Journey to the Land of the Exodus Jews of the Alamo Twin Values

Link
The magazine of the Borehamwood
& Elstree United Synagogue Community
Pesach 2009 - 5769
Journey to the Land of the
Exodus
40
Jews of the
Alamo
92
52
Twin Values
44
Biggin’ it up in Berlin
2 Link Pesach 2009
editor’s note
David Onnie
7
Regulars
Editor’s note
5
David Onnie
From the Rabbi
7
Chief Rabbi
9
Chairman’s Report
10
Anthony Arnold
Wardens’ Report
12
David Newman and Ian Skolnick
Vice Chairman’s Report
13
Judy Woolf
Features
Junior Editor
11
Felicity Ginsburg
Letter from Canada
14
Rochelle Miller
Letter from Israel
18
Raymond Jayson
The Cukier Report
22
David Cukier looks at his family’s
military service
The Obama Effect
24
Jeremy Newmark reviews the
President’s relationship with Israel
Book Review
26
Rabbi Brawer’s A Brief Guide to
Judaism
Mission Fulfilled
28
Stephen Newton’s trip to the
Madras War Cemetery
¿Hablas Ladino ?
30
Neville Levy explains Ladino
Au pair ! Oh no !
32
Deborah Clayden interviews some
au pairs
Clapping in shul
34
Marc Shoffman on why we
shouldn’t catch the clap
An unexpected poet
35
Dina Brawer profiles the poet
Rachel Luzatto Mopurgo
ReflectionsonaweekinPoland 36
Natasha Rosenfeld visits Poland
with her school
Refusenik
38
Lionel Leventhal remembers Soviet
Jewry
Welcome to another edition of Pesach Link. As we sit
around the Seder table singing songs, learning, discussing,
and, ok, eating, I’ve always found that the youngest
children ask a bewitching array of innocently simple
questions as they try and comprehend the characters and
events comprising the Pesach story. Indeed, part of my
enjoyment of the Seder is watching the eagerness on the
children’s faces, the delight they show when they answer a
question correctly and the genuine interest they display in
understanding the story of the exodus from Egypt. And the
funny thing is that every year the story remains the same
but the children’s questions change, they become a little
more sophisticated and challenging (the questions, that is!)
as the children grow older. So, just imagine the scene – the
Seder table, family, friends and of course the children,
faces flushed with excitement, all gathered around. That’s
the easy part, a nice wholesome image, and one that we’re
all proud and happy to associate with.
Now imagine a classroom, a few children are sitting
quietly, others are larking about, disrupting, annoying,
play fighting and generally not paying attention. They have
books, some open, some closed, there’s a “teacher” figure
at the front, occasionally a helper, but many of the
children are ignoring them. When the children leave the
room, the “teacher” figure is occasionally verbally abused
by a visiting parent. Can you imagine this unpleasant scene
? Some would say I’ve just described a typical classroom in
a deprived, inner-city school with high truancy rates.
Actually, it’s a scene from one of Elstree & Borehamwood
United Synagogue’s Shabbat morning children’s services
(children = all those up to and including Year 7). It’s not a
palatable image and I’m sure you think I’m exaggerating
but I’m not. Why do the volunteers who lead the children’s
services continually have to experience disruption,
disrespect and bad behaviour from the children? Now I’m
not saying that a children’s service must be an extension of
a school classroom with all its connotations of strict
discipline. What I am saying is that the synagogue
children’s services are an environment where religious
education (whether taught in school or at home) is continued in a relaxed atmosphere of songs, some davenning and
discussions followed by a Kiddush – all in a brief period of
forty five minutes or so (for the younger kids). If a child
goes to the synagogue on a Shabbat morning the intention
Cont. on P. 5
LinkPesach 2009 3
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2009 2008
4 Link
Link Pesach
Rosh Hashanah
Joseph Weston, Melvin Kay, Kiran Patel,
Jill Springbett, Paul Rayner
Photo courtesy of Executive Shots
editor’s note
David Onnie cont.
Jewish Museum London
39
New home for the museum
Journey to the Land of the 40
Exodus
Howard Green follows in our forefathers’ steps
Biggin’ it up in Berlin
44
Daniel Weston’s alternative Berlin
tour
Over the top
46
Daniel Levy visits the WW1 battlefields
Viva Las Vegas (and L.A) 50
Lauren Krotosky lives the American
dream
The Jews of the Alamo
52
David Onnie on the Jews fighting at
the Alamo
Theatre Review
54
Oliver!
Restaurant Review
56
Tutti Gusti in Edgware
Taste test : olives
57
Something to tingle Marc
Shoffman’s taste buds
The Jews of Kos
58
Mark Massias looks at a true Greek
tragedy
The road to Rhodes
60
Leah Silverman island hops
Contemplative Prayer
62
Rabbi Brawer on the meaning of
prayer
Act One
64
Lyricist Alexander Bermange on his
compilation of songs
My hobby
67
Benjamin Clayden displays his
models
The 21st Century Student 68
J-Soc President Emma Stone on
campus issues
BEST
69
Jodi Gothold on the new group
Father Patrick Desbois
70
A priest’s journey to find the mass
graves of eastern Europe
Crunched
72
A survivor’s guide to redundancy
Pesach:MakingNumbers
73
Count
Daniel Skolnick finds a fifth son at
the Seder
is surely to learn, practise and enjoy a “religious” experience of some sort ? I
mean we are Jewish aren’t we and aren’t the children in the synagogue for
a purpose ? Or is it that the synagogue’s children’s services have become a
crèche for some, the equivalent of a David Lloyd tennis club without the
sports facilities ? Yes, yes, yes, of course children enjoy the social occasion
of meeting up with their friends in the synagogue but they also see their
friends at school and I bet their behaviour in the school classroom is better
than at Croxdale Road. So, parents, instead of persuading yourselves that
your little angel is chirping away merrily in a children’s service, come and
check on him/her from time to time. Oh, and whilst you’re there, don’t
verbally abuse the person taking the service, it’s not their behaviour which
needs correcting.
But look, it’s not all doom and gloom in our Community, far from it in fact
– Link has a sparkling array of articles including contributions from Rabbi
and Dina Brawer, Michael Freedland, composer and lyricist Alexander
Bermange, Daniel Weston’s “alternative” trip to Berlin, Leah Silverman and
Mark Massias’ respective Greek odysseys, Daniel Levy’s superb recounting of
his trip to the battlefields of the First World War, and a review of Rabbi
Brawer’s book by Oliver Ralph. Lauren Krotosky visits Vegas, Marc Shoffman
analyses why we shouldn’t clap in shul, and the Link team evaluates and
cogitates on its tasty meal at Tutti Gusti. If you like musicals read the review
of Oliver!, dip into history with a look at the Jews who fought for Texan
independence at the Alamo, and have a serious meander through Jeremy
Newmark’s political comment on U.S President Barack Obama. There’s just
about enough space here to mention Deborah Clayden’s revealing interview
with various local au pairs, the Cukier Report, Torah thoughts from Daniel
Skolnick, Howard Green’s Puzzle Corner and (topical for this time of the
year !) his Nile trip, profiles and photos of all those (children through to
adults) who were Eshet Chayal and Chatanim this year, together with
extensive features on what the Community has been up to over the last few
months. Read the table of contents for a full listing.
Wishing you all a very happy Pesach on behalf of the Onnie family, Lisa,
Jared and Taryn.
David Onnie
Editor
Cont. on P. 7
Link Pesach 2009 5
6 Link Pesach 2009
Anyone for atheism ?
74
David Miller asks if atheism and Judaism are
mutually exclusive
A snipit for your seder
76
Anon
The Kerem Schools
77
Howard Frankfort on the birth of Jewish
schooling
Right and Wrong
78
Amanda Pollock on whether it’s right to do a
wrong
Recipes
79
Denise Phillips
Lost in New York
80
Hannah Minsky finds the way in New York
Fun and Games
82
Quiz, word search, code breaker, spot the difference, maze
Community watch
82
Chatanim and Eyshet Chayil
86
Youth
90
Twin Values – Benji and Jessica Rubens 92
Brownies
94
Rainbows
96
Scouts
96
The Southside
97
Gilah
98
Football
99
Barmitzvah twinning
100
Kisharon
100
HOD whisky tasting
101
Chesed
102
Kolot
102
Community Learning
103
Holocaust Memorial Workshop
104
Community Care
105
JACS
105
View from the office
106
Listings – every number you need
110
THE
ADVERT
INDEX
Novelties Direct 2
Party novelties
Weston Kay
4
Chartered accountants
Parker Cavendish 6
Chartered Accountants
Jason Millan
8
Catering
A&A
13
Podiatrists
Adrian Mullish 16
Dental Care
All Aboard
17
Charity Donations
Lander & Co
19
Chartered Surveyors
Cedar House
27
Financial Services
White House
43
Dental
Dental Care
New Israel Fund 49
Potters Bar Golf 51
Club
Chai Cancer Care 53
Proactive
55
Medical Insurance
Sovereign
61
Photography
Photographer
Neil Samuels
63
Catering
Voyana
66
Travel Agent
Photos by Gayle 76
Photographer
Orli
76
Bakery
English Garden 107
Gardening
Kellmatt
107
Printers & Designers
Rocks
108
Jewellery
Executive Shots 109
Photographer
HBFS
111
Financial Advisers
Let’s Meat
112
Restaurant
from the rabbi
Naftali Brawer
esach is one of the most observed
Jewish festivals particularly here in
Britain. Families that would not
otherwise describe themselves as observant
go out of their way to banish all forms of
chametz from their homes. They transform
their kitchens and purchase only strictly
kosher for Pesach food at considerable
expense.
What is it about this particular festival that
so captivates the Jewish conscience?
Perhaps it is the fact that Pesach celebrates
our emergence as a people. Regardless of
one’s knowledge or level of Jewish
observance we all feel part of a single people.
Differences abound but Pesach is a time to
highlight what we have in common.
The idea of a single people links neatly to the
theme of banishing chametz from our
homes. Chametz by its very nature rises and
so it symbolizes personal ego. It is important
to have a healthy dose of self confidence; self
absorption however, is detrimental to
personal
growth
and
developing
relationships. Along with the act of
banishing real chametz from our homes we
must try to rid ourselves of excessive ego. It
is through negating our own ego that we are
able to make room for others in our lives
and appreciate their value. As a people
pesach is our time to reconnect with each
other and to value the role each Jew plays as
part of our people.
The idea of making space for the other is
central to the future success of our
community.
We are fortunate to be one of the largest
communities in the country and with our
size comes a certain vibrancy and diversity
that other smaller communities do not
have. But is precisely because of our size and
diversity that we must learn to be flexible
and make room for others. Practically our
shul site, as it currently stands, is not large
enough to contain all our many activities
and programmes. It is understandable that
P
each specific interest group feels that its
activities are important and should be given
priority. As a leader I am delighted that so
many of you are involved and passionate
about your areas of community work. All I
ask is that we each try to see the other’s
perspective so that we cooperate instead of
clashing. Please God in the fullness of time
we will realize our ambition to redevelop
the site. In the meantime though, let us all
think a little less about ourselves and a little
more about others. Together we will achieve
great things.
With warm personal regards and best
wishes for a chag kasher ve-same’ach,
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer
Magazine design by
Erica Morgan
Link Pesach 2009 7
8 Link Pesach 2009
office of the chief rabbi
Sir Jonathan Sacks
The very existence of the state of Israel after
2000 years of exile is as near to a miracle as
any you will find in the sober pages of empirical history. Faith brought the Jewish people
back to the land. Faith has sustained the people and state of Israel through some of the
most agonising threats and dilemmas faced by
any nation in the contemporary world. And
faith will one day bring peace, whatever the
setbacks and obstacles.
Not by accident does the Seder service, at
least as we observe it today, end with God's
victory over the angel of death. So as we relive
our people's history, we gain strength for the
struggles ahead. For what Jews, Judaism and
Israel represent is not a small thing. It is nothing less than the proposition that a nation can
survive against all the odds by the power of its
faith in freedom and the God of freedom, in
life and the God of life, in ultimate peace and
the God of peace.
This year, as we lift our glasses for the four
cups of wine, as we sing Dayenu and thank
God for all the miracles of our survival, let us
also have in our hearts a prayer for the people
and state of Israel. May the angel of death be
defeated by the God of life, and may Israel
and its people find the peace for which they
and we long.
Why was it so hard? Why was the Jewish journey to the land of promise and freedom so fraught with obstacles, setbacks, diversions and
delays? That is a question that must haunt us as we prepare, again, to
relive our ancestors' journey from slavery on Pesach, the world's old- est ritual, the West's most powerful story.
No sooner does Abraham arrive in the land than he is forced to
leave because of famine. Isaac too faces difficulties. There is another
famine, and there are quarrels about wells. Jacob dies in exile, as do
his children. A new pharaoh, one who forgets
how Joseph saved his nation from starvation,
afflicts his people, turning what was once a
refuge into a vast labour camp.
Even when God has chosen Moses to lead
the people to freedom there are further
delays. Pharaoh increases the people's burdens.
He defies God's request to let the people go.
Plague after plague hits the Egyptians, but
still Pharaoh refuses and hardens his heart.
Even after he has finally given them permission to leave, days later he pursues after them
with his chariots and army.
Might it be that the difficult events of the
past few months and years contain an answer?
Israel has suffered much: first the years of the
suicide bombings, then the Katyushas from
Lebanon, then the missiles from Gaza and the
agonising conflicts each has involved.
Could it be that, at the very dawn of our
history as a people, God was telling our ancestors and us that the road to freedom is never
easy? That it involves much suffering along
the way? That it needs faith and courage,
memory and hope? Could that be why we tell
the story every year and pass it on to our children, so that they will never forget that freedom must be fought for, and that whatever
setbacks there are along the way, to be a Jew
means never to lose hope?
- 3 1
1
LinkPesach 2009 9
chairman’s report
Anthony Arnold
Members will by now have received their accounts for the renewal of their
membership and will note that there is no increase over last year. We have
struggled extremely hard to cut our expenses to enable us not to increase
fees this year and indeed we have even absorbed the increase in the Funeral
Expenses Scheme and the amount we pay over to the United Synagogue to
achieve this. We do, however, ask for your cooperation by ensuring that you
make your payment as quickly as you can and where possible, if you are a
higher rate tax payer, you even consider topping up the fees payable to the
extent that Gift Aided payments have given you a tax benefit.
One of the ways that we can cut
costs is to make more use of Email.
Whilst we do have the Email addresses
for many of our members there is still
a large number for whom we do not
have an address. I urge you all to
ensure that we have your up-to-date
Email address. If you are not getting
the weekly link to the Newsletter then
we do not have your correct address!!
The Synagogue office does get
very busy at certain times of the year,
particularly in August and September
prior to Rosh Hashanah. In the past we
Anthony Arnold
have employed temporary help to
tide us over this busy period but with
our tight budget it is unlikely that we
will be able to do so this year. We are,
therefore, looking for voluntary help
and if you have office skills and time
available, at any time of the year, we
would appreciate hearing from you.
As everyone who has been to the
Shul site can testify we make very
good use of our buildings. We have a
large number of groups who meet
regularly and we also need to accommodate other programmes which are
organised throughout the year. In
order to meet the Community’s
needs in the best way possible we do
occasionally have to move meetings
around. We do try to give as much
notice as possible and the flexibility of
the organisers is very much appreciated on these occasions. In the longer
term we are planning to see how we
can redevelop our site but we have to
take into account the difficult economic conditions that currently prevail and the need not to impose any
additional financial burdens on our
members. In the meantime we did
take the opportunity to redecorate
the Old Shul and adjoining hall with
the cost being sponsored by interested families to whom we give our
grateful thanks.
Following last year’s success we
again held Rosh Hashana and Yom
Kippur services at Yavneh College.
Whilst we were not able to use their
newly completed Synagogue
because it was too small we are using
it for the weekly Friday night minyan
which we have launched. Thanks go
10 Link Pesach 2009
again to Gary Yantin, Dan Grose and
Simon Berman who not only acted as
local wardens but were also largely
responsible for the whole organisation. The weekly Friday night minyan
continues in Elstree at the home of
Helena and Ken Freedman and our
thanks goes to them for allowing us in,
even when they are away on holiday.
At our main site on Croxdale Road
we again ran 3 complete services plus
services for our youth and children. My
thanks goes to all those who helped
with the organisation and the running
of all these services.
Great progress has been made with
the efforts to build the Borehamwood
& Elstree eruv. The fund raising target
has almost been reached and final
details are now being negotiated with
Hertsmere Borough Council and
Hertfordshire County Council. I hope
that by the time you read the next edition of this magazine the eruv will
have been built and be in regular use.
Given how late Succoth was this
year we were relatively lucky with the
weather. Apart from the traditional
celebrations we also repeated the
Simchat Bet Ha’Shoeva function
where a large number of children
enjoyed entertainment, hot dogs and
candy floss. Succoth also saw the first
function for the newly formed BEST
Group with a Cheese & Wine Evening
hosted by Rabbi Brawer in his Succah.
This group of married and singles
have formed a mainly social group but
with some fund raising objectives and
they will be working closely with our
New Members team. Whilst on the
subject of new members we revived
our New Members Evening with a
special event at the Shul attended by
nearly 100 people. We do expect to
make this a regular occurrence.
Once again we ran our winter education programme but despite there
being a choice of subjects for each
evening the support from the community was very poor. Whilst we were
obviously most disappointed with the
outcome, we have listened to your
feedback and we will look to find the
format and the speakers which will
appeal to our community and I do
hope that you will give us your support.
We held a very successful
Chanukah event for our younger children with arts and crafts where they
had the opportunity to make doughnuts and shape candles and listen to
stories. The morning was well supported by some 200 children and they
all seemed to enjoy themselves.
By the time that you read this magazine we will have welcomed the Chief
Rabbi and Lady Sachs to our community for a Shabbat. The programme we
put together in conjunction with his
office was designed so that as many
members as possible would have the
chance to meet our guests in an informal way and I hope that this objective
was achieved. You will also have had
the opportunity to hear from Henry
Grunwald, President of the Board of
Deputies, and learn of the important
work that this organisation does
which is funded by the voluntary contributions that Shul members make.
For the first time this year we ran an
event to help students learn about the
Holocaust where we hosted in excess
of 175 young people from 5 schools
in Hertfordshire. There were two sessions each including a new film on
Kristallnacht and a talk by a survivor
and they were followed by small workshop groups. Northwood Synagogue
had run the programme previously
and assisted with the organisation of
our day for which we thank them.
Decorum continues to be a problem during Shabbat morning services
particularly when the Shul is full for a
bar or bat mitzvah. No-one likes the
continual pauses to request quiet
which in any event lengthens the
service. Rabbi Brawer has tried giving
short explanations for the different
parts of the service in the hope that
this will stimulate interest and reduce
noise. However, with this in mind we
have now started an explanatory service which is being held every other
week. It has been planned by Rabbi
Brawer and is being led by our members. It lasts for just one hour and is followed by a Kiddush. It is not a
‘beginners’ service and all members
would find the discussions interesting.
All the Honorary Officers and their
families wish you and all your families
a very happy and kosher Pesach.
Anthony Arnold
from the junior editor
Felicity Ginsburg
We are always trying to encourage people, young
and old, to write for Link. We are therefore delighted that this edition contains contributions from
various children and youth of the Community and
are also thrilled to welcome Felicity Ginsburg as
Junior Editor.
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL POEM
Felicity Ginsburg
Pretty tall,
Short hair,
Loves football,
Plays lots,
Very childish,
Hates sister,
Annoys brothers
Wants dog,
Quite kind,
Helps out,
Bites nails,
Detests school,
Enjoys writing,
Talks rubbish,
Adores reading,
That’s me
Felicity Ginsburg.
I was taught how to write an autobiographical poem . Each line is only
allowed two words.
You cannot repeat any words except
for your name.
THE LISTENERS
“Is there anybody there?”
I heard a voice.
A quiet, soft sort of voice.
A stomping of hooves
On the cold stony floor.
A clattering of shoes
Out in the courtyard.
“Is there anybody there?”
He said, this time a little louder.
BANG on the door went his hand.
Inside we stood quietly
Whilst he stood out in the courtyard.
This time, now very impatient
he shouted, “Tell them I came,
But no one answered, that I
kept my word!”
And with that he was off.
Across the courtyard
And out in the night
Went the traveller.
The Listeners is a poem that was
written in 1912. We had to pretend
we were a phantom inside the house.
Then we had to write either a poem
or a story about what we thought
happened.
THE RHYME SHOP
In the Rhyme Shop we sell anything:
Funny looks,
Nasty crooks,
Smelly cheese,
Rotten peas,
Singing owls,
Dogs’ howls,
Yellow mustard,
Boiling custard,
Sad clowns,
Miniature towns,
Novel books,
Dirty cooks,
Some DVDs,
Nintendo Wiis
Jack in a Box,
Smelly socks,
Best friends,
Turning Bends.
It all gets sold in the Rhyme Shop.
THE DISASTER
KA-BOOM! Everyone in Pompeii
turned their heads towards the
mountain. A load of molten lava
poured down the sides of the
mountain covering the small houses
below. Ash poured down from the
sky and Pompeii became full of
shrieks and screams. Mothers hurried
their children here and there.
Pompeii was filled with panic.
“Father we have got to leave!”
“No!” said the impatient voice of
Emperor Caecilius. “We are staying
here to show we are not weak and
feeble.”
“But ,father we will get killed. It is just
too dangerous.”
“Tea is ready in the garden.” Sang the
cheerful Empress. The Emperor ran
outside whilst Quintus walked as
slowly as he could.
That night Quintus slept badly. He
kept dreaming of being killed or
dying of thirst or hunger. He dreamt
about his father being killed and all
sorts of other horrible happenings.
The next morning he found out it
was true. His father was going to die
and the house was half buried.
He made his way to the quarter
where Felix the slave slept. He woke
him up and told him the news.
“We must get to safety,” was his reply.
“I’ll carry the Emperor and you look
after your mother .”
A few minutes later, the family set
out to find a safe place. They walked
miles and miles. After about thirteen
miles, the family could walk no more.
Felix placed Caecilius under some
great big rocks for shelter and
Quintus helped his mother lie beside
him. As Felix knelt down to say
goodbye to his master he heard
Caecilius say his last words, “ Felix,
you are free, take my ring for
Quintus.”
As he fell back,Quintus embraced
him.Felix took the ring and they went
off leaving their glories behind
them,and entering a life of sorrow.
HOW TO SURVIVE A
HOLIDAY WITH DAVID
ONNIE!
If you are thinking about going on a
holiday with our editor David Onnie,
you might want to consider this
advice:
Remember to bring:• a helmet with a flashlight as you
will be doing a lot of trekking
though tunnels
• crocs or waterproof shoes as the
tunnels will always be flooded
• spare batteries as your video
camera will run out after a day
filming another one of David’s
long lectures
• a dentist as David will injure
himself on a piece of chewy
steak
• a pencil and paper to do all the
extra homework that David will
set
• a body board as David will always
try to teach you how to surf
• sleeping tablets as David will
keep you up late chatting and
then wake you up early for
another trip
• an empty tummy as David will
always find room for another
shwarma
• a mobile phone charger as he
always forgets to pack his.
That’s all the bad things and now for
the good:
-he comes with Lisa, Jared and Taryn.
-he’s David Onnie!
Felicity Ginsburg
LinkPesach 2009 11
wardens’ report
David Newman & Ian Skolnick
It would appear that David is destined not to complete an elected twelve month
term of office uninterrupted! He is most grateful and appreciative of the good
wishes, tefillot, cards, visits etcetera during his periods of hospitalisation and recuperation and extends his renewed thanks to all who have chauffeured him about
.Hopefully this will no longer be necessary and he will be able to fully resume his
duties in perfect health.
Once again thanks has to be given to the stand in wardens who have most ably
filled David's position in the box. It must seem to Ben and Paul that they never left
office!
We have been maintaining a comprehensive record of all aliyot on Shabbatot and Yomim Tovim (excepting
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur which
are always separately considered
because of the number of services in different locations) since the last AGM. The
intention is to endeavour to ensure that
we spread around the mitzvot to as
many members as possible. There are, of
course, a number of members who are
chiyuvim (having halachic priorities)
and for this reason it may appear that
some people are "favoured". This having
been said we apologise to those whom
we have not as yet honoured with a
mitzvah and apologise unreservedly to
David Newman
congregants we may have inadvertently
offended. The community is, thankfully, growing and we are unable to know
every individual; therefore do please
make yourself known to us and, if possible, we will endeavour to remedy our
omissions.
Our shul is blessed with an inordinate number of s'machot each year and,
where possible, we do try to give the
families concerned a few mitzvot for
their visiting guests.
On this subject we would remind
members who are expecting visitors to
attend to inform them of a few ground
rules, in particular to strictly respect the
rights and access of our neighbours,
especially in Croxdale Road. Similarly to
Ian Skolnick
remember that the services are religious
occassions so that the highest level of
decorum, especially refraining from
speaking, should be maintained at all
times. Children are always welcome in
the shul but should, for some reason,
the child become restless it would be
most appreciated if he or she could be
quickly taken outside in order to minimise any disruption to the main service.
Of course these ground rules continue
to apply to our members as well.
.We are fortunate in having a choice
of services - Limmud, Hashkama, youth,
numerous children's services (for which
adult adult assistance is often required),
explanatory and off site Friday evening
services. These are held at Yavneh College and Ascot Close, the latter for
which our grateful thanks go as ever to
Helena and Ken Freedman for their con-
12 LinkPesach 2009
tinuing hospitality. Thanks also go generally to the wardens and leaders of all of
our various services throughout the
year.
One bone of contention - members of
the Limmud minyan should please not
come into the main service whilst it is in
progress. Boxes have been provided for
tallitot and books to be kept so there
should be no need to enter the main
shul either upon arrival or at the termination of their service. Likewise, other
members should not use the Gilah hall
as a shortcut thoroughfare.
Over the High Holidays the officiants
at the various services are all members.
Indeed, we "export" people to other communities. This has led to criticism from
some of the membership. We do listen
of all comments that are made known
to us and shall endeavour to take them
on board for the future.
The choir now sing Shema B'ni to all
barmitzvah boys and, even if there may
be absences especially in the holiday seasons, there should always be one chorister able to do a solo. Our thanks go to all
the choral team.
Whilst we have many b'nei mitzvot
who recite a Haphtarah we would like to
ensure that as many members as possible who are able are given a Maftir
aliyah. Please let us know if you would
be prepared to accept this mitzvah.
Whilst there are certain requirements for both Balei Koreh (leining) and
Tefillah (davening), we cannot possibly
know the talents of all of our male membership. We try hard to ensure that we
do not operate a closed shop of officiants
so, if you are not already on our rotas
and would like to be, it is up to you to
make yourself known to us.
The membership often seem to take
for granted the shammas. We therefore
wish to place on record our gratitude to
David Miller.
The shul services, especially on Shabbat and Yom Tov, do not just happen.
We are forever grateful to the office staff
who assist with paperwork preparation
for the services (yahrzeit lists, announcements &c) and also, of course, our tireless caretaker Bernie who, together with
his assistant Joe, ensure that the shul is
regularly cleaned and opened for services and Kiddushim. The Ladies' Committee also should be acknowledged for
their unstinting efforts in preparing and
clearing up the weekly Kiddushim.
One bug bear we have is the failure of
congregants to return siddurim and
chumashim at the end of services. For
ladies it could not be simpler; all that has
to be done is to replace them in the trays
in front of their seats We are ever grateful to the Brownies and their Owl leaders for occasionally tidying the ladies'
books and also for cleaning the Sifrei
Torah silverware. Our thanks go to
Michael Davis and Philip Belchak for
clearing up the books that are not put
away by our menfolk.
We must again express our appreciation to Michael and Philip as our regular
early morning openers for the weekday
services.
As wardens we try not to become
complacent and are always open to suggestions and constructive criticism. We
are ever grateful to the Rabbi for his support and, of course, to our fellow Honorary Officers for their encouragement
and assistance.
Finally please do remember that ultimately the quality of all of the services
depends on you the members, whether
you lein, daven or participate as a congregant; please let the forthcoming year
see the standard expected of a community such as ours to be maintained
David Newman and Ian Skolnick Wardens
.
David Newman and Ian Skolnick, Wardens
vice chairman’s report
Judy Woolf
When a few of my closest friends (?) suggested a female vice-chair, I asked
who in their right mind would take on such a seemingly thankless task? Well,
eight months later, the challenge has been an interesting experience. I had
no idea just how much was involved in the management of a shul of our size
- thirteen hundred families, with potentially as many opinions! In addition, as
a voluntary position, the combination with working full time has proved the
greatest challenge. Aside from monthly Board and Honorary Officers
meetings, communication with the Rabbi, office, Board members, portfolio
holders and Bernie is constant. The ladies in the community have been
especially supportive, since a great
number of our friendships go back
some 25 years and over that time,
we have all seen the community
grow whilst being an integral part of
its development.
There have been many changes
over the past year, some more popular than others. It is still early days, people are suspicious and hesitant of
change, and it will take time, but who
would have expected a lady to give
Judy Woolf
shabbat announcements or make the
address to the Chatan on Simchat
Torah.
Copious information in respect of
activities within the community is
available on the re-vamped website
24/7 and there is something for
everyone. Hopefully, in the Rosh
Hashanah edition there will be reports
from the many new initiatives recently
introduced.
One of the difficulties in any large
organisation is communication. Lots
of discussions and comments about
the facilities/ events/ organisation/
running of the shul are made both
within and outside shul hours,
between members who attend regularly and not so regularly, during kiddush, after kiddush on the walk home,
etc but unless the Board members are
aware of your comments, there is no
way that we can investigate and instigate new initiatives and/or improve
matters. The Board of Management
are your elected voices, please use
them by emailing either the HO's
directly (email addresses now on the
website) or the Board member holding specific portfolios (information on
website).
In these very difficult times, we are
doing our best to both cut and avoid
expenditure wherever possible, whilst
still providing a service to the commu-
nity - one of the best methods is to
encourage volunteers in all aspects welfare, information distribution prior
to yomtov, uniform group leaders,
chesed etc - projects which involve
time rather than financial commitment. BES still has so much potential,
your involvement is crucial and much
appreciated, so I appeal to you to
come forward, and be an integral part
of the continued growth and development of this flagship community.
Wishing Rabbi and Dina, Rabbi and
Miriam and all of the community a
Pesach sameach ve kasher.
Judy Woolf – Vice Chairman
Sports and foot pain clinic
Musculoskeletal gait analysis
Orthotics to suit any budget
Wide variety of foot conditions treated
Day, late evening and Sunday appointments
Suitable for all ages - children especially welcome
To make an appointment call us on 0800 195 9891
or email michael@painfreefeet.co.uk
A&A Podiatrists and Chiropodists
Michael J Abrahams BSc(Hons), MChS, SRCh
Martine R Abrahams BSc(Hons), MChS, SRCh
9 Station Road, Radlett, Hertfordshire, WD7 8JY
www.painfreefeet.co.uk
LinkRosh
LinkPesach
Hashanah 2009 13
Letter from Canada
Rochelle Miller
Letter from Canada - A different
shade of green
fter I wrote my last article for Link about how
amazing it was to be Jewish in Canada so many
people emailed me and asked if I was actually
ever coming home. Therefore I felt I needed to use
this article to redress the balance and rave about
England. (Something that’s not so easy in this current climate)
I have written a synopsis of my week (Jan 5th-Jan 12th) to
try and explain what life is like here and why the grass may
be a slightly different shade of green rather than greener!
A
Monday Jan 5th.
Arrived home from holiday at 1.00am this morning to thick
snow and -10 degrees C. Kids went back to school today and I
was on car safety duty, so after a few hours sleep off we went
to school. We have to get ready 15 minutes earlier in the winter than in the summer as the kids need to wear full ski gear
to school (ski jackets/snow pants/snow boots/mitts/scarves etc)
They put it all on to get to the car, strip off inside the car as
they complain they are hot, re-dress as we approach school
and then strip off again once inside the school building (only
to go through the same process each time they go out at play
time) So, not only are they perhaps not learning as much academically as I feel they should be, but they are spending up to
45 minutes of school time getting dressed!
Next it was time for a grocery shop. In the UK I was a devotee of Tesco internet delivery. Amazingly enough internet
shopping has not yet reached Canada and I actually have to
go the store. This is the complete bane of my life and I totally
cannot understand why internet shopping is not done. Additionally there is no chip and pin system on credit cards so we
are still signing for everything. Again just another example of
how technology has not yet reached these parts.
Once the shopping is done it’s back to school as I am running the Pizza lunches this year. A great fundraising initiative, basically the kids pre-order pizza slices (it’s $2 a slice)
which get delivered to the school. We end up ordering over 55
pizzas from the pizza place and they obviously do a great deal
on pizzas and the school keeps the profits… takes a bit of
organization but it’s really fun and the kids love it.
I now navigate the snow storm and get home only to
return to school a couple of hours later to collect the kids and
start the round of after school activities (it’s gymnastics
tonight) and homework.
Tuesday Jan 6th
Drop the kids at school going through the usual dressing routine and then return home to attend a music and art class
with Freddy. Music classes have been interesting as not one
nursery rhyme has been the same as the UK and even those
that are similar have words changed. So I always look a complete fool when I don’t know the words to the most basic
nursery rhymes! Today the temperature is a positively warm 2 degrees so the fact Freddy wants to stay and play in the
snow at the park after his classes is not so terrible except he is
14 LinkPesach 2009
“Amazingly
internet
shopping has
not yet
reached
Canada”
dressed appropriately in full ski gear and I am not- hence I am
now wet and cold!
After school the girls have skiing lessons. It is very strange
to have a ski hill about 15 minutes from your house! (And it is
just a hill; we don’t live in some mountainous range as someone once asked) So lucky me gets to stand for an hour in the
snow watching them ski by floodlight.
The Israel situation is currently worsening so a few friends
have asked me today whether I think the school should have
some form of security (currently there is none). I have always
thought there should be security at the school but I figured it
was my British background making me feel this way, but current Canadian chatter is that things are changing here and
anti semitism is on the rise.
Wednesday Jan 6th
Huge snow storm overnight but thank g-d our drive has
already been cleared by the lovely man we pay to do it for us!
(Once the snow is 5cm high you are legally obliged to clear
your driveway) Spencer had the bright idea that we should do
it ourselves and I stupidly agreed, until the first snowfall mid
December found Spencer out of town on business and me
sweeping the drive at 6.30am for half an hour. (Calling it
sweeping is the biggest misuse of a word ever, it is shovelling,
digging and smashing the ice and the biggest cause of heart
attacks in Canada in the winter months). Needless to say I
quickly called the gardener (summer job is gardening and
winter job snow shovelling!) and employed him.
Take the kids to school and nursery, and continue with a
fairly uneventful day. Except to say I am in my ‘healthy super
mum stage’ and decide to spend the day cooking healthy food
for the kids. When I say cook for the kids what I actually
mean is cook for the waste disposal and garbage bin as
inevitably 2 out of 3 children (and it’s different each time) say
yuck, and refuse to eat it and opt for the banana option
instead (the only alternative ever offered).
Whilst I am typing this up an email has come through
from the school saying how they are going to increase security and we can now expect a uniformed guard outside the
premises at all times. Oh well, will feel just like being at
home!
Letter from Canada
Rochelle Miller
Thursday Jan 7th
The usual morning routine passes uneventfully and I go to
my Tehillim group. In the wake of the Mumbai tragedy and
inspired by Jackie and Yael in Borehamwood I set up a
Tehillim group. Currently we meet monthly but we get a really good turnout so it’s done in 25 minutes. Then I take Sabrina to the orthodontist. North Americans are very obsessed
with their teeth. Since we have been here Sabrina has had a
retainer fitted and I have had more dental treatment than
you can imagine!
My next task is to buy a new bath plug (somehow the other
one has disappeared). Anyway you would think this would be
a fairly mundane task however it has turned into an absolute
nightmare! If I was in the UK I would go to Tesco’s they would
probably have one and if not I would try Boots and I am sure
between the two shops (both about 5 minutes from my house)
I would have found what I am looking for. Here not so simple. First it takes me at least 5 minutes to explain to the assistant what I am looking for. I get shown an electrical plug and
when I tell them I want the thing for inside the bath I get told
about the dangers of electricity and water! I then explain I
don’t want a plug but the thing that stops the water going
down the drain of the bath. I phone a friend from the shop to
ask her what it’s called. “A bath plug.” I say, she says” what’s
that?” Now I just want to get on the first flight home. Eventually I establish that what I am looking for is a tub stopper!!!
But the shop doesn’t sell them anyway and tells me to try the
drug mart. I get back into the car and head for the drug mart
(nothing is close!) no they don’t sell them either I need a specialist homeware shop. By now Freddy is creating, the girls
need to be picked up from school, the snow is falling thick
and fast so I guess its showers again tonight.
The activity of choice after school today is dance classes so
all children get deposited at the required activity, and the
end of the day is in sight!!!
“here texting
is like alien
technology”
taking Ivrit lessons as I need to help the girls with their homework. As I think I have said before half the day at school is in
Ivrit and whilst Jasmine started at the beginning with everyone else Sabrina had to catch up 2 years and this has really
proved quite hard.
Then it’s off to the supermarket (again the lack of internet
shopping annoys me!) As everyone finishes early on a Friday
we all go ice skating after school. Now if I was in England I’d
probably text a few friends to see if anyone wanted to come,
here texting is like alien technology, no-one knows how to
text! Now I will forgive anyone over the age of 60 and under
the age of 10 for not being able to text but texting (and facebook!) is my life. How can these people not know how to text?
Anyway I phone a few friends and off we go to skate.
Luckily we are out at friends for dinner tonight so we bundle up and walk round for dinner.
Saturday Jan 9th
Given that we rent and there was not a lot of choice when we
arrived we do not live in the best area Jewish-wise. Imagine if
where you want to be is Elstree B’wood but where you live is
Shenley (before they had their own shul!). That is our situation. Chabad have started a shul in our area but it’s still a 30
minute walk and in the snow. And with moaning children
it’s not ideal so Saturday tends to be a stay at home in our
pyjamas type of day! That is one of the really big things I miss
about England… going to shul seeing all your friends, perhaps
a bit of davening, Shabbat lunch etc. It’s always on a Saturday
that I feel most ‘out of it’ here.
In the evening we have tickets with friends to see The
Sound of Music at the theatre. What is amazing is that we can
be at the theatre and parked (for $10) within 30 minutes and
that’s not because we live downtown, far from it. It’s because
there is no traffic, the roads are always clear and there is
always somewhere to park. The key difference about theatre
here is the audience! I think maybe in my life in the UK I have
been to the theatre about 30 times and in that time I have
Friday Jan 8th
Today is bin day. This could be worth an article all itself. I’m
all for recycling but here it is implemented with sadist glee by
the bin men and more importantly the people who work at
bin central. Obviously we have 4 different bins collected on
alternating weeks, if you are lucky and haven’t accidently put
the wrong thing in the wrong bin in which case it is not collected. Additionally you are allowed one black bin liner of
garbage every other week and all additional bags must be
paid for by putting a sticker on the bags. The stickers can be
purchased, not from your local supermarket or online, no
that would be far too easy, from your local (not local to me!)
home hardware store. Incidentally the same place I had to go
to purchase the bath plug! Anyway you can override the system by purchasing a bin that holds 4 bin liners at a time and
pay a yearly charge on your water bill. However getting one of
these bins has so far proved impossible. I have phoned bin
central almost daily for 6 months only to be told they are out
of stock, my request has been noted and one will be delivered
to me within 6 weeks. Honestly this has been going on since
May 08 and I still haven’t got one. Either it is my accent or
they hate me or I am going to appear on candid camera, but
running down the road in the snow at 7.00am yelling at the
bin men to take your garbage is not a fun experience.
Drop off at school, nursery etc. all goes without a hitch and
then I am off to my Ivrit lesson. Since being here I have been
seen one standing ovation. In Toronto I have been to 4 shows
and seen 3 standing ovations (and one was for the pantomime!)
Sunday Jan 10th
Swimming lessons in the morning followed by a family outing sledging! What an absolute disaster that turned out to be!
Sabrina got snow in her boots and moaned constantly she
was cold. Freddy liked it the first time and then wanted to go
home, Jasmine spent her time complaining her sledge didn’t
work and she wanted Sabrina’s. So I basically stood there
LinkPesach 2009 15
Letter from Canada
Rochelle Miller
shouting “do you think I want to be here in the freezing cold
tobogganing down a hill, we’ve only come here for you etc etc
etc.” So you see no different to London at all really!
So in conclusion wherever you are in the world as a mum
(or mom as my kids now spell it) of a young family, you run
around like a lunatic taxi service most of the week, you spend
a vast proportion of the time questioning your ability as a parent, your kids don’t eat healthily, you shop, you cook, you eat
(chocolate-lots of it and nowhere near as good as Cadbury’s),
you try and sort out household issues and you defend Israel.
Are we coming home? I hope so. Am I desperate to leave
Canada? No. Have I made some good friends here? Yes but I do
miss my family and friends immensely. However I have learnt
just to live each day as it comes and not look too much into
the future, as who knows where it will take you. Spencer
mentioned something about Singapore the other day. G-d
help me!!!!
Wishing you all a happy and kosher Pesach. Hope to see
some of you for Pesach in Netanya and please g-d this is the
last time you will reading my letter from Canada as we may
be back by Rosh Hashanah.. Or maybe not!
“Are we
coming
home? I hope
so. Am I
desperate to
leave Canada?
No.”
Adrian Mullish Dental Care
107 Hempstead Road
Watford
WD17 3HE
01923-231861
www.smile4.me.uk
16 LinkPesach 2009
Wishing your community a Happy & Kosher Passover
LinkPesach 2009 17
Letter from Jerusalem
Raymond Jayson
Who committed the War Crimes?
I am writing this article very shortly after a somewhat tenuous ceasefire has ended our War with Hamas in the Gaza
Strip.
But even as I write news is coming through that the Palestinians have killed an Israeli Bedouin army tracker and seriously wounded another officer thereby seriously threatening
the already fragile ceasefire and provoking the inevitable
Israeli response with an attack on the tunnels in the area
known as the Philadelphi corridor, through which Hamas are
smuggling arms into Gaza, some of them very sophisticated
and lethal.
During this war we have seen the disturbing use of double
standards against us. Everyone has agreed that Israel exercised overwhelming restraint in not forcefully responding to
the almost 6,000 Kassam and other more dangerous rockets
and almost 4,500 mortars which were fired at our civilian
population over a period of more than eight years. As a result
1 million civilian Israeli citizens, many of them children,
were forced to live in shelters and caused many schools to
close from time to time. It was clearly unacceptable and had
to be stopped.
Maybe if we had responded in force much earlier Hamas
would have got the message and toned down its actions. Perhaps then the War would not have broken out.
However while we have seen widespread acknowledgement of Israeli’s “right to defend itself”, this right was effectively neutralized by many in the media and by so-called
Human Rights Organizations attacking Israel for using disproportionate force and committing war crimes.
These “knee jerk” reactions against the Jewish state are not
new, but they do wrongly twist the language and intentions
of the Geneva Conventions and laws of war. Many of those
who accuse Israeli actions have a long and predictable history of demonizing Israel but are remarkably quiet about other
conflicts where both the actions and casualties are very, very
much greater than even what they claim we have done.
These organizations have been unbelievably quiet about
Russia’s violent destruction of Chechnia or its recent attack
on Georgia. What about the conflicts and Genocide in Darfur,
Rwanda and Nigeria to name but a few? What about NATO’s
obliteration of Serbia, a country which was almost bombed
back into the Stone Age and with whom they weren’t even at
war!
They have also consistently exaggerated Arab casualties –
remember the battle of Jenin in 2002 when we were accused
of a civilian massacre, but which later turned out to be 52
dead of whom 45 were Palestinian fighters.
The credibility and impartiality of the media and Human
Rights Organizations is severely open to question. The terrible consequences of this are that real human rights violations
and disasters are frequently ignored and not pursued.
In the case of the current war, Article 51 of the UN Charter
entitles Israel to take action in self defence against the violence perpetrated against her, such as the many rocket
attacks from Hamas, provided Israel acts out of necessity and
proportionately.
Despite what has been reported “proportionately” is not a
scoresheet comparing the number of deaths. It is permitted
to hit back very hard and even to overwhelmingly win!
According to the Geneva Conventions and laws of war proportionality means using such force as is necessary to achieve
a military advantage and to disarm any threat that is being
faced, while trying to minimize civilian casualties as best it
can.
18 LinkPesach 2009
“Maybe if we
had
responded in
force much
earlier Hamas
would have
got the
message and
toned down
its actions.”
In WWII German towns were bombed to smithereens but
no one suggests that British and American aircrews violated
the rules of war.
Hamas justifies its terror and rocket attacks on Israel as
part of its political objective which is the destruction of Israel.
Unfortunately for them this is not recognized as a permitted
action.
We also need to remember that Israeli civilian casualties
were so much less than Arab casualties because Israel built
shelters for its population and instructed them to use them
and the Israeli population dutifully followed these instructions. Instead of doing this, Hamas built bunkers for its leaders and seemed to have no concern for the safety of its
population, trying to use civilian casualties as part of their
propaganda war. Indeed we now know that much of the
Hamas leadership did not fight with their people but took
refuge and established their headquarters in their bunkers
under Shiva Hospital in Gaza, as they knew that we would
not attack them there.
I am sure that many of you have now seen the videos and
aerial photographs showing how Hamas turned entire civilian neighbourhoods, including houses, mosques, schools, UN
facilities and even hospitals into military compounds from
which it waged war against Israel and the IDF. Hamas fired
from in and around these places, stored weapons and ammunition there and placed booby traps in houses and other
buildings so that much of the damage resulted from “secondary explosions” from such weapons.
Even worse are the videos showing Hamas fighters grabbing protesting children and pulling them along to be
human shields. (I suppose this is really a tribute to the Jewish
soldiers, as the Arabs know we won’t fire in such circumstances!)
Professor Irwin Cotler, an ex-Minister of Justice of Canada
and one of the world’s leading and highly respected human
rights lawyers has pointed out that firing from a civilian area
turns that area into a permitted military target and is a war
crime since it endangers the civilian population there. He has
made it clear that the intention is what is important. This
means that it is a war crime when Hamas intentionally fires
at a civilian area (which it constantly does). When Israel
responds against a military target and unintentionally causes civilian casualties that is very distressing but it is not a war
crime. In fact Israel always tries to minimize such “collateral”
civilian casualties and has often refrained from attacking
such targets even when the laws of war permit her to do so,
thereby frequently putting our own soldiers at risk.
Indeed Professor Cotler states quite clearly that when
Hamas fires from a civilian area (thereby endangering its own
civilians because of the inevitable and permitted response)
into an Israeli civilian area, Hamas are actually committing a
double war crime.
As the dust clears and the actual numbers are becoming
better known, and it is clear that (once again) the true number of civilian casualties has been exaggerated. Determining
the actual number of civilians killed has been made very difficult because many Hamas fighters took off their uniforms
at a very early stage in the war, merged into the civilian population and fought from there (itself another war crime
because of the danger created for the non-fighters). As I write
it seems that about 1,150 people died of whom about 700
were Hamas fighters, 250 civilians and the identification of
the remaining 200 is not yet clear although most of these are
men in their twenties. This is really a tribute to the accuracy
of Israeli pin-point fire.
Letter from Jerusalem
Raymond Jayson
It is always terrible to see on the TV or in the newspapers
dead and horribly wounded civilians especially children and
some of the pictures we have seen are truly harrowing. However it is now clear that the responsibility for this awful situation lies not with Israel, which has consistently tried to
minimize such casualties, but with Hamas which has intentionally turned civilian areas into military areas and has
therefore exposed it’s own civilians to danger.
Chag Pesach Kasher ve'Sameach
“...firing from a
civilian area
turns that
area into a
permitted
military
target...”
Raymond Jayson, lived in Elstree with his family for eighteen years
during which time he served for sixteen years on the Synagogue
Board of Management including seven years as its Chairman.
A Terrorist of Palestine
A Soldier of Israel
Greetings
from
Lander & Co
LANDER & COMPANY
Chartered Surveyors
Telephone: 01923 606169
Mobile: 07860 319452
E-mail: surveys@landerco.com
Gregory Lander F.R.I.C.S.
LinkPesach 2009 19
Remembering his own family’s military experience David Cukier looks at the impact of serving
in the army.
The Cukier
Report
In an article I wrote for the September 2006 Link magazine I
described a ‘personal journey’ back to my father’s birthplace,
Warsaw, my experiences in visiting the Ghetto area, and the
story of his unlikely escape from Warsaw. Following his
ensuing orphaned survival in the Soviet Union and
Eli Cukier Small figure at top ( smiling ) in Russian Army at Krinica
Poland 1945
Eli Cukier (bottom right, with cigarette in his mouth) in Sarafand/Zrifin
Army base Israel 1948
Eli Cukier in in Sarafand/Zrifin Israel
1949
Eli Cukier on the Home Front in Israel 1948
22 LinkPesach
LinkRosh Hashanah
2009 2009
Esti Cukier in Kibbutz Hasolelim /
Kibbutz Mayan Baruch in 1982
consequent enlistment in the Red Army
below the minimum required age, he was
then sent for officer training to the far east of
the Soviet Union only to return and be part of
the liberation of Lodz and Warsaw. Recently I
looked again at some old photos boxed away
in storage and came across some of my father
in the Israeli army during and after the war of
independence (see below).
The recent military events in Gaza, and
attendance last November at the annual
Borehamwood Remembrance Sunday service
at the town cenotaph, together with many
children and adults from the EBOR community, AJEX, cubs scouts and brownies/guides,
started me thinking again about military service and the impact and experience of serving
in the army. Recently, I also went to see the
film ‘Defiance’ which portrays the incredible
and unbelievably brave story and events surrounding the Bielski brothers and their troupe
of partisans (comprising about 1200 escapees)
who fought the Nazis and survived by hiding
out in forests of eastern Poland/ Belarus during the war.
These events have brought home to me
once again, if one needed reminding, of the
struggle of the Jewish people and more especially today of Israel for its own survival and
the right to live in freedom and peacefully. It
also reminds me of some of my own family’s
connections to military service and soldiering,
and the very heavy burden that soldiers and
Proudly wearing the yellow star footbal kit (with cap) in the displaced persons camp in Bad Reichenhall in Bavaria Gernmany 1946,
(as the Goal keeper in the centre of picture)
Parade at the Hashomer Hatzair Camp Peterswald 1946
their families face, either by those who have
fought and survived, or been lost in battle, or
who even to this day have been, or are being
held, captive.
Picking through these recently re-discovered photos of my own, and my wife’s family’s connections to the military, I was
reminded of my own father ‘s service as a
soldier in the Soviet Red army and his ultimate participation in the liberation of
Warsaw, his birth place, and where his family perished. I also recalled my grandfather
who survived the war having served in the
French army which had unsuccessfully
defended the Franco- German border where
he was stationed at the start of the war. My
father- in- law had enjoyed distinguished
service in Portsmouth, as part of the British
Royal Engineers in Normandy, and in post
war reconstruction work in Germany.
Likewise, but not least, my own wife Esti
served in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for
just over two years during the Lebanon conflict in 1982. Clearly many in the community have had similar personal experiences of
war and have served in the armed forces as
loyal British/foreign citizens and Jewish patriots all around the world, each with a different tale to tell.
My own father’s story illustrated in the
accompanying pictures shows him located in
various areas between 1944 and 1948 in the
Soviet Russian Red Army and his journey
through the European displaced persons
camps after the cessation of hostilities. After
the war he joined Hashomer Hatzair in
Poland (a Socialist - Zionist Kibbutz centred
movement which played a leading role in the
Eli Cukier Camp A.KM in Israel 1948
Warsaw Ghetto uprising), transited through
the displaced persons camps in Bad
Reichenhall, Lansberg, in Bavaria, Germany,
and finally ended up via Cyprus in Israel to
fight in the War of Independence in the
Palmach (strike force) as part of the Haganah
(Defence). The accompanying photos show
him pictured in Sarafand (Tzrifin ) a big army
base in central Israel, east of Rishon Le Zion.
Other pictures show places on his journey
from Poland to Israel between 1944 and 1948.
Also pictured in one of the more recent shots
is a relaxed pose of my wife Esti who in
some way followed in my fathers footsteps,
and shows her in her army uniform as part
of a Nachal unit ( a Kibbutz based infantry
branch) 34 years later.
The recent 60th year Israeli independence
ceremonies and remembrance memorial
events are always moving tributes to the sacrifices made by individual soldiers and their
families, and remind us of the significant
military, rather than civilian, contribution
which Jews have always made on behalf of
their birth and adopted countries, and also
today as Jews fighting for the right to live in
peace, freedom, and justice in Israel.
Jews in the Diaspora have always as loyal
citizens played a very proud and distinguished role in military conflicts throughout
the ages, and the Jewish Military Museum is
a good starting point to discover more about
this. The museum, in Hendon, offers visitors
a way of gaining a personal insight in to the
history of more recent Jewish soldiering and
the opportunity to learn about the proud
military service history which Jews have
played throughout the ages and around the
world. Indeed, notwithstanding the various
battles fought and which we read about in the
Tanuch, Jews can rightly claim a proud military history throughout the ages.
These days, the admiration, esteem, and
respect given to soldiering and military personnel is, in some quarters, not as unequivocal as it used to be. Indeed in the UK recently,
British servicemen from RAF Wittering near
Peterborough were banned from wearing uniform to avoid any hostile reaction from some
members of the surrounding local population.
Today it seems that support for a soldier’s
national service cannot be taken for granted
whether it is in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, or
Lebanon. In some quarters there is some
ambivalence to supporting our soldiers in
combat. Equally or more regrettably, IDF commanders and soldiers now face the prospect of
arrest and possible prosecution in potential
war crimes trials in Spain and UK.
This may lead one to think that military
service is increasingly misunderstood by the
younger generation and the public at large,
and that education through establishments
like the Jewish Military Museum and the
Imperial War Museum, and all the very fine
educational museums throughout Israel, are
not only a worthwhile, but an essential part of
education and upbringing which children
should encounter, and with which adults
should be re-acquainted.
Judaism unambiguously preaches peace as
it highest principle, seeking the peace, both
personally, of the city, and nationally.
However, Judaism also recognises the legitimate use of self defence against aggressor
individuals and countries. Fighting in self
defence is a moral imperative whilst recognising that innocent civilians must not be targeted but be allowed the means to escape the
battle zone. Judaism even goes so far as to
rule that trees must be spared in battle. A
very interesting recent article by Daniel Yates,
a British intelligence officer who served in
Afghanistan, and published in the ‘Spectator’
illustrates the difficulties faced by the IDF in
their recent Gaza operation ‘Cast Lead’
(http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/3286561/a-british-soldiers-view-of-operation-cast-lead.thtml ). Clearly a better understanding of the difficulties faced by the military and individual soldiers is called for.
Let us hope that future generations will not
have to serve as soldiers, and that Israel will
achieve a peaceful future, as will the UK,
spared from the threat of terrorism.
David Cukier
Eli Cukier in Cyprus 1947
LinkPesach 2009 23
Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, Jeremy Newmark, analyses Barack Obama’s
intentions towards Israel
The Obama
Effect
The annual policy convention of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC) is attended by over seven thousand of Israel’s
most ardent political supporters, both Republican and Democrat,
from across the pro-Israel community in the USA. This annual
Jeremy Newmark
24 LinkPesach
LinkRosh Hashanah
2009 2009
grouping of political high-flyers rarely portrays
anything other than unified sense of purpose
and confidence when they come together to
celebrate their achievements and plan for the
year ahead. As Chief Executive of the Jewish
Leadership I have been privileged to attend a
number of these conventions which is why I
was particularly surprised to detect a slightly
different tone at this year’s event – held days
before Senator Barak Obama formally won the
Democratic nomination as their candidate in
the 44th Presidential election. At this point in
the process it was already clear that the Hilary
Clinton campaign was effectively over, and
that the AIPAC convention would become the
venue for one of the most significant speeches
in the Presidential campaign. The fact that
the Republican Nominee John McCain had
spoken to the delegates the night before
added to the sense of occasion. The morning
of the Obama speech delegates were handed a
letter, which in the politest possible way asked
them to show respect for all external speakers
and immediately before the big speech AIPAC
officials repeated this request – it was clear
that AIPAC were worried that Barak Obama
would not receive a positive reception from
the assembled representatives. I found this
bizarre – surely the crème de la crème of
American political activists would realise the
importance of treating a potential President
in-waiting with the respect that he deserved.
Speaking to many of the participants it
became clear that the nervousness of AIPAC
officials was rooted in a kind of collective
schizophrenia within organised American
Jewry about the Obama candidacy. This scenario is rooted in a dilemma that Rabbi
Brawer alluded to in a sermon earlier this year
– should Jews support political candidates
who display a firm track record and positive
intentions on issues of concern to the Jewish
community (support for Israel, opposition to
antisemitism etc.) or should Jewish people
support election candidates who personify and
promote Jewish moral social and ethical values, even if their position on matters such as
the Middle East is less solid that one might
wish. This summed up the debate within
American Jewry around the Obama candidacy
– there is no doubt that his outlook on social
policy, the economy and related matters
chimed with the default position of large sections of American Jewry. Additionally, the
symbolism of supporting a candidate whose
election would mark a turning point in the
long, painful saga of American racial conflict
and reconciliation was hugely appealing to
those Jewish voters who were keen to focus on
the moral and social attributes of the candidates. However on the meaty policy issues
such as strategy on Iran he was perceived to
be less supportive than both Hilary Clinton
and John McCain. He was dogged in the early
months of his campaign by rumours that he
was secretly a Muslim (prompting the
American Jewish Committee to organize a
nonpartisan effort to set the record straight),
then questioned about his ties to a long-time
pastor whose liberation theology sounded
themes critical of Israel and the United States.
As it happened, despite the initial nervousness Obama’s AIPAC speech was a huge success, he delivered solid commitments on Iran,
the Middle East Peace Process and the role of
Israel in the region and received a warm
standing ovation from the entire audience.
According to the exit polls, Jewish voters overwhelmingly chose Obama over Senator John
McCain, and actually played a significant role
in the outcomes in key states. The initial
polling showed 78 percent of Jewish voters
supporting Obama, and 21 percent McCain.
Substantial portions of the Obama margins in
Florida, Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina and
Pennsylvania, all battleground states, can be
attributed to Jewish votes. Florida, however,
which George W. Bush won by fewer than
2,000 votes in 2000, and by more than 400,000
in 2004, flipped this year to the Democratic
candidate – by a little more than 200,000
votes; with roughly half a million Jewish voters in Florida, Obama’s advantage among Jews
was clearly a factor in his winning the state’s
27 electoral votes.
Because of the issues outlined earlier,
Obama’s strength among Jewish voters wasn’t
obvious throughout the long campaign. It
climbed after he wrapped up the nomination
last spring and grew again after, the late-summer Democratic Party convention; a survey
taken in mid-September had him at 57 percent among Jewish respondents, to 30 percent
for McCain and 13 percent undecided. By the
following month, the gap had widened – with
74 percent favoring Obama and 22 percent
McCain. In the end, according to exit polls,
the Illinois Senator received support from
Jewish voters at levels similar to those recorded by recent history’s most popular candidates
within the Jewish community, comparable
with the figure of Bill Clinton in 1992 (80 percent), and Al Gore in 2000 (79), although well
short of the number achieved by Franklin
Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson which some
put at over 90 percent. (It should be noted
that Jews do not automatically support
Democrats – and, when they do, not always by
a wide margin; Jimmy Carter, in his failed bid
for re-election in 1980, won the backing of 45
percent of Jewish voters, to 39 percent for
Ronald Reagan.)
Nevertheless, as the official transition period is now well under way, the debate as to
whether or not President-elect Obama is “good
for the Jews” is one that continues to grip
American Jewry. So, what are the early indications? There are a number of different indicators, but here we will look at two of a few of
those identified as the most significant by analysts at the major American Jewish organisations concerned with both American domestic
and foreign policy.
Early analysis of what the Obama Presidency
means in terms of U.S. foreign policy in the
Middle East, must begin with the recognition
that in the year since the Annapolis
Conference, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and
security cooperation have shown promise, the
realities of Islamist rejectionism and violence
have prevented any serious progress.
Confirmation of Hilary Clinton as Secretary
of State is viewed as a tremendously popular
move by American Jewish leaders, but the real
focus and attention is on Obama himself. As
he reminded the AIPAC convention, Obama’s
Senate record and his many statements on
Middle East policy throughout the campaign
evidence a sympathy and familiarity with
Israel’s security needs. Little, if any of this
body of material indicates a radically different
approach to that taken during the Bush and
Clinton years. This is unsurprising given the
bipartisan mainstream of American political
opinion on Israel. Differences are nuanced.
Congress is now likely to have an increased
influence. The extent to which the
Israeli/Palestinian track will be linked to
progress on Iraq and Afghanistan, the war
against Al Qaeda and its enablers, and combating the menace of an Iran, racing toward
nuclear-weapons capability, (and committed to
Israel’s destruction) all remains to be seen.
On the Iran question, it is unlikely that
direct talks with Ahmadinejad will be anywhere near the top of Obama’s to-do list. It is
far more likely that he will begin to deliver on
his election pledge of direct diplomatic
engagement with Iran via discreet and offradar exploratory contacts will be made with
those close to the real decision maker in that
regime, Ayatollah Khamenei. This will certainly overlap with the interests of the (at the
time of writing) soon to be elected Israeli
Government which (whoever heads it) will be
keen to avoid public disagreement with the
US on this issue and will want to have serious
input into the agenda for any such talks.
On the domestic front President-elect
Obama seems to echo many of the policy positions of organised American Jewry on the
often controversial issue of the separation of
church and state. Unlike McCain he opposed
vouchers that would allow public funds to be
used to pay for tuition at private and religious
schools. Nevertheless, the President-elect has
evidenced comfort with religious voices in the
public square – and (in a manner totally alien
to the conventions of politics in the UK) is
very comfortable to root his major speeches
and discourse overtly in religious principles
and language. For example, in mid-2007,
Obama spoke in positive terms of the central
role that religious faith can play in politics. He
highlighted the moral element in, fighting
poverty or expanding access to health insurance. “Doing the Lord’s work is a thread that
runs through our politics since the very beginning,” he said, “and it puts the lie to the
notion that separation of church and state in
America means somehow that faith should
have no role in public life.” All of this is a far
cry from Alastair Campbell’s famous remark
to Tony Blair that “we don’t do God”.
Obama has also supported the idea partnership between government and faith-based
social provision. He has said that he will work
to enable faith-based groups, secular nonprofits and government to work together in this
area. (This mirrors similar indications recently given by our own Communities Secretary,
Hazel Blears).
A week is a long time in politics, and some
months will pass between this article being
written and published. During this period
President-elect Obama will be inaugurated
into office, general elections will take place in
Israel and a new government may have been
formed. Presidential elections will be looming
in Iran and it is possible that some progress
will be made on the Israel-Syrian track following the recent Middle East visit of Foreign
Secretary David Milliband. However all of
these events pan out there is no doubt that
American Jewry will continue to debate the
extent to which their new President
Jeremy Newmark is Chief Executive of the Jewish
Leadership Council and a member of Elstree and
Borehamwood Synagogue. This article is written in a
personal capacity and does not reflect the views or
opinion of the Jewish Leadership Council
LinkPesach 2009 25
book review
Oliver Ralph
A
Brief
Guide
to
Judaism
By Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer.
Rabbi Brawer is clearly a man who likes a challenge. First he decides to represent the Chief Rabbi
in the fraught area of Jewish-Muslim relations.
Then he takes over at one of the UK’s largest and
fastest growing communities (replacing an incumbent who had held the position for ** years.) For his
next trick Rabbi Brawer has attempted to condense
Judaism, its theology, practice and 5000 years of
history into a 250 page paperback book.
So how, then, does the book stack up as an
introduction to Judaism? Would it leave the novice
reader with a good grounding in what is an
ancient and wide ranging culture? And if it does
such a good job for the novice, would it have anything to offer the active shul-goer, who is already
likely to be well versed in the basics?
Rabbi Brawer attempts to please the two groups.
He starts, not unreasonably, with God. He explains
the theology that lies at the core of Judaism, exploring God’s nature and his relationship with man in
general and with Jews in particular. He also examines the Torah, Mitzvot and the Land of Israel. It is
absorbing reading, addressing subject matter which
is often glossed over in formal Jewish school education. Here we have a taster of the debates that have
raged between Jewish sages throughout history, a
flavour of the context in which Judaism exists. It’s a
logical first step, which is clearly written and easy
to read. And yet it is a challenging start to the book.
Those already familiar with Judaism will find it a
good way in. But the uninitiated might stumble at
the first hurdle.
Part two deals with Jewish history, starting with
Abraham and going all the way through to the current state of the Jewish diaspora, 3800 years and 88
pages later. It is, unsurprisingly, a breathless journey. I went to a Jewish school and attended (what
seemed like) endless Jewish history lessons, so
much of the material was familiar to me. This was
a mixture of things I knew, things I used to know
but had forgotten, and things that I never knew.
Rabbi Brawer is a good storyteller, and he excels at
bringing history to life. He takes the reader through
the Biblical period and the two temples, followed
by the start of the exile and the establishment of
the diaspora, and the dispersal of the Jewish people
around the world. He pauses along the way to
explain the development of various theological
strands in Judaism, from Hillel and Rabbi
Yochanan ben Zakai to Hasidism and the
Mitnagdim in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Squeezing so much material into such a short
space is never going to be an easy task, and Rabbi
Brawer devotes more attention to some topics than
to others. Hasidism, for example, is discussed in
much detail over fourteen pages. But Zionism and
the Holocaust get just two pages each. While
Hasidism has no doubt been a major influence on
the development of Judaism, does it really out-
26 LinkPesach 2009
weigh Zionism and the Holocaust to such an
extent?
The third section deals with Jewish practice – the
Jewish day, year and life. Rabbi Brawer runs
through the daily prayers, the Shabbat routine, the
festivals and significant events such as births, bar
mitzvahs, weddings and the rituals surrounding
death and mourning. Here the regular (or even not
so regular) shul attendee will be on familiar ground
while the newcomer to Judaism will find a handy
introduction to the life of a Jew. Thankfully, this is
not simply a dry run through of the laws surrounding various occasions. Rabbi Brawer illustrates the
festivals with traditional stories and also more personal tales (such as the occasion when Shabbat
guests of his were shocked when Dina served them
gazpacho rather than chicken soup as a starter).
For me, the most interesting part of the book
was the Epilogue: Judaism in the 21st Century.
Here, Rabbi Brawer sets out his views on the current state, and the future, of Judaism. The Jewish
community, he argues, is in flux. Modern Jews,
rather than simply putting themselves into boxes
marked “orthodox”, “reform” or “conservative”, are
now discerning shoppers, choosing which parts of
which ideology they wish to identify with. While
the community still has an active and committed
core, life beyond that core is becoming ever more
complex as Jews pick and choose their style of
Judaism. “The post-denominational Jew thinks
about his Judaism,” he argues. “He does not just
take it for granted.” He also notes changing attitudes towards the rabbinate and towards education
in general. While Jewish learning is flourishing
through growing numbers of yeshivot and the
growth of the internet, he argues that the authority
of the traditional Rabbi as the centre of knowledge
is diminishing.
Rabbi Brawer’s conclusion returns to the start of
the book and to the heart of Judaism. For all of the
debate surrounding Zionism, Israel, orthodoxy,
reform, the rabbis, the internet, intermarriage and
anything else that occupies our minds today, the
central theme of Judaism remains unchanged. “It is
our duty to demonstrate through our own behaviour,” Rabbi Brawer concludes “how it is possible
for man to create out of this lowly world a dwelling
place for God.”
Oliver Ralph
LinkPesach 2009 27
Visiting Sidney’s grave - Madras War Cemetery
Stephen Newton makes an emotional visit to his uncle’s war grave in Madras
Mission
Fulfilled
I was named Shlomo after my uncle whose given
name was Sidney. My first name was chosen so
that it would begin with the same letter. Sidney was
my father’s younger brother, there being a middle
sister to complete the siblings. I have always felt a
close kinship to Sidney, yet I never met him, never
got to know him and was unable to speak to
him about his experiences – my uncle Sidney
died aged just 23 whilst in the service of his
country.
Sidney was born in 1922 and when war
broke out in September 1939 he was 17.
Shortly after his 18th birthday he received his
call-up papers, he joined the Royal Air Force
Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) and trained as a
pilot. As far as I can gather he was neither a
fighter pilot nor a member of a bomber crew,
28 LinkPesach 2009
After spending a week touring northern
India, we flew from Delhi to Chennai early on
Sunday morning and after checking in at out
hotel we set about finding a taxi driver who
knew where the cemetery was. Luckily for us
the hotel had a travel desk which operated its
own fleet of drivers and they soon worked out
where we needed to get to. After a twenty
minute journey we saw the cemetery and proceeded to locate the side entrance which the
manager had indicated in his email would be
open. On entering the cemetery we instantly
saw Sidney’s grave and I was immediately
overcome with the pent-up emotion of the
occasion. After reciting the memorial prayer
and kaddish I lit a Yahtzeit candle and we
placed the traditional stones on the headstone. The cemetery is mixed in the sense that
both Jewish and non-Jewish servicemen are
buried there each with a headstone inscribed
“I was immediately overcome
with the pent-up emotion of the
occasion.”
Flight Sergeant Sidney Newton 1922 - 1945
but flew reconnaissance missions and delivered planes to where they were needed.
During his time in the RAFVR he served in
Southern Rhodesia (now part of Zimbabwe),
Egypt, Israel (then the British Mandate
Palestine) and India.
Serving in Israel had an immediate impact
on Sidney, he wrote home –
“Have you ever walked into a town, village,
or even a shop or street, and felt that this is
where I belong. This is where I feel most at
home? Well, that was the very first feeling
not only when I entered Tel Aviv, but
Palestine itself. I can’t explain it. The first
time on the train as soon as we crossed the
border, even though it was at night. I felt it
when I flew to Palestine. I just don’t know
how to say it, but there it was. I felt happy
..... it was like a heavy weight off my shoulders. The thing that amazes me is I was
never a Zionist, yet I felt at home. My ambition is to return to Palestine after the war
and live there and if I could get the whole
family to do likewise, it would be simply terrific. But if I have to go alone, go I will.
They say that seeing is believing – well, I’ve
seen and I believe”.
Alas Sidney was unable to fulfil his dream
of settling in Israel. On July 27th 1945, just
two months after VE Day and three weeks
before VJ Day, whilst flying solo he was taken
ill and passed out at the controls. His plane
crashed in the area that was known at that
time as the Madras Presidency, now the
Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As was the usual
practice during wartime, military servicemen
were buried wherever convenient and most
practical. Sidney was buried with full mili-
tary honours in a local cemetery at a place
called Vizagapatam, the service being conducted by a Rabbi Busill. A short while after
the war ended the Imperial (later to become
the Commonwealth) War Graves Commission
(CWGC) established a purpose built military
cemetery for those who had fallen during the
conflict and who were buried across the
region. Sidney was finally laid to rest in the
Madras War Cemetery in the city now known
by its modern name of Chennai. Over the
years no member of my family has managed
to make the journey to visit Sidney’s grave
and this was something that I had wanted to
rectify for some time.
The opportunity to visit the Madras War
Cemetery arose out of a discussion with my
wife Vivien about how we should celebrate
our thirtieth wedding anniversary. We eventually decided that we would go to India during the summer and would arrange the itinerary around visiting Sidney. I knew, thanks
to the CWGC’s website, exactly where in
Chennai the cemetery was located and from
their database and plan of the cemetery I was
even able to determine the precise location
of Sidney’s grave. Before leaving for India I
contacted the CWGC to ensure that the
cemetery would be open to us on for our
intended visit and they put me in touch via
email with the cemetery manager, who
assured me that we would be able to visit as
planned. I chose to visit Sidney on Sunday
10th August 2008, corresponding to 9th Av
(Tisha B'Av) as this is my father’s Yahtzeit. All
other arrangements for this trip of a lifetime
were designed to get us to Chennai on this
day.
with the badge of the armed service which
they served with, their name, rank and serial
number, a personal message from family and
friends and in Sidney’s case, a Magen Dovid.
We were approached by the manager and his
staff who are employed to maintain the cemetery and by the look of it they do a splendid
job. They asked if we would like to visit other
Jewish graves, which we did. We took photos
of all of the graves with view to trying to trace
the families once we returned home, to let
them know that their loved ones had been visited. After an hour or so we made our way
back to the waiting car, signing the visitor’s
book on the way out and thanked the staff
again for all their hard work in looking after
the cemetery.
Tisha B’Av is always an poignant day for
Jews everywhere, for me it has an additional
significance because of my father’s Yahtzeit,
but this year was something so special in that
the emotions I felt that day will be with me
forever.
Stephen Newton
LinkPesach 2009 29
Neville Levy explains what Ladino is and tests your proverbial knowledge.
¿Hablas
Ladino?
I wrote a piece about my trip to Istanbul in the last edition of Link, and
included in the article a few words of Ladino (Judeo-Spanish). Since writing the article, I have been asked about the language and thought it
would be interesting to explain a little about Ladino. I have also a set out a
variety of Ladino proverbs (together with their English
translation).
History
Ladino is perhaps 60%-70% medieval Spanish with
the incorporation of vocabulary, grammar and syntax from the indigenous communities where Jews
exiled from Spain settled (mainly the Ottoman
Empire). Thus the Ladino spoken in Turkey would
be slightly different to that spoken in Greece, Bosnia,
Macedonia or Bulgaria, but each community would
be easily able to understand the Ladino spoken by
another. The main non-Spanish influence is of
course Hebrew, followed by Turkish, Greek, Arabic,
Portuguese and some French.
Perhaps a good way to appreciate the relationship
between Ladino and modern Spanish would be to
imagine a conversation between twenty first century
man and one of Shakespeare's leading characters –
of course you would be able to follow the conversation without too much difficulty, but you would
have to concentrate hard and find the phrasing
unusual. Certain words would only be understandable given their context: “I beg thee, kind fellow,
pray tell whither is the road to the nearest house of
imbibement,” is clearly a request for directions to
the nearest pub, but you need to think about it!
Another common difference is that sometimes
words with an “r” in the middle have the order of
the letters changed, so the Ladino word for poor is
prove rather than povre or fat is godro rather than
gordo. Other differences include the use of the letter “m” instead of “n” in such words as mueve
(nueve in Spanish), meaning “nine”.
Having such differences is useful in linguistic
terms in finding out whether people of Spanish
descent were originally “Conversos” or “Marranos”
(hidden or converted Jews). Interesting enough, this
type of syntax is much more common in Central
and South America, where it is thought “former”
Jews settled to build new lives in the early 16th
Century, than in mainland Spain.
In addition, the Spanish word for God is Dios (a
plural noun), but in Ladino it is El Dio (for we
believe there is only one god). In Central and South
America, many remember grandparents who used
this unusual term when referring to God (often they
were the same grandparents that would light candles in a cupboard every Friday night, or who would
never eat milk and meat at the same meal!).
Because of the language's relationship with
Hebrew, as well as incorporating a number of
Hebrew words, Ladino also took some Hebrew constructions so instead of referring to esta noche (this
night), in Ladino one would say la noche la esta
with reference to the famous phrase from the Ma
Nishtana - “ha layla ha zeh”.
The Written Language
Pronunciation and Syntax
As well as differences in linguistics, there are some
key differences between the pronunciation of
Modern Spanish (Castillian) and Ladino – the most
notable being that in Ladino, a “j” is sounded as a j
or “zh” whereas in modern Spanish, it is sounded as
a “ch,” like the letter .
30 Link Pesach 2009
As with Yiddish, Ladino was used both as a language
spoken at home and in the community, but also for
the study of Torah. Most Ladino religious texts were
written in Rashi script (commentaries on Tenach,
liturgical poems, etc.) although some secular texts
were written initially in the Greek or Cyrillic
(Russian) alphabet, or more commonly the Latin
Most people think about destruction of the shtetles
and the rich tapestry of East European Jewish life
destroyed by the Nazis, but significant communities of Ladino speaking Sephardim were also
deported to the death camps and murdered.
Salonika's 50,000 Jews were deported to Auschwitz
in the Spring of 1943 (a 9 day journey), only some
5% surviving the war. The 2,000 Jews living on the
islands of Kos and Rhodes were deported on 20
July 1944 (some three months before the islands
were liberated) – only 150 survived. However,
many of the 3,000 or so Jews living in Athens were
hidden through co-operation between the Chief
Rabbi and the Greek Orthodox church. The Jewish
community in Bulgaria was also not as badly
affected as their cousins in Greece, with over half
of them surviving (the community numbered over
70,000 before the war). However the communities
scattered throughout former Yugoslavia were decimated.
Although many survivors settled in Israel
(together with a large Aliya from Turkey), the legacy of the Shoah was the effective destruction of
Ladino speaking communities and with their
demise, their language was also dealt a heavy blow.
Ladino Today
Although there are perhaps around 100,000 Ladino
speakers alive today, most are elderly. The largest
Ladino speaking single community in the world
(Istanbul) only numbers some 20,000 and Ladino is
spoken by very few people under 40 years old, the
younger members preferring to learn and speak
English and Hebrew. Perhaps 50 people speak it in
the UK.
However, there is slight resurgence, with web
based Ladino forums (www.ladinokomunita.com)
and a renaissance in Ladino music, led by international stars such as Yasmin Levy from Istanbul and
Los Desterrados from the UK. Tragically there is
now almost nobody alive who just speaks Ladino.
The Future
The future for the language does not look bright,
but in this digital age, we are at least able to preserve what we have, so that there will always be an
enduring record of what was from the 17th
Century to 19th Century, the most widely spoken
language in Eretz Yisrael.
The Quiz
I have set out below 50 Ladino proverbs.
Translations are set out on this page although
this quiz is not open to Spanish speaking readers!
Many of the sayings are still have relevance
today, but give a flavour as to how Ladino speakers thought in generations gone by. You will
notice quite an anti-feminist theme, but these
proverbs are from times gone by, when attitudes
were somewhat different from today.
Spelling is also a little arbitrary as these sayings were originally written in Rashi script. Good
luck.
1. A la mar se va, agua no topa
2. Abasha un escalon para tomar mujer,
suve un eskalon para eskojer un amigo
3. Al buen entendedor pokas palavras abastan
4. Azno kayado por savio kontado
5. Dies amigos es poko, un enemigo es
mucho
6. Dime kon ken vas, te dire ke sosh
7. El ke oye a su mujer es bovo, el ke no la
oye es loko
8. El ken da al prove empresta al Dio
9. El ojo kome mas ke la tripa
10. I un siugo lo ve
11. Kada uno por si, i el Dio para todos
12. Kaveyos largos, meoyo kurto
13. Ken kon gato djuga arekuniado sale
14. Kon ti no lo vas a yevar
15. Kuando el guerko no puede ir algun
embiya el vino para ke aga su mision
16. Kuando el padre da a ijo, riye el padre i
riye el ijo. Kuando el ijo da al padre yora
el padre i yora el ijo
17. Kuando ya sos anzo, todo te se embinayan ariva
18. La boka aze, la boka dezaza
19. La manseveza es un vez, el ke no se la
goza loko es
20. La mujer fragua, la mujer deroka
21. La mujer i el vino kita al ombre del tino
22. La noche, todos los gatos son pretos
23. Luna en kinze
24. Mas da el prove ke el riko
25. Mujer buena e la ke poko avla
26. Mucho bien te kero, ma mi bolsa no
tokes
27. Muy bueno ser no es bueno
28. Nunkua es tarde para bien azer
29. Onde el rey va kon su piezes
30. Sos rikos? Sos mi tiyo!
31. Tanto lavora el provi k'el riko si enrikese
32. Vistidos emprestado no kaintan
33. Yerno bueno es el ke ve ke la esfugra se
esta kemando i la salvo
34. El ken de otro aspera ya puede asperar
35. Ermuera es dolor de muela
36. Es su kostiya
37. Esta mas de aya ke d'aki
38. Esto no es boka, esto es makina
39. I un siuego lo ve
40. Ken nase kon mazal i ventura, ken kon
potre i kevadura
41. Kuando se kere eshuegra kon ermuera
42. Kuelevra morio a su esfuegra
43. Kunyadika – kulevrika
44. La palavra es de plata i la kayades de oro
45. La roza tyene pinchones ke areskunyan
46. Las palavras bolan, las eskriuraas kedan
47. Lo que ve la esfuegra
48. Loka la madre, loka la ija
49. Refran mintirizi no ay
50. Salir de la kashkara del guevo
Answers
The Shoah
Questions
A He goes to the sea but does not find water
B Go one step down to take a wife, go one step up to
take a friend
C To one who understands, only a few words are
needed
D A silent donkey can pass for a knowledgeable person
E Ten friends are too few; one single enemy is too
much
F Tell me with whom you go, and I will tell you who
you are
G Who listens to his wife is stupid, who does not is
crazy
H Someone who gives to the poor, lends to Hashem
I The eye eats more than the belly
J Even a blind man can see it
K Everyone for himself, and Hashem for all
L Long hair, short brain (generic term for a woman)
M Whoever plays with a cat ends up scratched
N You will not be able to take your fortune to the
grave
O When the devil cannot go to a certain place, he
sends wine to accomplish his mission
P When the father gives to the son, the father laughs
and the son laughs. When the son gives to the
father, the father cries and the son cries.
Q When you are a donkey, everybody rides on you
R The mouth does, the mouth undoes
S Youth happens only once – the person who does not
enjoy it is crazy
T The woman builds, the woman destroys
U The woman and the wine make a man lose his
mind
V At night, all the cats are black
W The moon on its fifteeenth day (said of a beautiful
young girl)
X The poor give more than the rich
Y A good woman is one who speaks little
Z I love you very much, but do not touch my wallet
AA It is not good to be too good
BB It is never too late to do good
CC Where the king goes on his own two feet (the toilet)
DD You are rich? You are my uncle!
EE The poor employee works so hard that the rich man
gets rich
FF Borrowed clothes do not keep you warm
GG A good son-in-law is one who sees his mother-in-law
burning and saves her
HH Who waits (for help) from another (person) can keep
waiting
II The daughter-in-law is a pain in the tooth
JJ She is his rib (she is the right wife for him)
KK He is more here than there (He is half dead)
LL This is not a mouth – it is a machine (someone who
talks too much)
MM Even a blind man can see it
NN Some are born with good luck and fortune, others
are born with a hernia and bad luck
OO When is there much love between the mother-in-law
and the daughter-in-law (i.e. never)
PP The snake has bitten its mother-in-law (said when
two vile people fall out)
QQ Sister-in-law – a snake
RR Speaking is silver but silence is gold
SS The rose has thorns that scratch
TT The words fly, the writings stay
UU What the mother-in-law sees (said where what is on
show looks great, but what is behind is a shambles)
VV Crazy the mother – crazy the daughter
WW Proverbs do not lie
XX Freshly hatched (a young know it all)
alphabet. However, almost all modern Ladino
writings are in Latin characters.
Link Pesach 2009 31
Au pairs arrive in this country full of hopes and fears. But after living here, what do they really think
of our community? Deborah Clayden asked them.
Au Pair ?
Oh no!
Imagine this: you are 18 years old and fed up having spent
the last 13 years in full time education. You can’t quite
decide what to do with the rest of your life – you don’t know
where you want to live; what job would like to do etc so you
choose to offer your services as an au pair. You picture your-
Clayden and Scolari families. Au pair, Lucille Scolari is back row,
third from the left.
32 LinkPesach 2009
self at the heart of a loving home in a foreign
country, doing a little bit of housework and
playing with some adorable children. You are
fed and lodged for free and get paid in exotic
foreign cash,(not quite so great if you are
being paid in pounds and you come from a
country whose economy is faring rather better
than ours), and you get loads of free time to
learn the local language and to PARTY!!!!!!!!!.
Sounds like a winner. So off you go to an
agency (on-line or real!) and find a host family
in the country of your choice. Hey presto…you
are an au pair.
Growing up, we had a stream of wonderful
and not so wonderful, memorable and not so
memorable au pairs. My parents remember
Malka, the Israeli, who had a great talent for
breaking plates, and Annelise, the Swiss girl
who failed to understand the instructions to,
“Keep your arms in!”,whilst on a family boat
trip.
Daniel and I have been extremely fortunate
in the girls who have come to our home.
They have made my job as a mother and parttime teacher much easier and have all had a
wonderful rapport with the children. We are
in regular contact with most of them and our
first au pair has already been back to stay
twice. There have been moments of tension
as you would expect when a stranger first
comes to live in your house but these have
been very few and far between. There have
also been many amusing situations. Misa, our
Deborah Clayden with husband Daniel.
first au pair, once came running into the
kitchen saying that she couldn’t find any
knickers and she really needed them immediately. After about ten minutes of her insisting on her urgent need for underwear, I gave
her a dictionary and we realized that she had
confused the word knickers for plasters! The
same girl told us that when she went home
to the Czech Republic for the holidays, she
asked her mother where she kept the meaty
washing up bowl!
Sandra, a Polish 19 year old, coined a new
nickname for my father. She was unsure as
to how to spell Howard and so wrote his
birthday card to Hogwarts! We now all refer
to him by this name instead. Clayden language also enjoyed the addition of a new
verb during the era of Viki, the cleaning
obsessed Slovak. Viki loved to clean but had
a very poor command of English. She would
always put things in what she felt were
appropriate places. When asked where something was, she would always shrug her shoulders, raise both hands and with a huge smile
on her face, say “I don’t know”. Hence the
verb to viki, only used in the passive voice, eg
It’s been Viki’d.
But what are the realities of au au pair life
within our community? I distributed a questionnaire to a number of local au pairs. Most
of them were either too busy working or too
busy having a good time to respond, and one
was absolutely terrified that if she wrote the
truth, the mother of her host family would
send her packing. So here are my findings
from the six lovely girls who were only too
glad to help.
The girls mostly came because they felt
that it would be the easiest and cheapest way
to live abroad and learn English. One felt
she could no longer live with her parents and
her irritating little brother! They came to
this area because it was close to London and
in one case; the agency chose the location for
the girl. Some have subsequently arranged
for friends to come and live in other local
families. They like the town and its amenities and the easy transport links to London.
Most girls are incredibly nervous when they
first arrive. On the whole, they have never
lived away from home and are very worried
about the language barrier as well as fitting
in with a new family.
Most of the girls I spoke to were aware
that the host family was Jewish before coming to the UK. When searching for our current au pair using an on-line agency, Daniel
and I felt that a number of girls rejected us
for this reason. Our au pair actually did
some internet research about the religion
before she arrived. None of the au pairs or
their friends had ever met a Jew before but
did not feel that Jewish people would be any
different to any other people. The girls did
not feel that the family’s religion affected
their daily life. Most were just happy that
they were not often required to babysit on a
Friday night or on a Saturday night in the
summer! The au pairs all understood the
main ideas of kashrut within a few weeks of
being here. One host mother told me that
when she had a girl with very little English,
she resorted to drawing a picture of a pig
with a line through it! One of my girls
arrived just before Pesach and clearly
thought we were mad. I don’t think the
feather and candle in the Bedikat Chametz
helped! They find it strange that we walk to
shul in the rain without an umbrella and that
once a year we sit in a hut in the garden
when it’s freezing cold and choose to eat there
instead of in the warmth of the house.
However, on the whole, the girls feel that the
benefits of living with a Jewish family far outweigh any difficulties. Four of the six au pairs
who responded to my questions enjoy regular
Shabbat (and some other) meals with their
families and really enjoy this opportunity to
embrace the host family’s culture. They all go
off to the pub afterwards!
The majority of the girls I spoke to are
incredibly happy to be here. They have good
relationships with the family and often
extended family. They have made good
friendships with other au pairs and are having
a great social life. Most have travelled extensively in London and around the UK and have
really enjoyed this. Their English has
improved tremendously and they feel that
they now have far improved job prospects for
the future. Sadly, one girl I interviewed did
not feel that she was being treated so well.
She was never allowed to eat with the family,
was made to work more hours than originally
agreed and most shockingly was not allowed
to eat the same food as the rest of the family.
She was told only to take from a particular
shelf in the fridge and freezer and only to use
food from one cupboard. This food was clearly much cheaper and of an inferior quality
than that enjoyed by others in the home. I
asked her why she chose to remain with the
family. She said that she was scared to move
families in case the new family was even
worse. Also, she adores the children and does
not want to let them down. Ultimately, all
she wants is to be part of a family.
The other girls said that they would not
really change anything about their experience
here – well apart from the cost of a travel card
and mobile phone bills!
Being an au pair should be a positive and
enriching experience. In our community, for
the most part, it is. Let’s keep it that way!
I thank all the girls and families involved in
my research and wish them the best of luck
for the future.
Deborah Clayden
LinkPesach 2009 33
The dictionary tells us that nobody wants to catch the clap
so why do we do it? Marc Shoffman investigates.
Clapping
Five books, 52 weeks, 54 parshas, and a whole load of nervous Bar
and Bat mitzvah contestants, ladies and gentleman, welcome to the
X-factor, cue music.
Ok maybe not, but sitting in Borehamwood and Elstree synagogue
dictionaries will tell you that a clap is a sign
of approval or encouragement. So is it alright
to clap or cheer after you have heard a decent
recital? Surely you would show approval after
a decent song at a rock concert or when your
football team scores a goal so why not give
the same treatment to Bono on the bimah?
Unsurprisingly there are a few Jewish views
on clapping, particularly on the Sabbath and
Yom Tov. Many Jews refer to the clapping
prohibition listed in the Talmud where Rabbi
Yosef Karo warns that clapping may be representative of playing a music instrument or
calling on someone to make an instrument.
However, the Talmud later suggests that clapping may be done to recognise a mitzvah, this
has been particularly picked up by Chassidic
Jews.
So that doesn’t really solve the puzzle. I
decided to ask Rabbi Brawer what he really
thought about it. He said: “There is no
halachic source that prohibits applause as
such although there is a source that prohibits
all manner of clapping on Shabbat. This is not
generally accepted as standard halachic practice.
“My main problem with applause is that it
turns the service into a spectator sport. It’s
like watching a ball game or going to the theatre. It is just not appropriate for a religious
service.”
And maybe he has a point. Let’s say we welcome clapping with a round of applause if
you will. As much as I am sure most Bar
Mitzvah boys wouldn’t mind Cheryl Cole as a
mentor, once you allow clapping should there
also be big foam hands to wear during the
leinings or a warden offering popcorn and
kosher hotdogs?
Once you clap for a Torah reading do you
have to clap for the rabbi’s sermon, and if you
clap for one and not the other, is that offensive? Should you clap for the way someone
opens the ark or reads the Amidah? It’s all a
mitzvah so why not applaud it?
And if you disapprove of a performance is it
alright to boo or throw your united synagogue
membership onto the pitch/floor?
Luckily there is a compromise in the less
intrusive phrase of “Yasher Koach” or
“Shkoyach,” meaning good job! And then
there is the popular shout of Mazel Tov!
As tempting as it may be to applaud, it is
worth remembering that there are those who
may find it uncomfortable, particularly if it
means that Louis Walsh will be turning up at
the Kiddush to steal all the schmaltz herring.
And as the dictionary tells us, nobody wants
to catch the clap.
on a Shabbat can sometimes feel a bit more
Hairspray than halachic. Not that there is anything wrong with a good performance, but it
is what follows that takes the meshuginah out
of the mishnah for many shul-goers.
In recent months renditions of Bar mitzvah
portions, Shema B’ni and dvar Torahs have
been followed by claps, stamping, cheers and
even flying sweets. One congregant has even
reported seeing Simon Cowell give a standing
ovation before he ducks out with a smarmy
grin to the Limmud service.
Sitting on the back row, it is a weekly ritual
as a Bar Mitzvah boy finishes his sedra to scan
the room and guess whether a recital will be
Marc Shoffman
followed by claps or cheers. More often than
not, some sort of applause will emerge, leaving us cringing with embarrassment for whoever has just finished praying or for Rabbi
Brawer who more often than not has warned
people not to applaud just minutes before.
Without trying to make this article sound
like a sermon (I’ll leave that to Rabbi Brawer),
I thought I would discover what a clap actually means.
© Image from BigStockPhoto.com
Aside from a slang word for a nasty sexually
transmitted disease or to be put in jail, most
34 LinkPesach 2009
Dina Brawer profiles the nineteenth century Italian scholar and poet Rachel Luzatto Mopurgo, who worked to revive Hebrew poetry in Italy
An unexpected poet
One of the seven synagogues in the Ghetto of Venice was the “Scola
Luzzatto”, named after the distinguished Luzzatto family.
Luzzatto was a large Venetian family with branches in Padua and
Trieste, whose members made scholarly contributions in the realm
The Scola Luzzatto in Venice (Luzzatto synagogue)
of Torah, Hebrew poetry, Kabbalah and
Philosophy.
Simone ben Isaac Simhah Luzzatto was Rabbi
of the Venice Ghetto in the first half of the seventeenth century. The Luzzatto brothers of the 18th
century were talented poets and physicians;
Ephraim served in the hospital of the Spanish
and Portuguese Hebrew Congregation in London,
and Isaac from Trieste often corresponded with
him in the form of poems.
Perhaps the best known among the Luzzattos
are Moses Hayyim Luzzatto (1707-1746), known
by the acronym RaMHaL, and his cousin Shmuel
David Luzzatto (1800-1865), known as ShaDaL.
Rachel Luzzatto was born on April 8th 1790, in
Trieste, shortly after the old ghetto gates were
opened. Both her parents were members of the
Luzzatto family: her father Barukh, was the son
of Isaac Luzzatto, and her mother Berakhah, was
the sister of Hezkiah Luzzatto (father of the
above mentioned ShaDaL). Thus Rachel’s was
undiluted Luzzatto blood.
Surrounded by uncles and cousins who were
very talented poets might have been a great
inspiration, and she composed numerous
Hebrew songs and exquisite poems from the age
of 18. An avid scholar from a young age, Rachel
did not attend school, but was tutored privately.
Like her brother and all her male cousins she
studied bible, Rashi, and “Hovat HaLevavot”
(Duties of the Heart) with her uncles Hezekiah
and David. A teacher from Mantua was hired to
teach her Talmud at the age of 14, and she
gained knowledge in Italian literature and mathematics from the numerous scholars who frequented her home.
Later on Rachel studied with her cousin
ShaDaL, who was ten years younger than her.
ShaDaL recounts that she begged him to obtain a
copy of the Zohar, and when he finally did, she
asked him what she could do for him in return.
ShaDaL asked her not to believe anything written
in the book!! To that Rachel replied “What you
have asked is exceedingly difficult!”
Rachel refused many of the scholarly men who
were after her hand, and at the “late” age of 29
she married Jacob Mopurgo, a businessman of
whom her parents did not approve.
There are different views on the success of
Rachael’s marriage.
Some write that she was very happy with her
choice, others that she lived in poverty and spent
her time caring for her four children, taking care
of household chores and was able to take time
off to write her poetry only on Rosh Chodesh,
traditionally a holiday for women when chores
such as laundry and sewing are not permitted.
Her daughter Perla wrote that her father,
Jacob, had no appreciation for his wife’s talent
and found it surprising that other Jewish scholars wanted to meet her or sent her correspondence. However, her poems were published in a
Hebrew journal called ‘Kohavey Yitzchak’ (stars of
Isaac) and she was very much admired by contemporary scholars. Some even sought her literary opinion, while others believed that her signature R’M’H’, Rachel Mopurgo Haketanah (The
Small One), in reality concealed a man’s hand.
Rachel Luzzatto Mopurgo died in 1871 at the
age of 81.
In 1890, Vittorio Castiglioni, Chief Rabbi of the
Jewish community of Rome and a native of
Trieste published some of her letters and poems
in a book called “Ugav Rahel” (Rachel’s Harp).
Rachel’s poems were written in Hebrew as her
goal, shared with her family, was to revive
Hebrew poetry in Italy. Her work is unusual as it
is modern poetry in Hebrew that covers secular
subjects rather than Jewish or religious ideas.
Below is one poem translated into English by
Nina Davis Salaman;
From a distance, I look upon the eternal hills,
Their face covered with glorious flowers.
I rise high, as if on eagle's wings, to cast a
glance,
Raising my head to view the sun.
Heaven! How beautiful you stream forth,
Winds sweeping across your stage,
Revealing the place where freedom ever lives.
Who, who can express its sweetness!
Dina Brawer
LinkPesach 2009 35
Natasha Rosenfeld spends a week in Poland with her class from Immanuel College
Reflections
on a week in
Poland
It was always an accepted fact that when I reached year 12, I would go
on my school’s Poland trip. I didn’t question it; I didn’t even think
about not going, and I most certainly didn’t realise how much the trip
would mean to me. Beforehand, friends and family asked me how I
Natasha Rosenfeld
36 Link Pesach 2009
was feeling about going to Poland, the deathplace of millions of our ancestors. Naturally, I
replied saying how nervous and excited I was,
but I wasn’t sure what to expect, other than
cold weather.
When people put “Holocaust” and “Poland”
in the same sentence, one immediately thinks
of Auschwitz . I could never understand why
Auschwitz is so famous.
The drive up to Birkenau is strange. For one,
it’s on a main road and there are signs casually saying “Auschwitz” similar to the signs I see
at home pointing towards Elstree. Unlike
Elstree, where I look out my window and see
fields with horses, the people of Auschwitz
look out of their windows and see a death
camp where over 1.5 million Jews were murdered. Whilst standing by the remains of the
gas chambers, I looked around me and to my
left, about 100 feet away, were houses with
washing lines, gardens and windows overlooking the remains of humankind’s worst crime
.At first I was angry. I couldn’t understand
how people could live their everyday lives
with a constant reminder of the terrible
things that happened but now, in retrospect, I
wonder whether the average Pole even knows
what happened there.
The other thing that struck me about
Auschwitz was just how vast it is. It is so big
that it looked never ending. Bunkers to the
left, bunkers to the right, gas chambers
straight ahead. The only thing I could focus
on was how the people would have felt standing in this place, separated from their friends
which are about this place. What first seemed
like a picturesque Sunday morning walk in a
nature reserve really had a much more serious
purpose. As we stopped in front of a massive
monument, I started realising where we were
and what had happened here. I can’t read
Polish but numbers are universal - and I could
read 800. Any number as big as that could
only mean we were at a mass grave. I know
my family was shot and buried in mass graves
in Lithuania so, for me, I find visiting them
particularly difficult. As we continued walking, we saw a colourful sealed off area - a children’s mass grave. My younger brother and I
don’t always get on but standing there made
me think of him. 800 children just like him,
and younger, were cruelly taken from their
parents and shot there. That for me was the
hardest place we visited.
So now, when people ask me about Poland,
I say “my ancestors were killed there. People
live there. It’s not a place I would ever wish to
go back to, but every Jew has the obligation to
go and make sure they understand so it will
never happen again”.
Natasha Rosenfeld (age 16, Year 12, Immanuel College)
and family, not knowing what was going to
happen to them, and there I was, knowing
that I would be with my family in just over a
week. If I had been born 60 years earlier, that
could have been me.
People always try to bring in personal connections to the holocaust in order to understand better, because the holocaust is the
most incomprehensible thing that I know of.
At Auschwitz, they have converted some of
the bunkers into exhibitions. One of these
was of suitcases. In order to pay my respect,
I started to read the names on the suitcases,
and then out of nowhere I saw “623 ROSENFELD”. As far as I know, my family wasn’t at
Auschwitz, but seeing my name in white
marker, boldly written across a brown, used
suitcase in a bunker at Aushwitz is going to
be a shock to anyone’s system. Even if it
isn’t my family, that is one family out of millions, one normal family with a normal life,
cruelly destroyed by the Nazis. Another exhibition that struck me was hair. I knew previously about the displays of shoes and glasses
but I had no idea that they had a hair exhibition. Being a typical teenage girl, I am very
attached to my hair. I hate having it cut
because my hair is part of me and it helps
me to be individual. In front of me were piles
and piles of hair: long, short, curly, straight,
plaits. And all the hair was grey. We were
told that the grey was a side affect of the
Zyklon B but I personally felt that the grey
represented the loss of life and colour of the
victims of the Shoah.
The other place I am going to talk about is
Zbilitovska Goura. You probably haven’t
heard of it; not many people have. If you
google it, you get just over 100 hits, only 4 of
Link Pesach 2009 37
Lionel Leventhal looks back on the Borehamwood
Community’s assistance to Soviet Jewry
Refusenik
The telephone call was from Claude Blair, the distinguished curator in
charge of arms and armour at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and a
good friend. It was the spring of 1972.
'Lionel', Claude said, 'One of your authors needs help'. My publishing
firm had published RUSSIAN PISTOLS IN THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY by Dr Leonid
Tarrasuk, Keeper of Western Arms and
Armour at the Hermitage in Leningrad, and it
was Leonid who he was referring to. 'Leonid
has applied for permission to emigrate, and
has asked me to spread word'. Claude continued 'I would help, but I cannot get involved
officially'. So I volunteered, and became the
international anchorman of the campaign to
secure Leonid's freedom from the Soviet
Union.
I formed three groups. The first was of his
co-religionists in Elstree, Borehamwood and
Radlett. The second was of museum officials
around the world. The third was in North
America, of museum officials and collectors
and those interested in firearms.
The Borehamwood and Elstree group had
many members, including Delysia and
Raymond Jayson, Angela and Barry Reis,
Marilyn and Henry Paul, Miriam and Kenneth
Keller, Myra and Alan Fish, Linda and John
Wolffe, Judy and Leon Marks and Helena and
Ken Freedman, and they and others provided
an essential lifeline to Leonid. We set up a
regular weekly telephone call to him. Those
were the days before direct dialling and we
were sure that all calls were being monitored,
but we wanted them to be monitored so that
we knew that the Soviets knew that Leonid
was known to the West and could not therefore suddenly disappear.
The second group drew from and built
upon those who had met Leonid in Leningrad,
especially because a year or two before there
had been an international arms museum conference and Leonid had met with his professional colleagues from around the world and
they had got to know him both professionally
and socially. There was a letter of appeal on
his behalf published in the Times with forty
signatures of the most distinguished people
representing the international museum
antique arms community.
The third lobby in North America was run
by Larry Wilson, a noted firearms author and
collector. The American lobby was the loudest
and gave the most visible support and was
able to reach the political world
Leonid had lost his job at the Hermitage
when he applied to emigrate, as he became a
non person as a consequence of his application. His timing was exquisite for he had
waited until his catalogue of the collection
was published, and he sent copies inscribed to
many of his friends, including me, before filing his papers to emigrate. The authorities
then had to withdraw his ANTIQUE EURO-
38 LinkPesach 2009
PEAN AND AMERICAN FIREARMS AT THE HERMITAGE MUSEUM for, of course, a non person
could not be named upon an officially published work. The catalogue was a handsome
book, with much colour, and it fell within the
interests of my publishing company. I started
negotiations with the Soviet Trade Delegation
to purchase copies. These were successful,
whilst at the same time I was running what
the Soviet authorities must have regarded as a
lobby against them. But there are times when
you must rise above your principals, and commerce (and a hard currency) won.
After months and months of tension, problems and suspense word reached us that
Leonid and his family had received permission
to emigrate! Permission came through just
days before a summit meeting in Moscow
between Brezhnov and Nixon. It was the
autumn of 1973.
I wanted to see him and his family upon
release, to believe that they all had been
allowed to emigrate. The problem was that
Refuseniks were flown to Vienna, and in those
days the passage through Austria of people
who had elected to leave what was supposed
to be a perfect society was an embarrassment
and the Austrian authorities did not publicise
the matter, and rather kept it quiet. So I flew
to Vienna but did not go through immigration or collected any baggage. I stayed 'airside', which is remarkably quiet and empty
when there are no passengers disembarking.
But I had timed my flight to be shortly before
the flight that Leonid and his family were on,
and sat awaiting it quietly trying to look as
though I belonged. When the flight from the
Soviet Union arrived I went out on to the tarmac and greeted Leonid and the family as
they walked from the plane.
On my return to Elstree a gathering was
arranged for all of those who had been
involved in the campaign, and a film that I
had taken of him in Vienna thanking everyone was shown. I don't believe there was a
dry eye in the house.
Leonid took up a museum appointment in
Israel, but shortly after moved to New York
and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I visited him when in New York. One of the events
that he helped curate was the 'blockbuster'
Met show of Russian costume with Jacqueline
Onassis.
Sadly, tragedy then struck. In September
1990 Leonid and his wife Nina were on holiday in France, and were involved in a car
crash. Both were killed.
Lionel Leventhal
The Jewish Museum reports on its new home.
For more information contact Esther
Nelkon at esther.nelkon@jewishmuseum.org.uk
or 020 8371 7361.
VolunteeryourtimebringJewishculturealive Pesach
Bite No. 2
Whenever I go on holiday I make a point of going to the Jewish quarter and museum of the city I’m visiting. This autumn sees the
relaunch of the Jewish Museum London after a £9m building project
lasting two years and we need volunteers to help us make it a real
visitor attraction for all.
For those of you who missed us in our old
incarnation, you might be surprised to know
that the Jewish Museum London has been
around since 1932. Until the 1990s we were in
Woburn House in Euston, but nowadays we’re
based in the slightly more lively Camden
Town. We will be moving back to our expanded site in Albert Street, having taken over a
Victorian piano factory behind our old building.
It’s all change as far as our displays and
exhibitions go as well. Of course we’ll still be
showcasing our beautiful and important collection of Judaica, but for the first time visitors can see all our collections on one site. The
new history gallery will bring the story of Jews
in Britain to life – from the medieval period to
today – and our Holocaust displays will tell
the story of British-born Auschwitz survivor
Leon Greenman.
As well as expanding the floor space of the
museum the redevelopment allows us to create interactive and audiovisual displays for
both children and adults, such as the East End
street which includes Yiddish theatre, synagogue and East End home displays.
For the statisticians among you, you might
be interested to know that our projected visitor numbers in our first year of opening are
113,000. Of this, 62% are not Jewish, and when
it comes to education 94% of school groups
aren’t Jewish either. We play a hugely important role in helping people understand
Judaism and Jewish life.
This all sounds great, but the Jewish
Museum London is not opening for months –
what does it have to do with you right now?
Of course we are a charity and exist solely
thanks to private contributions, but we are
not asking you to part with your hard-earned
cash (although all donations are gratefully
received). It sounds hard to believe, but this
exciting new museum needs to fill 100 (no,
that’s not a typo!) volunteer slots per week,
and this is where you come in.
We are looking for people of all ages from
across the community to give us at least one
morning, afternoon or evening per week to
help us provide visitors to the Jewish Museum
London with the best possible experience.
In the main, volunteer roles will be in
gallery stewarding, shop assistance and cloakroom attendance. No prior knowledge or experience is needed, just a willingness to work,
learn and develop. Training will be offered
across the board, from Health & Safety and
Customer Care for all, to basic Jewish history
and giving guided tours.
All in a name
Our Torah (Vayikra 23.5) list the
festivals as follows: “In the first
month on the fourteenth of the
month , at afternoon time, a Pesach
for the L-rd”.
The 8 day Pesach that we celebrate
from 15th- 22nd Nissan is actually
referred to in the Torah as Chag
HaMatzot – The festival of Matzah.
(Vayikra 23.6)
We celebrate Pesach because we
are thanking G-d for his kindness in
skipping over (in Hebrew-“PeSaCh”)
the Jewish houses in Egypt when
exacting judgment on the Egyptians
and for G-d’s kindness in delivering
us from slavery and forging us into
the Jewish nation.
The reference in the Torah to Chag
Ha Matzot is how G-d remembers the
Jewish people, namely, for having left
Egypt in a big hurry with their
unbaked bread and, for “the kindness
of our youth when in great love we
followed Him into a desert where
nothing grows” (Jeremiah 2.2)
For the sake of completeness the
“Pesach for the L-rd” celebrated on the
14th Nissan in the afternoon, was the
offering of the Pesach lamb by each
family group during periods when the
two Temples stood in Jerusalem. The
offering was slaughtered and prepared
in the Temple courtyard and was
subsequently roasted and eaten on the
night of the 15th Nissan - just like the
original Pesach sacrifice in Egypt.
Such notions of “In G-d we trust”
followed by a slap up Thanksgiving
family gathering seems to have
predated the United States of
America by 3000 years!
Bites by Paul Finn. Next Bite on page 75
Link Pesach 2009 39
Howard Green takes a more leisurely trip around Egypt than our forefathers.
Journey to
the Land of
the Exodus
After visiting our family in Israel, we decided to fulfil a longstanding desire to visit Egypt - Misr (Mitsrayim?), the
Arabic and modern official name of Egypt.
We flew Air Sinai from Tel Aviv to Cairo, where we met by
our tour guide, a charming and affable gentleman named
Ashraf, a devout Coptic Christian whose
favourite pastime, he informed us, was watching reruns of the film “The Ten
Commandments”. He claimed to have seen it
thirty-five times!
Our plan was to spend one full day in Cairo
sightseeing before flying to Luxor for a cruise
on the Nile. We told Ashraf that we wanted to
see the Pyramids, the Ben Ezra Synagogue, the
old Bazaar and the Egyptian Museum but had
no desire to visit churches or mosques.
Making an early start, we arrived at the
plateau of Giza to see the Pyramids and the
Sphinx, truly an awesome sight. After an
exhausting tour we stopped for morning coffee
at the Mena House Hotel – one of Cairo’s most
famous, visited by Winston Churchill, President
Roosevelt and many other Heads of States and
celebrities. Sipping coffee on the terrace in the
shadow of the Pyramids is a memorable experience. Next on the agenda was the Ben Ezra
Synagogue, originally a Coptic Church sold to
the Jewish community in 882 CE. It was here
that the famous Cairo Genizah was discovered:
a repository for books, papers and any document with sacred writing, its contents are an
invaluable insight into Jewish life for over 1000
years, most of which can now be viewed at the
Cambridge University Library. We were pleased
to be able to explain to the (non-Jewish) custodian the inscription over the Ark.
A visit to the Khan al-Khalili Bazaar followed,
reputedly the sight of public judicial mutila-
40 Link Pesach 2009
of Medinat Habu, in near perfect condition the
vibrant colours of the intricately painted carvings are still visible today; the village of Deir alMedina, home to the artisans who worked on
the royal tombs whose own tombs are exquisitely decorated.
We were back on board ready to set sail at
midday and were advised to relax on the sundeck for the afternoon. However, it was very
difficult to rest while Egyptian country life
rolled by. As our vessel made slow and ponderous progress, we stood on deck and watched as
a constantly changing vista of rural, pastoral,
peasant life passed us by. Indeed it was like
viewing some latter day Bayeux tapestry slowly
unrolling before us: fields full of sugar cane,
shepherds tending their flocks, and primitive
villages of mud-brick cottages – scenes that have
probably changed very little in hundreds of
years. One can imagine Moshe seeing similar
sights 3500 years ago!
“One can imagine
Moshe seeing similar
sights 3500 years
ago!”
tions and executions under Ottoman rule.
After a delicious vegetarian lunch, the
Egyptian Museum was next on our list – a
beautiful, rambling and extraordinary building
filled brimful with Pharaonic artefacts, including the famous death mask of Tutenkhamun
and many other priceless objects never seen
outside Egypt. We returned to our hotel
exhausted.
Early the following morning we ploughed
through Cairo’s unbelievable traffic to the airport, where we boarded our flight to Luxor,
some 420 miles south, for our cruise on the
Nile. Our boat, the “Oberoi Philae”, modelled
on an Edwardian paddle steamer, was like a
small luxury floating hotel. All meals were
taken on board and a vegetarian diet was no
problem. The cruise was extremely well organised. There were about 80 people on board
and for touring we were split into small
groups of 14-16, each with our own qualified
Egyptologist as a guide.
A brief time was allowed for us to settle in
before our first excursion: a visit to the
Temples of Karnak and Luxor. Our first
impression of Karnak was its sheer size and
state of preservation. It was built some 3400
years ago and was almost completely buried in
sand before it was discovered in the 19th century when excavation work began. Whilst listening attentively to our guide explaining the
meaning of various hieroglyphics, we came
across one depicting the victories of Pharaoh
Tuthmosis III, commemorating his defeat of
the enemy at the battle “Ulat”, or Eilat as we
now know it. Then on to Luxor Temple, connected to Karnak Temple via an avenue of
Sphinxes in near perfect condition. Although
the temple was built in the 18th Pharaonic
dynasty, it was enlarged 200 years later in the
19th dynasty by Ramses II and two enormous
statues of him front the entrance to the temple. Back on board it was dinner and an early
night.
The following day started with a very early
breakfast. At 6 am we left for Thebes, the
ancient capital of Upper Egypt, to visit the
Valley of the Kings, the necropolis of many of
the Pharaohs, including Ramses II who ruled
at the time of the Exodus. The Valley also contains the tomb of Tutenkhamun, whose mummified remains are still there although the
majority of the magnificent artefacts discovered there can be seen in the museum in
Cairo. To date 62 tombs have been discovered
and excavation work is still continuing.
There are many other notable sites in
Thebes of which we were able to see only a
few, namely: the Colossi of Memnon, two
enormous statues of Amenhotep III rising 60ft
from the barren ground; the beautiful temple
We processed at a stately pace (for the boat
was certainly not fast!) to Edfu, the halfway
point of our cruise along the Nile, where we visited the Temple of Horus, continuing on to Kom
Ombo where we moored overnight and visited
the temple whose state of preservation was
enhanced by seeing it floodlit. In the evening
we were all encouraged to dress up for a costume party which was enjoyed by all.
Finally, we embarked on the last stage of our
trip, reaching Aswan in the early morning.
Aswan is the most southerly town in Egypt,
populated by many Nubians who were displaced by the building of the Aswan High Dam
and the creation of Lake Nasser causing the
flooding of settlements on both banks of the
Nile. A trip on a felucca, a small sailing vessel,
was arranged. We passed the famous Old
Cataract Hotel, where Agatha Christie wrote
“Death on the Nile”. Then on to Kitchener’s
Island which was given to Lord Kitchener in the
1890s in recognition of his help to the
Egyptians in their successful campaign in the
Sudan. He turned the island into a botanical
garden planted with species from around the
world, a peaceful and idyllic spot with views
across the river to Aswan in the east and the
mausoleum of the Aga Khan to the west.
The afternoon began with a visit to the site of
the Unfinished Obelisk. This is contained in a
granite quarry. When it was three-quarters dug,
a crack was discovered and it was abandoned.
Had it been completed, it would have weighed
nearly 1200 tons, and stood 135ft high! We
then continued to the Aswan Dam and the
High Dam. The Aswan Dam was built by the
British in 1898 to regulate the flow of the Nile.
At the time of its completion in 1902 it was the
largest dam in the world. Perhaps the highlight
of our visit to Aswan was a sunset trip by boat
to the Temple of Philae. The evening light on
the island temple turned it to the colour of burnished gold.
Link Pesach 2009 41
Our Nile cruise was at an end, but we
embarked on one last excursion: a visit to the
temples at Abu Simbel. We caught the early
morning flight from Aswan to Abu Simbel, a
distance of some 200 miles and close to the
Sudanese border. Hewn out of solid rock over
3000 years ago, the façade of this immense
monument has four statues of Ramses II which
stand over 100ft high. There are a further four
statues of Ramses and two of his favourite and
reputedly most beautiful wife, Queen Nefertari,
at the front of the adjacent temple which is
dedicated to her. The sight is quite breathtaking. In the 1950s, during the building of the
Aswan High Dam, these spectacular monuments were threatened by flooding and would
have been lost to the world without intervention by UNESCO. They were moved over 600ft
back and more than 200ft above their original
position.
Our trip was over. A flight to Cairo,
overnight in a hotel, and back to freezing
London: an unforgettable experience.
Howard Green
42 Link Pesach 2009
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LinkPesach 2009 43
Think of Berlin and you may conjure up images of World War II or the cold war. Can it escape this
heritage and finally attract a new generation? Daniel Weston went to visit.
Biggin’ it up
in Berlin
“The Germany in which we found ourselves travelling at the end of
April presented a scene that was almost beyond human comprehension. Around us fifty great cities lay in ruins...Many had no electric
light or power or gas or running water, and no coherent system of
Daniel Weston and friends Adam Grossman and Josh Sacofsky
44 Link Pesach 2009
government. Like ants in an ant- heap the people scurried over the ruins, diving furtively
into cellars and doorways in search of
loot...Everyone was on the move, and there
was a frantic ant- like quality about their
activites. Life was sordid, aimless, leading
nowhere.”
Correspondent Alan Moorehead,
reporting from Germany near the end of the
Second World War.
It is impossible to conjure up the images
that confronted Berliners at the end of the
Second World War. The ground battle for
Berlin was one of the bloodiest the world had
seen. Between November 1943 and March
1944, Bomber Command staged 16 major air
raids against Berlin leaving 4000 dead, 10000
injured and 450000 homeless. After the
Russians entered the city, there were reports
of 100,000 women being raped. Around 30
concentration camps were discovered by
Berlin’s liberators, of which more than half
were filled with women. History books give us
statistics, but only those who saw the damage
with their own eyes can know the true carnage that engulfed Berlin during and after the
war. It was with some trepidation then that I
travelled to Berlin for the first time, wondering how this city had reinvented itself.
Visitors to Berlin today would be highly recommended to participate in the alternative
Berlin walking tour which is what I, Adam
Grossman and Josh Sacofsky did on our
interailing holiday last summer. The tour
takes about 5 hours and takes you all across
the city by foot and on public transport. This
all began at ten in the morning, however at
midnight that night we found ourselves still
chatting over drinks with our tour guide and
group, such was the friendliness of our multinational group.
The aim of the tour is not to give a history
lesson, but rather gives a fascinating insight
into the explosion of art and youth culture
that has taken place in this once rent and war
torn city. When you think of Berlin you generally think of the lynchpin of the Third Reich,
of Hitler’s bunker, and death and destruction.
However, our day on the Alternative Berlin
Tour opened up an entirely different and altogether more modern side to the city which I
will definitely never forget.
Berlin struck me as an amazing place to live
as a young person. The liberal nature and lack
of licensing laws allows constant partying
throughout the week which gives the city a
massive buzz. This is combined with great
music and clubs to give a vibrant atmosphere
that really rubbed off on three boys looking
for just such a good time.
The clever thing about the tour was that so
much of the alternative scene has evolved as a
result of the war and the ensuing history,
which was all pieced together for us as the
tour went on. One place that stuck in my
mind particularly was an area called Zapatas.
This was a bombed out factory which was
turned into an artists squat. Above the archway entrance were stone gargoyles that had
their heads blown off by Russian soldiers
when ground forces entered the city. We went
in, checked out the art and chatted to the
were hanging off the sides. They all waved and
we waved back,; a truly surreal moment, and
not one I’ve ever seen in all my years as a
Londoner. The guide said they would still be
going on Monday! After about 10 miles of
walking, and the longest tour in the history of
the company, the guide wrote down where we
had been and circled all the sites we had seen
on our maps as it was impossible to remember them all.
The success of the tour was in a big way
accredited to the guide. He was a young guy
not much older than us, yet his knowledge of
Berlin was so wide reaching and his enthusiasm and depth made it come alive. We were
enthused by everything we saw. It also gave us
the opportunity to have some historical and
political insight and discussion with
Europeans of a similar age. As we shook hands
and bid farewell to one another, an amicable
“Every German will
defend his capital.
We shall stop the Red
hordes at the walls of
our Berlin. Just try
and stop them.”
artists. This was raw underground Berlin at
its most creative. The interesting thing about
Zapatas was that we had actually been there
two nights before on a bar crawl organised
by our hostel, but it was the fact that we
were on the alternative tour that we had the
opportunity to go in and meet the creators
and see the galleries. The artists’ lease on the
building is to run out in 2010, after which
there are plans to turn it into a shopping
centre. We signed the petition against this
because it seemed like a shame to close a
place teeming with such energy and creativity.
We were led into another bombed out factory which had been turned into a skate park
and youth centre. We took some time in here
just wandering around, watching the skaters
and swapping stories with the group. As we
walked through, with each turn we were
faced with the most fascinating murals decorated across whole walls. Some of them were
huge, spanning around 30 feet in height with
fantastic detail.
The penultimate stop was along a stretch
of the Berlin wall which was adorned with
the most incredible street art and graffiti we
had ever seen. As we walked along the mile
stretch our jaws kept dropping at piece after
piece of politically inspired and incredibly
original artwork. I was surprised to learn that
the wall had been erected and the border
closed in little over a day. Civilians caught on
the wrong side of the wall the day they
closed the border were stranded, cut off from
their families and jobs. An account from a
soviet correspondent soon after the war saw
Goebbels’ appeals scrawled in white paint
across the walls of houses saying ‘Every
German will defend his capital. We shall stop
the Red hordes at the walls of our Berlin. Just
try and stop them’. Little did Goebbels know
that ‘Red’ troops would occupy half of this
city for the next forty five years. This is in
stark contrast to the generally peaceful, antiwar slogans that now adorn the Berlin Wall.
It was as the group followed the wall that
we stumbled across a live hip hop festival,
with hundreds of people milling about outside flyering and spraying new graffiti. We
then crawled under a crack in the partition
between what was East and West, and
walked along the No Man’s Land, where not
twenty years ago you may have been shot
dead.
The tour finished at a beach bar, and we
sheltered from the rain on the patio at the
edge of the river. No one felt like going
home, and so for the rest of the night we sat
and compared cultures with our group from
across the globe. At some point during this,
in the pouring rain, a barge sailed past on
the river blaring out filthy techno with 200
people dancing on top of it. Some of them
Dutch student pointed out that a little over
sixty years ago, each of us would have been
carrying rifles or piloting bombers in the
worst war the world has known, now we were
listening to Austrian cyber- funk and sharing a
beer. It was a sobering thought to such an
enjoyable trip, but one that needed saying
nonetheless.
On a trip that took us through Holland,
Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and
Croatia and led to so many different experiences, that day out in Berlin was definitely the
high point and something that I will not forget. This was my first taste of travelling and I
can definitely say I am hooked. Interrailing is
an excellent way to travel Europe, the flexibility of the ticket means it is easy to get anywhere and your route can change momentarily. Check out www.alternativeberlin.com. Just
avoid the Austrian cyber- punk.
Daniel Weston
Link Pesach 2009 45
Daniel Levy visits the trenches, cemeteries and battlefields of the Great War
Going over
the top
Last summer, my father and I visited the First World War
battlefields in Ypres and The Somme. I had previously visited Ypres on a short tour with Scouts, led by Judith Gamse. I
found it fascinating and decided that I wanted to spend
more time there.
Daniel Levy
46 Link Pesach 2009
The journey to Dunkirk was uneventful and
soon we started to see signs reading
“Commonwealth Cemetery - Great War”, in
English and French.
The first cemetery we reached was the Mont
Noir Military Cemetery in St Jans-Cappel.
Although I had visited several war cemeteries
with Scouts the year before, the raw emotional power of such places was still there. The
Cemeteries are all beautifully maintained in
the style of an English country garden. On a
tour of the battlefields on the fifth anniversary of armistice, King George V gruffly
declared that each of the fallen should be
buried in cemeteries the style of a traditional
English Garden, with the shadow of a rose
across each grave-stone. This wasn’t quite
achieved but many of the grave-stones are
shadowed by a rose. Mont Noir is a mixed
cemetery with both French and British burials
reflecting the joint nature of the war. It contains 232 burials, the majority of them British,
with some graves unknown (an unfortunate
but all too frequent sight), these bearing the
sombre inscription “Known unto God”.
Soon we reached Ypres town and the campsite that we were staying at. Ypres is a Belgian
town near the French border that stood
between invading German forces in 1914 and
the North Sea ports. The British army saw it
as being strategically vital as the ports were
needed to ferry troops across the channel.
They needed to defend the area at all costs,
Cloth Hall then and now
Jewish headstone
War cemetery
regardless of the damage done to the town
and its surroundings. The town was totally
destroyed by shelling during the war, including its beautiful 14th century central area,
most notably the Cloth Hall, a vast cathedrallike structure built in the Gothic style.
However, all of this was accurately rebuilt
after the war, due to mayor (who escaped
with the medieval plans) and a photographer
who intensively photographed the town and
escaped with the negatives.
After pitching our tent, we spent the afternoon at the In Flanders Fields Museum,
which is housed in the beautiful Cloth Hall
in the town centre.
There are many excellent exhibits about
topics as diverse as medical care, night-time,
no-mans land and gas attacks. The one about
gas was particularly poignant. It is in an
area of the museum bathed in a yellow light
containing long pipes and gas-masks and
steam and smoke rises up from ground level.
A recording is played of Wilfred Owen’s
famous poem, Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro
Patria Mori (It is sweet and right to die for
your country):
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and
stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime .
..
Dim, through the misty panes and thick
green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking,
Somme trench
drowning.
The exhibit stirs up a feeling of tension
and fear which is heightened by the dull, yellow light and choking sounds heard in the
background.
Another exhibit depicts the Christmas
truce of 1914. It shows two men, cast in plaster of Paris, shaking hands through a glass
wall. This represents how the men at the
front tried to overcome their natural prejudices, but there was still a wall between
them that was created by their commanding
officers.
After finishing at the museum, we went to
Essex Farm cemetery to place an AJEX grave
marker next to the grave of a Jewish
Sergeant killed in the area. I had visited the
cemetery the previous year and remembered
seeing his grave and strongly felt that I
should return to properly commemorate
him.
Afterwards what was quite an intense and
emotional afternoon, we returned to the
campsite. After a quick supper we went to
the Menin Gate to hear the Last Post being
played in memory of the fallen. Menin Gate
is a huge memorial arch built across the
main road into Ypres, to commemorate the
thousands of allied soldiers who died in the
area but have no known grave. There are
54,896 names inscribed on the walls
Every evening at 8pm buglers from the
Ypres Fire Service sound the Last Post, which
is followed by a minute of silence. This has
happened at Menin Gate every evening since
1927. The only exception was during the
Second World War, when Ypres was occupied
by the Germans, but even then, the ceremony
took place in England. From the day the town
was recaptured by Allied forces in 1945 the
ceremony restarted.
We arrived at 7.30pm to find the area busy.
Just before 8pm, six buglers in smart uniform
stepped forwards and on the dot of 8pm,
played the Last Post. The crowd fell silent and
remembered the losses of the young men who
gave their today for our tomorrow. I thought
about how the Germans had also had massive
losses, in fact more than the British, and how
they were ultimately human beings too. After
the ceremony finished, I walked around the
memorial and was very moved to see a note
pinned to a small wreath, in very spidery writing saying “to my brother, I miss you every
day – you will not be forgotten”.
The next day we took a tour to the Somme
(some 80 miles from Ypres) with Over The Top
Tours. The Somme was the area that saw the
bloodiest day in British military history.
The first site we visited was the Pozieres
tank memorial where there was a slightly
raised platform that gave you an overview of
the battlefield. It was a chilly morning and I
shivered as I looked over the battlefield, but
not perhaps through the cold. Across the
twelve and a half mile front, at 7.30am on the
morning of the 1st July 1916, tens of thousands of young men clambered out of the
trenches and started walking across no-mans
land. They were mown down in their droves
by German machine-guns. On that day alone
there were 60,000 casualties of which 20,000
died and by the end of the day, there was no
change in the position of the German or
British front line. When darkness fell, the survivors combed the battlefield for wounded.
Even a general participated in the search.
Next, we drove to Dartmoor Cemetery,
where lies Lieutenant Henry Weber, the oldest
British soldier to die in the war (he was 67
years old). Also in this small cemetery, side by
side, lie George and Robert Lee, a father and
son who served in the same artillery battery
and died together on the same day, probably
killed by the same shell. The two head-stones
next to each other cannot fail to move even
the hardest of hearts.
Then on to to the Devonshire Cemetery. On
the 1st July 1916, a company of the
Devonshire Regiment some 150 strong went
down a hill, platoon by platoon. All 150
killed within half an hour and rest together in
this cemetery. As you walk down the rows of
white head-stones the date is always the same
– 1st July 1916, 1st July 1916, 1st July 1916 ......
Repeated another 147 times. Each one a
tragedy.
Afterwards we went to visit the main
German cemetery in the area - Fricourt.
Fricourt contains the remains of 17,000
German soldiers, of which 11,970 lie in four
mass graves. At one point the legendary
Manfred von Richtoven, the Red Baron, was
buried in this cemetery but his body was later
moved to Germany for a reburial as a national
hero. 14 Jewish soldiers lie in this cemetery,
all of them in individual graves under a tablet
shaped head-stone (unlike non-Jews who are
buried under black crosses). Fricourt is a very
dark and shadowy place. It doesn’t stand out
Link Pesach 2009 47
at all, like the French and British war cemeteries do. This is because one of the many conditions placed on Germany by the French government was that their cemeteries were to be
unobtrusive and blend into the country-side.
As a result all German war cemeteries are very
dark, hidden and unobtrusive. From a distance they just look like any other part of the
surrounding area.
We then went to visit the Lochnagar Crater,
one of the enormous craters made on 1st July
1916 when several huge mines were detonated
just before the British “went over the top” – a
very helpful warning to the Germans. Most
craters were filled in by farmers as soon as
war ended, but this one survived the war and
it remains a tourist attraction. The crater is
massive– over 100m from lip to lip and 30m
deep. You could easily fit several large houses
in it. The sheer size of it amplifies the horror
of modern warfare and how dreadful it must
have been to live through it.
After our visit to the Crater we went to Le
Tommy Café for a coffee. Le Tommy Café is
amazing as in the café gardens, the owners
have build a small trench system consisting of
various scenes of everyday trench life, with
realistic sound effects. I really liked the visit
to the café as it gave me a quiet place to think
“It is estimated that
in the week before
the battle started on
1 July 1916, over 1m
shells were fired at
the German positions”
about what I had seen earlier, but also it gave
me a view of life on the Front - the mud, the
filth and above all the noise, with whistles of
shells, the explosions as they fall and the rattle of gun-fire. It also contained an impressive
display of shells. Outside the café is a two
metre high wall full of unexploded shells (I
hope!). It is estimated that in the week before
the battle started on 1 July 1916, over 1m
shells were fired at the German positions and
around half of these shells failed to explode.
Many of these are still lying buried in the
mud and regularly surface as the land is cultivated.
The next site we visited was the
Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont
Hamel. On the first day of the battle, the
1,000 strong Newfoundland Regiment
attacked the German forces, who were dug in
on the site of the Memorial Park. By the end
of the day, over 900 were casualties. After the
War, in view of this enormous loss suffered by
this Regiment, the 90 acre site was dedicated
to the memory of the thousands of soldiers
from Newfoundland who died for “the Mother
country”. At the heart of the Memorial Park is
a statue of a Caribou (a Newfoundland reindeer), seemingly mourning and calling skywards. The Caribou is the national signal of
Newfoundland and symbolises the entire
48 Link Pesach 2009
nation mourning for its lost men.
From here we travelled to the Delville Wood
Memorial, which was perhaps the most
impressive memorial we visited. Delville
Wood was considered to be of key strategic
importance, so a South African brigade of
3,500 men was ordered to take the German
held wood. A week later less than 800 came
out unharmed, having held the wood successfully but at huge cost. Since then Delville
Wood has had a place in the heart of South
Africa. In 1926 a memorial was unveiled in
and in 1986 a fantastic museum was opened,
commemorating all the South Africans who
died fighting for the Commonwealth of
Nations. The most impressive items in the
museum are the brass carved frescos on the
walls depicting South African valour in both
World Wars. From here we returned to Ypres
– a long journey back gave me time to think
about all I had seen that day, and realise how
lucky I am not to have been born 100 years
earlier.
Our third day was spent around Ypres and
once again, guided by Andre. First stop was to
return to the Essex Farm cemetery to visit
some preserved bunkers. They were very dark
and claustrophobic, with only a small doorway and a very low ceiling. It was in one of
these bunkers that the Canadian army doctor
and poet, John McCrae wrote In Flanders
Fields, one of most famous poems of the First
World War.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
It was a funny feeling, being on the spot
where the beautiful and moving poem was
actually written. Andre then pointed out to
us some of the notable graves in the cemetery.
The most well-known is that of Valentine Joe
Struckwick. He was only 15 when he was
killed. That’s just 10 months older than I am
at the time that I’m writing this article. As I
saw his grave I felt a whirl-wind of emotions.
Slightly proud that this boy had chosen to sacrifice himself for his country but mostly
resentment and anger with the system of the
British army that had definitely not stopped
and even encouraged under-age teenagers to
join up.
Next we went to visit another German
cemetery - Langemark. Langemark now contains the remains of 44,000 soldiers, but was
originally much smaller. In the 1960’s the
Belgium government closed down numerous
German cemeteries & ordered that the
remains be moved to Langemark. Eventually a
huge cemetery evolved. Like Fricourt in the
Somme, Langemark is very dark because the
Belgians also wished to impose humiliating
conditions on Germany, and instructed the
designers to make it unobtrusive and blend in
with the surrounding areas. At its entrance
there is a large flower bed, half the size of a
tennis court, which is in fact a mass grave
containing 25,000 bodies! I was unable to
even grasp in my mind that 25000 people
were buried in such as small place. Once
inside the main part of the cemetery, there lie
many headstones, small, flat and black in
colour (a real contrast to the white stones
which fill the British cemeteries). Under each
stone are buried five to eight men. This is
both to save space and also to symbolise comradeship in death. I was particularly touched
by this idea.
On the way to our last cemetery, Tyne Cot
and the Thiepville Memorial, we drove past a
barn where there was a pile of old ordinance
lying outside waiting to be collected by the
Belgian army for disposal (known as the Iron
Harvest). We stopped and went inside, where
the farmer showed us some memorabilia he
had found whilst ploughing the fields over the
years. He had grenades, shells, detonators,
helmets, bullets, grenades and a rusty rifle all the explosives were still live! I found this
quite frightening and although I knew that
the whole area is littered with live ammunition and explosives that could go off at any
moment, to be actually so close to dangerous
items was scary.
Soon we reached Tyne Cot. The vast cemetery contains 11,954 burials and seems to
stretch on forever. The area was captured by
Australian troops on 4th October 1917. That
date bares special significance to me as it is
my birthday. When I first visited this cemetery the year before, I found the grave of an
Australian Jewish medic, Private Marcus Leslie
Marks, who died on that date. At the foot of
his grave-stone was the Hebrew inscription
“Mordechai, son of Moshe fell on Chol
Hamoed Sukkot 18th Tishrei 5678”. I found
this particularly moving. Seeing Hebrew in
such a place made me feel proud that Jewish
soldiers had also made sacrifices in this war. I
laid a Magen David grave-marker in the shadow of the headstone and shed a tear as I
walked away.
Our final destination that day was the preserved trench system at Sanctuary Wood. In
1916, the Canadians dug into the hill just
before the battle of Mount Sorrel. The trench
system survived after the war (unlike most
trenches which were filled by farmers and
returned to cultivation as soon as the war
ended) and was bought by a Belgian who had
the vision to preserve the trenches. The shattered wood was planted with new saplings but
the numerous shell-holes and craters were left.
It was made into a piece of living history and
opened to the public. The trenches are
extremely muddy and about six feet deep and
two feet wide. The corrugated iron has rusted
over the years and been replaced, as have the
wooden duck boards to prevent you from sinking into the mud. Only one thing has stayed
the same - the mud. In certain places it is two
– three foot deep. I slipped off a duck board
and unfortunately fell in and was soaked with
mud up to my thigh! Although I was muddy
when I came out from the trenches, it gave
me a little taste of the conditions seen by the
soldiers who lived in them. Before our trip, I
saw a film called The Trench (starring Daniel
Craig and well worth watching), so I had some
idea of the filth but I never realised how deep
it was if you fell in!
On our last morning, we visited the newly
opened Passchendale Memorial Museum. As a
modern museum, it exhibits artefacts in a way
I did not see at any of the other more established museums we visited. For example, in
the display on gas, it shows a cabinet full of
gas-masks but next to that are three tubes
labelled mustard gas, chlorine and phosphogene. If you smell the tubes, you can detect
the strong odour of the gases. Although you
know it is not real, it’s still terrifying and I
could not stop coughing!
There is also a fantastic full size basement
exhibit, which is a re-created underground
dugout system. I climbed down a steep ladder
into a badly lit and dingy dugout system,
showing how life was life underground. As
soon as I reached the foot of the ladder, I felt
an over-powering sensation of claustrophobia,
as if I wasn’t going to ever be able to get out
of it again. This made me think about how
soldiers would have to go underground for
days or even months without seeing sunlight.
Every so often I heard the sound of an explosion and the ceiling, walls and floor vibrated. I
spent 10 uncomfortable minutes in the system
before leaving it . When I climbed out and I
stood at the entrance, I really thought how
lucky I was to be able to just walk out and get
back into the car and drive home, back to my
comfortable life. Millions were not able to
make that journey.
I would particularly like to thank Judith
Gamse, my Scout leader, for first taking me to
the area - it really sparked an interest in modern history for me.
Daniel Levy
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Link Pesach 2009 49
Lauren Krotosky lives the American dream whilst on honeymoon.
Viva Las Vegas
(and LA)!
It may have taken my husband Alex and I six months to decide where
to go on our belated honeymoon, but from the minute we touched
down in LA we knew we’d made the right choice. Welcome to the City
of Angels, where the sun always shines and the fun never wanes.
When most people envisage LA, they think of a
celebrity-ridden, wealth-driven mecca that merely
attracts the bold and the beautiful. Before jetting
off there, Alex and I were asked several times why
we had chosen to venture to such a place. And
after spending ten days there as well as four in Las
Vegas (more on that later), I can reaffirm that LA
certainly has its fair share of bling. But it has so
much more to offer than most people realise, and
the media definitely doesn’t do this fabulous city
justice.
For starters, LA has an almost year-round perfect climate. So you can book your holiday safe in
the knowledge that none of your plans will be
rained off – just as well because we had a jampacked itinerary just waiting to be followed. On
the day we were due to fly out there, we woke up
excited and eager with anticipation. What would
LA really be like? And although I had previously
been to Florida and New York, I’d never flown
quite this far west before. Eleven hours takes quite
some doing for a fidgety person like me. But we
flew American Airlines who provided an endless
array of films, kosher meals and snacks to keep us
going so the time soon passed by.
As we arrived at LAX airport and picked up our
luggage, we hopped on a shuttle and made our
way to the first of the three hotels we would be
staying in on our trip. And how different each of
them turned out to be! The Millennium Biltmore
hotel in Downtown LA is a grand hotel with great
transport links nearby. A number of people had
advised us to hire a car for the duration of our
holiday as there is apparently “no public transport
in LA”. But we didn’t heed their warnings and
50 Link Pesach 2009
happily got around by bus and metro, so I am not
sure how such rumours started!
So what did we actually do in LA? Well, we
barely had a spare minute there was so much to
do. We visited Universal Studios, which gave us a
fantastic day out with rides, film sets and thrills
galore. In Hollywood, we took a three-hour tour of
the Hollywood sign and over sixty celebrity homes,
and strolled along the mile-long Walk of Fame
picking out all of our favourite celebrities’ stars.
We also went to the Kodak Theatre, at which the
annual Oscars awards ceremony is held and saw
the handprints of film, television and music stars
from years gone by. LA has some beautiful beaches, two of which we visited. Santa Monica beach is
great for topping up your tan whilst people watching and Venice Beach is an eclectic beach lined
with stalls that rather reminded me of Camden
Market. There is even a shul there called The Shul
on the Beach! For the shopaholics amongst us,
there is the famous Rodeo Drive, home to Tiffany,
Dior and other mega-brands, and for the more frugal there are various shopping malls such as the
Beverly Centre which offer more affordable wares.
There is also Disneyworld for the big kids in all of
us.
Our second hotel in LA was the boutique-style
Maison 140 in Beverly Hills. This was situated just
minutes from Rodeo Drive and provided an excellent base for our numerous trips to Pico Boulevard
– home to the majority of LA’s cornucopia of
kosher restaurants. Think Golders Green Road but
ten times the size, half the price and even with its
own glatt kosher Subway which Golders Green
certainly doesn’t have – heaven! And let me tell
you, low prices do not equal small portions in LA.
After vastly over-ordering on our first night there,
we quickly learned our lesson and were more sensible for the rest of our holiday. With such amaz-
ing food on offer, I couldn’t help but wonder
where all the skinny plastic surgery-enhanced people I had read about in the papers were. And the
truth is that there are just not as many of them as
we are led to believe.
Midway through our holiday, we flew to Las
Vegas for a four-day excursion. And in Vegas, seeing really is believing. Firstly, the weather is like
nothing you have ever experienced before. It is literally like stepping into a hot oven, and there are
water spritzers located all over the place to cool
you down. Vegas hotels are not simply hotels –
they are hotels, casinos, shopping centres, restaurants and cafes all rolled into one. Each has a
theme, and various attractions that make it different to the others. For instance, we stayed in Planet
Hollywood which has a ‘Miracle Mile’ of shops.
There are lions in the MGM and a rollercoaster at
New York, New York. A must-see is the spectacular
fountains at the Bellagio. We also took a trip to
the phenomenal Stratosphere hotel, which has a
bar at the top entitled Romance at the Top of the
World – a definite for all love-birds – where we
enjoyed cocktails whilst overlooking the entire city
lit up at night. We also managed to fit in a show –
namely Ice – at the Riviera hotel. This was a fantastic performance involving acrobatics on ice
which we would wholeheartedly recommend. And
in the city that never sleeps, the 24-hour lifestyle
means that it is not unusual to see people gambling at 3am, sitting in Starbucks at 4am or just
soaking up the atmosphere at 5am. You can easily
forget what time of day it is as there are no windows or clocks in any of the casinos. Although it is
“Vegas hotels are
not simply hotels they are hotels, casinos, shopping centres, restaurants and
cafés all rolled into
one.”
amazing in every sense of the word, we decided to
use one of our days in Vegas to enjoy a day trip to
the Grand Canyon which provided breathtaking
views and was a truly humbling experience. We
stopped off at the Hoover Dam on the way, and
travelled along the iconic Route 66.
After what can only be described as a surreal
experience in Vegas, we headed back to LA for the
remaining five days of our stay. On our first
Shabbat there, we enjoyed Friday night at Chabad,
and on our second we went to a nearby shul
where we were fortunate enough to be invited
back to some people’s house for lunch after the
service on Shabbat morning, and treated to some
superb hospitality.
One of the best things about going to somewhere like LA is that you don’t for one minute
have to worry about sourcing kosher food – from
the string of restaurants to the OU-marked products found in most shops and supermarkets we
really were spoiled for choice. There is an eighthour time difference between LA and London, but
we only really felt jetlagged upon our return and
even then it wasn’t as bad as people made it out
to be.
I hope that I’ve given you a positive insight into
this incredible place. If you’re after a fun-filled,
exciting holiday destination which will leave you
with memories to treasure forever, LA and Las
Vegas is an ideal combination. You’ll enjoy thrills,
spills and will well and truly live the American
dream for however long you’re there. Have fun!
Lauren Krotosky
Potters Bar Golf Club
Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, EN6 1DE
Tel 01707 652020
Welcomes you to visit our fabulous Golf Club.
Green Fees from £20.00
Societies Welcome
Membership Available
Link Pesach 2009 51
Texans say “Remember the Alamo!” but at the end of Seder it’s always “Next year in Jerusalem!”
David Onnie profiles the Jews fighting for Texan independence and asks whether any were at
the final battle for the Alamo.
The Jews of
the Alamo
© Image from BigStockPhoto.com
© Image from BigStockPhoto.com
People visit members of their family all over the world these
days. It’s simple really, you pay for an extortionately priced
ticket, squeeze into the sardine tin masquerading as a passenger aircraft and arrive at your destination to spend your
hard earned precious holiday time with the relatives (family
to some, out-laws to others, to be more precise). But it’s the destination that I’ve always
been interested in. And when I heard friends
and other members of the Community talking
about visiting relatives in Dallas, Texas, my
interest was transformed into curiosity. To be
honest it’s not so much the Jewish community
of Dallas (unfortunately Dallas appears to be
synonymous in this country with the tacky
but riveting 1980’s soap of that name along
with stetsons, oil and cattle) which caught my
attention but somewhere else in Texas, not
actually a town or city, but a huge name nevertheless – The Alamo.
So, what about the Alamo ? It was an eighteenth century mission in San Antonio, Texas,
the scene of the most famous battle in the
Texan Revolution against Mexican control
which took place in March 1836. The battle
has been the subject of various films (many
will have seen John Wayne, Richard Widmark
et al dramatically fight General Santa Anna’s
troops to the death in the 1960 version in glorious technicolour) and much historical
research. But apart from the battle for the
Alamo taking place on the eve of Pesach one
hundred and seventy three years ago what
interest does it have to we Jews as we sit
around the modern Seder table ? If I was
being argumentative I would say that there’s
an obvious parallel between the flight of the
Jewish people from the bonds of slavery in
Egypt and evil Pharoh and the fight (come on,
52 Link Pesach 2009
give me a break, “fight” is the same as
“flight” but without the letter “l” !) of the
Texans to wrest control of Texas from the
Mexicans and the despotic dictator Santa
Anna. But today I’m not being argumentative
(for a change !), just honest, and actually
there’s no obvious parallel. There is, however,
a Jewish connection with the battle at the
Alamo and the fight for Texan independence
which funnily enough isn’t featured in
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s 1960 blockbuster. So,
was there a Jew fighting at the Alamo for
Texan independence ? The answer is not that
the legendary frontiersman, Davy Crockett,
who died at the Alamo was a Jew and that
his real name was Dovid Crockett. The correct answer is a little more interesting than
that !
There were actually several known Jews
who fought for Texan independence –
notable examples include multi lingual
(seven to be precise) German-Jewish immigrant Nicholas Adolphus Sterne who eventually became a state senator after a distinguished career helping to finance, organize
and fight in the Texan revolution – upon
being captured by the Mexicans and sentenced to death his Masonic connections led
to the Texan Masons intervening with the
Mexican Masons on his behalf and a release
being negotiated. Dr. Albert Moses Levy,
another immigrant from England and
Holland became Surgeon-General of General
Sam Houston’s regular Texan army. At the
Mexican massacre of over three hundred
Texan prisoners of war at Goliad, three
Jewish soldiers, Herman Ehrenburg,
Benjamin Mordecai and M. K. Moses managed
with a few others to escape. The rest including nineteen year old Jewish soldier, Edward
Isaac Johnson, were not so lucky. However,
my brief and narrower focus is merely on
two other Jewish volunteers who were present at the siege or fall of the Alamo. Like
other Texan volunteers their reasons for
fighting the Mexicans ranged from a belief in
the right to freedom to more commercial
reasons – the offer of land. One of these,
Avram Wolf, was a widower and previously
from England. Accompanied by his two
young sons, Michael and Benjamin, he
arrived in Texas in 1835 but all three were
killed at the Alamo. The other was Louis
“Moses” Rose who actually fought at the first
battle of the Alamo (when it was liberated
from the Mexican army) and was also there
in the days leading up to its eventual capitulation to the returning Mexican forces (the
nickname “Moses” was given to Rose due to
his age – 51 ) . Rose actually survived the fall
of the Alamo although how he escaped has
not been corroborated by historical records
(it is believed he escaped through an open
window the evening before the final
onslaught and evaded the surrounding
Mexican forces). Neither has his background
been completely verified by the curators of
the Alamo museum although it is believed
he was a French Jew, originally from AlsaceLorraine. European records apparently show
that Rose fought in various campaigns
(Portugal, Spain and Russia) with Napoleon’s
army and was a mercenary. After the Alamo,
part of his fame (apart from being known as
“The Coward of the Alamo” in Texas history)
rested on his recounting of what became the
legendary story of Colonel B.Travis (the commander of the Alamo garrison) drawing a
line in the sand floor with his sword and
challenging all those who were willing to
remain at the Alamo to cross it and fight to
the death. Rose was the only man not to
cross the line (watch the John Wayne film
version of the Alamo and although I think
the line in the sand moment is recreated I
don’t recall anyone not stepping over it!) and,
when asked years later as to why he didn’t
do so, his response was, “By God, I wasn’t
ready to die”. This statement obviously didn’t
help his reputation, especially in Texas, and
indeed there is a song named after him – the
first verse comprises the following words :
"He's Moses Rose of Texas, and today
nobody knows, he's the one who left the
Alamo, the night before the foe, came storming in up across the walls, and killed the
men inside, but Moses Rose of Texas is the
one who never died."
Louis “Moses” Rose died in 1851 without
having married and his relatives presented
the Alamo museum with his old musket in
1927 which remains there today.
During the months which followed the fall
of the Alamo the famous words “Remember
the Alamo” became an often heard battle cry
and, to this day, the Alamo has become one of
Texan history’s enduring legends. “Remember
the Alamo !” – that’s some slogan but no,
Texan Jews don’t utter the words “Remember
the Alamo” at the end of their Seder. No matter where you are, whatever your destination,
whether you’re having Seder with the in-laws
or not, it’s the same everywhere – “Next year
in Jerusalem”.
Thanks are due to our very good friends
Elana and Alan Hirschowitz who, after being
forced to listen to me during dinner wittering
on about the impossible to buy “Pioneer
Jewish Texans” by Natalie Ornish (an excellent
read eventually), sprang into action and procured it via sister-in-law, Hilary Bernhardt, in
Texas. Appreciation is also due to Jerry
Klinger of the Jewish American Society for
Historic Preservation who pointed me in the
right direction.
David Onnie
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Link Pesach 2009 53
theatre review
David Onnie
Oliver!
David Onnie and his daughter, Taryn, go to see Oliver! and decide they also
want some more.
I hadn’t seen a musical production of Oliver Twist since Sam Mendes’
production in the late-ish 1990’s so it was a pleasant surprise when my
daughter, Taryn, at the all girl North London Collegiate School, came home
one day to announce that her year 2 together with year 1 and reception
were putting on their equivalent production - Olivia! – and she was to
Nancy & Fagin
Taryn Onnie as Bet
54 Link Pesach 2009
play the part of Bet. Thrilled with her first
ever speaking part and generally enchanted by
the songs, she hummed, sang, trilled and
bopped her way around the house. With this
Olivia! mania sweeping through the house I
was therefore persuaded to book tickets for
the real thing – Oliver!
A brief background check is probably appropriate here. Oliver Twist was the second of
Charles Dickens’ novels and reads as a criticism of 19th century Victorian England, especially the poorhouses and effect of industrialization on society. There’s much symbolism
and pairing of themes throughout which I am
pleased to say has translated onto the stage
effortlessly – good versus evil, food (the half
starved poorhouse wretches and the fat governors who administer it), sin and redemption
(Nancy redeems herself at the cost of her life),
crime and punishment (Bill Sikes is chased to
his death, Fagin is hanged) and various others.
Dickens also dished up, for good measure, a
variety of extreme caricatures such as Mr
Bumble who, despite his own self importance,
mixes things up, and Mr Sowerberry, the
undertaker, named for his permanent facial
expression. But on to the show!
Dominant characters are of course Fagin,
Nancy and the Artful Dodger. However, Nancy
is dominant for very different reasons to the
other two. Played with gusto and with an
immensely powerful voice by reality TV winner, Jodie Prenger, you can’t help but warm to
her gutsy and strong performance. She can
also act, convincingly displaying a woman
torn between giving up Bill Sikes and saving
Oliver. She also sings a thumping “As Long As
He Needs Me” and “Oom Pah Pah”. The Artful
Dodger and Fagin are central because, put
simply, they have roles where they court the
audience with their dances and lively songs
(for example Dodger’s “I’ll do Anything” and
“Consider Yourself”, Fagin’s “You’ve Got To
Pick A Pocket Or Two” and “Reviewing The
Situation”). This leads me on to Rowan
Atkinson. Let’s face it, the role of Fagin will
always be Ron Moody’s, no matter who tries to
interpret or play the role differently (and I’m
not sure there are many interpretations – the
role is either darker, à la Moody, or is injected
with a little more comedy as Atkinson tries to
do). But Rowan Atkinson does do well and
there are only a couple of occasions when you
see Mr Bean’s mannerisms revealing them-
selves, especially when he sings Reviewing The
Situation. Fagin was viciously caricatured as a
Jew in Charles Dickens, the novel, although he
is mainly portrayed with humour on stage –
his vocation, miserly nature and Yiddush
sounding accent (Rowan Atkinson’s attempt
sounded almost South Africanin places) are an
obvious giveaway, even on stage, as to his ethnic background.
And what about Oliver ? The character is
both a gentle and genteel orphaned boy,
struggling at the poorhouse and with his lot
in life. Playing the good un’ with a pure heart
is never easy but Oliver leads the poorhouse
children into a thrilling “Food Glorious Food”
in the opening scene and his “Where Is Love?”
is flawless (it really is a lovely song). Of course
Dodger always overshadows Oliver in the
scenes they play together but, as mentioned
above, the Dodger has the advantage with his
cocky character and chirpy songs which are
always endearing to an audience.
The other characters are generally well
played according to type – Bill Sykes, the criminal, is a vicious bully with an explosive temper, Bet is an almost permanent companion to
Nancy on the stage (she is actually present in
more scenes than one realises), Mr Bumble a
robust caricature of pomposity and excess,
and then there’s Mr Sowerberry, the undertaker. The latter’s role is always a nice little turn
and “That’s Your Funeral” is a fun song
accompanied by Mrs Sowerberry and Mr
Bumble. One other song worth a mention is
“Who Will Buy” – it was sung with a fantastic
vocal harmony by the vendors and traders in
the street scene outside Mr Brownlow’s house.
A brief mention of the stage sets is also necessary. Dickens portrayed a brutal existence in
his novel and this is reflected well in the dark,
dimly lit London streets (as well as corrupt
Fagin’s dark underground lair) on stage, contrasting with the light open areas where the
good Mr Brownlow lives. Add to this the terrific London Bridge, market and poorhouse setpieces and it’s difficult not to feel part of the
performance.
Would I see the show again ? A most
resounding “Yes” and I think Taryn would too.
Just like Oliver, I think she would like some
more.
David Onnie
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Hashanah 2009 55
restaurant review
Oliver Ralph
A
Taste of Italy
A visit to a UK Kosher restaurant has, for many years, been a predictable
affair – the basic décor that hasn’t been refreshed since the 1970s, the surly
service, the menu which is heavy on processed meats and fried dishes but
light on vegetables and salads. Tutti Gusti, a kosher Italian in Edgware, is one
of a new breed of restaurants aiming to turn this image on its head.
The difference is obvious as soon as you walk
in. For a start, this place really feels like an
Italian restaurant, from the oversized bottles
of Chianti hanging from the ceiling to the
black and white photos of Italy that adorn the
walls and menus, to the basic but comfortable
wooden chairs and tables. And, when we visited on a Sunday night, it was packed. Like all
good Italian restaurants there were large
groups of people taking excessively long over
their meals, delaying everyone else in the
process. There were children running amok,
threatening calamity through a series of near
misses with the good-natured serving staff.
And it was noisy – the volume made it feel
like Shul on a Shabbat morning. So far, so
Italian.
But what about the food? The menu is classic Italian, with light starters followed by pizzas, pastas and tempting desserts. Not a savaloy or a slice of picked meat in sight. In fact,
the only difference with a traditional Italian
restaurant is the lack of meat – Tutti Gusti is
mostly vegetarian, although it does serve fish.
The appetisers were a decent, although not
stunning, start to the meal. Mozzarella in
Carozza, was a thin, slightly dry slice of mozzarella cheese deep fried in breadcrumbs.
Probably not the buffalo mozzarella so
beloved of Italians. The oddly-named Art to
Heart was a refreshing salad of mango and
avocado, inexplicably arranged into a heart
shape. Peperonata was cooked mixed peppers,
served in a warm tomato sauce. It was tasty
but it came with lettuce (which tasted strange
in the hot sauce), but not any bread, which it
could have done with.
The main courses were a great improvement. Certainly, there was no skimping on the
portion sizes and none of us managed to finish. I had Papardelli ai ceci, an unusual pasta
dish cooked with chick peas. It had a dense,
nutty flavour, finished with rosemary. My only
complaint was that the pasta was overcooked
56 Link Pesach 2009
(the Italians would have been horrified), and
started to disintegrate as the meal progressed.
The other pasta dish we sampled was the
lasagne. It looked the part, coming bubbling
hot in its own dish. There was a good range of
vegetables, and a generous helping of sauce.
Two of our party had pizzas, baked in the
restaurant’s wood-fired oven. Both were excellent. The tuna pizza came with lots of tuna
(which can’t always be taken for granted), was
nicely moist and had lots of flavour provided
by an abundance of capers. The smoked
salmon pizza (this is a kosher restaurant, after
all), had a generous amount of salmon
although there was perhaps too much rocket
sprinkled on top.
Then came the dessert – always a highlight
of any Italian restaurant. Sadly, there was no
dessert trolley (these cream-laden tributes to
all that is unhealthy have probably been outlawed by health and safety regulations).
However, there is a wheel of ice cream. Yes, a
wheel. The first sight that greets you when
you enter Tutti Gusti is a circular freezer filled
with ice cream that rotates to display its
wares. There are 12 flavours available, all
home made. The ice cream had a dense,
almost sticky consistency and again there was
no skimping on the ingredients. The chocolate
ice cream was very chocolatey and the coffee
really tasted of coffee. Ice cream enthusiasts
can even take the stuff home. The restaurant
has polystyrene boxes at the ready.
All in all then, a refreshing change from the
standard haimishe fayre which will satisfy all
but the most committed carnivores. Our
marks out of ten were:
Service: 7
Atmosphere and décor: 9
Starters: 6
Main courses: 8
Desserts: 10
Overall: 8
Marc Shoffman gets his taste buds all tingling.
Olive Tasting
Putting together Link magazine sure makes us peckish. And with a
Greek theme running through this section we thought we would dig
in to the traditional Mediterranean treat, olives.
The olive has become part of the staple diet amongst the Jewish
people. It is one of Israel’s key exports and is often
used as a symbol for the nation and its desire for
peace. It can be found at most Jewish events alongside the schmaltz herring and that embarrassing
uncle who wears white socks with black shoes.
The fruit even gets several mentions in the bible.
In Genesis a dove brings an olive branch to Noah
after the flood and olive oil is described in the
Chanukah story as the type of fuel used to light
the eternal flame for eight days.
The Ancient Greeks were just as crazy about the
olive. The poet Homer mentions it in his work, the
Iliad. It is referred to as a luxury of the wealthy and
a reward for warriors.
So one Sunday afternoon in 2009, the good old
warriors who fight to put Link magazine together
sat down to put these ancient appetisers to the
test.
Olive forks at the ready, (thank-you John Lewis
Gift List), here we go…
Crespo pitted dry black olivesWhen it comes to looks these olives definitely
hit a few ugly branches on the way down from the
tree. And the taste wasn’t much better. They were
salty and strong enough to knock Popeye out and
would most likely obliterate anything in their
vicinity.
Taste 1
Texture 2
Appearance 1
Overall 1
Beit Hashita marinated XL black olivesThese olives arrived with so much promise. But
even before we could dig a fork in there were calls
for trading standards to inspect. Rather than the
XL size as touted on the tin, this dish was more of
a little S for surprisingly small. While we are on
descriptions, they weren’t even that black to be
honest! In fact, they were more of a light brown.
This taste test was quickly turning into a Greek
tragedy. Us warriors were sure disappointed by
this. However, as all fighters know, size isn’t everything. The olives actually tasted quite nice and
would go well in a Greek salad
Taste 3
Texture 3
Appearance 3
Overall 3
Manna Deli Herbs and Spices
These saucy little olives went down really easily.
There was a slight chilli taste which got the taste
buds tingling but all in all it was a succulent treat
that would be comfortable as a starter or nice
snack. But be warned, it is a messy dish and will
require a fork and a nice piece of bread to mop up
leftover juice.
Taste 4
Texture 4
Appearance 4
Overall 4
Manna Deli plain olives
Ah the good old reliable plain olive, like those 20
year-old slippers that still fit or that childhood photo
that always makes you smile. Even before you dig in
your fork you know what you are going to get with
this olive, a nice soft texture and satisfying aftertaste. These would go nicely in a salad or with a
cheese board.
Taste 3
Texture 3
Appearance 3
Overall 3
Manna Deli with lemon
This style of olive was definitely like manna from
heaven. Each refreshing bite took us to the
Mediterranean seafront enjoying a nice summer
lunch washed down with a glass or two of red wine.
In fact it was a shame to come back afterwards.
Taste 5
Texture 5
Appearance 5
Overall 5
Crespo green olives stuffed with pimiento
Attend any Jewish event and these are more often
than not the olive of choice. The taste, like a plain
olive is pretty standard. It makes a good nibble dish
and would live well on a pizza or pasta. This olive is
nothing to write home about but it is easy enough
to eat and keep your gran happy the next time she
serves them.
Taste 3
Texture 3
Appearance 3
Overall 3
Bene Dorone fresh green olives from a packet
Most foods can be found in packet form these
days from pasta sauce to mash potato. But why do
olives need to be packed when they can stay just as
fresh in a jar? These olives rolled out of the pack
looking rather small and feeling quite soggy. Its
only hope was to have a good taste. But unfortunately all we found was a big pip with a coating of
sour olive.
Taste 1
Texture 2
Appearance 2
Overall 1
Marc Shoffman
Link Pesach 2009 57
Mark Massias explores a real Greek tragedy on the island of Kos
The Story of
the Jews of
Kos
Last summer, my family and I went to the Greek island of
Kos. To a large extent this happened by accident, since we
originally had intended to visit Crete, but left it rather late.
We were not disappointed.
The beautiful island of Kos is in the Aegean Sea, barely
4km away from the Turkish mainland. It is part
of a group of islands called the Dodecanese,
named since there are twelve main ones. There
are also about another 150 smaller ones to keep
you busy. Kos is over 40 Km long and is an ideal
location for a family holiday. Bike hire is cheap
and there is a lot to see in and around the island.
Kos is also the birthplace of Hippocrates, the
father of Medicine and there is considerable focus
on this wherever you go. Kos is surrounded by
other magnificent islands, some of which only
have a few dozen inhabitants. If you have time,
you can visit Kalymnos, an island famous for its
sponge divers or Nissyros, where you can walk
into the crater of a dormant volcano and feel the
earth moving under your feet. Travelling between
the islands is facilitated by a large number of
ships which offer a frequent service. If like myself
you love the sea, this is heaven on earth; beautiful
scenery with thousands of years of culture as a
backdrop. On the other hand, if like my wife you
suffer from sea-sickness, I would suggest you have
a light lunch!
Before going on our trip to Kos, I bought a book
entitled “The Rough Guide to the Dodecanese and
East Aegean Islands” by Marc Dubin. This is a
great book which gives you a good complement of
both content and style. It was this book that
opened my eyes to the Jewish community of Kos,
which according to the book was murdered during the Second World War, with the exception of
one individual. It is to those martyrs that I dedicate this piece.
58 Link Pesach 2009
All that remains of a former Jewish presence
on the island is a Synagogue and an old
Cemetery. The Synagogue is an art deco building
constructed in the 1920s, by what one would
think was a wealthy Jewish community. It is currently used as a “multi-purpose community hall”
and when we went to visit, there was an exhibition of local art work. There is a small courtyard
with palm trees, which reminded me of the
Shuls of my native Gibraltar, which follow this
style, although much older in origin. The eyecatching Shul is quite small, but in line with a
community, which at the time was in the region
of 120 people. As soon as you go into the Shul,
on the right hand side there is a plaque with the
names of the Koan (native of Kos) Jews who were
murdered during the Second World War. From
the names on the plaque, such as Benveniste,
Capelluto and Romano, it is clear that many of
them were of Italian extraction. This is not surprising since Kos was for many years under
Italian control. Before the Second World War,
there was a Jewish population of just over 120,
with a large involvement in commerce. Italian
occupation of the islands was not a great concern
for the Jews, since the Italians were not pre-occupied with the Nazi racial agenda.
When the Germans assumed control of Kos in
October 1943, the fate of the Jews was to change
direction. The Italian chief of police, a man by
the name of Dante Zuchelli, was aware that it
was only a matter of time until Jews would be
deported. He created fake documents, in order
to portray some of the Greek Jews as being
Turkish nationals and hence, spare them temporarily from the Germans. When the Germans
rounded up the Jews into the town hall, the
names of the six Jews who were Turkish nation-
als were called. The German commander then
went onto calling out the names of the Jews with
falsified Turkish documents and there was some
panic and calls of “all or none”. At this point,
the German commanding officer decided that
the first six would be spared and proceeded to
deport all the others. Dante Zuchelli did his
utmost in trying to convince the Germans that
they might be making a huge mistake, but his
words fell on deaf ears. In July 1944, the Jews of
Kos were walked to the harbour and from there
they were taken to the port of Piraeus on the
Greek mainland, where together with a larger
number of Jews from the island of Rhodes, they
were transported by rail to Auschwitz. Only one
Koan Jew survived the horrors of Auschwitz and
he eventually returned to his home where apparently, he inherited most of the wealth of the
Jewish community. He died in the early 1990s
and with him went away all Jewish life in Kos.
It is quite saddening how much evil existed in
a place of such beauty and how a Shul without
congregants is like a body devoid of a soul. On
my return to the UK, I contacted the Central
Board of Jewish Communities in Greece
(www.kis.gr) and they were kind enough to send
me their magazine. I would like to thank them
for providing me with invaluable information.
The magazine also made me realise how Kos was
a small part of the horrors inflicted on the Greek
Jewish community, where 67,000 out of a population of over 77,000 perished.
The plaque in the entrance of the Shul in Kos
states “We will remember them for ever” and in
writing this article I would like to think that I
am helping to perpetuate their memory.
Plaque at the entrance of Kos Synagogue
Ester Aldaheff
Salomone Franco
Caden nee Pila Menasce
Jehuda Aldaheff
Regina nee Sadi Franco
Giuseppe Menasce
Matilde Aldaheff
Amelia nee Levi Galante
Guiseppe du feu Mauris Menasce
Miru Aldaheff
Bocor Galante
Haim Menasce
Mose Aldaheff
Eleonora Galante
Josef Menasce
Vidal Aldaheff
Johevet Galante
Mardoche Menasce
Caden nee Mizrachi Aldaheff
Rachel Galante
Gidia nee Israel Menasce
Levi Benosiglio
Sara Galante
Marco Menasce
Caterina nee Menasce Benosiglio Sultana Galante
Ester nee Levi Menasce
Mose Benosiglio
Asher Hanan
Mauris Mose Menasce
Rachel Benosiglio
Bohor Hanan
Nissim Menasce
Alberto Benveniste
Gioia nee Avzaradel Israel
Rabeno Menasce
Clara Benveniste
Mazaltov nee Beru Israel
Rafael Menasce
David Benveniste
Aurelio Levi
Rica nee Hasson Menasce
Ester nee Franco Benveniste
Giuda Levi
Renata Menasce
Elia Benveniste
Caden nee Alalouf Levi
Stella Menasce
Alberto Capelluto
Isacco Levi
Jacob Palombo
Bernardo Capelluto Giovanna nee Galante Levi
Violetta nee Galante Palombo
David Capelluto
Isacco Levi
Bocora nee Ganon Romano
Giuditta Capelluto
Sara nee Alcana Levi
Giacobbe Romano
Elsa Capelluto
Giuseppe Levi
Maria nee Cardanel Romano
Ester Capelluto
Glavina nee Hasson Levi
Matilde Romano
Guido Capelluto
Hanula nee Romano Levi
Mauris Romano
Giullia Capelluto
Mose Levi
Sharhon Zimbul
Guidallia Capelluto
Nissim Levi
Luna nee Israel Capelluto Estrella nee Pilas Levi
Haim Capelluto
Salvartore Levi
Elbonara nee Menasce Danon
Vittorio Levi
Rachel Danon
Boas du feu Haim Menasce
Salomone Danon
Boas du feu Marco Manasce
Bocor Franco Danon
Caden Menasce
Rosa nee Galante Franco
David Menasce
David Franco
Elisa Menasce
Isacco Franco
Ester Menasce
Nissim Franco
Guiseppe Menasce
Mark Massias
Link Pesach 2009 59
Leah Silverman hops skips and jumps around the Greek islands.
The road to Rhodes
This year, Trevor and I decided to expand our horizons and visit
somewhere different. So we booked a holiday to Greece, in the hope
of finding a blissful mix of sun, sea, history and culture. We were not
disappointed.
Our first stop was Athens, home to the
famous Acropolis, Parthenon and other beautiful buildings such as the Hephaisteion and the
remains of the Temple of Zeus. We walked
around the whole city amazed by the sheer size
of the columns that remain. Yet, we were
reminded of the following passage by Mark
Twain;
“The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the
Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and
splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed
away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and
made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high
for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in
twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw
them all, beat them all, and is now what he
always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no
slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert
and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but
the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains.”
We spent Shabbat in Athens together with
the wonderful hospitality of Chabad, who provided meals for all the tourists who needed
some warm food and Jewish atmosphere. We
met at the Beth Shalom shul for Maariv and
then shared a delicious meal with some fellow
English friends who happened to be in Athens
at the same time, a very friendly American couple, Israelis and a large group of French tourists.
It was a lovely feeling knowing that Jews of all
levels of orthodoxy, from all over the world will
always come together for a traditional Friday
night meal. We enjoyed ourselves so much we
returned the following day for lunch! The
Jewish community in Athens numbers around
3,000, although only a handful came to the shul
for the service.
The rest of the week was spent on a few
islands. We left Athens by ferry to our next destination, Ikaria, a beautiful island in the Aegean
Sea barely touched by tourists. Food was not a
problem – we had brought with us everything
we needed and we certainly never went hungry!
We then visited Patmos and finally arrived at
our last stop, Rhodes.
We arrived in Rhodes by ferry as the sun was
60 Link Pesach 2009
setting and slowly adjusted to the sudden
change; Ikaria and Patmos were quiet, tranquil
and peaceful – Rhodes was bustling, full of
tourists and busy high streets.
We spent the day walking around the main
attractions in Old Town, a place very similar to
the Old City of Jerusalem. It is walled, with
cobbled streets, huge doorways and arched windows. Yet the signs of Jewish life are much
more hidden in Rhodes! However, you only
have to look beyond the market place to discover what Jewish life was like on the island before
World War II.
We first stumbled across Plateia Evreon
Martyron, Square of the Jewish Martyrs. There
stands the Holocaust memorial to the victims
from Rhodes and Kos. 1673 members of the
Jewish community were arrested and deported
to Auschwitz in 1943. Only 151 survived.
Close by is the Kahal Shalom, the oldest synagogue in Greece and the only remaining one
on the island of Greece. Built in 1577 there are
no longer any regular services, as only 38 Jews
remain in Rhodes today. The shul is beautiful;
mosaics cover the floor and the walls are decorated with paintings. Jews have been living in
Rhodes since the time of the Macabees. In 1492
the biggest influx of Jews arrived on the island
to seek refuge from the Spanish Inquisition.
They brought with them their culture, customs
and traditions. By the early 1920s, some 4,500
Jews lived in Rhodes and enjoyed a full Jewish
existences with bakeries, yeshivot, Mikvaot and
kosher meat. Today, the shul houses a museum in order to preserve the heritage of the
Jews of Rhodes. It was fascinating to see photos
and artefacts documenting the lives of those
who had lived there.
Unfortunately, there were no services or
Chabad hospitality on the island, so we enjoyed
Shabbat in the hotel, with some interesting
‘self-heating’ meals – it’s amazing what you can
buy in the kosher shops that allows us to have
a hot meal without a kitchen! We even had
chicken soup! Once again we contemplated the
idea that despite the loss of Jewish life in
Rhodes, we are able to travel the world, live a
comfortable life and keep Shabbat properly
where others before us could not.
Leah Silverman
Link Pesach 2009 61
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer reflects on the meaning of prayer.
Contemplative Prayer
There is a painting that remains etched in my mind.
It is by the late Hasidic artist Zalman Kleinman and
it depicts a number of Hasidim on a summer
Shabbat at prayer in a small shtibel in Breneau
France. Two things about the painting are unusual.
The first is that the men appear to be praying
individually and not together. One man is
absorbed in prayer at the front of the room.
Another is sitting in deep contemplation with
his tallit over his head. A third is pacing the
small room apparently in preparation for
prayer his tallit still unfolded resting on his
shoulder. The second unusual detail is the
62 Link Pesach 2009
clock in the room which reads 2:30 in the
afternoon!
Who are these men? Why are they praying
alone? And why are they still at prayer at
2:30 on a Shabbat afternoon when everyone
else is finishing lunch or having a nap?
The image that Klienman depicts is one
that I have seen many times as a child. It is
of Chabad Hasidim engaging in what is
known as hitbonenut or contemplative
prayer.
Unlike organized communal prayer, hitbonenut is an intensely personal experience. It
begins with the individual rising early on a
Shabbat morning, immersing in a mikveh
and then spending the next several hours
deeply immersed in Torah study. This is followed by an hour or more of silent meditation in which the individual contemplates
spiritual ideas. Only after this does he actually begin to pray and such prayer can last
hours and hours. One can emerge from such
prayer literally a changed individual.
Witnessing such prayer on a regular basis
as a child it was only natural that I aspired
to it myself. While I can’t say that I succeeded, the experience left an indelible mark on
me. I would forever after measure the sincerity and intensity of my own prayers against
the standard of someone engaged in true hitbonenut.
Despite my failure to develop the art of
hitbonunet I do recall one very intense
prayer experience I had in the forests outside
Kiev in the Ukraine in the summer of 1991. I,
along with number of my friends from
Yeshiva, ran a Jewish summer camp in the
outskirts of Kiev. One Shabbat morning I
took a long walk in the woods and came
upon a deserted tree house. I decided to pray.
There alone surrounded only by the sounds
of the forest and the sight of golden shafts of
sunlight breaking through the majestic birch
trees I poured out my soul. Time melted
away and I was transported. Walking back to
the camp hours later I felt an inner tranquillity and elation that I had never experienced
before.
I have since tried to duplicate that experience, particularly when I am on holiday, to
varying levels of success. Last summer while
in a beautiful seaside village in Sardinia,
Dina and I rose before dawn one morning to
pray on a little cliff overlooking the ocean. It
didn’t work for me at all. Partly because
when the sun rose I found myself baking
under my tallit and partly because I hadn’t
really prepared myself mentally for the experience.
Meaningful prayer is not something one
can just switch on and off. It is something
that one must work hard at and prepare for.
Meaningful prayer is an art form. It is a
skill that takes time to learn and develop. I
am still astounded that many Jewish primary
schools don’t teach prayer. That is not to say
they don’t hold morning or even afternoon
prayers, it is that they don’t teach children
how to converse with God and how to make
routine prayer meaningful and uplifting.
I often return to the issue of decorum in
our synagogue. Over the past year there have
been improvements. Unless my mind is playing tricks on me I think there has been a
slight decrease in talking during services, but
we still have a long way to go. While I will
continue to maintain a strict no talking policy
in the Synagogue I have come to realize that
this alone is not enough to stop people from
chatting during the services. What is required
is a deeper understanding of the nature of
prayer and the possibilities it presents for a
deeper and more meaningful Jewish life.
To this end we have launched a new initiative; the Explanatory Service. Many of you will
have already experienced this new service. It
runs from 10:00 to 11:00am on Shabbat morning at the Synagogue and it is designed to
break down and explain the prayer service. It
is aimed at intelligent people who for one reason or another have never had a chance to
really explore the structure and meaning of
prayer. The service is deliberately informal
with many readings in English along with
plenty of singing and discussion. It is led by a
rotation of knowledgeable and dedicated volunteers who wish to share their passion for
prayer with others. The service currently runs
on alternate weeks so please check the shul
diary for the next one. I hope you will take
advantage of this wonderful opportunity to
learn more about the meaning, purpose and
power of prayer and that you will ask your
friends to join you.
Together we can transform our synagogue
services into uplifting spiritual experiences for
everyone even if they don’t have the luxury of
praying in a Ukrainian Tree House.
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer
Link Pesach 2009 63
Composer and lyricist Alexander S. Bermange goes behind the scenes of the production of
his latest CD
Act One The Making
of an Album
February 2004 - The specialist musical theatre record label
dresscircle.com releases the CD Weird & Wonderful, a collection of my comic songs performed by 16 West End musical
stars. The album includes Jewish-themed witty ditties such
as I’ve Just Started Working In A Kosher Deli and Saturday
Morning Prayer, and proves to be extremely popular, even helping to land me the role of resident
songwriter on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House
programme. In the subsequent few years, I also
continue my work as a musical theatre writer,
and am fortunate enough to write shows that
enjoy success around the UK, the USA and Europe.
This leads dresscircle.com to propose releasing a
CD of songs from my musicals, featuring even
more West End artists than Weird & Wonderful. I
secure the backing of The Mackintosh Foundation,
the NJL Foundation, The Really Useful Group and
Superbreak and take up the challenge of co-ordinating what we hope will be the only album in
existence to feature brand new recordings by such
a large number of today’s musical theatre stars.
25th March 2008 - I meet with Mike Dixon, one
of the most significant musical forces in London’s
West End and on British television. Mike has been
kind enough to show great enthusiasm and support for my writing since we first worked together
a year and a half ago, and agrees to produce the
album, which is to be titled ACT ONE.
14th May 2008 - Having been in Germany for
the last month and a half rehearsing my newest
musical, King Drosselbart, which has just opened
over there, I meet with Mike again. We put
together a “dream list” of musical theatre stars
whom we would love to record each of the 20
songs which we select during the course of the
meeting. As they vary in style - from big anthems
to comic numbers to power ballads to bombastic
rock songs - a range of different voices is required.
64 Link Pesach 2009
In the ensuing weeks we submit demos to our
wish list of artists, and are delighted at their
readiness to lend their considerable vocal talents
to this project. We aim to record the album at
Winterbrook Studios, London in the week commencing 21st July, and set up an appropriate
schedule. I also arrange to meet with each of the
singers for a 90 minute rehearsal and an hour
long chat about their respective songs a week or
two prior to their recording session.
11th June 2008 - Today, unexpectedly, is our
first day in the studio! Several performers whom
we were keen to have on the album are unavailable in our planned recording week, and so we
have set up various sessions between now and
then to accommodate their schedules. Today’s
artist is Jon Lee, who has just starred as Marius in
Les Misérables, having had four top 5 albums as a
member of pop group S Club, meaning that he is
no stranger to recording studios and the session
goes very well. Over the next few weeks, prior to
our designated recording week, we fit in further
sessions with Mark Evans (who recently appeared
on BBC 1’s Eurovision - Your Country Needs You,
having previously starred as Troy in High School
Musical), Susan McFadden (currently starring as
Milly in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, having
just starred as Sandy in Grease after winning
ITV’s Grease Is The Word), Lara Pulver (soon to be
starring as Isabella in BBC 1’s Robin Hood, having
just starred as Lucille in Parade) and Joanna
Ampil (just starred as Fantine in Les Misérables). I
am becoming increasingly starstruck by the
artists whom I am hearing perform my work and
mesmerised by their wonderful performances of
it. Also during this time, I oversee the design of
the CD artwork, which is being done by Mark
Baker at Barbel Graphics, who previously
designed (among other things!) the Weird &
Wonderful CD sleeve. We develop various ideas
using different photographs, fonts and colours.
14th July 2008 - The start of the rehearsal week
- at least for those performers who have not
already had to rehearse or record their tracks! I
have worked with a number of the artists before,
while I am working with others for the first time.
During the rehearsals, I not only teach the artists
the songs, but also discuss with them their interpretation and the characters who sing their song
in the musical from which it is taken. In many
cases we experiment with different keys and
styles of singing so as to find the approach that
suits both singer and song best. The week gets off
to a great start, as I rehearse a trio with Ricardo
Afonso (currently starring as Galileo in We Will
Rock You), Cassandra Compton (currently starring as Elizabeth in Dirty Dancing, having
become popular through ITV’s The X Factor) and
Sabrina Aloueche (currently starring as
Scaramouche in We Will Rock You), and a solo
with Linzi Hateley (currently starring as Donna in
Mamma Mia!). I spend the week gravitating
between Patisserie Valerie in Marylebone High
Street (where I meet each of the performers for
our informal chat) and The Music Studios nearby
(where we rehearse). It all goes smoothly, and the
week ends with a terrific final day with Oliver
Tompsett (currently starring as Fiyero in Wicked),
Dean Chisnall (just starred as Ash in Never
Forget), Daniel Boys (currently starring as
Princeton/Rod in Avenue Q, having become popular through BBC 1’s Any Dream Will Do) and
Summer Strallen (currently starring as Maria in
The Sound Of Music, having become popular
through Channel 4’s Hollyoaks).
21st July 2008 - The first day of our week in
the studio! As I have already talked through and
worked through the songs with the respective
singers, and as I am also playing the piano on
the album, I take more of a back seat now and
hand over the artistic controls to producer Mike
Dixon and engineer Andrew Lynwood. We have a
terrific first day recording a trio with Ramin
Karimloo (currently starring as the Phantom in
The Phantom Of The Opera), Dianne Pilkington
(currently starring as Glinda in Wicked) and
Shona Lindsay (just starred as Rose in Aspects Of
Love), and a solo with Janie Dee (currently starring as Susan in Woman In Mind). Thankfully,
everything runs to plan and to schedule during
the week, and we are all very excited by how
everything is sounding. The week ends on a high
with sessions recording a duet with Ben JamesEllis (currently starring as Link in Hairspray, having become popular through BBC 1’s Any Dream
Will Do) and Alexia Khadime (just starred as
Elphaba in Wicked), and solos with Oliver
Thornton (soon to be starring as Adam/Felicia in
Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert) and Sally Ann
Triplett (just starred as Amelia in Take Flight). Yet
there is still a little more to be recorded…
31st July 2008 - …..for, just as some artists
could only record before our designated recording week, others can only record after that week and so we have scheduled today to get these final
four performers in the studio: Jenna Lee-James
(currently starring as the Narrator in Joseph And
The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), Earl
Carpenter (currently starring as Javert in Les
Misérables), Dean Collinson (currently starring as
Pharaoh in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat) and Jon Robyns (currently starring as
Marius in Les Misérables). The album is now
recorded! But a lot of work remains to be done…
8th September 2008 - Andrew Lynwood and I
begin mixing the tracks, after a delay necessitated
by my rehearsing my newest musical in Bradford
and by an overseas recording project Andrew has
just undertaken. This mixing week involves checking all of the balances and levels, and selecting
vocals for songs where we have several “takes” to
choose from. Having had some time away from
the tracks, we are pleased - and relieved! - that we
still love the sound of them every bit as much as
we did when we recorded them. Having mixed
the album, I send a copy to triple Oscar-winning
lyricist Sir Tim Rice, who has kindly agreed to
write the sleeve notes for the CD.
8th October 2008 - After carefully listening to
the mixes of all of the tracks, and making a few
adjustments with Andrew on the basis of Mike
Dixon’s and my thoughts, I take the CD to Simon
Haram at Silent Age Sound to do the “mastering”.
This ensures that the CD is of the highest possible
sound quality. The CD includes a song recorded
earlier, but never previously released, by James
Gillan (just starred as Boq in Wicked), and Simon
also makes some adjustments to the sound of this
track so that the sound is consistent with the rest
of the album. The mastering works its magic now, listening to the CD is just like having the
singers perform right in front of us!
5th November 2008 - Thankfully, Tim Rice has
loved the CD, which is reflected in his sleeve
notes, which include his endorsement, “Alexander
S. Bermange is going from strength to strength. I
urge all lovers of contemporary musical theatre to
add this album to their collection pronto”. His
full sleeve notes have been inserted into the
sleeve design, which Mark Baker and I have
been continuing to tinker with but are now
happy with. So, today, the master CD and artwork are finally sent to the manufacturer!
1st December 2008 - ACT ONE is released!
Sales are swift, this being - as was intended the only album in existence to feature brand
new recordings by such a large number of
today’s musical theatre stars. The tracks start
receiving a pleasing amount of airplay and I
am called on to give radio interviews about
the project up and down the country. But
there is little respite for my creative juices, as
I am soon busily composing the music for
Plague Over England, opening at the Duchess
Theatre in the West End in February 2009.
Who knows - a song from this might eventually find its way on to ACT TWO…!
Further information about the ACT ONE CD
can be found at www.dresscircle.com. Full
details about all of Alexander S. Bermange’s
work can be found at www.bermange.co.uk.
Alexander Bermange (Alexander Bermange is the son
of member Malcolm Bermange)
Link Pesach 2009 65
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66 Link Pesach 2009
Seven year old Benjamin Clayden displays his model making talents.
My Hobby - K’nex
K’nex is fun to do. I have made lots of models with k’nex. I started doing knex when I was five. K’nex pieces come in all shapes and
sizes so you can make virtually anything you want to. My greatest
invention was a funfair. On the 10th December 2008 I made a
Chanukiah just in time for Chanukah. Some
of my models have motors to make them go.
I have taught some of my friends how to do
k’nex. If you have never tried k’nex, give it a
go…you never know, you might like it too!
Here are some photographs of my models
Benjamin Clayden Aged 7
Link Pesach 2009 67
Emma Stone, President of Birmingham J-Soc, highlights the problem facing Jewish students on campus.
The 21st Century
Student
I believe that one of the most important characteristics that was lost
between the past generations to this generation is a sense of identity. There was no question about staying in on a Friday night, nor
going out with other friends; not eating non-kosher food, in order to
Emma Stone
68 Link Pesach 2009
remain the perfect child our parents expect us to
be - whilst at the same time, gaining our own
independence and choosing our path in life. As a
fresh faced student; just off my gap year in Israel
with FZY I was facing challenges that I would
never have expected to face.
I believe that I am an ideological person quite
set in my beliefs, religiously, Zionistic and otherwise. But for the first time I was asking myself the
big question of WHY. I had been brought up in a
traditional Jewish home, had always attended
Jewish schools, and am an active member of FZY,
but never really asked myself, why?
This is the most important question of all.
Whilst the main reason of being a student away
at University is to graduate with a Degree for our
parents to schlep some real nachas; it is also about
independence and finding out, who we are as people. in order to find our place in the scary big
world.
To be a student on campus in the last generation meant to be radical, when to be ideological
and radical was cool. In this generation it is clubbing, socialising and drinking excessive amounts
of alcohol; whilst university societies still exist and
so does protesting; it is not to the extent of the
last generation.
Ultimately radicalism is seen as fanatical and
weird.
The struggle of being a Jewish student is more
internal than external; rather than projecting
Zionism and Judaism on to others, it is grappling
with the ideas yourself.
The frontline for assimilation begins on campus; which is a melting pot of society.
The concept of marrying out is a real problem
that many students grapple with; it is not uncommon for nice Jewish girls to say “it doesn’t matter
that he isn’t Jewish, it’s not like I am going to
marry him”. It is this frontline that the 21st
Century Student has to fight. To convince Jewish
peers to fight on the same side is a tough fight.
Radicalism and Societies at many of the main
universities are still very prominent and as much
as high school may prepare you; the anti-Israel feel
on campus is something that cannot be fully
explained or prepared for.
To be Jewish on campus necessitates defending
Israel; this is not even a question anymore. The
emergence of PALSoc (Palestinian Society) and ISoc
(Islamic Society) is well and truly in place at many
universities, and upcoming at others. This is the
other type of frontline that students have to face.
The backlash for students on campus is massive.
However with the help of UJS and JSoc, we are
very successful with our campaigns although, this
takes a lot of work on the part of many dedicated
students.
This leads conveniently on to the work of the
Jewish Society, which although I am slightly
biased does fantastic work. To deal with the problems mentioned within this article, JSoc creates a
counter- culture to the norm of student life.
It is a forum for the issues raised, to be discussed, to allow Jewish students to create a Jewish
identity, have Jewish friends and express their
Jewish beliefs without having to explain themselves. Each JSoc have Friday Night events; at some
universities they take place every week, in others,
it is once a month. The aim is to create a family away from our families back at home.
The Birmingham Jewish Society is not just a
regular society; it is a way of life at University
which boasts around 1500 Jewish student
members. We also work with other JSocs
around the country and many different organisations by sponsoring such Friday Nights, for
example, organizing or bringing a speaker for
an event.
All activities for Jewish Students are advertised in our weekly News4Jews.
Birmingham JSoc not only helped me find
my feet as a student but is allowing me to
make a difference in the “student bubble”. I
am excited to work with such fantastic group
of people on my committee, and will hopefully enjoy a successful year in office.
For More information on Birmingham JSoc
please don’t hesitate to email
info@bhamjsoc.com
Emma Stone
Jodi Gothold explains what BEST is and finds out that BEST is really good.
BEST by name...
BEST, the newest group set up by Borehamwood and Elstree shul
members, has revolutionised the local social scene by giving young
adults a way to get involved in shul life and make new friends in the
area. Here we find out a bit more about this new initiative.
The cheese and wine event held in the Brawers’ succah
attracted hordes of twenties and thirties
Why was BEST set up and who is it aimed
at?
BEST stands for Borehamwood and Elstree
Shul Twenties and Thirties. BEST was established by a group of friends who felt the need
to create a group that can exist within the
greater community who can come together
and attract others to organise their own social
events as well as a support network.
Is there a committee or is it a free-for-all?
The BEST philosophy is to give everyone a
chance to get involved to whatever extent they
want as often as they like. There is a main
committee who coordinates the running of
BEST and then each of the main committee
members handles a sub-committee. These subcommittees are made up of volunteers who
wish to get involved by being part of a committee that interests them. The sub-committees include an Event and Fundraising group,
Mums and Kids group, a Support group and a
Welcome group. These are similar to groups
already set up within the main shul structure,
however the point is not to compete with, but
to assist and support each other to attract
more people to get involved in shul life
through BEST.
What has the general reaction been like?
The general reaction has been extremely
positive and encouraging from all sides. The
Rabbi and Rebbetzin have been directly
involved, from kindly hosting our first event –
a Cheese and Wine in the Succah which
attracted nearly 70 people – to having nights
out for the boys and girls respectively. They
have also supported and advised us on various
matters in order help with the development of
BEST. The board invited us to present our
ideas at a board meeting and board members
attended one of our general BEST meetings.
We are extremely grateful for all the support
we have received and look forward to continuing to grow the relationship between BEST
and the shul. Word seems to have spread
about BEST and we are even being asked to
advertise various events within the wider
London community to our members.
What progress has been made so far and
what plans are in the pipeline?
As already mentioned we had a very successful Cheese and Wine in the Succah last
year and the BEST Friday dinner at the shul
with the Brawers was a great success and even
attracted members of the Fed which is lovely
as it opens up the general networking objectives of the group. The mums and kids group
meets up regularly and attends children’s
groups together, and is already introducing
mums who live in the area to each other. As
the weather gets warmer we hope to have a
picnic for all BEST members and their families
as well as start some fundraising events so
that we can contribute towards the eruv
scheme. Even though there is a special BEST
Facebook page, plans have been devised to create a special BEST page on the shul website
where members can message each other and
events and activities can be promoted. We are
also going to publish a newsletter. The
Welcome group will work with Clare Saffer
and the official shul Welcoming Committee to
encourage young adults to join BEST, and also
intends to create a Welcome Pack including a
directory with general info about living in the
area, however this is still in planning phase.
How are activities, events and suchlike
funded?
Until now events have either been sponsored by the shul or paid for by attendees.
Hopefully as time goes on we will be able to
have more fundraising events to grow a fund
for BEST in order to subsidise events and activities. Please remember that we are open to
new ideas and ask that anyone who wishes to
get involved or has any questions to email
bestshul@hotmail.co.uk.
Wishing you a happy and kosher Pesach!
Jodi Gothold
Link Pesach 2009 69
One man’s quest to find and reveal the “forgotten” mass graves of the Jews murdered in eastern
Europe - David Onnie meets Catholic priest Father Desbois.
Father
Patrick
Desbois
I met Father Patrick Desbois after his address to the Hertfordshire
Learning Exchange late last year. He appeared a quiet, modest man
as surely befits a priest. From reading his book (“The Holocaust by
Bullets”) there is nothing in his upbringing in France to suggest that a
Father Desbois
Photos ©Erez Lichtfeld & Guillaume Ribot
70 Link Pesach 2009
spiritual position awaited him and certainly nothing
to even hint at what has become his focus. And he is
the first to admit this. He became interested in the
mass shootings after hearing his grandfather (who
had been a French prisoner of war in a labour camp)
recount various stories of his life in the camp but
only that it had been worse for the “others”. Years
later when trying to locate his grandfather’s camp at
Rawa-Ruska, he realised that the “others” of whom
his grandfather had spoken were the Jews. Amongst
other posts Father Desbois is the President of the
Yahad-In-Unum Association created in 2004 to
increase the knowledge and cooperation between
Jews and Catholics. One of its main projects (and
indeed this is also his determined quest) is to locate
the mass graves of the Jews murdered by the death
squads in the Ukraine and Belarus areas.
Father Desbois has an intensity about him, perhaps
from his dark, penetrating eyes or perhaps from the
seriousness of his task. The question he asks is simple
– where did the estimated 1.5 million Jews of Ukraine
and Belarus disappear ? The crumbling remains of
the death camps and slave labour camps are evidence
of the location of the heinous crimes which were perpetrated there but what of those who were killed by
the bullet ? As he says in his book, he has collected
the bullet cartridges (see the photograph of the white
sacks of cartridge casings opposite) as proof of the
Holocaust which took place outside the camps where
there were , “No gas chambers, no automation, no socalled “mechanization”. A man assassinating another
man.”
But Father Desbois’ work does not just stop at finding the mass graves – that’s actually hard enough. He
has taken it upon himself to actually find witnesses
to the mass murders and to video their testimony.
These witnesses would have been children or youths
during the war, perhaps playing in the woods, in the
street, in the fields. Nobody in the villages and hamlets of the Ukraine, most trapped in a time warp, has
spoken about the mass murders since the war and
why would they ? Who was interested and, anyway,
anti-semitism was rife (and still is). But the evil secrets
hidden in the vastness of the Ukraine and rumours
always persisted, and if there was a person who could
gently investigate, who better than a Catholic priest
to approach these quasi religious villagers and townsfolk . Now, these witnesses would of course be in
their eighties and nineties now, their memory requiring to be unlocked and rewound to remember events
they would much rather forget. When commencing
the interview Father Desbois always tries to recreate
the atmosphere of the time, the individual’s family,
the person’s age, where they lived and then, crucially,
“Who lived in the village? Was there a Jewish school ?
Were there Germans in the village ? Which road did
the Germans use ? What happened to the Jews ? How
were they taken from the village ?”. Step by step he
gets closer to the question of the mass murder until
the witness is able to point to or show where the
massacre took place. The photographs opposite show
various witnesses, all in their twilight years, being
interviewed and revealing, sometimes with much
emotion, the locations of the killings.
But this article does scant justice to Father Desbois’
mission. Buy the book and read for yourself. In the
meantime let me leave you with the following words
which powerfully and clearly illustrate the context
and objective of just what Father Desbois is trying to
achieve :
“While the mass graves of the thousands of Jews
who were shot are untraceable, every German killed
during the war has been reburied and identified by
name. The cemeteries are on the scale of the Reich.
Magnificent cemeteries for the Germans, including the
SS, little graves for the French, white stones covered in
brambles for the tens of thousands of anonymous
Soviet soldiers, and absolutely nothing for the Jews.
Thus, under the ground, everything is still in order
according to the hierarchy of the Reich. We cannot
give a posthumous victory to Nazism. We cannot
leave the Jews buried like animals. We cannot accept
this state of affairs and allow our continent to be
built on the obliterated memory of the victims of the
Reich”. Page 34, The Holocaust by Bullets”.
David Onnie
Link Pesach 2009 71
Not a breakfast cereal but a serial case of the blues.
Crunched... but still
standing... a survivor’s
guide to redundancy
You may have ‘seen it coming’ – but being made redundant is a
thoroughly unpleasant experience. After the initial shock, emotions
are overwhelming. Paying bills? Telling family and friends? Your
structured routine suddenly wiped out? In the words of Lance
© Image from BigStockPhoto.com
72 Link Pesach 2009
Corporal Jones from Dad’s Army “don’t panic!”
but follow these tips
ONE – Finances - speak to organisations
where you have a financial obligation - banks,
building societies, schools and synagogues.
Get advice from your Citizens Advice Bureau
and Job Centre about relevant benefits.
TWO – Get support from family and friends
– this also kick-starts networking opportunities to find work again. If someone is negative
– stress that you need positive support right
now.
THREE - use time constructively - Call the
Employment Resource Centre (ERC) -who help
unemployed Jewish people return to work.
The ERC provides help for everyone over the
age of 17 – and we see people from all backgrounds, people who have been made redundant, those who are returners to work after
raising a family or caring for elderly dependants, people newly arrived from abroad
providing they are eligible to work in the
UK, as well as students who have left school
or university and are unsure how to proceed in a working world. For returners and
graduates, there are additional support
seminars which focus on their particular
needs and requirements. The ERC service covers all types of employment – manufacturing,
commerce, the professions and public/ voluntary sectors. Since 1992, over 7500 people have
been helped by the ERC.
One-to-one support from skilled Advisors
and a wide range of relevant seminars help
clients with CVs, interview skills and networking opportunities. The ERC advises on career
transitions and starting your own business. It
builds confidence, encourages self-development, study and volunteering to keep clients
active during job search and provides a professional, welcoming place that is confidential
and FREE.
With the right support, negatives are transformed into positives and clients are helped to
think laterally about opportunities opening
doors for a better future.
If you are unemployed and think the ERC
can help - call 020 8883 1000 or email
office@ercentre.org.
Whilst the ERC is not a recruitment agency
and does not directly find jobs for people the
centre does have a dedicated networking team
who have strong relationships with employers
looking for interns and new employees. The
charity works on the understanding that the
ERC will give its clients the tools to enable
them to find a job in the most efficient and
effective way possible. We are pleased to market jobs free of charge and signpost our clients
to you.
If you are not unemployed, but know someone who is please tell them about this article.
If you want to help the ERC by volunteering,
giving our clients jobs or by funding please let
us know
www.ercentre.org
020 8883 1000
Registered charity No 1106331
“We Jews do have a
duty to do some
thing about this
mess we are all in”
Daniel Skolnick questions whether four should be five at the Seder.
Pesach: Making Our
Numbers Count
The number four features prominently on Pesach. We drink four
cups of wine at the Seder table, ask the Four Questions in Ma
Nishtana and try to understand the festival from the points of view
of the Four Sons.
Daniel Skolnick
The symbolism of the four cups of wine has to
do with the four different expressions of
redemption used in the Torah’s description of
how the Children of Israel would eventually
leave Egypt.
“Therefore say to the Children of Israel: “I am
Hashem and I shall take you out from beneath
the burdens of Egypt. I shall rescue you from
their service and I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements. I shall
take you to me as a people and shall be to you a
G-d.”
We drink the four cups of wine in order to
recall these four different aspects our freedom.
Intriguingly, the Talmud relates Rabbi Tarfon’s
opinion that there should, in fact, be a fifth cup
of wine at the Seder table. In the ensuing legal
debate amongst the commentators regarding
this opinion, the Tosafot did not rule in accordance with Rabbi Tarfon. However, the
Rambam allows for this option by codifying
that “a person may pour for himself a fifth
cup of wine” and the Rayvad goes even further by insisting that one absolutely must
drink a fifth cup. The Talmudic acronym
“Teyku” was devised for just such a tricky situation. Thus, to prevent discord, the fifth cup
is filled in order to satisfy the opinion of
Rabbi Tarfon but, in order to satisfy the
opposing view, we do not drink from it. The
cup is, literally, a Cup of Elijah.
Nevertheless, the question arises as to why
anybody should assume there to be a fifth
cup of wine if the cups correspond to four
expressions of redemption. Interestingly, a closer
examination of the above account of redemption
reveals what some consider to be a fifth expression; “I shall bring you into the land” . This
must have been the rationale of Rabbi Tarfon;
five cups corresponding to five expressions.
If so, we may now turn to the Four Questions
of Ma Nishtana to see if a fifth question existed
but has now been omitted. The source of Ma
Nishtana is a Mishna listing the questions that
a son should ask his father at the Seder table.
Astonishingly, it contains a fifth question! “On
all other nights we may eat meat, roasted,
boiled, or cooked, but on this night we may only
eat it roasted.”
It seems as though the emerging pattern is
highlighting the significance of the number five.
If so, is there a fifth son who should be present at
our Seder table but has been forgotten? The
Lubavitcher Rebbe taught that there is indeed a
fifth son and that he is the product of the four
generations preceding him in an assimilated family. The first son, who in his wisdom understood
the importance of a relationship with his Creator,
is called wise. The second generation broke away
from such a relationship and is therefore called
evil. The third generation, who saw their grandparents valuing Judaism and their parents not
doing so, became ‘tam’ meaning somebody who
gradually drifts away from behaving in a positive
manner but nobody realises this until it is too
late . The fourth generation was so far removed
from authentic Jewish education that the son didn’t even know how to ask a Jewish question. The
Lubavitcher Rebbe taught that the above trend
has caused a fifth generation where the son has
assimilated to such an extent that he doesn’t even
“The Lubavitcher
Rebbe taught that
there is indeed a fifth
son and that he is
the product of the
four generations
preceding him in an
assimilated family.”
come to sit at the Seder table any more.
At the time of the Exodus, only a fifth of Jews
were willing to leave Egypt . We would surely
have thought such a level of apathy and disinterest impossible were it not so evident in today’s
Jewish society, highlighted by alarmingly high levels of intermarriage and assimilation. Our challenge is to bring back the missing fifth child,
whether directly or by helping those who can do
so, in order that our collective family will merit
to celebrate “next year in Jerusalem” together as
one.
Daniel Skolnick
Link Pesach 2009 73
David Miller asks if Judaism and atheism are mutually exclusive
Anyone for
atheism?
Being an atheist used to be easy. You didn’t have to indulge in archaic
rituals. You could have a cheeseburger without worrying about mixing meat and milk and you didn’t have to accept all the rules and regulations devised by people who denied the existence of dinosaurs,
David Miller
74 Link Pesach 2009
whilst doing a very good impression of actually being one. Best of all, you didn’t have to
worry about your immortal soul, because it
wasn’t.
But as I get older - perhaps because I am
getting older and therefore nearer to meeting
my maker, or not as the case may be, the
question arises: what if I am wrong? Just as
believers can sometimes have a crisis of faith,
non believers can have a similar crisis of, er,
non faith. Well, you know what I mean.
If a Jew stops believing in God, he asks his
Rabbi for guidance. If a non believer starts to
question his non beliefs, who can he turn to?
Maybe he should call up a Priest, a Rabbi and
an Imam and tell them that they all have five
minutes to make a presentation and the winner gets to save his soul. It’s Britain’s latest
reality TV show - The God Factor. Simon
Cowell never thought of this one!
For an atheist struggling to cope with the
loss of someone, the concept of God suddenly
becomes very appealing. If there is a God who
will guard that person’s soul for all eternity,
then the process of mourning is made that
much easier. I have said a prayer to God in
just such a situation, but it was in hope,
rather than the expectation, of being heard.
If you are an atheist, but God really does
exist, then you face potentially serious consequences when you come to take your terminal
breath. Although Jews do not believe in the
existence of Hell (anyone who has been to
Bournemouth recently might argue differently), why should God protect your soul if you
have denied his very existence? It is believed
that the souls of the non righteous wait for up
to a year before ascending to heaven, but a
God who creates souls can just as easily
destroy them as if they had never been. Do
you really want to take that risk?
Atheists will argue that if God exists, why
does he not just show himself and silence all
the non believers once and for all? Perhaps he
has been trying? According to the Torah, God
spoke directly to Moses. Today, anyone who
claims to have had a conversation with God is
locked up in a secure environment and
declared a lunatic.
For believers, the creation of the universe is
simple. God snapped his fingers and created
heaven and earth. The detail is all there in
chapter one of Genesis. Atheists, however, are
stuck with the Big Bang theory which would
have you believe that the universe, billions of
light years in diameter and still growing, started out the size of a pin prick. But if the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into?
What was space before it was space?
On the face of it, creationism is a much easier concept to accept than evolution.
Evolutionists ask you to believe that something was created out of nothing which common sense tells you is not possible.
Creationists argue, more logically, that there
could never have been nothing, for if there
was nothing, then nothing could ever exist.
Therefore there always had to be something
and that something must be God.
Of course philosophers will argue that nothing is in itself something and by the time you
have got your head around that concept, the
nice men in white coats are ready to administer your next injection.
Scientists cannot tell us why the big bang
occurred on the precise date that it did. Nor
can they say what happened on the day
before. So perhaps we are merely part of an
elaborate experiment by a vastly superior life
form who wishes to be known as God and
who occasionally peers at us inside his goldfish bowl.
Descartes said “I think, therefore I am.”
What he should have said is “I think I think,
therefore I think I am.” The first question we
have to answer is not whether God exists but
whether we do. How can we prove that we
exist? We think we do but perhaps we are just
a consciousness and everything and everyone
around us is merely a figment of our imaginations. Well, a figment of my imagination
because I could just be imagining that you are
reading this.
Whilst we occasionally ponder the meaning
of life, we do not generally question our own
existence. We simply accept Descartes’ view
that we are. And if we can accept that we are,
then why can atheists not accept that God is
as well? How can I claim to be Jewish when I
do not accept the very basic principle of faith?
The short answer is that Judaism is not just
about God. It is a way of life. Judaism represents a set of moral values that many of us are
happy to subscribe to, and explains why an
increasing number of parents send their children to faith based schools even if they are
not observant themselves.
I go to Shul, not in the expectation of
divine enlightenment, but because it provides
an opportunity for personal reflection and
meditation (which would easier to attain if
those members of the congregation not wishing to pray or meditate would be quiet during
the service!)
You don’t have to believe in God to find the
Rabbi’s sermons thought provoking and spiritually uplifting. Yes, I know they are now
available to download as a podcast, but live
shows are always better!
It might be quite nice to find out what a
ham sandwich tastes like, but I won’t die feeling that my life was somehow unfulfilled for
not having tried one. If Judaism would only
prohibit chocolate and crisps from our diet, I
wouldn’t need to keep having buttons sewn
back onto my clothes!
I am as proud to be Jewish as the most
orthodox Jew, but I do not consider that
Judaism and atheism are mutually exclusive.
Of course it would be easier just to say that I
believe in God, but you simply can’t fake faith.
Either you believe or you don’t. But whereas
the believer who loses his faith hopes one day
to regain it, the non believer who starts to
question his non beliefs does not necessarily
want to remain an atheist. After all, who
wouldn’t want there to be a God?
David Miller
Pesach
Bite No. 3a
The Pesach Sacrifice in this
year of 5769
Definitely …Why not?? …..’Tis the
Season of our Redemption, not only
from Egypt but throughout history:
Just a century or so before the
destruction of the First Temple, the
mighty empire building Assyrian
army laid siege to Jerusalem and then
on Seder night it literally dropped
dead. This act of Divine deliverance
has been cited by historians as a
turning point in world history
because, after the destruction of the
First Temple by the Babylonians, the
Jewish People did not follow conventional
practice
whereby
the
vanquished exchanged their defeated
gods for the gods of the victors . Our
people had realised, albeit too late,
that G-d could have delivered them,
as He had done a century earlier, but
on account of our sins we were exiled
from our land . Our people therefore
resolved to return to their Jewish
faith
throughout
that
exile,
contributing to its survival and the
eventual spread of monotheism
worldwide.
Shortly afterwards, the Babylonian
Empire was defeated by the Persians
on a Seder night when its last
emperor read the Writing on the
Wall.
In the Persian Empire, the unfolding of the events of the Purim story
actually took place around Pesach
time when on a Seder night the
King’s sleep was disturbed etc.(Esther
6.1)
Closer to our time during Pesach
1945 the first of the concentration
camps on German soil, symbols of a
latter-day Haman’s determination to
destroy, kill and wipe out our people
,were liberated by the Western Allies.
On Pesach 1948 in the Land of
Israel, the strategically valuable city
of Haifa , gateway to the Galil and
the northern coastal plain was
secured by the army of the soon to be
born State of Israel .
At the time of writing this article ,
the same brave army is trying to
secure the safety of the Negev and the
southern coastal plain . May G-d
guard them and bless their endeavours, and grant consolation to those
mourning the loss of their soldier
sons, loved ones , friends and
neighbours who made the ultimate
sacrifice for His Name, People and
Land.
Bites by Paul Finn. Next Bite on page 81
Link Pesach 2009 75
So many rules?
1) Took us out of Egypt when we were slaves
2) Gave us a stunning land filled with milk and
honey
3) Sustained us in the desert for 40 years
The Wise Son
Looking for something clever to say at the seder? This snipit should
help and hopefully make you look extremely intelligent at your meal!!
It will have a very quick look at a section of Pesach seder that is a little odd – the wise son’s question. We say it year on year
but many never stop to actually look at the question and realise how much the question makes
absolutely no sense. The son asks:
‘What are these edut, chukim and mishpatim (three types of mitzvot/commandments)
that Hashem instructed you?’
The Ibn Ezra asks, ‘Why does he ask such a
simple and average question?’ This guy is the
supposed to be the wise son. He should know
what all the mitzvot are. We would expect this
sort of question from the simple son. Doesn’t the
wise son know all the rules and commandments
that Hashem gave us? What is he playing at?!
There is clearly something deeper going on
with his question and the following answer is
given by Rabbi Zeff Leff:
What the son is asking is: ‘What are all of these
laws which we, the Jews have been given? SIX
HUNDRED & THIRTEEN. It seems a bit excessive!
Why was it only the Jews who got given so many
rules? The non-Jews only have 7 so it begs the
question: Who did we annoy so much that we
ended up with 613?! What did we do so wrong to
deserve this heavy burden?
To answer this question, it helps to look at the
track record of the person who gave us these rules
(the Torah). Hashem:
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76 Link Pesach 2009
Why did he do all of these things? What is the
common theme? He did all of these things for our
good – this is the nature of God’s actions. So in
this light, it suggests that the Torah which
Hashem gave to us is for our good and therefore
not a yoke or a burden. This argument is backed
up by the pasuk (verse):
‘Vayiten et kol hachukim ha’aylu l’tov lanu…
lachayosainu kayom haz’e’
“however in order to
get this gift, you
need to learn Torah
and do Mitzvot.”
(Translation: God gave us all these commandments for our good... to give us eternal life).
It is not 613 tasks but 613 opportunities.
Hashem knew that as a people we have the ability
to attain a share in Olam Habbah (the world to
come) – a share that no other nation could attain.
However in order to get this gift, you need to
learn Torah and do mitzvot.
So to go back to the original question: The wise
son asked: ‘What are all these commandments
that Hashem gave us?’ Hashem gave us 613
mitzvot to give us 613 opportunities as opposed to
a mere 7. There are 613 doors to fix the world and
all that we need to do is to tap into them.
With this little thought, I wish everyone a
happy, healthy, kosher Pesach.
Anon
WITH BEST WISHES
FROM
ORLI BAGEL BAKERY
(under the supervision of the Federation)
53 SHENLEY ROAD, BOREHAMWOOD
Tel : 020 8207 6203
the first claim on Jewish resources was to help the
Jewish communities of Palestine (soon to become the
State of Israel).
Finally in 1948, Barbara (mother of former Kerem
pupil and local member Andrew Zucker) and I, together with three of our cousins and a group of other children became founder pupils of Kerem House.
The name Kerem, meaning “vineyard”, was chosen
because of an incident that occurred during the
Roman siege of Jerusalem, which led up to the
destruction of the second temple.
The great Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai had himself
smuggled out of the city in a coffin by some of his students.
He realised that even without a temple, Judaism
would survive if there were places of learning. He created a situation where Vespasian, the Roman
Commander, owed him a favour and he requested
that he be given the town of Yavneh. There he assembled many teachers and students in schools that
became known as Kerem b’Yavneh, which is translated
into “the vineyards of Yavneh,” and where, it is suggested, the pupils sat in rows ‘like vines in a vineyard.’
By 1950, Kerem House had outgrown the premises
allocated in the Shul. A local school building came on
the market in Kingsley Way, which was purchased for
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Chief Rabbi Jacobowitz and Stanley Frankfort
£7,500, after much fund raising.
Kerem House remains at this site today.
But a kindergarten was not enough and my father’s
next challenge was to establish a primary school in the
area, which again involved much campaigning and
fund raising. In the fullness of time this, too, was
achieved and Kerem School was launched in Norrice
Lea Shul hall, where it remains, today, following a
number of disappointments in trying to find and
finance suitable premises elsewhere in the locality.
Both the kindergarten and the primary school continue to flourish and have high religious and secular
standards; they are well respected by the authorities.
There are an increasing number of Jewish schools in North West
It's a safe bet that a fair number of our own Shul
London, Hertfordshire and elsewhere in the country. Most are well
members are former pupils of Kerem House or Kerem
supported.
School.
The recent establishment and obvious success of Yavneh College,
My mother is regularly invited to be guest of honwhich is close to my home, makes me think of a time,
shortly after the Second World War, when the idea of a our at many Kerem functions and over the years has
become a dab hand at presenting awards at their
Jewish school was not so fashionable and was viewed
annual prize giving events.
with contempt by some members of the Jewish
Currently, one of her great grand children is a pupil
Community who thought it would lead to segregation.
of the school, and another will be joining when he is
My parents, Sybil and Stanley, were brought up in
old enough.
London's East End, where their fathers were founder
Sadly, my father passed away five months before the
members of the Dzikover Shtiebel. They moved to
Kerem Schools celebrated their fiftieth anniversary, but
Hampstead Garden Suburb in 1942, when they married. My father was in the army at that time where, in he has left a wonderful legacy for the Community. He
addition to his military duties, he acted as an Honorary was Life President of the schools which he visited regularly and was always warmly welcomed by staff and
Chaplain and was able to organize religious services
pupils.
whenever possible for his fellow Jewish soldiers.
Both schools are still going strong and last year
He was demobilised in 1946 and went into business.
another milestone was reached with their sixtieth
Even before the war, both my parents were well
anniversary.
involved in various ongoing communal activities, but
So, they are half way there – ad me’ah ve’esrim
my father’s vision lay in the direction of Jewish educashana!
tion.
By this time my sister Barbara and I were approaching school age and our parents wanted us to go to a
HowardFrankfort
Jewish school. As there were none nearby, there was
only one thing to do.
The very Anglicized members of Norrice Lea Shul, at
that time, expressed their horror at the thought of
such a school in their midst with kids running around
with peyot and tzitzit blowing in the wind. It was OK
in Stamford Hill, but not in the Suburb!
Nevertheless, supported by the right team he was
able to collect enough money to establish a kindergarten, in the Shul hall. This was in 1947, soon after
the war, when money was scarce (even in HGS) and
Howard Frankfort’s parents were instrumental in establishing the Kerem schools in Hampstead. Here he tells their story.
The Kerem
Schools
Link Pesach 2009 77
Every day we blur the boundaries between right and
wrong. Amanda Pollock asks if we’re really doing the
right thing.
Two wrongs and a
right
It’s become a bit fluid, hasn’t it? When we were kids, it seemed really
clear cut. There was a right way of doing things and a wrong way, and
doing the right thing made us feel good about ourselves, and doing
the wrong thing made us feel a bit sick. And we really had high hopes
Amanda Pollock
78 Link Pesach 2009
of doing the same things with our kids. But
it started so early on. Those places where you
had to pay for children over 2 years old. And
the price for the over 2’s was so exorbitant,
that it didn’t feel wrong to claim that our 3
year old was still 23months. We open our
mail in the morning to bills, mortgage statements, and charity requests, and we all do
what we can. At the same time the newspaper drops on the mat, and there is a front
page story about a single mother of 13 kids
who’s just been given a 9 bedroom mansion
and a minibus to get around in. And while
we congratulate ourselves on an entrance fee
saved, or vent about the evils of the state
funded elements of society, we forget that
there are small pairs of eyes on us. And I
have a feeling that they are getting the hang
of this fluidity too.
And my kids are still too small to see the
newspaper headlines about financiers squandering other people’s money. They don’t take
much notice of articles about social security
fiddling and fraud that seem to be commonplace in the press. But even at their ages, the
world is not as black and white as it was
when we were small. They see that everyone
is out for themselves. Of course I can justify
calling in sick when it’s my child’s chanukah
play, but it’s hard to ask the children to tell
me the truth about who threw the paint on
the floor, when they’ve heard me putting on
a “sick voice” and then putting the phone
down and putting on my makeup. And I’m
not suggesting for a second that I shouldn’t
have gone to that play. You know what I’m
saying here. I was dishonest. And, deep down,
it’s hard to reconcile that with the way I
want my kids brought up.
It’s not a religious thing, although I think
that being Jewish tends to put you in the
frame of mind that there are things that you
do, and things that you don’t do. For example,
I have a friend who went to a coffee evening a
while back while she was dieting, and she
knew that her willpower of being on the diet
alone would not be enough to stop her from
eating a chocolate biscuit. So she had a meat
meal for supper, because that way she knew
there was just no way she would eat the biscuit (those Rakusens parev ones aren’t worth
breaking a diet for anyway!). It’s a moral thing.
And life makes our decisions and our choices
so much more complicated than they used to
be.
Yes, of course, there were always white lies.
Our parents told us about the Tooth Fairy too.
They warned us of dire consequences of not
eating vegetables, and bucked teeth if we
sucked our thumbs for too long. But it seems
that kids are growing up faster these days, and
what was once a white lie has expanded into
an industry built to sustain the lie, and that
feels a bit more dangerous. Take the Tooth
Fairy. I used to put a tooth in a tissue under
my pillow and the next morning there was a
20p piece lying there waiting for me. Not for
our kids. The internet markets a special tooth
bag to put the old tooth in. We print certificates congratulating them on keeping the
tooth so clean, and explain in detail how it
will be used to build up the walls of the Tooth
Fairy’s castle. Yes, it’s sweet, but that white lie
is getting darker. And when they take the certificate into school, to show their classmates,
and there is the inevitable jaded 6 year old
with a 10 year old brother who knows everything about everything, of course he witheringly brings them down to earth with a bump.
And your child comes home and looks at that
certificate a little differently, no matter what
you say.
These are hard times, shouldn’t we be doing
everything we can to make them just a little
easier? Doesn’t the stress of bills mounting up
and our salaries becoming less reliable make
our decisions that bit more open to interpretation? If we were held to account for every
phone call we put through on the work line,
or every letter sent from the office franking
machine, would each of us be able to hold our
heads up and say we’re squeaky clean?
So one part of it is how everyone now
thinks it is their “right” to get a little extra. If
they are working for an organisation, and they
do a really good job, why shouldn’t they claim
a little extra on their expenses – come on, we
all know it goes on, and if everyone else is
doing it…..
And another part of it is that all we want to
do is give our kids the start in life that we
never had. Our generation has the “Life is
short – Play More” attitude that gives rise to
wanting to grab every moment of happiness,
steal ourselves a bargain, enjoy the precious
present, get our priorities right, because we’re
worth it. Will our kids thank us for this blurring of the rights and wrongs? Will they suffer
for it? Don’t ask me – I’m busy convincing the
kids that it really is Eliyahu drinking the wine
from the centre of the table, not us spilling it
out when they’re not looking!
Amanda Pollock
Denise Phillips cooks up a Pesach feast.
Recipes
Apple Squares
Mixed Fish Passover Casserole
Potato and Mushroom Pie
I am always looking for something different to cook
over Passover that is quick and tasty to make. I find
that apple recipes are always popular, especially if
they are parev and can be made in advance. This
recipe is similar to apple clafoutis, a cake mixture
cooked in an egg and matzah meal batter. Pears
and fresh apricots could be substituted should you prefer.
Note that this recipe has the advantage of being
Nut Free. At Pesach, I feel especially sorry for anyone with nut allergies, because so many recipes,
whether sweet or savoury, use nuts. Serve this
recipe in squares and it is delicious for tea or as a
dessert during Passover
I always feel sorry for the people with special dietary
requirements during Pesach – it can be quite a challenge
to find variety and nutrition during this time. So this is a
tasty fish stew that does not contain nuts and it is an ideal
recipe for entertaining – most kosher restaurants are shut
for the holiday so I find myself cooking even more than
usual.
This recipe works just as well with other fish combinations; try your own mixture and I also like to crumble
matzah over the top just before serving.
I have sautéed a mélange of mushrooms, surrounded it with some mashed potato and baked it; giving
a new meaning to mash! Try using oyster, brown
cap, shiitake and button mushrooms for a good
‘mushroom’ flavour. When you start to fry the
mushrooms they suddenly release a lot of liquid.
For the best results continue to cook so that all the
liquid is absorbed back into the mushrooms.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes Makes: 16 squares
Ingredients
1 tablespoon margarine – to grease the tin
1/2 teaspoon salt
120ml /1/2 cup vegetable oil
200g/1 ¼ cups fine matzo meal or cake meal
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
5 eggs separated
2 large dessert apples, peeled, cored and thinly
sliced
225g/1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Garnish: Icing sugar
Method
1) Pre-heat the oven to 190 C/ 375 F/ Gas mark 5.
2) Line the base of a 20 cm/ 8 inch square tin and
grease the sides.
3) Combine sugar, cinnamon, salt and matzo meal.
4) Add eggs yolks, oil and zest and juice of the
lemon and whisk together until the mixture is
thick.
5) Whisk the egg whites in a separate clean bowl
until stiff. Combine the egg whites into the egg
yolk mixture.
6) Pour half of this batter into a greased tin. Cover
batter with thinly sliced apples. Sprinkle with
remaining batter.
7) Bake for 45 minutes in the pre heated oven
until the mixture is firm and set in the middle.
8) Cool completely before cutting into squares.
To serve the stylish way: Stack up the squares up
high and dust with icing sugar.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 people
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves – peeled and finely chopped
2 red onions – peeled and roughly chopped
4 sticks celery chopped
1 fresh fennel – trimmed and sliced
5 salad tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
100ml red wine
100ml cold water
Large bunch fresh parsley – roughly chopped
1 tablespoon sugar or to taste
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
900g fish, (e.g. cod, haddock, sea bass, salmon and
red snapper fillets – skinned and cut into large
cubes
Topping: 2 large matzah – crumbled
Method
1) Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan. Sauté the
garlic and onion for about 3 minutes or until
soft but not brown.
2) Add the celery and fennel, and sauté for about
3 minutes.
3) Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, water,
parsley, sugar, fennel seeds, salt and pepper.
Simmer for about 15 minutes.
4) Add the fish, cover the pot and cook for about
5 minutes, or until fish is cooked through but
still firm.
To serve the stylish way: Serve immediately in heated, shallow soup bowls. Crumble some matzah on
top.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1.35 kg (3 pound) potatoes – peeled and roughly
chopped
750g mushrooms, - brown cap, oyster, shiitake, button – cleaned and sliced
10 spring onions- trimmed and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 eggs
200ml milk
Pinch of nutmeg
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan - optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Garnish: Chopped chives
Method
1) Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/ 400 F/ Gas mark 6.
2) Cook the potatoes in boiling water until very
soft.
3) Drain and mash using a ricer or fork. Stir in
50ml milk, 1 egg, salt and pepper and mix
well. Spoon the mixture around the sides of a
23 cm/ 9 inch flat pie dish.
4) Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Sauté
all the mushrooms and spring onions until soft
and all the mushroom liquid has been
absorbed.
5) Spoon the mushroom mixture into the centre
of the potatoes.
6) Mix the remaining milk (150ml), 2 eggs, nutmeg, and salt and pepper together. Pour this
batter over the mushrooms. Sprinkle over the
grated Parmesan cheese – if using.
7) Bake the pie in the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes or until the mushroom mixture has set in
the centre.
To serve the stylish way: Snip some chives over the
top and serve immediately with a green salad
topped with toasted almonds.
Link Pesach 2009 79
Hannah Minksy tries to find her way in the Big Apple
Lost in
New York
There is a well known saying that ‘England and
America are one nation divided by two languages.’
Well, since I arrived here in New York back in
September to study my masters I have come to
appreciate the real meaning of this. Take what
should be a simple trip to a clothes store as an
example and you’ll hear people proudly asking one another ‘what do you think of my vest
and pants?(!)’ Now, in England people definitely are more discreet, but are Americans really
THAT open?! It doesn’t take too long until one
finds out that in the USA, a vest is a waistcoat
or a tank top, and pants are trousers!
80 Link Pesach 2009
However, it’s not only the language that
differs. Being in a new country has meant
that I, the innocent unsuspecting individual,
have been caught unprepared in torrential
rains, been driven to my bus stop without
the doors opening and so been stuck on the
bus (no one warned me that you actually
have to push the doors to open them yourself
here!!!) and have found that the cars drive
towards you in your lane, when attempting a
test drive!
Despite being very familiar with the States,
it is often clear that I don’t really belong or
come from here and, along the way, I have
met many others like myself. The most noteworthy was when I was being driven by a
kippa wearing driver who had a foreign
accent. I thought he was Israeli. We both
exchanged the usual question to each other,
‘Where are you from?’ His reply to me was
‘Russia.’ ‘Oh,’ I replied, ‘You’re Russian,’
(nothing like stating the obvious!) His reply
however threw me, ‘No’, he said. I asked him
to clarify, ‘Didn’t you say you were from
Russia?’ ‘Yes,’ he answered me, ‘but I’m not
Russian….I’m Jewish.’
This conversation struck me. Having been
defined by my birthplace since I arrived in
the States, I finally was talking to someone
who clearly had his perspectives in life
straight.
On Pesach, we recall how we were slaves in
Egypt and we thank H-shem for redeeming
us. Our Rabbis teach us that during the slavery we were on a very low spiritual level,
however we had three redeeming factors. 1)
We kept our language, 2) we kept our dress,
we didn’t adopt the Egyptian dress code and
3) we kept our Jewish names. In short, we
held on to our identities, we held on to the
fact that we were Jews in a foreign land.
With the ten plagues that H-shem struck
the Egyptians with in order to make Pharoah
free us, we were not only exposed to the
magnitude of H-shem Himself, but there
were many other lessons from each of the
plagues that we can learn from. Having suffered 6 plagues already, Moshe told the
Egyptians that another plague was about to
arrive, hail. He warned the Egyptians that
anything left outside would be destroyed,
and we are taught that many brought their
animals inside and saved them. However
there were also those who did not. Surely,
having experienced the previous plagues, the
Egyptians would take Moshe’s threats seriously, so how could some people ignore his
warning?!
The answer I read from Rabbi Frand
explains that those who didn’t take heed
were the types of people who did not stop to
think! They didn’t take notice of what was
going on around them! This seems ridiculous, how could they not have noticed what
was going on around them?! The answer is
that it is possible to go through one’s life and
not notice the personal and national happenings, and not make changes because of them.
The great Rabbi Akiva originally knew nothing about Torah, he was an ignoramus until
the age of 40, when he observed that due to
the constant dripping of water on a rock,
over many years, the rock had become
smooth. He thought to himself, if water dripping on a rock is able to affect a hard rock,
then surely the Torah will be able to penetrate into my head. Due to noticing this, he
began right from the beginning, having to
learn the hebrew alphabet until he became
the great Rabbi Akiva. Now, how many of us
have ever passed by a rock and changed the
course of our lives because of it?! How many
of us even see the news and are changed by
it? This idea of ignoring what happens
around us is something that isn’t so far
removed from us at all…
When we did eventually leave Egypt, Hshem gave us some commandments. The
things he commanded us in were the laws of
dealing with slaves. This seems like a strange
choice of command, given that they were not
practical for us at that moment in time!
Wouldn’t giving us a different commandment have been more beneficial?
Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz explains a general concept. When big things happen to us,
there are two possible outcomes, either we
can forget about them, or we can change
based on them. In that inspiring moment,
one can change his life forever, or, one can
continue his life, and lose that opportunity.
Having just experienced years of slavery it
was the right time to capitalize on that, and
to teach us how we should treat slaves, as we
fully understood what it meant to be a slave.
Wherever we happen to find ourselves in
the world, we are Jews, and the responsibility
of a Jew is to not only realize he is a Jew, but
to realize that H-shem is constantly giving us
messages that we should notice. More than
that, these messages are ones that are giving
us the opportunity to become bigger and better people.
Every day, every Shabbos and every festival
provides us with these gifts. Pesach is exceptional, as we devote two nights (outside of
Israel) to telling what happened to us, to
appreciating our freedom and to appreciating
our G-d and what He did and does for us.
Whilst we are no longer slaves, we are still
Jews, lost in countries that are not our own.
We are different to those around us, yet
through these differences, we are able to
retain our identity, and to not only observe
the happenings, both good and bad, around
us, but to allow ourselves to change as a
result of them, and hopefully bring ourselves
closer to the full and final redemption. May
it come speedily in our days!
Hannah Minsky
Pesach
Bite No. 3b
The Pesach Sacrifice in
this year of 5769
Everyday we believe that the Final
Redemption in Messianic times is
getting closer. In every Amidah
prayer we pray that G-d restores the
service of His most holy Temple and
receive with favour our offerings
and prayers. So when the Third
Temple finally descends from
Heaven on top of Har Ha Bayit
…...Well! Pesach in Jerusalem is a
lovely time of year!
In anticipation of the Pesach
sacrifice, should the Messiah tarry ,
not only would we wait daily for
his coming , we would also continue to follow the custom handed
down since Temple times not to eat
anything
on
Seder
night
resembling a sacrifice that has to be
offered up in the Temple such as
roast lamb.
However this is not so with our
Holy Land neighbours the
Samaritans. These people occupied
the Land of Israel after the destruction of the First Temple and later
adopted a sort of Jewish religion in
the Second Temple period. To this
day their descendents, who live
principally near Shechem, gather at
their holy place on Mount Gerizim
on 14th Nissan to carry out the
ritual of the Pesach sacrifice .
The Pesach sacrifice eaten with
traditionally baked
Sephardi
Matzot, which are far floppier than
our brittle stuff, together with some
bitter herbs and charoset resembles
a shwarma in a laffa with salad
(which you may eat on all other
nights except Pesach)
Bites by Paul Finn. Next Bite on page 94
Link Pesach 2009 81
fun & games
quiz & answers
, your
, who brought you out of the
”.
2. “I put before you
and
, the
and
the
, therefore choose
”.
3. “The day is
, the task is
”.
4. “Be fruitful and
, and
”.
5. “Honour your
and your
“.
6. “Hear O
, the Lord our
, the Lord is
”.
7. “You shall love the Lord your G-d with all your
and with all your
and with all your
”.
8. “You shall love your
as yourself : I am the Lord.”
History
1. The best known commentator on the Torah and Talmud was :
(a) Akiva
(b) Solomon
(c) Rumbum
(d) Rashi
2. The late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson was :
(a) spiritual leader of the world Ashkenazi Movement
(b) spiritual leader of Lubavitch (Chabad) Hasidism
(c) the head of Israel’s National Religious Party
(d) the Chief Rabbi of Israel
3. After the Roman destruction of the Second Temple some Jews continued to hold out
against the Romans for three more years, until their collective suicide at the fortress of :
(a) Nablus
(b) Acre
(c) Masada
(d) Jericho
4. The French army captain falsely accused in 1894 of spying for Germany and imprisoned on
Devil’s Island in what was widely regarded as an anti-semitic act was :
(a) Emile Zola
(b) Leon Blum
(c) Pierre Mendes France
(d) Albert Dreyfus
5. The “Golden Age” in Jewish history refers to the period of the tenth to twelth centuries in
which country :
(a) Portugal
(b) Germany
(c) Spain
(d) Holland
6. The term “ghetto”, referring to a section of a city in which Jews were obligated to live,
originated in 1516 in which of the following countries :
(a) Poland
(b) Austria
(c) Czechoslavakia
(d) Italy
82 Link Pesach 2009
ANSWERS
1. “I am the
True or false
1. False – the fourth Lateran Council in
1215 ordered Christian communities to
pass laws prescribing distinctive garments for Jews. Such rules were enacted in the 13th Century in England,
France, Spain, Italy and Germany,
either in the form of a special outer
garment, a coloured badge, or a distinctive hat.
2. True
3. False – the destruction of the Second
Temple in Jerusalem occurred in 70 C.E.
(Common Era)
4. True – in 1965 the Catholic Church at the
Vatican II Council formally dropped the
charge that the Jews were responsible for
the death of Jesus.
5. False – the Jews of England attained complete equality in the 19th Century, long
after other European countries.
Quotes – fill in the blanks
8. After the death of Moses, the leader of the
Jewish people was :
(a) Joshua
(b) Joseph
(c) David
(d) Solomon
Quotes – fill in the blanks
1. “I am the Lord, your G-d ,who brought
you out of the land of Egypt”.
2. “I put before you life and death, the
blessing and the curse, therefore choose
life”.
3. “The day is short, the task is great”.
4. “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth”.
5. “Honour your father and your mother“.
6. “Hear O Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord
is One”.
7. “You shall love the Lord your G-d with all
your heart and with all your soul and
with all your might ”.
8. “You shall love your neighbour as yourself
:I am the Lord.”
1. When the Nazis forced the Jews to wear the yellow star or badge, it was the first time in
history that this was done to Jews.
2. Like Jews, Muslims trace their lineage back to Abraham
3. The destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem occurred in 70 B.C.E
4. In 1965 the Catholic Church formally dropped the charge that the Jews were responsible
for the death of Jesus.
5. The first country in Europe to grant equal rights to Jews was England.
7. As a result of the Spanish Inquisition,
many fleeing Jews found refuge in :
(a) the Ottoman Empire
(b) England
(c) Iraq
(d) France
History
1. (d) Rashi
2. (b) Lubavitch (Chabad) Hassidism
3. (c) Massada
4. (d) Albert Dreyfus
5. (c) Spain
6. (d) Italy
7. (a) Ottoman Empire
8. (a) Joshua
True or False
fun & games
spot the difference
Answers on following page
Link Pesach 2009 83
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I
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1. Jewish Music Institute, word missing
2. Man on right has only one tsitsit
3. Man on balcony removed
4. Accorion letters missing
5. Ladies white hat changed to black
6. Middle stilt man has watch on
7. Left stilt man has buttons removed from
tunic
8. Flag has design removed
9. Left stilt man has no middle finger
10. Middle stilt man - tsitsit moved from left
to right
N
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PESACH
SAMEACH
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Code Breaker
84 Link Pesach 2009
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9
Pesach
Maror
Pharaoh
Matzo
Wine
Ten Plagues
Aphikomen
Haggadah
Seder
Red Sea
8
Code Breaker
fun & games
word search & code breaker
fun & games
maze
Link Pesach 2009 85
link community
what’s been happening?
BIRTHS
MAZELTOV
ON THE
BIRTH OF
Rabbi and Miriam
Plancey on the birth
of a great grandson in
Israel
Rabbi and Miriam
Plancey on the birth
of a granddaughter
Naomi and Martin
Wyman on the birth
of a son
Fiona and Jonathan
Brickman on the
birth of twin daughters
Beryl and Rev
Stanley Brickman
on the birth of twin
granddaughters
Gloria and Leon
Turschwell on the
birth of twin
granddaughters
Debbie and Martyn
Slyper on the birth of
a grandson
Simon and Warwick
Blake on the birth of a
daughter
Jennifer and Howard
Caplan on the birth
of a grandson
Sandy and Alan
Cohen on the birth of
a grandson
Jacqueline and
Joseph Gaffin on the
birth of a son
Judy and David
Newman on the birth
of their granddaughters
Lucy and Gideon
Rose on the birth of a
son
Georgina and Craig
Lesser on the birth of
a son
Monica and Michael
Kaye on the birth of a
grandson and a
granddaughter
Rachael and Marc
Jackson on the birth
of their daughter
Muriel Bass on the
birth of a great
86 Link Pesach 2009
granddaughter
John Blank on the
birth of a granddaughter
Emma and Gary
Dickenson on the
birth of a son
Pauline and Gerald
Dickenson on the
birth of a grandson
Maureen and David
Lobel on the birth of a
grandson
EmmaandRussell
Sherron the birth of a son
Jacqui and Brian
Bowman on the birth
of a grandson
Gillian and Gerald
Taylor on the birth of
a grandson
Paula and Brett
Lewis on the birth of
a son
Martine and Bradley
Sherman on the birth
of a son
Kate and Benjamin
Arnold on the birth of
a daughter
Susan and Anthony
Arnold on the birth of
a granddaughter
Miriam and Danny
Bermant on the birth
of a daughter
Shula and Len
Rickman on the birth
of their granddaughters
Sue and Greg
Lander on the birth of
a granddaughter
Vivien and Stephen
Newton on the birth
of a grandson
Hannah and Gary
Harman on the birth
of a daughter
Trudie and Eddie
Harman on the birth
of a granddaughter
Emma and Ronnie
Phillips on the birth
of a granddaughter
Caron and Matt Dias
on the birth of a son
Gemma and
Jonathan Shelley on
the birth of a daughter
Lauren and Damian
Schogger on the
birth of a daughter
CHATANIM / EYSHET CHAYIL
Profiles of Chatanim /
Eyshet Chayil this year
Rabbi Brawer, Chatan Bereishit
This past Simchat Torah the rabbi and I were very
honoured that he was chosen to be chatan Torah.
We were overwhelmed by the community’s participation in our simcha. So many of you sent us
thoughtful cards, flowers and bottles of wine. One
afternoon I stepped out to the shops and when I
returned there was enough wine on our doorstep to
take us to Pesach!
Simchat Torah evening was very lively. There was
a rumour that the rabbi was turning summersaults
but I can neither confirm nor deny these reports.
The highlight of course was imchat Torah day during keriyat ha-Torah when the Rabbi lained the last
verses of the Torah followed by Paul's opening verses
of Bereshit moments later.
The luncheon was very well attended and we were
moved by all the effort the community put into it.
We are especially grateful to our co-chatanim Paul
and Amanda Finn as well as to the Ladies committee
for all the work they put into ensuring that the celebration was such a success.
wrong person or mixing up names, he would just
smile and apologise and most of the time he got
away with it, with the exception of…..
Seriously though, Paul has an ability to put people
at ease, to guide them with his vast knowledge of
Torah and Halacha and to make members feel special when they are celebrating a simcha and cared
for when they are in mourning or otherwise fragile.
He has patience to help those who are not used to
being in Shul; this is demonstrated by his willingness
to guide those of us who lose the page or are confused with order of the service.
Paul was absolutely thrilled to be given the honour this year and looked forward to the great day
with much anticipation. Simchat Torah night following mincha was celebrated in the Kol Rinah hall,
with a beautiful Kiddush kindly set up by the ladies
guild together with our wonderful caretaker Bernie.
Following that, Hakofot and davening were held,
and we all stumbled home rather late in the evening.
The next day dawned rain free! The service was
amazing, enhanced by our family and friends. I
watched and listened with pride as Paul clearly and
precisely layend Parshat Bereishit with both our sons
Yaacov and Daniel together with my father by his
side.
Following the service, there was special lunch
open to the whole community. We must thank Judy
Woolf, Tanya Seshold and Denise Lederman for all
their assistance. The beautiful setup encouraged the
strong ruach that was felt by all. The speeches were
amazing and the whole event ended on a high!
We feel privileged to live in such a special community and would like to thank the Honorary Officers for giving Paul such a special honour, and the
community for supporting us over the last 21 years.
Rabbi Brawer
Paul Finn, Chatan Torah
Paul received the wonderful honour of being Chatan
Bereishit this year, together with Rabbi Brawer who
was Chatan Torah.
Paul has been warden of our shul for 5 years and
finally retired at the last elections. However, he is
still serving in the box at present due to the ill health
of David Newman, his successor. We would like to
wish David a Refuah Shalaima.
Paul was born in Manchester. His father Sholom
has always been involved in the running of his local
shul, the Higher Crumpsall where he has been a warden and for many years also held the position of president. Paul’s brother Simon who lives in Israel is also
warden of his local Shul and now his younger brother Lawrence has also become involved in shul activities, so it was obvious that eventually Paul would slot
into a position in his local shul! The fact that he
stayed in situ for so long is another thing altogether.
Paul’s focus was and still is, to help members in
shul whenever he could, and if he got it wrong, as he
often did in the early days…… such as calling up the
Paul Finn
Harry Ginsburg
Harry Ginsburg was chosen to be Chatan Torah for
the Year 5 and 6 children service.
He is currently in Year 7 at Yavneh College.
Harry is a keen footballer, normally to be found in
goal and an eternal optimist as he is a Spurs fan. He
loves watching Formula One Motor Racing and also
watching anything that features Jeremy Clarkson in,
which seems to be quite a lot on that TV channel
named Dave! Harry also likes badminton and cycling
and is to be found cycling to school daily. He is a wonderful artist and can often be found sketching racing
cars and fighter jets, both of which he is quite knowledgeable about. His ambition is to be a formula one
racing driver or to design racing cars so if anyone
reading this is a friend of Bernie Ecclestone, please
get in touch!
Now on to the serious business- Harry is a professional shwarma eater as can be attested by the fact
that he has eaten them the length and breadth of
Israel! He can relay all the facts and figures about
Israeli fighter jets,, formula one grid placings and
Spurs fixtures – but strangely still gets stuck on his
times tables!
Harry is a wonderful son, grandson, and big brother to Felicity, Beatrice and Alec and we are all really
proud of him - a bit of cringe is allowed especially if
you make your Mum write such an article!
A big thank you from all the Ginsburg family to all
the lovely people who give up their time each week
to take the Shul children Services. We really are a
very lucky community.
Ryan Peysner
Ryan is in Year 5 at the Michael Sobell Sinai School.
He enjoys football (supports Spurs) and computer
games. Recently, he has joined the “7 Up” club at Belmont Shul. Ryan enjoys attending shul on a Friday
night where he often sings Yigdal. He also attends
Bnei Akiva and can’t wait until he is old enough to go
to BA camp!
Ryan is an avid fan of Dr Who; there is not much
he does not know about any of the characters of this
newest version of the series. He can often be found
watching the DVDs, reading manuals or searching
the web for more information. He even visited the
exhibition in Cardiff. The spinoff series, Torchwood,
runs a close second as favourite.
Ryan was delighted to be chosen to be Chatan
Torah this year and was sorry that he missed the celebrations but he was in Israel over Succot.
Ryan Peysner
Harry Ginsburg
Sophie Album
Sophie (9 yrs old) is in Year 5 at Hertsmere Jewish Primary School. She has two older sisters, Talia (14 yrs)
and Abby (12 yrs) both who attend Yavneh College.
Sophie enjoys swimming and has weekly lessons.
Her favourite holiday destination is Israel which she
visits about five times a year. She loves going to the
beach in Tel Aviv and especially swimming in the
sea. Sophie regularly attends Bnei Akiva on Shabbat
afternoons and also goes to Brownies. Sophie enjoys
eating her Mummy’s home-made double chocolate
cookies!
Lottie Stankler
really like going to Shul with my Mummy, Daddy
and brother Ben and was so pleased to become Eshet
Chayil. I like collecting Teddies and GoGos and playing Netball. I also like drama and singing in my
school choir. I even like football and support Manchester United even though it upsets my Daddy who
supports Leeds with my brother. I am really lucky to
have been to Israel a few times recently and I love it
there! My favourite pop group is Girls Aloud and best
films are High School Musical I, II and III (I know ALL
of the songs as Mummy and Daddy know only too
well!).
Lottie Stankler
Chantelle Freeman
Sophie Album
I like going to the children’s service every week
because I enjoy the Shabbat prayers and songs. I also
Jayne and Joel
Waxman on the birth
of a daughter
Caroline and Craig
Levison on the birth
of a son
Stephen Slater on
the birth of a
grandson
Rochelle and
Stephen Davis on
the birth of a
granddaughter
Betty and Michael
Davis on the birth of
a great granddaughter
Esmond and Hilary
Rosen on the birth of
a grandson
Leanne and
Jonathan Kleinot on
the birth of a daughter
Hayley and Julian
Myers on the birth of
a daughter
Rachel and Nicholas
Mandel on the birth
of a daughter
Debra and Jonathan
Lebovits on the birth
of a son
Dalya and Marc
Wittenberg on the
birth of a son
Caron and David
Plein on the birth of a
son
Melanie and Joe
Arazi on the birth of a
son
Estelle and Darren
Talberg on the birth
of a son
Sandra and Ian
Feeney on the birth of
a son
BEREAVEMENTS
WE WISH
“LONG LIFE” TO
Karen Ainley on the
loss of her mother
Lydia Graham
Amanda Kyte of the
loss of her father
Anthony Grant
The family of
Brenda Myers
Hazel Leventhal on
the loss of her sister
Frances Shertzer
Aron Sager on the
loss of his father
Bernard Sager
Simon Michaelson
on the loss of his
mother Ruth
Michaelson
Louis Helper on the
loss of his wife
Deborah Helper
Paul Rosen on the
loss of his father Edwin
Rosen
Jeffrey and Paul
Simmons on the loss
of their father Alfred
and the loss of their
mother Matilda
Simmons
Gloria Solomon on
the loss of her mother
Patricia Marks
Keith Gordon on the
loss of his father
Maxwell Gordon
Adam Joseph on the
loss of his father
Leonard Joseph
Diane Miller on the
loss of her mother
Teresa Leitz
Janis Sher on the loss
of her mother Monica
Charkin
Sandra Sharpe on
the loss of her father
Maurice Moscow
Linda Marks on the
loss of her mother Rita
McKelvey
Elaine Regan on the
loss of her father
Harold Harris
Andrew Boas on the
loss of his brother
Jason Boas
To the family of
Sylvia Coburn
Michael Davis on the
loss of his sister Joan
Newman
Philip and Simon
Levinson on the loss
of their father Cyril
Levinson
Miriam Shaviv on
the loss of her mother
Judy Shaviv
Linda Black
(Anthony Road) on
the loss of her father
Basil Greenstone
Rebecca
Rubenstein on the
loss of her father Sid
Lowi
Carol Monjack on
the loss of her brother
Leslie Conn
Stuart Green on the
loss of his father Ivan
Green
Debbi Livingston on
the loss of her mother
Mary Flack
Esme Landsberg on
the loss of her brother
Dennis Frankel
Link Pesach 2009 87
link community
enjoy seeing my friends. My favourite part is the Kiddush in the synagogue especially the jam biscuits.
My favourite TV programmes are Peppa Pig and
SmART. I love drawing and painting especially in
my after school art class. I love playing power
rangers with my little brother Eytan. I love reading
all my magic fairy books and I am a magic fairy too!
I was so excited to be Eshet Chayil and my
mummy and daddy are very proud of me
things. Ariella also enjoys playing with her younger
brother, Rafi.
Rebecca. I am a keen sportsman I play for London
Maccabi Lions and for my school. At school I also
play rugby,cricket,badminton and table tennis I also
enjoy playing tennis and cycling. At home I like
watching top gear on the television. I really enjoyed
being Chatan Torah because I felt like I was given a
really big honour.
Ariella Yantin
Gilad (Gilli) Newmark
Chantelle Freeman
Rafi Zac Jacobs
Born 27th November 2000
Year 3 @ HJPS
Rafi is an avid Arsenal fan and is football crazy! He
loves coming to shul, and being part of the community! Rafi was delighted to receive the honour of
being a Chatan on SimchatTorah .........we are all
extremely proud of him!
My Hobby Is playing on my DS. I like Super Mario
Brothers and FIFA ‘08
Things I like: I like doing flips
Things I do not like: Spurs, and Mushrooms
My favorite holiday is: Going to Israel
My favorite tv programme is: Doctor Who
My favorite Food is: Sausages
My Favourite football teams are: Manchester United
and Chelsea
My favourite toy is: Match Attax
My favorite book: Ben 10 Fire and Fur
My favorite film is: Mamma Mia
My defining charactistics are: teasing my sisters
What being chatan torah meant to me: It was a fun
experience and I got to wear my smart suit
How I enjoyed the occasion of simchat torah:
It was great fun to celebrate with my family and all
my friends
Sarah Kass
Harry Cohen
Harry is a lively, fun person and a loyal friend who
always looks out for opportunities to help other people. He loves playing football, watching Arsenal and
singing, usually very loudly or in a silly voice! His
three brothers were delighted when he was made
Chatan Torah, and so was Harry. "When I first heard
I felt special and proud," he said. "I told all my friends
at school and they all congratulated me. My parents
and grandparents were proud of me too. When I
actually received my certificate and gift I turned
around to find everyone applauding me and at that
point I felt like a superstar!"
Rafi Zac Jacobs
Gilli Newmark
Harry Cohen
Ariella Yantin
Sarah Kass
Ethan Frieze
5 year old Ariella attends Edgware Jewish Primary
School and is currently in Year 1. She was delighted
to be chosen to be Eshet Chayil for her service this
year. Ariella attends the children service almost
every week, as she loves to come to shul to daven and
see her friends.
Ariella is a very conscientious student in school
and is particularly enjoying learning to read both
English and Hebrew. She loves her modern Ivrit lessons in school and can communicate in Ivrit by discussing a variety of foods that she does and doesn’t
like to eat!
Out of school Ariella attends weekly swimming
lessons as well as ballet and tap classes. Ariella loves
to dance, is very creative and spends a large amount
of time doing artwork, cutting, sticking and making
My name is Sarah Kass and I am 10 years old.I am in
year 5 at HJPS.
I have a sister called Rachel who is 14.My favourite
football team is Chelsea and I also enjoy playing football with all my friends.I have a dog called Rolo who
is adorable and very naughty.He eats everything
even if it is not edible.He especially loves his piece of
challah on Shabbat!My favourite holiday place is
Israel and I love going to see all the places that I have
learnt about.
Thank you for giving me the chance to be Eshet
Chayil,it was great being part of all the fun with my
friends.
My name is Sammy Kingston and I am in year 7 at
Yavneh College. I live at home with my mum Lisette
and dad Mark and my two teenage sisters Emma and
Name: Ethan Paul Frieze (Eitan Yehuda)
Date of Birth: 1st December 2ooo
School: Hertsmere Jewish Primary School Year 3
Favourite Football Team: Arsenal
Favourite Jewish Item: Shofar that his parents gave
him to celebrate the honour of being Chatan Torah
Hobbies: Drawing, Piano, Supermario Kart on the
Wii, staying up after bedtime
Favourite holiday destination: Eilat, 7 times, not
bad for an 8 year old
Most inspirational places visited: The Kotel, The Emirates Stadium, Daddy’s office in Canary Wharf
Most likely to say: “I’m just saving this Pokemon battle on the DS”
Least likely to say: “I’m tired, can I go to bed please”
Most Favourite/Most Irritating: 4 year old: his sister
88 Link Pesach 2009
BEREAVEMENTS
WE WISH
“LONG LIFE” TO
cont.
Jemima
Plans for the future: To be a car designer or architect
Rebecca Josephine Fisher
Hebrew Name: Rivka Yosepha
Date of Birth: 17th September (not the 18th!! On the
shul calendar)
School: Yavneh College
I enjoy singing, spending time with my friends, playing on my computer, doing “art and crafty stuff” and
watching movies. I was very pleased to be given the
honour of Eshet Chayil and thank you very much. I
recently celebrated my Batmitzvah at Elstree and
Borehamwood Synagogue and afterwards enjoyed a
party with all my friends and family.
Ethan Frieze
Joel Samuel Marks
Name: Joel Samuel Marks
School: JFS
Gap Year – Would like to spend a year in Israel
University – Would like to go to Manchester to study
History.
Little bit about me:
I’m a twin and also have an older brother.
Deputy Head Boy at JFS.
Would like to become a Lawyer.
Wants to make Aliyah before I’m 30.
Like to watch lots of movies
Heavily involved with FZY
Favourite:
Favourite Film – The Shaw Shank Redemption
Favourite Artist – Michael Buble
Favourite Restaurant – Met Sui Yan
Favourite Destination – Israel, Ein Gedi
Favourite Toy: I-pod.
Rebecca Fisher
Gaby Sacofsky
Name: Gaby Sacofsky
School: JFS
Year: 13
Currently studying: Next year I plan: to go to
Midreshet Harova (sem in Israel!) After that I want: to
study history in uni
My biggest fear is: dogs
My favourite film is: Mamma Mia
Gaby Sacofsky
Ellen Steel
Joel Samuel Marks
Alastair Livingston
Name: Alastair Livingston
Age: 18
Birthday: 25th October 1990
Interests: Football, Cricket, Rugby, Music and Politics
Favourite Meal: Sushi
Favourite Movie: Lucky Number Slevin
Favourite Band: The Script
Future Plans: Go to university for a politics degree
and then take a gap year after university
Name: Ellen Steel
School: JFS
Year: 13
Currently studying: Geography, R.S., Sociology
Next year I plan: to go to sem in Israel (MMY)
After that I want: to study sociology in university
My biggest fear is: daddy long legs
My favourite film is: Notting Hill
Ellen Steel
Stuart Asher on the
loss of his mother
Rose Asher
Jackie Asher on the
loss of her mother
Rose Asher
Lucy Levy on the
loss of her husband
Norman Levy
Yvette Segal,
Lynsey Weisser and
Alison Wearne on
the loss of their father
Norman Levy
Debbie Slyper on the
loss of her father Sam
Chesler
Shirley Rubin on the
loss of her husband
Joe Rubin
To the family of
Lucy Alge
Gina Rubner on the
loss of her father Ivan
Roseman
Morris Roseman on
the loss of his father
Ivan Roseman
MAZEL TOV
BAT MITZVAH
Jill and Philip
Hamilton on the
Batmitzvah of their
daughter Olivia
Emma and Stephen
Portnoi on the
Batmitzvah of their
daughter Talya
Stacey and Adam
Rubens on the
Batmitzvah of their
daughter Jessica
Eve and Daniel
Album on the
Batmitzvah of their
daughter Abby
Bianca and David
Golding on the
Batmitzvah of their
daughter Celine
Debra and Howard
Jackson on the
Batmitzvah of their
daughter Sophie
Debra and Jonathan
Fisher on the
Batmitzvah of their
daughter Rebecca
Karen and Bryan
Seaton on the
Batmitzvah of their
daughter Sophia
Helen and Simon
Gale on the
Batmitzvah of their
daughter Jessica
MAZEL TOV
BAR MITZVAH
Emma and Stephen
Portnoi on the
Barmitzvah of their
son Ari
Lincoln and Gillian
Hirst on the
Barmitzvah of their
son Tom
Tracey and Andrew
Schapira on the
Barmitzvah of their
son Ben
Stacey and Adam
Rubens on the
Barmitzvah of their
son Benjamin
David and Judith
Freedman on the
Barmitzvah of their
son Dan
Vivien and Martin
Frey on the
Barmitzvah of their
sons Zachary and
Joshua
Nadia and Ian
Steiner on the
Barmitzvah of their
son Myer
Ira and Ashley Kaye
on the Barmitzvah of
their son Elliott
Sue and Tony Cohen
on the Barmitzvah of
their son Simeon
Penny and Julian
Low on the
Barmitzvah of their
son Yoav
Eva and Ray FoleyComer on the
Barmitzvah of their
grandson in Israel
Alison and Jeffrey
Simmons on the
Barmitzvah of their
son David
Rona and Daniel
Rhodes on the
Barmitzvah of their
son Barney
Suzanne Lipton and
Andrew Lipton on
the Barmitzvah of
their son Sam
Link Pesach 2009 89
link community
Carol and Johnny
Arkush on the
MAZEL TOV
marriage of their
BAR MITZVAH
daughter Miriam to
cont.
Harris Lorie
Ben Summerfield on
his marriage to Katie
Shelley and Darryl
Wilder
Melvyn and Janice
Colmans and
Esterman on the
Russell and Carol
engagement of their
Brin on the
daughter Louise to
Barmitzvah of their
Alex Grainger
son Zachary Brin
Sandra and Ian
David and Lynn
Polin on the BarmitzSilver on the aufruf of
vah of their son Adam
their son Bradley
Anne and Malcolm
Shaya Hotter and
Gordon on the
Charlotte Klein on
Barmitzvah of their
their marriage
Susan and Jack
son Samuel
Sharon and Stephen Miller on the
Lewis on the
marriage on their
Barmitzvah of their
daughter Lisa to
son Joshua
Robert Benson
Sharon and Robert
Sandy and Alan
Gold on the
Cohen on the engageBarmitzvah of their
ment of their daughter
son Sam
Louise to Noam
Ariella and David
Lederman
Anne and Simon
Shohet on the
Serota on the engageBarmitzvah of their
ment of their daughter
son Adam
Amanda and Gary
Amy to Joshua
Bernstein on the
Freedman
Angela and Keith
Barmitzvah of their
Lack on the forthcomson Gideon
Sandra and Spencer ing marriage of their
Sharpe on the
daughter Lauren to
Barmitzvah of their
Dean Silver
Sara Foley-Comer on
son Ricky
the engagement of her
son James to Sara Miller
Stephen Taylor on his
MAZEL TOV
Aufruf
SPECIAL
ANNIVERSARIES Sorrelle and Richard
Kafton on the
engagement of their
daughter Rachel to
Liz and Jeff Azizoff
Dean Gerschlowitz
Es and Hilary Rosen
on their Silver
on the marriage of their
Wedding anniversary
Monica and Michael daughter Naomi to Phil
Kaye on their Coral
Goldstein
JacquiandMichael
Wedding anniversary
Martine Levine on
Jacobsonon the engagehis 75th birthday
ment of their son Simon to
Sarah Horowitz
Jean and Howard
Weiss on the engageAUFRUFS,
ment of their daughter
WEDDINGS &
Joanne to Paul Mitchell
ENGAGEMENTS
Ian and Beverley
Kangisser
the
Baby
boy foron
the
marriage
Ralphs forthcoming
it should be
a
Ruth and Laurence
of their son Ryan to
credit with
names
and
Cohen onpicture
the
Michelle
Gallow
dates
as it makes it much more
engagement
of their
daughter Emma
to for
intresting
Marc Hazan
90 Link Pesach 2009
COMMUNITY
YOUTH
Doron and wife Dina
Reflections on Borehamwood Youth Community
Doron Luder
Borehamwood has lots of teenagers! Over the
past months I have made contact with most of
the children on the youth list, encouraging
them to get involved in our wide range of activities which may be social, cultural or religious in
nature. At the same time we have ensured that
our activities appeal to the full spectrum of
teenagers which we have in our community.
The “Survival of the Fittest” event which we
held in late December cultivated a strong sense
of teamwork and friendship amongst the players. It also attracted less regular attendants of
the youth service to participate in what was a
fun and enjoyable time for everyone. This event
generated a real buzz amongst the kids. Tactics
and strategies were being planned carefully by
each team and I offered ‘inside knowledge’ to
each team – though nobody knew exactly where
my loyalties lay.
The ice skating event which we held in January also generated a strong ruach as well as
attracting less regular attendants, who were
made to feel welcome. The thrill of the city at
night set the scene and the glamorous location –
Canada Square – contributed greatly to a
buzzing atmosphere.
Children from Borehamwood participated in
the Tribe Weekend Away – a fantastic opportunity for children in years 7 & 8 to meet other
children in their year from all over the country.
Set in the picturesque setting of Kingswood
Activity Centre in North Wales, the weekend
started on Thursday afternoon and went
through to Sunday. Friday was filled with
incredible activities like rock climbing, giant zipwire, high ropes, fencing, caving and many
other great team initiatives. Shabbat was full of
song and food, including an oneg, and a very
special seudah shlishit. Borehamwood kids
could be heard loud and clear during meal
times, regularly leading the singing and starting
new songs.
The Winter Friday night oneg programme has
provided a warm and secure atmosphere for regular and less regular shul attendants to socialize. In a community as large and diverse as
Borehamwood, it is difficult for all the youth to
hang out together. Kids go to a wide range of
schools and associate in so many other contexts.
It is therefore vital that we have a warm and
sociable environment where the children from
our community can interact with each other on
Shabbat outside of shul, as well as providing
opportunities for less regular shul-goers to
engage in communal activities. At the same time
the monthly Friday night youth service has
developed and impressed upon the youth a real
sense of community, and has encouraged the
youth to attend Friday night services.
The children from years 7 & 8 have been
involved in a new and exciting project, coordinated by the UJIA called Project Chesed. The aim
of the project is educate and instill the value of
giving charity, with the aim of developing our
teenagers into young philanthropists, giving of
both their money and their time. Activities have
varied from clothes drives to shiurim on tzedaka.
Throughout the course of the year Borehamwood sixth formers have participated in the
Tribe Ambassador programme – a year long contest designed to head hunt the future leaders of
our community. In fact two of our participants
have even made it to the final stages of the contest to be held in Israel, where contestants battle
against each other in various initiative challenges, such as Israel advocacy and promoting
Israeli tourism.
As the snow fell on Borehamwood and kids
were stuck at home, a spontaneous snow fight
was organized. Pizza and hot chocolate was
served to snow-ballers. In the middle of the
snow fight I announced a 30 second window of
complete attack on me! After I was readily
brought to the ground - by someone who shall
remain nameless! - I was duly pelted.
In the spring and summer there will be lots
more fun and welcoming events.
Doron Luder
COMMUNITY
Brett Bernstein
Since Doron Luder’s arrival, the youth community of Borehamwood and Elstree shul has gone
from strength to strength.
Previously existent activities such as the Barmitzvah Boys’ Sunday morning breakfast have
continued to flourish, as has the ever-popular
youth service. Under the dynamic leadership of
Joel Sager, attendances have been consistently
above seventy, meaning even more siddurim
had to be bought, to accommodate the consistently high numbers. On Simchat Torah, the
youth service waved farewell to its senior gabbai,
David Shaw, a loyal servant to the youth service
for two years, leaving Ben Gordon, his successor
to fill his shoes, along with the new senior gabbai, Brett Bernstein.
The rebranded Friday night youth services
have also attracted large attendances, as have
the many Friday night Onegs. They certainly
entertain the youth on those long, lonesome Friday evenings in the midst of winter with their
food, singing, divrei torah, and general
ambiance.
The N’shei Chayil Lunch in November was
also very popular, and was a tribute to Gaby
Sacofsky and Ellen Steel, who have dedicated
much of their time and effort to the welfare of
the youth community throughout the past few
years.
In addition, the special screening of “Quantum of Solace” was extremely popular with the
youth community of all ages. Moreover, all are
looking forward to taking part in the youth play,
due to be performed in the coming months.
In 2009, we hope to build on these successes,
and, in the same vein, produce even more events
for the benefit of the whole youth community.
Brett Bernstein.
COMMUNITY
Maccabiah Youth
Cricket
Daniel Cohen
Daniel Cohen, stalwart member of the Youth
Minyan, has been selected to be a member of the
Youth Cricket team at the 18th Maccabiah in Israel
in July 2009. The cricket team will play up to 10
games, including 50 over and 20:20 matches.
Daniel is a member of Radlett and London
Maccabi Vale Cricket Clubs and a former captain
of Radlett U15s County Champions. As a 13 year
old, he was selected to play in the Maccabiah
warm ups in 2005.
The whole Maccabiah Squad departs on July
7th for training and acclimatisation. The trip
includes educational visits as well as training,
matches and the opening and closing ceremonies. All participants, including team managers and coaches pay equally for the honour of
being part of Team GB.
To this end, a fundraising Supper Quiz was
held in February which we anticipate will raise
approximately half the required £2,795 he needs
to be part of Team GB and attend the Maccabiah
Games. If you would like to make a donation,
please contact Sue or Tony Cohen (Sue 07971
400653 Tony 07968 567172 ).
Daniel Cohen
Link Pesach 2009 91
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COMMUNITY
Twin Values
David Onnie
Twins Benjamin and Jessica Rubens celebrated
their respective Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah
together on the same day, a unique occasion for
them, their family and the Community. But is
their relationship a case of sibling rivalry or are
they the best of friends ? Link editor David Onnie
went to meet the twins to find out and also just
how much they really know each other and
themselves.
The twins perched comfortably on the sofa in
the living room occasionally glancing at each
other as they spoke to me. It was very much a
relaxed family occasion with Mum, Dad and also
8 year old sister, Amelia, joining in. I had been
present at the Bar/Bat Mitzvah but close up it
was refreshing to see two teenagers comfortable
with each other and the rest of their family in a
warm and welcoming atmosphere
Jessica Rubens
Jessica on Benji
Benji Rubens
92 Link Pesach 2009
He’s a typical boy with a messy bedroom, untidy,
disorganised but lots of common sense. But he’s
also amazing and worships me ! As brother and
sister we get on really well and he actually is the
best brother one could have (Mum interjects at
this point and says that Benji would give his last
Rolo to Jessica but perhaps not vice versa). When
I’m in trouble he comforts and looks after me
and is very caring. In fact he’s a big softie who is
also calm and rarely shouts at me. We’ve shared
some great moments together over the years
including our Bar/Bat Mitzvah party, joint birthday parties and holidays. We even shared a bedroom up until last year where we enjoyed
playing fighting games (I’d always win! ) and getting up to mischief!
Benji’s worst habit is telling boring stories
which drone on for so long that we all pretend to
fall asleep. He’s probably the more inquisitive out
of the two of us although I think I’m more mature.
Even though he’s only older than me by one
minute (and always says he’s older anyway) he does
have a better sense of direction than me. However,
even though he says he is more streetwise than me
I’m definitely the more organised. In fact, even if I
am slow, very slow at everything, and need a long
time to get ready and eat, I’m organized !
We both enjoy action films, actually we like
all films ! The same goes for our tastes in music –
R and B and pop generally. I don’t have any particularly favourite singer but I like Rihanna,
James Morrison and also enjoy listening to
Israeli music.
I think my Bat Mitzvah marked the occasion
of me growing up and becoming a woman,
becoming more responsible and if I had a message to give to the world it would be, “Peace”. My
message to Benji is to have a long and healthy
life and I hope that we stay friends forever.
Benji on Jessica
She’s caring, sweet and always there for me
when I need her. I’d give Jess my last Rolo but
I’m not so sure she would give me hers! (editor –
Mum obviously knows her children ! ). Oh and
yes, (pointing his finger in Jessica’s direction),
she’s slow at everything, getting dressed, having
a bath and eating. I think that she only worships
me sometimes but I definitely worship her all
the time!
I also believe that I am more mature than Jess
and would say I am the oldest in the relationship. I have a nice personality (Mum interrupts
at this point with “He’s a mensch” ) and
although I’m not that organized or tidy I am getting better !
We share the same tastes in music and films –
when we’re choosing a film to watch on Sky we
always go to the action section and look at the
rating. If it’s a “PG” we ignore it but if it’s a “12”
or “15” we’ll probably choose it to watch, especially if there’s moderate violence. Like Jess, I
enjoy most music (although I also enjoy rock).
My Bar Mitzvah meant to me that I had
become a man and with that comes the need to
learn responsibilities - for example, visiting the
elderly, trying to be a good person and following
the Jewish religion. If I had a message to give to
the world it would that I hope everyone is
healthy and that I hope I have a lovely wife and
children ! And if I had a message for Jess (editor –
at this point Jessica turns to Benjy and says, “It
had better be good”) I would say “Do well in your
exams, be happy and I hope we’ll always be the
best of friends”.
David Onnie
Link Pesach 2009 93
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Pesach
Bite No. 4
Of Matzah and Chametz
The nearest thing to Chametz on Pesach is
Matzah ! Both contain just flower and water,
except that with Chametz the ingredients
have been given time to rise.
Similarly, in the Hebrew spelling of
Chametz and Matzah both words consist of
the letters “M” and “TZ” the difference is
that when the space in the left hand side of
the Hebrew letter “H” in Matzah has been
closed off the Hebrew letter becomes a “CH”
as in Chametz.
In practical terms, though, the ease by
which Matzah can become Chametz has led
to the two equally kosher ways of Matzah
production, namely hand baked or machine
made - both processes must be completed in
18 minutes. It has also led to a stringency by
some Rabbinical authorities of not bringing
Matzah into contact with other liquids or
use it for cooking (non gebrocht).
With the advent of state of the art
machinery and state of the art Pesach
supervision to match, other Rabbinical
authorities have ruled that Matzah can come
into contact with liquids and can be used for
cooking as it is impossible to reconstitute
Chametz from fully baked Matzah
Matzah is known as the bread of affliction,
but is also the original freedom food which
the Israelites took out with them from Egypt.
Whilst the Israelites were slaves they did not
have time to sit around and wait for their
dough to rise as they were whipped back
into work by the taskmasters. Similarly at
the end of the slavery the Israelites had to
also hurry from Egypt without sitting
around waiting for the dough to rise.
The message is: even in freedom we must
not delay in trying to improve ourselves,to
live life modestly , not risen like Chametz as
to think ourselves big and important,
because in our freedom we became and still
remain servants of G-d.
Bites by Paul Finn. Next Bite on page 96
94 Link Pesach 2009
BROWNIES - THE OWLS
4th Borehamwood
Brownies Report
2008-2009
Once again this has been an exciting and full
year for all the Brownies. Our programme is
always based on having fun indoors and outdoors, keeping healthy, thinking of others and
being of service to others and our community.
This year has been no different in this respect as
we have tried to fulfill all the aims of the guiding
programme for Brownies.
Giving service to others is a difficult thing to
accomplish if you are seven. We managed to
achieve this by using the scouts activity centre at
Well End, where we walked a mile, and learned
some outdoor games. Each of the Brownies
came equipped for all weathers and brought a
£1 coin which we donated to the Macmillan
Nurses Foundation. This was a joint activity
with our sister pack (9th Borehamwood Brownies) and together we were able to donate £50 to
this very worthwhile cause. As a unit, we have
been supporting this and other charities for several years and any parent or sibling is welcome
to join us on our next walk for Macmillan which
will take place during warmer weather in the
summer term. (Don’t forget to bring £1 each and
wet weather gear as we walk in all weathers!).
We also resumed our usual “good turn” and
were able to give service to our community by
cleaning the shul silver. This is a very messy and
fiddly job which requires the precision that only
small fingers can offer, and the Brownies are
excellent and willing helpers. Much of the silverware is old and delicate, and the Brownies
have been taught how to respect and clean it
with loving care. We hope that you have noticed
how beautiful the silver looked at Rosh
Hashanah and that you will be suitable
impressed again at Pesach.
We have shared our meetings this year with
our sister pack and also with a pack from Edgware. They are not as lucky as us to have large
premises to run around in, and during the winter they are somewhat restricted in their activities. We invited them to join our Chanukah
meeting and a great (and messy) time was had by
everyone. We visited them later on in the year
and had a wonderful time making new friends
and learning new games.
Crafts are an important part of our programme and we have also incorporated the
chaggim into many of the activities we have
done this year. We have made Chanukah biscuits, pictures for the succah, mishloach manot
to share, as well as trying out some new ideas
which involve sewing for Pesach. We also
enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of fun at the Jewish Brownies and Guides Craft “dabble day”.
This summer we were lucky enough to once
again go on a fabulous pack holiday to Willow
Tree Guide Activity Centre in Harefield. We all
had three fun filled, action packed days, with
lots of good food, crafts and entertainment. The
Brownies lived together as a family and undertook all the jobs which have to be done to keep a
family healthy and happy. Every Brownie participated in the cooking of at least one of the
meals, learned how to use the vacuum cleaner,
broom, dustpan and brush and how to keep the
bathrooms clean. Yes, they really did learn how
to clean a toilet and a shower cubicle and to take
pride in their achievement. As always, the
Brownies earned a number of interest badges on
pack holiday - cooking, house orderly, craft,
hostess and entertainers badges were earned,
and the Brownies entertained each other and
the guiders and visitors excellently on the last
evening. Thank you to Rabbi Brawer for joining
us for our barbecue and for telling the Brownies
all about what he got up to when he went to
camp! (It’s all right Rabbi, we won’t tell any of
the secrets which you shared with us!).
Going on pack holiday is one of the best parts
of being a Brownie and we hope that they take
the wonderful opportunity of joining Jewish
Brownies and guides in a huge pack holiday in
2010 to celebrate 100 years of girl guiding.
Being involved in running a Brownie pack is
not an onerous task. All it requires is a commitment to come into a very attractive uniform,
spend two hours each week working with our
wonderful girls and a planning meeting once a
term. (A sense of humour is an advantage too!).
No experience is necessary. You do not need to
have been a Brownie or a guide, you do not have
to be a teacher or youth worker. We will train
you to help our children to achieve a happy, purposeful and productive time in Brownies, and in
return they will give you back so much more.
Our team of dedicated leaders would like to
extend an invitation to any ladies (of any age
from 14 upwards) who would like to come forward and help us keep Brownies going. Without
guiders, our unit will have to close, so please
come and join us; we promise that you’ll have a
rewarding and enjoyable experience.
We would like to take this opportunity to
thank all the guiders, parents and talented
ladies and gentlemen who have given their time
and expertise to our pack this year. They all give
their time voluntarily and without them our
meetings would not be so exciting.
Please note that Mrs Antonia Grant is now in
charge of our waiting list for Brownies and all
parents wishing to register their daughter for a
place should contact her directly.
THE OWLS
The Owls
Borehamwood Brownie Packs – How to Get into
Brownies
Girls aged 7-10 years
Admissions Criteria
Due to the ever increasing numbers of girls wishing to register for Brownies, we have found it
necessary to instigate strict guidelines for
acceptance into our Brownie units.
We currently run two packs, Monday and
Wednesday evening, from 5.30-7pm.
Girls will be offered places strictly according
to the following criteria:
1. Priority is given to the daughters of leaders
2. Child is halachically Jewish
3. Members of Borehamwood & Elstree United
Synagogue
4. Length of time on the waiting list. Names
cannot be added until the child’s 6th birthday
5. Strictly by age
6. Member of Radlett or Shenley United Synagogue
Depending on places available, your daughter
will be offered the choice of attending the Monday or Wednesday pack.
Where you require a place for a specific day
and no place is available, your daughter’s name
will be held over for one term only for the first
available place on your preferred day.
Please note that participation in the Rainbow
packs will not automatically entitle your daughter to a place at Brownies. Please register your
daughter’s name separately on the Brownie
waiting list as soon as possible after her 6th
birthday.
Registration for Brownies only:
Antonia Grant
Telephone: 0208 953 4966
Email: Antonia@familygrant.fsnet.co.uk
Please note that Rainbow and Guide units hold
their own registration lists which are independent of Brownie lists. Please refer to the shul calendar for their details.
Link Pesach 2009 95
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Pesach
Bite No. 5
As if we have come out
of Egypt
The Exodus from Egypt coupled
with the Divine Revelation on
Mount Sinai seven weeks later
was witnessed by 600,000 grown
men ,their wives and children –
close on to three million people !
These events did not happen
that long ago – actually the year
2448 corresponding to 1312 BCE.
Those in the secular world that
measure the earth’s existence in
terms of dinosaurs and destructive
comets would have to agree that
according to their reckoning the
Exodus took place very recently
indeed!.
The 10 Commandments start off
with “I am the L-rd your G-d who
took you out from the land of
Egypt and the house of
slavery”(Shmot 20.2). Similar
words were used in in R.Yehuda
Halevi’s “ Kuzari” for the opening
words of the rabbi who believed in
the G-d that brought us out of
Egypt as the rationale for his
beliefs. He continued to explain
that the Exodus from Egypt was a
matter of fact whereas the
Creation of the World was a
matter of faith.
Remembering our sojourn and
slavery in Egypt and subsequent
Exodus features in a large array of
our religious practices from
Shabbat to social legislation so
that this nation building experience and the lessons we have to
learn from it are always at the
forefront of our minds.
Bites by Paul Finn. Next Bite on page 99
96 Link Pesach 2009
COMMUNITY
Rainbows Report
Sharon, Michelle, Emma &
Caroline
This has been another fun-filled six months
for the Rainbows group! We have enjoyed many
arts and craft activities including making lei
necklaces, magnets and many other arts and
crafts activities.
We especially enjoyed a wonderful barbeque
with the Brownies and we had another actionpacked Sports Day with all participants winning
prizes. Our Rainbows Masterchef evening proved
very popular and supported our healthy eating
programme. We also held an in-house talent
contest and discovered many stars of the future!
Perhaps the most exciting evening was our trip
to the Pet Store in Borehamwood, where the
girls were given a guided tour of the shop and
were able to learn how to care for a rabbit and
hamster. All the girls enjoyed being able to handle the pets.
If you have a daughter approaching her 5th
birthday, we would be delighted to welcome her
to our friendly Rainbows pack. For more details
of how to register your daughter for Rainbows,
please call Georgina Lesser on 020 8953 3358.
We look forward to meeting you soon!
Sharon, Michelle, Emma and Caroline
COMMUNITY
3rd Elstree & Borehamwood Scout Group.
GSL’s Report
Clive Butchins
Well it’s been another busy year for all sections
of the group – and for the leaders. For details of
the exciting activities enjoyed by the various sections please read their individual reports.
As I write we are in the process of bidding
farewell to our Scout Leader, Judith Gamse after
15 years of dedicated service. There are currently
around thirty members of the section and, with
many being younger scouts, they require more
input than an older troop would. So it is a big
thank you to all the leadership team (including
Alan and Mike), but a special one to Judith for
taking the Troop further than it’s gone before –
recent trips to Scotland and Belgium come to
mind.
The Beaver Colony continues to go from
strength to strength despite being short of leaders. At the start of the January term numbers are
up to around twenty and they are quite a handful. Miles Redbart is doing an amazing job, and
we welcome on board Lisa Kanter as A.B.S.L.
Without the parent helpers as well it would not
be possible to operate safely, so please think
hard whether you can give up some time on a
regular basis and take on a leadership role. I
have been assisting, but don’t expect this to continue indefinitely – see below.
The Cub Pack is as popular as ever, with a terrific group of leaders (Karen, Lisa, Alex and Martin). So another big thank you must go to all who
have worked so hard in both of these sections. I
am pleased also to welcome Rochelle Newington
who is about to join the group, probably in the
cub section as an assistant leader.
Each section also benefits from the assistance
of young leaders who are usually helping as part
of a social educational course or for a DoE
award. And we must not forget those who have
worked hard behind the scenes on the Executive
Committee. Our chairman Paul Marco, Treasurer Colin Levene and Ros Summers are the current incumbents. Many thanks must go to all of
them also.
Finally I have to announce that I am relinquishing the position of Group Scout Leader
after twenty years as I feel very stale in the role
and need to move on. However I shall be continuing as a member of the District Appointments
Advisory Committee and hope to continue being
associated with such a successful Scout Group as
the 3rd Elstree for many more years in one way
or another. A sincere thank you goes to everyone
who has supported the group in whatever manner during my tenure.
Clive Butchins.
COMMUNITY
The Southside
Damian Schogger
Damian Schogger lifts the lid on what really happens on the other side of Borehamwood
“The Southside”…a phrase you may have
heard mentioned fleetingly in recent times, but
one which you may not still not be clear about.
Well, let me let you into a bit of a secret; “The
Southside” is where it’s happening…and don’t
let anyone tell you any different!
In the middle of 2007, three hardy souls –
Gary Yantin, Dan Grose, and Simon Berman –
decided they’d try and initiate a local Friday
night minyan on “The Southside” (rather than
shlep 15-20 minutes to Croxdale Road!). With
nearly 20 people turning up for the first such
minyan, the signs were promising.
Building upon this early success, everyone
decided that the minyan should continue on a
fortnightly basis. With it being in close proximity to several young families, Kabbalat Shabbat
The Southside
Shul at Yavneh
began to take on a special ruach as the several
toddlers in attendance – unsure what to make of
their first exposure to the Friday night service –
flitted between the playroom and dining room
where davening was taking place.
With Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur fast
approaching, it was agreed, with the support of
the then chairman, Stephen Foreman, and honorary officers, that Southside services would
take place at Yavneh College. This was to build
upon the success of the Friday night minyan,
and relieve some of the pressure on the overcrowded Croxdale Road site. The atmosphere
was incredible, with 250-300 adults and nearly
100 children being present on each of the three
days.
This major milestone in the development of
“The Southside” generated further enthusiasm
amongst Friday night regulars, though it was
disappointing not to attract many new people
who’d enjoyed the Yavneh experience.
In spring 2008, as news filtered out that the
new shul at Yavneh College was nearing completion, the three hardy souls and their growing
minyan embarked on a new challenge by committing to weekly services at Yavneh. Not many
people have the opportunity to really be part of
building a new minyan in a beautiful modern
shul, so we’ve all grasped it with both hands.
For those of us involved in establishing and
maintaining “The Southside” minyan, there are
several important and hugely positive outcomes.
Firstly, 75% of attendees get to enjoy a special
Kabbalat Shabbat that they probably wouldn’t
usually do, since they couldn’t as easily get to
Croxdale Road. Secondly, a very special ruach
has been generated. Thirdly, several people are
now confident chazzans. But perhaps the most
significant result is that a minyan worth of kids
aged 3-6 turns up on a weekly basis and are
increasingly familiar with the tunes, and eager
to participate. Please G-d these youngsters will
continue the good work established by the current crop of “Southsiders” and help this minyan
grow and flourish for many years.
Damian Shogger
Link Pesach 2009 97
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GILAH
Jane Rose and Susan Gray
September, 2008, the beginning of the current school year, saw the introduction of the
new Early Years Foundation Stage, the curriculum common to all pre-schools, nurseries and
reception classes. Gilah had already begun
planning towards the EYFS goals, but this term
we have also incorporated ‘child led’ activities.
This will give us the opportunity to use the
children’s own interests to further their learning towards the EYFS goals. As far as pupil
numbers go Gilah remains full. We have many
children registered awaiting the offer of a
place. We have criteria displayed on our website (www.gilahnursery.com) which we use to
offer places. Priority is given to the children of
Elstree and Borehamwood Synagogue members and to date we have been able to offer all
eligible children a place. This may not always
be a morning place; we also have successful
afternoon sessions. In the term before they
start, all ‘new’ children are encouraged to
attend the settling in mother and toddler play
sessions with their carers so they become
familiar with the nursery and it has been wonderful to see grandmothers as well as mothers
come with their charges.
The staff work exceptionally hard to provide
every child with a happy and stimulating session of activities. They have recently received
training for the EFYS, outside play, child protection, storytelling and Brain Gym! Considerable thanks must go to them all for their
dedication and stamina. They give freely of
their time outside nursery hours to train and
98 Link Pesach 2009
to plan and prepare the activities which make
Gilah a vibrant and exciting place to learn.
We have also continued to involve parents
and the wider community in nursery activities.
Our Shabbat celebrations with guests have
included Rabbi Brawer, as well as parents,
grandparents, aunts and uncles and the occasional visitor from Israel. We were pleased to
have the help of ‘Magic Moments’ who came
into the nursery complete with games which
they had prepared for the children. Which
made an for an exciting morning for the children and a linguistically challenging one for
us all! At the Chanukah Coffee morning, we
had our annual present collection for our
adopted charity,‘With Love From Louise’ which
is allied to GIFT, a young Jewish Volunteer
Organisation. This provided five large bags of
games, toys and books which this year were
distributed through the charity to less fortunate children in this country as Chanukah
gifts. Also, we have have collected over £300 for
the charity at our weekly Tsedaka collection.
To begin the winter break the fundraising
committee organised a Chanukah Music and
Munch, with musical activities provided by Joe
Jingles and plenty of delicious doughnuts to
munch, which we shared with the mother and
toddler group.
The fundraising committee has organised
activities which are both fun to attend and
help to raise much needed cash for additional
equipment for the nursery. At present we are
refurbishing the home corner in the Gilah
Hall. The proceeds from the Chanukah Music
and Munch providing new bedding and flooring. We will also be refurbishing a screen and
buying a new bed base. We are hoping to compile a recipe book and would welcome dona-
tions of favourite recipes from anyone in the
community. These could be starters, main
courses or deserts or a favourite cake or biscuit
recipe, vegetarian, vegan and suitable for
adults as well as children. All donations will be
tried tested and enjoyed! We were delighted to
have a substantial donation from Wendy
Notowitz, enabling us to buy a set of new
library books for the rising threes, the proceeds
from a book signing which she kindly organised at her beautiful home.
Thanks to an additional Capital Grant from
Hertfordshire County Council we will, this
term, be able to purchase new laptops.
Although we have many discs which we use to
provide letters shapes, colours and numbers to
supplement the curriculum themes, we struggle to find suitable programmes with Jewish
themes, particularly chagim focused ‘educational games’. Any help, ideas or suggestions
would be greatly appreciated!
The culmination of this term’s work will be
our unique Gilah Seder. This year we will be
back in the newly redecorated Kol Rinah Hall
and (much to Rabbi Brawer’s relief) we will
have all the Gilah children and their guests at
one Seder. As we look forward to next term, we
hope for more settled, warmer weather, with
more opportunities for outdoor play and hopefully a calmer security situation to make this a
peaceful possibility.
One of the most popular themes in the nursery is our Summer term animal theme. This is
introduced by ‘Appreciating Animals’, who
arrive with a variety of farm animals, usually
babies and pets, which the children are encouraged to hold, feel and feed, with bottled milk,
pellet food and carrots. The whole nursery
COMMUNITY
Pesach
Bite No. 6
Excel Football League
Four and one more
During the week and on Sunday many boys
from the community train or play for their
respective Excel football teams. It’s a great set
up, well organised and the kids (apart from
when they lose!!) enjoy it nearly as much as the
watching fathers! The photos below show a few
moments during team “Stanmore’s” season.
enjoys this visit, although the bravery of the
children is holding the animals sometimes surpassed by the staff, some of whom seem to be
quite at home with rats on their shoulders!
This is closely followed by our trip to Aldenham Country Park an experience we happily
share with all available Mothers, Fathers and
Grandparents, who help to give this outing a
particularly family feel. We are most grateful
to have the support of extra adults on this trip,
all of whom make for a safe and successful
morning for the children. The rising fours visit
Paradise Wildlife Park and last year we were
joined by one of the governors visiting from
Canada. Rochelle Miller and her children, Sabrina, Jasmine and Freddy, complete with their
newly acquired Canadian accents spent a very
happy day with us.
Much of the work needed to run our large
and successful nursery is done voluntarily,
behind the scenes, by our Governors and I
would like to take this opportunity to thank
them all for their ceaseless hard work:- Jane
Rose as Chair, Ray Rubenstein our Treasurer,
Paula Kass for Child Protection, Michael Abrahams our security governor, Nicky Saville for
her help with HR, Eve Hoffman as staff governor and Alex Gold as elected Parent Governor.
Jane Rose, Susan Gray, Gilah Nursery
To help us focus on the Pesach
experience the number four and
one more continually crops up
throughout Seder night and Pesach .
Four cups of wine are drunk to
correspond with the four expressions of Divine deliverance “I shall
bring you out”, “I shall save you”, “I
shall redeem you” and “I shall take
you” which correspond to the
ancient empires of Egypt, Babylonia,
Persia and Greece who had ruled
over us but no longer do so.
The additional fifth cup, known as
Elijah’s cup, corresponds to the fifth
expression of Divine deliverance “I
will bring you into the land” .This
will be drunk at the
Final
Redemption from the present
Roman exile. Though the pagan
empire that destroyed our Second
Temple has long gone its legacy lives
on in its European, American,
Christian and Western Secular
successors. Though we have been
blessed to see the beginnings of the
Final Redemption with the rebirth
of the Jewish State in the Land of
Israel , not all Jews are able to get
there. Some are held captive in the
lands of their exile, others are just
disinclined to going there.
In the Hagada of Rav Nebezahl,
the present Chief Rabbi of the Old
City of Jerusalem, he mentions that
all five expressions of Divine deliverance were addressed to the original
generation of the Exodus which
ended up having to die out in the
desert without reaching the Land of
Israel. At the Revival of the Dead, Gd’s promise to them will be made
good and, only then we can all drink
(continued on page 100)
Link Pesach 2009 99
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(continued from page 99)
the additional fifth cup of wine.
Until that time we can ponder on
another set of four and one more.
The Hagada introduces us to the
four sons, the wise son, the wicked
son, the uncomplicated son and the
one son who does not know how to
ask. These sons’ comments represent
the four times mentioned in the
Torah of sons talking to their fathers
about Pesach. You can visualise all
four sons in the Hagada being round
the family Seder table, even the
wicked one who ends up getting
told off!
However there is a fifth son, the
one that does not make it to the
Seder table ……..
Our Rabbis through their choice
of Torah readings during Pesach
address this problem. On the 6th
day Pesach which is actually the 5th
day Chol Moed in Israel, the Torah
reading deals with those who
missed the offering up of the Pesach
sacrifice on 14th Nissan. They are
given a second chance to offer it up
a month later on the 14th Iyar
namely those ritually impure and
those who are a great distance away.
Without the opportunity of the
Pesach sacrifice to date, we have
started each Seder by lifting up the
modest and unpretentious piece of
Matzah and inviting those in need
to come and celebrate Pesach –
thereby opening the door to the
fifth son who until that point felt he
was far too great a distance away,
spiritually, to take part…. As stated
in the closing words of the Prophets
read on the Shabbat before Pesach
“Behold I will send you Elijah the
prophet… and he shall turn the hearts
of the fathers to their children, and
the heart of the children to their
fathers” (Malachi 3.24)
Chag Kasher V Sameach to all of
us wherever we are!
Bites by Paul Finn.
100 Link Pesach 2009
COMMUNITY
Rabbi Brawer Tours
Kisharon
Rabbi Brawer
Rabbi Naftali Brawer of Borehamwood synagogue joined Rabbi Daniel Roselaar (Belmont),
Rabbi David Mason (Muswell Hill) and David
Kaplan (Community Division Director of Tribe)
on a tour of Kisharon’s services in November last
year. The US rabbis joined the new Chief Executive of Kisharon, Dr Beverley Jacobson, and Rabbi
Yitzchak Freeman, Director of Learning Services,
as they visited the special needs charity’s Tuffkid
nursery in Golders Green, and the Adult Day
Opportunities service and Asher Loftus Business
Centre located in Hendon.
During their tour, the Rabbis were shown the
extensive services available at the Day Opportunity Centre which include a synagogue, optimusic, exercise and art rooms, a wood workshop
and horticulture centre. At the thriving integrated nursery, Pam Lerner, the Head teacher,
explained the advantages of integration with
the added benefit of early assessment and therapeutic intervention where necessary. The Rabbis
participated in making cakes with the children
as they prepared for Shabbat.
The Rabbis then visited the commercial hub
of Kisharon, the Asher Loftus Business Centre
which houses a bicycle shop, a print shop and a
woodturning and book binding business. There,
the Rabbis witnessed the production of a number of the items including benchers, invitations
and greetings cards.
The tour concluded with an inspiring talk
from Moishe Goldblatt who has been involved at
Kisharon for 20 years and now works at the Business Centre’s woodturning shop. Moishe presented each Rabbi with a wood besamim spice
box (used in the havdalah service after Shabbat)
which had been made by the service users.
Dr. Beverley Jacobson, Chief Executive of
Kisharon, commented: “We are grateful to the
Rabbis for investing their valuable time in visiting Kisharon. We are determined for Kisharon to
become the first port of call for anyone with a
special need in the Jewish community. With a
better insight into our services, the Rabbis can
now confidently direct their appropriate congregants to Kisharon.”
Rabbi Brawer commented: “It was very moving to see firsthand the wonderful work of
Kisharon.”
Joshua Lewis with his father and a few canine friends.
COMMUNITY
HOD Whisky Tasting
Highland, Lowland, Campbeltown, Speyside
Islay, Island, Orkney and Skye
Bourbon, Light, Golden and Peaty
Blended, Vatted, Malted and Rye
The variations are ever expanding and,
despite some distilleries' production output
falling, the number of bottlings of cask strength
whiskies never diminishes.
The biennial Hebrew Order of David Whisky
tasting was another success and testimony to
the dedication of the seasoned drinker. However, despite the complete absence this time of
female tasters, it should not be considered an all
male preserve. Judging by the number of ladies
who imbibe the elixir at the Shabbat Kiddush,
we look forward to their renewed participation
at our next event.
It is amazing to see how many serious tasters
there are who quizzed the presenter from the
Scotch Malt Whisky Society although, of course,
there were those who were present just for the
drinking experience.
Our thanks go to Jason Millan (JM Kosher
Caterers) for their provision of the usual repast
to enable some of the alcoholic excesses to be
soaked up. It was another social success with
profits going to Zaka. It would appear that this
is now an established fixture in both the HOD
and BES calendars.
Rabbi Brawer with
Kisharon Chief Executive, Bev Jacobson
and others. (left)
COMMUNITY
Joshua’s Bar Mitzvah
Twinning
My name is Joshua Lewis. I am 13 years old and I
attend Yavneh College in Borehamwood. On
20th December 2008, I was lucky enough to celebrate my Bar Mitzvah surrounded by my extended family and by my friends. My Parsha was
Vayeshev, the beginning of the story of Joseph
and his multi coloured coat. I read Shevii and
the haftarah from the book of Amos. Rabbi Brawer addressed me and I was proud that he commented on my voice and on my leining. He told
Joshua Lewis walks
the dogs (right and
bottom)
Richard and Simon
enjoy the whisky
(below)
me to always progress and develop, something
that I hope I can do from now onward.
Long before my Bar Mitzvah date, I decided
that I wanted to help raise awareness of those
less fortunate than myself by raising money to
twin my Bar Mitzvah through the charity World
Jewish Relief.
My Bar Mitzvah twin, Lenia, lives in the
Zaparozhye Children’s Home, which is in
Zaparozhye in the Ukraine. His life could not be
more different from mine as he is alone without
his parents to care for him. Lenia is in the Bar
Mitzvah class at the Children’s Home so he is
able to learn about Jewish History much like I do
at Yavneh College. However, it must be very hard
for him to have a Bar Mitzvah without his close
family there.
In order to raise money for WJR, I decided to
organise some dog walks around Aldenham
reservoir. I contacted all the people we knew
locally and further away who have dogs and
arranged a pick up and drop off service for Sunday morning walks. All in all, I managed to raise
over £300 and had a great time walking the dogs
and keeping healthy. I made sure all the dogs
received a certificate saying that they had taken
part in the charity walk.
Wizo Twinning
Joshua’s grandparents twinned his Bar Mitzvah
through Wizo. His closest friend, Sam Gold, also
celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in December, a week
after Joshua, also twinned his Bar Mitzvah
through Wizo. They run a regular twinning programme and have a class Bar and Bat Mitzvah
graduation twice a year for those less fortunate
than Joshua and Sam.
Joshua Lewis
Dani Jacobson meets Zac Ephron of
High School Musical fame
Dani Jacobson meets the Queen
Link Pesach 2009 101
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KOLOT
Chesed
Abby Album and Zara Shaw
An exciting new initiative has recently been
launched to educate our young people – specifically
those entering their barmitzvah or batmitzvah year
and those in year 8 who have recently completed
their barmitzvah or batmitzvah year– in the volunteering and charitable culture. This will enable
them to participate in one of the basic tenets of
Judaism, giving to others, and will hopefully be a
start to a life of Jewish responsibility.
The programme has two strands – ‘Chesed’ or
kindness which will relate to giving of time, and
‘Tzedakah’ which involves educating them on decisions about charitable giving. The first of these is a
project spearheaded by our community, while the
second is a project of ‘UJIA myfund’ aimed at the
same age-group. It therefore seemed appropriate to
link the two.
At an extremely well attended launch the project
was delighted to welcome Leonie Lewis from the
Jewish Volunteer Network as the guest speaker.
Together with presentations from Rabbi Brawer, and
Elaine Robinson from UJIA myfund, the children
heard about the importance of giving their time and
how the smallest act of kindness can make a significant difference to someone’s life.
Our first event was held on 16th November.
Twelve very enthusiastic Year 7 and Year 8’s participated in ‘Mitzvah Day’ by holding a ‘packathon’ for
the new All Aboard shop in Borehamwood and a toy
drive for GIFT. Over 100 bags of clothes and toys were
enthusiastically packed and sorted!!
January saw the first of the programmes delivered
by UJIA where children participated in a very stimulating and motivating educational session on philanthropy.
Hopefully, by the time you read this we will have
provided musical entertainment for the Buckets and
Spades respite centre in Hendon.
Should you wish to find out more about this exciting project or have any ideas, either in our community or within the wider community, that you think
we can participate in please do not hesitate to share
them with us. We even have our very own e-mail
address! chesed@borehamwoodshul.org
Over the past year about 15 girls and their mothers took
part in the Borehamwood Kolot programme run by Dina
Brawer. We were doing this to make becoming Bat Mitzvah
a more meaningful and enlightening experience. Every
fortnight, we met and learnt about a Jewish woman who did
something in their lives that could motivate us. At the
beginning, Dina would give us a text from the Talmud, Torah
or a Megila and we would go and study it with our mums.
Dina also gave us questions to think about. This was a great
opportunity for us to spend quality time with our mothers.
We would then have a break which involved lots of nosh! We
were then pulled away from the food in order to have a
group discussion about what we had previously learnt with
our mums. During this discussion Dina told us what the
text meant and what was going on. We then discussed it. We
asked loads of questions which Dina always had an answer
to. We never wanted to leave at the end because we were so
intrigued by the conversation.
This course inspired us significantly. Examples of women
who we learnt about are Hannah Senesh and Miriam. We then
went onto talk about these women in our Divrei Torah at our
Bat Mitzvahs. Abby was fascinated by the fact that Hannah
Senesh gave up her life to save others around her in World
War II. She was imprisoned by the Nazis, tortured and even
her mum was brought into prison. Zara loved to learn about
Miriam’s caring characteristics. This is shown by the fact that
at the beginning of the book of Shemot, she saved Moshe by
watching over him in the Nile and when she offered to find
Ba’atya a nurse, bought his true mother, Yochebed, to nurse
him.
We found out that it wasn’t just the men who had a significant impact on the Jewish people, but in fact the women had
an equal impact. For example, Esther from the Purim story saved the Jewish people by defeating
Haman using words and not violence. Unlike Moshe and Abraham who were selected by Hashem to
do these duties, Esther took it upon herself, without being appointed.
As well as all the serious matters, we also did some fun activities such as Israeli Dancing and Chalah baking. These two evenings were also so much fun. At the end of the year we had a fabulous
Siyum with all the other Kolot groups.
We all enjoyed Kolot so much and learnt a great deal. So much so that we managed to persuade
Dina to put on an “after Kolot programme” for us. We recommend this course to girls of Bat Mitzvah
age and would like to thank everyone involved, particularly Dina for inspiring us.
The Chesed Packathon
102 Link Pesach 2009
By Abby Album and Zara Shaw
Nikki Millan winning Strictly Limmud Dancing
Photos ©Israeli Dance Institute
COMMUNITY
Learning Report 07/08
By Anthony Rosenfeld
Our aim at the beginning of the year was to try
and create a culture of learning within our
community. We decided to do this within a
modern orthodox framework, which we felt
would appeal to a large number of our members.
With this in mind, we have established a
working partnership with the London School
of Jewish Studies. We were thus able to have
access to their teachers and resources as well
as their organisational and educational experience.
A large and varied series of educational programmes have taken place within this arrangement. It was decided that we would
experiment with various formats and themes
to see what worked best and what appealed to
the community and then use this as a basis for
future planning.
During the week before Rosh Hashanah and
during the week before Yom Kippur, we ran an
Elul programme featuring Rabbi Brawer and
Dina as well as Rabbi Binyamin Tabori and
Rabbi Dr Joshua Berman, the international featured speakers from the LSJS Elul programme.
All the shiurim were text based, with handouts
provided (This became for format for most of
the programmes which took place during the
year).
A high level symposium on the subject of
Agunot took place, chaired by Rabbi Brawer
and featuring Professor Bernard Jackson and
Rachel Levmore, two internationally renowned
experts on the subject, as well as Dayan Ivan
Binstock of the Beth Din. It is hoped that this
type of symposium could become an annual
event hosted by our Shul.
Early in the new year, a four part programme entitled “4 rabbis who transformed
the Jewish world” took place. Rabbi Akiva,
Rambam, Rashi and Yosef Caro were discussed
by Adam Taub, Rafi Zarum, Lindsay Taylor
Guthartz and Rabbi Brawer respectively.
Amanda Bradley led a 6 week Tora l’am
(Torah for everyone) crash course, where 10
participants learned how to give a dvar torah
and examined the whole torah methodically,
making it structured and accessible for further
study.
Rabbi Brawer gave a four part basic Judaism
course, where one innovation was the introduction of a system of accessibility for the hard
of hearing. We hope to incorporate this in
future courses.
Two weeks prior to Purim, Rafi, Zarum and
Maureen Kandler visited our community for a
learning Shabbat entitled “All about Purim”.
A pre-Pesach programme was held one
evening at Yavneh College, in partnership with
Yavneh as well as the LSJS. Yavneh proved to be
an excellent venue, many Yavneh parents
attended, and we would be very keen on using
this venue in the future. There was a choice of
speakers from our shul and LSJS as well as
Yavneh.
During May, a very successful four part
course was given by Lindsay Taylor-Guthartz.
Her subject was “Making Prayer Meaningful”
and among the topics she discussed were informal prayer, the origins of formal prayer, aleinu
and kaddish.Her easy going, engaging style is
aimed at directly involving the audience and
the course was enjoyed by a consistent, loyal
group of attendees.
On Shavuot, we hosted Adam Taub and his
family .Adam fulfilled the role of scholar in residence and as well as speaking to nearly 150
people at a superb tikkun leil, he also gave several shiurim during the 2 days of the chag.
The 2008 Ellul programme had a similar format to the previous and featured Rabbi Brawer
and Dina as well as Lindsay Taylor-Guthartz
and Rabbi Avi Scharf .It was entitled “More
than apple and honey” and dealt with themes
relating to the “Yamim Noraim”.
An Autumn programme was recently held.
Topics included philosophy, tanach and basic
Judaism, again in conjunction with the LSJS.
Other Shiurim which take place are the
lunch and learn programme, Rabbi Suffrin’s
Shiur, Rabbi Bambergers shiur and the Ladies’
Shiur. There was also a very successful Tu Bishvat Seder.
Every second Shabbat, there is an explanatory service aimed at increasing understanding
of the Shabbat morning service. It is run by
members of the community under the guidance of Rabbi Brawer.
It is our aim to provide programmes for as
large a cross section of the community as possible.If you have any suggestions, please contact Rabbi Brawer or myself, via the shul office.
We would like to thank Rabbi Brawer and
Dina for all their work and enthusiasm in putting the programmes together, as well as Rafi
Zarum and Maureen Kendler from the LSJS for
their help.
Anthony Rosenfeld
Link Pesach 2009 103
link community
COMMUNITY
Holocaust Memorial
Day Workshop
Mark Faerber
The event was organized under the umbrella
of the Northwood Holocaust Memorial Day
(NHMD) programme which has been running
for the last 8 years and attracts approximately
2,000 school students from local schools in London, Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, Hillingdon
and Hertsmere. This year, for the first time, I initiated the programme at the request of Rabbi Dr
Brawer.
The day was divided into two sessions, morning and afternoon, at which 154 school students
attended accompanied by about 12 teachers
including the Head of Hertswood School, Borehamwood. The participating schools were: Haberdasher's Girls, Chancellors, The Princess
Helena College and Mount Grace Schools in the
morning, and Hertswood School in the afternoon. The day was opened by the Mayor of
Hertsmere, Cllr Sandra Parnell who attended
the whole of the morning session.
The students were welcomed by Rabbi Brawer
who made an opening address. This was followed by a short film about Kristallnacht (Night
of Broken Glass) which was the theme of this
year's introduction to the day. Alec Ward, who is
a survivor well known in our community, spoke
movingly for 45 minutes about his experiences.
After a short break, the students were divided
into 4 workshops which were facilitated by
members of the community who had been specially trained to do so at the Imperial War Museum and at Northwood. The session ended with a
short closing ceremony, which included candle
lighting and the reading out of the names of 20
children who had perished, and a closing
address delivered by Rabbi Pete Tobias of Elstree
Liberal Synagogue.
The afternoon session consisted of the same
format but the students were addressed by the
survivor, Jack Kagan, whose story was also
recounted with emotion. Jack had fought with
the Bielski Brothers about whom the recent film,
Defiance, was made, and he spoke of his survival
and fighting with the Russian Jewish partisans
in Belarus from 1941-1944.
Needless to say the students listened with
great interest and it had been very rewarding for
the facilitators to see how stimulated and
responsive they were later on in the workshops.
This had made all the effort worthwhile and was
deemed to be a success. The event was ably
assisted by a dedicated band of volunteers who
had given up their time to help and without
whom the event could not have run so smoothly.
Mark Faerber
104 Link Pesach 2009
COMMUNITY
Community Care
Rebecca Brummer
The Community Care Service has been in great
demand during the last 9 months. Before Rosh
Hashanah volunteers delivered honey cakes to
over 70 senior members of the community as
well as telephoning all of our members aged 80+
to wish them a Happy New Year.
For Chanukah, together with US Project
Chesed and World Jewish Relief, we organised a
toy and nappy collection which was extremely
successful. Thanks to your generosity we collected over 50 black bin bags of items which will
be distributed to children in Eastern Europe.
Right now I am busy preparing for a senior tea
party to be held at the shul. For several years two
longstanding volunteers in the community have
been holding regular tea parties in their own
home, and thanks to them many of our senior
members have already been able to get together
with their friends. Due to this successful initiative it was felt that, in addition, we should invite
all of our senior members together perhaps two
or three times a year. The response so far has
been very good and I am hoping that these tea
parties will become a regular feature at BES.
I am currently in the process of setting up a
‘Mother and Baby Support’ programme. It is a
wonderful time when someone has a baby, and
in most cases both the mother and baby are
doing well. However, on some occasions the
mother struggles to cope with her new circumstances and can suffer emotionally due to factors such as hormonal imbalance and sleep
deprivation. This can result in feelings of insecurity, social isolation and depression. Community
Care hopes to reach out to these women and
their families and offer them both emotional
and practical support.
As usual none of the above would happen
without the fantastic Community Care Volunteers, who readily give up their own time to help
others in the community. I would like to say a
big thank you to all of them for the great work
they have been doing! I am always looking for
more people to be part of the Community Care
Network so if you are interested in helping other
people in the community, please do not hesitate
to contact me. You will receive training, support
and be very much welcomed here at BES Community Care.
In between these projects, I am also dealing
with the welfare needs of individual members of
the community. Increasingly people are calling
the Confidential Care Line, a sign that the message about Community Care is reaching people.
I am sure that no one is surprised that many of
the recent calls relate to the financial crisis and
its effects including members who are struggling to pay their mortgage, have been made
redundant or are generally finding things difficult financially.
Financial problems often result in depression,
social isolation and tension in relationships
which can have a devastating impact on the
whole family. Many of the people with whom I
have been in contact talk about feelings of
embarrassment that they are unable to afford
what others can. I have met with young mothers
in tears that they, amongst other things, could
not afford the type of birthday party that other
children were having. I have spoken to parents
who are worried about how they can afford the
Bar Mitzvah presents that they are ‘expected’ to
give. Whilst no one can solve the actual financial problems immediately, maybe we as a community can still help, even if it is just in the way
that we talk to other people. By trying to
remember that some people amongst us are
experiencing real hardship at present, and by
showing sensitivity in the topics that we choose
to talk about, we may make it easier for these
people to deal with their current situation.
Confidential Community Care Line 020 8207 5741
Rebecca Brummer, Community Care Coordinator
JACS
Looking for lively (or not so lively) retired people, whether they be boobas, zeidas, aunties, uncles
or just ordinary human beings who would like to be part of JACS on a Wednesday afternoon and
listen to an interesting speaker, or hear nostalgic music, followed by a piece of cake and a cup of
tea and a bit of a gossip.
Sometimes we have outings related to our speakers and recently had a person from Bletchley Park
telling us about the Enigma codes and we followed that with a visit there, which was a huge success.
Another day we went for coffee and painted clay plates, chanukiahs,mezuzot, bowls, etc. and had a
great time. Of course, we were so proud of our work that we exhibited it at our Chanucah Party and
everyone was very impressed that we are going again another day to produce even more heirlooms!
We also went to the Jewish Film Festival in Borehamwood in December and a good weep was had by
all!
If this seems like your sort of thing, please present yourself, and a friend or two if you like, to the
Kol Rinah Hall, Wednesdays from 1.30 to 3.30 pm. Including tea and good company the cost is only
£2 If you would like to know what the programme will be, please see the Newsletter for exact details,
or phone the Chairman, Ray Kay on 8953 2779 See you there!
Link Pesach 2009 105
link community
Esmond
Rosen
COMMUNITY
The View from the Shul
Office
Es Rosen
So much happens in our community that we
often find it difficult to reflect upon the
developments and advancements which have
only recently occurred. My last Link Report
was written months before Rosh Hashanah
and concerned itself with the synagogue
heating repairs and the fantastic celebrations
marking the 60th anniversary of the State of
Israel. This report, written in the middle of
January, can therefore only look back on
events from the Yomin Noryim.
From a personal perspective these last
months have been the most memorable I can
ever imagine. Hilary and I have witnessed the
birth of our first grandchild, Aron Tzion, in
Jerusalem, and the marriage of our daughter
Naomi on the first night of Chanukah.
Despite these most wonderful distractions
we have been able to oversee the planning
and management that is necessary for the
efficient organisation required in the shul,
for all the services and activities associated
with the High Holydays.
This also included the services held at
Yavneh and whilst there remain some minor
teething problems they are dwarfed by the
fact that there are several thousand visitors
to the shul during this intensive and important period.
In recent months we have also seen the
painting and decorating of the Kol Rinah Hall
and it is hoped that further improvements to
the windows and cupboards can be accomplished. We have also had to direct repairs to
the boiler and heating systems in both the
Gilah Hall and in the New Building. These
developments are a visible indication of the
expenses required to maintain our premises
and there have also been numerous smaller
but other necessary improvements made to
the site.
Just as every individual, charity, business
or commercial enterprise has been affected
the dramatic events afflicting the world economy have affected the finances of the synagogue. We rely primarily on membership
income and in the current economic climate
we are aware that our members are not
immune to what is happening around us. We
therefore have to manage within our means,
whilst still providing an efficient and effective service.
Proposals to develop and modernise the
site will obviously have to wait but in the
meantime we will press ahead with plans and
drawings, so that whenever the economy
improves these exciting ambitions can be
realised.
106 LinkPesach 2009
We are proud that BES is to be honoured
once again by the presence of many distinguished leaders of the Jewish Community
none more so than the Chief Rabbi,
Sir,Jonathan Sacks, the President of the Board
of Deputies of British Jews, Henry Grunwald,
and the new Chief Executive of The United
Synagogue, Jeremy Jacobs. These VIP visitors
once again provide evidence of the high
esteem our community is held. This year,
under the direction of Mark Faerber, the shul
also hosted over 160 students from local
schools at a Holocaust Memorial Day Educational Workshop .
We have experienced some small changes
in the office staff as we welcomed Michelle
Lassman to support the work of the Youth
Director, and also Helena Freedman to assist
in the administration team but, whilst Amanda has been unwell, to fill the void. We also
wished Mazeltov to Estelle and Darren Talberg on the safe arrival of their new son. Joe,
Edna and Tiago De Susa comprise our caretaking, cleaning and security personnel providing much needed support to the
community’s fantastic caretaker, Bernie. A
mention also for Barry Winterman who
works quietly but incredibly hard with Ken
Keller to ensure we remain financially secure
in these difficult times. Care Coordinator colleague Rebecca also brings great, energy,
enthusiasm and experience to this developing and important task and Youth Director
Doron provides a vital link and role model for
the youth of our community.
As always I wish to thank the support I
receive from our chairman Anthony Arnold,
his officers and all my Board of Management
colleagues, for their voluntary efforts to pro-
vide policy and direction which often go
unrecognised and unrewarded.
As we prepare to celebrate Pesach and
recall our emergence from slavery we once
again find ourselves in difficult and unsure
times but we look to the strengths of our families and our community to provide those
support structures necessary to maintain our
identity and our faith.
I wish you all a Happy and Kosher Pesach
Es Rosen, Synagogue Manger
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