Board Of Deputies Newsletter - 02 September 2020

Board of Deputies Community Briefing 3rd September 2020

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COMMUNITY BRIEFING Young activists encouraged to be ‘mouthy’ at Board of Deputies Youth Assembly

On Sunday, the Board of Deputies held its first ever Youth Assembly, bringing together young people aged between 16-27 from across the country for a packed programme on Zoom. The event was organised by a committee of young Deputies, chaired

by Sally Patterson and Nathan Boroda, working with Vice President Edwin Shuker.

Keynote speaker Stephen Bush (pictured above) reflected on his experiences as a young activist at university and chairing the Board of Deputies Commission on Racial Inclusivity, telling participants to not be afraid to be “mouthy”, and that “if you don’t

Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl said “I am so excited that so many young people joined the inaugural Youth Assembly on Sunday. This historic event fulfilled a key manifesto pledge of mine to develop spaces for young people in the Board of Deputies, and it is our hope that this will not be a one-off event but will kickstart a deeper engagement in our work for young people.

"I also want to pay tribute to the hard work of the committee – all young Deputies who created a wonderful event for other young people in the community.”

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Board of Deputies Community Briefing 3rd September 2020 speak, then things don’t improve".

The programme included a session with Israel’s first Bedouin diplomat, Ambassador Ishmael Khaldi, and workshops on anti-racism in the Jewish community with Loretta Hodari and on refugees with Amos Schonfield and Moses Seitler. Other highlights included European Union of Jewish Students President Bini Guttmann sharing stories of youth activism elsewhere in Europe, and sessions on the Mikveh Project and Eco-Synagogue with Sam Clifford and Jodi Coffman.

Attendees were able to put questions to the Board of Deputies Honorary Officers who were all in attendance.

Co-Chair of the Youth Assembly Committee Nathan Boroda said: “Young people in our community are not homogenous. Sunday’s participants were politically, religiously and geographically diverse. Our strength comes in meeting one another, debating constructively, and driving social change together, which is exactly what we did.”

Co-Chair Sally Patterson added “We are delighted that so many young Jews have taken part in this event. Now we need to ensure that young people go back to their synagogues and stand to be the next generation of Deputies.”

Board of Deputies thanks Three Rivers Council for adopting international antisemitism definition despite delays Board of Deputies Vice President Amanda Bowman has thanked councillors at Three Rivers Council in Hertfordshire for adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

Amanda said: "Almost three years after Ministers called for local authorities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Definition of Antisemitism, and despite some unfortunate and unhelpful delays, it is right that the Three Rivers District Council has finally put this important benchmark on the books.

Thank you to all the community partners and councillors that made this happen."

DEPUTY SPOTLIGHT: Nathan Boroda

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Board of Deputies Community Briefing 3rd September 2020

Nathan Boroda grew up in Whitefield, Manchester and attended King David High School, where he was Head Boy in 2016-17.

He attended Warwick University where he studied History and served as President of the Jewish Society.

From 2017 Nathan has been one of the Deputies for the Union of Jewish Students, the representative body of Jewish students in the UK and Ireland.

In recent months he has been co-chairing the Board’s new Youth Assembly, a historic first event for young Jews to engage with the community. Nathan says that the work of the steering committee has been exceptional and hopes that the enthusiasm generated by this event will continue for many years to come.

He thinks that the biggest issue for the Jewish community is how we step up our efforts to fight the climate emergency. In 10 years' time he wants the community to be a far more welcoming place for Jews from other minority backgrounds, building on Stephen Bush’s current work.

If he could pick anyone in the world to sit next to at Friday night dinner it would be former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger who he describes as a "legend".

ACTIVITY REPORT COMMUNITY The fifth regional Jewish Representative Councils meeting was convened by the Board of Deputies. The Chairs and Presidents of the JRCs received an update from Education Policy and Youth Engagement Officer Jake Berger on the Board of Deputies Youth Assembly held last Sunday. Government, Regional

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Board of Deputies Community Briefing 3rd September 2020 and Religious Affairs Officer Daniel Elton delivered a Government and MHCLG update. Regional Coronavirus Advice Capacity Help (Co-Ach) Manager Sara Radivan delivered an update regarding Coronavirus in the regional communities, as well as further information regarding the forthcoming High Holydays. Also present was Director of Operations Judy Silkoff. The meeting was chaired by President Marie van der Zyl. .

Regional Coronavirus Advice Capacity Help (Co-Ach) Manager Sara Radivan and Community Engagement Officer Lauren Keiles met Deputy for Cheetham Hebrew Congregation Karen Solomon to discuss further Deputy engagement in Manchester.

Regional Coronavirus Advice Capacity Help (Co-Ach) Manager Sara Radivan attended the Jewish Small Communities Network leaders meeting and heard a presentation from guest speaker Kate Green MP. The London Jewish Forum convened a meeting with Croydon North MP Steve Reed to discuss the impact of Coronavirus, Labour antisemitism and the Jewish community in Croydon. It was attended by Community Engagement Officer Lauren Keiles, Government, Regional and Religious Affairs Officer Daniel Elton, Co-Chair of the London Jewish Forum Andrew Gilbert and Deputies Ella Rose, Alex Arbisman and Mervyn Smith.

Community Engagement Officer Lauren Keiles met Jewish Armed Force Community under-35 observers Daniel Levy and Sam Hilsenrath to discuss their roles.

Community Engagement Officer Lauren Keiles met the Deputies from Bushey Synagogue; Ella Rose, Jeffrey Norman, Paul Jacobus, and Roger Offenbach to discuss the ongoing relationship between the Board of Deputies and the community.

INTERFAITH Vice President Edwin Shuker, Regional Coronavirus Advice Capacity Help (Co-Ach) Manager Sara Radivan, Government, Regional and Religious Affairs Officer Daniel Elton and Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff met the Bishop of Manchester, Bishop David Walker and Canon Steve Williams, together with Russell Conn, Jacky Buchsbaum, Jeremy Michelson and Jay Charara (members of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region) and Rabbi Robyn Ashworth-Steen.

The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the Jewish-Christian relationship and general interfaith relationships. The Bishop, who has just joined the House of Lords, was invited to join the APPG on British Jews.

Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff met Bishop Joe Aldred, Principal Officer for Pentecostal, Charismatic and Multi-cultural Relations at Churches Together in England, to discuss cooperation and joint projects between Jewish communities and Blackmajority churches, particularly around anti-racism.

POLITICAL Public Affairs Officer Daniel Sugarman and London Jewish Forum Director Daniel Kosky met James Murray, MP for Ealing North, to talk about communal concerns including online antisemitism and attempts to solve the ongoing issue with coroners affecting both the Jewish and Muslim communities.

Public Affairs Officer Daniel Sugarman and London Jewish Forum Director Daniel Kosky met Dean Russell, MP for Watford, to discuss issues of interest to the Jewish community at both a national and local level.

SOCIAL MEDIA Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Public Affairs Officer Daniel Sugarman met representatives of Facebook to discuss a number of issues, specifically around effectively combating online hate.

CORONAVIRUS Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Government, Regional and Religious Affairs Officer Daniel Elton attended a Jewish community roundtable organised by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local

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Board of Deputies Community Briefing 3rd September 2020 Government and Department of Health and Social Care on Covid safety during the High Holy Days

LOCAL GOVERNMENT Government, Regional and Religious Affairs Officer Daniel Elton attended a London Jewish Forum organised meeting with the London Deputy Mayor for Transport, Heidi Alexander, where school transport, extension of the 210 bus to Stamford Hill and the congestion charge was discussed.

MEDICAL Government, Regional and Religious Affairs Officer Daniel Elton spoke at a training event for new Medical Examiners on offering a faith-sensitive service to the Jewish community.

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