 5,590 last year and 2,000 in 2013.

The number represents a sixfold increase in just six years.

Across the UK, tens of thousands learned about the horrors of the Holocaust and other genocides in places such as Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, with this year’s theme focusing on how survivors rebuild their lives.

Organisers say events took place in prisons, schools, museums, galleries, libraries and workplaces,

Dead Sea docs reveal an ancient family tale The story of an ancient Jewish family has been told for the first time in 2,000 years, thanks to a university professor who used new techniques to examine documents found in a Dead Sea cave.

The remarkable tale of how Shim’on ben Menahem bought a date-palm orchard has been revealed after four legal papyri dated 94-90 AD were examined at the University of Gloucestershire.

Ben Menahem bought the orchard in Maoza from a Nabatean woman in remarkable circumstances just weeks after a high Nabatean official tried and failed to acquire the property, says Professor Philip Esler.

S h i m ’o n later gave the orchard to his daughter, Babatha, who kept the four papyri – written in Aramaic – to prove

NEWS IN BRIEF

Babatha later sought refuge in the cave from the Romans at the end of the Second Jewish Revolt in 135 AD. Prof Esler says Babatha’s legal documents and other possessions being found in the cave by Israeli archaeologists suggests she was captured by the Romans and either killed or sold into slavery.

“Retelling the tale has meant exploring the way of life in villages in Nabatea and Judea at the end of the first century AD,” said Esler, who has detailed the story in his new book, Babatha’s Orchard.

“Women had important social and economic roles, law was practised to a very high standard and Jews and One of the papers studied Nabateans got on well,” he said.

“The Romans must have

by Professor Esler, left captured Babatha, but her her title to the holding archive of legal documents and subsequently hid them, survived. In retelling the story, with 30 other legal documents, I aim to honour the memory of Babatha and her father in a cave by the Dead Sea. Along with other Jews, Shim’on.”

with faith groups coming together to share their experiences and thoughts.

HMDT chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman said: “This year we have seen an astonishing increase in the number of local HMD activities. Each one enables people to learn more about the past, feel differently about their responsibilities today and do more to create a better future.”

SURVIVOR ‘OUT’ AT 96

Pupils at North West London Jewish Day School and 37 tenants at jLiving’s Young Court in Willesden Lane were evacuated last week as army bomb disposal teams removed a Second World War device discovered on a building site nearby. The unexploded bomb forced some residents to take shelter in a church overnight. The 500lb (227kg) device was found in Brondesbury Park.

NETFLIX SERIES ON ISRAELI SUPER SPY A new TV series based on the real-life exploits of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who spent years in Syria in the 1960s, will soon be shown on Netflix.

The Spy, a co-production with Canal Plus, tells the story of Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen – known as Eli Cohen – an Egyptian Jew who, after spying in Egypt, gained “unprecedented infiltration into the top military and political echelons” in Syria. Posing as a Syrian businessman returning from Argentina, he rose to the position of chief adviser to the Syrian defence minister, and the intelligence he gathered was crucial to Israel’s success in the Six Day War.

Roman Blank, who escaped the Nazis, talks about his life and times to YouTube interviewer Davey Wavey

A 96-year-old grandfather who escaped the Nazis has revealed he has known that he is gay since the age of five.

Roman Blank survived the Holocaust and moved to America, where he and his wife of 67 years had two children and five grandchildren.

However, last year he revealed a previously untold chapter of his life, which he had kept secret for 90 years.

Speaking in an interview with YouTube video creator Davey Wavey, Roman, who still has a thick European accent, said: “There were cer-

tain things I wanted the world to know… I told them I was born and was, all my life, gay.

“I told them the whole tragedy of my life and then they understood what happened to me. Can you imagine 90 years to be in the closet?”

Blank says he is now looking for a companion to share his final years.

He added that he was not looking at appearance, but “at the heart”, saying he wants “to go to sleep and have somebody close to me, not for any other reason but to be sure that someone cares”.

ISRAEL CHARITY’S ‘NEW WAY OF GIVING’ Israel charity UJIA has launched “a new way of giving” to entice would-be donors, offering investments in Israeli projects with a social impact. The scheme, which has already been piloted, offers a financial return on investments in the hope this will attract “new donors who are seeking a modern and innovative approach to engaging with Israel”. The initiative, called Si3 (Social Impact Investment Initiative), is led by a UK committee headed

by The Met Group’s Danny Kessler, and is described as “a cutting-edge approach to philanthropy.

9 March 2017 Jewish News

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

News / Hate warning / News briefs

ADL boss urges Trump to crack down on hate crime

NEWS IN BRIEF

HARROW ADOPTS ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION Harrow has followed Barnet and Hertsmere Councils’ lead to become the latest authority to adopt a new and expanded working definition of anti-Semitism.

Harrow Labour Group supported the vote to use the new International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, adopted by Theresa May in December.

Councillor Kiran Ramchandani said: “It is important we send a clear message to our Jewish population that we support them.”

The director of the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Jonathan Greenblatt, has called for “a fully resourced investigation by the Department of Justice” into the wave of hate crimes directed against the American Jewish community, writes Jenni Frazer.

These have included numerous hoax bomb threats against Jewish schools and community centres, as well as at least four directed at ADL regional offices on Tuesday.

Greenblatt, who served in Barack Obama’s White House as his special assistant and director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, has a simple job description for his current post, which he took up in summer 2015 — “to protect the Jewish people”.

He was in London this week to address the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Counter-Extremism and to meet Jewish community leaders at central London’s Centre for Jewish Life.

He spoke to Jewish News as a constant stream of reports filtered in to his open laptop. Despite last week’s arrest of a suspect for many of the hoax bomb threats, there is no sign of the current spike in anti-Semitism abating.

Greenblatt, who spent last Friday in prolonged talks with FBI director James Comey, has a wish list of steps he would like President Donald Trump to take. He said: “We would like to see the president convene a federal interagency task force, and convene all of the right players around the table: the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the Department of Education and others to develop policy measures.”

He appealed to the president about

HEBREW UNIVERSITY’S TOP GERMAN HONOUR The president of Hebrew University has been awarded Germany’s highest civilian award for advancing GermanIsraeli relations in the field of science.

Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson received the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit in a ceremony at the University’s Mount Scopus campus in Jerusalem.

He said: “We must never forget the Holocaust; yet this also unites us in a common duty to remember the past, to educate and work towards a brighter future for humanity.”

PORTMAN WELCOMES A NEW BABY GIRL Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman has given birth to a second child with her husband, French choreographer Benjamin Millepied.

The baby girl, named Amalia, was born on 22 February, according to Portman’s media representative, who confirmed that baby and mother are “happy and healthy.”

The Los Angeles-based couple also has a five-year-old son named Aleph. Millepied, 39, coached her in ballet on the set of Black Swan, for which she received an Oscar award.

the Countering Violent Extremism programme, saying: “There are rumours it would be reduced to focus solely on radical Islam; that is a problem in the US as it is around the world, but we think the programme must encompass neo-Nazis and white supremacists.”

Greenblatt warned that the Jewish community worldwide was “sailing in uncharted waters” and said he would use the “privilege” of speaking to British parliamentarians to share American Jews’ experience.

During last year’s US election campaign, Greenblatt said: “We saw rhetoric from the extreme right move from the margins to the mainstream. We saw some of their tropes come out of the shadows and find their way into the Twitter feeds of the candidates.”

The ADL channelled much of its energies into analysing social media, particularly Twitter, where it discovered more than 2.6 million anti-Semitic messages in the previous 12 months. “The nature of the abuse was horrendous,” said Greenblatt, noting the embrace of technology by the “alt-right” had shifted “from white hoods to smartphones”.

He believed extremists in the US had exploited the First Amendment of the US Constitution — free speech — and said US law had not caught up with the manipulation of technology by those who dealt in hate abuse. “We would like to see new legislation that will create real penalties for those who do these things online,” he said.

Although reluctant to pin Trump directly with the responsibility for the surge in hate crime, Greenblatt did say that “words have consequences.

A statement like that issued on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which did

ADL director Jonathan Goldblatt was in London this week to address MPs

not mention the six million Jews who were slaughtered sent something of a signal to anti-Semites. Or when asked by a friendly Jewish reporter about antiSemitism, and you shout that person down, that sends signals”.

He added: “We were very frustrated that the Administration had not called this out sooner, firmly and forcibly,” and

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said Trump’s recent denunciation of anti-Semitic attacks, made during a visit to an African-American gathering, was very important, and praised Vice-President Pence for his visit to Dachau and his vigorous denunciation of the attacks.

“What we would like to see is how Trump shifts from saying it’s offensive to take measures to deal with the offence.”

9 March 2017 Jewish News

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11

Stamford Hill counsellors / Graffiti attack / News

Charedi counsellors in training A group of 14 strictlyOrthodox men in north London have begun a three-year counselling course delivered by other strictly-Orthodox men in a “first-of-its-kind” programme, writes Stephen Oryszczuk.

Years of planning have culminated in the launch of the groundbreaking course tailored specifically for men in the Charedi community. Organisers say a need was identified for those already offering informal counselling in areas such as Stamford Hill to be formally trained and accredited to deal with the more complex cases.

The learners have enrolled on to the Certificate in Humanistic Integrative Counselling course at CPPD Counselling School, which is approved by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

It is the first year of a three-year course that includes built-in elements of halachic discussion alongside clinical placements, at the end of which the men will be qualified to practice as accredited counsellors.

In the past, almost all counselling within the Charedi community has

Stamford Hill’s Chaerdi community sees a need for male counsellors

come from rabbis or those without proper training, but there is now a growing need for properly-trained male counsellors to deal with the more serious mental health issues.

“Unfortunately there are examples of unqualified or poorly qualified counsellors and courses in the community, which may be due partly to the unavailability of appropriate accredited training,” said CPPD director Jenny Sandelson. “Hopefully this will address this problem.”

Three Orthodox groups have previ-

ously completed the training, she said, and are now doing “impressive work within the community, including educating members about the need to work with qualified professionals”.

The programme’s two trainers, Chaim Kantor and Jonathan Rabson, are accredited psychotherapists. Kantor, who speaks Yiddish, emphasised the three-year course was the only way to tackle the problems appropriately. “There are simply no shortcuts to becoming a well-trained counsellor,” he said. “It short-changes the

students, and it can be unfair to expect minimally-trained practitioners to deal with the complex mental health needs of their clients.”

Kantor said the English-language programme was being run “in a training environment that suits the requirements of a Charedi group, in a timetable which, unlike most other courses, is conveniently timed around the Jewish calendar”.

He added: “Given the lack of properly-trained psychotherapists, I have been encouraged by rabbis and community leaders over the years to set up a course without compromising the Orthodox environment that our community requires. It’s a groundbreaking initiative.”

Rabson, who also speaks Hebrew, said this communal backing, especially from rabbis, was crucial. “There may be some reticence or suspicion in the community about this profession,” he said, “but there is now a growing recognition about the difference between what a trained counsellor can do, and what a rabbi can do.”

All the learners were in their 20s and 30s, he said. “It will be challenging. All have had long-term yeshiva

experience, and for many, English is not their first language. Some are now teachers. Some have worked as special education needs co-ordinators, many are carers. One is a governor at a school, who is getting some challenging cases brought to him and wants to be better prepared to deal with it.”

He said a burgeoning Orthodox population, together with an increasing willingness to recognise the need for help, had brought with it an increased demand for counselling.

“As the Charedi community expands, and we are more willing to recognise the benefit of therapy to the needs of our young people and adults, we will need more professionallytrained clinicians to support our services,” said Rabson. “I am proud to be part of an initiative that is helping to create the next generation of Charedi counsellors and therapists.”

He added: “There are so many outstanding men in our community who wish to develop their personal skills and become better teachers or mentors for our youth, as well as those who wish to consider a potential career in counselling or psychotherapy with children, young people or adults.”

Police hunt for man who defaced GAYW3 banner Police are examining CCTV footage after a banner promoting a gay culture festival at JW3 was defaced.

Clear pictures were passed to officers by the centre after a man was caught on camera spray painting the word ‘shame’ on a poster about the GayW3 event outside the venue in the early hours of Thursday.

Rather than removing the banner, one staff member suggested adding letters to turn the graffiti into the word ‘unashamed’ – a move that was roundly applauded on social media.

It was the first time the centre had experimented such an act of hate, JW3 chief executive Raymond Simonson wrote in Facebook.

He said: “We’ve had dozens of banners outside our building in the past couple of years. None of them have been vandalised or damaged. The first time the word “Gay” goes up, we have our first experience of this kind of hate crime.”

The defaced banner outside JW3

He also revealed that a message was circulated imploring members of the Orthodox community to boycott the centre in protest at the festival.

Commenting on the incident, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said: “As I have made clear previously, homophobia is unacceptable and we must have zero-tolerance for it.

“There is no excuse for vandalism. Seeking out conflict is divisive and destructive – nothing positive can come of agitating for public protest and disharmony.”

OXFORD STUDENTS CLEAR THE AIR Oxford students at the prestigious university’s Jewish and Labour societies have held a clearthe-air meeting after allegations of anti-Semitism were made last year.

Members of the Jewish Society (J-Soc) and the Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) came together on Monday night to hear from Baroness Jan Royall, who investigated claims made by former OULC co-chair Alex Chalmers.

He resigned in February 2016, shortly after OULC voted to support Israel Apartheid Week, alleging that a “large proportion” of club members had “some kind of problem with Jews,” with use of the slur “Zio” and voiced support for

Hamas. Royall told the students that convening on Monday night was itself an accomplishment, while former student leader Ella Rose, who now heads the Jewish Labour Movement, spoke of the training that had taken place since.

In a joint statement, both groups said they hoped to “draw a line” under last year’s events, saying: “We recognise that there is more that needs to be done before this can be the case and that this will only come about by us working together.” They added: “The OULC and J-Soc look forward to working together and holding more joint events to ensure Jewish students know they can, feel comfortable within OULC.”

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

Israel News / New party / Tech ties / Alarm over law

Ya’alon forms new political party to topple Netanyahu Israel’s former top soldier and defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, has said he is forming a new political party to challenge Benjamin Netanyahu at the next general election.

Ya’alon, a respected gen-

eral, resigned from the government in March last year after falling out with his boss over an Israeli soldier filmed shooting a seriously wounded Palestinian attacker in the head.

Ya’alon has criticised Netanyahu for creating a ‘divisive’ atmosphere

BRITAIN ROLLS OUT ISRAEL TECH MODEL

Ya’alon had criticised the soldier’s conduct, but Netanyahu argued for a pardon and called the soldiers’ parents in sympathy.

Since leaving the government, Ya’alon – who was replaced by Avigdor Lieberman – has severely criticised Netanyahu for “scaring the citizens of Israel and giving them the sense that we are on the brink of a second Holocaust”.

This week, he said he would run on a promise to prioritise threats to the rule of law, and to fight against corruption and the increasing polarisation in Israeli society, including “the dialogue of hatred against Arabs”.

He said: “The Arabs want to integrate, but they see a discourse full of hatred. How many terrorists were actually Arab Israelis? They want to be part of us, but they see this public atmosphere that

politicians have created.”

He announced his intention to run last year at the Herzliya Conference, where he said Netanyahu’s fearmongering was “a cynical attempt to pull wool over the eyes of the public, because of the perception that if the public is scared, they will forget the everyday challenges they are facing”.

Ya’alon has since spoken out against the growing leftright divide in Israel, and betweenArabs, Jews, Orthodox communities and religious nationalists. “The job of leadership is to bring together the people and not to tear it apart, incite and urge attacks,” he has said.

Ya’alon’s Ukrainian-born father, David, enlisted in the Jewish Brigade of the British Army in the Second World War, before serving in the embryonic Israel Defence Forces, which Ya’alon himself later led.

British Jews blast new law barring political opponents

ISRAEL NEWS IN BRIEF

US WARNING TO ISRAEL OVER WEST BANK RULE

US POLITICIANS VISIT POSSIBLE EMBASSY SITES

BIBI AND TRUMP DISCUSS IRAN’S ‘MALEVOLENCE’

The US has notified Israel that imposing sovereignty over the West Bank would lead to an “immediate crisis” with the Trump administration, a minister has said.

Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said: “We received a direct message – not an indirect message, and not a hint – from the United States.

“Imposing Israeli sovereignty on Judea and Samaria would mean an immediate crisis with the new administration.”

A group of members of the US House of Representatives visited Israel for one day, during which they are reported to have viewed possible sites in Jerusalem for a new embassy.

The delegation of lawmakers was from the House Subcommittee for National Security, part of the House Oversight Committee.

They reportedly met on Sunday morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials. [JTA]

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken about the Iran nuclear deal in a phone call.

Trump called Netanyahu on Monday and the pair, who have both denounced the deal, discussed “the dangers posed by the nuclear deal with Iran and

by Iran’s malevolent behaviour in the region and about the need to work together to counter those dangers”, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office. [JTA]

The British Government is to replicate the successful model of the UK Israel Tech Hub in Tel Aviv across five of its embassies around the world, with a focus on emerging markets.

In an announcement last week, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said the tech hubs would form a key part of the government’s new digital strategy, which aims to develop partnerships between British companies and local tech firms.

The UK Israel Tech Hub has facilitated more than 80 partnerships in five years, with a combined value of £62 million. Typically, they have seen bigger UK firms, such as Royal

Continued from page 1 their sister trade unions and change the attitude to Israel of their own trade unions. I’m afraid this policy won’t help.”

A Board of Deputies spokesperson agreed, saying: “We oppose boycotts tirelessly, and understand Israel’s desire to come down hard on those extremists who target Israel unfairly.

But due to the indiscriminate nature of this legislation, we doubt whether it will be helpful in the fight against the haters.”

Simon Johnson, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, had a more fundamental problem with Israel’s new law, which bans entry on political grounds. He said: “This law undermines the cherished value of free speech, which is so essential in a democracy. We need to seek urgent clarification from the embassy because the risk is that enforcement of this law will provide ammunition to 8 – 10 Shirehall Lane, London NW4 2PD 14th June 20168 – 10 Shirehall Lane, London NW4 Tel: 2PD 020 8202 7704 Fax: 020 8202 1605 our enemies and make the battle against BDS Email: admin@hasmonean-pri.barnet.sch.uk 14th June 2016 Tel: 020 8202 7704 Fax: 020 8202 1605 Web: www.hasmonean-pri.barnet.sch.uk in the UK so much more difficult.”

Email: admin@hasmonean-pri.barnet.sch.uk Head Teacher: Dr Alan Shaw, BA (Hons), MA, EdD. Web: www.hasmonean-pri.barnet.sch.uk Israeli politicians voted by 46-28 to ban Head Teacher: Dr Alan Shaw, BA (Hons), MA, EdD. We are pleased to welcome Prospective Reception, Nursery & Pre-Nursery Parents to an foreigners who support either a wholesale boycott of Israel or just of Jewish settlements in Open MorningParents to an We are pleased to welcome Prospective Reception, Nursery & Pre-Nursery the West Bank, with critics claiming they were on Tuesday 8 November 2016 from 9.30 – 11.00 am. “trying to erase the Green Line”.

Open Morning There will be a presentation by the Headteacher at 9.30 am and followed by a tour of the school.

“The Israeli government is using political For security, please contact us with the names of attendees.

Tuesday 8th November 2016 from 9.30 – 11.00 (For children bornon between 1/9/13 - am.

31/8/14) litmus tests to decide who may enter the country, _________________________________________________________________ There will be a presentation by the Headteacher at 9.30 am and followed by a tour of the school. which is profoundly anti-democratic,” said New Please contact For the Office an Applications for entry infor September 2017 toapplication Pre Nursery & Nursery must be received by Israel Fund’s British chief executive Adam Ognall. security, please contact us with the names of attendees.

Friday 2nd December 2016.

“But this law goes beyond an attempt to form as soon as possible on _________________________________________________________________ Applications for Reception September 2017 in must be received by the School AND Barnet silence political opinions. By conflating those Applications for entry in September 2017 to Pre Nursery & Nursery must received by th January on Sunday 15be 2017. admin@hasmonean-pri.barnet.sch.uk who discourage buying products from settlend Our Admissions Policy and Application Friday 2 December 2016. Forms are available from the School or our websitements with those who call for wholesale boycott, or phone 0208 2027704 www.hasmonean-pri.barnet.sch.uk divestment, and sanctions on all Israeli products, Applications for Reception September 2017 in must be received by the School AND Barnet companies, artists and universities, this governth

Hasmonean Primary School Nursery We have space available in our September 2017 Nursery Class th

on Sunday 15 January 2017.

.

Our Admissions Policy and Application Forms are available from the School or our website www.hasmonean-pri.barnet.sch.uk

Bank of Scotland, engineering company Dyson and pharmaceutical giant GSK, team up with smaller Israeli technology start-ups and universities.

David Quarrey, British Ambassador to Israel, said the announcement “is further evidence tech relations between the UK and Israel are stronger than ever, and are now an inspiration for the UK’s tech engagement around the world”.

Hub director Naomi Krieger Carmy said she was “delighted” it was recognised as a successful model, adding: “We will create a global tech network for the UK, with Israel in a central position.”

Israel will refuse entry to those boycotting it

ment is attempting to erase the Green Line.”

He added: “This harms prospects for an end to the occupation and the conflict, and hurts Israelis, Palestinians, and all those around the world who wish to see an end to the conflict and who support a two-state solution.”

In recent weeks, a senior NIF executive was detained and questioned at length, despite the charity firmly opposing boycotts, and last week, Israel denied entry to an American employee of Human Rights Watch, citing the organisation was “in the service of Palestinian propaganda”.

Ognall added: “We oppose attempts to discriminate against those who advocate for non-violent strategies. We believe in free speech and we are committed to upholding the right of Israelis and others to boycott settlements as a protest against the occupation and a show of support for the two-state solution.”

9 March 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

13

Jewish News meets... Gennadiy Bogolyubov

How an oligarch found faith and created a community Ukrainian billionaire Gennadiy Bogolyubov tells Justin Cohen how he reconnected with Judaism and set up Jewish hubs here and at home

I

f you’d told a young Gennadiy Bogolyubov that a synagogue he conceived in the heart of London would be the obvious setting for an interview with the future oligarch he may have choked on his bacon sandwich.

But little of the 55-year-old’s life to date has been predictable. Having grown up in the Soviet Union, where “people who saw a rabbi walked across the road because Judaism had been suppressed for 70 years”, the businessman admits he didn’t even know his local shul was a couple of blocks from his home.

A quarter of a century later, Bogolyubov (his adopted name meaning God-loving) has long since ditched non-kosher food for shul kiddushes and he’s very much at home at Chabad of Belgravia, where he recounts a journey which began with a “miracle” meeting.

“I remember the day in 1995, when my business partner asked about going to the rabbi for Friday night dinner. I said no the first time,” the major Chabad donor told Jewish News during a rare interview. “When he asked a second time, I agreed but suggested we don’t bring our wives as I didn’t know what to expect.”

Bogolyubov recalls a shul building that wasn’t well kept “and I wasn’t impressed by the synagogue or the Torah – I was just not interested”.

His interest was ignited, however, when he was told that the shul’s soup kitchen served anyone in need.

It was Bogolyubov’s very first encounter with what he describes as the “Chabad hug” and one that would transform his life. Today, he observes Shabbat and prays daily while maintaining a business empire spanning banking, construction and mining that has turned him into one of Ukraine’s richest men with an estimated worth in 2010 of $6billion. Quite a change for someone who, as a youngster, sometimes “had to wait another day” for a proper meal.

He studiously shuns the limelight, but his passion is on full display when discussing the projects of the Bogolyubov Foundation.

Unquestionably the biggest initiative is the Menorah Centre, the world’s largest Jewish hub, spread over 56,000 square metres in the Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine. So named because of its seven towers, it features a school, hotel, communal offices, Holocaust museum and kosher restaurants.

“If you want to see a space shuttle, you go to Canaveral. If you want to see what human beings can build, you go to Dubai. If you want to see Jewish life, you have to go to Dnepropetrovsk,” says Bogolyubov. “Generations of Jewish people who otherwise would have been lost are now connected.”

While there was never such an issue with communal life in parts of London, he set his sights on augmenting the Jewish scene in the centre of the capital before moving here in 2009.

Gennadiy Bogolyubov, left, with Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Chief Rabbi of Dnipropetrovsk’s Jewish community, Shmuel Kaminezki

❝

TO SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM JUDAISM, YOU COULD HAVE COME AND LIVED IN BELGRAVIA. NOW IT’S DIFFERENT The result is Chabad of Belgravia. “Before, if you wanted to separate yourself from Judaism, you could come and live in Belgravia,” he says. “Now it’s different.”

With the shul operating from his own home in the opening years, the community’s Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson says Bogolyubov could hardly have been further removed from the ‘you pray we’ll pay’ approach to philanthropy.

The early days of struggling to attract a minyan on Shabbat are a distant memory, and the community’s ‘hug’ for Jews of all levels of observance and none, attracted 500 people taking part in High Holy Day services.

Now in a larger base, the centre seeks to provide “many paths to connecting”, including socials for young professionals, teens’ sessions to nurture the next generation of leaders, and a dedicated programme for Russian and French speakers.

Its Sunday school – which started with the

philanthropist’s children – boasts 170 pupils.

Having now moved back to Ukraine, he feels this is the right moment to speak publicly for the first time about his “pride” in the centre.

“Without it, many of the children wouldn’t know much about the religion,” he said “People who live around here are generally not religious – that’s why I love to see someone come for Yom Kippur in his best crocodile shoes and with the newest iPhone, and in six months he’s shy about parking a car here. The transformation is so important.” Having only had his brit milah aged 44, he is in no doubt that becoming more observant must be organic.

It is believed the father-of-six has donated more than $80million to Chabad. He established a fund whereby every Chabad rabbi celebrating a family simcha was sent $5,000, amounting to tens of millions over the years. Another of his passions is supporting excavation and conservation projects at the Kotel.

So how different might things have been if he hadn’t accepted that invitation to see the rabbi 22 years ago? “If I had not gone to Friday night at that time, they would have found me anyway,” he says without hesitation. “Chabad s special.”

When a close friend recently suggested he was losing the best part of two days a week to Shabbat, Bogolyubov insisted he actually gains six days.

He explains: “My friends are spread across the world and most invitations I receive are for Friday or Saturday, so I have to reject most. If you ask me if my life has become more difficult, the answer is yes, but it’s also much better. Judaism

has given me understanding that there is a life other than the physical.

“I was born in the Soviet Union and grew up in a very difficult time. I now have spirituality, which made me look at people differently and teach my children differently.”

He leaves the UK confident the future of Chabad of Belgravia is secure. “This is the right moment to say something about this beautiful project,” he says. “I believe it will be here forever because there are a lot of people who need it. I see how many people are ready to support and want to be part of the project. It isn’t dependent on one individual.

“Every time I come to London, I enjoy spending Shabbat here. I hope this article may encourage someone to come and bring the children.”

Children enjoy doughnuts at Chabad Belgravia

14

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 9 March 2017

Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.

993

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

Leading by example This week we witnessed the first Jewish-Muslim Women’s Forum, with 200 participants from both faiths convening, conversing and constructing a model vision for interfaith relations in our post-truth world.

If ever there was evidence that people from different backgrounds find it easy to rub along with one another, this was it. We applaud the organisation, Nisa-Nashim, and its co-founders, Julie Siddiqi and Laura Marks.

But this was no International Women’s Day stunt, with nice photos and nice words. There was something concrete to come out of it which, if acted on, could have far-reaching consequences.

As Siddiqi notes, women are generally more likely to cross the ethnic/ religious divide, so emerging from this forum was a call to action – not just to be tolerant – but to be intolerant of those from both faiths whose words or actions create inter-ethnic hatred and mistrust. Writing in Jewish News this week, Siddiqi says: “We need to be brave and call out prejudice in our own communities and among our friends online.”

Long have those words needed saying. There can be few British Jews who have not heard fellow Jews using racist or demeaning language about Muslims. The same goes for British Muslims, who will most likely have heard hateful or derogatory words about Jews from within their own community. These days, much of the nastiness is online, but still, most of us “turn a blind eye” and do not challenge that language when we hear it. This week, Nisa-Nashim said enough is enough.

We salute them for that, and we will play our part.

But as Siddiqi says, “women have a special role to play in this, which has not been utilised properly in either of our communities”. This group of female leaders knows that leadership can sometimes mean change, and that change can be uncomfortable. But if the solution to the problem of hateful views is to call it out, risking a backlash, then women are indeed well-placed to do that.

And if they can, then they will help create a better society for all.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Send us your comments

PO Box 34296, London NW5 1YW | letters@thejngroup.com

DON’T SPEAK ILL OF THE DEAD, APART FROM...

I note the passing last week of Sir Gerald Kaufman. I understand one should not speak ill of the dead, although in this case I’d like the opportunity to make an exception.

Disagreement is, of course, acceptable, however, his vitriolic anti-Israel statements over the years as an MP in the British parliament were raised at every opportunity.

I believe, as many others have suggested, that these numerous jibes were couched and crossed the line between criticism of

Israel’s foreign and domestic policy and what might be interpreted as anti-Semitism.

As aforementioned, the death of someone – especially a fellow Jew – should at least be a time of reflection but, unfortunately, sometimes the person in question by his words and deeds forgoes that privilege.

We have enough enemies not to have needed one of our own.

Correction:  Last week’s letter headlined, ‘These

Stephen Vishnick Tel Aviv

passengers should start their own airline and leave us alone’ was written by J. D. Milaric and not as stated. We apologise for the error.

Sketches & kvetches

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“And God’s chosen people are... the Inuit!”

TWO WAYS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS ON ISRAEL FLIGHTS

CHAREDI JEWS KEEP ALIVE THE WORDS OF TORAH

Some of the problems caused by ill-mannered Charedim could be resolved with a few simple measures.

1) The website already displays which seats are ordered. Add to the seat display any available information as to whether the the passenger is male or female.

2) At check-in, require each passenger to sign a simple, large font in English, Hebrew, Arabic and Yiddish, stating that they agree that unruly passengers will be removed from the flight.

They should also agree that unruly passengers will be banned from the airline.

Some of your readers seem to welcome the Charedi easyJet seating incident as an excuse to denigrate Orthodox Jews.

While there are matters to be addressed, the underlying factor for this disturbance must not be overlooked – a strong repugnance by Charedim against any breakdown of the barriers between the sexes that our eternal Torah has ordained.

The incident makes a loud statement against the promiscuous intermingling of the sexes that, sadly, is regularly promoted in the ‘social event’ photos of your paper, which not so many years ago would have been taboo.

Ralph Katzenell By email

Geoffrey Niman By email

9 March 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

15

Editorial comment and letters

What Jared Kusher’s rabbi should tell him...

“Dear Jared. You seem to have a positive influence on President Trump, and your advice appears consistent with the values we cherish as Jews, such as compassion, justice and openness towards others. I note, for instance, that you and Ivanka helped prevent an LGBT rights rollback that was envisaged by Trump’s administration.

However, it appears that when you are absent from the president’s side during Shabbat, he makes poor decisions, which not only undermine his administration, but endanger the world equilibrium as a whole.

I refer, as an example, to his phone call with the Australian prime minister on 28 January, which ended abruptly, but should have been a warm discussion between two historic allies. It is regrettable you were unable to guide him in a more reasonable direction.

Your observance of Shabbat is laudable, but are you making it “the most dangerous time of the week”, as some suggest? It seems so, and I consider this situation to be a case of

TONGE SO MISGUIDED OVER THE BALFOUR DECLARATION

REFUGEES NEED GUARANTEES We forget many refugees from Europe were refused entry into the UK and other countries in the 1930s because they had no guarantors and could be a burden on the state. The Kinder had to provide a guarantee of £5,000 (equivalent to £25,000 today), but they had been brought up in a European environment.

The current influx of refugees, many of whom have spent a fortune in getting to Europe, bring a differ-

Pikuach Nefesh, which commands you to violate the Shabbat, seeing that another man’s life is in danger – actually, the lives of many men and women in the US and across the globe.

Given the scale and magnitude of a potential crisis that could result from the president not benefiting from your guidance, you must attend to your work even during Shabbat in the interest of the greater good.

I know this is a big ask, but I believe it is necessary to keep the world safe.”

Baroness Jenny Tonge and co may be opening a can of worms expecting the British Government to apologise for issuing the Balfour Declaration.

Britain was not the only nation to issue such a Declaration because Palestine is a strategic asset, backing onto the area near the Suez canal.

She and her gang probably mistake the Declaration as allocating Palestine for the Jewish homeland but it was the League of Nations that did it.

Their spokeswoman erred by saying Palestinian Arabs were indigenous. Arabs are indigenous to Arabia and Jews are indigenous to Judea. Some 80 percent of Mandated Palestine was grabbed by the Hashemites and renamed Jordan, but Britain did nothing to stop this Perhaps Jews should be the ones to ask for an apology?

Benjamin Lasry By email

Uri Rabin Redbridge

ent culture and could have fled to countries bordering their own. Their integration will be a big problem here.

So unless these current refugees can provide guarantors and also have family back home who are known and contactable, then economic or otherwise, they should not be allowed into the UK.

Mike Haan By email

Tune into this Friday’s Jewish Views podcast!

• Learn more about the BRCA1 gene

mutation, following the extraordinary story of Gaby Jacobs who’s had a voluntary double mastectomy to avoid the dangers of developing cancer.

• Rabbi Jonathan Romain talks about his new book Confessions of a Rabbi.

HOW TO LISTEN...

• We speak to PODCAST: Fridays iTUNES ‘The Jewish Views’ participants of MW RADIO: Sundays 558AM at 12 noon ORT UK’s bar/ WEB RADIO: Sundays at 10pm on Wandsworth Radio bat-mitzvah twinning project ONLINE: jewishnews.co.uk and spectrumradio.net with Vilnius.

16

Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

9 March 2017

Opinion

Denial and deflection that unites Corbyn and Trump DAVE RICH

AUTHOR, THE LEFT’S JEWISH PROBLEM

A

merican Jews have been rocked in recent weeks by a wave of anti-Semitic incidents, including bomb threats and cemetery desecrations. These kinds of attacks are not supposed to happen in the Jewish utopia of the United States, and suddenly, the sense of insecurity felt

by European Jews in recent years seems to be making its way across the Atlantic.

This isn’t helped by the fact President Donald Trump was initially slow to condemn the attacks, and then, bizarrely, appeared to blame Jews, Democrats or anyone other than anti-Semites for carrying them out to damage him and his supporters.

“Someone’s doing it to make others look bad,” Trump was reported as saying on a conference call with state attorneys general from across America. It might be anti-Semites perpetrating these incidents, or “the reverse can be true”.

It’s typical of Trump to make everything about himself, but the allegation that Jews or others carry out ‘false flag’ anti-Semitic attacks for political benefit is a conspiracy theory that is very common on the far right. It’s a common mistake to view conspiracy theorists as wacky, or stupid, but usually harmless. They aren’t.

Conspiracy theories are an essential component of fanaticism. When fanatics get power, their capacity for harm is limitless.

Trump’s attempt to deflect the question of anti-Semitism is not a problem confined to the far right. On the left, too, people will make any excuse for anti-Semitism if it suits their political interests to do so. Some supporters of Jeremy Corbyn doggedly insist that accusations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party have been invented by his opponents to make trouble.

“How the Israel lobby fakes anti-Semitism”, screams a headline on the Electronic Intifada website. One of its writers, Asa Winstanley, alleges that claims of anti-Semitism in Labour are “false”, “exaggerated” and “wholly fabricated”. Jonathan Rosenhead, from the anti-Zionist ‘Free Speech On Israel’ blog, says

evidence for anti-Semitism in Labour is absent, but “one solution if you want a crisis and lack enough evidence is to invent some”.

I don’t know whether Winstanley and Rosenhead really think that supporters of Israel are ‘fabricating’ evidence of anti-Semitism.

Nor do I know whether Trump really believes that American Jews, or Democrats, or some other group who dislikes him, are behind the hundreds of anti-Semitic incidents recorded in America since his election.

What is apparent, though, is that all three seem to be more interested in protecting their own political interests than in genuinely addressing the problem. I’m sure Corbyn, Trump and their supporters, would shudder at the idea they have anything in common. But one

thing unites them: while both left and right are quick to point out anti-Semitism in each other’s movements, they stubbornly refuse to see it in their own if it is politically inconvenient to do so.

The feeling of bewilderment and betrayal felt by many Labour-supporting Jews over the past two years is now finding its echo among American Jews. Anti-Defamation League head Jonathan Greenblatt said he was “astonished” at Trump’s comments apparently directing blame away from anti-Semites for the wave of incidents, and called for urgent clarification.

The notion that Jews desecrate their own cemeteries and send bomb threats to their own schools, or that they invent anti-Semitic incidents in the Labour Party, is likely to be believed by more people than we might imagine.

❝

THE FEELING OF BEWILDERMENT AND BETRAYAL FELT BY MANY LABOUR-SUPPORTING JEWS IS NOW FINDING ITS ECHO AMONG AMERICAN JEWS

I’m crying with laughter at campus crackdown JENNI FRAZER

I

t would take a heart of stone, Oscar Wilde once perceptively wrote, not to laugh at the death of Little Nell.

And indeed Dickens’ mawkish description can only evoke hilarity these days as the inevitable shuffles into meltdown. So it is with part of the boycott student movement, whose latest whine has prompted me, at least, to think: “Aw, diddums”, and perhaps offer a reassuring pat on the shoulder before thinking that: A) I don’t know where said shoulder has been and B) It’s probably an exceedingly politically incorrect thing to do.

The problem, apparently, is that, for once, things are not going all their own way on campus. I have no less authority than the virulently anti-Israel publication Middle East Eye for this, which reports with great sorrow that “pro-Palestine activists on British university campuses fear a crackdown is taking place against them following the cancellation of several events affiliated

❝

MANY STUNTS ARE PART OF THE INCREASINGLY UNPLEASANT ANNUAL ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK, A VILE HURDLE FOR JEWISH STUDENTS to the Israeli Apartheid Week initiative and increasing regulation and monitoring of their activities”.

Well, you can imagine my heartbreak on reading this. A hilarious film accompanies the article, in which an earnest young Muslim woman claims with a completely straight face that Palestinian activism is seen as “threatening” and then in the very next frame we are shown hundreds of the

usual suspects waving Palestinian flags and shouting “Free, Free Palestine”, as though we were viewing an innocent summer picnic, and not, indeed, a deeply threatening atmosphere for Jewish students.

A bewildered Brit appears next in this film, a keffiyeh draped around his neck while his head sports a tweed flat cap. You need to sort out your fashion priorities, mate, I thought on first viewing, this is not a Miuccia Prada catwalk with you looking ever so edgy. You just look a twit. And he tells the camera: “They just gave a blanket ban and said that there was no way our event would be allowed to take place.” And, honestly, I thought he was going to burst into tears and I might have joined him, had I not been laughing so hard.

Let us not pretend that all is sweetness and light on Britain’s campuses and that the tide has been completely rolled back.

But for the first time in years, some universities have got the point and — whether they were forced into it or not, it scarcely matters — have begun to draw a line in the

sand as to what can and cannot take place on campus in the name of the much-abused free speech. Even Middle East Eye breaks the pretence and calls the erection of a fake checkpoint on one campus — banned by the university – a “stunt”.

Many of these stunts are part of the increasingly unpleasant annual Israeli Apartheid Week, a vile hurdle for Jewish students to face every year.

It’s way overdue that university authorities, rather than wash their hands of what takes place on their premises, should confront the student organisers and make it clear what is and what is not acceptable.

I don’t want to prevent pro-Palestinian students expressing their views. But nor do I want Jewish students reduced to quivering nervous wrecks, afraid of crossing areas of their campus, uncomfortable in some places about wearing their kippot, and worried about lack of support from the faculty, who should be helping young people, not hindering them.

So let’s hear it for the death of Little Nell, and all who sail in her. About time.

9 March 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

17

Opinion

‘Hubby’ birthday to place that’s working wonders SHRAGA ZALTZMAN CEO, WORK AVENUE

W

ork Avenue has reached an exciting milestone, marking one year since the opening of our business hub in Finchley: Wohl Enterprise Hub (WE Hub), the new HQ for Work Avenue. A year ago when we opened, the hub housed a tight-knit group of 15. Today we have 126 members, each of whom has contributed to what has become a vibrant community of like-minded entrepreneurs who support each other in their business journeys.

We set up WE Hub in line with Work Avenue’s goal of supporting people into employment or self-employment. We wanted to provide start-ups and entrepreneurs with a space in which they could thrive.

People often comment on the modern design of WE Hub, which stands out among the surrounding traditional red brick buildings. This contemporary feel is designed to be inspira-

tional. Success is often linked to state of mind, and people who first come to Work Avenue for help can often enter somewhat disheartened, particularly if their job hunt isn’t going smoothly.

Walking into a modern space, flooded with natural light and met by a brightly-coloured wall artwork that features words such as ‘dream’, ‘create’ and ‘success’, is uplifting and inspiring.

Likewise, businesses that base themselves in a modern space, surrounded by forward-thinking people, are motivated to succeed and grow.

As part of our day-to-day work, last year we helped 788 people through career guidance, employability workshops and mock interview sessions. These training courses and workshops have all been held at the WeHub. Mentoring has also played a significant role in our work. We believe opportunities are connected to people; our research has shown that start-ups are 3.5 times more likely to grow their customer base if they have helpful mentors. We have matched 220 people to suitable mentors so far, who have used their expertise and experience to help small businesses develop different areas of their company.

WE Hub has also been the heart of some enlightening events last year. In 2016, our business events were attended by 479 people, while the employment events have been hugely popular, attended by more than 1,200 people.

In October we teamed up with Google’s Digital Garage and welcomed more than 200 businesses, freelancers and entrepreneurs, offering them advice on how to grow their businesses online at sessions by representatives from Digital Garage, Barclays Bank and Work Avenue.

In November we hosted our fifth annual Women in the Workplace event, which welcomed 120 delegates, who were given advice by a line-up of inspiring women and experts in their professional fields on various workplace topics. Louise Jacobs, former

CEO of the LJCC and vice chairman of the UJIA, and the most recent addition to Work Avenue’s trustee board, shared her top tips for networking, while our own Hannah Mindel spoke about how to turn an idea into a business.

Since founding Work Avenue, we have developed a simple model that delivers results and WE Hub, powered and managed by Work Avenue, has been a natural progression of our work supporting those needing a gentle push into employment and nurturing businesses into sustainable entities.

I’m extremely proud of everything we have achieved so far and look forward to welcoming more budding entrepreneurs and jobseekers through our doors.  More at www.wehub.org.uk

❝

WORK AVENUE’S WE HUB HAS BEEN A NATURAL PROGRESSION OF OUR WORK SUPPORTING THOSE NEEDING A GENTLE PUSH INTO EMPLOYMENT

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

Opinion

I’m calling out the loons who make Israel bashing the mother of all virtues MAAJID NAWAZ CO-FOUNDER, QUILLIAM FOUNDATION

S

oon after London Fashion Week concluded, Israel Apartheid Week began. Another week, another obsessive focus on Israel.

The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is mostly spearheaded in the West by people who have little to nothing attaching them to the Middle-East conflict. Nothing, that is, beyond the fact that belonging to the hard-left and not supporting BDS has become the equivalent of claiming a love for fashion, while hating haute couture.

Though unlike haute couture, BDS is an inelegant and simplistic solution to a protracted and incredibly complicated problem. But who cares for detail when you have a fabulous placard to wave?

The lazy analogy that BDS rests on is with South African apartheid. But unlike apartheidera South Africa, Arabs make up 20 percent of Israel’s full citizenry. Most of these Arab-Israeli citizens are Muslim. There are mosques on Israeli beaches. Alongside Hebrew, Arabic is an official language of Israel. An Arab-Israeli judge has even impeached and convicted former Israeli prime minster, Ehud Olmert.

And though many problems with integration persist – as they do with minority communities across the West – when surveyed 77 percent of these Arabs expressed an overwhelming preference to remain Israeli, rather than become citizens of a future Palestinian state. The reason is obvious, Israeli-Muslims have more freedom of religion than other minorities – and even other Muslims have in all other Middle-Eastern countries.

The problem lies in the status of the West Bank and Gaza, not with any imaginary apartheid system inside Israel proper. So lazy is the apartheid analogy that I could effectively end my article at this paragraph. But so entrenched has our political laziness become, I feel compelled to carry on.

Far from being an apartheid, what we have is a somewhat unexceptional, albeit rather tragic, land dispute. An unexceptional land dispute: this is all that it was.

Until it became fetishised.

The truth is, there is nothing unique about the Israel conflict deserving such disproportionate attention by people who have little connecting them to this land.

Baluchistan, Kurdistan, Cyprus, Kashmir, and Taiwan are but a few other disputed territories not fetishized like Palestine is by our left, by Muslims, at the UN and in our media. All of these disputes involve deep religious, historic, and political meaning for their respective parties. And only the overwhelming narcissism of our Abrahamic

faiths – including those among us who define themselves against them—would value the religious and historic significance of these “Holy Lands” to mean anything more than other lost holy lands for Buddhists in Tibet, or Sikhs in Khalistan, which was lost to Pakistan’s Punjab a year before Israel’s creation.

Yet activists with little ancestral connection to Palestine have become obsessed with instramentalising this particular dispute to grind their own ideological axes.

Just as I would argue for Palestinians during past crises in Gaza, Israelis are not collectively responsible for the mistakes of their government in failing to achieve peace. BDS seeks to hold Israelis collectively responsible.

BDS punishes an entire people for the actions of a government that only came to power because of the quirks of a proportionally representative (PR) system that allows for minority religious parties to exert undue influence over policy.

As a result of Israel’s PR system, Netanyahu is only able to secure victory by forming a coalition with Naftali Bennett’s far-right, pro-settler Jewish Home.

It is not uncommon on Western university campuses to witness absurdities such as student groups refusing to condemn ISIS for fear of causing anti-Muslim bigotry, or proudly partnering with pro-jihadist groups such as CAGE UK, all the while calling for the entire people of Israel to be boycotted.

No doubt, many of these same student groups would support Obama’s deal to ease sanctions on Hezbollah-terrorist-supporting, Assad-backing, theocratic Iran, while simultaneously calling for sanctions to be imposed on a democratic Israel. In this latter case, it should be remembered that Iranian film has done wonders breaking down barriers and critiquing internal oppression, because Iranian cultural exchange was exempt from U.S. sanctions.

Consistency would be to continue encouraging more such openness, but the incredibly regressive step seeking to ban Israeli culture achieves the exact opposite.

As a British author I would be mortified if my work were censored around the world due

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FAR FROM THIS BEING APARTHEID, WHAT WE HAVE IS A SOMEWHAT UNEXCEPTIONAL, ALBEIT TRAGIC, LAND DISPUTE

A pro-Israel supporter stands up against anti-Israel protesters in central London

to the actions of my government—such as the invasion of Iraq, which I have always opposed.

How would Turkish authors feel if they were held responsible for the increasingly unhinged, autocratic Erdogan’s Islamisation of Turkey, or his approach toward the Kurds?

And yet, amid Chinese abuse in Tibet and Xinjiang, Burmese oppression of the Rohingya, the Kurdish people’s struggles, the plight of women and just about any free thinker in Saudi Arabia and Iran, the rights of practically everybody in North Korea, and the Ukrainian struggle to liberate the Crimea, the only foreign government that seems to attract the constant ire of our National Union of Students is the one that – with all its imperfections – is more democratic and transparent than most of the above: Israel.

To cite disproportionality against Israel inevitably leads to accusations by the hard-left that one’s fallen into the fallacy of “whatabouttery.” That is, trying to distract from one’s own transgressions by shouting “what about” someone else’s. In this case, supposedly trying to downplay Israel’s abuses or failings by pointing to other conflicts around the world.

But I am not engaging in this fallacy. I am calling it out.

Due to our Abrahamic narcissism, Israel has become the perennial ‘whatabout’ used by almost every political persuasion to push their own – often sinister – agenda.

Fanatical Israeli settlers who usually hail from America seek to blow up the al-Aqsa compound to resurrect the Temple. Evangelical Christians support Israel so that the Messiah can return and initiate armageddon, after which Jews can presumably go to hell. Hamas

has never held elections since coming to power, and brutally tortures and drags ‘collaborators’ across the streets of Gaza from the backs of motorcycles… but Israel! Islamists the world over cite Israel as proof for why their theocratic caliphate must return. Arab despots point to Israel as their excuse for never holding free and fair elections, ever.

Rather than look inwards, Muslim conspiracy loons claim Israel created ISIS. The hard-left, such as the UK’s Stop the War, uses Israel to criticise the ‘imperialist West’, all the while acquiescing to Russia’s annexation of the Crimea.

The hard-right use Israel for everything from boosting defence spending, to justifying ethnic profiling to building anti-immigrant walls. In this way, obsessing over Israel has become the mother of all virtue signals.

Only by releasing the “exceptional status” pressure from this conflict, by stripping it of its religious hyperbole, by removing it from the spotlight, by simply placing it on a par with every and any other conflict in the world – tragic but not unique – do we stand a better chance of solving it. I call this “Israeli unexceptionalism.”

Only by accepting that there is nothing special about this conflict are the stakes lowered, emotions drained and reason returned. Only by remaining somewhat dispassionate are the frothing prophets of doom, with their armageddon pathology, deprived of their manipulative power over us.

Until then, just like London Fashion Week, Israel Apartheid Week will remain to me the moral leftist equivalent of our narcissistic first world problems.

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9 March 2017 Jewish News

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

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Springdene CARE HOMES

Because life is for living Part of the Springdene Group with care homes in Enfield, Hampstead and Muswell Hill.

9 March 2017 Jewish News

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In association with www.norwood.org.uk

1SINAI’S FESTIVE SPIRIT

Children at Michael Sobell Sinai School in Kenton, prepared for their Purim Party parade, which takes place on Monday, with an inflatable obstacle course, sharing Mishloach Manot and raising money for Jewish Child’s Day.

2PUPILS’ SHUL VISIT

And be seen

Pupils from Brondesbury Park Synagogue visited Jewish Care’s Clore Manor home to start Purim celebrations early with the residents. The children dressed in fancy dress, gave out Purim gifts, performed songs and chatted with the residents.

Resident Philip Sonenfeld said: “It’s always nice to see children when they visit and we enjoyed their songs. They were lovely and so well-behaved. It’s wonderful to celebrate Purim together.”

We’ve captured all the costumes and colour as the community prepares to celebrate Purim!

3GIFT OF PURIM

Tenants at Jewish Blind & Disabled’s Aztec House, in Chigwell, enjoyed a fun and festive Purim, as volunteers from around Essex provided food, wine, party hats and graggers. Jewish Blind & Disabled chief executive Hazel Kaye said: “I would especially like to thank our amazing volunteers, who worked hard all week long, to ensure that all of our tenants had brilliant Purim parties.”

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Make a difference in our community

4Find out how a few hours of your time can give a brighter future to those we support.

Photo by Paul Lang Photography

4GRAGG-ORIOUS FUN

Photo by Marc Morris

Children from Highfield Gardens in Golders Green made hundreds of mishloach manot for struggling families, through the charity GIFT. Organiser Odelia Meierovitz said: “It can be so much fun to help others. The kids really enjoyed making up the mishloach manot and doing something to make a difference.”

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

Scene & Be Seen / Community / In association with www.norwood.org.uk

AKIVA UK 1 BNEI RAISES £120K

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because it is very important to me and my friends.”

Bnei Akiva UK joined up with its international branches for a day of fundraising, which brought in more than £1.6million. The funds – £120,000 of which were raised in the UK – will go towards bringing Jewish education into the 21st century and to support BA’s Israel programmes.

BY 2 CELEBRATIONS FOUR GENERATIONS

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Cousins Benji and Jade Albert extended their bar and batmitzvah celebrations by performing a second reading of their portions to their great-grandma Esther, at her Jewish Care Princes Alexandra Home. Benji, who celebrated his barmitzvah in Israel, said: “It was really special to do my barmitzvah portion for our great-grandma as she was unable to be in Israel with us. It was amazing to have a picture of four generations of my family altogether.” Esther said: “It was lovely to see Jade and Benji read their bar and batmitzvah portions.”

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IT WAS REALLY SPECIAL TO DO MY BARMITZVAH PORTION FOR OUR GREAT-GRANDMA ESTHER, AS SHE WAS UNABLE TO BE IN ISRAEL WITH US 6

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TALK ON 4 EXPERT CHALLENGES Norwood hosted author and educational expert Dr Eliya Stromberg who spoke to parents about the challenges of raising a child with special educational needs and disabilities.

5 BRITISH-LITVAK ‘TWINS’ MEET

British and Litvak Jewish children enjoyed a Shabbaton in Vilnius, building friendships and deepening their understanding of what it means to be Jewish, as part of ORT UK’s new bar/batmitzvah programme. It was the first physical meeting of 10 of the 13 children from Muswell Hill and their 20 ‘twins’ at the ORT Sholom Aleichem School. Project initiator Anthea Jackson said: “It was wonderful to meet Ben’s ‘twins’ with their families and celebrate with them.”

HILL’S 6 MUSWELL WEEK OF RIGHTS

AVI MAKES A VERY FRIENDLY SPLASH

More than 150 Muswell Hill Synagogue members took part in its inaugural Human Rights Week. Activities included talks from Rene Cassin and Detention Action and The Forgiveness Project photography exhibition. Rabbi David Mason said: “Our community continues to pave the way forward as an Orthodox community and yet is conscious of the importance of issues of social action and social justice.”

Mancunian Langdon and Friendship Circle member Avi Pash raised more than £1,860 by completing a sponsored swim in aid of the Circle.

He said: “I love the Friendship Circle because they take me out on trips and I do art club.

I have made so many friends through it and have an amazing buddy who takes me out to fun places. I want to raise as much money as I can for it

Your simcha announcements Phoebe Grankin celebrated her batmitzvah at Mill Hill United Synagogue.

Jemima Frieze celebrated her batmitzvah at Stanmore United Synagogue.

Photo by Kate Swerdlow Photography

Photo by Karen Zetter

Aytan Cohen celebrated his barmitzvah at Chabad Buckhurst Hill.

Photo by Kate Swerdlow Photography

Photo by Kate Swerdlow Photography

Joe Bregman celebrated his barmitzvah at Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue.

Have you had a recent simcha?

Send your picture to picturedesk@thejngroup.com

9 March 2017 Jewish News

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Community / Scene & Be Scene

A new Holocaust education fund was launched at a dinner for Jewish heritage educational charity JRoots

by Daliah Epstein. Bursaries will allow hundreds of Jewish students to travel to concentration camps in Poland with Shoah survivors to witness first-hand accounts of how they survived and rebuilt their lives. Epstein paid tribute to her husband, Stuart, who raised ÂŁ20,000 for JRoots shortly before he died suddenly in December.

Photos by Blake Ezra Photography

Fund for Holocaust education launched

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

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Scene & Be Scene / Community

Government pledges £13m funding at CST dinner Home Secretary Amber Rudd confirmed the Government will will provide more than £13m of funding to boost security at synagogues and Jewish schools next year at the CST annual dinner last week. Praising the CST and its army of volunteers, Rudd told an audience of more than 1,000 people: “We are doing what we can to confine antiSemitism to the history books.

Our efforts have been internationally recognised.” CST chief executive David Delew thanked the Government for its“strong efforts to combat terrorism”.

Camp Simcha’s biennial dinner

Photos by Grainge Photography

A father’s moving testimony of the support Camp Simcha gave his family during his daughter’s short life helped raise £2million at the charity’s biennial dinner. Lee Bladon appeared in the dinner film two years ago with wife Sam and daughter Evie, who has since passed away. More than 1,000 guests at the Grosvenor House Hotel also heard about Camp Simcha’s partnership with Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, while guests also participated in a silent auction which raised £ 180,000.

9 March 2017 Jewish News

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Life

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Sardari’s Enigma / Lifestyle

IN THIS SECTION: Ben-Gurion film 26-27 / Travel 30 / Competition 38

Iranian consul who saved French Jews Francine Wolfisz speaks to Mahdieh Zardiny about her efforts to highlight the heroism of Abdol Hossein Sardari

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Photo: In the Lion’s Shadow by Fariborz Mokhtari, The History Press

rom concocting an elaborate ruse that misled topranking Nazis to falsifying official documents and passports, one Muslim diplomat risked everything to help save hundreds of Iranian Jews in Paris during the Second World War. Despite this, the heroic efforts of Abdol Hossein Sardari largely faded into obscurity over the years, while attempts to have him officially recognised as Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem have been thwarted.

Iranian-British film-maker Mahdieh Zardiny made it her quest to reveal the full extent of his selfless bravery and has spent more than three years gathering new documents to submit to Yad Vashem, resulting in her intriguing 90-minute documentary, Sardari’s Enigma.

Zardiny, who studied documentary film-making at Royal Holloway University, London, came across the story of the unsung hero five years ago while interviewing a Holocaust survivor for her first documentary, Big Red J. Like many others, Scarlett

Epstein revealed how she and her family were assisted to safety from Nazi persecution thanks to Sardari.

“I got curious and decided to try to find other people who were helped by him,” explains Zardiny, who hopes to release the film later this year.

“I discovered he was a consul who saved Iranian and non-Iranian Jews, as well as non-Jews, during the Second World War in France. But there was only brief information available.”

To find out more, Zardiny travelled to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, as well as Switzerland and Germany to piece together documents relating to Sardari. In France, she discovered the police had meticulously monitored his personal life and diplomatic activities, including his involvement in forging Iranian passports to help his desperate countrymen.

But perhaps most staggering, some documents revealed how the young diplomat had managed to persuade German officials that Iranian Jews were not the same as European Jews – and were not actually Jews at all. He argued they should be

afforded special protection in the same way as non-Jewish Iranians, who were considered “pure-blooded Aryans”.

“He even came up with a name for them – ‘Djuguten’ – which is not a real word,” says Zardiny. “He argued that their customs were the same as other Iranians, that they don’t speak Hebrew, only Farsi, and that they celebrated the same festivals. He said there was no specific religion in Iran and that everybody was the same.”

At first, high-ranking German officials refused to accept his argument.

In December 1942, Adolf Eichmann even denounced his reasoning as “the usual Jewish tricks and attempts at camouflage”. But Sardari persisted, continuing to write letters arguing for the exemption of ‘Djuguten’, as well as hosting lavish banquets for Nazi officials at the Iranian consulate in Paris.

This gave him more time to help hundreds of Iranians living in Paris and delayed attempts to deport them to death camps. He also began to issue hundreds of blank passports to help families travel back to Iran. Zardiny suggests the number of passports held in his safe was at least 500, although each passport could have been used for more than one person – meaning a much greater number were saved.

Sardari carried on, even after Iran signed a treaty with Britain and Russia in 1941 and he had been ordered to return home. Stripped of his diplomatic immunity, he stayed in France and continued to help save lives.

Yet Sardari has not been recognised as Righteous Among The Nations.

According to Yad Vashem, there is insufficient evidence relating to how much the diplomat had put his own life at risk. Zardiny says, there is no ques-

Above: More than 75,000 French Jews were deported to death camps.

Inset: Mahdieh Zardiny. Below: Abdol Hossein Sardari (second from left)

tion he placed himself in an extremely perilous situation to help others.

“He was in a country that was occupied by the enemy, while his homeland, Iran, had declared war against Germany. He was working illegally in the embassy, because it had been closed. He acted as a consul and made up this name, Djuguten. He’s lying to the Germans and, on the other hand, Iran doesn’t know that someone is in Paris illegally issuing passports. So he’s really in danger from both sides. It’s very obvious that his life was at risk” Zardiny’s research also revealed that while Sardari helped Iranian Jews and non-Jews, he also helped Turk and Afghan nationals, as well as at least one British woman.

After the war, Sardari’s life was marred by tragedy, including the disappearance of his Chinese lover during the Chinese Civil War of 1948 and charges of embezzlement by the

Iranian government. In 1979, he was stripped of his pension and property during the Iranian Revolution and spent his last years living in England, where he died in 1981.

According to Zardiny, her film sheds new light on what happened during these later years and includes an interview with a close relative.

Except for a posthumous recognition by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles in 2004, the story of Sardari’s bravery and personal life has remained mostly unknown – something Zardiny hopes to remedy with her film, and she has submitted her research to Yad Vashem.

“I hope to give him the recognition he deserves and keep his story alive,” she concludes. “Sardari was someone who really tried to help people and didn’t care about their religion, race, or where they came from. For him, it was about helping humanity.”

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

Lifestyle / Unseen Ben-Gurion footage

Ben-Gurion unplugged The chance finding of a film featuring David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, has been turned into a documentary, discovers Stephen Oryszczuk

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statesman had retired to write his history of Zionism. Three days of setting up, including the erection of a temporary studio, preceded three days of interviewing, the crew filming in the early morning and early evening, when it was cool enough to do so without the sound of the air conditioning disrupting the audio.

They were interviewing Ben-Gurion for research purposes, to create a script for a motion picture about his life. That film never got made, but the interview itself was considered by all involved to be among the most insightful glimpses into the thinking and personality of Israel’s founding father.

Forgotten, it then got lost.

Forty-six years later, Israeli director

Photo courtesy of Malcolm Stewart

n intimate six-hour interview from 1968, recorded in the sweltering heat of the Negev desert, with Israel’s most iconic leader, aged 82, for half a century thought lost or destroyed, but now found, by chance, hiding away in reels of film in the corner of a dusty archive, after a year-long worldwide search involving an 88-year-old British man who was there at the time. It’s the stuff of documentaries. So they made one.

David Ben-Gurion was 82 when sound recorder Malcolm Stewart joined producer and fellow Brit Melville Mark in Sde Boker, then a collection of huts, where the great

Top: David Ben-Gurion in 1968. Above: Malcolm Stewart on set of The Bridge on the River Kwai

Yariv Mozer was lurching from pile to pile in the deep underbelly of the the Steven Spielberg Film Archive in Jerusalem, looking for something else, when he stumbled across a box of 35mm file, intriguingly marked. He soon realised he had found the visuals of the lost interview, a golden find, but it was, alas, only the visuals – six hours of silent footage, shot in the pre-digital age, when sound was recorded separately. Heartbreakingly, BenGurion was speaking, but no one could hear.

“Then Yariv called, in 2014, out of the blue,” says Stewart, a pioneer of British film-making who has worked with Stanley Kubrick, among others. Mozer had tracked down Stewart to Pinner, and explained what he’d found, and that he was working with Yael Perlov, daughter of Israeli David Perlov, who headed the 1968 team. On hearing the news, Stewart was able to point them to the exact place in the sprawling Ben-Gurion Archive in the Negev where he had placed his own personal copy years earlier. Lo and behold, they found the soundtrack, obscurely marked ‘Ben-Gurion’.

That’s when the hard work began.

“It took months for us to match the audio,” says Mozer. The task was painstaking because the technology used then no longer exists today. “We had the transcript, thankfully, so slowly, slowly, we pieced it together. I became an expert at lip-reading our first prime minister!”

The result is Mozer’s hour-long documentary, comprising Ben-Gurion in his own audible words, a never-before-seen interview of him speaking about all manner of topics, ranging from Zionism, his childhood, his arrival in Israel, Churchill and Britain’s choice not to bomb the camps, his political decisions, including his controversial reparations deal with Germany, the West Bank settle-

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DAVID BENGURION STILL STANDS AS A BEACON OF HOPE, EVEN TODAY, IN THIS ‘POST-TRUTH’ WORLD ments, which he criticised, and his vision for the country. Released next year, it is an encounter Stewart remembers well.

“I’d been very impressed by Ben-Gurion, so I flew in from my studio in Geneva and worked for free,” he recalls. “He ran rings round the interviewer [American college graduate Clinton Bailey]; the difference in intellect was enormous. I remember he’d go for afternoon walks with his bodyguards, and we’d go with him. He loved my story about how I’d spent two years in Germany after the war, in Forces broadcasting, managing a team of five ex-SS men, one of whom had been a colonel.”

From their time together, Stewart was most struck by the power of Ben-Gurion’s ideas, and it is this that really comes through in the documentary. “It revisits Ben-Gurion’s outlook and prophecy,” says Mozer. “The final 10 years in the life of the leader, a time when he had found himself outside Israeli politics, removed from all leadership discourse, allowed him a hindsight perspective on the Zionist enterprise.”

9 March 2017 Jewish News

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Photos courtesy of David Marks

Unseen Ben-Gurion footage / Lifestyle

This month, Stewart attended an advance screening at the Israeli ambassador’s house in London, along with fellow Londoner David Marks, whose late father Melville – later revealed to be an ex-Mossad agent – helped produce the interview.

“It was very moving for me to see it,” said Marks, the architect who designed the London Eye, and who was there himself at the time, as a teenager. “I remember him. He was the most genial, sparkling, bubbly, vivacious human being, but I didn’t understand at the time the

importance of what they were doing. This was 1968, Ben-Gurion was 82, and nobody was making films in Israel then [Israeli filmmaking only really started in the 1970s], so I find it extraordinary my father had the vision to know that they had to record it, using the latest technology available in Britain, and record it quickly, for the heritage of the Jewish people.”

Asked how he felt, 48 years later, about Ben-Gurion’s thoughts on Zionism, Marks says: “He still stands as a beacon of hope, even

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today, in this ‘post-truth’ world. He lived in a world of truth, and this interview is a reminder of a time when politicians spoke of truth and hope. For Yariv and Yael to bring it back to life in the way that they have, after almost half a century, is heart-warming to say the least.”

Mozer agrees. “There is an absence of leadership with those values and that vision,” he says, perhaps explaining what he calls “the interest of some young Israelis to turn back to our history, to our past, in order to find answers for today and maybe for the future”.

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HE WAS THE MOST GENIAL, SPARKLING, BUBBLY, VIVACIOUS HUMAN BEING

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Jewish News 9 March 2017

Lifestyle / Nosh

Our plaice in fish-tory The first episode of a new TV series explores the Jewish roots of quintessentially British fish and chips, discovers Francine Wolfisz

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National Federation of Fish Friers Archive

ady Gaga loves hers smothered in vinegar, Kate Winslet famously served it on her wedding day, and Michelle Obama treated her daughters with it on a trip to London.

Considered the nation’s favourite fast food, Brits have long enjoyed a gastronomical love affair with fish and chips, a dish deemed so important that supplies were protected from rationing during both world wars.

But what is today seen as quintessentially British actually began life in the Jewishowned, fried fish warehouses of the East End. Now the humble Jewish roots of one of the nation’s favourite dishes are explored in the first episode of a new BBC2 series, The Best of British Takeaways, which begins next Tuesday.

Fronted by Cherry Healey and Michelinstarred chef Tom Kerridge, the series celebrates the top three favourites familiar

to the British appetite – fish and chips, Indian and Chinese – and explores the history behind them.

Fish and chips became a marriage made in culinary heaven during the late 1800s.

The British capital was first introduced to fish coated in flour and fried in oil by Jewish immigrants arriving from Portugal and Spain during the 16th century, although it was also popular with Jews from Russia and Poland arriving during the late 1800s.

Jewish News cookery writer, Denise Phillips, explains on the programme: “They had just come over from Russia and wanted to bring food with them that they were familiar with: Picked cucumbers, beetroots, herrings, smoked salmon and, obviously, fried fish.”

This was however traditionally served cold on Friday night and covered in breadcrumbs, rather than today’s more familiar batter coating.

As the British appetite rose for this traditional Jewish dish, stores selling fried fish began to spring up along the narrow lanes of the East End and even received a mention in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, first published in 1837.

Dickens wrote of the London landscape: “In its filthy shops are exposed for sale huge bunches of second-hand silk handkerchiefs, of all sizes and patterns…Confined as the limits of Field Lane are, it has its barber, its

Meat fest at Zest Visitors to Zest at JW3 will already know how well this restaurant does Israeli and Middle Eastern cooking, albeit milky. Well, now they have opened a meaty pop-up restaurant on site. You can’t fail to spot the transparent dome in the piazza housing Taste of Syria, a novel initiative bringing together JW3 and World Jewish Relief (WJR) to support Syrian refugees.

For every meal sold, £1 will go towards helping this cause.

For £17 you can feast on a main, assortment of sides and a dessert (£14 without dessert, and £12 if you

just want one side with a main dish).

Place your order at the Zest counter and then step outside to walk into the clear plastic dome, which houses hessian-draped tables and chairs with coloured cushions. There’s music playing and a really relaxed ambience. “We wanted to create a Bedouin tent-type of experience,” says Joshua Owens-Baigler, manager of Zest.

“This is informal street food inspired

by Syrian Jewish cooking.”

Dishes include muhummara (hot peppers) marinated chicken wings and lamb ‘kefta’ in a laffa, a large flatbread wrap. Saffron and orange marinated chicken with

Fish and chips is a top British culinary favourite, as Cherry Healey, below, finds out

coffee-shop, its beer shop and its fried fish warehouse”.

At the same time that fried fish was becoming a familiar fixture in the British diet, so, too, was the population becoming more reliant on the humble potato.

Historically, bread and oats were the mainstay of people’s daily consumption, but potatoes took on a whole new significance during the industrial revolution, when workers were expected to complete gruelling 14-hour days, six days a week.

Social historian Polly Russell explains that the daily calorie intake for men and women during this time was between 3,000 and 5,000 calories – almost double that of today’s

recommended amount. In 1881, the average consumption of potatoes per week, per person, was a staggering 6kg, largely because the humble vegetable was “bulk full of calories”, as well as being inexpensive. By the late 1800s, the first frying machines were being invented, causing a proliferation of street stalls selling chips.

But who brought fish and chips together?

That was the brainchild of a Jewish immigrant named Joseph Malin, who owned a fried fish shop on Old Ford Road. According to Pat Newland, 72, a restaurateur who learnt the trade while growing up in Hackney, recalls: “I believe there was a shortage of fish and so Malin began selling chips as well in the shop.

When the fish became plentiful again, the people came back, but this time they wanted fish with the chips.”

Thus was born Malin’s, the world’s first fish and chip shop, in 1860. Others quickly followed suit, including Samuel Isaacs, who in 1896 opened a fish restaurant offering an upmarket dining experience, complete with carpets, table service, tablecloths, flowers, china and cutlery. Diners could enjoy fish and chips, bread and butter and tea, all for the princely sum of nine pence.

The Best of British Takeaways begins on Tuesday, 7pm, BBC Two

A new pop-up offers culinary treats while raising money for Syrian refugees, writes Louisa Walters complimentary cardamom coffee and mint tea. It’s all wonderfully tasty and a refreshingly different experience.

Rafi Cooper of WJR says: “It’s a pleasure to partner with Zest at JW3 to combine its first meat restaurant with the ability to support our crucial refugee work for people fleeing the war in Syria.”

aleppo peppers also comes in a laffa and there is a vegetarian option of aubergine dumplings with shredded

Aubergine and cabbage pitta

cabbage and zhoug in pitta. Kale salad with sweet almonds, fattoush salad, sweet and spicy peppers (pictured) and sweet potato fries sit on the side, and dessert is a creamy chocolate and coconut confection. There is also

Taste of Syria is at JW3 until 9 April. No bookings.

Open Mondays to Thursdays, 5pm to 10pm and Sundays, 12pm to 10pm. Zest is open as normal. Details: jw3.org.uk/ taste-syria

9 March 2017 Jewish News

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29

Food / Lifestyle

PLATEExpectations

PREPARATION TIME 40 MINUTES, PLUS RESTING TIME

I like to use a rich shortcrust pastry for this recipe, although you can also use yeast dough, a sour cream dough or biscuit pastry.

NB: Make the filling before the pastry, as it needs to cool before using.

COOKING TIME 20 MINS

Pastry 570g plain flour 300g unsalted butter or margarine Zest of 2 lemons 4 teaspoons lemon juice 2 eggs 100g caster sugar

Stir and bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. When there is about one tablespoon of liquid left, transfer to a liquidiser or food processor.

Remove and transfer to a dish.

2 Allow to cool and then leave in the fridge until ready to use. It is easier to use

Once you have made the pastry, you will need four different food colours, e.g. red, orange, green and purple and (optional) four flavourings e.g. vanilla, rose water, orange and chocolate.

when it is completely cold.

3 Preheat the oven to 400ºC/200ºF/ Gas mark 6.

4 Make the pastry by mixing all the ingredients together in a food processor.

Divide the pastry into four portions.

6 Wrap each pastry batch in cling film and flatten. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

7 To make rainbow hamantashen, roll out the coloured pastry, taking a little of

8 Using a 7.5cm (3”) cutter, make round templates. Repeat with the remaining pastry.

9 Add a large teaspoonful of filling into each circle.

10 Draw up the sides to form a triangle, pinching the edges firmly together in the shape of a tricorn hat.

11 Line a baking tray with baking parchment and transfer the Hamantshen onto it and bake for 20 mins.

13 Remove and leave to cool for five minutes. Glaze with egg white and sprinkle with poppy seeds and

each colour dough and roll so it is about 2cm thick with a patchwork effect.

hundreds and thousands for a magnificent finale.

and a teaspoon of flavour (optional) to each batch.

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Apricot Filling 250g dried pitted apricots 60ml water 60ml orange juice 25g caster sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice Pinch of salt For the Glaze: 1 egg white – lightly whisked 2 tablespoons poppy seeds 2 tablespoons hundreds and thousands

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30

Jewish News 9 March 2017

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Lifestyle / Travel

The marvel of Madrid Barry Borman enjoys a mid-winter mini-break in the Spanish capital and explores the historic Jewish roots of nearby Toledo

K

een for a mid-winter getaway and with the lyrics of Sinatra’s Come Fly With Me jingling in our heads, we scanned the easyJet sale and selected the cheapest location that appealed. Shunning more obvious but less budget friendly destinations such as Reykjavik and Stockholm, we settled on Madrid – perhaps an unusual choice for the season, but hey, a break is a break…

Our first stop was the extravagant Royal Palace. The sensation is of stepping back in time, from its vast stately façade approached through the Plaza de Armas to the absorbing collection of medieval armed horsemen.

Inside, and beyond the imposing marble double staircase, there are magnificently sumptuous public rooms, such as the ornate banqueting hall, sitting up to 160 diners, and the gilded crimson Throne Room, lit by rock crystal Venetian chandeliers.

Also on the route are the more intimate areas of Carlos III’s bedroom suite, the décor frequently displaying the baroque taste for all things Oriental.

For art mavens, there’s the world-famous Prado. Here you can have your fill of Spanish masterpieces, highlighting Velazquez (often religious and mythological) and Goya (lots of monsters and war).

The gorge of the River Tagus at Toledo

❝

THE EL TRANSITO SHUL MAIN HALL FEATURES A STUNNING MULTI-HUED CEILING SURROUNDED

BY A FRIEZE OF FINE HEBREW INSCRIPTIONS While it would be sacrilegious to suggest omitting this from your itinerary, if you want something a little lighter, then opt for the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Housed in the elegant 18th-century Villahermosa Palace and exhibiting one of world’s most important private collections, its selection from the Dutch and Flemish Golden Age is well worth seeing, with paintings by Brueghel, Rembrandt and Frans Hals (of Laughing Cavalier fame).

It’s also very strong on Impressionism, with important works by Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh and Gauguin. A tip is that a number of Madrid art galleries offer free admission for the last two hours of one day every week.

For a day out with Jewish interest, we took the pleasant half-hour train journey to Toledo. The 14th-century El Transito Synagogue’s huge main hall features a stunning multi-hued wooden vaulted ceiling surrounded by a frieze of finely-wrought filigree Hebrew inscriptions. Attached is the Museo Sefardi, which through its display of sacred objects, clothing and manuscripts, traces the history of Jewish culture in Spain.

Elsewhere, you can lose yourself in the town’s historic winding alleys, exiting suddenly to wonderful views back over the imposing ramparts

of the Alcazar fort or, in the opposite direction, towards the emerald, winding gorge of the River Tagus.

A break from the culturefest is afforded by the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Home of Real Madrid Football Club and the city’s second most popular tourist attraction, this easily accessible 80,000-seat edifice offers guided or self-guided tours.

After drinking in the atmosphere with a spectacular panoramic overview, you move inside to be cocooned in a high-tech display of touchscreens and multi-media, illuminating the Sunshine in Madrid’s Retiro Park on Boxing Day self-styled “Best Club in History”.

There is the glittering bling of the La Escudilla where, though the chicken and trophy room, then it’s the players’ experichips were passable, there was a noticeable ence of the changing rooms, tunnel, coaches’ lack of vegetables, style and any kind of staff dugouts and the pitch itself. And you can have charm – a case of “could do better.” a (Photoshopped) picture with Ronaldo.

Madrid is compact enough to be a city By the end, you’re as exhausted as if you’ve made for walking. If the weather’s fine, the played the full 90 minutes against arch-rivals best place is Retiro Park, previously the Barcelona, ready to drop into the official store grounds of the king’s palace and round the for the usual overpriced paraphernalia. corner from the art galleries.

Our chosen hotel was the Gran Melia We were there on Boxing Day and, with Fenix, location of the Beatles’ press conferthe temperature soaring and the picturesque ence before their only Madrid concert in boating lake full of rowers, we sunbathed to 1965, offering old-style palatial opulence in the incongruous strains of seasonal favourits stained-glass, marble-floored lobby and ites played by an accordionist. Madrid is also comfortable and well-appointed bedrooms. the “City of Fountains”, where you’ll find An enormous buffet breakfast is taken in attractive sculptures draped with flowing designer-room luxury and in the evening the water at every main traffic intersection.

Dry Martini Bar transforms into a softly-lit, Frank Sinatra can have his April in Paris sophisticated restaurant. If you wish, you and autumn in New York, because we were can upgrade to the Red Level, with your own charmed by midwinter in Madrid. private butler and personal whirlpool.

Just don’t tell Ol’ Blue Eyes it all began Kosher eating is tricky. Accessible by bus is with a search for a budget flight.

WHERE TO STAY...

Barry stayed at the Hotel Gran Melia Fenix (melia.com), where rooms with breakfast start at £190 per night. Easyjet (easyjet.com) flies from London Luton to Madrid from £46 return.

9 March 2017 Jewish News

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31

Sedra: Zachor / It’s Biblical / Orthodox Judaism

SEDRA – Zachor

It’s Biblical

BY RABBI ARIEL ABEL This week’s additional Torah reading is known by its heading Zachor: the communal remembrance of how the tribe of Amalek pursued our ancestors out of Egypt, chasing after the weakest stragglers and mugging them for their possessions. Preying on the most vulnerable, the tribe, a descendant of Esau, were merciless to those most loyal to them.

David, before he became king of Israel, came across a slave of the Amalekites who was left to die in the desert because he had fallen ill and was weak. He tended to him and was appalled at the cruelty of his masters, who had captured David’s entire household on a raid against the Philistine of Ziklag.

In ancient Greece, Sparta practised auto-euthanasia. In Roman law, the lives of slaves were worthless. The Torah’s clarion call against Amalek and the cheapening of human life is considered by our rabbinic tradition to be the most important reading in the Hebrew calendar.

The Torah points out the people at this time were not Godfearing. It does not say why, but perhaps the very state of leaving stragglers unguarded and unsupported was a sign of lack of righteousness. The Torah then commands us to eradicate all memory of Amalek. Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev comments the Amalekite refers not only to the descendants of Esau, but also to negativity in the heart of every person.

Zachor’s message is that one should eradicate that negativity from within one’s heart, as this is what leads to sin.

 Ariel Abel is rabbi of the Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation

Everything you ever wanted to know about your favourite Torah characters, and the ones you’ve never heard of...

BY RABBI ZVI SOLOMONS THIS WEEK:

VASHTI

We don’t often think about Vashti. She has only a small walk-on part, but it is well to remember were it not for her brazen refusal to do her king and husband’s will, Esther could never have countered wicked Haman and his plot to destroy us all. In modern Persian, Vashti’s name means ‘goodness’, but linguists posit that it means ‘best of women’.

There is dispute in the Midrash over her status before her marriage but in any case she as the scion of the licentious Babylonian court. One midrash tells us when Belshazzar died, Vashti took refuge with Darius, who married her to his son. These are interesting stories relating to women’s power, one teaching us that the king and the queen were equals, thus explaining her sense that

❝

she could defy his will to display herself at his banquet, another, even more powerful, teaching us that she was his superior.

The Midrash Panim Rabbim goes further. Vashti is seen as gossipy and boastful. She has enslaved Jewish women and compels them to work on Shabbat.

Her comeuppance is when she is told to show herself off to the other men, and she is degraded.

The Gemara in Megillah 12b talks of how the menfolk were discussing the most beautiful women in the world, and Achashverosh boasted about Vashti. The other men accepted his offer to show her off as long as she appeared naked.

Midrashim written contemporaneously in Israel show her in another light. Vashti tries to reason with the king by showing how logically displaying her will benefits nobody. He rejects her arguments. These midrashim condemn her nonetheless for opposing the return to Jerusalem.

What happens to Vashti? In the direct narrative she just drops out of the picture.

The Midrashim infer that because she is spoken of in the past tense, she must have been executed.

Christians admire Vashti’s ability to withstand the pressure to conform to the king’s command, and with this we can concur. “No” is often a very hard word to say, and Vashti’s short response gave her a very long time to contemplate her fate.

VASHTI IS SEEN AS GOSSIPY AND BOASTFUL. Zvi Solomons is rabbi of the HER COMEUPPANCE IS WHEN SHE IS TOLD TO Jewish Community of Berkshire SHOW HERSELF OFF AND SHE IS DEGRADED in Reading. www.JCoB.org

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Progressive Judaism / The Bible Says What? / Progressively Speaking

The Bible Says What?

Progressively Speaking

God “dwells in the Tabernacle”

Why are refugees so important to Liberal Jews?

BY RABBI NEIL JANES I’ve been thinking about a famous section of Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed – his most famous philosophical text, which tries to reconcile aspects of the Hebrew Bible that seem incompatible with a philosophical point of view.

In this section (Book Three, Chapter 32), Maimonides explains why the Tabernacle, and subsequently the Temple, were not for their own sake, but to wean the Israelites away from idolatrous sacrificial practices and to achieve our ultimate goal of knowledge of the existence and unity of God: “The custom which was in those days general among all men... consisted in sacrificing animals in those temples which contained certain images, to bow down to those images.

“God did not command us to give up and to discontinue all these manners of service; for to obey such a commandment it would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally cleaves to that to which he is used.

“God transferred to His service that which had formerly served as a worship of created beings... and commanded us to build Him a temple.”

When we read of the building of the place where God ‘will dwell’ (Exodus 25:8) in the Torah, it is quite likely the ancient authors really believed that God was contained in the space of the tabernacle or Temple.

Some modern believers also hold the simplistic view that God is still uniquely contained in a certain space, and long for a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. But Maimonides reminds us that all reading of text occurs in a context and with an evolution of time.

To read any of our Biblical text in isolation and not consciously explore the possible original meaning and the evolving tradition is to naively succumb to fundamentalism. How much more so when we think about sacred space and encounters with the divine.

 Neil Janes is rabbi at West London Synagogue

BY RABBI DANNY RICH I was brought up at the South London Liberal Synagogue (SLLS) of which my grandparents had been among the founders. Services and Jewish education were a serious concern, but the most memorable things I was expected to do as a child were what might now be called acts of ‘social justice’. SLLS and its members were an exemplar of one of the founding principles of Liberal Judaism: that ethical mitzvot were of a higher order than the ritual ones.

Liberal Judaism sought from its inception to reflect Judaism of the 7th and 8th century BCE. Hebrew prophets who, while acknowledging the value of ritual actions, declared God would reject them unless they

fulfilled the opening chapter of Isaiah, “…aid[ing] the wronged, uphold[ing] the rights of the orphan [and] the cause of the widow.”

This was reflected in the teachings of Britain’s first Liberal rabbi, Dr Israel Mattuck (1883-1954), who held that “on both an individual and collective level it [was] righteousness or good conduct which [bound] the divine and the human.”

❝

IN LIBERAL JUDAISM, ETHICAL MITZVOT ARE PLACED HIGHER THAN RITUAL ONES

It’s unsurprising that Liberal Jews – and Liberal Judaism – should be at the forefront of the campaign to bring Syrian refugees to the UK. From lobbying and demonstrating, to offering practical help with legal procedures and finding homes, our rabbis and members are dedicated.

It is also typical that SLLS became the first Jewish institution in Britain to offer a physical home for a Syrian family, as it launches ‘Abraham’s tent’, a project to convert its former caretaker’s flat above its premises.

This and other campaigns are how Liberal Jews understand the verse (Deut 10:18): “God executes justice for orphans and widows, and loves strangers, giving them food and clothing.

Therefore you shall love the stranger, since you were strangers in Egypt.”

This divine demand and the Hebrew prophetic call is not a matter of choice.  Danny Rich is Liberal Judaism’s senior rabbi

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Professional advice / Ask Our Experts

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Growth in children is dependent on both genetic and environmental influences.

The latter really applies to children living in extremely deprived conditions, where malnutrition is prevalent. In the west, genetic factors are more significant, but these can be altered by chronic ill health in a minority. Assuming that a child is healthy, parental height can give some idea about the appropriateness of the size of the child.

Your daughter should have received a “red book” when she was born, and this will contain information about her birth weight and growth in infancy. Growth is fastest in utero, and generally starts slowing down after birth, although still rapid for the first two years. In this time, it

becomes apparent if the child’s size falls within the normal range, and this can be checked on the centile charts in the red book. If your daughter’s height is below the lowest line (0.4th centile), she should be monitored by her GP, and may need to be referred to a specialist. If your daughter was born “small for gestational age”, and hasn’t shown “catch-up growth” by the age of four, she needs specialist review.

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34

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• Services include graphic design, software development, website support/hosting for both new and existing websites.

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

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

• Set up Dancing with Louise 10 years ago.

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

WEB PRO CREATIVE 033 33 447 300 www.webprocreative.co.uk info@webprocreative.co.uk

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

• •

9 March 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

35

Professional advice / Ask Our Experts

CONSULTANT TRAUMA AND ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON

ACCOUNTANT

IT SPECIALIST

MELVYN SOBELL Qualifications: • Chartered accountant FCA. • Accounting, taxation and business advisory services.

• Specialises in forensic accounting.

• CEDR accredited mediator.

• Expert witness advice for all financial matters.

MR. HAROON A MANN Qualifications: • MBBS MD FRCS (TR & ORTHO) • Consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon • Honorary senior lecturer at UCL Medical School.

• Dedicated NHS practice based at The Royal Free Hospital London NHS Foundation Trust.

• Expertise and specialist interests include all aspects of adult and paediatric foot and ankle disorders.

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.

SOBELL RHODES 020 8429 8800 www.sobellrhodes.co.uk m.sobell@sobellrhodes.co.uk

ROYAL FREE PRIVATE PATIENTS 020 7317 7751 www.royalfreeprivatepatients.com rf.privateenquiries@nhs.net

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

ALIYAH ADVISER

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

BUILDING CONTRACTOR

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.

BAYLA PERRIN Qualifications: • Free professional service delivering immediate practical help with domestic administrative matters, assisting those alone and in crisis.

• Providing workable solutions for debt management, budgeting, bills, utilities, insurance, welfare & benefits, form filling, financial correspondence, bureaucracy and divorce procedures. Cross communal and throughout London.

HOWARD GOLD Qualifications: • Member of the Federation of Master Builders.

• Member of the Consumer Protection Association offering an underwritten insurance backed guarantee of 5 years on all projects.

• Providing a tailored end-to-end property service for residential property clients in north and north-west London. Focusing on a quality service.

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

THE PAPERWEIGHT TRUST 020 8455 4996 www.paperweighttrust.com info@paperweighttrust.com

HPS 077 1005 7233 / 020 8457 1320 wwww.hpsuk.com howard@hpsuk.com

JEWELLER

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

BUSINESS GROWTH EXPERT

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.

• We buy for instant top cash prices.

HAZEL KAYE Qualifications: • Able to draw on the charity’s 45+ years of experience in providing specialist accommodation designed to enable independence.

• Knowledge of the features and innovations that can empower people to undertake everyday tasks and awareness of relevant grants and benefits available.

• Understands the impact of a diagnosis of disability.

JAMIE GORAL Qualifications: • 17 years working closely with SME business owners and CEO’s.

• Fastest growing U.K. Actioncoach 2015.

• Guarantees results.

• Results includes -Online marketing -£6m loss to £1.5m net profit in 6 years ,Retaildoubled net profit to £2m in 2 years.

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

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

ACTIONCOACH 020 7993 2420/ 077 1745 3063 www.actioncoach.com/jamiegoral jamiegoral@actioncoach.com

SPECIALIST CAREER ADVISER

KITCHEN SPECIALIST BERNARD MIEL Qualifications: Managing Director of Kitchens Continental, an independent design company specialising in function and form for bespoke high quality kitchens.

More than 30 years in the industry, providing both retail and contract kitchens.

Familiar with German, Italian and English kitchens.

Full service including cabinetry, worktops, appliances, sinks, taps, floors and fitting.

• • • •

KITCHENS CONTINENTAL 020 8203 6033 www.kitchenscontinental.com hendon@kitchenscontinental.com

FAMILY SOLICITOR

ERIC SALAMON Qualifications: • Career in corporate management working for among others Mars Confectionery, CBS Entertainment, Storehouse Retail & H.J. Heinz Foods, holding director level marketing, commercial and general management roles.

Provides specialist advice to help unemployed get work.

Free one-to-one mock interviews and workshops on making an impact.

• •

RESOURCE THE JEWISH EMPLOYMENT ADVICE CENTRE 020 8346 4000 www.resource-centre.org office@resource-centre.org

CARE SERVICE MANAGER

REBEKAH GERSHUNY Qualifications: Member of Resolution, Law Society Accredited and registered with the Family Mediation Council.

Collaborative family lawyer, with more than 20 years’ experience and founder of family mediation practice, Evolve Family Mediation.

Promotes a constructive and non-confrontational approach.

•

POLLY LANDSBERG Qualifications: • 35 years care experience in supporting elderly people at home and in the community.

• Qualified nurse, providing advice and support for individuals with a range of needs.

• Providing care at home for those requiring reassurance and companionship, assistance with personal care, help around the house and specialist services for those living with long-term conditions.

FREEMANS SOLICITORS 020 7935 3522 www.freemanssolicitors.net rg@freemanssolicitors.net

SWEETTREE HOME CARE SERVICES 020 7644 9554 www.sweettree.co.uk info@sweettree.co.uk

• •

Got a question for a member of our team?

Email: editorial@thejngroup.com

IF YOU’VE BEEN ACCUSED OF A CRIME, NOBLES PROVIDE SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE WHILST VIGOROUSLY DEFENDING YOU. Experts in all aspects of Road Traffic and Criminal Law, especially offences of Violence, Dishonesty, Fraud and Financial Crime, Benefit Fraud and Cyber Crime.

The firm offers both Legally Aided and Privately Funded advice and Police station advice is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on

07000 81 82 83 www.noblesolicitors.co.uk

BUSINESS SERVICES DIRECTORY 36

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 9 March 2017

Business Services Directory ANTIQUES

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.

House clearances Single items to complete homes CHURCH STREET ANTIQUES - 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED

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

Carer

Clothing

Carer Auxiliary Nurse

FURS WANTED Cash paid for Mink jackets, coats, boleros, stoles, also fox coats, jackets etc.

Wardrobes cleared

Available to support you in your home.

Days/nights.

Very reasonable rates.

Call 0208 958 2939 or 07495 026 168

Antiques

Call 01277 352

560

Computer

Man on a Bike will get WE BUY ANTIQUES you working fast!

HIGH PRICES PAID. for FREE HOME VISITS. RapidVERY Response IT support your PC & Mac Networks,All virus problems, broadband, wireless Antique Furniture Hille & Epsteinsystems, new computers and everything else you may need.

Diamond Jewellery, Gold, Silver, Paintings, Porcelain, For small businesses & home users.

Glass, Bronzes, Ivories, Oriental & Judaica Antiques etc.

Call Ian Green, Man on a Bike on house clearances organised.

020 8731Full 6171 • www.manonabike.co.uk Please look at our website for more details

FOR APPOINTMENTS CALL SUE ON: 0800 840 2035 or 07956268290

ARE YOU BEREAVED?

STUART SHUSTER - e-mail - stuart@churchstreetantiques.net

OPEN 8am TO 9pm 7 DAYS.

MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING

PORTOBELLO RD&LONDON. Counselling for adults children who are experiencing loss. Support groups offered.

Call The Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service in confidence

CHARITY & WELFARE

020 8951 3881 • 07765 693 160 E: enquiries@jbcs.org.uk

Jami supports and represents people with mental illness across the Jewish community.

#jamithinkahead

Give support • Get support • Get involved

For confidential advice, information and support don’t forget Jewish Care Direct.

020 8922 2222 jcdirect@jcare.org

jewishcare.org/helpline

Reg Charity No. 1003345

HOME & MAINTENANCE

L

K

Email: gordonstirling65@gmail.com

C

8951 3881 Please look at 020 our website for more details enquiries@jbcs.org.uk | www.jbcs.org.uk www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk FOR APPOINTMENTS CALL SUE ON:

CHARITY WELFARE 0800 & 840 2035 or 07956268290 OPEN 8am TO 9pm 7 DAYS.

S

MAKE

PORTOBELLO RD LONDON.

WESTLON HOUSING ASSOCIATION Sheltered Accommodation We have an open waiting list for our friendly and comfortable warden assisted sheltered housing schemes for Jewish people in Ealing, East Finchley and Hendon. We provide 24-hour IF YOUsupport, DON’Tseven KNOW TO TURN, warden daysWHICH a week; aWAY residents’ lounge and kitchen, laundry, aOUR sunnyHELPLINE. patio and garden.

REMEMBER

For further details and application forms, please contact For confidential advice, information and support don’t forget Jewish Care Direct.

Westlon Housing Association on 020 8201 8484

020 8922 2222

jcdirect@jcare.org

jewishcare.org/helpline

We hav warden in Eal warden

For furt Wes

Charity Reg No. 802559

Jami supports and represents Are you a Jewish woman experiencing domestic violence?

Withwith abusemental in your home, you worry about your children? people illnessdoacross the Jewish community.

We are here to help #jamithinkahead

A Wi

w

Free Confidential National Helpline 0808 801 0500 020 8458 2223 | info@jamiuk.org advice@jwa.org.uk • www.jwa.org.uk Reg Charity No. 1003345 www.jamiuk.org

P PLUMBSAFE LUMBSAFE (UK) (UK) LTD LTD

No further, your

LOCAL PLUMBERS

Hall & Randall Plumbers

CENTRAL HEATING, PLUMBING REPAIRS & ADVISORY SERVICE EMERGENCY REPAIRS, BLOCKED PIPES DRAINAGE GUTTERING, ROOFING, CENTRAL HEATING AND BOILERS 12 MONTHS GUARANTEE, 40 YEARS EXPERIENCE

020 8207 3286 home 020 8386 8798 hallandrandallplumbers.com

office@hallandrandall.com

| |boiler boilerrepairs repairsand andinstallation installation| |complete completecentral centralheating heating| | | |power powerflushing flushing| |complete completebathroom bathroominstallation installationservice service| | | landlords certificates | project management | home purchase reports |

| landlords certificates | project management | home purchase reports | All NW-London postcodes covered

All NW-London postcodes covered 07860 881505 or 0800 610 12 12 Not shabbat PLUMBSAFEUK.COM

PLUMBSAFEUK.COM

ART

PAINTING, DECORATING & PAPER HANGING Single oven ÂŁ40

Over off 20 all years experience 10% other ovens for Friendly, reliable & March and April personal service.

50+ 5*competitive reviews on Facebook rates Very

STEPHEN: 07973 927154 342 422 Glenn 07474 srindsmc@hotmail.com

watfordovencleaners.co.uk

DECORATING

STONEMASON

PROFESSIONAL PAINTING, DECORATING & PAPER HANGING

Gary Green Memorials

srindsmc@hotmail.com

!

07860 881505 or 0800 610 12 12 Not shabbat

Family business focused on quality and price

STEPHEN: 07973 342 422

For Forall allyour yourheating heatingand andplumbing plumbingrequirements requirements

Watford Oven Cleaners PROFESSIONAL

Over 20 years experience Friendly, reliable & personal service.

Very competitive rates

“Better “BetterSafe SafeThan ThanSorry�

Sorry�

Home & Maintenance

Established over 60 years.

Know who you are dealing with.

All quality furniture bought & sold.

Please contact Gordon Stirling 0208 9605401 or 07825224144

Counselling Service organised. in confidence Full house clearances

HOME & MAINTENANCE

Stirlings of Kensal Green Best prices paid for complete house clearances including china books, clothing etc. also rubbish clearance service, lofts, sheds, garages etc

VERY HIGH PRICES PAID. FREE HOME VISITS. Counselling forFurniture adults & children who are All Antique Hille & Epstein experiencing loss, Silver, and support groups.

Diamond Jewellery, Gold, Paintings, Porcelain, ContactIvories, The Jewish Glass, Bronzes, Oriental &Bereavement Judaica Antiques etc.

Home & Maintenance

020 8953 2094 office Charity Reg No. 802559

Ep Dini D

with free support, advice and information and confidential counselling.

Give supportKosher • GetRefuge support • Getfor involved available women and children in need.

020 8458 2223 | info@jamiuk.org www.jamiuk.org

IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHICH WAY TO TURN, REMEMBER OUR HELPLINE.

Ant

WE BUY ANTIQUES ARE YOU BEREAVED?

www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk

Charity & Welfare

closed Sunday & Monday

CHARITY & WELFARE

CHARITY & WELFARE

14 Claybury Broadway, Clayhall, Ilford Tel: 020 8551 6866 Fax: 020 8503 9889

41 Manor Park Crescent, Edgware, Middx Tel: 020 8381 1525 Fax: 020 8381 1535 www.garygreenmemorials.co.uk

ART OBJECTS

City and Guilds Elect

PRINTS PAINTINGS SCULPTURES

All types of electrical work u Independent advice and valuation.

Moderate Rewiring, extra sockets,fees.

BT points, Economy 7 Discretion assured. time switches, securi storage heaters, Shabbat Experienced art broker since LED spotlights, fault finding,1967.

CCTVportable ap landlord AVIVSON tests and house buyer’s surveys.

Heath Street, For an27efficient reliable and friendly

HAMPSTEAD NW3 6TU on Call Harvey Solomons

020 6495 / 07836 648 554 email8958 avivson@gmail.com

Tel: 07852 558 944

A. ELFES LTD New memorials Additional inscriptions & renovations 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

9 March 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

37

Business Services Directory COMPUTER

CLOTHING

Man on a Bike will get you working fast!

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

For small businesses & home users.

Call Ian Green, Man on a Bike on

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THEN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at

sales@thejngroup.com

020 8731 6171 • www.manonabike.co.uk

EDUCATION

FURS WANTED Cash paid for Mink jackets, coats, boleros, stoles, also fox coats, jackets etc.

01277 352 560 For a lady to call

LEGACY- LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR MEMORY

Leave a legacy and create the future leaders of Israel

020 8458 2223 info@jamiuk.org www.jamiuk.org #jamithinkahead

1 in 4 people will experience mental illness.

Youth Aliyah Child Rescue Trojan House, 34 Arcadia Avenue, London N3 2JU t: 020 8371 1580 e: info@youthaliyah.org.uk www.youthaliyah.org.uk

Leave a legacy to Jami to support those with a mental illness across the Jewish community.

Charity No: 1077913

Remember our future Please remember the future of Jewish children by remembering Jewish Child’s Day in your will. It is the legacy that will last a lifetime.

To find out more call 020 8446 8804 or email info@jcd.uk.com

Reg Charity No. 1003345 Registered Charity No. 209266

15-040-ER Small legacy advert v2_Legacy 26/01/2015 15:54 Page 1

HELP JEWISH CARE MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH A GIFT IN YOUR WILL. Call Alison on 0208 922 2833 for more information or email arubenstein@jcare.org Charity Reg No. 802559

Leave the legacy of independence to people like Joel.

PLease remember us in your wiLL.

eNABLeD visit www.Jbd.org or caLL 020 8371 6611

The British Friends of Reuth

People come to Reuth broken, with no physical and mental independence.

The patients need your legacy to help rebuild their lives T: 020 3286 4100 E: info@reuth.org.uk W: www.reuth.org.uk

Registered Charity No. 259480

Health & Beauty Supplement out on Thursday, 16 March To advertise, call us on 020 7692 6959 or email sales@thejngroup.com

Charity no: 1126124

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THEN £24 A WEEK Email Sales today at

sales@thejngroup.com

38

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Jewish News 9 March 2017

Fun, games & prizes / Competition

WIN MAGIX RESCUE YOUR VIDEOTAPES!

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD THE JewishNews CROSSWORD 1

2

3

7

4

5

6

8

9

10

12

13

15

11

14 16

17 19

18

20

21

22

23

ACROSS 1 Hoist (5) 4 Romantic dance (5) 7 Significant public figure (inits)(3) 8 Confused (5‑2)

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

3

9 5 2 6 6 7

DOWN 1 Travel about (4) 2 Ameliorate (7) 3 Antagonism (6) 4 Similar to candle material (4) 5 Jar top (3) 6 Gentle breeze (6) 11 Pile of things to be done (7) 12 Jacuzzi (3,3) 14 Solemn request to God (6) 17 Deferment (4) 18 Agile (4) 20 Butane, eg (3)

Last issue’s solutions

SUDOKU

1 9

9 Otter’s den (4) 10 In a skilful way (4) 13 High‑pitched bark (3) 15 Do as you’re told (4) 16 Boulder (4) 19 (Pulled) firmly (7) 21 Once round a racetrack (3) 22 Overbearing (5) 23 Oval‑ball game (5)

2

1 6 4 8 4 4 2 1 5

5 3 1 6 9 3 8 4

ACROSS: 1 Off day 4 Bung 8 Ready-to-wear 9 Casserole 13 Undressed 15 Kitchen unit 18 Then 19 Antler DOWN: 1 Ours 2 Flaccid 3 Any 5 Use 6 Garner 7 Towers 10 Seethe 11 Ordinal 12 Bucket 14 Star 16 Tee 17 Nan

Jewish News and MAGIX have teamed up to offer three lucky readers the chance to win a copy of Rescue Your Videotapes!

MAGIX Rescue Your Videotapes is the easy way to digitise videos. This software package includes everything that you need. Only MAGIX gives you a complete set of accessories to connect your VCR or camcorder to your computer.

The software immediately recognises the high-quality video grabber, allowing you to get started on digitising your videos right away.

Included in the package is MAGIX Video easy HD software, a high-quality USB video converter, a practical SCART adapter, a useful video tutorial and detailed manual.

The software is very easy to use.

Firstly, transfer your video cassettes to the PC using the USB converter. Then optimise your imported tapes.

You can cut out individual passages, adjust colours and contrast and add effects and audio commentary.

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MAGIX Rescue Your Videotapes is priced £44.99 (RRP).

For more details, visit magix.com/ gb/rescue-your-videotapes

Sudoku 6 2 5 4 3 8 9 7 1

9 8 3 1 2 7 4 6 5

1 7 4 5 6 9 8 3 2

7

3 1 7 8 5 4 6 2 9

4 9 8 6 1 2 3 5 7

2 5 6 7 9 3 1 4 8

5 3 9 2 8 6 7 1 4

8 4 1 3 7 5 2 9 6

7 6 2 9 4 1 5 8 3

JUST ANSWER THIS QUESTION: ENTER ONLINE: jewishnews.co.uk

A: Black And White Television B: Radio Star C: Sony Walkman

See next issue for all puzzle solutions.

09/03

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Three readers will win a copy of MAGIX Rescue Your Videotapes worth £44.99 (RRP). Prize is as stated and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or exchange in whole or in part for cash. By supplying your email address you agree to receive marketing information from the JN Media Group or any of its affiliates and carefully selected third parties. The promotion excludes employees of Miroma, their immediate families, their agents or anyone professionally connected to the relevant promotion. Proof of eligibility must be provided on request. Normal T&Cs apply and can be found at jewishnews.co.uk/about-us/promotions-terms-and-conditions. For full Ts and Cs see jewishnews.co.uk. Closing date: 23 March 2017.

By Paul Solomons

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

In 1980, The Buggles released their song, Video Killed The…

THIS WEEKEND'S SHABBAT TIMES

Shabbat comes in Friday night at

17:41

Shabbat goes out Saturday night at

18:48

|

Sedra: Zachor

9 March 2017 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

39

Football review, pictures & video highlights: www.jewishnews.co.uk / Sport

O’s celebrate Woolman’s late winner

MGBSFL LEAGUE & LIONS HERTFORDSHIRE SENIOR LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

PREMIER DIVISION

Brady Maccabi 3 London Lions A 5 Camden Park P Woodford P NL Raiders A 0 Oakwood A 1 Redbridge A 6 Hendon United A 0

London Lions P Saratt P

P W D L F Dif Pts Oakwood A 16 13 2 1 47 36 41 Hendon United A 16 12 1 3 55 33 37 Redbridge A 12 10 0 2 50 35 30 London Lions A 14 9 1 4 33 3 28 NL Raiders A 13 7 2 4 57 40 23 Brady Maccabi 16 6 1 9 36 -6 19 FC Team A 14 4 1 9 32 -31 13 Camden Park 11 2 1 8 11 -15 7 Woodford 15 1 2 12 14 -39 5 SPEC FC 15 1 1 13 11 -56 4 jewishnews.co.uk/mgbsfl-prem-div-table/

DIVISION ONE

Faithfold A P Redbridge B P Hendon United B P Scrabble P London Lions B 4 Oakwood B 2 P London Lions B 17 Redbridge B 12 Scrabble 13 Finchley City FC 12 NL Raiders B 11 Oakwood B 14 Los Blancos 17 Faithfold A 13 Athletic Bilbaum 12 Hendon United B 15

W 13 10 9 7 6 6 5 3 2 1

D 2 1 2 1 2 1 0 2 1 0

L 2 1 2 4 3 7 12 8 9 14

F 56 39 39 38 35 36 32 26 10 14

Dif Pts 32 41 26 31 18 29 9 22 9 20 8 19 -11 15 -19 11 -30 7 -42 3

jewishnews.co.uk/mgbsfl-one-table/

DIVISION TWO

P W D L F Dif Pts London Lions 21 20 0 1 90 68 60 Bovingdon 22 14 1 7 67 22 43 Ware Sports 24 13 3 8 63 17 42 Wormley Rovers 24 12 4 8 42 -3 40 Bushey Sports Club 21 12 3 6 55 20 39 Letchworth Garden 21 11 4 6 57 28 37 Belstone 18 10 4 4 52 12 34 Standon & Puck 25 9 3 13 48 -6 30 Knebworth 23 8 3 12 43 -11 27 Sandridge Rovers 15 8 1 6 24 6 25 Buntingford Town 23 8 1 14 44 -22 25 Cuffley 20 6 4 10 39 -5 22 Evergreen 22 6 3 13 35 -28 21 Hatfield Social 23 5 3 15 34 -51 18 Chipperfield 19 5 2 12 44 -15 17 Sarratt 23 3 5 15 22 -32 14 jewishnews.co.uk/category/sport/ football/lions

MMFL BOND MANAGEMENT DIV 1

Brady Maccabi A 0 NL Raiders 5 Maccabi London Lions A 4 HMH 0

P W D L Dif Pts NL Raiders 13 11 2 0 31 35 Chigwell 10 7 1 2 15 22 London Lions A 11 5 2 4 0 17 Brady Maccabi A 12 3 2 7 -11 11 Scrabble 10 2 2 6 -15 8 HMH 12 1 1 10 -20 4 jewishnews.co.uk/category/sport/ football/masters

P W D L F Dif Pts L’Equipe 16 14 2 0 69 46 44 Temple Fortune 16 8 6 2 49 17 30 Redbridge C 16 8 4 4 36 10 28 NL Raiders C 20 7 4 9 54 -4 25 Mill Hill Dons 17 8 1 8 46 -16 25 RC UK FC 13 7 1 5 51 29 22 Catford & Bromley 18 7 1 10 41 -6 22 Faithfold B 17 6 2 9 45 -8 20 Real Hendon 15 5 1 9 30 -12 16 Boca Jewniors 14 4 1 9 21 -38 13 Hertswood Vale 16 3 1 12 32 -18 10 jewishnews.co.uk/mgbsfl-two-table

Nathan Horwitz Division Two Cup Marshside 1 Hendon Harriers 3 Division Two: Glenthorne 6 Brady Maccabi B 0

P W D L Dif Pts London Lions B 11 10 1 0 34 31 EDRS Stonegrove 12 7 videos 3 2 11 24 Watch match St John’s Wood 13MGBSFL 7 2 4 18 23 from our Glenthorne archive 12 7at:0 5 14 21 Temple Fortune 11 4 2 5 5 14 https://www.youtube.com/ Marshsideuser/jnmediagroup1 12 3 4 5 -15 13 Hendon Harriers 11 1 1 9 -21 4 Brady Maccabi B 12 1 1 10 -36 4 jewishnews.co.uk/category/sport/ football/masters

1

4 5

& video highlights at: jewishnews.co.uk

Dave Woolman (R) scored Oakwood’s winner

MGBSFL Premier Division – Nathan Sollosi (Redbridge A) Masters League Division One – Lee Cash (North London Raiders) Watford Friendly League U15 – Josh Blakeney 4 (HMH United) U12 – Gabriel Green (Hendon United Red)

RESULTS

SUNDAY’S MGBSFL FIXTURES

www.jewishnews. co.uk

Premier Division – FC Team A vs Camden Park, NL Raiders A vs Brady Maccabi, Redbridge A vs SPEC Division One – Athletic Bilbaum vs Scrabble, NL Raiders B vs Oakwood B Division Two – Redbridge C vs Catford & Bromley, Temple Fortune vs Boca Jewniors Peter Morrison Trophy Quarter-Final – Maccabi London Lions A vs London Lions U21s

Five-star Raiders inch closer to Masters title Raiders are closing in on the Division One title as a Lee Cash hat-trick helped them to a 5-0 win over Brady Maccabi A. Dave Eden scored their other two.

Elsewhere, Lions A beat HMH 4-0, with Bradley Lazarus (pictured), Mark Radford, Paul Lenchner and Craig Pearl all scoring.

In Division Two, Glenthorne beat Brady B 6-0.

Marc Schneiderman and Jason Levy scored two each, with Adam Lennard and Paul van Gelder making it a sweet half dozen.

Hendon Harriers booked their place in the next round of the Nathan Horwitz Cup as Darren Coon’s double and Mark Rose’s strike saw them to a 3-1 win over Marshside.

Send your nominations for Team of the Week to andrews@thejngroup.com

8 9

1 WILL MARTYN

5 ROB JAY

9 JOE REECE

2 ADAM MORROW

6 BENJI WEINBERGER

10 ANDY SMITH

3 JOSH CINNA

7 MARK SMITH

4 ALEX LEE

8 NATHAN SOLLOSI

BOCA JEWNIORS Brilliant in between the sticks for Boca as they claimed their fourth win of the season against the Cats

6 7

3

 Full review, match pictures,

Watford Friendly League – U16 – London Lions White 0 Chorleywood 4 U15 Spring Plate Group A – Alexandra Park North 2 HMH Raiders 2 Group C – HMH United 9 Hinton & Finchley Revolution 1 U14 – Hadleywood & Wingate 1 London Lions Blue 1 Green Division – HMH Panthers 4 Hendon Utd 1 U13 – Potters Bar United 6 London Lions Blue 2 U12 – Borehamwood Youth Crusaders 2 London Lions Blue 2, Omonia Youth Green 3 London Lions Green 1 Yellow Division – Hendon Utd Red 7 HMH Galaxy 0 Spring Plate Group B – WW Jaguars 5 HMH Bears 1

TEAM OF THE WEEK

2

Marchant said: “Football can be very strange, however we managed to pull through and take ourselves one step closer to promotion.”

Temple Fortune moved up into second spot in Division Two as two goals in the opening six minutes helped them to a 3-0 win over Catford & Bromley, Gabriel Stone, Jordan Sharifian and Michael Goldberg all on target. Player-manager Simon Linden said: “I’m pleased with the three points, although it wasn’t easy at times.”

Hertswood Vale’s run of three straight league wins was brought to an abrupt halt as they were beaten 4-1 by Mill Hill Dons.

Sam Kahn, Zach Cohen, Jamie Nagioff and Joe Reece goals seeing them to the win.

Boca Jewniors climbed off the bottom of the table as goals from Sam Simon and Joshua Cinna saw them to a 2-0 win at Real Hendon.

HAT-TRICK HEROES

MMFL BOND MANAGEMENT DIV 2

Faithfold B 1 L’Equipe 6 Hertswood Vale 1 Mill Hill Dons 4 Real Hendon 0 Boca Jewniors 2 Temple Fortune 3 Catford & Brom 0

Oakwood A moved to within two wins of becoming Premier Division champions as Dave Woolman’s late winner saw them defeat the reigning champions, North London Raiders A, 1-0.

Redbridge A are the only side who can still deny them the title, and they reinforced their bid by thrashing Hendon A 6-0.

Nathan Sollosi helped himself to a hat-trick, with Dean Nyman, Daniel Garfinkle and Steve Summers also all getting on the scoresheet. Manager Jon Jacobs said: “It was a real team performance and a marker as to how this team can play when everything clicks into place.”

London Lions A cemented their top-four place as Adam Burchell’s double helped them to a 5-3 win at Brady. Adam Arnold, Austin Lipman and Richard Gold also found the back of the net.

The one game in Division One saw London Lions B keep their promotion hopes on track with a 4-2 win over Oakwood B. Benji Weinberger scored twice, with Joshua Bloom and Michael Kenley also on target. Manager Sam

10

11

MILL HILL DONS Instrumental in Dons’ best defensive performance of the season. Didn’t put a foot wrong and won crucial challenges

BOCA JEWNIORS Stand-out defensive performance at the back for Boca, integral figure in them securing the three points

OAKWOOD A Outstanding at the heart of the defence in Oakwood’s hard-fought win as they moved closer to the Premier Division title

TEMPLE FORTUNE Solid defensively and a threat going forward as Fortune kept up their promotion challenge with easy win

MACCABI LONDON LIONS B Scored twice, which was just reward for an overall great performance as Lions maintained their promotion hopes

L’EQUIPE Unplayable as he has been all season.

Gets around the pitch as he links the defense with the attack with such ease

REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A Scored a perfect hat -trick. A bundle of energy around the pitch, broke up play as well as driving the team forward

MILL HILL DONS Extremely comfortable playing the ball out of defence, made key interceptions, challenges and scored at the death L’EQUIPE Added two more goals to his tally to cap off another fantastic all-round performance

11 ADAM BURCELL

MACCABI LONDON LIONS A Man-of-the-match performance from the Lions striker, netting twice to help side beat Brady

PLAYER OF THE WEEK MARK SMITH L’EQUIPE

PLAYER-MANAGER OF THE WEEK NICHOLAS STERN L’EQUIPE

40 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

9 March 2017

Sport / League title joy

Well L’Equipe-d!

in style

Photos by Amy Leigh

New Div 2 champs celebrate 10th birthday

By Andrew Sherwood andrews@thejngroup.com @JewishNewsUK

L’Equipe ended a 10-year wait for a trophy by securing the first silverware of the season.

Player-manager Nicholas Stern said he felt a mixture of pride and shock as he saw the club claim the Division 2 title, thanks to a 6-1 win over Faithfold B. “Pride is the best word to describe how I’m feeling. It truly was a squad effort but in fact shock also might be a good word here,” he said.

“This club means so much to a lot of people and having started it 10 years ago, to win our first trophy in this anniversary year really means so much to everyone.”

Having pinpointed a league title win at the start of the season, he said: “We’ve been saying that for the last five years! However, there were a few crucial moments throughout the season when we thought this could be the year.

Getting two huge draws away at Temple

L’Equipe celebrate their title win and lift aloft their manager (main)

Fortune and Redbridge with depleted squads was critical, a last minute win at Hertswood Vale and then beating Real Hendon without most of our ‘first team’ proved to me what a squad we were, but also it was our time. However, it wasn’t until we were 5-0 up today that I dared to relax and appreciate that we are champions!”

Feeling they deserved to win the title, he said: “Fourteen wins out of 16, we have

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the best goal scoring record in any division and one of the best defences. I would say the title was pretty well earned.”

Sunday’s win came thanks to two goals each from Andy Smith and Mark Smith, coupled with two own goals.

Pleased with their performance, given what was at stake, Stern said: “It was one of our best performances of the season and under that pressure it’s pretty special. We were first to every challenge, won every header, tackle and capped it off with some brilliant football. I couldn’t be prouder of how we handled everything.”

The only challenge left is to remain unbeaten in their remaining four games, though he isn’t too concerned about gaining ‘invincibles’ status.

“We’re going to enjoy this and if we go unbeaten it will be great, but this year was about a trophy and winning the league is the most important thing.”

Looking to enjoy this success, before thinking ahead to next season, he added: “Let’s enjoy this year first and we’ll deal will next year after the summer!”